Note: This template is an example. If you wish to copy it into a new trope as a guideline for crafting a new article, go ahead. Just press the "view source" button above, copy the results, and off you go.
Give a short statement identifying the trope, followed by details in additional paragraphs. Keep it concise, but feel free to be funny.
Do not put the name of the trope at the top of the text — when it's displayed in the Wiki, that will automatically be done for you.
Some tropes have a small list of subtropes. These should be bulleted Wiki Words:
Subtropes
- Subtrope 1
- Subtrope 2
- Subtrope 3
Don't forget to put this page's name on one of the Index Pages. Note that many tropes belong to more than one index page.
Keep "in-line" examples of the trope to a minimum.
A sentence identifying the source of the trope name is optional, but appreciated.
Put all "See also", "Compare/Contrast" and similar links right above the examples section.
Do not put a blank line between the last line of description and the horizontal rule below it.
Examples
- Include the media type sections from the very beginning. If the trope is healthy, is will gain examples rapidly, and sorting by media type prevents someone having to do a tedious job of sorting and moving later. Here's the list of the most often used Media Categories. If you have an example from some medium other than those, you can either put it in its own category or make an "other" category.
- Bulleted list of specific examples from programs, in no particular order. (That said, the administration is tending towards alphabetical order for media examples. There's no harm in starting things out that way.)
- There is no strict format for examples, in order to keep them from being boringly alike. However, don't hide the name of the work in a pothole or assume that you don't need to mention it at all because everyone will recognize the character name or situation. The name of the work should occur within the first few words of the example.
- Multiple citations from a single series can go either into one large entry or several individual entries.
- Multiple citations, if put in individual entries, are on another level of bullets.
- Don't have two levels for only one item, though. See Example Indentation in Trope Lists.
- Sometimes dialogue may be quoted in an example. Use the following template:
Character One: Witty comment.
Character Two: Snappy riposte.
Character One: Devastating put-down. - Subversions, inversions and counterexamples can either go in the same list as examples, or have their own separate lists following it. Usually the latter occurs when subversions, inversions, and counterexamples are common. Do us all a favor and make sure your examples are actually subversions, though.
- Don't call something "recent" or talk about "last week's episode" or things like that. If your examples are good ones, they'll be around for a long time, and "recent" loses all meaning. Use episode names, or numbers, or give at least a rough date ("In August of 2011...")
