The Best Character Tropes from Tumblr

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What are your personal favorite character tropes or dynamics to read in books, write in fanfiction, see on TV, or play in games? Are there any underrated ones you'd like to see more of? Let me know your own answers in the comments! :)
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[@PalisadePeryton]

The best trope is "Clean-mouthed ray of sunshine that gets to say f**k exactly once so you know when things have gotten real."

[@BlackRoseUT]

David in camp camp?

[@TheUnfamiliarPoet]

Aziraphale

[@nina93102]

Omg I need to incorporate this into my story sometime

[@trollos]

me fr fr

[@nicefighter]

some things just have more impact when it comes from someone who normally doesn't do it

[@andistansbury4366]

"Character that is very small, but also frighteningly powerful, or just frightening in general" is a good one.

[@EduardoFerreira-yi4qc]

all i can think of is that dare kirby, imma clobbath myself if i got that wrong

[@TroutShoveler]

Ah yes, the ‘feral gremlin’ trope

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

​@@TroutShoveler Not necessarily feral, that implies a lack of polite behavior and/or high energy level, they could still be too calm to qualify as a gremlin while still being small and terrifying

[@uget-uget]

bonus point if that character forgot that they have that kind strength sometimes

[@andistansbury4366]

​@@EduardoFerreira-yi4qcPerfect example

[@Mx.muffin]

You know what's my favorite trope? A band of kids getting together and forming some kind of hideout while in the middle of an apocalypse. Ever since A Quiet Place came out, I've always wondered what it would be like if a band of teenagers got like stuck in a school and had to make it like a fortress to survive (and possibly make a found family/society)

[@Clovergem_in_the_snow]

Oh absolutely! One of my original stories has a plot kind of like that!

[@CallMeCrazyCallMePoor]

When the story acknowledges something obvious that would have resolved the plot. The key is to make it logical that characters wouldn't catch on to the right thing. You can make a joke out of it, use it to resolve a character arc (Wirt gets home once he realizes the Beast is lying), or create an oppurtuniy for another character to expose the flaws of the primary character(Picard's entire, "it is possible to not make any mistakes and still lose," speech only happens because Data won't accept defeat).

[@Legomicroman]

reminds me that i have plans for one of my stories, where the main character makes the mistake of taking a short-cut to a solution. basically, an "obvious resolution for the story" that would backfire HARD. the Protagonist finds out that certain chemical augmentations, which he previously only used for mining, can be used to create super-powers. and while he and his team are looking for an ominous villain, after defeating the last, the main character just takes an overdose, in hope to get instantly powerful enough, to defeat any villain they might come across. which leads to his now-ridiculously-strong powers being volatile, because the powers react to his emotions and amplify them. and inwardly, he wasn't very emotionally stable...

[@joshthehollow5254]

One of my favorite character tropes (or, in this case, a "character pairing trope") is what I would like to call "The Sapphic school witches" purely off of the fact that its fairly common despite how oddly specific it is. Picture this: Witch A: An outgoing young girl raised by a very ordinary family, fairly new to magic but is very passionate about it, and is considered a social outcast but manages to make friends with fellow outcasts, and often comes up with creative and unconventional solutions tobher problems. Bonus points if Witch A has always dreamed about becoming a witch ever since she was little, was recently taken in by a magical mentor figure, has a demon friend, and takes in a magical pet. Witch B: Has a more serious personality, much more experienced at magic than Witch A, takes her academics very seriously, starts off antagonizing Witch A but softens up to her after spending more time with her, and is constantly under the pressure of living up to her prestigious witch family's expectations. Bonus points if Witch B has also bullied Witch A's friends but softens up to them as well, has dadd and/or mommy issues, and is a perfectionist. Bonus points for both if they have opposing color schemes. An obvious example of this is Luz and Amity from the Owl House, but there's also Akko and Diane from Little Witch Academia, Coco and Aggot from Witch Hat Atelier, and Lone and Sorri from the webtoon Lone. This could even apply to Ruby and Weiss from RWBY if you remove the witches part.

[@LanieMae]

Absolutely love the trope of characters clinging onto an ideology/concept/person so much it essentially becomes their entire identity and they loose their sense of self to pursue it. And eventually it all comes crashing down when what they adhered to is completely destroyed through a revelation of some sort, which they see as denying their own existence

[@LanieMae]

Saying it know, Nagito Komeada, Tsurugi Kinjo, Amane Momose, John Kayano, Kotoko Yuzuriha, Es (I know the last 4 are from the same series lmao) I love all of them so much and seeing them replace their own identity to become a “tool” of something else it’s just AJAIGH

[@BlueSkyBirdies]

Gabriel Ultrakill?

[@katherinesmallbean3594]

I was about to say this reminds me of Nagito Komaeda but it looks like you're one step ahead of me

[@Gacha_Got_Arsorned]

0:38 me to my online friends, I’m the oldest and all of them have parental trauma so I adopted them 😊

[@GrimoireIsGrimm]

One of my fav tropes is a character that has a love for a character whether secret or blatantly obvious, then the character dies caught in a cross fire and the lover just stands there in shock for a solid minute before running over and just crying over the body with no regard for their safety in the battle, nor do they do anything about it, just pure sadness, tears and regret

[@starriimoon]

12:27 this describes toriel from undertale perfectly

[@isacocca3187]

Yall, after years of watching Tonka and PM Seymore i've finally got a tumblr! It's really nice there but can someone please explain how or why they are making Dashcon two?

[@TheRoseWolf]

Omg same! Dunno about Dashcon 2 though

[@nixxdra]

Basically the why is that dashcon is iconic (derogatory) so it’s funny + the original dashcon was meant to be a celebration of tumblr and fandom culture and it would be nice to have something like that without all the pitfalls of og dashcon. The how is basically that they’re just making it the same way anyone makes a first year con. With og dashcon, it was planned by actual children and like 3 egotistical adults, none of which had prior experience planning cons. Dashcon 2 is being planned by an organization with a lot of experience planning cons, so they won’t have the same problems. Also, most of og dashcon’s problems came from a huge lack of communication between the people planning it and everyone else involved (hotel staff, artist ally people, panel speakers, celebrity guests, etc) and dashcon 2 has stated that communication is their biggest priority, which is promising.

[@isacocca3187]

@@nixxdra thank youuu, i know it's probably gonna take place in the usa this time too but if it happens anywhere closer to me i swear im gonna go

[@nixxdra]

@@isacocca3187 Actually it’s happening in Toronto, Canada. Not sure if that’s closer to you or not though.

[@isacocca3187]

@@nixxdra im still oversea lol but thanks!

[@L-ghtlessSky]

character incapable of feeling empathy says “sorry for your loss” and everyone thinks they’ve change but they actually didn’t mean it and just said it for the sake of it. character suddenly being given a life altering revelation and being unable to get away from it, even in death. and then six months later they’re living their best life using it to their advantage.

[@BEEGTHEBEEG]

My personal favourite trope (of which I apply to my characters) is to act bad but is indeed cataclysmic. Villain: "Look at me! I hate Americans; you are American! I'm so villainous! Also women silly! HAHAHA! VILLAINY!!!" meanwhile they harvest muscles from innocent women forced to cosplay as farm animals for pizza toppings. If you would like to know more about this (perhaps this certain character or another), please ask any questions you want. I really enjoy rambling about my characters and am happy answering most questions.

[@green-violins]

2:06 HINOMORIS MENTION the bonus points part is also so real i love sibling parallels

[@NorthernTigress]

My personal favorite is the "just because I don't want to fight doesn't mean I can't fight" type.

[@katherinesmallbean3594]

Some tropes that I absolutely adore: 1 - A character who is very skilled in a certain field, but is otherwise an eccentric weirdo goober. But all the normal people still have to listen to them and their antics. (Think of Inspector Cabanela, L, Godot, and so on) 2 - A bad guy or team of bad guys that act like they're super evil, but are honestly more playful than anything else. Especially if others around them aren't nearly as silly. (Examples include The Banzai Blasters, Gundham Tanaka, and Lancer)

[@Fayanora]

I love dressing my characters in various different outfits, and giving some of them new piercings or tats.

[@TenkoShimura-q1p]

5:00 OMG I MADE A CHARACTER LIKE THIS. ME AND MY FRIEND WERE BEING SILLY GOOFIES AND THEY SAID, "Make two characters named OC and Trauma." SO I DID. TRAUMA IS A TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD AMERICAN FEMALE WHO WAS EXPERIMENTED ON TO HOLD THE PAIN OF ALL HUMANITY, THE EXPERIMENT FAILED BUT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS STAYED, MAKING TRAUMA AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER WHO JUST WANTS A FRIEND BUT EVERYBODY THINKS THEY'RE SCARY. OC, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS A SPOILED BRAT WHO FEARS NOTHING AND THEY FIND TRAUMA IN AN ALLEY ONE DAY. TO CHALLENGE THEMSELVES THEY ATTACK TRAUMA BEFORE REALIZING TRAUMA IS PRETTY DEFENSELESS. SINCE THEN, THEY'VE LIVED WITH EACH OTHER.

[@RubyCheetahCub]

3:22 Or just strong enough to lift the rock that the special weapon is embedded in.

[@darthplagueis13]

Politeness. You know, like in the Princess Bride, where both Inigo and Fezzik are willing to give Wesley a fighting chance even if it meant a disadvantage to them just because they aren't assholes and because they wanted to be sportsmanlike. Also set them up nicely for an enemies to friends dynamic, which is sometimes just more satisfying than enemies to lovers.

[@darthplagueis13]

Oh, and also: Characters who appear lazy and fat at first but when they're eventually forced to act they turn out to be terrifyingly good fighters because there's a reason they lived to be old and fat and it's not that they've been avoiding conflict. And: Characters who are cynical and anti-social but who still don't need a lot of convincing to get off their ass and come help because deep down they actually care, always have cared and the reason they've been isolating themselves is because they had been disappointed by relationships in the past and didn't want to go through that again even though they've honestly been feeling lonely. Oh, and also: The one silly comic relief character in the group who is constantly seen as a fool or a clutz or a weakling either being the only member of the entire group with even just a smidge of emotional intelligence and keeping it all together, or having a moment where they're forced to be serious and competent.

[@Legomicroman]

reminds me a bit of the trope, which goes like this "under different circumstances, we could've been friends". like an honorable minion of a villain, who only serves their evil superior, either because they don't realize their evil OR because they feel like, they have to because "the greater good demands it" or because they feel in-debt of the villain. it gets extra good, when the minion has their own mini-arc, where they turn on their former boss. Clancee from Ninjago is a good example.

[@BlueSkyBirdies]

​@@darthplagueis13 Did you mean: Sans Undertale

[@AtarahDerek]

So between Aragorn and Legolas, which one is borderline insane and which one is perpetually confused? Discuss. Recall that Legolas willingly lives with giant spiders, befriended the son of one of his father's arch enemies, and in his spare time enjoys shield-boarding into battle. Meanwhile, Aragorn does all his own stunts despite being told repeatedly not to.

[@justella4982]

10:12 me when my dnd character had a -1 intelligence & had to roll to see if they were able to avoid getting corrupted by an artifact (ideally would roll a high number to say "ha i'm too mentally strong to be defeated by this!") & i rolled a nat 1 so the dm was like "well i guess if you have 0 intelligence there are no thoughts for it to corrupt"

[@dragonetafireball]

3:17 Mario and Bowser have done this more than 4 times

[@marblespines6996]

A character who's super adorable, sunshine and rainbows and kind to pretty much anyone they meet...but could also karate chop a watermelon.

[@daniellemurnett2534]

Seconded immortals yearning for mortality. My favorite OC cannot age because of a ritual or experiment or whatnot gone wrong. She's traveled through many realities and has long since become jaded and closed off because that's what watching your friends die for millenia does to you. She's able to be harmed, she _could_ very well die from anything else a mortal could, but she refuses to throw her life away doing suicidally reckless and dangerous things because she still hasn't found her world-displaced lover. She couldn't forgive herself for giving up before she did, and the only way to find out whether she has is to find her. I'm now realizing that making them lesbians makes referring to them with only pronouns a lot less clear. Ah well

[@ballisticm0use72]

Very first one, WHERE IS MAH BOY SERPICO

[@osheridan]

3:56 aww Clay 😢

[@justinn8541akaDrPokemon]

One of the favorite tropes is "I know I'm a fake, but everyone has expectations of me". Characters are: Reigen(Mob Psycho 100), King(One Punch Man), and Buggy(One Piece).

[@JohnPabloEsposito]

Ciaphas cain my beloved

[@lordgalosh]

Moist Von Lipwig

[@neisulore_dv]

evan hansen lmaoooooo

[@Tyranitar.]

Asgore

[@Terra_Egg]

@@Tyranitar.could you explain, please?

[@FTFSupremacyROBLOX]

Parental figure that keeps accidentally collecting kids. "Wth why do I have 6 kids now."

[@codythecat01]

Eda the Owl lady

[@AshEastwood]

Yes and Camila,😂🤣

[@twincesseszeigler4366]

​@@codythecat01 "Dumb kids? Wait....THOSE ARE MY DUMB KIDS!"

[@codythecat01]

@@AshEastwood Yep

[@galaxydragon1796]

Batman

[@spicywatermelon8617]

One of my favorites tropes is a character having a sheltered or rough upbringing that led them to be awkward/stoic. Then as the series goes on, other characters help them loosen up and we see that they’re actually just a silly person who never felt like they were able to open up to anyone. (Bonus points if they give me second hand embarrassment at some point or their friend group does hang outs to do things they never got to do growing up)

[@charleston1789]

Oooh yeah like Hunter from TOH

[@Skrill99]

Kinda like Sokka from ATLA, but Hunter is absolutely correct

[@ZoobiethePopplio]

Hunter and Zuko

[@TheFansOfFiction]

Like Caduceus Clay. Unfortunately he never opened up enough for us to get more than a taste, but we know it was there. And Essek for that matter

[@giantpinkcat]

I said this on my blog, but I think we should abandon the whole "Nerd girl gets pinned by bad boy and gets soooo nervous and stutters a lot". Normalize her actually being a nerd. Normalize her having geeky interests like Sci fi and Music. Normalize her getting the highest grades in class. Normalize her having mostly male friends not because she thinks "girls are drama" but because most nerds are just guys. Normalize her *actually being intelligent* .

[@Alky64]

Preach, fucking PREACH

[@PalisadePeryton]

Nerd boy gets pinned by bad girl and gets nervous and stutters a lot?

[@heiwa7098]

bad boy talks to her and gets amazed by her enthusiasm about her interests, and now cannot see something related to them without thinking of her.

[@bee_sponge]

@@PalisadePerytonHELL YEAH!!

[@ratheathen]

​@@PalisadePeryton MY FAVORITE!!!

[@imperiallegionnaire8344]

characters who are both sweet and tough but don't use one to mask the other. Like they use the different parts of themselves when the situation calls for and it doesn't negate the other part of their personality.

[@g4llowsCalibr8tor]

MIKEY FROM ROTTMNT

[@Egwise3463]

Wha- you just described one of my friend's characters, like- what?

[@ut_girl666]

Optimus Prime

[@samuelrodrigues9071]

​@@Egwise3463 and my gf's primary oc-

[@foodofthegods]

Basically me

[@UJEvans]

I love when a character who's fought literal monsters is more horrified by comparably normal things i.e. Ginger Snaps when Bridgette has seen one of her classmates die, but is only left speechless when her mother explains puberty

[@abhajn]

This reminds me of a Tumblr post in which someone asked who in the batfamily would have the worst spice tolerance, and someone responded with Bruce Wayne, because he grew up on Alfred’s British cooking lmao

[@dakotashadow1]

To be fair puberty is a lot more horrific than watching someone die

[@Byssa6]

This reminds me of Kirby being afraid of caterpillars

[@PowerSpirit50]

Like the Doctor who is physically averse to domesticity.

[@mkvee4145]

Like Goku, who has seen his friends die and has died himself, losing his shit over hospitals and needles?

[@shyguymike]

One of my favourite tropes is when the parent of a character who is the embodiment of some sort of abstract concept is just a regular, random bloke. The embodiment of French language: I would like toi to meet ma mère. Protagonist: Oh, cool, so is she, like, the personification of Medieval French, or Latin, or Proto-Indo-European, or something like that? French: Non, non. She's juste Jennifer.

[@andistansbury4366]

Why French?

[@shyguymike]

@@andistansbury4366 It was the first thing that came to mind. I had no particular reason for choosing it. This can be anything from Archangel of Death to the embodiment of red legos, not just languages.

[@theodorethewyvern2640]

Saiki Kusuo’s parents fit this perfectly

[@spongebobsquarechan]

RIGHT!!! the inverse is also very good too i think

[@amagicalbeing7427]

Praying gaster is gonna turn out like this

[@ItzMuffinzz]

I love it when flirty characters can’t handle being flirted with. Like, a flirty character flirts with a character who’s generally disinterested but eventually catches feelings and flirts back causing them to be like hjsksmdjsmsjw Also I’m the red character, the reason being I’m the designated Huey and rise!Raph of my friend group

[@toukatouka3479]

RISE RAPH MENTIONED???

[@arthurdias6860]

Flirty characters that just flirt because they think it’s funny and that it wouldn’t matter because they don’t think they are attractive, only to them seduce someone really hot or a lot of people

[@bananabro1010]

The first one, me too. Someone who typically flusters because every advance they make is shallow getting flustered by a genuine attempt brings me life

[@justinelighthouse6047]

Like angel and husk

[@ItzMuffinzz]

@@justinelighthouse6047 Exactly who I was thinking of while making this comment

[@dumbartist864]

I love the trope of a mean, intimidating looking character who is actually a big sweetheart OR a sweet, cute and innocent looking character who is actually vulgar, rude and cocky. I have ocs based on those tropes :D

[@ut_girl666]

Optimus Prime is literally the first one lmao

[@VoxAstra-qk4jz]

Amos and Avasarala from The Expanse.

[@BagelBagelBagelBa]

second one is q84 from hello charlotte?

[@Dandy-Man]

Gentle giant my beloved

[@dumbartist864]

@@Dandy-Man i have a giant dragon oc who's a big sweetheart, he's shy too! People are scared of him because he's ya know, a giant dragon! He's my son

[@Aveture]

One of my favorite character tropes is the villain who sort of goes through a redemption arc by being adopted into the team/family of hero characters. They still act a bit evil but not in a dangerous way, they're more like a quirky aunt/uncle who helps fight off more powerful villains who show up.

[@A-TriangleTM]

Discord

[@ZombieOfBerlin]

Vegeta

[@AshEastwood]

I could only think of Zuko😌

[@natiangel]

that's literally Zuko

[@EternalTheMandarinGoddess]

Magolor my beloved

[@p0lusthegremlin]

I see Caine, I click. Dapper-dressed man with object for a head is the best trope.

[@dumbartist864]

Bezzel from chikin nugget :)

[@dumbartist864]

And King Dice. That game and the show is great! I'm a long time Cuphead fan lol

[@foodofthegods]

I’M MISTER KING DICE.

[@dumbartist864]

@@foodofthegods IM THE GAMEIST IN THE LAND

[@crown4212]

TEETH MAN

[@Cinnamonraisin_Bagel]

Idk if this is a basic trope or not but i like characters who act funny/like a shameless flirt but actually have a ton depth to them and their actions usually from deep trauma (leo from Rottmnt and Sylvain from fire emblem three houses)

[@shyguymike]

These are always wonderful to analyse as a fan, but are eternally bound to be reduced to just what we see on the surface and flanderised by the majority of the fanbase, not to mention the critics.

[@Cinnamonraisin_Bagel]

@@shyguymike Yeah, though usually if the material focuses on these characters it can work well, specifically because the rise movie focuses on Leo it really shows the seriousness of his character

[@g4llowsCalibr8tor]

Dave striderrr

[@characookie241]

Leo Heroes of Olympus

[@Cinnamonraisin_Bagel]

@@characookie241 man i guess every Leo is this trope /j

[@sumgamezandstuff]

My favourite underrated trope is when a character is in disguise but actually turns out to be a clone wearing said disguise. I remember seeing it in a SpongeBob episode where SpongeBob dresses up as “Girly Teen Girl” from “Farawayvillie” to get into Pearl’s slumber party, but fails and runs away crying. And you know who showed up in a truck with Mr. Krabs shortly afterwards? SpongeBob. That means that Girly Teen Girl is out there somewhere. Best underrated trope.

[@thisurldoesnotexist]

Subversion of thr villain/hero not wanting to fight a teen Villain teen realizes masked hero is either kinda evil or also a teen bc they have no qualms against fighting a child

[@Clovergem_in_the_snow]

Super stuff is one of my favs! Morally-grey supers for the win :)

[@Asteri0519]

Two of my absolute favorite character tropes are: A) character who views everyone around them as a tool, but also is nice to said everyone because you gotta keep your gears and nuts and bolts in good condition, right? B) character who views everyone as a chess piece, including themselves& can and WILL put their life at stake in order to achieve something

[@Taekaleaf]

ONE OF MY CHARACTERS IS BOTH OF THESE TROPES RAHH

[@freakystrawberry]

FYODOR???

[@nathaniel4634]

I love characters who are objectively evil but since they aren’t the big bad, they can just manipulate both the good and the bad guys to create a situation where they’re the only one coming out of this conflict with a win. (I’m mainly talking about Dimentio (Super Paper Mario) and Jarlaxle (Legend of Drizzt), but I would love to hear other characters that also fit this!)

[@ilDSttaro]

Is a huge spoiler but I think this character qualifies: Alex from Golden Sun.

[@callmecharlie4250]

eyy, dimentio was exactly who I was thinking from that description

[@chongwillson972]

@nathaniel4634 mei mei, she has insider trading, will only help you if you pay a lot of money and will disappear faster than a blink of the eye if she likely to die soon, she uses her little brother as bait many times, and has raise her little brother to be a tool, and she will live stream the most important fight in the world and hide it behind a paypall, then add another paywall RIGHT before the results, it was the funniest shit seeing a good guy and second strongest big-bad stop before fighting to see who won on their phones.

[@grayanddevpdx]

so Marx and Magolor from Kirby and Spamton from Deltarune

[@IceFireofVoid]

Love that. The ones who play by their own rules and can be on whatever side is more convenient for them at any given moment.

[@citrus_sweet]

My favorite is the character who tries their hardest to be brave and strong but when you look into their backstory you realize they're probably just extremely traumatized and their brave "facing danger no matter what" is most likely actually an attempt at self-destruction masked by a chivalrous exterior. (Asuka Soryuu is probably the most well-known example of this).

[@Dressup_Doll]

Ah, my favorite character who I don’t know if I want to be dead or not. She’s deeply traumatized and trying to keep her friend safe while hurting him by pretending she doesn’t know who he is and ignoring his crush on her, and I love it.

[@williamplaskett4661]

@@Dressup_Doll V?

[@nathankosanke2093]

I love characters who always make you happy to see them, but you don't know if they'll last because they're too likeable. Think Agent Coulson from the MCU. I think TV Tropes calls them Mauve Shirts, because they aren't in the main cast, but they're not as disposable as a red shirt, so they're always on a pendulum of luck.

[@katherinesmallbean3594]

Reminds me of Maes Hughes from FMA. He can light up a room with both goofy jokes and genuine kindness.... I instantly had a feeling his days were numbered 😅

[@ajra6143]

1: When characters team up and instead of passive aggressive snarking or nitpicking (unless it's for light ribbing) each other, they're polite and complimentary to each other. Example: The Spider-Men in No Way Home right before they face off against the villains at the Statue of Liberty. They don't bash or try to one-up each other, they have a fun conversation about their past experiences and lift each other up. 2: When the absentminded idiot acknowledges that a situation is bad. Example: Ed in Ed, Edd n Eddy when the Eds try a bus scam with Ed acting as the horse but he loses control when going downhill. When asked if he can slow down, he just says “No”. If the empty-headed moron knows it’s gonna be bad, it’s really gonna be bad.

[@TheFansOfFiction]

Yes, let your heroes be friends!

[@giantpinkcat]

I also love the trope of a villain character just being a natural born, untreated Psycho. Enough with the sappy 'America's Got Talent' tears. The reason he punched a puppy is bc he's like that, he's been that as a kid and he's staying that way.

[@kaplooeygames8515]

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@alhassanqadry]

we need more Evil All the Way villains, I've missed their nefarious ass

[@TroutShoveler]

Jack Horner from Puss In Boots

[@UnreliableArsonist]

@@TroutShovelerexactly

[@PowerSpirit50]

Doflamingo from One Piece.

[@SoraPawz]

Accidental found family is the freakin' best. Like, a group of characters who get tossed together and don't know what the hell's going on, but they end up being each other's ride or die. Alkaloid from Enstars is a great example

[@TheFansOfFiction]

You might like the show Leverage; it's literally this.

[@brycj14128]

“Nothing hits harder than when that character who always wears suits wears something non-formal” Ah yes, Sanji at the end of One Piece’s Thriller Bark Arc, nice to see you again my old friend

[@justinn8541akaDrPokemon]

The question at the end isn't "are you the red or blue character". It's "when will the red and blue character make out".

[@familyberente1407]

They should. It is such a dynamic

[@tokatstorm9270]

You were questioning that?

[@justinn8541akaDrPokemon]

@@tokatstorm9270 Good point, I should change it to when.

[@RealRexRiplash]

This was me with the candidates in 2020

[@aspillust]

god i love red and blue characters. the red ones are almost always my favorites and the blue ones are almost always the ones i relate to the most.

[@notrealyBea]

About the trope of not moving on after the lover died, I want more of “I can get over their death, but I will never love anyone again, because that person is the only one for me and I will remain faithful to them even after their death´´ and they actually do that, dedicating the rest of they life to cherished close platonic relationships and his hobbies. That what i would do, and what i wish my husband would do if i had one

[@TheFansOfFiction]

Oh, I like this. It opens the potential for their hoard of mentees to try to set them up on dates, which always turn into casual tea parties

[@notrealyBea]

That would be pretty iconic!​@@TheFansOfFiction

[@THE_EDGEDAY_WATCHER]

NGL The alien + Vampire "Trope" sounds like an old SIMS Story mode lore...

[@BlackRoseUT]

Gimme a fantasy show but one of the main characters is just a gunslinger. Everyone else is castin fireball while this guy is castin The Glock.

[@VoxAstra-qk4jz]

@@BlackRoseUT Mistborn era 2 is kind of like that.

[@phoebegilliland8897]

Legend of Vox Machina.

[@Mossyspring]

oh I ADORE characters who refuse to accept they were in the wrong, because they're not able to handle the amount of guilt that would come with it if they did. Especially when lots of help actually makes them accept that they did mess up, and were wrong.

[@Clovergem_in_the_snow]

YESYESYES

[@Braint-lr6uf]

Walter White,even if that "help" is his life going to an end

[@kirby1781]

I notice I have a few types of characters I like to read or write about. One is basically the "jerk with a heart of gold" thing, either by using a jerkish personality to hide insecurities to the public or they are geniunely and openly nice...they just also have a habit of being a sarcastic smartass without a filter. Said characters can provide a lot of humor (or angst, either I like.)

[@xandarian07]

Absolutely love Star-Lord

[@czeianamiguel5543]

my OC is like that, unfortunately she's stuck in my daydreams forever 🥲

[@TheFansOfFiction]

Julian from The Flash and Harry, also

[@nympseudonym]

A character who had a fated destiny or mission but completed it and now has to contend with the after part

[@Clovergem_in_the_snow]

This is a very interesting idea to explore! I’m thinking of MLP:FiM but for other realms as well!

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

1:32 from experience, I can tell you: Always have a roll of duct tape on you. People thought I was wierd, until one day, a guy came into school with a broken project he had fallen down on. I asked if duct tape would help, he said "of course it would asshole" and then his eyes visibly lit up with hope when I handed him the roll. He saved his project, stutteringly thanked me profusely, and rushed to class. So, yes, always carry a roll of duct tape with you, in your purse or a backpack or something. That, or a flashlight for power outages.

[@clonnie-cloo]

0:55 does this mean sokka qualifies as a himbo? he's a good dude, does pretty well with the ladies, and while he's an absolute genius inventor who's probably centuries ahead of his time at the age of fifteen...he also drinks straight from a random cactus and tries to use "wang fire" as a fake fire nation name

[@BaobhanloreArt]

Honestly, my favourite trope is when a character comes off as jarring and intimidating but, after getting to know them, they're probably just autistic and traumatised. Examples I like are Felix Hugo Fraldadius, Levi Ackerman, and Kousuke Hirahira.

[@graey.catrat]

also. someone who wears formal suits 24/7, even to the beach and maybe even takes a bath still wearing this bonus points if that's a uniform

[@graey.catrat]

and that character would be me if I could afford formal suits

[@thelivingliver6715]

the object head dapper man trope is the easiest tumblr sexyman thing you can do nowadays, if anything its becoming more and more alive

[@79bigcat]

"Everyone else safe on board?" "Yes" "Good!"[kicks them to safety inside and seals the door] The kindly elder that has pleasant chats with the main group is dealing with enemies. Then manages to implicitly threaten said enemies without breaking their demeanor. The "normal" surrounded by supers and thus is the only one with any common sense.

[@satibel]

8:38 no, I want alien who thinks all humans work like vampires, because they crash landed in transylvania, and them trying not to look sus among humans by obviously hiding from the sun as one does.

[@trashotaku]

7:08 I’m an absolute FIEND for the emotional hug trope because it works in both platonic and romantic works

[@cocobeebunnied7371]

I think I’ve realized that my favorite characters tend to either be -adopts everyone And -adopted by everyone

[@BrunoMaricFromZagreb]

Definetly the "crazy awesome" sort of character. ●Freeman (Accursed Farms version) - can take out a platoon & its tank,while singing _Modern Major General_ and improvising a third verse,then move onto destroying an alien lair. ●Delta the Dungeon with no Epic Loot - few women get put in charge of a dungeon,fevew still succeed while being pacifists. ●Sun Wukong - need I say anything?Just watch the OSPRed videos on him. ●General Tarquin - bingeread the _Evil Overlord List_ and made it his entire personality. ●Jane the Mentalist - He can read anyone & manipulate them. ●Skippy & Mr.Welch - Strange minds think alike,& get up to plenty of shenanigans in the army & adventuring party. ●Old Man Henderson - the worst thing to happen to Lovecraftian horror. ●Agatha Clay/Heterodyne - The maddest Scientist to have ever madded in science! I want to see more people use INSANITY as a strenght rather than a weakness.

[@justagundam]

When the big burly character (friend or foe) gets hit in the back and turns around, unphased and now very pissed while their soon-to-be victim look on in fear. (Running away or apologizing optional.)

[@kaplooeygames8515]

Okay, so I'm not super into hero x villain stuff but the post as 9:30 is kinda cooking

[@convalaria]

2:07 i looked at the girls in the top right and thought “is that franziska von karma?” and was a little sad when it wasn’t, until a few seconds later when FRANZISKA VON KARMA?!?

[@graey.catrat]

HI PERSON OF CULTURE! 👋

[@brycj14128]

ACE ATTORNEY DETECTED

[@Amielle-in-Ami-hell]

0:33 oh hello Netflix’s Nimona (2023)

[@theemotionalsupportghost6344]

I'm ADHD coded orange character with an autism coded purple character bestie 🧡💜❤💙

[@leoliuyanhai]

I love sibling/sibling-like-friendship character’s, I have no idea why but it’s just so appealing, especially if it’s opposites. Examples: Razzle & Dazzle from Dandy’s World Mk and Mei from Lego Monkie Kid Albedo & Klee from Genshin Impact Aether/Lumine & Paimon also from Genshin Impact Goob & Scraps from Dandy’s World I want to add more but the rest are OC’s I made

[@TheMimiSard]

Accidental adoption - See The Bad Batch. That is the whole damn show.

[@UnreliableArsonist]

This might just be the most basic list in the history of opinions, but THESE character stereotypes (among others) are the ones I find the most enjoyable and i have no idea why. Semi-popular examples will be included: 1 - Spunky, over-the-top yet still threatening villains (Wheatley) 2 - Absolute lunatic that’s fallen in love (Jason ‘JD’ Dean) 3 - AI that ISN’T trying to commit murder (TARS and CASE) 4 - AI that are evil, but done right (A.M, HAL 9000) 5 - Immoral and greedy higher ups (Mr. Krabs)

[@joshuasgameplays9850]

Wheatly is one of the funniest villains in fiction while still being genuinely threatening when the developers want him to be. Also the Stalemate Resolution Button trick was genius, not even GLaDOS thought of that.

[@UnreliableArsonist]

@@joshuasgameplays9850 Yeah, when I first played portal 2 I almost died laughing after me and Potato fell for it.

[@uncroppedsoop]

​@@joshuasgameplays9850 see GLaDOS doesn't quite understand how Wheatley actually works. it's not that he's dumb per se but that his ideas fly by at a million miles an hour and he has no filter for how good those ideas are. he always has that chance to actually come up with something extremely clever, and his usual compulsively stupid behaviour leads you to expect far less

[@-Oddity]

A trope I quite like is "Character who is always smiling/cheery, and when they stop, you know things are about to go from 0 to 100 quick"

[@kingtesttube4996]

Unikitty

[@ouchyeouchzowie]

character who has been wallowing in their anger and depression for so long that they've built an emotional wall around themselves and are incredibly bitter and nasty to everyone they meet. their self isolation and horribleness leads to everyone they love parting ways with them, and eventually it turns into a cycle where their anger towards themself gets projected onto others which leads to anger towards themself for letting it happen again...

[@katherinesmallbean3594]

Edgeworth from Ace Attorney feels kinda like this except the cycle is cut short by a smart dumb himbo from 0:42 stepping in 😂

[@MoorSlider]

4:00 Being the protector of a system is kinda like that, it fucking sucks XD

[@ranting2daMAX]

I like dorks. (Otacon and Miles Edgeworth) They are both dorks, but in VERY different ways, but. I just can’t explain it. I don’t know HOW to explain it. I just really love both of these characters and the fact that they kinda fit in the same category (granted, said category is SUPER broad) makes me happy.

[@TroutShoveler]

Same with Phoenix Wright. He’s more of an ‘outward’ dork though I suppose

[@brycj14128]

I also love the dorks, especially the “I don’t like a lot of things” dorks. I haven’t played Metal Gear so I don’t know a lot about Otacon, but Edgeworth is like… the stoic fanboy. He needs to keep a professional and calm demeanour for his reputation… but it’s Steel Samurai. He needs to keep his love for himself, but *it’s Steel Samurai, he can’t just NOT do something*. That’s my interpretation anyway lmao Another character that’s similar to this is Trafalgar Law from One Piece; he’s this stern and serious, kinda sadistic character actually, except he’s also a huge fanboy of a popular comic series and goes all fanatic nerd seeing one of the characters (who’s actually one of the Straw Hats) in real life. It’s so funny

[@katherinesmallbean3594]

A ton of Ace Attorney characters feel like dorks, just different types of dorks. Phoenix is a dork. Maya is a dork. The Judge is a dork. Dorks everywhere.

[@anonymousx957]

One of my favourite troupes is when villains, despite being genuinely evil and the like, are kinda goofy. Shout out to my D&D PC for being a capitalist who wants to take over the area in which in campaign takes place for his own personal gain while being a dorky nerd who loves guns

[@DJBoogieBeats]

10:57 I love this trope. These guys always have the best voice actors and personalities.

[@_AstaLily]

2:53 Like that one time with Team Rocket in Kanto and then Meowth and Ash in the Kalos Malamar episode? Absolutely top tier episodes of the Pokémon anime, clearly.

[@SunsetDragon]

8:25 NO STOP I HAD AN ALIEN + VAMPIRE COUPLE IN SIMS 3 A FEW YEARS AGO AND I STILL FREAKING LOVE THEM AS OCS RATHER THAN SIMS!?!?! LIKE YOU KNOW HOW SOME SIMS YOU HAVE ARE JUST SIMS AND OTHERS GET UPGRADED TO OCS?!? I LOVE MY ALIEN AND VAMPIRE SO MUCH THEY ARE SO IN LOVE AND ADOPTED 3 CHILDREN (i consider the children sims, not ocs, which is sort of weird but im not going to question it)

[@I_aint_active_no_more]

I’ll definitely take tumblr over TikTok

[@yggdro]

_inhales_ SHOUT OUT TO THE CHARACTERS THAT SMILE DESPITE THE DARKNESS AND DO THEIR BEST TO PROTECT EVERYONE'S SMILES GODAI AND EIJI MY BOYS WAHEEEEEEEY also on a similar note DELINQUENTS WITH A HEART OF GOLD! BEAT IS BEST YEAY!!

[@Aderon]

In my own setting, one of my themes is personifying acts of nature as animals, and one of them is that the waves of the sea are the scales on the back of the crocodile. The waves may be strong, the tempest insurmountable, but the most dangerous time to be at sea is always when the waters are completely still, because that's when the crocodile is stalking.

[@TroutShoveler]

🔥🔥🔥✍️

[@jayy4651]

Guy who is Clearly Not Normal X guy who everyone else thinks is very normal but is actually even less normal than the other guy...and only the other guy knows this

[@jayy4651]

I use guy gender neutrally here

[@EndtimeIllusionist]

Well-intentioned characters who trap other characters in an ideal world as an escape from reality because they can't stand watching people suffer, my beloved. Bonus points if this comes with existential dread.

[@WorldWeave]

I’m always a fan of “you got a better idea?” After someone points out that the incredibly crazy plan, is in fact, incredibly crazy, but it’s the only plan they have and no one has a better idea The only time I don’t like it is when it’s used in a condescending way, like one character has a plan they’re confident in, and someone brings up an alternate solution that gets immediately dismissed…though, I’ve only seen that done once, and the whole point of that was to point out that the condescending character WAS in the wrong

[@Imamotherfreakingavocado]

My favourite character trope is guy who has zero braincells, completely oblivious to everything, but the sweetest person you'll ever come across (examples being Silver Twisted Wonderland, Simeon Obey Me, and Amagi Hiiro Ensemble Stars) Another trope I like is highly intimidating person who speaks like a high class poet who's personality is just autism and loving their friends (examples being Ran Nagisa Ensemble Stars, Malleus Draconia Twisted Wonderland, and Gundham Tanaka Danganronpa 2)

[@saplingarcher7713]

1:00 I would like to introduce you to Krov Matar Vrasin. Sure he can turn into a crocodile humanoid and tear apart foes with manic glee using some greatsword he got by making a deal with the fae, which just involves MORE violence for him, and yeah he one-rounded a Manticore... One time, though, he summoned a sphinx accidently, by saying; "Ella is nice, she gives cookies!" (Ella was the sphinx.) She came floating off the side of the flying ship with a tray of cookies. "Oh! Hello, Ella!" Soon enough, Krov was politely asking for cookies; "May I have a cookie?" and then later, "May I have another cookie?" No one else was being so polite to her, lol.

[@FelisGalactus]

Also I just love characters whose problems are partially/mostly their own fault. It’s got a special kind of angst and character drama that “this character’s problems are entirely inflicted upon them by others” just can’t capture. The guy’s gonna ruin his own and other people’s lives and I for one can’t wait to watch : )

[@Braint-lr6uf]

Breaking Bad

[@DragonLandlord]

Ooh, the alien/vampire + immortal-wanting-mortality; the alien's blood makes the vampire mortal. So many possibilities.

[@femmesammy8768]

"Character that keeps cool in stressful situations but is anxious when in a calming situation" Lin Beifong (except one can argue she's constantly stressed, and when in calming situations there's always a threat)

[@PantherCat64]

Alright one character trope I love, especially to write, but haven't seen often is what I'm dubbing "The Swear-Buckler" where they have a little more distinction from the other characters of being more upset than normal, maybe anger issues too, usually due to past trauma and pain and trying to work with it. And while they can have sweet moments or show kindness, they can beat the crap out of you and tear you up, both physically and emotionally, they're good at it and will not show mercy if you get that point. I call them the "Swear Buckler" because in a series where swearing is a lot more reserved and used in less childish ways, they're the type to still swear like a sailor; and in a kids series where swearing is a big no no, they'll somehow be the only one to be allowed to get away with saying "Damn" every now and then. As somehow them having that personality and not swearing feels wrong. Yeah if they cannot curse the entire way and can still feel in character, that's not a swear buckler, that's just someone with angst and anger issues that can sass people. I bring this up because maybe people can point to more examples.

[@supa_klo]

My favourite character trope is the emotionless/expressionless character. I like them pretty much in any flavour. The one who for reasons has grown numb towards their emotions and doesn't really feel them anymore. The one who has a lot of emotions but is expressionless for some reasons so there is some disconnect from what they say to how their look (ononoki from Monogatari). The inhuman being who learns about human emotions. Plus point if the expressionless character has friends who just treat them like a normal person and don't mind their lack of expression.

[@VoxAstra-qk4jz]

Literally Amos Burton from The Expanse. Look up the "That guy" scene.

[@FelisGalactus]

Literally Kris Deltarune

[@Rebelco]

I love when the world is ending or theres like a huge threat to the entire world but there's a group or the main characters are just doing side quests or things that they enjoy while everything around them burns. Bonus points if one of the characters keep telling them to stop fooling around and just focus on saving the world or stopping the villain just to be completely ignored. I don't know if that is a trope but its something that I really love to do on my fics and my original stories.

[@citrus_sweet]

I call this "pulling a Terraria" whenever I see it. Basically, if the characters go along with trying to fight the big bad ancient evil or whatever, they just make things worse off so it's best to stay doing the fun menial tasks otherwise it plunges the plot into chaos and destruction.

[@duckgooseyswan]

This reminds me of “Comet in Moominvalley” a lot.

[@Dressup_Doll]

ATLA in a nutshell. Sokka’s the tired DM trying to stop the railroading while everyone else is going on funny side quests.

[@thisismyusername2096]

That’s pretty much Zom 100 lol

[@cryingwatercolours]

10:05 i remember a very good tumblr post about two ppl hooking up and undressing each other and finding a comical amount of weapons

[@TheFansOfFiction]

4:35: On this note. I love the trope where the protagonists are caught up in their own drama -- an argument, gossip, dinner plans, ect. -- during a battle and give the enemy essentially no attention, before leaving them tied up on a dock and zipping away. Bonus points if the enemy joins in with helpful advice or offers to reschedule.

[@littleperson8315]

i love cat coded boys... i cannot elaborate, unfortunately

[@soaring-comet]

i’m a big fan of the characters who surface level flirt with people all the time with no issue but the moment someone turns it back on them the whole suave demeanour is Gone and they’re just left there like 😦

[@deadlydingus1138]

I have a few. 1. Well-dressed demons (usually in suits). 2. Geniuses who also have no idea what they’re doing. 3. Little guys that carry comically oversized weapons. 4. Little guys that are up to no good. 6. You know what? Just little guys in general. 7. Silly characters with eye obstructions (comically large hats, messy hair, foggy glasses, etc). 8. Characters that use bludgeoning weapons. 9. Evil henchmen. 10. Villains who value their evil henchmen. 11. Mad scientists (not to be confused with the second category). 12. Characters who support other characters when things aren’t going right. 13. Villains who purposefully avoid killing (remember, kids. You can’t kick someone in the shins if they don’t have legs). There’s no particular order here. I just listed them as I thought of them.