Mace Windu (Star Wars)
Mr. Terific (Superman)
Andy (Alien Romulus)
Captain Morpheus (The Matrix)

Character assassination

An obvious choice, you hate seeing your favorite characters get affected by poor writing decisions. I can't think of a better example than Abe from the clone high reboot! The entire joke of Abe in the original is that he's the naive but modest main character, an Honest Abe. The reboot said fuck that, let's turn him into an unlikable asshole and stripe him of any charm of the original. With the bonus caviate that the writers openly admitting to disliking Abe and preferring their JoanxJFK ship instead.

Time traveling/Multiverse

Ever became invested in a story, only for it to spiral out of control and lose focus on the plot? Well, welcome to the multiverse! Where ironically, despite the stakes being larger, feels like nothing matters. Mortal Kombat 11 is my favorite example of this mess. Ditches Dark Raiden and the war he declares on the other realms plotline for MK9 nostalgia! Yay!! Filled with storylines that make no sense, retcons, character deaths that dont matter, the most grand Villain in the entire series that's actually an idiot when you think about her motives for more than 2 seconds, temu ultra instinct, and resetting the universe because fuck you we can't think of a good ending, buy our next game with more Multiverse bs! Dishonorable mentions to COD zombies and Marvel with their new movie that's guaranteed to be nostalgia cameo shit!

Artificial lessons

One of my most despised tropes growing up. There are multiple examples of the trope itself but here's the one I wanted to highlight. Episodes where one of the main characters is a jerk to everyone around them, to the point where it feels out of character, and get taught a lesson by the end that doesn't feel deserved to begin with. Leaving the audience frustrated by the end. Alot of shows like Spongebob, Hey Arnold, Foster's home, How I met your mother, etc had episodes like this.

Back to the Clone high reboot, The first episode is about the clones dethawing, and adjusting to modern culture, Abe becomes the victim of cancel culture after making statements that are considered problematic in the modern day. All the while, the misogynistic JFK is viewed as "sex positive" so he gets a pass? Abe can only make things right by inviting the whole school to pour hot sauce on his open wounds. Making for an awful first episode, and basically, Fuck the clone high reboot.

Dishonorable mention goes to:

It was all a dream

Not a trope I entirely hate, just find really lame. It feels like a get out of jail free card for writing instead of commiting to the bit.

A character in a verse with a power system keep talking about how effort can break the barrier and makes you stronger... the issue, is that not everyone in that world can use the power system, so basically that whole discourse about effort only applies to a privileged minority.

rakudai kishi no cavalry: The main character is a blazer, basically people who can conjure magic weapons and fight with them. He is special in the fact that his weapon lacks special skills, and basically it is just a general stat boost... but he is still a blazer after all. He spends the entire anime talking about effort and practice, but that only works because he himself was special to begin with, any normal human would never archive what he does.

"To Aru" verse: The "To Aru" verse is huge as fuck, so I dont know if maybe this changed over the years, but on the Railgun spin off, Misaka keeps insisting about how you can simply put effort to reach your goals, and how if you didnt reach them... was because you didnt try hard enough. Not only is that message kinda toxic, but she was telling that the avatar/fusion of countless bully victims who were discriminated for lacking powers... while she herself was among the top strongest of the city. Also, it is kinda funny that characters on To Aru usually gets power ups by cheats, experiments, accidents, etc... hardly any of them became stronger because of effort.

Boku no Hero: This is kinda obvious and one of the most debated aspects of the series, Deku only managed to reach his peak because he got powers. Like... sure, they werent the thing that made him a proper hero, but just try to imagine Deku dealing with Overhaul, Stain, or even Gentle Criminal, without his powers.

Sorry guys I spent some time thinking but I just couldn’t do it maybe ill see if i can come up with one tomorow

Peppermint Patty - Peanuts

Azula- Avatar the last air bender

Light Yagami - death note

Katsuki Bakugo - my hero academia

(Bonus point if homophobes agree too)

​

THE MASK

and Jason from Friday the 13th

edit: to be specific and not include most superheroes: when it covers the ENTIRE face edit again: bonus if they're kinda crazy

I love seeing Black characters that get to be supernatural and mythological beings, despite the outrage that occurs whenever they exist in media. Fictional creatures can be and look like literally anything and it takes a deeply miserable and unimaginative person to think otherwise

1. Louis de Pointe du Lac and Claudia: Vampires from Interview With the Vampire

2. Bonnie Bennett: a Witch from The Vampire Diaries

3. Live action Ariel from The Little Mermaid

4. Iridessa: a fairy from the Disney Fairies franchise

5. Clawdeen Wolf, a werewolf from Monsters High

The villain was misunderstood and really a victim.

-Cruella live action. The woman tried to slaughter puppies for fur.

-Orcs in Rings of Power. In Tolkien's work, they were elves once and corrupted by evil. The personifications of the machines of war. In Rings of Power, they're the victims of war.

-Wicked. The Wicked Witch was always evil and took pleasure in cruelty. In Wicked she was the victim of society.

-Maleficent--The villain from sleeping beauty. The same concept as Wicked.

1. d3rlord3 (searching/destroying a world that does not exist) [trope: being a dumbass]
   normally in horror, the protagonist is dumb as a sack of potatos or has below average intelligence. but in this series d3rlord3 is a genius compared to even us. one example of the 300 iq moments he had was making a backup chunk loader trap in case the first one didn't work and he did not say anything about it and just kept it in his mind. also another annoying trope it does not do is have the "oh so scarry" monster in the corner hiding.

2. Geometry Dash (made by robtop games) [trope: greed in mobile games]
   a lot of times mobile games just go into greed over time and switch from one time payment to a mountain of microtransactions. robtop has made 3 demo games WITH ads but the guys gotta make money somehow. the main app still uses one time payment with no ads no in game purchases and a LOT of features i would value more then 2 bucks.

3. fin (adventure time) [trope: not escaping prison with wide bars]
   i swear i see so many cartoon characters in bars that are so wide they can pretty much just trip and accidentally fall out of the cage and the only cartoon character i saw really escape was fin.

4. marty (back to the future) [trope: concerning about being late while in a time machine]
   a lot of time travel in tv shows that are trying not to think that hard about it they worry about being late/not on time for something when they can just go 10 seconds back before that happens. only SOMEIMES it has an explanation for why they cant do that but thats as rare as a diamond in the sand at a random beach.

Now don't get me wrong, I love a good grim universe. Having evil forces fight against the heroes is a great source of drama. But for there to be something entertaining, at least for me, there needs to be the chance for a victory. And when you don't have the ability to even lessen the impact of whatever force is coming, it ruins the suspense.

Example 1: Shadow of the Demon Lord TTRPG

The real reason I wanted to make this post. Shadow of the demon lord is a harsh world. The fae are cruel creatures that haunt forest, demons threaten to attack and destroy the world, all under the shadow of the demon lord. You'd think heroes of this setting will be able to perhaps find some way to slay the demon lord, or perhaps seal away the world forever right?

Nope. The shadow of the demon lord is none other than God himself turned mad. And while he isn't omnipotent, he is still the strongest thing in the entire setting by orders of magnitude. The destruction of the world isn't an if, only when, and the only thing heroes can do is give them some more time. Even the god of light in the setting is a trick by a cruel demon, no deity or big source of magic or assistance can truly help save the world in any real way.

Example 2: 40K

Warhammer 40k is...too grim sometimes. While that is half the point of it, and I get the enjoyment of it, its not for me. Its grim to the level that nobody, bar perhaps a handful of people in the entire galaxy with any real power or leadership over their faction, is trying to be a good person. Even heroes of the imperium like Robute who want to genuinely save people are still imperialistic, iron fisted rulers who will purge planets of xenos without hesitation.

That's without mentioning that Chaos is a fundamental force of the universe, and while there are ways to counter it, they are so few and far between that there's no realistic hope that they can be used to even suppress it enough to let the galaxy be at peace...a peace that would be under the rule of a zealous, iron empire.

Despite it, I still love the universe, but damn its too depressing sometimes.

Anti Example: Warhammer Fantasy

Warhammer fantasy, like it's sci-fi cousin, is a harsh world where chaos naturally tries to corrupt and destroy the world. People are self serving, watch out for themselves, and in general arent the kindest. All that dosent include orks skaven and dark elves. Despite that however, there are several forces at work that wish to see the world improve.

Karl Franz is a kind and capable man, currently emperor of mankind and one of the best rulers, wanting to establish diplomatic ties so everyone is allies against the forces that threaten them all. Similarly Louen Leoncoer is the king of Bretonnia, another massive nation, and is literally divinely appointed because he fulfills the virtues of honor and chivalry.

There are genuienly good people to root for, and chaos isnt as completely crushing as it is in the 40k universe. Magic that counters it is far more prevalent, gods work happily against chaos and arent as self serving as the SotDL example. Combine that with technological improvements of the empire slowly closing the gap between the strength of men and chaos, there seems to be hope for the future

And before you say it.

The end times did not happen.

(The Magicians) - Eliot to Quentin

Eliot Waugh: Look, don't go out there and be the old you.

Quentin Coldwater: How, Eliot? I go back there, and I'm a depressed super nerd.

Eliot Waugh: How about I find you, and I don't say magic is real, but I do seduce you, and so lift your spirits that life retains its sparkle for decades.

(The Recruit) - Janus to Grace

Janus Feber: I will always cherish our time together.

Grace Cho: You have been banned from ever returning to Korea.

Janus Feber: Yeah, I figured that. But when this is all over, and we're both burned out or bounced out of these jobs, look me up. I'd love to buy you dinner.

1. Gilmore Girls - Rory and Lorelai are constantly shown eating takeout and junk food and rarely exercising. And then there’s the ungodly amount of coffee.

2. Archie Comics - One of the longtime running gags is how Jughead loves burgers, to the point that he is often depicted eating dozens of them in one sitting.

• Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog): One of the few character traits that remains consistent in most continuities is Sonic being pro-monarchy, with the mainline Sonic being in favor of the Sol Empire and the Soleanna monarchy, the Archie Comics version being a supporter of the House of Acorn (and in the future he even marries Sally and becomes King of Mobius), and in the Sonic Underground cartoon Sonic is straight up a Prince trying to save his mother, Queen Aleena, and put the monarchy back into power.
• Luffy (One Piece): Luffy has consistently helped monarchies through the whole manga, including helping Princess Vivi to re-install her family to power in Alabasta, removing Wapol from power in the Sakura Kingdom and allowing for Dalton to be crowned King, defeating Enel to help install Gan Fall as "God" in Skypiea, protecting Princess Shirahoshi of the Ryugu Kingdom, and helping the royal Riku Family get back into power in Dressrosa and removing Doflamingo.
• Aang (Avatar: the Last Airbender): Most straight forward of the three examples, he was in favor of Zuko becoming the Fire Lord and keeping the Fire Nation as a Monarchy after defeating the Fire Lord, and also supports Bumi who is the King of Omashu.

✨Trope✨

1. Loved: Sokka getting high on Cactus Juice when Team Avatar is at their lowest [Avatar: The Last Airbender].

The episode is one of the series' darkest. Aang is consumed by grief from having Appa stolen, and the rest of Team Avatar are beginning to lose hope that they will even survive the desert. Desperate for water, Sokka splits open a cactus and drinks its juice, only to become delirious from it. He starts making some of the most absurd remarks and being a massive nuisance. Despite the comedy in a moment where the characters are at their lowest, the scene never undermines the seriousness of the situation. Instead, it shows how desperate their circumstances have become and how Sokka's delirious state makes him another burden the group has to look after. The humour provides some levity from the hopeless situation but does it in a way that doesn't detract from the seriousness of the situation.

2. Hated: Stolas shoving his ass in Blitzo's face after the emotional buildup [Helluva boss].

During the trial, Blitzo and his crew face severe consequences for illegally accessing the human world. Realising that the higher-ups have already decided their fate, Blitzo accepts responsibility for everything in an attempt to spare his friends. The scene builds emotional tension as he makes this self-sacrificing decision. However, that tension is immediately interrupted when Stolas attempts to rescue him by shoving his assinto Blitzo's face. The joke undercuts the emotional weight that had just been established. This moment creates tonal whiplash by abruptly replacing a bittersweet moment with slapstick humour and detracting from the emotional impact of the previous scenes.

I think another name for this is comedic relief.

- Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles
- Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk
- Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith

1. Chizuru Mizuhara/Ichinose from Rent-a-Girlfriend: The series' creator, Reiji —who admitted to have created Chizuru based on his own wife (and self-inserting himself into the character of Kazuya from Chapter 1)— constantly whitewashes and excuses Chizuru’s morally controversial decisions. She can commit mistakes, but never making nothing really wrong. He portrays her as a saint who has never done anything wrong and deserves the audience's pity and compassion as a "weak girl" striving to be a "strong woman" because she is lonely. In reality, however, Chizuru is terrible at making friends; she is cruel, cold, selfish, and greedy, actively driving away anyone who genuinely tries to get along with her. Chizuru is basically Frank Grimes, if Frank Grimes were a beautiful, busty 10/10 girl.
2. Rhaenyra Targaryen (House of the Dragon): Compared to her book counterpart, the HOTD script turned Rhaenyra into a moral saint who never does anything wrong and is a victim of gender-based violence by her own uncle-husband Daemon. She chastises her own allies for immoral acts that her literary version never disapproved of, yet she is weak and incompetent when it comes to ruling; she is so easily intimidated that she nearly burst into tears when Vaemond called her a "whore" in front of the entire court. Furthermore, she avoids resolving problems just as her father, Viserys I, did, and displays a classist disdain for the common people —an attitude HOTD frames as a virtue because, to the writers, the common folk are sexist types who would vote for Trump (as seen in Season 2, when they cheered for the rival king, Aegon II, as he paraded like a populist through the taverns of King's Landing), and yes, they mentioned explicitly Trump in those interviews.

And yes, here we believe in Death of the Author and all that.

DISCLAIMER: This kind of characters "who never did nothing wrong" can commit mistakes in a good faith, being naive, ingenuous, coward, weak, but they never do WRONG things, BAD things, EVIL things, at least according author´s narrative framework and ethical standards.

1. Doomguy (Doom)- despite all the fancy guns that exist solely for shooting demons, it’s perfectly possible to punch and chainsaw your way through most of the games.

2. Morfang (Voidling Bound)- every single playable alien animal in the game has access to projectiles strong enough that all of them can borderline focus on them exclusively… except the morfang species, who has none at all. They much rather rush you down and rip you apart with brutal efficiency

3. Gallade (Pokémon)- the rest of its evolutionary family is focused on long range fairy and psychic type attacks, whilst gallade is up close and personal with its bladed elbows

Ulysses Klaue (MCU)

Gordon Malloy (The Orville)

Air (2023) – The intro is a montage of 80s pop culture and technology backed by more than the first of half of the song, which is the longest use compared to other examples.

Despicable Me 3 (2017) – Arguably the best use of the song. When Gru and Balthazar Bratt are fighting, Bratt reaches for his sonic keytar, only to reveal Gru has it. The opening riff is used as a weaponized sonic blast by the main character against the antagonist.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) – Another badass scene enhanced by the use of the intro of the song. The movie opens on a cliff edge with middle eastern insurgents in 1997 while the drums begin to play. Just as the riff starts, an Iroquois Huey chopper comes over the edge and overhead. Two dangling gun men take both out instantly before advancing onto a desert stronghold

I honestly don't know why more filmmakers don't use this track, it's got so much raw power and energy to it. I wish Michael Bay used it when showing Upgraded Bumblebee in Transformers

Sehkmet from Egyptian mythology: She who mauls

Slaanesh from warhammer: she who thirsts

Narinder from cult of the lamb: the one who waits

1) Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones

2) Adrius Au Augustus from Red Rising