Do you use overused trope for your comic?

[Chocolate]

Hey guys!
So a little while back, I ask people why gas mask are so popular in webcomics lately... I end up making a little experiment for myself, and it's true! The gas mask really does works! I've gotten more than 20 subs with just a cover and some preview pages! So if you wanna jump on the bandwagon, you should because gas mask are in people!!

Anyway, do you guys use overused trope as well? For example, the scissors, the eye patch, different eye colors, etc. Idk, those are the ones on top of my head the moment. Does it work for you as well or does everything stay the same consistently?

[eschaefges]

I use tons of tropes in my comics, mostly intentionally, but i just love the fact that a gasmask=20 extra subs. Humanity makes me

[blastryoku]

I have used one of the most oversused and hated (but not a bad trope) trope which is "As you know bob."

[Doubtcent]

That would be irony. Since I don't like to use rude jokes, vulgarity, or profanity, what else do I have other than irony and wordplay? And I'm much better at irony than wordplay. I better work on my wording skills.

[jessiepolfliet]

I think I have a few tropes. Don't know all of them but i know characters with a unnatural color hair are a trope. I have one with blue hair. But otherwise I don't know.

[Kayke]

I don't know if using tropes as a means to gain followers is necessarily healthy for your comic? Inevitably, I think we all use tropes to come extent, but I think there's a difference between using them organically and adding them for their own sake.

Tropes can definitely be used as tools to help strengthen stories, giving the reader some familiar footing by adding easily recognizable story and visual elements. In the best case scenario, I think tropes are something you recognize in your work after the writing process is well on it's way, not something the creator has in mind before they've already gotten a handle on the plot and characters. You should be aware of tropes, of course, but not in the sense that you lean heavily upon them in order to keep your story afloat or to create new characters specifically based off of them. Being conscious of tropes allows you to use them subtly and subvert them in some cases, but relying on them can make your make your characters/plot feel unoriginal or thin.

As for my own comic, there are a few tropes in there. I have a brother-sister team, a character with a crush who is "out of his league", secret identities, character transformation, kind of a Jekyll & Hyde thing going on, and probably some other superhero and teen romance tropes that I can't think of off the top of my head. Visually, some of my characters have unnatural hair colors.

[getsuart]

My god, the gas mask worked so well for your comic XD

I've used tropes, not for the sake of using tropes, but because you HAVE tropes in a story. Not always many, but some works pretty well with a story and help it to go on. Use them and find their right place!

[Kura]

Not intentionally, and def. not for the sake of having a 'trope'. Most of the time I'm not even sure if something is a tropes or not, or even if the word is being used correctly in the original posts question. I don't really read up on the various ways something can be taken as a trope because well... that's a waste of my time.

[Kecreed]

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I agree with kurapikasuki in that the word trope feels kinda odd in the question. I would go more with cliche. I do some intentionally as a gag though with a few edits here and there to make it less well cliche.

[eschaefges]

Also, "tropes" have become an almost meaningless term thanks to tvtropes - basically anything you do that more than 1 person has done before is a trope.

What makes your story great is how you handle the tropes. Do something unique! Tell your story!

[joannekwan]

Yeah, I tend to not pay attention to tropes because basically anything nowadays is a trope of some level. I just ask myself who I want my characters to be, who they are, what I want them to accomplish, you know, basic writing things. And I would prefer if some design choices had reasons to be there, like for a gas mask, is the setting something difficult for humans to inhabit, does the particular character have a health issue, are they paranoid of biological terrorists?

[kazukitakamura126]

I tend to not pay attentions to troupes in my own story I thing of what would make a scene better . I only find out about troupes I use once I go to the TV troupes website. I believe I unconsciously use them as a I for along. If there is a habit I tend to give most of main female lead an A-cup but, every other female is above that so its okay.

[DeadAccount]

Like others, we don't exactly put "tropes" into the story, they just kind of happen. We do try to avoid the most obvious or stupid ones, of course, but like others mentioned, TV tropes did turn everything into a trope so it's not like you can avoid it. Other than that, we might or might not have our own TV tropes page. Never realised how many bizarre tropes people come up with until we made it and saw readers adding stuff to it. What a strange website.

[scythe]

I've go for the more classic tropes, such as those found in the Hero's Journey. These tropes give specific value to the story, but are vague enough that you can make them your own. One example is the hero, swept away from their normal world and thrust into the new, scary world of the story. Another is the wise older character with sage advice.

[winglesscomic]

I like taking overused tropes and flipping them upside their head.

[apurviance]

My comic has a TV tropes page, made by a friend. Among other things: cute monster girl, goggles do nothing (averted), noodle incident, and Mummies. But, the most obvious, pointless trope is one that's coming up: Everything is better with Dinosaurs! Because dinosaurs!

[Zanreo]

Eh, I don't really care whether the things I use are "tropes" or not, just that it's something I like to make and that it makes for interesting and fun characters and stories. Tropes are just storytelling conventions and not bad stuff to be avoided at all costs, but should also not just be randomly and cluelessly thrown in there just for the sake of "using tropes". if you have no idea how to actually use it. It would be hard to find a story not using any tropes... if you mean "overused cliche" then say that, not "trope".

[eagle1]

An overused trope is a cliche. By definition. Therefore, a cliche is a trope, but a trope is not always a cliche.

Now that that's out of the way.

Yes, I use cliches on purpose. I have a main character in an upcoming book named Mary Sue. I have a Magickal White Guy (A reversal of the Magickal Negro trope) in another book. The entire first issue of The Law of the Jungle is a prologue, a flashback, and an exposition dump.

Any cliche or trope can be done well if you take care, time, and have the writing ability to pull it off. Star Wars was nothing but the classic fairy tale set in space.

Eagle
(And it's still popular)

[elixiadragmire]

http://tvtropes.org/ - this is the holy grail!

If its been written, there's a trope for that. Sub-tropes, played straight, lampshaded, subverted its goes ooooooooooon.

So the answer is yes, not actively looking for them mind you but yeah. We all do, we can't avoid them ... ever! Nothing is original (or is it?)

[ashriott]

I definitely have a lot of overused tropes in my story Malleus Maleficarum, but I'm kind of shameless in using them. I don't think tropes are necessarily a bad thing that should be avoided.

One of mine would be characters fight in impractical clothes. It's not as obvious as "wearing a gas mask" = 20 subs though! But unless I have a more realistic, non-fantasy setting, I don't think I really care for my characters to dress practically xD I have a couple other more obvious ones such as innocent blonde heroine who's lost her memories + somewhat emo black-haired hero with secret powers.