Characterization Tropes

Tropes and trope categories about setting up, fleshing out, and tearing down characters.

Compare Characters and Characters and Casting (how characters are affected by being played by actors).
Contrast Characters as Device (roles that characters can be shoved into for plot reasons).

For lists of tropes as they apply to specific fictional characters, see Character Sheets.

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Tropes:

• Abstract Apotheosis: Character becomes an abstract concept, often done after their death.
• Adaptational Badass: Character who was a wimp in the source material is made much more competent in an adaptation.
• Adaptational Dumbass: Characters who was of average intelligence at the very least in the source material is made much dumber in an adaptation.
• Adaptational Heroism: Character who was evil or at least morally gray in the source material is made more heroic in an adaptation.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Character who was previously not the brightest bulb in the source material is made much smarter in an adaptation.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Character who was nice becomes more of a jerk in an adaptation.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Character who was a Jerkass becomes nicer in an adaptation.
• Adaptational Villainy: Character who was heroic or at least morally gray in the source material is made more villainous in an adaptation.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Character who was a competent fighter in the source material is made weaker in an adaptation.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Character has a different personality in an adaptation than they do in the source material.
• Addiction Displacement: Character uses a safer addiction in place of a destructive one.
• Admiring the Abomination: Character is fascinated by Eldritch Abominations rather than scared by them.
• AM/FM Characterization: Character's personality is introduced through their taste in music.
• Anti-Nepotism: Characterizes the doer as an honest authority figure intent on avoiding the appearance of political corruption, while giving the recipient a reason to dislike the doer.
• Backported Development: Character has the development they gain over the course of the story in flashbacks.

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• Beetle Maniac: Character who has a fascination with bugs, mainly beetles.
• Being Personal Isn't Professional: Character behaves unsocially while on the job.
• Born in the Wrong Century: Character wishes they lived in a different period.
• Call to Agriculture: A badass/heroic character retires as a farmer.
• Campfire Character Exploration: Character are explored while talking around a campfire.
• Challenge Seeker: Character constantly looking for new ways to hone their skills.
• Character Calculus: A TV Tropes-exclusive method for sorting characters.
• Character Check: Character who has been hit with Characterization Marches On briefly lapses back into their original characterization.
• Character Depth: A measure of how "deep" a character is.
• Character Development: Character grows as they progress through the story.
• Characterization Marches On: Character's personality is different in later episodes than they were in the beginning.
• Character Rerailment: Character has their original characterization restored after having previously been derailed beyond recognition.
• Chest of Medals: Character in the military whose uniform features an improbable number of medals.
• Chickification: A previously competent female character is made weaker either over time or in between adaptations.
• Collector of the Strange: Character who collects something strange, gross, or disturbing.
• Contractual Genre Blindness: A character who maintains their role because of their Genre Savviness.
• Creature of Habit: Character who likes routine.
• Crowd Pleaser: Character motivated by praise and attention.
• Cuddle Bug: Character who enjoys giving hugs.
• Cuteness Proximity: Character turns into a bowl of mush at the sight of something cute.
• Daytime Drama Queen: A Woobie character who watches soap operas.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: A character who deconstructs the archetype they seem to embody.
• Depending on the Writer: The way a character behaves or is treated changes depending on who is writing at the moment.
• Descent into Addiction: A character's story arc evolves them becoming dependent on a substance.
• Disco Dan: A character holds into a fad that everyone else has abandoned.
• Divergent Character Evolution: A character gets a different characterization in an adaptation.
• Dramatica: A theory of story forming.
• Dynamic Character: A character who becomes more layered as the story progresses.
• Earthy Barefoot Character: Character who is close to nature wears no shoes.
• Elective Mute: A character who chooses not to speak.
• Elective Unintelligible: A character who chooses to be impossible to understand.
• Elemental Rivalry: Characters with contrasting Elemental Powers oppose each other.
• Establishing Character Music: A character's personality is established through music.
• Everybody Smokes: More people are smokers then not.
• Everyone Has Standards: Every character, regardless of moral alignment or clique, has at least some level of decency.
• Experienced Protagonist: The main character is already an expert when the story begins.
• Face of the Band
• Flat Character: Character who has barely if any characterization.
• Fleeting Passionate Hobbies
• Forgot Flanders Could Do That: Character that's been hit by Flanderization shows signs of their previous characterization.
• Friend to Bugs
• Functional Addict
• Gasshole: Character has a tendency to burp and/or fart a lot.
• Genre Blindness: Character doesn't seem to know how certain genres work.
• Genre Refugee
• Genre Savvy: Character is knowledgeable about how certain genres work.
• The Gimmick
• Grass Is Greener
• Heart Trauma
• Heaven Seeker
• Hell Seeker
• I Thought Everyone Could Do That
• Informed Wrongness: What this character did is supposed to be seen as wrong despite there being nothing to back it up.
• In Harmony with Nature
• Insists on Paying
• Interpretative Character
• In the Original Klingon
• Jack of All Trades
• Jerk-to-Nice-Guy Plot
• Kitsch Collection
• Knuckle Cracking
• Like a Duck Takes to Water
• Literally Prized Possession
• Loony Friends Improve Your Personality
• Luxurious Liquor
• The Magazine Rule
• Misery Builds Character: Having a character go through absolute hell as a way to strengthen them.
• The Movie Buff
• Mutually Unequal Relation: Two or more characters have differing views of their relationships.
• Nature Lover
• Now, Let Me Carry You
• #1 Dime
• Office Golf
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: If a character is behaving outside his usual characterization, the situation must be serious.
• Oral Fixation
• Out-of-Character Moment: Character does something outside his usual characterization.
• Over and Under the Top
• Pacifist
• Pastimes Prove Personality
• Personal Arcade
• Personality Powers
• Poster-Gallery Bedroom
• Putting On My Thinking Cap
• The Quarterback
• Real Award, Fictional Character
• Replacement Flat Character: After a Flat Character becomes more fleshed out, another Flat Character fills in his previous role.
• Rhymes on a Dime
• Ridiculously Successful Future Self
• Rounded Character
• Rules Lawyer
• Self-Applied Nickname: A character adopts a nickname and insists that others refer to him by it.
• The Silent Bob
• Smoking Is Cool
• Something About a Rose
• Static Character
• Stock "Yuck!"
• Survival Mantra
• Sweet Tooth: Character who is shown to have a love of sweet foods.
• Temporarily Exaggerated Trait: An individual character trait is highlighted for one episode.
• Thememobile
• Too Much Alike
• The Tragic Rose: Character who is a rose-themed Woobie.
• The Unwitting Comedian
• Vanity License Plate
• Wimpification: A previously competent male character is made more emotional and effeminate in a fanfic, often to play as "the bottom half" of a same-sex pairing.
• Work Hard, Play Hard
• Wounded Hero, Weaker Helper
• Write Who You Know
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Genre Savvy character doesn't realize the story they're apart of isn't in the genre they thought it was.

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