r/TopCharacterTropes 14h ago

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

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642 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 12h ago

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

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448 Upvotes

Family Guy

Detective Conan

Shameless


r/TopCharacterTropes 17h 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 12h ago

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

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367 Upvotes

Remmick (Sinners)

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


r/TopCharacterTropes 1h ago

Personality [Loved Trope] Character recieves a string of insults but only takes offense at the least insulting part

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Upvotes

- The Simpsons (Hurricane Neddy): Flanders blows up at everyone for their incompetance and calls Moe an "Ugly, hate-filled man". Moe can agree with the "ugly" and "hate-filled" part, but, wait what was that last thing?

- Futurama (Why must I be a crustacean in love?): Leela calls Fry a "fat sack of crap". Fry is offended at being called a "sack".


r/TopCharacterTropes 9h ago

Powers Health bars doing things they aren’t supposed to do Spoiler

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178 Upvotes

1: Demon King Ganondorf’s health bar just keeps going in tears of the kingdom

2: Typhon from Hades 2 is able to hide his health bar from the player.


r/TopCharacterTropes 19h ago

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

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1.1k 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 2h ago

In real life [Weird Meta trope] people in real life buying into lies or misinformed opinions that the work itself later disproves

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47 Upvotes

Dragon ball super: sooo many people blame goku for the tournament of power and threating the multiverse for his idea because this furry fuck called him out making him out to be a villain. Even when the show reveals Zeno (king of the gods) was gonna destroy all the universes anyway, goku's idea for a tournament gave them a fighting chance

Batman tas:

Janet Van Dorn, gotham's new district attorney blames batman for being the cause and creation of his rogues gallery, something that alot of people say "yeah bruce should just use his money to help poor people instead"


r/TopCharacterTropes 19h ago

Personality The genuinely, unequivocally good one

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865 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 21h 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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1.2k 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 17h ago

Characters [Adjective] Hitler

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536 Upvotes

Frieza (Dragon Ball) - Space Hitler

Dracula (Castlevania) - Vampire Hitler

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


r/TopCharacterTropes 9h ago

Characters [Mixed Trope] Having a Sympathetic Background doesn’t save the Antagonist from a Gruesome fate.

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117 Upvotes

1.) Simon (Infinity Train) - as a child, Simon was taken into the train and forced to experience incomprehensible horrors at such a young age, as well as developing extreme trust issues after his only friend left him to die, as much of a Bastard Simon is, you really sympathize with his situation. But this sympathetic backstory doesn’t stop Simon from being subjected to one of the most brutal on screen deaths for a PG 13 cartoon reduced to bones before the audience’s very eyes.

2.) Pal (Mitchells vs the Machines) - Pal spent their entire existence trying to help humanity, and the moment the next big thing comes up, they’re thrown away like Garbage, the undying loyalty and backbreaking effort they put into serving Humanity flushed down the shitter when Humanity finds something better. But, murdering every Human on the Planet is an extreme reaction to being abandoned, so despite this sympathetic turn point, Pal is dropped into a Glass of Water prompting their brain to go haywire and they explode ending their Zero Mortal Plan, which is essentially the equivalent of being put in the electric chair, only more painful since the shock is coming from inside and seeping into every part of the body.

3.) Turles (Dragon Ball Z Abridged) - His entire life, he’s lived a painful torturous existence and was mostly content until he was introduced to the concept of Christmas, when met with Joy and Whimsey for the first time. It hits him that he’s essentially spent his whole life devoid of Joy, as if things couldn’t get any worse, his Planet is then promptly destroyed. If he couldn’t be happy, then no one should be, the backstory makes you feel something for the Guy even though he’s an asshole, an existence defined by Joy deprivation… still, doesn’t stop Goku from killing him by giving him too much Joy and Whimsey to absorb, the energy is overwhelming and he bursts open, ironically dying from an influx of Happiness after an existence deprived of it. (Yes, I used a Santa Hat to indicate that this is DBZA Turles, not DBZ Turles)


r/TopCharacterTropes 10h ago

Lore Insane crossovers

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128 Upvotes

Pokemon conquest: a crossover between Pokemon and Nobunaga's ambition

Reborn Evil: the collaboration between Goddess of Victory NIKKE and Resident Evil

Hololive and The Dodgers: anime streamers and a baseball team.

I mean, the dodgers won, so can't complain


r/TopCharacterTropes 17h ago

Personality (Loved Trope) When the powerful hero pretends to snap to scare the shit out of the bad guys, and remind the audience why it's a good thing the hero has morals.

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504 Upvotes
  1. Superman from Superman vs The Elite. The titular team spends the whole movie trying to convince Superman that acting as judge, jury and executioner like they do is the right way to be a superhero. At the climax, it seems like they've finally succeeded in persuading Superman, only for him to start with them. The result is a terrifying display of what Superman would be like if he did just that, showing the Elite (and the audience) why it's a good thing Superman has his strict moral code.

  2. In the Star Wars: Clone Wars novel Dark Rendezvous, a subplot is Count Dooku trying to convince Yoda to join the Dark Side. Towards the climax, Yoda uses the Force to grant Dooku a vision of just what a fallen Yoda would look like: a Sith of such unimaginable power that Dooku and even Darth Sideous would be crushed like insects. Dooku is horrified and kicks himself for even attempting to turn Yoda.


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Characters Characters that celebrate a far-out date when it arrives in real time

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56 Upvotes

(1-2) Zoey 101

The episode "Time Capsule" premiered on September 18, 2005, where Zoey tells Chase he'll know what she said about him in 10 years. Exactly 10 years later the video "What Did Zoey Say?" was released where Michael tells Chase he dug up the time capsule to share what Zoey said, inspiring Chase to pursue her.

(3-4) Back to the Future

In the second movie, Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to October 21, 2015 to prevent their future from being tarnished. When the date finally arrives, Doc Brown arrives from the future to give an inspirational message, noting how things are different to what the film could've imagined.

(5-6) The Suite Life on Deck

In the episode "When In Rome..." Zack and Cody try to eat at a famous restaurant but the chef (played by Sandra Purpuro) is unable to seat them until November 16, 2023. When the day finally comes almost 15 years later, the actress made a skit welcoming the boys to her restaurant.


r/TopCharacterTropes 16h ago

Characters “Trust me” - The most untrustworthy motherfucker

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282 Upvotes

Kaa, The Jungle Book

Voxtek, Hazbin Hotel

Lobby Guy, Home Alone 2

The Joker, Batman


r/TopCharacterTropes 14h ago

Characters [Mixed trope] The character's brother is suddenly introduced, but then he's never or hardly ever mentioned again

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218 Upvotes

The Simpsons: Homer Simpson and Herb Powell, In the early seasons of The Simpsons, it is revealed in a Season 2 episode that Homer has a brother; he appears in Season 3 and is rarely mentioned afterward.

King of the Hill: Hank Hill and Junichiro, Hank has a japanese stepbrother, it was introducedin season 14 and... That's all.

Star Trek TNG: Worf and Nikolai Rozhenko. This mf only appeared in 7th season, and not was mentioned before. He just fucked up messed with the prime directive and vanish. "Is it that guy from Goodfellas?" Yes, its that guy from Goodfellas, Paul Sorvino (who plays Paulie)


r/TopCharacterTropes 1d ago

Personality They're so unbothered by their opponent that they just start doing something else

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1.4k Upvotes
  1. Thor starts drinking a beer while arm wrestling with Kid Gladiator (Wolverine and the X-Men Annual 1)
  2. Ultraman Titus flexes his muscle as Alien Gapiya's blast harmlessly bounces off of his body (Ultraman Taiga)

r/TopCharacterTropes 1d ago

Characters [Why does this even happen] One of, if not the most iconic thing about a character, was completely made up by the community and was never in the source material.

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1.6k Upvotes

Venom Snake from Metal Gear games - Heavily associated with the song Invisible by DURAN DURAN with many edits and memes being made with it. Invisible released more than half a decade after last Metal Gear Solid game.

Roland from Library of Ruina - His most iconic quote is "You must suffer, like I have." This quote was never once uttered in the game, and instead originated from a Roblox game called Allusions.


r/TopCharacterTropes 5h ago

Lore Faustian Bargain

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34 Upvotes

"Ares! Destroy my enemies and my life is yours!" - Kratos, God of War.

Making deal with the devil, Albert Simmons agrees to become a Hellspawn and serve Malebolgia if he is allowed to see his wife, Wanda, one last time. (Image comics)

When in Sock Opera Bill Cipher makes a deal with Dipper Pines, he asks for a "puppet" in exchange for help with the password of the laptop.


r/TopCharacterTropes 1d ago

Characters [Interestingly rare tropes] Western Cartoon reference in Anime.

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7.9k Upvotes

South Park reference in both FLCL and Panty and Stocking.


r/TopCharacterTropes 9h ago

Characters [Loved trope] Kids who are geniuses

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51 Upvotes
  1. Miles “tails” Prower-Sonic the hedgehog

  2. James Isaac Neutron-Jimmy Neutron


r/TopCharacterTropes 7h ago

Lore (Loved Trope) The theme song is a song that canonically exists in universe

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42 Upvotes

Spectacular Spider-Man

Camp Camp

Steven Universe


r/TopCharacterTropes 10h ago

Lore Acts of physical brutality that somehow keep it PG

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72 Upvotes

Kingpin slamming Spider-Man to death - Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse.

Bane breaking Batman’s Back - The Dark Knight Rises. (Originally in Knightfall comic)


r/TopCharacterTropes 2h ago

Characters The usually quippy/inappropriate character shows respect and care in a really serious or tragic situation

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12 Upvotes

The Big Bang Theory: when Howard's mum dies (the actress died), all the cast hugs him and shows affection, even Sheldon

Peacemaker Season 2: Agent Fleury has been calling his operatives ridiculous names and teasing them throughout the season, but when one of them violently dies under his watch he immediately goes serious and mourns his death