Tropes you are tired of.

[someguy1231]

Playing as "The Chosen One." It almost always makes me feel as if the game's world revolves around me, every NPC treats me like some sort of Messiah, and it inevitably breaks my immersion because I'm reminded I'm in a programmed, artificial environment. From a writing perspective, I just consider it lazy. The story's hero should be the hero because of their deeds, not because destiny says so.

"Waif Fu". Sorry, ladies. It may feel empowering or satisfying to watch a 5-foot 90-pound woman effortlessly dominate a man who is a foot taller and twice her weight, but it's utterly unrealistic. (Granted, I don't care about "realism" myself, but if you're going to complain about boobplates being "unrealistic", then be consistent).

 

[McElroy]

since few people probably saw or remember Bulletproof Monk, though it's one of my favorite action movies.

Your what? Bulletproof Monk? You are the first and probably the last person to ever say that unless it was literally the first action movie they saw after an Uwe Boll marathon.

OT: "Sassy Black Woman" is just cringeworthy. Similarly "The Rodriguez", though that's more of a "meh, another one of these".

I've had more fun and enjoyment watching that action movie than most others that are made, so it's one of my favorite. Amazing how people can have varying opinions on things.

You're such a radical dude, dude.

 

[Ryan Minns]

Only the Youth Can Save Us!

... This. This is probably something a lot of people overlook but once you think about it- you'd wish you were oblivious instead. I noticed in a lot of TV shows, movies, comic books, anime (especially in anime / manga), the younger generation is always surpassing everyone and saving the day against all odds. I get it, the youth can be useful and possibly get crap done but when your protagonist is at the age of 16 and capable of beating the almighty big bad whom enslaved humanity / threatening to wipe out humanity, it's unbearably silly.

I mean think about the cast in that horrible Fantastic 4 movie that came out recently, why are these young teens allowed in top agencies / government labs for? The fact they're ALL younger than 25 made me roll my eyes ... the movie blew as well so there's that.

This is one of the main reasons I loved Soul Eater. Adults are better, they're stronger and more experienced despite the show being so heavily centered around the kids. Gifted kids yes but still kids compared to their superiors and yet they manage to make the kids still have some importance like doing a lot of sidework/stumble into things that tends to help overall while adults handle adult things.

Edit: Granted the youth still save the day but it does a much better job giving them a reason to do so somewhat

 

[CyanCat47_v1legacy]

millenials as written by members of generation-X. games like life is strange are borderline torture to e because of the bad dialouge and characters based entirely on stereotypes. these characters are always addicted to weed or some other fucking stupid narcotic substance, aleways hate on their parents despite them only wanting to help them, have some kind of stupid hipster style and overuse dialectic nonsense like "hella" all the time. they also take "selfies", sacrifice all friends or loved ones for personal gain, lash out at anyone trying to get them to stop acting like suicidal idiots simply because "ermagerd, nuun understendz meh"

 

[springheeljack]

Okay I guess this is a troupe having wolves being the hyper aggressive enemy in every single rpg/rts/fps ever created. Stop it I'm sick of having to kill wolves it's never been fun for me. Why is it that wolves in every game have to act like bloodthirsty hounds? That is not even close to what they act like in real life. They even do that in games that have a realistic setting like Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption. Why a wolf would still attack a fully grown adult who has already unloaded several rounds into their pack mates is beyond me.

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

-This artifact may elevate humanity to another stage of evolution, this may bring may bring sight back to the blind and help us reach the beyond the furthest star.

- IT'S NOT YET TIME!

*throws precious item in to lava*

Yeah, basically I'm pissed when the protagonist decides what's better for humanity and destroys centuries of progress because they are afraid of it.

 

[K12]

Trope, according to this dictionary [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trope], is a "common or overused theme or device". These devices are often willingly or unwillingly used by people who create art . They can be used in a good way, in the bad way, but the point of this thread is not to point out which ones do you find to be good or bad.

What I would like to discuss is which tropes, in your opinion, are used too much and which you'd like to, I don't know, take a break for a few years. What tropes are you tired of?

My personal pet peeve is Heroes Prefer Swords [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeroesPreferSwords].

Look, I get it, swords are cool, but aren't people tired of main characters/protagonists, wielding this weapon? There are countless melee weapons of choice a Hero can use: mace, hammer, flail, staff, pole, axe, saws and chainsaws, brass knuckles, claws, spear, the list can go on and on. Heck, even shield can be used as a weapon (Thank you, Cap).

But no. It's always swords. To be more specific, either western straight sword or a katana.

I understand, that swords look noble and heroic, but isn't it boring to always keep hammers and maces for bad guys?

I'm going to offer a bit of insight into the swords thing. Basically my contention is that heroes have sword because swords are versatile and allow of defensive actions that most other hand-held weapons don't. The other main issue is that you can kill someone witha sword without making it look really brutal. You can't really have a hero with a blunt weapon (mace, hammer, etc) because when he kills the bad guy instead of a clean stab through the chest he ends up having his chest or skull caved in making a crunchy gelationous mess of flesh and splintered bone.

It's still a lazy default to always give the hero a sword though but there are some good reasons why that's the default.

 

[springheeljack]

millenials as written by members of generation-X. games like life is strange are borderline torture to e because of the bad dialouge and characters based entirely on stereotypes. these characters are always addicted to weed or some other fucking stupid narcotic substance, aleways hate on their parents despite them only wanting to help them, have some kind of stupid hipster style and overuse dialectic nonsense like "hella" all the time. they also take "selfies", sacrifice all friends or loved ones for personal gain, lash out at anyone trying to get them to stop acting like suicidal idiots simply because "ermagerd, nuun understendz meh"

Honestly look at how teenagers/young adults are portrayed in the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s, and fifties and ask yourself if there is any real difference in how they are portrayed. The answer is of course that there is none. (This is of course barring the obvious technological/cultural differences). In every single portrayal of how young people act there is always ALWAYS going to be a rebellious character who bucks the norms and does different/deviant things. That is because it is a cultural truth that at some point a teenager/young adult will engage in reckless and dangerous/self destructive behavior. The manner, implementation and degree of the rebellion is different from person to person. However, there is also always the teenager/young adult who does not engage in those acts and is nice to their parents by gum! For every Chloe Price there is a Alyssa Anderson or Daniel DaCosta. For every Will Smith there is a Carlton Banks. For every Jeff Spicoli and Mark Ratner there is a Brad Hamilton or Mike Damone. For every Fonzie there is a Richie Cunningham.
I mean hell for every Romeo and Mercutio there is a Benvolio.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

romantic plot tumor *stares at legends of tomorrow*

For real. The love story between hawk girl and atom is the most forced nonsense on the show. It's already well established that Ciara (spelling?) and Kufu are quite literally soul mates and one of her past lives has even told her it's impossible for her to be with someone else. It's just lazy writing to get drama out of her wanting to be with Palmer instead because everyone knows that's not how it will end. The rest of the show is very good, but that plot is just silly.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Xanatos Gambits.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen them done well, where the bad guy had a back-up plan just in case, and now the heroes have to try to stop the back-up plan. That, I don't mind. The problem is that writers tend to go too far, to the point where you are left wondering "Seriously, why do the heroes even bother, if the bad guys just pull another plan out of their ass and aren't even bothered by the heroes' intervention?"

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

romantic plot tumor *stares at legends of tomorrow*

For real. The love story between hawk girl and atom is the most forced nonsense on the show. It's already well established that Ciara (spelling?) and Kufu are quite literally soul mates and one of her past lives has even told her it's impossible for her to be with someone else. It's just lazy writing to get drama out of her wanting to be with Palmer instead because everyone knows that's not how it will end. The rest of the show is very good, but that plot is just silly.

its fucking terrible is what it is

I mean, if it was her side plot, it would certainly be a little better. But it's not. It's her 100% main plot line. Her entire existence on the show is to worry about which man she wants to please (whether its, the man who emotionally manipulates her into being in a relationship based on past lives she doesn't remember, or the man who emotionally manipulates her by pressuring her into romantic situations even though shes showing visible signs of stress and uncertainty at the thought of),

and to occasionally spare with someone so they can work out their own problems through her.

Like I've said in another thread, she pretty much sets back female character writing by about 20 years

Very true. She's a several thousand year old warrior badass and the chosen one who is the only one who can kill Vandal Savage and yet the show's writers seem to think the best thing to do with her is have her fawn over guys. How many times has she even hawked out on the show? They're pretty constantly in danger but their most powerful, literally magic, warrior is kept on the ship sulking half the time.

 

[MiskWisk]

Xanatos Gambits.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen them done well, where the bad guy had a back-up plan just in case, and now the heroes have to try to stop the back-up plan. That, I don't mind. The problem is that writers tend to go too far, to the point where you are left wondering "Seriously, why do the heroes even bother, if the bad guys just pull another plan out of their ass and aren't even bothered by the heroes' intervention?"

Technically villains having back up plans isn't a Xanatos gambit. A XG is where the villain is able to get a win scenario out of a plan regardless of success or failure. From the heroes perspective, a XG should result in the hero being forced to pick the least worse option.

 

[twistedmic]

I'm going to offer a bit of insight into the swords thing. Basically my contention is that heroes have sword because swords are versatile and allow of defensive actions that most other hand-held weapons don't. The other main issue is that you can kill someone witha sword without making it look really brutal. You can't really have a hero with a blunt weapon (mace, hammer, etc) because when he kills the bad guy instead of a clean stab through the chest he ends up having his chest or skull caved in making a crunchy gelationous mess of flesh and splintered bone.

It's still a lazy default to always give the hero a sword though but there are some good reasons why that's the default.

To add to that, while knives can be just as versatile and sharp as swords, if not more so, they typically do not kill as quickly or cleanly as swords. Most kills with a knife are just as brutal and messy as kills with blunt weapons, and either involve cutting the throat, stabbing the head (typically through the eye, temple or roof of the mouth) or throat or stabbing multiple (at least three or four) times. All reasons why a character that voluntarily uses knives as a main weapon come across as dangerous psychopaths more often than heroes.

 

[ron1n]

Not sure what name to give it, but 'Wildy differing power levels' Lets call it Over 9000! for short. Basically it's the lack of consistency in a given protagonist/antagonists abilities across scenes in a show or film.

Example 1:
Villain reveal, makes them look ultra tough and powerful.
Hero has first fight with them, gets beaten, villain gets away or hero retreats.
Something Something, magical weakness found.
Hero tries magical weakness, doesn't work, but then has some dramatic moment where they 'believe in themselves' or some such bollox, and suddenly the all powerful villain folds like a deck of cards.

Example 2:
Character completely DESTROYS all non-important goons or extras. But when faced with an opponent of roughly equal ability to the goons, fight is suddenly even because that opponent is a main character.

Example 3:
Character has an ability that they just 'choose' to use/not use depending on how dramatic a scene has to be.
Example: Green Arrow is an expert archer and can incapacitate most of his enemies with a single shot. But instead spends 90% of his time on Arrow doing really awkward and stupid looking karate using his bow as a weapon.

Example 4: Good character is defeated, even though they have amazing power, because bad character kidnaps their friend or family member and threatens to kill them, despite the fact good characters power means they could save the person and beat the bad character without breaking a sweat.

Example 5: 'The returning villain' This happens mostly on tv shows. It occurs when a villain of the week from a previous season, who was set up as a major obstacle that took an entire episode (or two) to defeat, is rendered throwaway when they return for a cameo in a later episode implying some kind of inert dragon ball z style power level growth of the main characters.


Could go on and on. It's obviously gotten worse with all the comic inspired content doing the rounds, but it shows up in everything regardless.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

Beauty Equals Goodness. Even lower class characters who should lack easy access to shampoo and soap manage to look fabulous, compared to evil wizards/soldiers/bandits. I can't remember the name for this one but it also annoys me how bands of teenagers manage to defeat experienced, professional armies all by themselves.

Fire Emblem (particularly later games) is a pretty big offender, even though it's one of my favorite game series. I just wish it had more "ugly" or matured characters in the protagonist roster.

 

[Spakko]

shoot the shaggy dog

It's probably just me but this Trope rubs me up the wrong way. If it's done for a comedic purpose, fine maybe but otherwise it's just so darn depressing... at least for me.

Don't know if this one counts as a Trope but...

Insert X just for the sake of having X

If they insert excessive gore/Plot Twist/romance subplot/annoying Comic relief character just for the sake of having it, even if the Story in the movie/game/book would work perfectly fine without it.

 

[mechman123]

I don't know which trope this falls under but, I'm sick of symbionts/organic technology/etc type stuff being EVIL(or at least only used ONLY by the BAD GUYS). Flesh horror maybe? Whenever the character wanders into a flesh cavern, its a WICKED place. If it pulsates in any way, or sculpted from flesh, its bad.

Another seeming trope is for any and all broodmother type creatures/characters to be evil. Why cant they just be neutral, or even a decent being?

Humans are Smelly. Why do we always smell bad to aliens? Any race that humanity encounters with a strong sense of smell always at some point comments on how BAD we smell to them. How nice would it be if a race liked how we smelled, or maybe even got a little high off it. Now THAT would be an interesting reason for anther race to avoid contact with us.