tropes
Familiar story devices
Tropes are recurring themes, devices, or conventions in storytelling and rhetoric.
A trope can be a figure of speech like metaphor or irony, or a familiar narrative element: the chosen one, the love triangle, the villain monologue.
Online discourse often uses trope to mean cliché—a device so overused it feels predictable: That show relies on tired tropes.
The term carries no inherent judgment; tropes can be deployed skillfully or lazily.
Overused and unoriginal
- overusedEmployed too frequently
- triteOverused, lacking freshness
- predictableAble to be foreseen
- formulaicFollowing a set template
stock · tired · derivative · worn-out · rehashed · unoriginal · shopworn · well-worn
Implied identity comparison
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
metonymy · synecdoche · litotes · apostrophe · chiasmus · antithesis · parallelism · anaphora
Bulb-concealing light diffuser
- deconstructionAnalysis exposing self-contradiction
- parodySatirical imitation
- satireMockery exposing vice
- subvertedUndermined or destabilized
inverted · justified · reconstructed · zig-zagged · discussed · defied · exploited · averted
One admired for courage
- mentorTrusted wisdom-giving advisor
- tricksterCunning deceiver in myth
- shadowLight blocked by object
- journeyTravel from place to place
quest · transformation · damsel · villain · sidekick · shapeshifter · herald · fool
Hinting at later events
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- twistRotating motion or surprise
- MacGuffinMotivator irrelevant in itself
- cliffhangerSuspenseful unresolved ending
hackneyed
Overused and unoriginal
- overusedEmployed too frequently
- triteOverused, lacking freshness
- predictableAble to be foreseen
formulaic · stock · tired · derivative · worn-out · rehashed · unoriginal · shopworn · well-worn · stereotypical
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- ironyMeaning opposite to words
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
symbolism · metonymy · synecdoche · litotes · apostrophe · chiasmus · antithesis · parallelism · anaphora · epistrophe
lampshade
Bulb-concealing light diffuser
- deconstructionAnalysis exposing self-contradiction
- parodySatirical imitation
- satireMockery exposing vice
subverted · inverted · justified · reconstructed · zig-zagged · discussed · defied · exploited · averted · meta
hero
One admired for courage
journey · quest · transformation · damsel · villain · sidekick · shapeshifter · herald · fool · rebel
foreshadowing
Hinting at later events
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- twistRotating motion or surprise
- MacGuffinMotivator irrelevant in itself
cliffhanger · subplot · backstory · callback · montage · voiceover
horror
Extreme fear or disgust
western · noir · sci-fi · fantasy · thriller · slasher · heist · coming-of-age · disaster · superhero
- fanspeakOTP, ship, fic, fanfic, fanfiction
- romancelove story, amor, love, boyfriend, courting
- book culturereading, reader, book lover, bookworm, bibliophile
- pop culturememe, celebrities, memes, trending, fandoms
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
- gender mediagender representation, gender stereotypes, gender bias, media portrayal, media stereotypes
tropesinnovations
New methods or devices
subversions · fresh ideas · novelties · deconstructions · reinventions
tropesparticulars
Individual facts or details
specifics · idiosyncrasies · anomalies · exceptions · outliers
- tropical islandWarm-climate landmass surrounded by ocean
- tropical fruitWarm-region edible plant product
- tropical beachWarm coastal sandy area
- tropical stormOrganized oceanic wind system
- tropical rainfallPrecipitation in hot regions
- tropical paradiseIdyllic warm coastal locale