ITT post your favorite overused tropes

[Auxiliatrix]

Butler characters: Carlton, C3P0, Alfred. Butlers are the best

Agreed.

I sometimes like when something fairly innocuous and previously irrelevant ends up coming in handy during an important moment. In this case, the example I'm thinking of is the Grappling Hook in Gravity Falls.

[West Filly]

Carlton is the butler now IDGAF

[Mr. Big]

I sometimes like when something fairly innocuous and previously irrelevant ends up coming in handy during an important moment. In this case, the example I'm thinking of is the Grappling Hook in Gravity Falls.

A similar thing I remember (also from Disney, oddly enough) is a Donald Duck cartoon where a bear, wanting to avoid the hunting season, hides out in Donald's cabin by hiding a bear rug and taking its place. In the end of the cartoon, when Donald leaves, the "rug" from earlier suddenly comes out and thanks the bear for taking his place. By then, everyone forgot about the scene, which made it funnier

[Daikatuna]

Carlton is the butler now IDGAF

*dances*

[W.T. Fits]

[Daikatuna]

that's the stuff

[Auxiliatrix]

By then, everyone forgot about the scene, which made it funnier.

This reminds me of the "Bag of Mulch" joke in Bojack Horseman.

[Pocket]

The joke where someone goes "Even X?" and the other person replies "Especially X." I dunno, as many times as I've heard it, it always manages to be funny.

[Adiwan]

Just a few moments ago I read the latest issue of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #31 and it reminded me of the trope of doing things (wacky or useful) when the time stands still (or goes very slowly).

[Momo]

The joke where someone goes "Even X?" and the other person replies "Especially X." I dunno, as many times as I've heard it, it always manages to be funny.

[Auxiliatrix]

A recent trope that I've been enjoying quite a bit is when a musical number is addressed outside of the context of the song. MLP has been doing this on occasion as of late, such as in "All Bottled Up" and "Forgotten Friendship".

[Highbrow Dash]

A recent trope that I've been enjoying quite a bit is when a musical number is addressed outside of the context of the song. MLP has been doing this on occasion as of late, such as in "All Bottled Up" and "Forgotten Friendship".

And in the movie, of course

[W.T. Fits]

I love a good Heel Realization. That moment when a character, who up until this point has been acting under the belief that they're justified in their actions, that they're in the right... suddenly has their behavior called into question in a way that it suddenly dawns on them that no, they're not in the right. And there's no denying, no passing the blame on to someone else... they have to come face to face with the fact that their actions and the choices they made have led them to this point, and that in fact they are the villain of the story and not the hero.

Sometimes it's played for laughs ("Hans... are we the baddies?"), sometimes it's played for drama. And sometimes it leads to a moment where the character actually steps back from the brink and decides, "No, I don't want to be the bad guy. I never wanted to be the bad guy," and actually grows as a person and become a more well-rounded character for it, like Dr. Venture in the "The Doctor is Sin" during Season 3 of The Venture Bros.

And sometimes...



Well, sometimes it just ends in tragedy.

[West Filly]

I love it when they make alternate versions of themes to keep a character's theme music in different moods.

Example from Steven Universe: Opal, who is the fusion of Amethyst and Pearl, has a theme.



24 seconds into the video you'll hear a piano melody starting to come in.

When Amethyst and Pearl make up after a fight, a small piece of that melody plays.



This happens all the time. It even happens in Solo when a certain character appears in a hologram. Theme tunes, but not just the straight up theme tune: an adapted theme tune to match a new situation.

[Mr. Big]

Another one I love: a recurring character in a show who has a different job whenever they appear (usually relating to whatever the episode's plot is).

Examples in cartoons include Rancid Rabbit in "CatDog", Hollywood in "2 Stupid Dogs", Mr. Barkin in "Kim Possible", Larry in "The Amazing World of Gumball", and Uncle Ruckus in "Boondocks" (the latter even pointed it out, stating that he holds dozens of jobs simultaneously).

[Pocket]

Fun fact: At one point, back when I was doing a regular webcomic, I had planned for one of the lead characters to end up in that very position, getting repeatedly bounced around from one job to another because he just can't catch a break. Because he got so little screen time except when he's at home, most of it would have gone unremarked; he'd just suddenly be working somewhere completely different from the last time it cut to him at work. The comic didn't last long enough for it to stick, though.

[Smoke]

I love it when they make alternate versions of themes to keep a character's theme music in different moods.

Example from Steven Universe: Opal, who is the fusion of Amethyst and Pearl, has a theme.



24 seconds into the video you'll hear a piano melody starting to come in.

When Amethyst and Pearl make up after a fight, a small piece of that melody plays.



This happens all the time. It even happens in Solo when a certain character appears in a hologram. Theme tunes, but not just the straight up theme tune: an adapted theme tune to match a new situation.

This is known as a leitmotif. It even shows up in pony episodes a few times in the background music, and in a lighter form as the choice of instruments for character songs.

It's also a thing I enjoy myself by the way, especially because of the amount of ways to implement it.

[Fizzbuzz]

Did you ever play Undertale? That game's soundtrack is basically a case study in that concept.

[Gloomy Rube]

leitmotifs are good and I love them

[Smoke]

Yep, played Undertale although I should pick it up again. I also like it when a bit of the title theme is reused in the final boss theme, such as in Chrono Trigger and Terranigma.

[Gloomy Rube]

I love fake endings to games. Where you're like "finally I defeated the final boss" and then NOPE there's a whole new overworld to explore or major post game plot to go through. The more fake endings the better, more video game!

[Princess Flufflebutt]

I love fake endings to games. Where you're like "finally I defeated the final boss" and then NOPE there's a whole new overworld to explore or major post game plot to go through. The more fake endings the better, more video game!

I feel like I've encountered this several times but I can't recall it.

[Aramek]

Not played it, but Okami.

[Gloomy Rube]

I feel like I've encountered this several times but I can't recall it.

Dragon Warrior/Quest 3 had it, Lunar 2 (Might have been Lunar 1, those games blended together a bit) had a minor version of it where it was more of an epilogue but you still had to go around the overworld gathering your party again before the big final boss fight so I think it counts, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon always has an extensive post-game including lots of extra plot so I count it... it's mostly a JRPG thing, Okami is one of the few non-RPGs I can think of that had this thing happen.

[Fizzbuzz]

Kid Icarus: Uprising did it extremely well. It's to the point where I feel bad saying that the game even has a fake ending, even though the game is well over six years old at this point.

[Pocket]

BioShock kind of did it.

[Princess Flufflebutt]

Oh right. Thank yous.

[diribigal]

More Non-RPGs with fake endings:
Donkey Kong Country
Super Mario 3D World
Metal Gear Solid 2?

[Perrydotto]

Monkey Island 3

[PhoolCat]

When the Villain finally reveals the Big Trap that has caught the Hero(es) with no possible means of escape, only to have the Hero(es) reveal that they knew all along and have taken steps to have an escape - but only when done subtly and cleverly, with clues to the audience that get missed until they rewatch/reread.

Bit like the Dresden book, Skin Game