A character is a cis man. (Has anyone ever seen this one? I can't think of an example.)
Oh yeah, this one definitely exists, but a) it's really rare now, and b) it usually comes across pretty transphobic. Most of the examples I can think of are from older action canons and involve a Big Reveal with the damsel in distress whipping off her wig and turning out to be the male villain in disguise.
I am having an astonishingly difficult time answering this poll for tropes in general, because I can think of both delightful and terrible examples of most of these, and it also depends on the genre. I really hate finding out someone I liked is a secret mole/traitor in a canon where I'm really invested in the characters, for example, but darker canons can do a really nice job with this.
One you left off that I have really loved in several instances is "you thought this was X genre, but it's actually Y genre." This is another one that can be done really badly - SUDDENLY VAMPIRES - but if it's adequately set up, it can be a delightful "oh, that's what all of that meant!" moment.
One of the best examples of this that I can think of off the top of my head is a TV canon that you, Rachel, will never watch, because it has a trope you hate, and just saying that there's a twist of this variety is a big spoiler, so I'll put both the canon name and the twist in Rot13. It's a TV canon from the Oughts.
The canon is Sevatr and the twist is that lbh guvax sbe gur ragver svefg frnfba gung lbh'er jngpuvat na K-Svyrf glcr Jrveq Fuvg Ntrapl fubj, ohg vg gheaf bhg gung vg'f npghnyyl n qvzrafvba-fyvc Fyvqref glcr fubj, naq lbh svaq bhg ng gur raq bs gur svefg frnfba gung bar bs gur punenpgref vf gurve nygreangr havirefr qbhoyr (ohg qbrfa'g xabj vg) naq zbfg bs gur Jrveq Fuvg, gubhtu abg nyy bs vg, vf vaphefvbaf sebz gurve ernyvgl vagb bhef. Gura gur qvzrafvba-fyvc/qbccrytnatre cybg pbzrf va uneq va frnfba gjb. Ohg V erzrzore ubj oybja njnl V jnf ol gur pyrirearff bs qvfthvfvat na NH qbccrytnatre gjvfg vafvqr nabgure traer, naq va n jnl gung npghnyyl rkcynvaf n ohapu bs gur fghss gung qvqa'g dhvgr znxr frafr va cerivbhf rcvfbqrf. Gur zvfqverpgvba vf nyzbfg ragveryl gung lbh qba'g ernyvmr guvf fubj vf n traer jurer gung xvaq bs guvat pbhyq unccra, ohg vg'f nyfb abg n traer jurer vg *pbhyqa'g* unccra, fvapr gur Jrveq Fuvg nfcrpg vf frg hc rneyl.
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Date: 2022-04-08 07:15 pm (UTC)Oh yeah, this one definitely exists, but a) it's really rare now, and b) it usually comes across pretty transphobic. Most of the examples I can think of are from older action canons and involve a Big Reveal with the damsel in distress whipping off her wig and turning out to be the male villain in disguise.
I am having an astonishingly difficult time answering this poll for tropes in general, because I can think of both delightful and terrible examples of most of these, and it also depends on the genre. I really hate finding out someone I liked is a secret mole/traitor in a canon where I'm really invested in the characters, for example, but darker canons can do a really nice job with this.
One you left off that I have really loved in several instances is "you thought this was X genre, but it's actually Y genre." This is another one that can be done really badly - SUDDENLY VAMPIRES - but if it's adequately set up, it can be a delightful "oh, that's what all of that meant!" moment.
One of the best examples of this that I can think of off the top of my head is a TV canon that you, Rachel, will never watch, because it has a trope you hate, and just saying that there's a twist of this variety is a big spoiler, so I'll put both the canon name and the twist in Rot13. It's a TV canon from the Oughts.
The canon is Sevatr and the twist is that lbh guvax sbe gur ragver svefg frnfba gung lbh'er jngpuvat na K-Svyrf glcr Jrveq Fuvg Ntrapl fubj, ohg vg gheaf bhg gung vg'f npghnyyl n qvzrafvba-fyvc Fyvqref glcr fubj, naq lbh svaq bhg ng gur raq bs gur svefg frnfba gung bar bs gur punenpgref vf gurve nygreangr havirefr qbhoyr (ohg qbrfa'g xabj vg) naq zbfg bs gur Jrveq Fuvg, gubhtu abg nyy bs vg, vf vaphefvbaf sebz gurve ernyvgl vagb bhef. Gura gur qvzrafvba-fyvc/qbccrytnatre cybg pbzrf va uneq va frnfba gjb. Ohg V erzrzore ubj oybja njnl V jnf ol gur pyrirearff bs qvfthvfvat na NH qbccrytnatre gjvfg vafvqr nabgure traer, naq va n jnl gung npghnyyl rkcynvaf n ohapu bs gur fghss gung qvqa'g dhvgr znxr frafr va cerivbhf rcvfbqrf. Gur zvfqverpgvba vf nyzbfg ragveryl gung lbh qba'g ernyvmr guvf fubj vf n traer jurer gung xvaq bs guvat pbhyq unccra, ohg vg'f nyfb abg n traer jurer vg *pbhyqa'g* unccra, fvapr gur Jrveq Fuvg nfcrpg vf frg hc rneyl.