When it comes to tropes, there’s an endless list. The word first appeared in the English language in the early 1500’s and since, has been a big staple in pop culture from books, movies, shows, all the way to even music.
Now, before I get into my list of my favorite tropes, lets first define what a trope actually is. A trope DOES NOT need to be this complex and thematic thing. It’s actually quite simple: A trope, by definition, is an element in any type of media or art form (literature, music, movies, TV shows, etc.) that is used for an intended purpose, and is done over and over again to the point where it is easily recognized and understood.
Examples of popular tropes include:
• The Villain
• Love at First Sight
• The Femme Fatale
• The Wise Fool
Having said this, I’m going to be breaking down my top ten all time favorite tropes that I will NEVER get tired of seeing, starting with:
1. THE BAD GUY WINS:
There’s just something so satisfying when the villain of the story wins. Seeing the hero win gets old to me, so when we have the bad guy as the guy that comes out victorious, I love it.
But here’s the catch, the bad guy has to EARN his win. If they come up with some genius plan that leaves me speechless and feeling like they deserve to defeat the villain, then I’m all for it.
When the greedy, lying, and manipulative corporate man successfully climbs the ladder of capitalism, gets to the top and stays there, or when the mean girl at the highschool gets her man and never learns her lesson…..I LOVE it!
2. RICH PEOPLE:
Maybe it’s me wanting to live vicariously through them, but I’m obsessed with the rich person trope. Especially when it comes to rich people problems.
I wanna see a bunch of people pulling up to brunch in Ferraris and Rolls Royces. I wanna see a female character crying ’cause the private jet she booked is “too small,” and a trophy wife sipping champagne in Bora Bora while her husband is at home stressing cause he just lost a billion dollars, and now only has $16 billion.
Crazy Rich Asians is a great example of this. You can also think of Dynasty, Selling Sunset, and Bling Empire on Netflix, or Succession on HBO Max as well. I just wanna see rich people acting like stereotypical rich people because I love knowing what the rich are up to.
3. HYPER FEMININE FEMALE CHARACTER:
In a society where hyper femininity is so villainized on television and in books, being seen as “fake,” “trying too hard,” or the starter pack for mean girls, seeing a female character whose entire personality is unapologetically nothing but shoes, clothes, shopping, and makeup, makes me so happy.
These kind of women are always the ones I pay the most attention to on television and in books because they’re just the best.
4. SMALL TOWN ROMANCE:
Now, this is a trope that I never thought I’d ever like, but ever since really getting into it, I can’t get enough of it.
This is a complete contrast from the over the top and boujee rich people trope, but it's the nostalgia and the warmth of this trope that gets me.
Think Virgin River on Netflix. The feeling of a romance in a small town where everyone knows everyone and two characters are in love and just living their lives in a close knit town just gets me.
5. FRIENDS TO LOVERS:
Now listen, even though this is one of the most popular tropes, a lot of people actually prefer the enemies to lovers trope but… I’m not one of those people.
Friends to lovers to me is so realistic and I think that’s the main reason why I love it so much. Having two people who have been friends for who knows how long, gradually develop deeper feelings for each other, I mean...how could you NOT love it?
6. FAMILY RIVALRY:
Going back to the rich people trope, we have family rivalries which I’m obsessed with, but only when the rivalry is about things like greed, money, and power.
(Again, think Dynasty on Netflix.) When there’s a powerful and wealthy family and the “head” (like the Grandfather who started the multi-billion dollar family business) passes away, and now all the family members are in this rivalry of who gets what in the inheritance or who gets to be the new CEO.…
Or, even better, when there’s a male character who grows up in a wealthy family but was neglected by his busy and emotionally unavailable father and then grows up to create his own empire that rivals with his family's… it just makes for such a good story.
7. BEST FRIEND BETRAYAL:
I love when I’m reading a book or watching a movie or show where the main character has a best friend, and then I find out that the best friend’s been low-key plotting the main character’s downfall.
But the thing is, the betrayal has to be for a good reason. If the reason why the best friend suddenly hates the main character is because the boy she likes likes the main character and not her, that’s a dumb reason.
Or, if the main character kisses her boyfriend, and instead of being angry at both, she’s only upset with the main character and takes her boyfriend right back, that’s another dumb reason (I’m looking at you Blair Waldorf). But when the betrayal happens for a good and justified reason, then I’m all for this trope.
8. BAGGAGE:
I love when characters just have that something that they experienced in life that made them the way that they are.
Take Joe Goldberg from Netflix’s YOU who killed his abusive father out of both his and his mother’s protection, and is now a creepy and obsessive stalker towards women.
There’s just something about characters who carry unhealed baggage that I love because there’s nothing I hate more than characters who are too perfect.
Lemme find out you escaped an abusive marriage, faced child abuse/neglect, or even killed someone in the past for crying out loud. Characters that come with baggage will always be superior.
9. THE OPINIONATED NARRATOR:
Unfortunately, this is a trope that I think is so underrated despite how great it is.
There’s just something great about reading a book where the narrator is a random third party, but as the story moves along, the narrator gives us their opinions on the characters and what’s going on.
It just makes the book so much more real and engaging for me when there’s an active, judgmental and opinionated narrator.
We don’t have a single clue who they are (and we’re not supposed to), but they have so much to say about what’s going on, and I love that.
10. TRAPPED WITH THE KILLER:
Trapped with the killer is by far THE BEST thriller and mystery trope and I’ll stand by that.
Picture this: A group of friends are going on a vacation and then suddenly, one person in the group ends up dead.
The thing that makes this trope so amazing is the fact that you know that the killer is one person in the group. I absolutely hate it when writers have the killer be another character that we meet near the end or halfway through the book/movie because it’s always so obvious that that new person is the killer.
It’s so much more exciting when the killer is among the group and every plan that the group makes to try and catch the killer, they’re always one step ahead because they’re hearing everything.
Now, are there tons of other great tropes that could have made this list? Of course, but these ten—when I immediately think of my top ten favorite tropes—are the ones that jump straight to my mind. Similar to how my list of my top ten least favorite tropes do but… that’s a post for another time.
What are some of your favorite tropes and are there any I listed that you agree or disagree with? Share them with me in the comment section below.
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