trope

A trope is a recurring element or a frequently used plot device in a work of literature or art.

A trope can be a person, place, thing, or situation. While you might not have known the definition of trope, you likely have plenty of experience with them if you enjoy literature or art.

The chosen one is a very common trope used in fantasy and science fiction stories, for example. The chosen one is a character (usually the protagonist) who is the only person in the universe who can save the day or foil the villain’s evil scheme, such as Harry Potter in J. K. Rowling’s series.

Another popular trope is a MacGuffin, an object that a plot focuses on. The hero and villain might fight over it or the hero might have to find it in the hero’s quest (another trope!). The MacGuffin serves no other purpose, so details about it don’t matter. In the Indiana Jones movies, Indiana is always chasing a lost treasure that the villains also want. Because the treasure isn’t important other than because the hero and villain both want it, it’s a MacGuffin.

The first records of the term trope come from around 1525. It ultimately comes from the Greek trópos, meaning “turn, manner, style, figure of speech.” In rhetoric, a trope is another term for a figure of speech. The use of trope to mean a “recurring theme” is a more modern usage.

One reason tropes are repeatedly used is that people are familiar with them, making it easier for a creator to tell a story. A writer doesn’t need to spend pages telling us why the villain wants to take over the world. We already know from reading other stories that this is what typically happens, so we can move on to the rest of the story. As well, we won’t question why supervillains repeatedly escape from prison without all of the police being fired for incompetence—because the escape is necessary for the story.

You can spot tropes that are unique to a specific genre. For example, in horror movies, no one seems to question when a main character foolishly wanders off alone for no reason. They need to be set apart for the plot to move forward. That’s a trope.

Sometimes, a trope can be overused. When it is, it becomes a cliché, a trope that bores or frustrates the audience because they’ve seen it so much. In soap operas, the trope of an evil twin sibling that causes problems for the good twin has become so common that audiences consider it to be a boring cliché.

People have gotten good at recognizing tropes and will often discuss which are their most and least favorite.

Perhaps my all-time favorite trope is "antagonist begrudgingly switches sides to defeat an even greater evil."

— Lindsay King-Miller (@AskAQueerChick) October 2, 2020

"Fast sharks" is going to overtake "Fast zombies" as the most hated trope in movies.

— bring on the dancing horses (@inthefade) July 12, 2013

everytime i go and try and be cute it’s like that trope in looney tunes where somebody step on a rake and it hit them in the face

— Beau Degás (@yunghermoso) September 23, 2020

• archetype
• stereotype
• cliché
• MacGuffin
• plot
• character
• setting

True or False?

A trope is a character type or plot device that appears repeatedly in works of literature or art.