Tropes: What's your weakness?

[jenlyn_b]

X-posted from my blog.

One of my favorite procrastination websites is TV Tropes Dot Org, a wiki which catalogues popular tropes used in movies, TV shows, manga, and literature. Talking to a friend the other day, I realized that there are some tropes I love- not because they're always done well so much as because there are some character types

Comments

[xnbach]

Not an official TV Trope, but I really liked Keen Edie, Eureka, and Burn Notice. What they all have in common is a main character who is a Seemingly Easy-Going Law Enforcement Type Thrust Into An Unfamiliar Environment Where He Is Forced To Rely On His Particular Set o' Skills To Get By.

They're all fish out of water, they all have similar attitudes, and they all amuse me to no end.

[jenlyn_b]

For males, I think the Easy-Going Badass is perhaps my favorite kind, and I have a "fish out of water" weakness to begin with. Also, LOVE Burn Notice, but haven't seen Keen Edie or Eureka.

[tessagratton]

Orphans who are really the heir to the kingdom. Or whatever the permutation may be. I can't get over it. <3

It's interesting, because sometimes I feel like I *should* get over it. Probably because it's very often done thoughtlessly, as a default. But when it's done well, YUM.

Actually, orphans anything. Give me orphans!!!

[tessagratton]

I feel the need to add a disclaimer: I love my family. They rock. :D

[jenlyn_b]

I'm relatively neutral to orphans (as a trope! not in real life!)- in general, I like the orphan trope to the extent that it allows for a greater exploration of what family means. So if you've got an orphan who finds family in their friends, mentor, whatever, then I'm ALL for it. But if it's an orphan who's All Alone Against the World for too long, then they might lose me more.

[jenlyn_b]

The Secretly Badass Waif is the best! I particularly like it when the badassery is a mismatch not only with physical appearance, but also with a vulnerability in personality as well. I also love characters who knowingly embrace their own contradictions- the ones who KNOW that people don't expect them to be both A and B, proceed to be A and B anyway, and don't have a chip on their shoulder about the fact that it takes other people off guard.

[faerylite]

Oh, I really, *really* hate the Secretly Badass Waif :D It's just too common. To the point that whenever I see a Waif of any kind, I go, 'great, I bet she'll turn out to be Secretly Badass.'

LOL! Guess it goes to show we all love different things.

[jenlyn_b]

Now you've made me go and picture a world in which ALL waifs are de facto badasses. And I'm such a sucker for the trope, I would probably totally dig it. :)

[poshcat]

Fish out of water, above all else ever. My absolute favourite is the hyper-competent hero who is transported (against their will is best) to a place where everyone underestimates them, and they earn everyone's grudging respect. ::has a literary orgasm::

Buffy, Gladiator, and Kay Scarpetta are all examples of this.

[swords_and_pens]

Interesting. The tropes that tend to drive me over the edge are the ones that have been cited as favorites so far: waifs/orphans overcoming crushing odds, people with secret destinies, and the like. (The base premise of Harry Potter, for example, just makes we walk away.) I think I've seen these tropes so many times (no matter done well or poorly) that I just can't get past the, "Oh, I know where this is going..." reaction.

I'm more with in preferring characters either out of their element or using old skill sets in creative ways to make do in a new environment. I am also a fan of outsiders/mavericks working either within, or from outside, the established system to right a wrong; and also the lone hero (or anti-hero) doing his best to see a job through despite overwhelming odds to the contrary.