#wtes not polls

[besttropeveershowdown]

The WORST Trope Ever Showdown

Hello again! After the success of the Best Trope Ever Showdown, from which Found Family emerged victorious (by, like... a lot), it is now time to find its corollary. Its parallel. Its foil, if you will.

What is the worst trope of all time?

This tournament, just like BTES, will be run on a bracket format. Each week, tropes will be matched up against each other, and the winner of each matchup will go on to the next round.

Here is the submission form. You can submit as many tropes as you want. Submissions will be open until Tuesday of next week (that's Tuesday the 5th, for those of us who do better with dates), though I may decide to leave them open longer depending on how many I get in the first week. As usual, I encourage adding a link to a TVTropes page, but if your trope doesn't have one or you don't feel the page accurately represents it, you can also leave a brief description of it! (And if you do both, it makes things a lot easier for me during the organization stage)

THE RULES:

Yet again, medium-specific tropes will not be accepted (i.e, tropes that are specific to video games, or fanfiction, or musicals, or any other medium). This is because I want all tropes to be on equal footing as they enter the tournament, and there are some mediums that certain people simply never consume (not everyone plays video games, not everyone listens to musicals, not everyone watches professional wrestling) and thus don't know anything about the tropes of.

Genre-specific tropes, however, are okay as long as they can apply to any or most media.

I'm going to change the rules around problematic and offensive tropes for this tournament, because a lot of Worst Tropes Ever are probably problematic or offensive in some way. However, I also don't want this to become a game of Which Real-Life Stereotype Is the Worst. So, the rule for this tournament is, tropes that are problematic or offensive to a certain group are allowed in if and only if they are about how the group is treated specifically in media. So, All Gays are Pedophiles is not a valid submission because that is a real-life harmful stereotype that many people believe, but Bury Your Gays is because that is specifically about how queer characters are treated in fiction.

Tropes about sex are allowed if they are about sex in general and the role it plays in a story, but NOT if they are about specific parts of the sex act.

TVTropes is very vague with its definition of a trope, and for good reason: it's a very hard word to define. However, for this tournament, genres are not considered tropes, and neither are settings. Anything else you can find on TVTropes listed as a trope is fair game, EXCEPT:

Writing pitfalls are also not tropes. Although TVTropes has entries such as "Plot Hole", "Mary Sue", or "Pacing Problems", those are mistakes, not intentional tropes, and should not be submitted.

Propaganda is encouraged and makes the tournament a lot more interesting! I will also accept propaganda in the ask box over the course of the tournament, but if you want to send some in with your submission, put it on the form!

Have fun and be civil!

@tournament-announcer @tournamentdirectory

[grapecaseschoices]

But I'm glad you're having such a fine time, who is your tav going for?

I do have some problems with the game, but overall it's fun to play. Probably wyll or laezel. Initially I was gonna go for shadowheart bcs I really liked her character design and my tav also hs that similar kind of dry sarcastic sense of humour. But after having her for a while in my party, she got on my nerves real quick. I tried out some races and she almost always had something to say about it. Im not thst far into it and I like astarion but the fact that he can leave ur party if ur character kicks him in the nuts sent me and now I can't take him seriously. I think my tav enjoys messing around with him. I just keep throwing spells at him and reviving him and he hasn't left yet so he's a trooper. 😂

I was playing as a tiefling originally but they kept having stuff to say about them being a tiefling and it got kinda annoying so I changed it to something else. /lh 💀

Playing as a Sorcerer is so much fun I can just make shit explode. Idk how to use astarion though, I just make him throw arrows and hide, he doesn't really do much in fights, but he's funny so I keep him around. I might get rid of shadowheart, but she's also a cleric and provides good heals so idk. She's so fine but she's really got a poll stuck up her ass so idk. Some of the remarks she makes about certain races and some of her actions towards a certain character because they are that race (don't wanna spoil it) just kind of put me off especially with her being white. I'm aware it's fantasy and stuff and I haven't finished the story, but anyways we'll see, maybe she'll get better. 😅

Wyll is my fave so far, he's super underrated!! I do wish there were more romance options of color though. I think so far I've only met one which is Wyll. 😭😭

sorry for the late response! i have not been my best the past weekend!

I do have some problems with the game, but overall it's fun to play.

Me a salty, hater: Feel free to share~~

. I tried out some races and she almost always had something to say about it. Im not thst far into it and I like astarion but the fact that he can leave ur party if ur character kicks him in the nuts sent me and now I can't take him seriously.

DOES SHE?? I have done an half-orc but she hasn't said anything?? Unless I wasn't paying attention. Who does she say shit for? I know Giths for sure, and I imagine drows. Also ROFLMAO. I mean TBF TO HIM! hahaha

I was playing as a tiefling originally but they kept having stuff to say about them being a tiefling and it got kinda annoying so I changed it to something else. /lh 💀

omgoodness. the druids right? omg so like i have a druid tief and i thought it might be like double the fun bc of the grove, but whew. literally every breath like: WOW YOU DEVIL YOURE SO EDUCATED FOR A A DEVIL. WOW HAHA DEVIL. it's like dude. 1. not a devil 2. heard the joke the first three times, ain't yall tired? so far proving to be worse for my half-drow but havent made it far.

Idk how to use astarion though, I just make him throw arrows and hide, he doesn't really do much in fights, but he's funny so I keep him around. I might get rid of shadowheart, but she's also a cleric and provides good heals so idk. She's so fine but she's really got a poll stuck up her ass so idk. Some of the remarks she makes about certain races and some of her actions towards a certain character because they are that race (don't wanna spoil it) just kind of put me off especially with her being white. I'm aware it's fantasy and stuff and I haven't finished the story, but anyways we'll see, maybe she'll get better. 😅

i mean he's good for picking locks. that was actually his sole purpose for me for the longest. then is tarted respecing him/multiclasing him thus he became my lock picker AND my arrow man in certain PTs. or my arrow man/shadow man. i am sure i dont use that to the full potential bc i am such a newb but wte. so you're not alone.

lmao i mean if you get a paladin or a druid or you multiclass someone else ... but honestly i havent really dealt with her racism outside of lae'zel -- which i do admit really annoys me. lmao. i remember i had a PT where it was lae'zel that saved her but she gave all the credit to astarion and im like ....... is this a glitch or is she just that ... bad re: giths. and nah, it's still annoying. the fantasy racism.

also i feel i under use my sorcerers bc im still figuring out the meta magic stuff but i do like them. are you wild magic then? both mine [i ended up respecing my durge to multiclass paladin and sorcerer] are dragon ancestory bc everyone and the mom says its best and also bc im a sucker for that shit.

Wyll is my fave so far, he's super underrated!! I do wish there were more romance options of color though. I think so far I've only met one which is Wyll. 😭😭

He is LITERALLY the only one. I know people wnat to include Karlach bc of what Larian did with her features [some people said she was modled after Gemma Chan] but I do not, because her voice actress is white. IDC. She is white. She a white woman who got surgery. Blame Z----l, if it makes yall feel better. She got a fetish or something. But Karlach is WHITE.

But Wyll is. [You know why. But also because Larian gives him so little but ... YOU KNOW WHY.]

It is one of my many issues with the game.

[freifraufischer]

grapecase I think we can now assume the writers are setting...

There was also his flirting in fantasy wte land. I think since he might be getting a LI and she is the only person he’s been making eyes at, the thought is she will be his TL

She didn’t flirt back in FTL2 and he looked at her ass.  Hook would flirt with a telephone poll if it was looking particularly cute that day in the sun.

[besttropeveershowdown]

I feel like maybe a future poll you could do is another “Worst Trope Ever” poll but explicitly excluding the legitimately fucked up ones, maybe a “Most Annoying Trope Ever”? So then the more benign but hated tropes can have a chance to be the biggest loser

Yep, assuming that the non-problematic tropes don't get far, I'm planning on doing a smaller bracket after this for the tropes that are just annoying rather than offensive.

[besttropeveershowdown]

The person who submitted found family does not understand the difference between the trope itself and how it is interpreted. Yes some people MISINTERPRET the point of found family and assign characters nuclear family roles but that is not the trope itself

Your propaganda (anti-propaganda? anti-anti-propaganda?) has been received.

[besttropeveershowdown]

Finished going through the form! Of the 153 tropes submitted, 108 were unique and 96 will be going into the tournament. This means that just like in the BTES, we will have 3 separate sides, each of which will contain 32 tropes. There will be 5 rounds for each side, plus the final round. Brackets will be out sometime this week, and the first polls will come out on Sunday!

[besttropeveershowdown]

I've just realized that a lot of the tropes in this tournament probably require TWs, so going forward I'll be using the following list of TW tags:

#tw ableism, for any mention of ableism

#tw abortion, for mentions of abortion

#tw abuse, for any kind of non-sexual abuse

#tw aphobia, for mentions of aphobia against asexuals or aromantics

#tw death, for mentions of death

#tw homophobia, for mentions of homophobia

#tw incest, for mentions of incest

#tw misogyny, for mentions of misogyny

#tw nonconsensual, for mentions of any nonconsensual romantic or sexual behavior that isn't rape

#tw pedophilia, for mentions of attraction to children or sexualization of children

#tw racism, for mentions of racism

#tw rape, for mentions of rape

#tw religion, for mentions of religion

#tw sexual harassment, for inappropriate sexual behavior that is not necessarily rape

#tw slavery, for mentions of slavery

#tw stalking, for mentions of stalking

#tw transphobia, for mentions of transphobia

Block as needed! If there is any trope that needs a tag and doesn't have one, do let me know.

[besttropeveershowdown]

I'm really enjoying all these lineups that are like

"What's the worse trope? Antagonist or Turbo Racism?"

The list randomizer is a cruel mistress. As the tournament goes on, matchups will be a lot more even, but this is round 1, so we get a lot of that.

[besttropeveershowdown]

F's take on the Creepy Crossdresser vs. Depraved Homosexual matchup:

And some propaganda for What Measure Is a Mook:

[besttropeveershowdown]

One thing I also factor into my vote is how often I see it. Like yeah creepy crossdresser may be objectively more harmful to trans people, but I barely see it anymore, meanwhile pair the spares is still so common and it infuriates me every time

Makes sense. "Worst trope" can mean whatever you want it to mean!

[besttropeveershowdown]

Info for WTES

Just queued up the brackets for Saturday, and polls for side A will be out Sunday, with sides B and C coming out later in the week. Some things to know before we start the tournament:

ON SUBMISSIONS:

I did not have to cut that many tropes from the tournament. If you don't see your submission in the brackets, it's because either it didn't follow one of the rules, I didn't consider it to be a trope, or it was similar enough to another trope submitted that I lumped them together under the other trope's name. Otherwise, all your submissions should have made it in!

While talking to F the other night about the matchups, I learned that a lot of the names of tropes in the tournament are not at all intuitive-- many trope names are obscure media references or sound like they refer to a different thing they do. To avoid skewing due to misunderstandings (i.e, people not voting for a trope they hate because they don't know its name), I am including a short description with each trope. I used descriptions written by submitters whenever possible, but not all submitters sent in descriptions, and some who did sent descriptions that were so loaded they looked more like propaganda (ex. "the stupid annoying trope where X happens even though it doesn't make sense"), so I also made use of the laconics on the TVTropes pages. The only case in which I wrote my own descriptions are those in which no description was submitted and the TVTropes laconic definition is hard to understand: even then, I just paraphrased the TVTropes page.

ON THE TOURNAMENT:

96 tropes made it in, for a total of 3 sides with 32 tropes each: exactly half the size of the BTES. This means that there will be 6 rounds: 5 for each side, plus the finals.

Side A polls will come out every other Sunday, with sides B and C following later in the week when I have time.

Propaganda in asks over the course is allowed and encouraged.

Remember to be civil and have fun!

[besttropeveershowdown]

Ngl a lot of these aren't tropes but like. Things that happen. Parental Incest for example isn't a trope, it's a Thing That Happens, and rarely at that

Hmm, on the one hand, you have a point, but on the other hand, it is very, very hard to definitively draw the line between Tropes and Just Things That Happen, so I erred on the side of generosity when making the matches.

[besttropeveershowdown]

A love triangle submitter here, I feel like I may have misunderstood the point of the Worst Trope bracket since I thought it was just annoying stuff? Sorry if I got this completely wrong and it was meant to be stuff that's Actually Bad and also sorry if I'm overthinking and this was open either way.

Nope! Worst Trope Ever is for any trope that you feel is the worst, whether that be because it's overdone, annoying, offensive, cliched, cheap, lazy, or any other reason a trope could be bad! Love Triangle is in side B and up against Humanoid Female Animal, and that poll will most likely be out tomorrow or Tuesday. You're all good, anon! (Also, that trope was submitted 5 times, so even if you were wrong to send it in, you wouldn't be the only one by a long shot)

[besttropeveershowdown]

Brackets- Round 1

Less than 24 hours to go until the first polls are out! Here are the brackets and full list of matchups for the first round.

Side A:

Side B:

Side C:

Text list of matchups under cut for those who can't read the screenshots but are interested:

SIDE A

Redemption Equals Death vs. My Beloved Smother

Scarpia Ultimatum vs. Enemies to Lovers

Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto You vs. Miscommunication

Disability Magically Cured vs. Honor Thy Abuser

No Love for the Wicked vs. Chivalrous Pervert

Dude, She’s Like, In a Coma vs. Cop Crushes on Witness

Not Blood Siblings vs. Forgotten First Meeting

Cringe Comedy vs. Downer Ending

Femme Fatale vs. Older Than They Look

Dogged Nice Guy vs. Forced Hetero

Tsundere vs. Unrequited Love Switcheroo

Jailbait Wait vs. Yandere

Can’t Argue with Elves vs. Karma Houdini

Hollywood Healing vs. Non-Human Non-Binary

Abled in the Adaptation vs. Black Comedy Rape

Found the Right Person vs. The Power of Friendship

SIDE B

Manic Pixie Dream Girl vs. Hilariously Abusive Childhood

Ugly Girl Transformation vs. Race Lift

Offscreen Breakup vs. Product Placement

Stalker with a Crush vs. Found Family

Love Triangle vs. Humanoid Female Animal

Always Chaotic Evil vs. Plot Twist

“Not So Different” Remark vs. Hanahaki Disease

What Measure is a Mook vs. Chosen One

Sexual Harassment as Flirting vs. Smurfette Principle

Love at First Sight vs. Dying for Unborn Child

Aliens are Bastards vs. Of Corset Hurts

Fridging vs. Parental Incest

Pair the Spares vs. I Have You Now, My Pretty

Babies Ever After vs. Creepy Crossdresser

Bury Your Gays vs. Depraved Homosexual

Kudzu Plot vs. All Girls Want Bad Boys

SIDE C

Cheating as Plot Point vs. Wicked Stepmother

Damsel in Distress vs. Joker Immunity

All Just a Dream vs. Plot Armor

Crapsack World vs. Growing Up Sucks

Teacher/Student Romance vs. Born Evil

All Crimes are Equal vs. Black Dude Dies First

No Ending vs. Slavery in Fantasy

Loving Bully vs. Born Sexy Yesterday

Surprise Incest vs. Gender-Restricted Ability

Hero’s Journey vs. Comedic Pedophile

Africa is a Country vs. Out-of-Context Eavesdropping

Ragtag Bunch of Misfits vs. Bolivian Army Cliffhanger

Darker and Edgier vs. Lecherous Licking

Soulmates vs. Academic Alpha Bitch

Brother-Sister Incest vs. Humans are Special

Hiding Behind Religion vs. Found Family Breakup

[besttropeveershowdown]

To the person who just submitted Madame Web (2024), while unfortunately that is not a valid submission due to tournament rules, F and I both respect the play. And from what I've heard, you're not wrong.

[besttropeveershowdown]

Question! Would hanahaki disease count for ‘worst trope ever’ submissions? It’s been technically used in original works as well as fanworks — even if it’s more popular in the latter 🤔

It's not inherently a fanfiction trope, so yes!