Tropes

Tropes. To those who know this word, they knew exactly what it means. To others who don't, I'm too lazy to explain... fine, I'll explain regardless of my sedentary attitude. Tropes are, plain and simple, building blocks for a story. They are almost everything that make up a story. If something isn't labeled a trope, it soon will be.

Tropes are amusing, fun, and can help a writer in his or her writing. Humans have a tendency - indeed, a very nature - to order and align what they see and no (even the messy ones have a concept of "order"). Tropes do this.

This topic is to discuss tropes, from the ones you like to the ones you hate. For a more detailed explanation on what tropes are, see this website: TV Tropes

Note: Tropes, despite the website name, are not limited to tv. It can be any form of creative entertainment from books, television, and radio to paintings, sculpture, and popular culture.

A perfect example is this:

We Want Our Jerk Back

I've seen this trope used so very many times. Believe me, it's a classic. In fact, the very PAGE detailing this trope is just hilarious to read. I've spent hours on this website and I dare call myself "Trope Savvy". How 'bout you?

I know of tropes, but I haven't actually payed much attention to reading up on them at all.

That said, I've managed to accumulate 31 open tabs in my browser, thanks to TV tropes in the space of ten minutes. XKCD was right!

As for the hilarity factor... yes. They are rather amusing. And the great thing is that they're useful things to know when writing, as well.

No...Adrius..you won't draw me back there...no...

no...

NO!!!

*opens it up*

..As you can tell, I spend a lot of time on TV Tropes, one of the tropes I hate the most is in videogames. I believe the trope is called A Boss in Mook Clothing?

Oh.

No.

The Boss in Mook Clothing... sometimes they're even tougher than the last boss, or at least of boss-like difficulty. One of the memorable ones is the Anti-Guys from Paper Mario. First time I tried beating one, well... it did not end well.

Another trope to hate, one everyone will agree on to be the most terrible, horrible of all Sues: Black Hole Sue!

Yeah...there's a pretty horrendous one in The World Ends With You, the elephant Noise. It can interrupt all characters, even ones in the air. Furthermore, it has a stronger version of itself too...

Another Boss in Mook Clothing is, obviously, iconic, considering it is Warmech from Final Fantasy fame. I never encountered it(it is something like 1/50,000+ chance to encounter it, right?) but it sounds...tough.

As for the Black Sue...the end of it just made me lol, no examples at all? That's pretty..well, literal of them, huh?

/highfive

I love this site! Finally someone else that gets a kick out of tropes.