Common Tropes you Refuse to Believe are Real

[waj9876]

Oh...I thought we were going to talk about TVTropes. Had the website up and nine or ten pages on tropes I disagree with.

Oh well...I guess I'd have to say I don't believe in the way people stop bullets from hitting them. Namely going behind a couch or a small wooden table.

Also how the Samurai in media are always represented as pretty much Paladins in terms of how they act. Most weren't like that. At all. Most were pretty horrible people only in it for the power over others really.

Ninjas/Assassins never wore the black, face covering get-up. They dressed like how everyone else was dressed. The ones in the "ninja clothes" were the distractions so you wouldn't see it coming when the farmer stabbed you in the neck.

Pirates. We can look back on them now and laugh, but back then they were pretty damn terrifying. They weren't all hardened criminals or anything either. Most of them were ordinary people who were either forced to join, or joined out of desperation for food and such.

 

[piinyouri]

snip-
For example, it is entirely possible to decapitate someone in a single, clean stroke if you have a good blade and are reasonably strong. It's also possible to stab someone in the heart if you have a thin enough weapon and are smart enough to not try and go through bone. There's plenty of small holes a knife or similar weapon can get through. Etc etc.

Authentic Japanese samurai katanas are made solely for this purpose too, so I'd say it's certainly possible as well.

 

[triggrhappy94]

I feel like everyone has something, that when they see it they think "There's no way that's possible!" And yet, that same thing shows up everywhere.

For me, it's when someone decides to hide or escape pursuers by climbing into a drop cielling.
There's no way those flimsy tiles can support any amount of weight.

So, what's your tropes pet peeve?

Where have you seen people hide in a drop ceiling?

The example that prompted the thread was from Jurassic Park. I've also seen it happen in one of those Real Stories of the ER shows along with one of those World's Dumbest Criminal shows. I'm sure I've seen it other places, and it does kind of tie into climbing through air ducts.

To be fair, in the World's Dumbest Criminals example the guy that attempted it got like 10 feet then fell through and almost landed on a cop.

 

[DkLnBr]

Character Power Levels Fluctuating Solely For Dramatic Effect. First time a villain shows up, he beats the pants off the hero. By the end of the episode, the hero returns that beating in spades. I can make some allowance for training montages but often this happens without any explanation, with the fights just a couple days apart.

Determinators. There comes a point where all energy is gone and the human body simply fails. You do not magically heal all damage simply because you remember You Are Virtuous (except sometimes you do, see Gurren Lagann). You do not gain the ability to stand up and deliver a thunderous flurry of punches just because your girlfriend yells "I love you" across the venue when you look up from kissing the canvas. Plus, keep in mind the villain might have a girlfriend of his own.

these two, especially the whole "the power of love" thing. The magic kiss/teardrop/or whatever.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't know how much it's actually a trope, but the obvious stunt fall off a building always kinda gets me. Whatever character in the movie is supposed to fall to his or her (but usually his) death, but as they fall they inexplicably do a salto and turn to land on their back. This makes the stuntman "seams" totally obvious and takes me out of the moment.

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of movie death drops that don't follow this.