What tropes do you dislike the most?

[miguk]

While I understand that sentiment (especially with Call of Duty) I still enjoyed the G.I. Joe movie (the first one not the sequel with The Rock and Bruce Willis sadly) and I haven't seen any military propaganda in there.

Same with Top Gun Maverick. Maybe the first one but then again it was the era of the US vs the USSR so it's not surprising.


I'll be honest, I'm also annoyed at stories saying "military is bad" while same country the writers are in is safe thanks to the presence of a defence army preventing any attack.


I'll be the devil's advocate but it worked well in Buffy because they were teens/young adults in the 90's (back when things were cool and dark but not too edgy so this was a nice change of pace).



When everyone is doing a Deadpool in their series is where it loses its power.

PS: Also nice pun on irony and poisoning.

Haven't watched the movies you mentioned (if "awesome military" is a prominent theme in all promotion, I won't watch it), but it's worth noting that if a film features the military and says nothing positive or negative about it, then it defaults to positive. Not commenting on something controversial while featuring it prominently in something as propagandistic (stylistically, at minimum) as Hollywood films is itself saying that it is not controversial, which itself is a positive statement.

It's possible for one to be against a current military campaign and also be in favor of its general use to prevent a potential dangerous outcome. I've seen anarchists argue that our military did the right thing by killing Nazis in WWII despite them being generally anti-military. I've seen politicians who are anti-war for a current war insist we need strong military presences in key regions. None of this is hypocritical; it's just taking the specific context into consideration instead of generalizing everything. Media can do this too, but doesn't have to add a bunch of disclaimers to let you know what the writer's general feelings are about Realpolitik while they are commenting on one point in history.

As for Buffy, I watched a few episodes late in its run and felt it was just more Whedon being Whedon. By the time I saw it, I had already gone through a decade of "oh god, Joss Whedon wrote this, didn't he?" while watching movies, so I wasn't too keen on seeing more despite friends insisting I needed to give it a chance.

The thing people miss with Deadpool (et al) is that lampshading and winking at the camera is a difficult balancing act. Do it a little, and you are showing your own faults in a relatable way. Do it too much, and you're saying to the audience "this is garbage, but you're too late to get your money/time back, sucker." And the difference between a little and too much is hard to measure.

"Military grade" being used as a descriptor of good quality, oh you sweet summer child.

Worst meal I ever had was an MRE. And I haven't forgotten the times I got food poisoning from McDonald's.

 

[Ikagura]

Well, I will make a big shortcut but in G.I. Joe (the first movie) they clearly show that M.A.R.S. (a PMC) is the antagonistic organisation while the G.I.'s are a group of people of various countries so it's not "American vs another country's military".

The antagonist even threaten countries other than the US.

I think that despite how goofy it could be they still modernised the franchise beyond the whole american hero aspect.

I've read somewhere that Action Man basically replaced G.I. Joe because of the sentiment about the US military so they made the nondescript, nation-less James Bond inspired character fighting against a more generic villain that wants to conquer the world instead of being an entire army.


Sadly the sequel missed many points I liked about the first.


As for military stuff I think Aliens is fine since Xenomorphs aren't really sentient and that they also underestimated the danger.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

I quite dislike love triangles, especially when its clearly being used to make the whole series longer than it needs to be.

Very much this. Romance isn't my favorite thing in fiction for many reasons, but I have seen it done right and it's actually touching when it is done well. However, I can't think of a single love triangle that's been done well. I'm sure there's good examples out there, but in every example I can think of, it's just there to do nothing more than introduce pointless drama. Halt and Catch Fire is a really good example of this. The relationship... whatever you'd call it between Joe and Cameron and a handful of other people is there the whole series and always just irritated me. My boyfriend and I were watching it together and both of us lost interest at the end of season three when a married Cameron and Joe started up again. It just immediately took the wind out of our sails. I do want to finish the series sometime, but I feel like I should watch it over when I do, because it's been years since we stopped.

I know this is TV/Movies, but I have to mention the most cancerous love triangle that exists. Isaac, Ellie and Norton in Dead Space 3. The game has a lot of problems as is but the attempt at bringing relationship drama to the front caused me serious psychic damage. Whenever Isaac and Norton got into little bitch fights over Ellie I just wanted to claw my eyes and ears out and this goes on for a good chunk of the game. Isaac eventually kills Norton for plot reasons and after Ellie is mad at him for like five minutes over it, they are suddenly madly in love again. Is that a trope too? Whatever it is, it does not do an already heavily flawed game any favors.

 

[jankusanagi]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, or if it qualifies as a trope per se, but I'm really tired of the Ecoterrorist villain plot. The usual "bad guy(s) wanting to protect the environment, the planet, etc, end up doing anything, and hurting anyone, blindly for that purpose".

I get that writers think that this makes for a relatable, deep villain, but I'm really tired of it.
And sure, they might think that this kind of plot might make real people think about the very real damage humans are doing to the planet, and maybe act on it... but c'mon, as a nature lover and someone worried about pollution all my life, it gets irritating. One movie is interesting. Two movies, maybe. After like 30 movies or shows, it becomes insulting.

EDIT: Yep, TVTropes has it classified as a trope: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EcoTerrorist

 

[Ikagura]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, or if it qualifies as a trope per se, but I'm really tired of the Ecoterrorist villain plot. The usual "bad guy(s) wanting to protect the environment, the planet, etc, end up doing anything, and hurting anyone, blindly for that purpose".

I get that writers think that this makes for a relatable, deep villain, but I'm really tired of it.
And sure, they might think that this kind of plot might make real people think about the very real damage humans are doing to the planet, and maybe act on it... but c'mon, as a nature lover and someone worried about pollution all my life, it gets irritating. One movie is interesting. Two movies, maybe. After like 30 movies or shows, it becomes insulting.

Back when FFVII was new it felt fresh to have your hero being part of a group that would blow up an installation.

 

[Taukyrie]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, or if it qualifies as a trope per se, but I'm really tired of the Ecoterrorist villain plot. The usual "bad guy(s) wanting to protect the environment, the planet, etc, end up doing anything, and hurting anyone, blindly for that purpose".

I get that writers think that this makes for a relatable, deep villain, but I'm really tired of it.
And sure, they might think that this kind of plot might make real people think about the very real damage humans are doing to the planet, and maybe act on it... but c'mon, as a nature lover and someone worried about pollution all my life, it gets irritating. One movie is interesting. Two movies, maybe. After like 30 movies or shows, it becomes insulting.

Oh, yes. I mentioned how I hate the use of the trope "humans are the real monsters" but I forgot to mention that I ESPECIALLY hate it when it's specifically "humans are the real monsters because they harm the environment, and the natural world would be better without them".

Honestly, any use of this specific version of the trope needed to stop after G Gundam did it because I feel like nothing else can be added after it gave the argument of "yes, while humans do harm the planet, they are still just as part of the natural world as other animals, but that just means they have an even bigger responsibility to take care of their home".

But nope, they just had to run it into the ground in an attempt to make themselves sound "smart" or make a villain look "relatable", but at this point it's a way to speedrun a character into being one of my most hated in existence. (Looking at you, Viridi)

(Watch Mobile Fighter G Gundam btw, despite looking like a funny martial arts super robot anime, it does have a lot more going on beneath the surface.)

 

[miguk]

Well, I will make a big shortcut but in G.I. Joe (the first movie) they clearly show that M.A.R.S. (a PMC) is the antagonistic organisation while the G.I.'s are a group of people of various countries so it's not "American vs another country's military".

The antagonist even threaten countries other than the US.

I think that despite how goofy it could be they still modernised the franchise beyond the whole american hero aspect.

I've read somewhere that Action Man basically replaced G.I. Joe because of the sentiment about the US military so they made the nondescript, nation-less James Bond inspired character fighting against a more generic villain that wants to conquer the world instead of being an entire army.


Sadly the sequel missed many points I liked about the first.


As for military stuff I think Aliens is fine since Xenomorphs aren't really sentient and that they also underestimated the danger.

The GI Joe of the 80s was itself a lightened-up version of the original. Making it about superhero-esque characters fighting snake people terrorists was a departure from the "real military is fun" of the early dolls for boys. But they hadn't removed everything from the original, thus the "American hero" thing.

(On a side note, GI Joe was one of the few kids' franchises of my early childhood I avoided like the plague, mainly due to revulsion for the general theme being drilled into me early on. If you think the Flower Power crowd dislikes militant things, you haven't seen what a parent who was in the s※※t and still hasn't fully recovered has to say about it.)

Aliens is one of those weird ones where it is quite anti-militant (a common James Cameron theme) and yet still doesn't get through to everyone watching (likely because Cameron insists on making everything look cool), resulting in some parts of the audience being more interested in the military. It's an issue with how the language of film works that's really hard to get around.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, or if it qualifies as a trope per se, but I'm really tired of the Ecoterrorist villain plot. The usual "bad guy(s) wanting to protect the environment, the planet, etc, end up doing anything, and hurting anyone, blindly for that purpose".

I get that writers think that this makes for a relatable, deep villain, but I'm really tired of it.
And sure, they might think that this kind of plot might make real people think about the very real damage humans are doing to the planet, and maybe act on it... but c'mon, as a nature lover and someone worried about pollution all my life, it gets irritating. One movie is interesting. Two movies, maybe. After like 30 movies or shows, it becomes insulting.

EDIT: Yep, TVTropes has it classified as a trope: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EcoTerrorist

Interesting thing to note about this. The trope tended to be used more in times of high domestic terrorism IRL than when it was low. And yet, eco-terrorism was never the real issue. Instead, the ETs were a substitute for other types of terrorism which would be more controversial to portray. Thus, the 70s saw this trope a lot instead of depictions of POC liberation groups because the media was not willing to either risk coming off as racist or, conversely, come off as siding with the groups' causes. And the same happened in the 90s, as accurate portrayals of the militia movement or the Branch Davidians would likely have got the studios bombed. (This is particularly true after the OKC bombing.)

So rather than take a risk, make a statement, and actually have a message, writers took the cowardly route and attacked a non-threat that did little more than steal puppies from kennels.

 

[GardeniaSky]

Forced romance. Two main characters don't have to be romantically into each other. A lot of times I feel like it's a crutch used to create tension instead of literally any other plot device.

 

[miguk]

Forced romance. Two main characters don't have to be romantically into each other. A lot of times I feel like it's a crutch used to create tension instead of literally any other plot device.

This was my only complaint about Dragon Quest VIII. The romance between the Hero and the princess felt a little bit forced, as you usually interact with her through optional cutscenes and usually only even see her in other cutscenes where she's in horse form.

Luckily, the 3DS version fixed this by giving you the option to marry the true wife of the game: Jessica. The Jessica ending is so much more satisfying than the original ending that it alone justifies the rerelease. (Although the QoL fixes and new characters were also very good.)

 

[Vetusomaru]

A trope I hate to death even at anime I enjoy:

Good guys teaming up against one villain being morally accepted because "power of friendship" but SOMEHOW if the bad guys team up against one good guy is SUDDENLY "a cowards' move".

Another one I hate a lot (especially to Western media) is the "violence isn't the answer" trope while at same show/movie they justify pointless violence over harmless stuff like when a character says something "mean".

Im tired of Isekai. The whole, "this boy is a total loser, but then hes magically transported into this world of big booba ladies and now has to be the hero." After Konosuba and Re:Zero im just done with the genre entirely.

Actually isekai genre exists way before anime with books like Alice in Wonderland. Even at anime, the isekai genre is quite old with examples like Escaflowne, InuYasha and Magic Knight Rayearth.

Not a jab to you but I hate people who claim they hate isekai anime but at the same time they shill retro isekai anime, especially the ones aiming for female audience like the ones I mentioned. By the way Escaflowne tv series was never good (there, I said it!) and the movie was much better. MGR wasn't that great either putting aside the great art and the cool mecha design. And let's not start with InuYasha and its stupid romance trio and the repetitive action (and I say that as an InuYasha fanboy).

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2025

This was my only complaint about Dragon Quest VIII. The romance between the Hero and the princess felt a little bit forced, as you usually interact with her through optional cutscenes and usually only even see her in other cutscenes where she's in horse form.

Not as forced as Dragon Quest 5 (remake including) where you have the option to marry between three women and yet the game only focus to one of them while with the other two you barely have any interactions with during the whole game.

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2025

The GI Joe of the 80s was itself a lightened-up version of the original. Making it about superhero-esque characters fighting snake people terrorists was a departure from the "real military is fun" of the early dolls for boys. But they hadn't removed everything from the original, thus the "American hero" thing.

Nah, it still screamed "American imperialism - the cartoon series". Then again most American superhero comics from Marvel and DC were often used for American imperialism propaganda. Also the '80s Gi Joe tv series removed the "American hero" part at its British/European localization where it was localized as "Action Force". Still stupid and pointless name change since the cartoon's theme was still American as hell and still takes place in America.

 

[Zooey]

Actually isekai genre exists way before anime with books like Alice in Wonderland. Even at anime, the isekai genre is quite old with examples like Escaflowne, InuYasha and Magic Knight Rayearth.

Funny you mention that, as i also mentioned Wizard of Oz being an isekai. I do enjoy the Vision of Escaflowne, but feel like the genre has become way too saturated. To the point where, whenever my best friend recommends me an anime to watch, its an isekai, to which ill say, "yeah but i just watched an isekai", and they reply, "no no, this time its different, in this one its a boy who is a total loser in school, but he gets teleported into this fantasy world where he can be a hero, theres even a female witch in it too.."

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

When the whole plot is based around a misunderstanding. It's more frustrating than enjoyable.

 

[Ikagura]

When the whole plot is based around a misunderstanding. It's more frustrating than enjoyable.

It's overused in romcom.

For a small plot point in an action story I could be fine but for the entire plot it's not great.

 

[Nidoking's iconNidoking]

I really hate that one, actually. Pretty much any trope that hinges on misunderstandings drive me crazy too, especially if it would be solved as easily as a very brief conversation.

One that really gets under my skin is the whole "We've become super close, but we have to part ways now and never, ever, ever see each other ever, ever again." Just a bad feeling and usually really forced.

 

[NobodyHere]

I quite dislike love triangles, especially when its clearly being used to make the whole series longer than it needs to be.

I hate how a majority of the time they’re not even a triangle.

 

[Antilocal123]

Incest, I get that kinks exist for people but you couldn’t give the protagonist a significant other who’s not his sister? Does he have such horrendous game that he can only score his family? Harems are boring but at the very least they don’t share blood.

 

[Kamako]

When two protagonists have a falling out in the middle of Act 2, and you have to sit through a good half hour or more of story knowing they'll inevitably mend bridges and work together in the finale.

First example that comes to mind is Emperor's New Groove

 

[trickybus]

Funny you mention that, as i also mentioned Wizard of Oz being an isekai.

Actually isekai genre exists way before anime with books like Alice in Wonderland.

This is the first time I've heard either of those referred to as isekai and I'm curious as to how they fit the description when the endings for both imply the girls were dreaming.

Isekai is an anime sub-genre. As such, it's much older than either of those works because the literary source is old Japanese folklore (cira the 1600s) that focuses on people being whisked away to magical realms by magical creatures. And when I say 'whisked away to magical realms" I mean physically taken there. A common ending for those folktales is that when the person returns to their home, they don't recognize it and no one recognizes them because hundreds of years have passed while they were away.

Implying that a genre of Japanese media originated in the West is a really weird take.

 

[Ikagura]

Incest, I get that kinks exist for people but you couldn’t give the protagonist a significant other who’s not his sister? Does he have such horrendous game that he can only score his family? Harems are boring but at the very least they don’t share blood.

I also hate when there's a step-sister/indirect cousin going for the MC with a "it's ok we're not actually blood related" type of excuse.

When two protagonists have a falling out in the middle of Act 2, and you have to sit through a good half hour or more of story knowing they'll inevitably mend bridges and work together in the finale.

First example that comes to mind is Emperor's New Groove

Emperor's New Groove was subversive and tried to break the fourth wall before it was cool and everyone started to do that in the 2010's.

I do agree about it but let's not forget that the two protags were not friends at the beginning so it wasn't sure that he would get along again.

Now for a story about two friends from long ago it's a different case.

 

[Kamako]

I do agree about it but let's not forget that the two protags were not friends at the beginning so it wasn't sure that he would get along again.

That's true, and I suppose ENG wasn't the best film to typify the trope, though I do still stand that it is the weakest section of the film on re-watches.

I think it bothers me most in romance plots. It just makes things feel formulaic and hampers my enjoyment of the plot.

 

[Ikagura]

That's true, and I suppose ENG wasn't the best film to typify the trope, though I do still stand that it is the weakest section of the film on re-watches.

I think it bothers me most in romance plots. It just makes things feel formulaic and hampers my enjoyment of the plot.

Well yeah, the movie starts right during that one moment as a "*record scratches* yep, that's me right there and you're wondering how I came to be in this situation" before it was commonplace.

Kuzco still is a spoiled king that wanted to selfishly move a family for his personal resort so this is actually a nice character development.

 

[HITMAN_99]

honestly for me, is getting trough an entire game or movie with the plot being about revenge, and then near the end being hit with the cringy revenge is bad m'kay yapp, it literally kills the game/movie for me.

 

[Ikagura]

honestly for me, is getting trough an entire game or movie with the plot being about revenge, and then near the end being hit with the cringy revenge is bad m'kay yapp, it literally kills the game/movie for me.

A better way of doing it would have the protagonist realise that he was consumed by hatred during the middle of the story instead with an understandable development. But of course it requires more writing efforts.

This is much better to have a twist where the MC notices that they were being manipulated all along by someone who wanted to make them do the deed instead.

 

[HITMAN_99]

A better way of doing it would have the protagonist realise that he was consumed by hatred during the middle of the story instead with an understandable development. But of course it requires more writing efforts.

This is much better to have a twist where the MC notices that they were being manipulated all along by someone who wanted to make them do the deed instead.

exactly, setup, and payoff, but that sadly takes a good writer that also trusts in the viewer/reader having some patience.

 

[Zooey]

This is the first time I've heard either of those referred to as isekai and I'm curious as to how they fit the description when the endings for both imply the girls were dreaming.

Isekai is an anime sub-genre. As such, it's much older than either of those works because the literary source is old Japanese folklore (cira the 1600s) that focuses on people being whisked away to magical realms by magical creatures. And when I say 'whisked away to magical realms" I mean physically taken there. A common ending for those folktales is that when the person returns to their home, they don't recognize it and no one recognizes them because hundreds of years have passed while they were away.

Implying that a genre of Japanese media originated in the West is a really weird take.

Not implying Isekai originated in the West (however Sudoku did). But when you look at what an Isekai is: Character who lives a normal, uneventful, drab or mundane life, typically a boy. Gets transported into a magical, fantastical world where they have the chance of being something greater, proving themselves along the way, turning their fish out of water situation into something beneficial for the characters they meet along the way in this magical world.

Wizard of Oz fits that. Dorothy lived a mundane life on a crumby farm, before finding herself in the magical world of Oz. She found herself partying together with characters she met along the way, who had their own struggles, defeating the Wicked Witch, ultimately making things better in Oz, before returning.

There was a very famous samurai movie in the 1950's called, "Seven Samurai", which often gets compared to cowboy westerns in reviews, because the movie shares a lot of similarities with what makes your typical cowboy western. So its not that wild to compare something like Wizard of Oz to an isekai like Konosuba, unless you get hung up on the, "how the characters gets to said magical realm", which to me is a very minor part of an isekai.