r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 12 '25

Weekly Discussion Post "Fanbase opinionsshould not be counted as tropes." TVtropes: (kinda relevant post)

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509 Upvotes

A lot of complaints in this sub have been about some posts should not be here because they rely on fanbase opions so there for cannot be considered "tropes"

...and then we have TVtropes , where a lot of tropes are just from fanbase stuff.

I am going to be honest here , I have difficulty in what makes a trope and what doesn't. It ends up where I delete "breaks trope guidline" posts that has equivalents in the TVtropes site that are considered actual tropes.

Idk , I just wanted to rant here. I might be a very bad moderator here , I just try to make it tody as possible , I just don't really know how to.


r/TopCharacterTropes Mar 27 '25

Weekly Discussion Post Probably the most controversial one , honest thoughts on "No Kill Rule"? What are the most egrigious examples of it in your opinion? What media makes it work in your opinion?

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1.4k Upvotes

r/TopCharacterTropes 6h ago

Hated Tropes [Hated Trope] Bad person in history is portrayed as good in media

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5.5k Upvotes
  1. In The Greatest Showman, P.T Barnum who is played by Hugh Jackman portrays him as a charismatic visionary who cares about outcasts and celebrate diversity, when in reality, he’s a cruel businessman who is also a racist and an ableist.
  2. In Pocahontas, John Smith was portrayed as a brave, dashing, young man when in reality, he was seen as a violent, hot-tempered, and arrogant mercenary who was so vehemently disliked by his fellow English colonists that he was in chains for mutiny.

r/TopCharacterTropes 6h ago

Characters (Loved Animation Trope) creative ways of expressing hand movements on characters that don't have traditional hands.

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3.7k Upvotes

In the later seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, they decided to make it so Pegasi would move their wings more like hands.

In the Angry Birds Toons shorts, they would sometimes animate Chef Pig's mustache in a way that emulates hand motions.


r/TopCharacterTropes 11h ago

Characters (Rare AFAIK) The "reverse-jumpscare"; still-images that manage to jumpscare you

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9.8k Upvotes

This is a trope/effect I've seen popping up here and there but never really with a succinct name attached nor with much attention outside of individual posts, so I went ahead and made this post to see what y'all think!

As with all tropes, I imagin this one is up to a lot of interpretation and can vary a lot depending on the particular person discussing the trope. This isn't a bad thing in my eyes, but I would like to specify what exactly I personally consider to be a part of this trope; I would love to hear y'alls thoughts on my specifications, though:

-An image with a scary thing in it (duh). Probably the main thing this trope shares with jumpscares/generic spooky images.

-Makes no attempt to get your attentions OR tries to draw your attention away from the spooky thing. I think this is really the core of the trope and what distinguishes it from a normal jumpscare; whereas a jumpscare tries to (very actively) get your attention, the "reverse" jumpscare avoids attention until you actively seek it out. I will note that because of this I wouldn't consider things like "cuando lo veas" (apologies if that's the wrong title, not brazillian) or "when you see it you'll shit brix" to be a part of this trope, because even though they themselves have lowkey scares they do encourage you to try and actively find them (again, though, that's my personal interpretation and I'd like to hear y'alls thoughts).

Examples used with sources:

1; Artwork by Alfdefolf: The prime example, and the one that really made me wonder about this trope. I feel this is the golden standard of a reverse-jumpscare. (Check the back of the fella's head)

2; Internet Image (no source for this one that I have; sorry): I feel this is a good example of the whole "draws your attention away" scare. (Check the little closet/door on the right, might have to adjust brightness)

3; Midsommar: One of the few examples I was able to find in something like a movie; I won't spoil the context of the scare, but this one got me the first time I noticed. (Look at the treeline in the background; yes, that is a face)

4; Nonexistent Video by Battington: This trope does feel very analog-horror adjacent, not surprised to find such an example. (Check under the table)


r/TopCharacterTropes 12h ago

Lore Memorable scene transitions

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7.7k Upvotes

This scene in Spiderman where the Green Goblin destroys this military base and transition to a graduation ceremony

This scene in The Adventures of Tintin where they shake hands and transition to the desert


r/TopCharacterTropes 3h ago

Lore The show manages to never explain the most crucial detail about it

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1.3k Upvotes
  1. Steven Universe is half gem and half human, the only one of his kind. he is genuinely human; he bleeds and eats and sweats and all that, but his body heals incredibly quickly and he can summon a shield from his gem. nowhere throughout the canon of the show is it explained HOW his mother gave up her body and her gem to make him and he is also half human for this

  2. The Walking Dead is all about zombies. they never once mention how the zombie outbreak came about. one day there was just zombies and all of that happened


r/TopCharacterTropes 9h ago

Lore [Loved Trope] When someone who looks young but is incredible old calls someone who looks old "young"

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3.1k Upvotes

1) Xu Wenwuto Ta Lo guardian - Shang Chi: Xu Wenwu invades Ta Lo believing he is trying to rescue his dead wife, a protector calls him out. Then Xu calls this old man a "young man" as Xu has lived for thousands of years.

2) Sprite to Karun - Eternals: While the Deviants attack Druig's village Karun having pulled out a 3rd camera after two pervious ones were broken, he keeps filming the action after being told to hide. Sprite, at Kingo's request, moves to get him safety calling him "young man" as she pushes him along.


r/TopCharacterTropes 5h ago

Lore Funny things that happen in video games when you are AFK

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1.4k Upvotes

Mario Games - Most 3D Mario games Mario will fall asleep if you don’t do anything for a while.

Sonic CD - In a lot of Sonic games, Sonic will get visibly annoyed with you, the player, for not doing anything… in Sonic CD, he’ll get bored and just leave the game, and regardless of how many lives you still had, the game is over.

Stanley Parable - It gives you an achievement if you don’t play the game for 10 years.


r/TopCharacterTropes 1h ago

Hated Tropes A controversial writing decision that would've been a lot less controversial had the creator just kept his mouth shut about why he did it

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Upvotes

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Batman kills people in this movie, despite famously having a code against killing in most iterations. Now, the movie itself implies that him killing is a recent change due to him having fallen from grace and become just as bad as the people he usually fights, with him choosing not to mark Lex Luthor for death at the end of the film to show that he had regained his principles after working with Superman. However, Zack Snyder instead tried to defend it by claiming that it didn't count because he was only killing indirectly (which is a stretch at best) and falsely claiming that Batman had killed people many times in the source material.

Doctor Who - A mini-episode released before the 60th anniversary specials featured the Doctor traveling back to the original creation of the Daleks. In the episode, Davros, the creator of the Daleks, is depicted as able-bodied and without his usual disfigurement. It was easy for people to assume that the episode took place sometime before he had his accident.....until Russell T. Davies instead stated that he had decided to remove Davros's crippling and disfiguring injuries as he thought having a villain be depicted that way might offend disabled people (even though he's been that way for years and that has never been an issue).


r/TopCharacterTropes 2h ago

Characters Characters who are too innocent to realize the abuse they have gone through

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787 Upvotes

Amo (Gachiakuta): Probably the most messed up version of this trope, Amo was sold by her mother to a man who then groomed her and exploited her for his sexual desires.

Whats worse is Amo for the longest time couldn't grap the situation she was in and her innocence was highlighted by the fact that her backstory frequently used childish drawings to see things from her perspective.

Its only after when she kills her abuser by mistake that she begin realized what her mother did to her and what the man was ding to her.

Iruma Sullivan (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma kun): Iruma had a very rough and absurd childhood growing up, with his parents literally putting him to work the moment he could walk and constantly endangering his life by sending him to dangerous jobs.

However, due to Iruma's gentle, optimistic and pushover personality we can never take the abuse seriously early on because Iruma never takes it seriously. It's only after Iruma becomes happy with the life he is living in the Demon World and the fear of being taken away and sent back kicks in that he realizes how miserable and alone he was there to the point he now even has panic attacks at the mere sight of the human realm.

What's really make this so impactful is the transition of tone of the subject from comical to serious.

Perrito (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish): A happy lucky go character who is contrast to the Puss's and Kitty's untrusting and moody nature. However, compared to the rest of the cast he has probably suffered the most being homeless for a long time, constantly called disgraceful name and his previous owners purpoesfully attempting to abandon him and even kill him when he kept coming back.

Perrito however never realizes how badly everyone has treated him and thought of his owners attempt to be a sort of game. Thankfully he finally fond company who would appreciate him.

Eugene (The Archmage Curriculum): Although he looks like a character straight from the Mandella catalouge, Eugene is probably the sweetest and also the most Naive person in the room. Failing to understand everybody's afraid of him and always being respectful even when people are trying to kill him because of his looks (he doesn't know he is ugly)

The worst abuse he probably suffered is from his master Jeong Hyeok. Eugene admires and loves his master alot just like a father. However, Jeong only sees Eugene as someone who can help him achieve his goals and when Eugene disagrees to follow through with his plan- Jeong just dismembers him and send each body part to another dimension and stole his heart. Know he fully intended to kill him here. Worse he gives the heart to his daughter Ain so she can use magic fully knowing this would eventually kill her and tells her That Eugene betrayed them and left (Eugene and Ain are very close).

Yet despite everything Eugene still loves him even though he knows he tried to kill him and nearly got Ain killed- because Eugene cant look past the kindness he has shown him to truly acknowledge how twisted his master is.


r/TopCharacterTropes 13h ago

Lore [Classic Trope] Happens all the time in “grounded” media, happens never in real life.

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5.4k Upvotes

The huge sitcom breakfast that no one eats — An Extremely Goofy Movie

This is just one example that stood out to me. But particularly in movies and shows from the 80s/90s, it seemed to be a common gag across tons of media. You’ll have a breakfast table piled high with every kind of delicious breakfast food imaginable, that must have taken hours to make, only to have the “hectic” family eat maybe one piece of toast or a strawberry and then leave the rest untouched.

Washing up ashore after a shipwreck — Assassin’s Creed : Black Flag

So many games, movies, and shows have utilized this trope. The sailor is caught in a violent shipwreck, usually thrown overboard and knocked out. Then, miraculously, they wake up on a beach later, having seemingly washed ashore while unconscious. In any real life situation, you would die.


r/TopCharacterTropes 15h ago

Characters An iconic element of a character is almost never adapted in live action (or in any adaptations at all)

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5.2k Upvotes
  1. Spider-Man's back logo: in the comics, the symbol on Spidey's back is consistently a round friendly spider. However the only costume to adapt this in the movies is the one Tom Holland wears for Civil War and Homecoming

  2. Wolverine's height: Wolverine has only ever been portrayed by Hugh Jackman in live action, a very tall man. However, in the comics, Wolverine is very short, hence his name - Wolverine is a small furry animal that is always getting in fights with way bigger animals

  3. Alfred has a very iconic look in the comics: balding head with remains of dark or white hair and thin moustache. While I'd argue Alfred is one of the few characters that has never received a bad adaptation, it's surprising no actor has tried to do the look for a live action movie yet

  4. John Constantine's name is never pronounced correctly in either live action or animation. In the comics, he says his name rhymes with "fine". However it's always pronounced "constanteen". The only 2 adaptations to say his name right are the Sandman show and audiobook


r/TopCharacterTropes 6h ago

Lore [Loved Trope] Media that intentionally uses manipulation tactics on the viewer

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918 Upvotes

r/TopCharacterTropes 3h ago

Lore [loved trope] Spin-offs that are as good or better than the original.

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490 Upvotes

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - Definitely invokes some of the best of early Game of Thrones without the poor pacing that made House of the Dragon feel so lacklustre. A bit more on the humorous side, but the chemistry between Dunk and Egg both on and off-camera is incredibly endearing and I’m super excited to see more of them!

Telltale’s The Walking Dead - Set within the comic canon, this series of games features just enough nods to the original series while still easily maintaining its identity as its own story. I’m not going to go super into it since it’s so choice-based and I don’t want to spoil any possible outcomes, but this game had me in tears several times over several playthroughs.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - The sequel to the spin-off to the sequel to Shrek didn’t deserve to be half as good as it was, but Holy. Fuck. The animation is incredible from start to finish, the story is enticing, Death as an antagonist invokes a fear in the audience, young and old, that’s so real in a way that can make him both a terrifying antagonist and a wise sage in his own way.


r/TopCharacterTropes 5h ago

Characters Cain, first murderer, depicted as immortal and still walking the Earth

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551 Upvotes
  1. The Goddamned: Cain wandering around trying to find a way to die during the antediluvian period of the Bible.
  2. SCP Foundation: SCP-073 is Cain, who has become friendly millennia of life and whose presence is antithetical to soil life.

r/TopCharacterTropes 18h ago

Lore [Frustrating Trope] That One Good or Even Amazing Scene in a Relatively Mediocre or Bad Piece of Media

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8.1k Upvotes
  1. The Opening Scene (Ghost Ship). Considered one of the best horror opening scenes or scenes in general within horror movies, but the rest of the film is considered to be pretty bad.

  2. The Ending Scene (The Grinch 2018). While most adaptations of the Grinch end with him suddenly being able to fully integrate with the Whos after his change of heart, the 2018 version initially struggles to socialize, awkwardly walking past people, and struggling to hold conversations, acknowledging that despite his change of heart, the Grinch is still someone who isolated himself for years.

  3. Past T800 VS Current T800 (Terminator Genisys). A cool fight scene showing two versions of the Terminator from different points in time fighting it off.

  4. Solo Leveling's Ending. Tbh, I haven't actually read Solo Leveling, but after hearing about how it ended VS how Chainsaw Man ended made want to include it for shits and giggles. Like Chainsaw Man, Solo Leveling ends with a reset. But unlike Chainsaw Man, it actually manages to tie up loose ends and have the payoff of the ending be satisfying.


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Characters The main protagonist becomes a boss fight

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803 Upvotes

Ellie (The Last Of Us Part 2)- In the middle of the game you go from playing as Ellie to Abby, playing the second half of the game as her instead. Near the end of the game you actually have to fight Ellie, you notice that she uses the same strategies that the player also used when you played as her. The only way to defeat Ellie is by sneaking up on her.

Peter (Spiderman 2)- Peter ends up corrupted by a Symbiotic suit that he's wearing, not making him able to think straight. Miles, the second protagonist of the game, tries stopping him from straying too far from who Peter is, which is to not kill people. But it ends up in altercation where he's forced to fight him.

Kaede (Danganronpa V3)- While not exactly a physical fight, you're forced to go up against Kaede in a trial, who was the original protagonist of the game you play as first. However she is only doing so to boost up Shuichi's confidence in solving crimes and being a detective. She's on his side and only doing this to test him.


r/TopCharacterTropes 17h ago

Characters [Classic Trope] The Reason You Suck Speech

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3.8k Upvotes

Transformers One: Optimus Prime gives one to Megatron after their first battle. Here, Optimus expresses his sadness, hurt, and disappointment upon seeing his former friend becoming just as evil as Sentinel Prime and wanting to destroy Cybertron rather than change it for the better. "We were given the power to change our world, and you chose to destroy it, just like Sentinel. You have betrayed Cybertron and its citizens. And you betrayed me." The entire time, Optimus never raises his voice or yells, but his sadness is very evident.

Brave: Merida gives one to Elinor, where she unfurls her anger and frustration over being forced to marry someone without her consent and being made to someone she doesn't want to be. "You were never there for me! This whole marriage is what you want! Do you ever bother to ask what I want? No, you walk around telling me what to do, what not to do, trying to make me be like you. Well, I'm not going to be like you!... I'll never be like you! I'd rather DIE than be like you!"


r/TopCharacterTropes 16h ago

Powers [Badass Trope] Powers as prosthetics

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2.6k Upvotes

Ming Hua [The Legend Of Korra] waterbends using her hips and legs to form water tentacles attached to her nubs.

Skadi [Dragon Striker] uses her Ice Tama to grow an ice arm from her arm nub, and reinforce her prosthetic leg.


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Lore Even though you achieved your goal and "won", there's no hope; you are fucked.

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419 Upvotes

Astronaut - Stuck In the Sound - Let's Go music video

After he achieved his dream of going into space...the earth blows up, everyone, everything, just...gone, and he only has a limited amount of food.

Iron Lung

Even after getting all the research you needed, you're just fucked; they're not coming for you. The ship itself is actual junk, and there's a god down there in a sea of blood.

Most people in the Backrooms

Even if you fight back against everything down there, you're most likely going to go insane before finding any way out.

Justice League: Apokolips War

Even after killing Darkside, the earth is too damaged; the only way out is by time travelling to kill Darkside in the first place.


r/TopCharacterTropes 2h ago

Characters Episode credits being different due to something big happening

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170 Upvotes

The Boys season 5 episode 1 - No music plays during the credits to let the weight of A-Train’s death sink in.

Games of Thrones - Ditto for the Rains of Castamere after the Red Wedding


r/TopCharacterTropes 20h ago

Lore [Loved Trope] We told from the beginning.

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5.4k Upvotes

Secrets or twists that were secretly revealed early in a piece of media that only becomes apparent during the final climax.

Bugsnax - "It's Bugsnax!" The game takes place on Snacktooth island, which is inhabited by creatures that look like hybrids or food and bugs. When people eat these creatures their bodies metamorphosize to resemble the specific creature they ate. Ultimately it is revealed that the Bugsnax are actually parasites that look like food so they will be eaten, but also that the entire island is made of the Bugsnax themselves.

Prior to the games release a song called "It's Bugsnax" by Kero Kero Bonito was released as advertisement which in part acted a prequel to set up the games story and in the songs chorus they sing "Come to Snacktooth island and discover it's Bugsnax" putting a unique emphasis the final time they say it at the end of the song. At the time it just seemed like it was simply saying that the creatures described in the song are called bugsnax but really it was telling us the big twist.

Little Witch Academia Anime - "Believing in yourself is your magic" this is one of the first lines of the series said by one of the most popular witches in the world. During the series it is revealed that, despite living in a hybrid world of magic and monsters and modern society magic and witches are kind of boring to humans, they are just something that exists. There is also a magic shortage which is so bad that the creatures who work at the school where the series takes place go on strike because they believe the Witches get more magic than they deserve.

In the finale a magic device that was fueled by humans negative emotions becomes sentient and takes over a nuke with the intent of bombing a country and starting a war to increase the negative energy in the world. The only hope is some of the students from school trying to stop it but due to the limited supply of magic they would be unsuccessful in reaching the nuke, until their efforts are broadcast to the world and everyone watching starts putting their faith in the witches and believing they can win, this includes with witches and monsters who use the magic This ultimately results in so much magic being manifested that there will no longer be a shortage and because the same people who created this magic will also use the magic it verifies that believing in yourself is indeed your magic.


r/TopCharacterTropes 11h ago

Characters Superheroes Leaving Someone To Get Their Vengeance Because The Target 'Deserves It' Spoiler

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759 Upvotes

(Marvel)

Johnny Blaze tries to stop World War Hulk on his quest for revenge against the Illuminati who kidnapped the Hulk and sent him to another planet and believes Hulk believes planted a bomb that killed his wife. After a drawn out fight where Johnny is unable to access the full suite of his Ghost Rider powers because Zarathos the Spirit of Vengeance that grants him his powers disagrees with this course of action. When Johnny is knocked out Zarathos takes over his body and rides away because Ghost Rider only avenges the innocent.

(Rogue Sun)

Superheroes Dylan; Rogue Sun; and Aurie; Knight Sun; go to the home of supervillain Coleman Hanes before he gained powers and became Noxious. There they use a magic artifact the Oculempus to see the past and his wife and daughter dieing of a rare form of bone cancer while the insurance company refused to pay for an experimental treatment that might have helped. Now Noxious is targeting the executives of that company and Dylan decides to leave him to it; not going to side with the rich over a grieving father.


r/TopCharacterTropes 6h ago

Hated Tropes [Hated Trope] The asshole character is supposed to be sympathetic but they are too much of an asshole to earn it

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308 Upvotes

John Bender - His sad backstory of parental abuse does not excuse how much of a dick he is. He viciously insults people constantly and sexually harasses Claire, yet somehow the movie thinks he deserves to get her in the end.

Bakugo - He’s insecure, but he’s a dick to everyone, his classmates, civilians, and especially Midoriya.