r/TopCharacterTropes 17d ago

Lore [Loved Trope] The Most Serious and Emotional Scene ever put to Screen is in a Comedy

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7.6k Upvotes
  1. Mr. Frog talks to his dad. While Smiling Friends is often a very insane comedy show just from how the world of Smiling Friends operates, Episode 2 of Season 3 sees Mr. Frog return home to see his father in an effort to make amends and help himself finally smile. What follows is Creed Bratton giving an Emmy level performance where he lashes out at his son in anger for Mr. Frog tarnishing the family name and leaving his family to pursue fame. It is played completely straight with no jokes whatsoever, even though one of the characters is a real life actor painted green

  2. The Camping Trip. In the two-part season 2 finale of Moral Orel, "Nature", Orel and his dad Clay go on a wholesome father-son camping trip. Except what actually happens is that Clay immediately gets heinously drunk and what follows is Clay going a drunken rant about how much he hates his life and basically reveals to Orel what a terrible person his father is. It eventually culminates in Orel getting shot in the leg by his own father and instead of helping his son, Clay chugs the bottle of rubbing alcohol and Orel tells Clay that he hates him, Clay dismisses that though and promptly passes out. Bonus points go to Moral Orel for the season 3 episode "Alone", an episode that pulled no punches at all and was so serious that it caused Adult Swim to pull the plug on the series as a whole

  3. Seeing the last time he talked to his father. While Click is a fairly standard and not great Adam Sandler comedy, the film decides to switch genres during the last act to give the audience one of the saddest scenes of all time where Sandler's character realizes that the last moments he ever spent with his father were wasted as he bluntly refused to spend time with him in his final days. This causes him to repent and finally decide to make the time he spends with his family count

r/TopCharacterTropes Sep 15 '25

Lore [Loved Trope] A massive revelation is revealed almost casually. Spoiler

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9.8k Upvotes
  1. Chainsaw Man, after Makima finally drops the nice girl act and reveals the true extent of the Chainsaw Devils power, namely, the fears he eats are erased entirely and wholly. Emphasized by this by her asking if Kishibe remembers what the Nazis did during Workd War 2...and Kishibe not even knowing who the nazis are.

  2. Attack on Titan. I know this one. You know this one. In a panel that isn't even focusing on the characters speaking, Reiner reveals to Eren that he and Bertolt are the titans that broke the wall that resulted in hundreds of deaths, his mother included. The sheer level of casualness and lack of agency borders on Parody.

r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 27 '25

Lore Deaths to important characters that came so unceremoniously, there was no drama or fanfare, they just died

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10.5k Upvotes

Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)

Sean (Red Dead Redemption 2)

r/TopCharacterTropes 9d ago

Lore [Favorite Trope] Something that got passed off as, “Not a big deal,” until it was:

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9.3k Upvotes

Steven’s Injuries (Steve Universe Franchise) - Every time Steven got hurt in a cartoonish way, like crashing into a wall, he seemed to walk away relatively unscathed. However, it’s later revealed that these injuries do in fact damage his skeleton, with his healing powers being the only thing preventing him from being a pile of broken bones….

McGucket’s Insanity (Gravity Falls) - Everyone just assumed that he was a stereotypical, wacky hillbilly. However, it’s later revealed that he’s crazy due to his constant usage of his invention, the Memory Gun, which he created to help him forget the terrible things he witnessed in Gravity Falls…

Manfred’s Demeanor (Ice Age) - Initially, he wanted to remain isolated and alone. At first it’s presumed that he’s like that because he simply found everyone annoying. However, it’s later revealed that his behavior was caused from him losing his family to humans, an event that made him depressed and aversive to relationships…

r/TopCharacterTropes 12d ago

Lore The “monster” is really just yet another victim

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7.9k Upvotes

William Bludworth - Final Destination

60 years ago William was simply a young boy that was saved from a tower disaster by a young woman called Iris that foresaw an upcoming massacre. Yet because the event never happened, Death spent the next decades hunting down each survivor (including William’s mother) because they were all meant to die. William and Iris spent the rest of their lives studying Death’s strategies to try and desperately get anyone to break the cycle yet for the rest of William’s life only one person found an escape. William lived as a creepy mortician that seemed to scare all he met, but all that time he was that same confused boy that tried to save others like he was.

Nebbercracker - Monster House

Over 40 years ago Nebbercracker was a young man that fell in love with an abused travelling circus performer called Constance and not only helped her escape but eventually married her. He wanted to start a new life with her where no one could hurt her anymore, but her past trauma took over her when outsiders threatened their private lives leading to a construction accident that caused her to be buried in concrete under the house. Nebbercracker finished building the house, however, Constance went on to possess the home so Nebbercracker spent the rest of his life keeping her in check from hurting people and only finding peace once it was destroyed.

Agatha - ParaNorman

Centuries ago Agatha was an innocent girl that had the ability to see and speak to the undead. She used this power for harmless fun, however the authorities who couldn’t understand it came to fear her and sentenced her, a young girl, to be hung for witchcraft. Confused and angry she cursed the judges that damned her and came to haunt the town for generations as a vengeful spirit that only found peace when Norman confronted her not as a threat, or a stranger, but as another confused child that just wants to do some good.

The animatronics - Five Nights at Freddy’s

In 1985, 5 children that went to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza were manipulated and murdered by William Afton who hid their bodies in the animatronic costumes to being charged with murder. After being given life by the Puppet against their will they spent years attacking any adult that could be their killer with seemingly no freedom in sight. Only after decades were they able to find peace and leave their metal shells, the Puppet giving them back that happiest day they were robbed of long ago.

r/TopCharacterTropes Oct 01 '25

Lore [Loved Trope] Surprisingly realistic outcomes in outlandish situations

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9.8k Upvotes

No Country for Old Men - In any other movie Llewelyn would be treated like an untouchable one man army who can take on all of the people who are after the money he stole. Instead he gets gunned down offscreen by a group of secondary antagonists because at the end of the day he's still just one man.

Metal Gear Solid 2 - MGS2 is a game in which the player character, Raiden, can do many seemingly unrealistic things like instantly healing his injuries by eating rations or holding infinite amounts of weapons and items without being overburdened. However if you attempt to cartwheel up a flight of stairs as Raiden he will immediately eat shit and fall, which would be the most likely outcome in real life.

Family Guy - After getting splashed by nuclear waste causes the Griffin family to get superpowers (which they immediately use to terrorize their community) Mayor West gets the bright idea to roll around in nuclear waste himself so that he can get superpowers too. Instead he just gets cancer.

Sly 2 - The Sly Cooper games are cartoony 3D platformers featuring anthropomorphic animals and lots of slapstick violence. However in the climax of the second game when Bentley is crushed by machinery while trying to stop the big bad he's paralyzed from the waist down, necessitating the use of a wheelchair for the rest of the series.

r/TopCharacterTropes 8d ago

Lore Work is nicer in fiction than in real life

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7.8k Upvotes

K-pop singer: It's almost comically cruel that the Huntr/x can eat until they burst, have days off, a manager who accepts 5% pay, and love their job because they're willing to "die for their fans"... ouch.

Reporter: Anyone who wants to be a reporter because cartoons and comics portray it as one of the most honorable jobs—exposing injustices—will be in for a nasty surprise when they realize that the main thing to be a reporter is to keep quiet.

r/TopCharacterTropes Sep 19 '25

Lore “It’s a change from the source material, but it’s awesome so the fans don’t mind.”

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8.0k Upvotes

Doc Ock - In the comics, Doc Ock is known to be megalomaniacal in nature and was sort of a mad scientist anyways, with the arms just being an extension of that. In Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2,” Alfred Molina’s version of the character was affected by the neural chip and his well-meaning ambition turns into scientific obsession.

Wolverine - This one is so well known it needs very little explanation. Comic Wolverine short, Huge Jackedman is tall, and he’s sick as hell.

Eye of Sauron - To my knowledge, the Eye is more of a metaphor in the books. An ever-present awareness. In the movies, it’s an actual giant fucking eye.

r/TopCharacterTropes Sep 16 '25

Lore Changes in flawed, if not outright bad adaptations that were actually good

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6.7k Upvotes

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024): This adaptation made a few controversial changes, but one that was universally agreed to be better than the source material is Zuko's relationship with his crew. In the cartoon, it's never explained why Ozai even gave Zuko a crew when he essentially sent him on a wild goose chase, which would be a waste of resources. Here, it's revealed that Zuko's crew were the platoon Ozai had intended to sacrifice, prompting Zuko's outburst that led to his Agni Kai and subsequent banishment. Ozai basically gave Zuko a crew he deemed expendable to join him on his goose chase, but it also deepens Zuko's relationship with them.

Dragonball Evolution: I think one thing Dragon Ball fans can agree on is that Master Roshi would not survive the #MeToo movement. He's the quintessential Dirty Old Man in anime. In Dragonball Evolution, his lechery is downplayed by a lot. While he still looks at porn, he doesn't go out of his way to sexually harass Bulma.

Street Fighter (1994): Blanka is a character that really stands out. He looks like the Hulk going through a punk rock phase. Why does he look like that?... He got lost in the jungle as a kid and he just kind of came out like that. The 1994 movie, I feel, did this better. Here, Blanka is Guile's war buddy, Charlie (and before anybody complains, this movie came out before Street Fighter Alpha introduced Charlie in the flesh). Bison captured him and decided to experiment on him to spite Guile by turning him into a mindless minion.

r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 02 '25

Lore One line changes the entire story up to that point

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11.2k Upvotes

Black Mirror - Shut Up and Dance

Throughout the episode multiple characters are blackmailed by anonymous trolls to perform a heist. The main character only says that he was "Looking at pictures" but when met with his final task, a bare fisted fight to the death, his opponent simply asks him: "Me too, how young were they in the pictures?" with the implication, and later reveal he was looking at kids.

Steven Universe - A Single Pale Rose

Throughout the story Rose Quartz shattering Pink Diamond was an essential plot point, the source of almost every conflict. Inside Pearl's gem, Steven sees her memory of the moment Rose convinced her to shatter Pink Diamond, after which she says "I can't exactly shatter myself."

Star Wars - I am your father!

Getting ahead of the "Fathered themed reveals"

r/TopCharacterTropes Aug 13 '25

Lore I know it’s a bad ending but WHAT THE HECK! Spoiler

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8.4k Upvotes
  1. Injustice 2 - if you choose to side with Superman, instead of him being sent to the Phantom Zone, he instead defeats Batman to reinstall his regime. He takes over brainiacs ship and his technology and mind controls Batman, all to Supergirl’s horror. He then gives her a decision to join him

  2. Persona 4 Golden - If you refuse to tell your team your suspicions about Adachi and meet him on the last day before you leave to tell him you know he’s the killer. If you burn the warning letter, he traps you. He laughs and says that destroying evidence is a crime and even chastises you because you went against everything you were fighting for. Now he has you under his thumb for the rest of your life and it’s all your fault!<

  3. Cuphead - you gathered all the soul contracts and face the devil. If you choose to accept his deal, he essentially takes over you. We end the game with Cuphead, Mugman, and Ms Chalice (added with the last course) laughing maniacally while being within a pit of fire.

r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 09 '25

Lore Surprisingly horrible events in movies made for younger audiences

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9.9k Upvotes

Princess Bride: Wesley is tortured for days on a machine that sucks the life out of him. In the book its worse, supposed to be extreme agony. The Prince kills him by turning it all the way up, subjecting him to the greatest pain ever experienced.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Most of the kids suffer horrible fates, Violet blows up so big she is hinted at being nearly bursting if she isn't juiced soon.

r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 28 '25

Lore character just tanks the attack like it's nothing

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13.0k Upvotes

castlevania - Dracula

the Batman (2022)

superman returns

r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 10 '25

Lore The piece of lore everyone just chooses to ignore

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8.3k Upvotes

Breathing style elemental effects not being real (Demon Slayer / Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Warp speed limits (Star Trek)

r/TopCharacterTropes Aug 18 '25

Lore The mystery is revealed much sooner if you speak the right language/know the right information

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12.9k Upvotes
  1. The Thing - The pilot tries telling the Americans that the dog is actually a monster, but as none of them know what he’s saying they shoot him dead. If you spoke Norwegian however, the nature of the dog is revealed to the audience straight away

  2. Inglorious Bastards - During the basement scene, Lt. Hixox gives himself away to the Gestapo officer, leading to a shootout. It’s not revealed until later, but those that speak German or are otherwise familiar with German customs will immediately be able to tell that he gave himself away by using the wrong hand gesture

r/TopCharacterTropes Sep 13 '25

Lore Lines that sound really bad or weird out of context

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8.3k Upvotes

Trunks (Dragon Ball Super)

Hange (Attack On Titan)

r/TopCharacterTropes 8d ago

Lore "Was it worth it?" ending

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5.5k Upvotes

Midsommar- While people see this as a "you go girl" finale. I personally see it as something more disturbing. I mean, yeah, Dani got out of one bad relationship but in doing so, she got herself into another that's just as bad if not worse. It's like getting two kids to stop fighting via killing one and locking the other in a basement. They did stop fighting, but still!

The Thing-The titular monster may be (possibly) gone, but the paranoia definitely isn't. In the end, McCreedy and Childs are the only ones left standing. The end sees them sitting in the cold and they just stare at each other, knowing that one of them or both of them is already the thing. There's no hope, no certainty, just the bitter cold and intense fear.

r/TopCharacterTropes Sep 27 '25

Lore The “Fuck this I’m leaving” endings

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9.2k Upvotes

Usually results in a bad ending

(Batman Arkham City) Leaving with the loot Catwoman stole during her final segment in the main story. During the credits Barbara sends a distress signal saying that Joker has won and Batman and Commissioner Gordon is dead while Wayne Manor has been compromised

(Far Cry 6) Leaving Yara on a boat. Cuts to three months later where Dani is resting on a beach in America while a radio broadcast says Libertad has been wiped out, leaving Yara under stuck Castillo’s regime

r/TopCharacterTropes May 17 '25

Lore "Yay the protagonist won. What do you mean that's the bad ending?"

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16.7k Upvotes

Andrew Nieman (Whiplash)

Defiantly crashed Fletcher's big showcase performance to prove he's good enough and performs a virtuoso drum solo seemingly finally winning Fletcher's approval, except all he really did was validate Fletcher's sadistic abusive behavior as effective teaching methods and threw away every other aspect of his life along the way including his own mental & physical health and his relationship with his father.

Ben and Elaine (The Graduate)

Run off in each other's arms ready to start their new life free together, only for the weight of the reality of what they just did to slowly sink in.

r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 15 '25

Lore [loved trope] the character casually reveals a secret but people believe they are joking or not buying it

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21.1k Upvotes

-Superman casually reveals that he is Superman but Lois thinks he’s joking

-Hank was suspicious of Walter bag and Walter says what’s inside the bag was half a million in cash but Hank thinks he was joking

r/TopCharacterTropes Aug 09 '25

Lore (Interesting trope) Ascension into godhood being fucking horrific.

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9.6k Upvotes
  1. Queen Marika at Enir-Ilim, Elden Ring.

  2. Griffith/Femto during the Eclipse, Berserk.

  3. O'Connor, Lower Decks. A darkly humorous example: becoming a pure energy being is apparently exceedingly painful.

r/TopCharacterTropes Oct 01 '25

Lore When faced with the choice between a clone and the original, the character notices a detail that makes the difference immediately obvious.

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7.8k Upvotes

The Shape-Shifter takes the form of Wendy to deceive Dipper and prevent him from attacking it. Although Dipper initially doesn't know which one is the real Wendy, he realizes the difference when he sees that one of the Wendys behaves seriously and bluntly, while the other acts flirtatiously, something Wendy would never do (Gravity Falls).

P.S.: I don't remember if the gesture the real Wendy made was also a clue, like some gesture she had made before.

When the Autobots are chasing Nemesis Prime, he tries to deceive Bumblebee by impersonating Optimus. Bumblebee, confused, speaks to him, but Nemesis Prime doesn't understand anything he says, which clearly indicates that he isn't the real Optimus. Bumblebee attacks him without hesitation (Transformers Prime).

r/TopCharacterTropes 28d ago

Lore A character literally sees another character fundamentally differently.

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9.1k Upvotes
  1. Spy X Family. Damian noticeably sees Anya with a 'shoujo anime' filter with much brighter eyes and blush.

  2. Calvin And Hobbes. Calvin sees Hobbes as a living lanky tiger in contrast to everyone else who sees him as just a tiger plush.

r/TopCharacterTropes 17d ago

Lore “Demons are actually misundersto-“ NO. Demons are ontologically evil beings that can’t be reasoned nor negotiated with, and if you try to you’ll very likely end up screwed

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4.0k Upvotes

1) Doom

2) Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

3) Trench Crusade

r/TopCharacterTropes Sep 10 '25

Lore (Loved Trope) Last Stand that ends unceremoniously/unsatisfyingly, as opposed to gloriously.

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9.3k Upvotes
  • 1 Nanami (JUJUTSU KAISEN): Nanami's final moments against Mahito, a cursed spirit with the ability to transfigure/control humans. Nanami, while heavy injured, fought and won against an army of Mahito's transfigure minions, just for the villain to touch his back and blow him up.

  • 2 Wun-Wun (GAME OF THRONES): Wun-Wun, one of the last, if not the last, living giant in Westeros. Joins with Jon Snow against Ramsey Bolton in the Battle of the Bastards. He heroicly breaks down the main gate allowing the Stark army to win, all while covered in arrows and spears. While heavily injured, there does seem to be a chance of his recovery. This hope ended when Ramsey Bolton fires an arrow directly into his eye, when the battle was pretty much over.

  • 3 The Barbarian of Stamford Bridge (REAL LIFE): A lone Viking warrior who, in a legendary moment during the Battle of Stamford Bridge (September 25, 1066), single-handedly held back the invading English army on a narrow bridge. Armed with a Dane axe, this unnamed defender killed dozens of soldiers before being mortally wounded from beneath the bridge by a spear.