Tropes about characters learning stuff.
Compare Exposition, where the audience learns stuff — overlap is substantial, since these tropes can justify those ones. See also What Is This Index? for standard questions characters tend to ask.
Also compare Truth and Lies; you can learn both true and false information from any of these tropes. Contrast with the Infauxmation Desk. See also The Shades of Fact and Bookish Tropes
Characters and Objects
- Akashic Records
- Ancient Keeper
- Apocalyptic Log: Someone finds a recording at a ruined area with no survivors that explains the cause of the death and destruction everywhere.
- Baker Street Regular
- Big Book of War
- Bluff the Eavesdropper
- Constantly Curious: A character can't stop asking questions.
- Curious as a Monkey
- Domino Revelation
- Encyclopedia Exposita
- Exasperated Perp
- Fire Stolen from the Gods
- Gate of Truth
- Great Big Book of Everything: Whenever the characters need to look something up, they consult a book that somehow has everything the characters need to know about the specific subject.
- Great Big Library of Everything
- Haunted House Historian
- Human Hard Drive
- The Informant: A person who informs the heroes about what the criminals are up to or where they are hiding.
- Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge
- Knowledge Broker
- Magical Database
- Magical Library
- Mr. Exposition: A character who moves the plot forward by explaining everything to the other characters.
- Mysterious Informant
- Omniscient Database
- The Only Way They Will Learn
- Reality-Writing Book
- Scientist Video Journal
- Spell Book
- Staging the Eavesdrop
- Tome of Eldritch Lore
- Tomes of Prophecy and Fate
- Voice with an Internet Connection: A helpful character who gives advice via earpiece to the main character related to whatever they're doing.
- The Watson
Events
- At Least I Admit It: A character claims that they're better from other people who do the misdeeds they do simply because they have the courtesy to not deny that they've done wrong.
- Bring News Back
- Caught on Tape: Usually involves a character learning something from a recording.
- Conveniently Coherent Thoughts
- Doing Research
- Doomed Appointment — where it gets forestalled
- Dreaming of Things to Come: A character dreams about events that will happen later.
- Dreaming of Times Gone By
- Dream Spying
- Epic Hail
- Exact Eavesdropping
- Feed the Mole
- Figure It Out Yourself
- Gave Up Too Soon: The characters leave under the assumption that they have failed, but would've succeeded had they stuck around for just a bit longer.
- I Never Got Any Letters
- I Never Said It Was Poison: A character knows things about a crime they wouldn't if they were innocent.
- Infallible Babble
- Interrogation Flashback
- Just Take the Poster: A character takes a poster that was on a wall because they want the information on it.
- Let Me Get This Straight...
- Next Stall Shenanigans: A character in a bathroom stall overhears other characters talking about something.
- Note to Self
- Only the Knowledgable May Pass
- Out-of-Context Eavesdropping
- Perp Sweating
- The Perry Mason Method
- Pull the Thread
- Screw Learning, I Have Phlebotinum!
- Sniper Scope Glint: A character learns a sniper's location via a glint of light from their rifle.
- Someday This Will Come in Handy
- Tell Me About My Father
- That Liar Lies: A person is called out for or accused of being a liar.
