Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
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[[Wildlife Commentary Spoof|Here we are, on the vast, bountiful plains of the
This is a fragile ecosystem, each species supporting the lush landscape of the Wiki in its own special way. Each variety of troper has evolved to fill a particular niche, just as the finches of the Galapagos islands did. Some tropers form alliances and strive to make their habitat a utopia of literary and pop cultural knowledge. Others meander placidly around the wiki, neither contributing nor doing any harm. And, as with any species, some varieties of troper [[Metaphorgotten|just have to discover how annoying you can be before mods with big sticks kick you off the wiki]].
'''This page is [[Just for Fun]]! Absolutely no flaming or naming of specific tropers!''' If you want to 'fess up to being one of these, put it on [
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▲=== The Main Branches of the Species ===
== The Main Contributors ==
The mainstay of this multi-faceted terrain, the main contributors create, nurture and trim back tropes. Most engage in elaborate social rituals known as "discussion" and "forum posting," although some quieter members of the group prefer to restrict these rituals to the
* '''Troper Policeman''':
** Habitat: Omnipresent
** Function: Making sure nobody kills one another. Mediates in disputes and/or puts their foot down to end them. May ban or discipline other types, and normally has an important, if not deciding, say in any discussions. Edits "with the mod had on" are fairly rare, and usually a result of discussion in the forums (ATT's forums or the
** Favourite Tropes: The ones that don't cause flame wars.
** Natural Enemies: The more negative troper types. This is invariably a one-sided battle, as ''[[All The Tropes:Contact us|Troperus Administerius]]'' and ''[[All The Tropes:Bureaucrats|Troperus Mod]]'' sit securely at the top of the Wiki food chain.
* '''Trope Creator''':
** Habitat:
** Function: Writing tropes. Spends a lot of time debating in
** Favourite tropes: Creator Tropes and their own "babies"
** Natural Enemies: The Cutlister. May occasionally butt heads with Repairmen. Should a [[Wiki Vandal]] or [[Troll]] appear on one of a Creator's tropes, they will attack [[Mama Bear|with all the fury of a mother elephant defending her calf]].
* '''Trope Editor''':
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* '''Trope Repairman''':
** Habitat: The Trope
** Function: They tidy up tropes, rename them and occasionally put the floundering ones out of their misery. Very detail-oriented and diligent, occasionally nitpicky, they do the legwork when a trope's name is changed, picking through the trope's Wicks to reflect the name change. Often involved elsewhere on the forum; they like discussion. Any tropes that they themselves create will normally spend a long time in
** Favourite Tropes: Those that don't end up needing attention in the [[Forum:Trope Talk|Trope
* '''The Art Museum Curator'''
** Habitat:
** Function: To find the best images for a given page. They despise unclear images and are the commanding officers in the [[Just a Face
** Favourite Tropes: Anything to do with imagery.
** Natural Enemies: Anyone who posts [[Just a Face
* '''The Advertiser'''
** Habitat: Works pages, ideally obscurer ones and tropes of the sort found in the works they enjoy.
** Function: A relative of the [[Entry Pimp]], these are fans of one or more obscure shows (which they may happen to be a fan of or may actively seek out) who endeavour to spread [[
** Favourite Tropes: Popular ones with few examples, where it's likely that their favorite work won't have an entry.
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* '''The Index Maker (subspecies of Trope Creator)'''
** Habitat: "Edit Page" and
** Function: finds related tropes to place into a new index.
** Favourite Tropes: index pages and supertropes.
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* '''Wiki Feng Shui Master'''
** Habitat: Main wiki, sometimes strays into [[Darth Wiki]] and [[Sugar Wiki
** Function: A Trope Editor relation who prefers to focus on the visual
** Favourite Tropes: Well-organized tropes with nicely broken up descriptions and right-aligned images.
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== Migratory Types ==
Do not discount the importance of the migratory types; the wiki may not dominate their Favourites menu the way it does for the Main contributors, but a Migratory troper is often a [[Jack of All Trades]], or a valuable support to other troper types. Normally, their interest in
▲Do not discount the importance of the migratory types; the wiki may not dominate their Favourites menu the way it does for the Main contributors, but a Migratory troper is often a [[Jack of All Trades]], or a valuable support to other troper types. Normally, their interest in TV Tropes is a tangent to their main interest, be it comic books, anime or the most popular new television series.
* '''The Eclectic Troper'''
** Habitat: Migratory, and can appear anywhere
** Function: Moving around the wiki searching for interesting nuggets of information and weird titles makes them a mixture of all sorts. They do a bit of repair, an occasional bit of pimping, example tweaking; can remain inactive for periods before their interest is sparked once more. May give a casual browse to the forums and
** Favourite Tropes: None. The "random" button is their best friend.
* '''The Casual Example Adder'''
** Habitat: Work and Trope Pages
** Function: Adds tropes to work page and examples to trope pages. While they play an vital role in making [[Wiki Magic]] work, they generally don't read the
** Favourite Tropes: Whatever sparks their interest.
* '''The
** Habitat:
** Function: Scrolling and refreshing the
** Favourite Tropes: The newest, most interestingest ones. Lives to say, "Wait, we seriously don't have this already?"
** Natural Enemies: The Spoilsport, who tries to destroy the new tropes that the Midwife likes to assist with.
* '''The Namespacer'''
** Habitat:
** Function: These guys like adding
** Favourite Tropes: Metatropes (all the better for use in the Playing With
* '''The Breaking News Editor'''
** Habitat: Trope pages for active works.
** Function: To be the first to update the page after a plot twist, the appearance of a new trope, and similar—frequently within minutes of its appearance.
** Favourite Tropes: Any which have achieved Troper Critical Mass ([[Girl Genius]], [[Doctor Who]], etc.)
* '''The Aspiring Writer'''
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* '''The Trope Truther'''
** Habitat: Any sufficiently "realistic" trope.
** Function: These guys love the [[Real Life]] examples section. If someone's invented something or done something that resembles a trope they'll make their case for declaring it [[Truth
** Favourite Tropes: Any that seem plausible enough to actually happen.
* '''The Fetish Troper'''
** Habitat: [[Sex Tropes]], [[Fanservice Tropes
** Purpose: To seek out any and all examples of their fetish du jour, and Entry Pimp the ones they know about.
** Favourite Tropes: Whatever gets their motor revving.
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== The [[Single-Issue Wonk]] Brigade ==
For the most part, these are subspecies of the Main Contributors, with one important difference: a [[Berserk Button]]. While they usually exist harmoniously with the rest of the herd, the vaguest sniff of their chosen bugbear sends them on a rampage. They charge forward, sending hapless newbies flying and knocking aside Editors who were quietly minding their own business. May cause Troper Policemen some headaches, and they risk being banned should they prove more troublesome than helpful.
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* '''The Americanizer''':
** Habitat: "Edit Page" of tropes written by someone who uses British English
** Function: Driven by a deep seated hatred of the letter "u", the firm belief that the goshdarned "s" is overrated, and a profound love for the letter "z" (pronounced "zee"), The Americanizer changes any British spelling to its American counterpart, regardless of the official etiquette of
** Favorite tropes: [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]], [[We All Live
** Natural Enemies: The Britishiser (see below). They will [[Edit War|edit and re-edit each other's pages]] until someone smacks them both over the head with something.
* '''The Britishiser''':
** Habitat: "Edit Page" of tropes written by someone who uses American English
** Function: Driven by their hatred of the letter "z" (pronounced "zed"), the belief that the letter "s" jolly well earned its place in the language, and a deep love for the letter "u", The Britishiser changes any American spelling to its British counterpart, regardless of the official etiquette of
** Favourite Tropes: [[British English]], [[Useful Notes]]
** Natural Enemies: The Americanizer (see above). They will edit and re-edit each other's pages until someone smacks them both over the head with something.
* '''The Rewriter:'''
** Habitat: Edit page of tropes they haven't created.
** Function: A Trope Editor Variant. Rewords a trope description entirely. This is usually because of poor writing, and in such instances, the Rewriter is a major boon to the wiki, capable of making sense of the most muddled descriptions. However, occasionally they reword a perfectly coherent trope or works page simply to put it into their own words without going through the
** Favourite Tropes: Generally the [[Works]] pages of their favourite shows / books.
** Natural Enemies: None, really, unless they encounter a particularly vigilant or sensitive Trope Creator, or a fellow Editor who was tweaking the page before the Rewriter wiped it and started again.
* '''Activist Troper (a.k.a Troper with an Agenda)'''
** Habitat: Any trope with any potential to get political
** Function: This troper is strongly eager to promote a cause. Whether it's Christianity, feminism, [[Hypocritical Humor|keeping politics out of
** Favourite Tropes: Whatever tropes and works have anything to do with whatever issue they happen to support.
** Natural Enemy: Other Activist Tropers with opposing views
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** Habitat: Tropes connected to their country of origin, as well as [[Values Dissonance]]
** Purpose: [[Misplaced Nationalism|Defending their territory.]] Patriots are often found pottering around in the [[Useful Notes]] section, ensuring that the information on their particular country stays up to date. Sensible versions gently correct stereotypes and conduct discussions on the forums; less sensible types charge into the middle of any trope that mildly criticises their country with flaming torch and pitchfork at the ready. Neither is fond of sweeping generalisations about their country of birth, but the former takes a more tolerant view and is therefore more productive. The latter [[natter]]s incessantly, and can quickly descend into true [[Single-Issue Wonk]], if not outright [[Troll]].
** Natural Enemy: Er... each other. Sensible Patriots don't think their more... zealous counterparts are doing anyone any favours. Said zealous counterparts think that the calmer version is a sellout and lacks commitment.
** Favourite Tropes: Ones connected to issues of nationality. The calmer type even likes those that are less than complimentary about their country (for example, [[Eagle Land]], [[British Stuffiness]], [[Germanic Depressives]]) since they can get a giggle out of the stereotype. Expect them to put a disclaimer at the bottom of the trope though, if said trope doesn't make it clear that this is not the case in reality.
* '''The Splitter''' ▼
** Habitat: "Edit Page", Trope Repair Shop, and YKTTW. ▼
** Favourite Tropes: the most specific of subtropes. ▼
** [[Lumper vs. Splitter|Natural Enemy: The Lumper.]] ▼
* '''The
** Habitat: "Edit Page", the Trope
** Function: finds
** Favourite Tropes: the
** [[Lumper vs. Splitter|Natural Enemy: The
** Function: finds related ideas to combine into a central theme.
* ''' Ultraconservative Troper '''
** Habitat: [[Tropes of Legend]]
** Function: This troper thinks [[TV Tropes]] were much better in the days of old, when everything was new and exciting, when trope names were bizarre and fantastic and no one screamed bloody murder when they saw a character trope namer or a "[[snowclone]]" (what a stupid derogatory term!)
** Favourite Tropes: All [[Tropes of Legend]] and everything that no longer exists, such as I Am Not Making This Up, So Yeah, This Troper, Wall Banger, etc.
** Natural Enemy: Trope Repairman
== Just trying to help... and failing ==
[[Just Trying to Help|There is no malice in these species]], they just tend to be a little... overenthusiastic. However, try telling that to the Editors and Repairmen left to sweep up the rubble. Not to worry - a quick read of the rules, familiarity with the wiki and a helping hand from one of the more [[The Shepherd (trope)|helpful troper types]] will quickly promote them to another category. Approach the [[Just Trying to Help]] troper with kindness and assistance unless and until they prove contentious—they could become valuable Wiki allies, but too vicious a lambasting and they may become a Cynical or Destructive type instead.▼
▲[[Just Trying to Help|There is no malice in these species]], they just tend to be a little...overenthusiastic. However, try telling that to the Editors and Repairmen left to sweep up the rubble. Not to worry - a quick read of the rules, familiarity with the wiki and a helping hand from one of the more [[The Shepherd|helpful troper types]] will quickly promote them to another category. Approach the [[Just Trying to Help]] troper with kindness and assistance unless and until they prove contentious—they could become valuable Wiki allies, but too vicious a lambasting and they may become a Cynical or Destructive type instead.
* '''The Sinkhole Pimp'''
** Habitat: They're everywhere!
** Function: Turns every other word into a [[Pothole]] or a [[Sinkhole]]. Rarely bothers to check if they are using the trope correctly. The mortal enemy of the Trope Repairman.
** Favourite Tropes: [[Pothole Magnet]]s and [[Stock Phrases]].
** Natural Enemy: Trope Repairman
* '''The Nit-Natterer'''
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* '''Troper Infected with [[Trope Namer Syndrome]]'''
** Habitat:
** Function: To name everything after this favorite character, book, film, anime, etc. These names are often obscure enough that even other fans will scratch their head. Other tropers see these [[Trope Namers]], think it's OK to name things willy-nilly after their favorite things, and become infected with the syndrome, spreading the illness as they begin to make up "Trope Namers" as well.
** Favorite Tropes: Anything they named.
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* '''The Huge Fan'''
** Habitat: Anything related to their fandom
** Function: This is a superspecies of Troper dedicated rabidly to their fandom. They may proudly have tattoos or even shout that they are in the fandom "for life". They came to
** Favorite Tropes: Anything related to their fandom, typically something very nerdy and possibly obscure.
* '''[[Furry Fandom|The Furry]]'''
** Habitat:
** Function: A subspecies of Huge Fan, the furry is confused by the lack of furry
** Favorite Tropes: [[Furry Fandom]], [[Petting Zoo Person]], [[Funny Animal]], [[Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism]]....
* '''The Censor'''
** Habitat: Wherever "filth" is found
** Function: A subspecies of the Activist Troper, wants to clean up pages by removing smut, swears and anything else that offends them. May be a [[Bluenose Bowdlerizer]]. When done with care and consideration, its usually possible to keep the spirit of the page while removing the profanity. All too often though, editing is done without thought, or worst, by an automatic nanny-filter.
** Favorite Tropes: Tropes that used to be full of smut and dirty words that are now full of ****ing asterisks.
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== Cynical Types ==
While nowhere near as chaotic or irritating as the Destructive groups, [[Accentuate the Negative|Cynical types]] can be a headache to their fellow tropers. They may undermine the work of a Creator, make ''more'' work for an editor, or just [[Suffers Newbies Poorly|scare off the newcomers.]]
* '''The Cutlister'''
** Habitat Cutlist, vulnerable tropes with a low number of wicks.
** Function: Euthanisation. Unlike the Repairman, who prefers to fix tropes, the Cutlister lives to destroy them. This is not just any troper who realises a trope is useless (those are generally Repairmen) -- the Cutlister seems to take a certain amount of joy in consigning tropes to the scrapheap, even totally legitimate ones. Vigilant Trope Creators and Repairmen can generally put an end to any trope-murder-sprees, but often just ending up suggested for the Cut List makes any trope an endangered species. The Cutlister is usually also a [[Single-Issue Wonk]], and targets tropes that hit their Berserk Button. If unchecked, they can direct the culture of
** Favourite Tropes: Hard to tell.
** Natural Enemy: Trope Creators. Creators and Cutlisters represent the alpha and omega of tropes, respectively.
* '''The Spoilsport (a.k.a The Saboteur)'''
** Habitat:
** Function: Popping up in comments and informing the Trope Creator that their fledgling page is extremely similar to an existing trope that it, in actual fact, bears no resemblance to whatsoever. Not to be confused with people who know what they are talking about! Known by their trademark cry "We already have this!". Sometimes willing to spend days or even weeks arguing about it, often long after the trope has actually been launched.
** Favourite Tropes: Only those that are already in existence and well established
== Destructive Types ==
▲There's no getting around it—some species just ruin the habitat for everyone.
* '''[[Wiki Vandal]]'''
** Habitat: "Edit Page" and
** Function: removes useful content without clear reason, sometimes replacing it with nonsense.
** Favourite Tropes: They don't care. If they can edit it, it's fair game.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Just for Fun]]
[[Category:
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