Just to register emotion,
Jealousy, devotion,
And really feel the part.
I could stay young and chipper and I'd lock it with a zipper,
If I only had a heart.
Jealousy, devotion,
And really feel the part.
I could stay young and chipper and I'd lock it with a zipper,
If I only had a heart.
— Tin Man, "If I Only Had a Heart", The Wizard of Oz
A list of tropes dealing with what beats within the chest cavity.
See also: Bloody Tropes, for what the heart is meant to pump around.
Actual Hearts:
Subcategory to:
- And Show It to You: Someone kills someone else by tearing out a vital organ, usually the heart, and showing it to them.
- Attack on the Heart: Killing by directly piercing the heart.
- Beat Still, My Heart: A heart continues to beat after being removed from its owner's chest.
- CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation portrayed as very clean and almost always effective.
- Flatline: An electrocardiogram line on a screen goes flat to show that the heart has stopped beating.
- Flatline Plotline: A character arranges to nearly die (usually by simulating a heart attack) in order to subsequently be revived.
- Having a Heart: Someone says they have an anatomical feature in a metaphorical manner (e.g., "the heart of a hero")... except they aren't being metaphorical.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: A piece of music which contains a heartbeat noise.
- Heart Beats out of Chest: A character's heart beats so strongly that it makes a bulge in their thoracic wall, visible even through clothing.
- Heart in the Wrong Place: Because you feel your heartbeat strongest of the left side of your chest, some fiction portrays it as actually being on the left side, where your lung actually is, instead of the center.
- Heart Trauma: Someone's personality is affected by something physically happening to their heart.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: All acted heart attacks are dramatic and without warning.
- Literal Change of Heart: Replacing someone's heart changes their personality.
- Magical Defibrillator: Someone in cardiac arrest is revived via an electrical shock to the chest.
- Shot to the Heart: Adrenaline injection directly into the heart.
- Wooden Stake: You can kill a vampire by driving a wooden stake through their heart.
Symbolic Hearts and Associated Tropes:
- Cardiovascular Love: A Heart Symbol used to signify love.
- Gem Heart: A jewel found inside a big dangerous creature in the place of a major internal organ, usually the heart.
- Heart Beat-Down: Elemental Powers of love, usually signified by Heart Symbols appearing when the character uses their powers.
- Heart Container: An item that increases a character's maximum Hit Points, often shaped like a heart (or other icons in games with a Life Meter).
- Heart Drive: A part of a person's body that contains their consciousness, sometimes their heart (or something in place of a heart).
- Heart Light: Creatures who have a single light source on their chest, usually either centered straight in the middle or off to one side (if it represents their actual heart).
- Heart of Happiness: Heart symbols represent happiness.
- Heart of the Matter: Heart-themed plot elements and items.
- Hearts Are Health: Hearts commonly used as an indicator of Hit Points in video games.
- Heart Symbol: The classic stylized heart shape, ♥ (or <3 in emoticon form).
- Projectile Kiss: A character creates a heart (or lips) shape from his/her mouth that flies off at a target.
- Say It with Hearts: Seeing Heart Symbols in a sentence indicates a Squeeish and/or a sing-song tone to the voice.
- Soul Jar: A container or object which holds a character's living essence, sometimes their heart, outside of their body to grant that person immunity from death.
- Wicked Heart Symbol: Heart motifs used with villainous characters for Subverted Innocence.
