A trope is a conventional storytelling device or figure of speech that conveys a meaning beyond its literal surface, often recognizable across many works. It can be a recurring theme, motif, or narrative shortcut that evokes certain expectations in the audience.
What a trope does
- Guides reader or viewer expectations by signaling familiar patterns (e.g., "the reluctant hero," "love triangle").
- Helps convey complex ideas quickly through shared cultural understanding.
- Can operate at literal and figurative levels, including metaphors, clichés, archetypes, or clichés that recur in a genre.
Common types of tropes
- Figurative language tropes: metaphor, simile, personification, irony.
- Narrative tropes: quest, coming-of-age, love at first sight, the mentor figure.
- Genre tropes: the brave hacker in cyberpunk, the wandering samurai in samurai fiction, the "twist villain" trope in mysteries.
- Visual or structural tropes: montage, voiceover as an expository device, red herring in mysteries.
Why tropes matter
- They provide shorthand for storytelling, allowing creators to build complex ideas efficiently.
- They can be used creatively to subvert expectations or critique clichés.
- Overreliance on tropes can make works feel predictable; fresh takes often arise from twisting or combining traditional tropes.
If you’d like, I can tailor this to a specific field (literature, film, comics, or advertising) or give examples of tropes in a particular work or genre.
