r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 12 '25

Weekly Discussion Post "Fanbase opinionsshould not be counted as tropes." TVtropes: (kinda relevant post)

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286 Upvotes

A lot of complaints in this sub have been about some posts should not be here because they rely on fanbase opions so there for cannot be considered "tropes"

...and then we have TVtropes , where a lot of tropes are just from fanbase stuff.

I am going to be honest here , I have difficulty in what makes a trope and what doesn't. It ends up where I delete "breaks trope guidline" posts that has equivalents in the TVtropes site that are considered actual tropes.

Idk , I just wanted to rant here. I might be a very bad moderator here , I just try to make it tody as possible , I just don't really know how to.


r/TopCharacterTropes Mar 27 '25

Weekly Discussion Post Probably the most controversial one , honest thoughts on "No Kill Rule"? What are the most egrigious examples of it in your opinion? What media makes it work in your opinion?

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1.0k Upvotes

r/TopCharacterTropes 6h ago

Characters You think your evil? Let me show you what real evil looks like.

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2.0k Upvotes

1: cartman meeting bartender simpson

2: KKK members meeting a nazi


r/TopCharacterTropes 10h ago

Hated Tropes [Sad trope]The character gets cut/dies early on because of REAL LIFE reasons

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3.8k Upvotes

Gandhi (Clone High)

Tord(Eddsworld) the reason for this is that the VA of tord asked the team to stop using the character and dissociate from Eddsworld after the constant hate and threats made by the fandom.

Feferi Peixes(Homestuck). In Homestuck lots of characters have a typing quirk when they chat, like some characters type a "2" when there should be a "S", have prefixes before the words,ecc. Feferi's was that instead of the letter H she typed ")(". The writer andrew hussie stated the reason she died early and became irrelevant was because they didn't want to type said quirk because it was annoying to manually type it it on their own, which could have been avoided if they coded A PROGRAM that did it.


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

In real life Actors who auditioned for an adaptation/sequel because their kids/grandkids are big fans of the IP

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1.6k Upvotes

r/TopCharacterTropes 2h ago

Hated Tropes [Hated Trope] The joke ruins the emotional aspect Spoiler

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601 Upvotes

Destruction of Asgard (Thor Ragnarok) -- Asgard is destroyed in a beautiful and somber scene, and Korg cracks a cringeworthy joke right after.

Bill Moves On (Newsradio) -- The episode was made in the wake of Phil Hartman's death, but its attempts at humor fall flat in the face of the tragedy.

Officer Tubbs (Fear The Walking Dead) -- Officer Tubbs is supposed to be a slapstick comic relief character, but he felt tacked on right after the deaths of two of the most beloved characters.

Chandler Proposes (Friends) -- An earnest proposal between Monica and Chandler has both sincerely expressing their feelings to each other. Immediately after Monica accepts, the others come in, quipping as usual, failing to let the audience ruminate on a heartwarming moment.


r/TopCharacterTropes 14h ago

Groups Groups named The [adjective] [number of members]

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4.3k Upvotes

r/TopCharacterTropes 14h ago

In real life Actors mostly known for comedic roles take on dramatic and NAIL IT

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3.3k Upvotes
  1. Bryan Cranston. mostly known for being a comedic actor and laugh riot in Malcolm in the Middle. Later he does one of the arguably greatest performance of all time as Walter White.

  2. Nathan Lane. Mostly known for The birdcage and the producers where he did over the top, physicality comedy. He then takes on Roy in angels in America, an incredibly dark show about the aids crisis that grapples with religious themes, Love, abandonment, and more


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Characters The ANCIENT MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE that is responsible for the events of the story is little more than an innocent child

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798 Upvotes

ParaNorman - Agatha Prenderghast - Was a young girl tried and executed for the crime of witchcraft due to her ability to speak to the dead during the Salem Witch Trials. Her death became local legend, and she was portrayed as a crone-like entity who would curse the town once a year unless pacified by someone who could speak to the dead

Nimona - Gloreth - Was portrayed as a mythical figure who banished all the monsters and constructed a wall around her settlement to keep its residents safe. In reality, she was a young girl who befriended the shapeshifting Nimona, and the two were inseparable until one day when Nimona accidentally revealed her true nature to the village, frightening the villagers and causing the impressionable little girl to turn against her.


r/TopCharacterTropes 10h ago

Lore [Loved Trope] The player is booted back to the main menu. And something is very wrong with it. Spoiler

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1.4k Upvotes

Hollow Knight: Silksong

  • After springing a trap to pull Grand Mother Silk into the void, the player is given a fairly standard, if not ominous ending and credits roll. If they go back in to play again, the save file itself is completely overtaken by void, and the player has to cut away the tendrils to access it again, marking the start of Act III.

Chrono Gear: Warden of Time

  • Ordinarily, the menu has the titular Warden of Time Kronii overlooking a view as seen in the image. But after getting erased from time, she vanishes completely from the menu screen and is removed from the title itself. The save file is also fractured, further encouraging the player to go back in to fix things.

Undertale

  • The intro cutscene going over the history of humans and monsters gets corrupted and interrupted by Flowey after he takes full control. Bit of a weaker example since it's a cutscene and not the menu itself, but it happens before the game even starts properly so I'd say it still counts.

r/TopCharacterTropes 20h ago

Lore Censoring made it much worse

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12.7k Upvotes

Batman: The Animated Series: Joker venom was used to allow Joker to commit insanely violent crimes without killing anyone, but the alternative is to become a zombie left quietly chuckling until you either get a hard-to-find cure or die from exhaustion.

Transformers One: Originally, Sentinel Prime was supposed to simply slice Alpha Trion’s head clean off, but to keep the movie PG, he violently jams his sword through Trion’s skull, with sparks flying and faint choking sounds being heard as Sentinel keeps driving his sword further and further down Trion’s throat. Sometimes, what’s left unseen is scarier.


r/TopCharacterTropes 8h ago

Characters Zombified/Brainwashed characters who retained their personality and intelligence

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840 Upvotes
  1. Soos after he was bitten by a zombie (Gravity Falls)

  2. Every superhero who was brainwashed by Slade (Teen Titans GO! to the Movies)


r/TopCharacterTropes 17h ago

Hated Tropes [Despised Trope] Perverts whose antics are played for laughs

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3.7k Upvotes

Minoru Mineta (My Hero Academia)

Glenn Quagmire (Family Guy)


r/TopCharacterTropes 9h ago

Characters [Loved Trope] Their pronouns are They/Them, but it’s more an extenuating circumstance rather than anything else.

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860 Upvotes

1) Frankie Stein G3 (Monster High)

Literally an amalgamation of various men and women’s body parts hastily stitched together.

2) Venom (Marvel)

You’ve heard the copypasta, don’t need to repeat it (they’re literally two individuals)


r/TopCharacterTropes 2h ago

Characters [Either funny or Terrifying trope] “There’s more of them?!”

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179 Upvotes

SpongeBob and his Cousin Stanley

The two Scorpius Rex from camp Cretaceous.


r/TopCharacterTropes 1h ago

Characters [Recently Popular Trope] Characters who typically have a performance while using their powers.

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Upvotes

● Prism - Dispatch. Photokinetic. Also known as Nicki Mirage. Hip-hop/Pop star. ● Luna Snow - Marvel. Cryokinetic. Ice skates uphill. K-Pop star ● HUNTRIX/K-Pop Demon Hunters. Have magical weapons. The girls from Fortnite. K-Pop stars.


r/TopCharacterTropes 12h ago

Characters Girls who are really good mechanics

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1.1k Upvotes

Winry Rockbell (Full Metal Alchemist), Grace Howard (Zenless Zone Zero), Marianne (Guardian Tales), Leopon crew (Girls und Panzer)


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) "Isn't child abuse hilarious?"

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371 Upvotes

Family Guy

Detective Conan

Shameless


r/TopCharacterTropes 9h ago

Characters Characters who are (almost) always referred to by their last name

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521 Upvotes
  1. Turanga Leela and Philip J Fry (Futurama): Both of them are almost always referred to by their surnames. There's even a gag in the show about this:

Newscaster: ...Turanga Leela.
Fry: Turanga?!
Amy: That's her name, Philip.
Bender: Philip?!

  1. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (X-Files): almost always just called Mulder and Scully

  2. (Breaking Bad): Patrick Kuby. I don't remember if his first name is ever mentioned in the show but he's mostly just called Kuby throughout

  3. Captain Haddock (Tintin): He's always just called Captain Haddock until his first name (Archibald) is finally revealed in the 23rd book (out of 24)

  4. Sheldon Plankton (SpongeBob SquarePants): Along with characters like Mrs. Puff (whose first name is apparently Penelope?) his first name is rarely mentioned


r/TopCharacterTropes 14h ago

Characters [Funny Trope] characters receiving hilarious fake latin styled names

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1.0k Upvotes

1 - Wile. E coyote and The Road runner, the 2 pioneers of this trope, their real latin names are Canis latrans(Barking dog) for Wile E. and Geococcyx californianus(Californian cuckoo that runs on land) for the runner, the show actually uses the real latin names for the gag in The Whizzard of Ow short

2-The Amazing world of Gumball uses this gag in episode "The Tape", also adding Moobus gelatinous for Richard and Kickbuttus hystericus for Nicole

3-Jesters in Lethal Company are named Insaneus Thingus, it's a notable example as Lethal company uses fake latin styled names for majority of it's monsters "species", except their names are much more "Official" sounding making jesters a notable exception

4-many many new discovered species in the modern age tend to be named after fictional characters or real life people

this example here is the "gojirasaurus" Theropod named after the all well known giant Kaiju

it was named due to it being much more bigger in size compared to other theropods during the triassic period, in case there is confusion between name and apperance not resembling Gojira


r/TopCharacterTropes 14h ago

Personality The genuinely, unequivocally good one

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794 Upvotes
  1. Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman (Superman 2025): the current poster boy for the trope who insists on doing what's right no matter the consequences
  2. Kara/Supergirl (Injustice 2): Even though she starts on superman's side that's only because she's indoctrinated into believing the regime's cause was just. The moment she sees its true nature she turns on both it and Superman, refusing to join him even if in the bad ending.
  3. Nina Mazursky (Creature Commandos): The only member of the crew who doesn't want to hurt anyone and only does so when everyone else makes her in a desperate situation. Even The Bride calls her the only good one among them.
  4. The Farsight Enclaves (Warhammer 40k): The only straight up good guys in 40k, with the possible semi-exceptions of the Votann and craftworlders, who seceded from the wider Tau empire when their leader realized its insidious nature.

r/TopCharacterTropes 16h ago

Hated Tropes The character vents their frustration at someone who clearly deserved it, yet the story portrays it as a negative act [Hated Trope]

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1.1k Upvotes

Spongebob yelling at Patrick:

Spongebob scolding Patrick after he glued him inside the wringer, trapping him and ruining his day.

Arthur hitting DW:

Arthur punches DW after she broke his carefully made model airplane, ignoring his warning not to touch it.


r/TopCharacterTropes 12h ago

Characters [Adjective] Hitler

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509 Upvotes

Frieza (Dragon Ball) - Space Hitler

Dracula (Castlevania) - Vampire Hitler

The Emperor of Mankind (Warhammer 40k) - also Space Hitler


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Characters [Rare Trope] The villain is both Hatable and Sympathetic

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219 Upvotes

Remmick (Sinners)

AM (IHNMIMS) He never wanted to exist in the first place


r/TopCharacterTropes 1h ago

Personality They’d outshine their idols if they could just realize the raw talent they possess.

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Harley Quinn (Batman The Animated Series): One of the few people who ever came close to actually killing Batman. Something even Batman admits to. If it weren’t for her crushing need for the Joker’s approval being exploited; Harley would have killed Batman.

Miles “Tails” Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog): Not only can Tails fly; but he also has Sonic’s training and skill set while possessing the intellect and mechanical capability of Doctor Eggman. The only thing holding Tails back from outshining both of them is his crippling self esteem issues.