Trope Idea Sounding Board

Have an idea for a new trope, but don't know for sure if it's a good idea? Did Trope Finder give you similar concepts, but not exactly what you wanted? Are you just looking for a focus to a broader idea?

You've come to the right place!

On this thread, you can share your ideas with the masses before making that TLP draft, so if there's any lingering uncertainty about the validity of your idea or you just want some help pinning down a good idea, ask away and help others out, too!

A related sandbox I need to pitch is the Trope Idea Salvage Yard. If you've an idea but can't personally work on it, you can add it to the yard and let someone else create the draft. Or you can browse it yourself if you need more draft ideas, whether or not you feel they should be mentioned here first.

Got ideas for non-trope pages you need help with? Never fear, the New Page Workshop Thread is here!

With that out of the way: Let's discuss some ideas.

Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 27th 2022 at 1:49:11 PM

To quote what I said on "Let's improve the TLP", I've been thinking of making a draft for a subtrope of Rubber Man about characters who can elongate only their arms. I can think of three examples off the top of my head, and Rubber Man gave me a few more (albeit lacking context), but I don't know if it would be distinct enough.

So like a non-Toon Physics version of Extendable Arms?

Oh. Great thread.

The last two times I posted a query at TF, they both end up being tropes that don't exist. One is currently already on TLP, but the other one I'm less sure about.

I was looking for a trope for Insulting Surprise, where a character expresses surprise at another character's trait (e.g. intelligence, social/love life, strength, etc.) and the latter finds this insulting because it reflects the former having a very low opinion of him/her.

I can't actually think of any concrete examples for this though—except probably for this one Pokémon Adventures fanfic that's not even playing it straight. Oh, and also an entry from a devotional book that probably can't be troped.

Edited by Adept on May 24th 2020 at 10:07:54 PM

I actually like that one, and I don't think we actually have something like that. For some reason.

Yeah, it's an actual trait of the character and part of their skillset. In ARMS for example, most of the playable characters have a disease that turned their arms into long, coilable strips of material that they then use to punch each other.

Edited by Crossover-Enthusiast on May 23rd 2020 at 1:11:02 PM

I can think of the Pokemon Breloom, who apparently has extendable arms for punching enemies.

Sounds good to me, though I'm also at a loss for examples. Sure I've seen it though.

Edited by WarJay77 on May 23rd 2020 at 1:15:11 PM

Always wanted a thread like this; good to see one created.

One idea for a trope I thought of several months ago was an “Animal Establishing Shot” trope: when characters are entering a new environment, a random (usually small) animal is shown on-screen before the characters themselves come into view.

I was also thinking of a trope for a kind of Stock Shout-Out referencing Carmen Miranda’s iconic fruit hats.

Hitmonlee has extendable legs. Bender from Futurama has extendable/retractable limbs.

So maybe a name for said trope idea could be something like Elastic Limbs?

Edited by jandn2014 on May 23rd 2020 at 1:27:04 PM

Would this be covered by Extendable Arms? The description is specific about it being used for comedy in old western cartoona as part of Toon Physics but the examples use it for any character with the ability to extend their arms. Hitmonlee and Breloom are on there.

Edited by MacronNotes on May 23rd 2020 at 1:29:11 PM

The idea is that Extendable Arms is Toon Physics. It's not an actual part of the character's biology, it's just a cartoon gag.

Those examples are misused, then. I was actually wondering what the examples looked like once Twiddler pointed the trope out, since the name "Extendable Arms" doesn't give way that it's a cartoon gag, and people just love to not read descriptions.

Heh, yeah, no kidding...just had to get a trope of mine unlaunched for a rename because of immediate misuse. Descriptions are ignored too often.

When a trope doesnt exist, people add examples to the closest trope that does. And yeah a lot of tropers hate reading, not sure what can be done about that.

At least theres some examples to start an Elastic Limbs trope.

Hmm... Reading through the page, I think half the examples are "comedic arm gag" and the other half are "character has extendable arms that are not used for comedy". I think this needs TRS, but at least I'm going into it with an idea on how to fix it.

Not necessarily; the trope is pretty clear. You wouldn't be splitting the trope so much as removing misuse and putting that misuse elsewhere.

Hmm, true. I guess it's only really cause for concern if the trope still gets misuse despite the creation of a new trope for said misuse.

I still need to check those wicks, though.

The title is why the misuse happens...

Though IMO I think the existing trope shouldn't be limited to Toon Physics anyway.

I mean...they mean different things...and are used differently...and are different tropes...but alright.

Your standard for what does and doesn't constitute separate tropes is a mystery to me, honestly. But since expanding the trope needs TRS and this idea just needs TLP, well...

I posted this on the Trope Finder Page and was informed by War Jay 77 that the user had seen examples of it as well, but it does not seem to be a trope, with the closest trope to it that falls short being "Acquited to Late".

"Please Come Back! Is there a "plot trope" for the often-used plot where a character is accused of great wrongdoing that they were not responsible for or are mistreated harshly by another character, only for different character(s) to not believe them and harshly punish or shun them as a result of their perceived crime/lie, and the punished/shunned character leaves, only for the accuser(s) to have a My God What Have I Done Moment after somehow realizing their mistake, whether they figure it out on their own or another character points it out to them, and beg the mistreated character for forgiveness and to "come back" while apologizing and admitting their wrongdoing in regards to how they treated them?

So, even though the basic plot of the "plot trope" I offered may be rather specific in places, and for that, I am sorry for possibly having poorly explained the trope, I have seen it happen in many forms of media and enjoy it. Is it a trope, and does it have an entry already? I think it fits somewhere in the apology trope index and would be a "common plot" trope like the Beach Episode trope, but further specifics as to how it would be categorized illude me."

An example of this nascent trope I can easily point to is in the Fairly Odd Parents Channel Chasers TV Movie. In your opinion, is this trope idea worthy of being posted in the Trope Launch Pad, and if it is would somebody else be willing to adopt and it take charge of it, seeing as I personally do not feel I have the skills necessary to do so? Thank you.

Edited by Electrotechman on May 24th 2020 at 8:14:07 AM

I do think it's a good idea, perhaps partially covered by tropes like Was Too Hard on Him but in this case if it's specifically that they were misblamed and driven away, that's a bit of a different case.

The example I can point to might not necessarily be an "episode" type trope because it occurs in an arc-based show over the course of a few episodes, but basically one character was believed to be a traitor and ostracized by her friends while the real traitor was getting off scot-free, and it got to the point where she decided to just say Screw This, I'm Outta Here. That was the same day one of her friends finally learned the truth and had a massive My God, What Have I Done? moment and attempted to get in contact with her. Things...got a bit crazy from there, but that's how it went down.

Edited by WarJay77 on May 24th 2020 at 4:33:36 AM

Are you willing to adopt this trope, as someone with prior experience, and see it through to launching?

Maybe, if you'd feel more comfortable, but I think you should give it a shot. If you just take your time and listen to feedback, you'll find launching a trope isn't so hard.

I would appreciate it if someone experienced were to be at the helm of this trope; someone like you. The only thing I ask, if I can ask for anything, is that if there is a way or something that records who is responsible for "recording" a trope, that I be given some form of credit for coming up with it. .. This is my first trope, having been a lurker until now, and it is my favorite trope. Also, most importantly, I have absolutely no idea how you guys do any of the formatting you do, and it feels like it would just be an exercise in anxiety and frustration for me.

Edited by Electrotechman on May 24th 2020 at 9:03:40 AM