"Hoo-Ah," Said the Bartender, "Say Hello to My Little Ice Cubes"

December 16, 2022 6:13 PM

Let's say you know you routinely see this certain trope in films or television. However, you have absolutely no idea how to even begin navigating TVTropes to find the name for it. TVTropes has your back: the Trope Finder forum, where community members will help you with their collective knowledge to find the trope you're describing.

(As an example: I recently wanted to know if a trope page existed for when you see a supposedly minor character on screen but you know they're going to be significant because they're played by Al Pacino. Yup.)

posted by MollyRealized (19 comments total)

👇
🔫

👉🍡👈
posted by clavdivs at 6:24 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]

(Cannoli emoji is fun to say.)
posted by zamboni at 6:42 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

Usually I backsolve by looking up the TVTropes pages for works that I know use the trope, or look for a related Index.
posted by zamboni at 6:50 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]

Cannoli emoji

What a wonderful phrase.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

Ain’t no passing craze.
posted by zamboni at 6:54 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]

Sometimes you can't find it, or the work's page has about 50,000 tropes on it already.

Or it just hasn't been added yet (especially with recent/currently airing works.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:19 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

for when you see a supposedly minor character on screen but you know they're going to be significant because they're played by Al Pacino

In fact they have a specific page for when Law & Order does that, because it's such their MO.
posted by traveler_ at 9:01 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]

I think I proposed this as an actual trope entry some years ago, but then life got in the way and never developed it, so I'm curious to know if this is now a proper Trope entry.

Basically: the trope involves the sorting systems available in many stories (notably YA fiction) and how in-universe almost every character is sorted into some category or other, and how that determines their entire life. Examples:

Harry Potter - houses, which seems to have lasting effects even beyond Hogwarts Homestuck - Aspect/Classes Divergent - Factions The Hunger Games - Districts (this is kind of a weird example because you don't technically get chosen for districts, you are born & raised there) Steven Universe - each gem type has a specific role

Ideally this will be the sort of system where fans people end up using those markers as ways to identify themselves IRL. Like those bios where it's like "XYZ. Slyther-puff. Mage of Heart. If I were a gem I'd be Mossanite" etc etc
posted by creatrixtiara at 1:02 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

I think it falls into either Fantastic Caste System or Grouped for your Convenience.
posted by sukeban at 3:41 AM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

Someone ask about the paint roller to the face during the opening credits montage.
posted by Servo5678 at 5:01 AM on December 17, 2022 [5 favorites]

Someone ask about the paint roller to the face during the opening credits montage.

In order to identify a trope, I’d imagine you’d need an actual example.
posted by zamboni at 5:15 AM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

In fact they have a specific page for when Law & Order does that, because it's such their MO.

And then when you are watching old reruns you have the game where some openning character is played by someone famous and you have to guess whether there appearance is pre or post fame to determine whether they are the mojor character or this is their first network bit.
posted by Mitheral at 5:30 AM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]

Because what I really needed was yet another way/reason to lose hours, days, months in glorious Trope-world.
posted by chavenet at 7:08 AM on December 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

(Cannoli emoji is fun to say.)

If you like that, go Google "arugula".
posted by crazy_yeti at 8:22 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

Let's say you're leading a well managed and productive life. Then someone posts TVTropes to the front page of The Blue and within a week you've lost your income and your shelter and you're wandering the city streets frantically hoping to find free wifi because it's fucking TVTropes and you can't look away.
posted by hippybear at 10:36 AM on December 17, 2022 [10 favorites]

TV Tropes: one more milestone in the LEGOization of the entire world.
posted by jamjam at 11:53 AM on December 17, 2022

Showing 1 - 20 of 103 matches for Warning: tvtropes across comments.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:33 PM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

Bury me in the TV Tropes website. I don't care that that's not scientifically feasible to do, it's where I belong.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

TV Tropes should have its own SCP classification number.
posted by signal at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2022 [6 favorites]