Troublesome Tropes - Women in Refrigerators

[@dspace4514]

Women in refrigerators might be one of weirdest sentences I have heard in my life.

[@Ramsey276one]

Comics, am I right? *YEEZUS*

[@kyrohowe3156]

Tell that to Gail Simone, not us

[@Azumadofu]

It sounds even worse than kids in the basement.

[@maybehasmildautism]

I belive it originated from Green lantern comic series. Girlfriend of Kyle Rayner (curent Green lantern during that run) got killed a stufed in the frige by some mass murder maniac. One of the most disturbing events in comics.

[@VScorpio-oc4ei]

What about fridge horror

[@retr0836]

In my opinion, most executions of tropes are actually more well written than people think.

[@nkyfong]

Yeah, and because of that, when it's bad, IT'S BAD

[@Plaugus_Screenz]

​​@@nkyfong a good version of this trope is with library of ruinia with Roland and Angelica rolands wife. Not to be confused with Angela the outher person who is also the protagonist of the game with Roland. In the same game we see outher people get fridged as motivation and how death affects people differently and the cycle of death, vengeance and outher things

[@anubis7457]

@@Plaugus_ScreenzTbh the trope itself isnt the problem. A LOT of minor characters die to give the main character motivation, and love interests were usually the primary targets because it gives the most amount of easy drama. The issue arose because usually the love interest was the only woman with a speaking role (and even then it was usually minor) and then she died with no other female character affecting the story in any way. The trope itself was fine, the stories it was often in were not.

[@Plaugus_Screenz]

@@anubis7457 no you misunderstand I'm saying this is a good story that uses it good to fine because off the top of my head their is like 3 outher instances of it in the story of the game Philip with the dawn office and the wedge office,mars and lulu, Lowell and Xieo for these examples compared to Roland it happens in curent events and Roland is told in essentaly flashback recounting of snipets which shows why and how he got here. Pm games have great story and focuses on characters the fridgeing of Angelica leads to how roland is now and pushes him deeper into his prexsiting world view of distrust, paranoia,nihilism and hiding his feelings behind a mask and he slowiy works through it through out the game to become more fully realized and healthier in the hellscape of this world (Angela also has similar yet diferant problems to work through)

[@anubis7457]

@@Plaugus_ScreenzI think you misunderstood, I wasn’t disagreeing with you I was just trying to expand on it lol

[@barrybend7189]

So to counterpoint to the trope. Uncle Ben in Spiderman, Owen and Beru in Star Wars. The trope Fridging was only named for the Greenlantern comic where it gained widespread publicity. Kryptonite is another trope.

[@Mangakamen]

Wow, you should wait till the end of the video. lulz This is uncanny

[@barrybend7189]

@@Mangakamen sorry habit from the Overly Sarcastic productions where Red absolutely doesn't go through all possible variations of the trope worth mentioning. Sorry.

[@Mangakamen]

Nah, it's just that I bring up Ben and Obi wan in this at the end.

[@barrybend7189]

@@Mangakamen i used Owen and Beru because it's the events that set Luke on his adventure. The death of the familiar.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

@@barrybend7189 I wouldn`t call the Death of Owen and Beru as a good example. Luke already wanted to leave the farm behind, but uncle Owen needed him on the farm. The death of them wasn`t the thing that prompted Luke to go on his journey, it was merely an obstacle removed.

[@maakumackmack4567]

I do think fridging has become more an antiquated trope as more writers realize that actually showing why the main character cares for this specific character is way more effective than just a throwaway shorthand.

[@sunstar4559]

I'm only three minutes into the video, but I agree with you 100% on the usage of tropes. They're not bad, it's how you use them.

[@matthewgallaway3675]

It’s not the size

[@phantom-X2086]

It's why I don't think something being cliche is a valid criticism for something. They're cliche for a reason, because they worked before and will continue to do so.

[@sunstar4559]

@@phantom-X2086 Exactly dude!

[@TheXell]

I think the problem with talking about the trope of fridging, as with most buzzwords, is that it is used way too often and too lightly. I honestly never even considered talking about Aerith i this context because she doesn't even fit the most generous interpretation for it, since she's a straight up protagonist in her own right. Simone was specifically calling out the haphazard use of female supporting characters of male main characters being killed of for shock value, since it's a more gruesome variant of the "damsel in distress" trope. I consider calling that trend at that time out to be a good thing, not because of some flimsy political reason, but simply because killing off a character means one of to things in fiction: 1. If the the death sticks, that character's story is over, and as such any interesting ideas and concepts that could have been realized with their use dies with them. 2. If the character comes back to life somehow (which is relevant considering the medium and genre that made Simone take notice), the death comes off as manipulative and hollow. That being said, I personally don't object to killing off characters to set a certain tone or a story or carry a narrative theme, even though I often find myself being turned off by stories that choose to do so as my capacity to enjoy grimdark/edgelord writing withers continuously as I get older.

[@cosmicspacething3474]

There’s also the possibility of a dead character reappearing in a flashback.

[@christopherbennett5858]

The only time I’ve really seen the resurrection of a fridged character have much meaning is probably Candy Southern from X men in Phalanx Covenant.

[@shikiira4185]

I think another good example, or two, would be from fmab with Nina, Alexander, and Hughes. The deaths of Nina and Alexander were meant to show the cruel side of the Alchemist world up front and personal to Ed and Al. Tucker, the fiend behind the half of the act get's Ed to question what it means to use Alchemy for, and then later reinforced when Scar comes along, uses Alchemy to kill Nina, and then attempts to kill Ed himself as an act of Justice/ revenge. Scar deems Alchemy accursed, and uses the acts of cruel Alchemy as his excuse, despite being very hypocritical since he uses it too. Then there's Hughes. He died because he knew to much. His death was a message, to those that seek the truth and dug too deep. Yet our characters, Mustang and Edward don't heed the warning despite the devastation, it only encourages them to dig deeper into the corruption of their government that they serve. Hughes' death served as solid proof that secrets were being kept, shone a light that someone behind the scenes was controlling everything. Especially due to the fact that hughes choose to used an outside line and not inside one to get the info he learned to Mustang.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Hughes doesn't quite count considering he is both fleshed out character and died because of his own choices.

[@insertnamehere1398]

sometimes a character who's fridged isn't just meaningless. it completely shatters an incredibly cool idea.... R.I.P. kaede. never forget.....

[@hoangquanle3310]

From which series?

[@u-foreever7819]

@@hoangquanle3310I think Danganronpa

[@aquapendulum]

Yes, the death of somebody often motivates other characters close to them in various ways. The most prominent example of this trope in pop culture is actually of a male character: Ned Stark. Does anybody think Ned Stark was done wrong by having his story cut short? Anybody?

[@marocat4749]

No, its a good setup and its his own foolish overly honor that gotr him there. He had chances to like partner with renlky and , denied that. Its his own actions getting him ther. Which is great. Also the sean bean meme XD

[@tortoiseoflegends4466]

Fridging refers to characters who's only purpose in the story is to die or suffer to motivate someone else though. While Ned did that, he also did much more for the plot; he was the protagonist lol. He's not an example of the trope. Otherwise literally any character death could be described as fridging.

[@aquapendulum]

@@tortoiseoflegends4466 Black Widow in the MCU has been cited as an example of "fridging" by a lot of people. The definition of a term will be defined by the majority, sorry.

[@tortoiseoflegends4466]

@@aquapendulum Where is this majority that thinks fridging is when any character dies? Are they in the room with us now? Or is it just the chronically online Twitter users who constantly need something to be angry about? Because they ain't the majority lol.

[@aquapendulum]

@@tortoiseoflegends4466 They ARE the majority.

[@Shylunar64]

Hello Manga Kamen. Never commented before but I enjoy hearing your view on characters and tropes. I'm also impressed by the improvement in editing. Can't wait for the next troublesome tropes.

[@Mangakamen]

Glad you like them!

[@Shindoun]

You're right that the trope has been done before that Kyle Raynor became a Green Lantern and it can work no matter the gender just like how some writers fails to make it as impactful as it should be. As for Ace Attorney while related to fridging, since Clay is not mentioned in the games after that, that game also showed me signs that the main writer seems to be afraid of spoiling previous games if people don't play them in order. Which seems to be why we don't ever see Gumshoe aside from a flashback in Apollo Justice and why the twist of Apollo and Trucy being siblings is never mentioned once in the following games.

[@mr.protagonist5639]

Wait really? currently going through the second duel destinies case. That sounds so stupid not to ever bring it up again. I'm already losing enthusiasm for this case because it's incredibly boring too.

[@matthewgallaway3675]

@@mr.protagonist5639yeah that one’s not great

[@Birthday888]

​@@matthewgallaway3675 It's also important to note that the main writer of Ace Attorney changed for Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, which is why those two entries specifically never call back to stuff in previous titles, because the new writer wanted people to be able to jump into them as their first game. Which is very dumb, yes. Especially since all of the games are now remastered and easily accessible.

[@xdskiller3509]

“get back to the fridge and go make me a shock value,women“ - old comic writers and manga writers

[@FF-tp7qs]

Funny that You bring up Duel Destinies with the remaster coming out. Spirit of Justice also does the same thing with Apollo's entire family

[@matthewgallaway3675]

They just keep pumping more and more tragic backstories into him

[@ericlee4177]

I agree that fridging can happen to any gender but people tend to complain if it happens to a certain gender which is weird because if you look at anime Nina from FMA, as well as nearly every mother whose been killed, could be considered a fridged character but no one ever brings them up. I think it really depends on how impactful the fridging is and how much impact said fridged character has on the character.

[@Bucket-the-lizard]

I have seen some people bring up mothers in fridging and she personally described it as "A girlfriend/wife or mother dying to propel a male characters story". Even then I think some people don't complain about it as much because writers love to kill off parental figure characters, especially if they're good

[@Yan_Alkovic]

16:19 MGR standing right next to BCS... My word you are so amazing for doing this!

[@ladysknightthefamiliar]

This is interesting and well-written. Also, i love your artstyle

[@Mangakamen]

Thank you so much 😀

[@memeguyiii4383]

You know, the intro to this implies that when their is a new (style) avatar, the previous one is killed or disappears

[@Ramsey276one]

TRO - The Right Opinion: Allow my *dozens* of avatars to disagree!

[@ENDslayer2001]

Kamina from guren laggan has to be my personal favorite use of fridging. What with how it not only drives Simon once he picks himself back up again, but how all of Team Guren is affected. Heck, Simon later uses the way Kamina helped him in order to help other people with their problems (like with Rossiu). Side note, loved this video and I'm looking forward to the series continuing, though i personally hope to see more representation from shows/movies/etc. (as much as i love discussing games)

[@connorharnage6697]

Another good example imo is Zephyr from Tales of Arise. The man definitely got fridges, no argument there. But you get to spend a whole region with him, learning his ideals and beliefs. Then we meet Law and Cyslodia and he just refuses to fight, showing how much his son means to him. With his character firmly cemented, his death has more impact and we are understand why Alphen and Law are so torn up over his death. Compare this to Migal in her same game. We barely get to know him yet I'm expected to believe his death would have this major impact on Dohalim and Kisara when the game doesn't really give much reason besides "He's Kisara's brother"

[@PersonstuckinMichigan]

It's not really fridging if you spend time with the character. Fridging more so refers to characters who's sole purpose and trait is: The character in question likes them, then they die, boo hoo. If a character dies on screen or has a real personality fridging doesn't really apply.

[@connorharnage6697]

@@PersonstuckinMichigan I'd argue it still does. As explained here, it typically just refers to killing a character solely to motivate the main cast. Your description does fall into that but it can apply to fleshed out characters like Zephyr

[@Birthday888]

​​@@connorharnage6697 I'd argue that's far too broad of a definition though? Every single character death should motivate at least one other character in one way or another. Character deaths that don't motivate other characters are the exception there.

[@kazkatgamer6722]

When I played "the world ends with you" (spoilers) when you got shiki as your first partner, I like neku found her kinda of annoying. Not that smart, overly optimistic, saying things will be fine whit no plan herself. But when she opens up to neku and you learn how the game takes things away from ppl you understand her faults. Shes no longer just up beat girl 1 she's dynamic, and has such a drive to change and be more. When she ended up being Nekus price for the second game...I actually felt a drive to want to save her, and would pray that this game wasn't going to do something messed up in a way that completely erases her from existence, and being teamed up with Joshua made that feeling even more panic inducing due how he views the game.

[@BBHood217]

SAO Abridged took the fridging of a minor character and greatly improved on it. In the abridged version said minor character had a very laggy connection so when "that" moment happens, it all seemed comical as her lag literally kills her and her dying words were "don't worry, it wasn't your fault-your fault-your fault-your fault-". But as the series went on, those last two words repeated over and over actually motivate Kirito and give his actions some actual context.

[@christopherbennett5858]

Oh and he took revenge on Gary.

[@emblemblade9245]

They didn’t have to go so hard on that rewrite but it was such a stroke of genius

[@christopherbennett5858]

@@emblemblade9245 Honestly? I enjoyed it because it was like they went “wait. This is supposed to be virtual reality and a game they’re trapped in. Not just a fantasy world” and did things like give insane rendering graphic’s to Yui’s weapon so that it looked like it was glitching because it was hacked in.

[@sweetsea3607]

As you said it all depends on how people use this trope. I can think of other tropes that are way worse than this. I'm not sure what their actual names are but ones like: The Master Sucks, Everyone Else is Dumb, The Rich Are Evil, It's Only Okay When He Does It, Adults Are Evil, My Dad's a Scientist. Those ones always drive me nuts.

[@dedalionarts6077]

Can I ask what's the deal with "My Dad is an scientist"? More specificly, what's your deal with it? The rest can be summend as "poor executions/trappings of the story/caricatures" but the last one doesn't have "the name speak's for it self" situetion.

[@sweetsea3607]

@@dedalionarts6077 Basically, for some reason sometimes when there's a woman scientist it's revealed that her dad is a scientist too. Implying she got her job through her dad. This is the most typical of this trope, but sometimes this happens with other careers and it could be either or both parents. The problem isn't how she got the job but rather the reason this information is there. Whenever this happens it always feels like the writer is nitpicking the character.

[@brayenmorrison3199]

Wait what? "Woman, get in the fridge."

[@jingo4754]

To the "is fridging sexist?" Bit. No. Reason? Kamina from Gurren Lagann. His death broke characters. Losing him motivated characters. His indomitable spirit returns at the end for one last hurah of the series

[@Birthday888]

I feel like people don't understand what Fridging means. Fridging isn't when characters die and provoke character development (otherwise literally every instance of well written character deaths would be an example of fridging), it's when characters exist purely to die and provoke character development. Kamina is basically the main character for the first 6 episodes, ergo, his death is not an example of Fridging.

[@jingo4754]

@Birthday888 you are correct. I did not fully understand what fridging means. I was under the thought that fridging is when a character dies purely for the development of another character. That is why i felt Kamina fell under this trope, since in the end, his death was for Simon's character development

[@tailsspin621]

It's actually a bit more complex than that, because people really can't seem to agree. Theoretically it should be when an undeveloped character is killed off for shocking motivation on the cheep, since otherwise every motivating death is fridging. Even Uncle Ben's primary purpose was to die, but because it's woven into the story logically and not just thrown at us randomly it should avoid the trope. Unfortunately, tropes are determined by those who identify them, and a lot of people have resorted to calling any death "fridging".

[@undertakernumberone1]

​@@tailsspin621at least any death they dont like. or even just "rotating out". Seen Barbara Gordon's crippling be called "fridging". (note: she had actually retired the cowl a while before that). That she was greater as Oracle and Cassandra Cain for many the better Bagirl? who cared.

[@Birthday888]

@@undertakernumberone1 I mean, at least for Barbara, the issue wasn't that it happened but rather for how long the injury persisted despite the fact that numerous character died and revived, and that the DC universe clearly had access to tech that could help Barbara regain use of her legs, writers chose to keep her crippled for no real reason? If they just wanted to let her stay as Oracle and be primarily a mentor figure that occasionally donned her mantle when it was necessary (which I also preferred), they could make Barbara choose that route willingly, not force her there through nonsensical reasoning.

[@Mastermind_Makoto]

I think, another good example of this, trope is Chiaki Nanami from both the Danganronpa anime and the A.I version of her from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

[@UncannyEXP]

It pissed me off that Chiaki was killed twice, yet Nagito wasn't left dead after the game's events. I'm willing to bet it was his massive popularity in the fanbase that influenced that decision.

[@Mastermind_Makoto]

​@@UncannyEXPOh, I totally agree, even as someone who absolutely loves Nagito.

[@Inhaledcorn]

The neat thing about Final Fantasy is that they're actually *really good* about doing the "Aerith death". FFV and FFXIV are two very stand out examples (even if FFV does the "We have a convenient backup one... actually, FFXIV also has the "we have a spare" later, too, but *that* particular patch made us cry enough god damnit).

[@cosmicspacething3474]

I mean I guess it depends mostly on what you count as “Fridging” in the first place. I feel like it’s happened a lot more to women in general, because they didn’t know how to handle writing love interests for male leads back then.

[@Leviathan99-h8l]

Makes a lot sense, I just assumed fridging meant they were just done for shock value or to motivate the protagonist if done very poorly. I’m aware of the TKJ being a prime example of it and also Alan Moore’s career infamy, that’s the one I think back at in the comics

[@undertakernumberone1]

i think its more because people CARE MORE when it hits a woman or kid. Even when said character might be more powerful than the male. "Men are the expandable gender" and such.

[@grinko1222]

Nah, it happens to male characters just as often if not more so. See Jason Todd. Its just that people have double standards that female characters are inherently more valuable or precious.

[@PersonstuckinMichigan]

I remember watching an OSP video on this. Good to see you covering it.

[@Clefiea]

"Fridging" has never bothered me as being a trope aimed mostly at female characters (despite being female myself) because the character in question usually has to be the kindest, most innocent person imaginable for the other characters and the audience to care, otherwise it's not that effective. Which a lot of time media uses mothers, SOs (if the protag is male), or children since those are the easiest to convey, even if it is stereotypical. It always seemed like another way to have an antagonist "Kick/Kill the Dog" so it can be easier to hate them, or to show how cruel and mercifulness the world can be.

[@marocat4749]

Some characters just die, if the setting profits , it can add a lot, some characters are just that. But what can be done is giving thenm enough traits to make them feel like a person you care enough that they are dead, but not so much it desrtracts, but that they had a life signs is usually a good addition to make them cared enough?! Also if its more important one, make the death have an aproviate impact or remembered.

[@starbird3939]

So yeah “Women in Refridgerators” became a thing because around that time in comic books-women were seen as disposable. They would often be killed off, sexually assaulted, depowered, etc. JUST for all the male superheroes. The example shown was one of the most egregious example of a female character being horrifically killed. There was also sue Dibney, wife of the Elongated Man from the same universe as Kyle Reiner (DC), who was murdered horrendious to start a mystery… and then raped in her backstory to introduce a red herring. I would say the best example of “Women in Refrigerator” was The Crow, because the woman is treated with respect throughout the entire film. Hell, her memories are shown to be Eric’s greatest strength.

[@Achieme]

Been a while since someone mention the Crow I watched it again 3 months ago

[@christopherbennett5858]

Batgirl is a big one as, although Killing joke was supposed to be non canon, she became paralysed. And, talking about Sue Dibney, in Marvel, Angel’s longest girlfriend and icon of the Cerebro Podcast, Candy Southern, was killed by Cameron Hodge who killed her because Angel loved her.

[@Achieme]

@@christopherbennett5858 I thought angel's GF was X-23 was this old or is this in the newer issues? I stopped reading marvel and DC after Immortal hulk and the whole multiverse justice leage vs Darker Darkseid or maybe when the Teen titains fought a powerful deathstroke where Beast boy got shot in the eye

[@christopherbennett5858]

@@Achieme X23 was young Angel’s girlfriend in the Bendis Era. Candy Southern was Angel’s girlfriend since the 60’s after they scrapped the Jean-Scott-Warren love triangle. They dated for 20 years and, when Warren, Ice Man and Beast joined the New Defenders, the entire team voted for Candy to be their leader as she was always at the base. She dumped him during the mutant massacre because he cheated on her with Dazzler and because he left her to handle his company whilst he was gallivanting with X factor, neglected her and was getting a little clingy with Jean.

[@Achieme]

@@christopherbennett5858 oh so im way behind on that.

[@rga1605]

I feel that fridging is a trope that begs the question: why do you want to include it? How does it benefit the story you're telling? But you also need a strong answer to make such when applying this trope to a relevant character

[@samflood5631]

A lot of people say that Shirley from Code Geass was “fridged” when Rolo killed her in R2. To me, I never really care about Shirley, at all. She was nothing more than a love interest for Lelouch with nothing interesting about her as the show expects us to care about her. Hell, the only reason she got involved in the main story of the show was because her dad was buried alive, off screen, meaning that we never have any time to grieve or feel bad about Shirley because we barely spent any time with her father.

[@marocat4749]

It did let him see he cant go back to school and thats, something. But agree she isnt the best character. She is a character, to be fair, but not that interesting. But argumently it was making it clear to lelouch ther is no going back.

[@riotkitty]

Shirley is best Code Geass girl and I won’t pretend otherwise.

[@backupschmliff1156]

Shirley is peak you Disney dumbass

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Kind of the main issue with the trope.

[@gundamkaizer6947]

​​@@marocat4749the bigger lesson Lelouch took from Narita is that his actions as Zero can have disastrous unintended consequences for innocent people in his life that were never supposed to be involved or put at risk because of his rebellion.

[@MegaPokefan97]

The thing is... character deaths don't have to be fridging. The key difference is whether not the character gets remembered following the death beyond a brief moment

[@Mangakamen]

1) Spelling alert 'whether' not 'weather' 2) I agree. It's why I went with the Ace Attorney example to lead off with.

[@MegaPokefan97]

​@@Mangakamenfixed the spelling! I also like how you used Sachi as a visual example before the example portion.

[@Mr.Blenderman]

The death of 2023 mangakamen was so tragic

[@kingbash6466]

While I get why the trope makes people upset, since it can be used for pure shock material and nothing else, I do think some just automatically write off a story as bad when a female character dies, and it affects the main male protagonist. As much criticism as stuff like MHA and JJK gets for the women that bites the dust, I rather them stick to them showing how brital their worlds can be instead of having everyone main character survive because people like them too much. It's not like the men are that much better at avoiding death'a scythe. As long as they serve a long-lasting purpose to the story, tone, and characters, I'm okay with it.

[@Bolbi145]

I don’t think “fridging” characters automatically ruins a story, like Kratos’ wife and daughter were literally created just to die and give him motivation, but if it weren’t for their deaths, we wouldn’t have one of the best PlayStation series of all time.

[@Oknopuac]

Ironically the fact it took until that Green Lantern comic it is baffling to me, we literally had it in a lot of kung fu and mobster flicks and nobody until then didn't go "this seems like a trope in writing" until that comic is confusing :3

[@christopherbennett5858]

Honestly, I agree. Frankly, I think it’s just that, for comics, Kyle’s girlfriend in the fridge was just such a sudden, shocking one for something like Comics.

[@Oknopuac]

@@christopherbennett5858 well for DC comics around that time, One More Day was more controversial, edgier comics were produced around the same time like The Boys which ended in 2012 didn't even get noticed by the same people who made the trope controversial, so still kinda weird how well the trope went under the radar until 2011 or 2012 :3

[@StealthNinja4577]

Idk how we can talk about the trope of women in fridges and then not have any women appearing in a fridge.

[@Ramsey276one]

The "victim"/Patient Zero is in the Thumbnail, though

[@StealthNinja4577]

@@Ramsey276one but it's not a troupe if there's only 1 or 2 examples.

[@Ramsey276one]

@@StealthNinja4577 Tv tropes used the Kyle Rayner case as the trope namer, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more... Probably more graphic because they have a tendency to escalate what they rip off!

[@TheBlackSeraph]

The term "woman in the fridge" was coined by Gail Simone based on that one instance in reference to all instances of women being killed, tortured or otherwise dehumanised solely as a motivator for another (male) character before being discarded from the plot entirely. "Woman in the fridge" was chosen presumably because it was the most over the top example.

[@Ramsey276one]

@@TheBlackSeraph it certainly IS

[@eldiegollador7271]

When a male character dies because the writer wants there to be consequences or emotional reactions from either other characters around them or the audience; nobody panics... but when it happens to a female character; suddenly everyone wants to shout sexism! That just sounds like a classic cases of double standard to me.

[@Birthday888]

Nah, it was a legitimate complaint when the term was first introduced because the term was specifically calling out the disparity in treatment male and female characters got in Superhero comics. Back when Comics were in their edgy days, there was a pretty consistent trend of horrifically killing off female love interests for shock value and so the male heroes could get all angsty. Of course, a fair share of male heroes died to, but they also tended to come back from the dead fairly often. Cause, y'know, it's superhero comics. Nowadays though, people have overused the term whenever a female character dies that it's kinda lost it's meaning. Like Mary Sue.

[@emblemblade9245]

Sounds like a case of you needing to leave your bubble and listen below the surface of what others are saying. Person above me explained it pretty well. It’s a real thing, not just some dog whistle.

[@grinko1222]

@@Birthday888 That's the problem. No one cared when uncle ben died. Or Jason Todd or Steve Trevor. ONLY when its women its suddenly a problem. Women shouldn't be exempt any more than men have always been.

[@grinko1222]

@@Birthday888 Nah, people lose the right to complain about female characters being killed off if they ignore Uncle Ben, Thomas Wayne, Ted Kord, Uncle Owen, and the list goes on and on.

[@kingofdefense]

The problem with fridging is mainly when the characters forget about the death after 5 minutes and continue as normal.

[@Ramsey276one]

19:35 oh WOW I fully support a P2 Joker-sama video!

[@irystocrattakodachithatmooms]

The mere mention of Aeriths death makes me cry and makes me angry. That one hit me hard when I was young and first played the game and has the same effect now in my mid 30s. That's a character death done right if it can effect you the same way for decades. I think that Fridging doesn't have that same effect and instead is a lesser impact to the player. At least most of the time it's a lesser effect, if not the opposite of what was intended.

[@ultrawinggaming9764]

I had an obnoxious phase growing up where I try to make characters for RPGs where they're basically all just a Trope but I try to subvert it in odd ways

[@paperluigi6132]

Batman’s parents are probably the most iconic examples of fridging in media.

[@liampatrick3110]

Are they????

[@SamTheGumMan117]

Troublesome tropes oh hell yes and women in refrigerators is a line I'll never get tired of cause of how goofy it sounds lol but damn this trope could be used really well I think

[@marocat4749]

Oddly enough i think nore freeze is a good case XD

[@amirgarcia547]

It’s funny that Aerith is in the thumbnail when she’s actually one of the few examples of this trope being done well. Both since her sacrifice is a tragic moment that practically no one saw coming due to basically permanently axing an RPG party member, and since she doesn’t actually “die,” but simply return to the lifestream and even helps the party stop the meteor and defeat Sephiroth towards the end of the game.

[@kyaksachan502]

It's because people who never really play OGFFVII would sometimes misconscrew what happen with Aerith, it was a weird ass time.

[@NixFaerie]

I see fridging used in fandom a lot to simply describe 'a female character dies and a male character is sad about her dying', unfortunately. Bristlefrost from warrior cats is a big one where people cried fridging despite her being the main character, it happening in the final book of her series, not being done to motivate her love interest, and willingly sacrificing herself specifically in an absolutely necessary kamikaze type move against the villain. There's a lot of things wrong with her story and characterization in the later half of her series but she's not fridged, in a series with PLENTY of other examples of actual fridging. But woman died while her man lived and he's sad about it, so people call it 'the worst case of fridging warriors has done yet'.

[@claytonrios1]

Basically tropes of this nature can happen to anyone, man or woman and they aren't bad on their own just because they're used a lot. It's how the trope is used that matters the most.

[@Toshineko]

I've never heard of Clay Terran until I watched this video. But I'll probably forget that name immediately afterwards. It's sad that Capcom treated that character as disposable in Duel Destinies, considering that we never get to see the connection between him and Apollo.

[@Spikey_Spike]

I think Kaede from Danganronpa V3 is one of the most infamous instants of fridging I've seen.

[@within_the_sky2356]

I can't believe John Wick's dog got Fridged, no character, just a plot device, so blatent smh (joking but also technically it is a case of Fridging)

[@zinniezin2575]

YAY ANOTHER VIDEO

[@BloodyEclipse756]

Get in the fridge!

[@Armoraxis]

as a reminder to everyone, there is truly no better posterchild of "Women in Refrigerator" than our lucky lady.... Uncle Ben! Dude was created to die and spur Peter Parker into becoming Spider-Man. The reason I point this out is that one popular complaint is when a woman is "created just to die" and proclaim it as a fridge-ing moment. In this instance, the only thing that separates Ben from any fridged woman is his gender, but that then unravels the trope as it's no longer about the story, history or role a character has, it's specifically that they are a woman that died, making the trope inherently sexist (ironically) towards men, as by it's very nature it implies that it doesn't matter if a male character dies. To further elaborate, common arguments I see in favor of the trope say that it applies to characters who are "killed needlessly" or the only purpose their death serves is to promote another main character, how it can ignore a character's history or ruin a character's story by bringing it to an abrupt end while other plot threads are left unresolved (there are more arguments, but really this comment feels long enough as is, and personally I feel this trope is just fundamentally flawed) - My counter to all of these is THE SECOND best posterchild of "Women in Refrigerators".... Jason Todd! He was "needlessly killed" by the Joker, with his fate being left in the hands of fans to vote on whether he lives or dies (there is a debate on if the vote really mattered or note, or if he was just always going to die, but at the time DC intended fans to know that they would be the ones deciding Jason's fate). Jason dies, all on going stories and plots he was apart of and central to, all stop now that he's dead (in a metaphorical sense), he's ultimately replaced by Tim Drake, his death (for the most part) really only affected Batman in the grand scheme of things (minor and side characters also would comment on it, but the same goes for confirmed WiR, and really this criteria is pretty inconsistent... though really all the criteria are, as again, this trope is fundamentally flawed), Jason was, by all accounts, fridged. The only thing that separates him from any WiR explain is that he's male Infinity War and Endgame had Gamora and Black Widow die, one was at the hands of the villain for his plan to work, the other was a self sacrifice to save the universe. Yet both are popular recent examples of Women in Refrigerators. A lesser talked about one, but I only mention cause I find it funny, is Aunt May from No Way Home - who very clearly serves as the Uncle Ben of the MCU spiderman. Now I mostly have been focusing on the gender aspect, as I feel that is where the trope begins to break. Any other criteria can really just be brushed aside, "They died to motivate a male hero", well... yeah, that is why they were made. "We didn't know them, they existed to only die" well.... yeah, we don't need a novel on every character in every story, it's okay for a character to be introduced just to die later, what's important is that we understand what they mean to everyone else. Granted this is all assuming we are talking about a well written story, as a poorly written story is a whole other can of worms, but even still - Either way, I feel the real issue is that a woman died that people want to see more of, and they are too butt hurt about it. Or maybe the story has a large emphasis on male characters while female characters keep getting the shaft, all culminating in a woman dying and only a single male character seems to be affected by it, later seen perfectly fine, as if they forgot the death ever happened and by extension, treating the woman as if they are nothing anymore, a tool that has served it's purpose and can be discarded. With that mindset... sure, I get why people can be upset by it, but at that point there are plenty of other issues than just the death of the woman and how it's handled, or maybe that's just not what the story is really about or what the author wants to focus on - a story that is a pure male power fantasy that has women being shafted and die only to motivate men sounds like it could be a bad story, but it could also work really well, it all depends on the fine details and general skill of the writer. And as a counter to my own example story, if it the woman that dies qualifies for being a WiR, what if we had the same story but changed all the women to men? A male character than exists, dies, motivates another male character and is swiftly forgotten about. But that then loops back into my section focusing on the gender part of this and I feel this tangent has gone on long enough @w@ There is more that can be said, but it all is essentially just rebutting points other people make. The main source of the points I brought up were from OSP's Trope Talk, where they are completely in favor of the trope and I felt they did a terrible job defending the existence of it. Anywho, TLDR, not a fan of this trope, it's sexist towards men while trying to point out sexism towards women, which may or may not even exist in the first place, and if there is sexism, I doubt the death of a character is the only thing there. Odds are there is more at work than just the woman in question dying

[@Armoraxis]

and a minor point that I couldn't fit anywhere else - Barbra Gordon getting shot by the Joker. It's a scene many point to when talking about WiR, and... I don't think it's sexist. If Jim had a son, I feel the exact same scene would have happened, maybe even something worse, as let's face it - it's typically seen more okay to do absolutely HORRIBLE things to male characters than females. The scene is also in character for the Joker, especially given the entire story of The Killing Joke

[@Birthday888]

You've been fooled by the internet, like many others, into thinking that the original trope "Women in Refrdigerators" criticized tbe act of killing women in tragic brutal ways as sexist in of itself. But the person who coined the trope, Gail Simone, never said that the trope in of itself was sexist, what she pointed out as sexist was how disproportionately often it happened to female characters compared to male characters. The plot point of Kyle Rayner finding his girlfriend dead in a fridge because a villain killed her in of itself has no sexist connotations. The problem is when you zoom out to see superhero comic book plot points as a whole, and see how often "female character dies tragically and brutal for shock value, which results in male main character angsting" is repeated that it starts gaining sexist connotations. There were also discussions about even though male characters also died in superhero comics, their deaths were often treated far more respectfully and were often framed as a heroic sacrifice or noble death, rather than the shocking, sudden and brutal deaths female characters tended to suffer. Furthermore, male character deaths also tended to be reversed in some form or fashion eventually, while female characters were often permanently killed and forgotten. To address your examples though, the difference between say Uncle Ben or Bruce Wayne's parents and Kyle Rayner's girlfriend are how the deaths are portrayed. Both of those origin story deaths fundamentally impacted and changed who Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne, not just by how they died, but who they were before they died. It's his own loving memories of his parents that drives Bruce into adopting Dick Grayson. It's because of who Uncle Ben is and his own personal beliefs in responsibility that drives Peter to become Spiderman. To contrast, Kyle Rayner grieves his girlfriend's death, and the event does cause him to be more serious about being a Green Lantern. But the comics never go into much detail about what it was about his girlfriend that Kyle fell in love with, or how their relationship affected him. I suspect that if Kyle had found his mother or father in the fridge, the story would barely change because who Kyle's girlfriend is doesn't matter as much as the fact that she died burtally and tragicaly.

[@Birthday888]

@@Armoraxis As for Jason Todd's death only affect Batman in the long run, that isn't true in the slightest? I'm a bug fan of Tim Drake, and one of Tim's major story points is that he's the Robin after Todd's death and all the baggage that comes with it. Tim is the only Robin who comes to Batman because he sees that Batman needs help, unlike the two previous Robins. Tim also spends the early moments of career trying to live up to Jason's legacy, something that he privately saw as impossible because, y'know, he died. And then Jason Todd comes back from the dead and resents Tim Drake for "replacing him" which resulted in an antagonistic relationship between the two that lasted throughout the Pre52 era. The reason why Batgirl's spinal damage is touted as an example of Women in refridgerator syndrome isn't because something tragic and brutal happened to a woman. It's that it persisted for over 10 years despite it initially occuring in a standalone comic that wasn't even meant to be canon, while several characters straight up died over that time period and then came back to life. It also firmly regulated Barbara to a side character. Stephanie Brown takes up her mantle as Batgirl, only to be (surprise, surprise) tortured and killed by Black Mask - see a pattern here? It's also a bit ridiculous that in a world where Batman personally knows aliens and magicians, he can't get Barbara's spine to be looked at.

[@Armoraxis]

@@Birthday888 As far as I hear people talking about WiR, it mostly is just in relation to the immediate story about the character's death, so that's what I focused on. As far as Barbara goes, her being relegated to a side character and in a wheelchair are ultimately the result of different writers and executives - as in, she didn't need to be a side character or crippled for so long, but that's the stories the writers made, ultimately unrelated to the initial choice of crippling her in the first place, as it wasn't the intent behind TKJ's writer (it being canon - he was very much okay with crippling her). Her getting shot was the impedance, but others handled the character since then and could have changed direction. Yet TKJ is the story pointed at for Barbara being fridged, because that's where it happened. As for Jason and Tim - I'll be honest, I don't remember the length of time between Jason's death and Tim coming along, but I am fairly certain the point still stands - Tim wasn't a part of the original story, so at least for sometime Jason was fridged - I guess you could still consider him fridged even after Tim comes along, WiR is a pretty inconsistent trope.

[@grinko1222]

@@Birthday888 If Batgirl is fridged in the Killing Joke, then so is her father in that very same story. James had no agency besides being emotionally tortured and stripped naked by the Joker for Batman to rescue. He was a damsel in distress straight up.

[@Swordsmen99]

I think a show that does this trope rather egregiously is probably Helluva Boss. That show really loves to do the whole "bad dad/dead or absent mom" dynamic, which doesn't help it's already spotty use of its female cast.

[@christopherbennett5858]

Hazbin has it less but it’s still present.

[@aeon3valefore]

The editing here is an improvement in your old videos! So fluid, more in your face but not overwhelming. And, it could be me, but you sound much better. Your new, bitching, style came with more than looks. ^^

[@IllMatic97]

Basically tropes in media are hit or miss and the real solution is to find a common ground, mainly with character development and a story that makes sense logically and how said trope effects not just the mc but the entire narrative. I'm just super sayin.

[@TransPandaArt]

I'm sorry, but you're arguing semantics. Fridging mostly refers to the PATTERN of casual misogyny in culture dictating women be in secondary roles to be used as characters to die. It has nothing to do with the execution of a trope, it's the fact it happens an unnatural amount of times to women or other minorities. And that constant portrayal paints people's perspectives on how said groups can be irl. It's sorta like if you tried arguing "The hidden murder alter" trope isn't referring to a very specific cultural bigoted portrayal of Dissociative Identity Disorder, but is nothing more "a character is secretly the murderer" trope. They technically have most of the same base elements, yeah, but the added context to the other changes the meaning. And HOW OFTEN it's done in media FURTHER specifies its meaning. You can argue till you're blue in the face, but Aerith was fridged. I remember the ripple effect of her death, and how every character trait of her post FF7 was squashed to be secondary to the fact she died. And she was still a WELL WRITTEN example of it! Because fridging is a CULTURAL ARTISTIC PROBLEM, not a simple trope to be applied to individual examples. Nothing exists in a bubble.

[@Ratface0007]

I got no problem with women in refrigerators as long as they stay away from my pudding cups

[@arcturus64]

The Fallout 4 protagonist's significant other is technically a man/woman in a refrigirator

[@The4thSnake]

One can argue it's not fridging if it's the character's first appearance, as that means their creative purpose is to die to motivate another character, which is not what the trope is about.

[@Mangakamen]

Agreed, it's why I brought up disposable characters.

[@yaj_5002]

Great video also love your new style

[@Chibi1986]

The only reason Women in Refrigerators became a thing was because comic writers don't have the talent to write good drama without taking the life of someone related to the main characters, and because feminism/victim culture is cancer and have been for decades.

[@Mr.Maguro]

The difference between a fridging death and a non-fridging death isn't immediately clear just from this trope's definition. Characters like Sokichi Narumi, Uncle Ben and Lisa from Castlevania weren't fridged. Because their deaths have long term impact on the plot and character motivation. That's the distinction. It's what separates a character like Obi-Wan from Uncle Owen. If the character's death only briefly provides shock value as the protagonist mourns their loss, and the plot moves on without them like their deaths never happened, then it's fridging.

[@grinko1222]

Then Kyle's girlfriend Alex isn't fridging either since her death is what turns him to be a more serious superhero. The only difference between Uncle Ben and Alex is gender.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

It's important to keep in mind that a main reason for women's association with the trope, to the point were their mentioned in the initial naming of it, is because of limited roles they were afforded in works of fiction throughout most of human history. So when a women, specifically the love interest is killed, there's the question of it was purely coincidental, or if it says something about how the work in question treats women. The death being gratuitous doesn't help a writer look less unfavorable.

[@themphantom9138]

New Series? Cool! I'm always open to learn more writing stuff

[@wolfman274]

I appreciate the nuance he has with navigating the topic most videos I’ve ever seen on this specific topic involve shitting on any game where a female character dies

[@Zetact_]

If you want to see "fridging" used brilliantly, in a number of different ways, check out Crystar (what I describe as "a game with a story so good you won't even care about the crap gameplay.") There are a variety of spoilers but one that isn't a spoiler is that the inciting incident to kick off the main character, Rei's, motivation is learning that her sister is dead and about to have her soul destroyed forever. Her main character arc deals with her drive to rescue her sister against a ticking clock and how it impacts those around her. There are about a half dozen main characters but since the theme of the game is tragedy and specifically how trauma shapes a person, it goes without saying that loss of a loved one frequently does factor into their stories.

[@donmattia3749]

I love your channel

[@ivanprime93]

To me it's unisex/universal & it doesn't even have to be human or a living thing (some stories have the MC wanting payback for something they created but got destroyed). Like did anyone care what gender John Wicks dog was?

[@trynox0]

I actually didn't know that this term had a more neutral form in fridging; it is more broad and I like the point you bring to it rather than going for the more stablished one. Honestly when you menioned cynicism and went to Persona 4 I though you'd go for Adachi, but it seems I kinda went off topic. Great video Kamen, got my notifications back on.

[@antonakesson]

The problem with this supposed trope is that, like a lot of internet definitions, it can vary so hard in what counts and doesn't. It is like edgelord. What the fuck does that even mean anymore? Negative? Positive? Neither? Depending? Who the fuck knows but people are gonna use one version and speak as if it is the only one anyways.

[@verethragnarok]

OH it is a green lantern reference, that explains why I had no clue where the term came from! Never read Green Lantern

[@marocat4749]

Also, wher eis nora freeze , she would fit, and , yeah she served her purpose pretty well furthering mr freezes character. I mean it always was about him, its good fridging?!

[@Mangakamen]

A little too literal for my tastes...

[@mojavefry2617]

It’s funny that you posted this video and TheDuellogs posted a video about the Vendread archetype, an archetype whose central character is motivated by his wife/girlfriend dying.

[@Icalasari]

I hope your next video on tropes is on Fridge Horror Just because you can bridge the fridge. Well, also because it's something that can be harder to do than people think. But mostly to bridge to another fridge

[@emblemblade9245]

See that Fridge I think is related to shower thoughts, aka a random but elucidating realization you have thinking about a topic while doing something mundane like showering or going to the fridge for a snack

[@legendarycryptid2629]

2:59 He really called it "Kamen Rider double-U"...

[@Mangakamen]

No, I said W.

[@legendarycryptid2629]

​@@MangakamenI meant you pronounced the W normally when usually it's just said as "Double" per the main theme of the Rider. Just found that funny.

[@saltyk9869]

Not going to lie, seeing Aerith in the thumbnail in a video about Fridging had a visceral reaction from me. But I've seen enough of your videos that I had faith that you weren't using her as an example of killing a character off poorly.

[@Garvant_]

LMAO same i was like "alright what the fuck is this" but its mangakamen so i was like hes probably gonna use an Aerith as an example of not fridging

[@saltyk9869]

@@Garvant_Pretty much. If it were a random person doing that, I wouldn't have even given them the benefit of the doubt. Just figured it was some idiot trying to be controversial or that just discovered TVTropes.

[@ibrahimihsan2090]

To be honest, I don't even know whether it is even more likely for female characters to be fridged than men. So what can I say? As far as the trope of someone dying or seemingly dying being a catalyst for a character: I have seen plenty of male characters get through this. Sasuke, Gaara, Itachi, Tsunade's brother, Dan Kato, Yahiko and Kakashi's dad from Naruto. Android 16, Future Trunks, Krillin, even Goku himself sometime from DBZ. Junpei, Yu Haibara, Ray Pember from Death Note and Nanami from JJK. As for girls, Izumi Uchiha(anime and novel only), Rin Nohara, Haguromo's love interest(anime only) and I guess Gaara's mother from Naruto, Riko Amanai and possibly Nobara Kugisaki from JJK, the teacher before Korosensei in Assassination Classroom, and the sister of the youngest son of the Funato clan chief in Boruto(anime only). As far as I've seen in anime, it is pretty much equal. Though, the likelihood of the character growth of female characters being stunted or neglected compared to the character growth of male characters in anime are far greater.

[@christopherbennett5858]

The other part is also the recovery from the fridging if they resurrect. Future Trunks, for instance, is one of the first resurrected after the final battle with Cell. Meanwhile, with female characters, recovery is either not an option or hella long. Batgirl is one of the bigger examples in comics, being paralysed for so long that, when they got her out of the chair decades later, more people were annoyed because Oracle became one of DC’s best disabled heroes.

[@ibrahimihsan2090]

@@christopherbennett5858 Oh. That as well.

[@grinko1222]

The problem is that youre only looking at shounen. Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon was fridged like a bitch.

[@DarkLiger]

I've had to re-write this comment serval times already. I agree with Kamen the trope at it's core is not sexist. The problem with Marvel and DC is that they use it as a cheap shot to get reaction. In my opinion as far as American comics go, the reason women in refrigerators stand out more than guys is 1) some people see it as an extension of the Damsel in Destress trope 2) The more iconic stories Death of Gwen Stacy, Identity Crises and the Killing Joke it's women who are dealt trauma and death. I'm probably going to get some heat for this but the Killing Joke is the biggest example. Barbra Gordon , Batgirl a character who had been around for 20 years was crippled by Joker. Not because she was Batgirl but to prove that Jim Gordon and Batman had stronger morality than the Joker . Her becoming Oracle was an after thought.

[@christopherbennett5858]

And a messy aftermath with the initial idea that Killing Joke was an out of canon one-off. But, due to popularity, it came to be canon.

[@JohnWilliams-wl9px]

⁠@@christopherbennett5858Actually looking through interviews with creator like Kesslor he state the killing joke was made canon during production. IE Moore was pitching he with a Batman comic, but when he gave the script DC like it so much they decided to make it canon. In fact they rushed a batgirl special that came out around the same Killing Joke came out, to show Barbra was retiring as Batgirl before the Joker crippled her. The reason why DC let it happen was simply they had no plans for her. She barely survived being erased during the crisis event, even before the killing Joke she barely doing anything for 6 years. But as we all know Barbs became oracle because the team behind suicide book weren’t happy about the killing joke.

[@professoremil]

When I saw the title I was like “…What the fuck is women in refri- OHHH!” 😂💭💡

[@tribacioustee2846]

Excellent video

[@frankg2790]

On the one hand, the trope can be used poorly, just like any other trope. On the other hand, the tragic demise of a character can be a strong motivator for other characters and raise the stakes, provided that the writer/writers take the time to get us to like them.

[@kingslayerkoshy]

People always look at tropes as an absolute when the reality of them is that they are tools that can be used properly in the right context. We've gotten to a point in culture since so much of it happens that it's existence is a sin when the context is more important. The problem is getting the context requires more digging and thinking which some people generally don't do when looking at media on the whole. Granted it could reach the other extreme of overanalyzing, but that's a different discussion altogether.

[@protohunters]

The term comes from Gail Simone and a website she made back in the 90s called Women in Refrigerators. The idea of why it’s women is just that back in the 90s people noticed it was common in comic books specifically and to use women as motivators for men and mistreat them. Over time it just became the popular term including for male characters killed off just because it’s what everyone was familiar with. Then the internet became what it is today and with how everyone blows everything out of proportion so too did the term and suddenly fridging is everywhere and people start to take the name literally and point it out as you said to all the female examples while ignoring the male ones, as well as crossing the bad examples and the good ones. Because the internet is garbage today.

[@Perdix64]

I think with Persona 4 The Animation shows this the best with Yu being the one to pick up Namatama(?) and almost throw him into the TV World himself.

[@czechball6527]

not to be confused with bridging a character, that is to say to kill a character off unexpectedly and making their death feel like an anticlimax

[@Ramsey276one]

19:15 Thanks for THAT XD

[@danwizzle91]

Yesssss! I love trope talk!

[@ReijiNRen]

I'm a writer myself and I do have a situation that, especially in the early draft, is very much fridging, and it is a male character, however, I'd like to believe that the rewrite version of the situation changes that somewhat. It's still set up for the same reasons, but I think it works better for the story, as they are fleshed out more instead of in the story for maybe 8 pages like the original draft. I can see a lot of the points made in that first draft, and hopefully the rewrite will make the situation a bit more bearable in the end, despite it honestly being sadder.

[@jordanloux3883]

What matters is that they FEEL like a character who did live, and will be missed by those who knew them, not just a convenient prop to get the story moving.

[@wander7812]

I'll be completly honest, if someone watches Cinema Sins and haven't at least questioned their methods of analyzing whats a "sin" in a story, they are probably not suitable at all to tell if an trope (or anything related to a story on that matter) is good or bad.

[@Zahri8Alang]

Maybe we could just transmutate them into cakes to be stored in the fridge?

[@within_the_sky2356]

Only 1 minute in but already want to say something trope haters forget is that film/writing/etc techniques overlap with tropes, a character shot from a low angle to convey power/intimidation/etc but if directors avoided that film making trope then it'd hamper the film's ability to communicate to the audience. Of course tropes can be done badly and not all tropes are created equal, Fridging is a symptom of poor writing using death as a cheap character motivation without following through and fleshing all the characters out, just noting this in case someone assumes I think all tropes are good

[@g-56]

I SWEAR I HAVE HEARD THE INTRO SONG SOMEWHERE ....but i cant remember where

[@Shadowgun453]

So does that mean Tanijuro's family (save Nezuko) was fridged?fridge? If you so t know I'm referring to demon slayer.

[@Ramsey276one]

They got killed in winter so they were definitely chilled! XD

[@alexthekiddo10]

I think they'd be disposable characters.

[@heavenlyusurper]

GET YOUR GIRLS OUT OF THE FRIDGE…. they’re cold :(

[@RezeedTheDataspirit]

19:23 You gotta Let it out. Gotta Let it out...

[@FlCl3000]

Every trope is good unless it’s done poorly

[@jeremiahbennett3004]

I disagree, there is no trope that is inherently good, as it is possible for it to be written both well and poorly.

[@FlCl3000]

@@jeremiahbennett3004 if it’s a trope it means it survived in media do to it’s use or resonances with the audience or whatever. Means tropes inherently are good storytelling devices unless used poorly

[@Hack_Man_VII]

Fridging isn't the worst trope by a long shot. That goes to body swaping! The writers are simply incapable of avoiding cringe comedy, and awkward humor. If you disagree, the I'd pose other contenders for you: duplicates, mistaken identity, time travel shenanigans and mind control.

[@Ramsey276one]

Lazy producers: But they're such cheap options, to!

[@dDoodle788]

All of these tropes can be used in unique ways. For example Mind control can be pretty cool ; Example: spoiler for chainsawman When aki gets possessed by the gun devil and is essentially still conscious and in control of his body to a degree,only his senses are completely warped ,so what he perceives as a snowball fight with his friends and family is actually him destroying a neighbourhood and killing a lot of people.