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Post by TheGunheart on Jul 14, 2011 12:06:26 GMT -5
There's only one thing that truly pisses me off: when a character who previously was able to destroy entire buildings without batting an eye, slaughtering armies without a scratch, suddenly gets held up by the big bad guy because they've got a hostage. Sometimes it's not even someone the hero even cares about, just some random girl. Even worse if the character is a trained cop or soldier and the bad guy tells them to "put down their gun and walk away". Besides the fact that they're trained in real life to never comply in such a situation, there's the issue of logic: the villain wants the hostage alive, otherwise they've got no bargaining chip and thus no reason for the hero not to shoot them. And on the hero's end, if they surrender, there's nothing to stop the villain from doing what they want. They could just shoot the hostage and the hero now that the hero's defenseless. |
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Post by X-pert74 on Jul 14, 2011 13:16:26 GMT -5
I hate certain character archetypes, like the guy who's a total shy loser who never speaks up for himself (common in a lot of anime), and the girl who's extremely emotional and forces her will upon everyone, and who jumps to conclusions while the aforementioned guy stammers "UMMM UHH" and nothing ever gets done. I am so tired of that shit. EDIT: Damn, that's badass |
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Post by chronotigger65 on Jul 18, 2011 15:24:31 GMT -5
How could I forget this one!
-Having a chimp or any other kind of primate for a sidekick. I don't care how cute or useful one thinks. Monkeys and apes are not something you want for a helper. Need an example: In February 2009 a womans best friend was attacked and maybe killed by her pet chimp. She kept and treated the animal as it was a family member instead of keeping it enclosed in a cage. Stupid how people think.
As far as I'm concerned, a lion or a wolf would be a cooler animal for a sidekick. Strangely, the only time I consider a primate for a sidekick is good is that animated stone gorilla from the Herculoids cartoon series.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2011 15:30:26 GMT -5
How could I forget this one! -Having a chimp or any other kind of primate for a sidekick. I don't care how cute or useful one thinks. Monkeys and apes are not something you want for a helper. Need an example: In February 2009 a womans best friend was attacked and maybe killed by her pet chimp. She kept and treated the animal as it was a family member instead of keeping it enclosed in a cage. Stupid how people think. As far as I'm concerned, a lion or a wolf would be a cooler animal for a sidekick. Strangely, the only time I consider a primate for a sidekick is good is that animated stone gorilla from the Herculoids cartoon series. Because lions and wolves have never turned on a human...I mean, yeah. I really hate how people think monkeys are funny or cool, it's something I'll just never get (like the whole pirate thing). I also think lions and wolves are pretty cool. Even so, if you're going to play the "realism" card, you have to apply it evenly. |
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Post by PooshhMao on Jul 18, 2011 18:24:11 GMT -5
-Having a chimp or any other kind of primate for a sidekick. I don't care how cute or useful one thinks. Monkeys and apes are not something you want for a helper. Need an example: In February 2009 a womans best friend was attacked and maybe killed by her pet chimp. She kept and treated the animal as it was a family member instead of keeping it enclosed in a cage. Stupid how people think. She agrees. Please don't click if you think you can't take it. |
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Post by munchy on Jul 19, 2011 4:06:15 GMT -5
It's one I've seen a couple of times, like in Iron Man and the 2007 Transformers movie. This would be having the entire final fight consist of the hero being used as a punching bad by an invincible villain, and then winning through a magical Save-The-Day Button. It's a cheap and fake way to build suspense that robs me of a good fight scene and having the hero actually put some effort into their victory instead of dumb luck. This sounds like a close relative of Deus Ex Machina. Yeah, it's a stupid plot device. But sometimes it can be hilarious if you aren't too serious about whatever you're watching/reading. I'm glad someone put Star Wars references. That ruined Lords of Shadow for me - not only having the same goddamn plot twist as the shit trilogy, but the writing being so poor that "We are not so different, you and I" is used TWICE. Here are some other ones: -Matrix references, specifically "whoaaaa look at how slow the bullet is going". -Girl falling for guy that she absolutely fucking hates at first glance (or vice versa) -Girl falling for guy after an initial rejection for incredibly asshole reason like guy being poor, a nerd, but now is popular, rich, etc. (This happened IRL with F. Scott Fitzgerald. True story.) -The fake scare, after which the real killer pops out. Great when used rarely, god awful when overused. The Friday the 13th movies are entirely made of this trope. -Animated movies which end with the entire cast dancing to something stupid. As much as I love it, Despicable Me is guilty of this (but can be forgiven for being awesome in all other regards). -Horror plots in which the horror is entirely explained by evil cults, evil Christians, or a combination of the two. -Going off the last point, horror plots that are completely explained away. The unknown bits are what make it scary, dammit! -Plots which culminate in a battle against evil corporation / evil army / evil corporate army. I guess these were mostly movie tropes, but I haven't read enough fiction that I know what would irritate me. |
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Post by ldorado on Jul 19, 2011 12:33:51 GMT -5
The unnecessary pregnancy and death-in-childbirth tropes are what irritate me the most. If it has no relevance to the plot, DON'T do it! This is why I chose not to finish the last book in the Series of Unfortunate Events. If that chick's death in childbirth summoned some sort of super demon or if what she was giving birth to anyways was evil and shouldn't have been born anyways, that would probably have been okay. Also, in Star Wars, it's a fucking sci-fi!! You're telling me that you can make flying machines, planet-destroying space stations, and light sabers, yet you can't do anything medically for a hot princess who's delivering twins? I think Lucas waited 30 years too long for something like that to still make sense...
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Post by muteKi on Jul 19, 2011 12:41:49 GMT -5
On the other hand, it is one of the most dangerous events in the mother's life, as well as for the child (given that most notable childhood diseases have been close to eradicated or vaccinated against).
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Post by ldorado on Jul 19, 2011 13:02:30 GMT -5
It's amazing humans have been able to evolve this far with that in mind. I mean, for the most part, not even cats or reptiles have as big a risk of death in that situation as humans. Maybe we are physically weaker than even our neanderthal ancestors.
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Post by necromaniac on Jul 20, 2011 20:28:24 GMT -5
Also, in Star Wars, it's a fucking sci-fi!! You're telling me that you can make flying machines, planet-destroying space stations, and light sabers, yet you can't do anything medically for a hot princess who's delivering twins? I think Lucas waited 30 years too long for something like that to still make sense... Remember, she didn't die due to any physical ailments. She died because she "lost the will to live". Then again, the Prequels are a schoolbook display on why no one should have the power of being their own editor. |
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Post by kal on Jul 20, 2011 20:45:03 GMT -5
Also, in Star Wars, it's a fucking sci-fi!! You're telling me that you can make flying machines, planet-destroying space stations, and light sabers, yet you can't do anything medically for a hot princess who's delivering twins? I think Lucas waited 30 years too long for something like that to still make sense... Remember, she didn't die due to any physical ailments. She died because she "lost the will to live". Then again, the Prequels are a schoolbook display on why no one should have the power of being their own editor. She was strangled by The Force™. I hate it when certain characters have to die because they're the most expendable but still hold emotional weight for the audience. This is different to Red Shirts - I'm talking more when a semi-important character is killed off to prove the villain is a bad dude. Lazy writing to kill someone off just to poke the audience. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2011 20:50:00 GMT -5
Yeah, I hated the issue of Xtreme X Men where Psylocke was killed, too.
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Post by thethird on Jul 20, 2011 20:57:17 GMT -5
I think the term for that is Mauve Shirt. I kinda got a little down about that when I was watching Game of Thrones. This was before I realized that everybody can die for real in Game of Thrones.
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Post by ldorado on Jul 20, 2011 21:26:25 GMT -5
In almost everything made by Yoshiyuki Tomino, most of the main characters are killed off at the end. It happened in Ideon, Dunbine, Zeta Gundam, and V Gundam. In fact, V Gundam was so awful they handed over the director position for the next Gundam anime to somebody else and that's how we got G Gundam.
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Post by TheChosen on Jul 20, 2011 22:16:45 GMT -5
I prefer tropes played straight, and get irritated with constant trope subversion or "Lampshade hangings" of tropes ("Its always the red shirt who goes first.....*dies*")
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