Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
In the past couple of days, I’ve been addicted to reading from a site called TV Tropes, which is a site that lists every trope like seen in books, comics, movies, tv shows, games, anywhere. Some of these tropes have real life examples too. Of course, there are also some tropes where no examples are allowed on the trope description page (such as Fandom Heresy), as well as tropes where just no real life examples are allowed on the description page (such as One Sane Man). Some forms of media tend to be spotlighted in these tropes, either as sample images (such as a screenshot of The Brave Little Toaster being the sample image of Animate Inanimate Objects) or as trope namers (such as Real Life being the trope namer of Dewey Defeats Truman).
I found some tropes to be among my favorites. Since there are too many tropes on thar site, I’m going to name my favorite tropes based on each letter of the alphabet.
I found some tropes to be among my favorites. Since there are too many tropes on thar site, I’m going to name my favorite tropes based on each letter of the alphabet.
- A - All Animation is Disney: Basically a confusion or mistaken trope, this used to be very common back in the late 1900’s when there was a surge in animated films not made by Disney. Although there are many animated films made outside the realm of Disney, some were mistaken for Disney because Don Bluth, someone who worked for Disney, made these movies. Those include movies like Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, All Dogs go to Heaven, and An American Tail. There are also movies mistaken for Disney when they weren’t made by either Disney or Don Bluth (such as Ferngully, Quest for Camelot, The Swan Princess, and The Iron Giant). And since the 2000s decade, there are more CGI/3D animated films, as those not made by Disney were mistaken for Dreamworks while those made by Disney were mistaken for Pixar. This trope has died down by now, but there was confusion before because Disney used to do all of the animation.
- B - Breaking the Fourth Wall: There are a couple interesting tropes that start with this letter, but this one wins it all. I like how in some movies, TV shows, or whatever makes a reference that they’re in a work of art rather than realizing that what’s in that same art is real. This is especially prevalent in the TV show Chowder, where they break the fourth wall a lot. There was even an episode where the characters spent all of the money to the point where they can’t animate the show, so the actors’ faces are shown.
- C - Continuity: Because I couldn’t choose between Call Back and Continuity Nod, I chose to take the category of Continuity. Although it’s more for TV shows, some episodes make references from older episodes by mentioning the facts that are rarely mentioned. If the writers are consistent, that would be a continuity nod. If they are inconsistent, that would spell a continuity error.
- D - The Dog Bites Back: Easily one of my favorite villain tropes. In some books and movies, as well as reality, the villain is so evil that they even abuse their own sidekicks, yet the sidekicks remain loyal to the villain and do what he/she says. The sidekicks eventually get fed up, begin to realize, or start losing respect in their master, and when that happens, they get revenge for all of the abuse they have received. This could also apply when the villain isn’t abusing their sidekicks, but they abuse someone else or a whole group of people. They eventually get revenge against the villain rather than the hero fighting the villain.
- E - Even Evil Has Standards: While evil has been limited in reality, it doesn’t in fiction, which is why they go beyond the point that real historical villains never got to. But there are times even evil villains put limits and restrictions to their evil or schemes. For instance, a gang of thieves always steal everything they find valuable, but when something is extremely are and/or irreplaceable, they wouldn’t bother stealing.
- F - Foreshadowing: Another interesting trope that it’s more of a plot element than a trope. Sometimes, they foreshadow a big surprise coming by proving little hints not everybody pay attention to, but they lead to the surprise. This was prevalent in the Pixar film Coco, as well as in the Disney film Frozen.
- G - George Lucas Altered Version: Named after George Lucas when he edited the Original Trilogy of Star Wars, this trope refers to content that has been edited to something else that makes the fans unhappy.
- H - Hypocrite: There are a few tropes related to this, but it’s interesting to see some characters complaining about something, telling others what to do or what not to do, or criticize people, places, or things for something they don’t like, yet whatever they’re doing is the exact same thing or similar.
- I - Irony: Easily my favorite trope from TV Tropes, but it feels more like a plot element. While we have been told that the three types of irony are verbal (one says the opposite of the truth), situational (characters or audience was expecting something to happen, but the opposite happens), and dramatic (audience knows something that the characters don’t know), this site taught me two new types - historical and factual. For the former one, one thing that is true about someone or something in the past is the opposite as what’s true now. The latter one, two facts are the opposite of each other, yet both are true about someone or something. I used this trope when writing my Winter Island video game series on PowerPoint, especially in the first game.
- J - Jerk with a Heart of Gold: This is a character trope that describes characters that are bad on the outside but good on the inside. A prime example of this is Han Solo, who was mean and rude when we first see him, and also selfish, but he is good on the inside and even helped the Rebels take down the Empire not just for himself, but for everyone.
- K - Karma: There are several tropes on Karma, but the trope as a whole is interesting. If no hero defeats the villain and if nobody sought revenge, the villain eventually gets punished for their misdeeds.
- L - Loophole Abuse: Everyone has rules to follow, but in most rules, there are loopholes that characters would exploit to bypass the rule, defying the purpose and going against the wishes of whoever set it up, even when it isn’t against the rules.
- M - Meaningless Villain Victory: Easily the trope that got me interested into reading from the TV Tropes site, this trope refers to a case where the bad guy wins, but they don’t get what they want. It also refers to a case where the villain succeeds in getting what they want, but they have no use for it. So technically, they don’t win at all.
