What a 'Trope' Is and Why You Will Likely See One Before the Week

Quick, someone throw me a trope!

Are you a movie lover like me? Do you spend your weekends at the theater or watching a flick on Netflix? If so than you have been witness many, many times over the years to something known as a "trope". Merriam-Webster defines it as "a common or overused theme or device".

Trust me, you've seen tons of movie tropes over the years. I'll give you one great example. How many times have you seen a mystery/suspense movie and the main character hears a strange noise in the basement, grabs a flashlight, heads into the basement and, UH OH! The flashlight battery is dead! What are the odds? That is a trope that tops my list.

Another classic trope would be when the bad guy character finally gets killed....or so we thought. There's the dead guy staring blankly ahead with a knife in his stomach, lying lifeless on the floor. Then we see our handsome heroic main character walks away with the pretty girl bleeding and bruised yet relieved when, UH OH! The dead guy ain't dead yet! He quickly bounces up, the screeching music kicks in. How could he still be alive! Oh the horror! But wait, the good guy finally gets the job done and kills him - this time for good.

Check out this great video from Watch Mojo below. From gangster character tropes to talking animal tropes to cowboy cops with great one liners. They cover all the big ones.

If you really want to go deep into the movie tropes, check out this awesome list of movie tropes done by tvtropes.org. From actionized sequels to wheel of decisions they cover them all.

Let's face it though. Even though we know these tropes are coming what good would the movie be without 'em? Show me an alien popping out of someone's stomach just before the credits roll, give me a good earthquake or flood that threatens to end the world before it's then rescued by a bunch of extremely attractive people, fire off a succession of sequels featuring superheroes who are having trouble understanding the idea that "with great power comes great responsibility". I'm good with all of 'em because at the end of the day it's all about enjoying a great movie night. Yippee Ki Yay Mother F-----!

Do you have a favorite movie trope? Let me know in the comments section below or on i95's Facebook Page!

What A Trope Is And Why You Will Likely See One Before The Weekend Is Over