We Are Not Alone Index
In short, tropes which have Wikipedia articles. In long:
Here on All The Tropes, just as on The Other Tropes Wiki, we tropers dedicate ourselves to cataloging recurrent patterns in fiction. Everyone knows that; it's the name of the game. Other sites deal with tropes, too, though none of them are as exhaustive as we are, which is perfectly normal. However, there's one site that takes it too far: it's supposed to a free world-class encyclopedia, yet it's wasting time talking on and on about cliches in fiction. And that's our job. Isn't that a waste of bandwidth? Perhaps so, but the practice is a lot more common than non-tropers would think.
The truth of the matter is Wikipedians do it for a variety of reasons—the Trope may be common enough for scholarly interest, it may say something about psychology, or it may simply just be one of those many Silly Things Wikipedia does. On the other hand, it might also be because our two Tropes wikis have fallen victim to the Law of Wiki Expansion, and the topic really is one that best fits in a general-interest encyclopedia. In any case, it's beneficial to both All The Tropes and TV Tropes; the more pages on tropes there are on Wikipedia, the more people will be led to our sites.
Not to be confused with You Are Not Alone, or the idea of other intelligent life in the galaxy.
Works and Creators with Wikipedia articles should be listed in this category. (They might not be listed there, but they should be.)
#, A
- 1-Up: 1-Up
- 2½D: 2.5D
- 419 Scam: 419 Scam
- 555: 555 (telephone number)
- 90% of Your Brain: Ten percent of brain myth
- Abandonware: Abandonware
- Abdicate the Throne: Abdication
- AB Negative: ABO blood group system
- Above the Influence: Sexual abstinence
- Absent-Minded Professor: Absent-minded professor
- Ab Urbe Condita: Ab Urbe Condita
- Abusive Parents: Child abuse
- Accidental Art: Found object
- Accidental Murder: Involuntary manslaughter
- Ace Pilot: Flying ace
- Achilles' Heel: Achilles' Heel
- Acme Products: Acme Corporation
- Acquired Poison Immunity: Mithridatism
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Acquired Situational Narcissism
- Acronym and Abbreviation Overload: WTF? OMG! TMD TLA. ARG!
- Action Girl: Women warriors in literature and culture, List of female action heroes and villains
- Action Hero: Action Hero
- A-Cup Angst and Buxom Is Better: "Body image" subsection of Breast
- Ad Bumpers: Bumper (broadcasting)
- Ad Hominem: Ad Hominem
- Advert-Overloaded Future: Ad creep
- An Aesop: Moral
- Afraid of Blood: Blood phobia
- Afraid of Needles: Fear of needles
- The Ageless: Eternal youth and Biological immortality
- Agony of the Feet: Diseases of the foot
- Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Airborne Aircraft Carrier
- Air Guitar: Air Guitar
- Air Jousting: Dogfight
- Airport Novel: Airport Novel
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: AI takeover
- Akashic Records: Akashic Records
- Alan Smithee: Alan Smithee
- Album Single: Single (music)
- The Alcatraz: Alcatraz Island in popular culture
- The Alcoholic: Alcoholism
- Alice and Bob: Alice and Bob
- Alien Abduction: Alien Abduction
- Alien Autopsy: Alien autopsy
- Alien Geometries: Non-Euclidean geometry
- Alien Invasion: Alien Invasion
- Alien Space Bats: Alien space bats
- All Bikers Are Hells Angels: Outlaw motorcycle club, Hells Angels
- All Cavemen Were Neanderthals: Caveman
- All Gays Are Pedophiles: Societal attitudes toward homosexuality: Association with child abuse and pedophilia
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Bad boy (archetype), Rake (character), Hybristophilia
- Alpha Bitch: Queen bee (sociology)
- Alternate Universe: Parallel universe (fiction)
- Ambiguously Gay/Ambiguously Bi: Queer coding and Queerbaiting
- Ambiguous Syntax: Synactic ambiguity
- Ambulance Chaser: Ambulance chasing. See also Barratry
- Amen Break: Amen Break
- America Takes Over the World: American Imperialism
- Amoral Attorney: Shyster
- Amphibious Automobile: Amphibious vehicle
- Anachronism Stew: Anachronism
- An Axe to Grind: Axe
- Anal Probing: Rectal examination
- Ancient Astronauts: Ancient Astronauts
- And Now You Must Marry Me: [[Wikipedia:}Forced marriage|}Forced marriage]]
- Angry Guard Dog: Guard dog
- Angst: Angst
- Animal Stereotypes: Stereotypes of animals
- Animal Testing: Animal Testing
- Anime Fan Speak: Glossary of anime and manga
- Animesque: Anime-influenced animation
- Answer Song: Answer Song
- Antagonist: Antagonist
- Anthropic Principle: Anthropic Principle
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Anthropomorphism
- The Antichrist: The Antichrist
- Anti-Humor: Anti-Humor
- Antimatter: Antimatter
- Anti-Hero: Antihero
- Anxiety Dreams: Anxiety Dreams
- Anything That Moves: Hypersexuality, Sexual addiction, Hypersexual disorder, Erotophilia
- Appeal to Worse Problems: Fallacy of relative privation
- Arcadia: Arcadia
- Archangel Gabriel: Gabriel
- Archangel Michael: Michael
- Archangel Raphael: Raphael
- Archangel Uriel: Uriel
- Area 51: Area 51
- Argumentum Ad Nauseam: Argumentum Ad Nauseam
- An Arm and a Leg: Amputation
- Arms Dealer: Arms industry and Arms trafficking
- Arranged Marriage: Arranged Marriage
- Art Deco: Art Deco
- Artificial Gravity: Artificial Gravity
- Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence and Artificial general intelligence
- Artificial Limbs: Prosthesis
- Artificial Meat: We Are Not Alone Index at WikipediaCultured meat
- Artificial Stupidity: Artificial Stupidity
- Artistic License: Artistic License
- ASCII Art: ASCII Art
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Entering heaven alive
- Asexuality: Asexuality
- Ashcan Copy: Ashcan Copy
- Aspect Ratio: Aspect Ratio
- Association Fallacy: Association Fallacy
- Asteroid Miners: Asteroid mining
- Astral Projection: Astral Projection
- Atlantis: Atlantis
- Attention Whore: Attention seeking
- Auction: Auction
- Augmented Reality: Augmented Reality
- Automated Automobiles: Autonomous car
- Auto-Tune: Auto-Tune
B
- Baby Talk: Baby Talk
- Back from the Dead: Resurrection
- Backhanded Apology: Non-apology apology
- Backstory: Backstory
- The Backwards R: Faux Cyrillic
- Badass: Hotshot
- Badass Boast: Boasting
- Bag of Holding: Magic satchel
- Balloonacy: Cluster ballooning
- Balloon Belly: Abdominal distension and Bloating
- Banana Peel: Banana peel: In comical context
- Banana Republic: Banana Republic
- Bank Robbery: Bank Robbery
- Bankruptcy Barrel: Bankruptcy Barrel
- Banned in China: Censorship by country
- Barbarian Tribe: Barbarian
- Bare Your Midriff: Midriff (see also Cultural views on the navel)
- The Bartender: The Bartender
- Basso Profundo: Basso Profundo
- Bathos and Narm share one under the former's name: Bathos
- Battering Ram: Battering Ram
- Battle Cry: Battle Cry
- Bayonet Ya: We Are Not Alone Index at WikipediaBayonet
- The Bear: The Bear
- The Beard: Beard (companion)
- Beast Fable: Beast Fable
- Beat: Beat
- Beatnik: Beatnik
- Beauty Contest: Beauty pageant
- Beauty Mark: Beauty Mark
- Bed Trick: Bed trick
- Beehive Hairdo: Beehive (hairstyle)
- Beginner's Luck: Beginner's Luck
- Believing Their Own Lies: Self-deception
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Sexual tension
- Belly Dancer: Belly dance
- The Bermuda Triangle: Bermuda Triangle
- Berserk Button: Pet peeve
- BFG: BFG
- Big Bad: Big Bad
- The Big Bad Wolf: The Big Bad Wolf
- Big Brother Bully: Sibling abuse
- Big Dumb Object: Big Dumb Object
- Big Eater: Gourmand
- Big Electric Switch: Knife switch
- Bigger Than Jesus: More popular than Jesus (This article covers the Stock Shout-Out/Stock Parody of the controversy; Wikipedia covers the actual events themselves.)
- Binary Suns: Binary star
- Bindle Stick: Bindle
- Bite the Wax Tadpole: Brand blunder
- Black Box: Black Box
- Black Comedy: Black Comedy
- The Black Death: The Black Death
- Black Dude Dies First: Section in Racism in horror films
- Blackface: Blackface
- Black Helicopter: Black Helicopter
- Black Knight: Black Knight
- Black Magic: Black Magic
- Blackmail: Blackmail
- Black Market: Black Market
- Black Sheep: Black Sheep
- The Blacksmith: The Blacksmith
- Black Spot: Black Spot
- Blank Slate: Tabula rasa
- Blatant Lies: Barefaced lie
- Blind Date: Blind Date
- Blipvert: Blipvert
- Blogosphere: Blogosphere
- Bluebird of Happiness: Bluebird of Happiness
- Blue Blood: Nobility
- Blood on the Debate Floor: Legislative violence
- Blood Sport: Blood Sport
- Blooper: Blooper
- Blow Gun: Blow Gun
- Boarding Party: Naval boarding
- Boarding School: Boarding School
- Body Horror: Body Horror
- Body Paint: Body painting
- Body Sushi: Nyotaimori
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Manzai
- Bomb Disposal: Bomb Disposal
- Bond Gun Barrel: Gun barrel sequence
- Bonus Stage: Bonus Stage
- Booby Trap: Booby Trap
- Book Safe: Concealing objects in a book
- Bookworm: Bibliophilia
- Boomerang Bigot: Internalized oppression
- Boss Battle: Boss (video gaming)
- Bothering by the Book: Work-to-rule, Malicious compliance
- Bottle Episode: Bottle Episode
- Bouncer: Bouncer
- Bounty Hunter: Bounty Hunter
- Bourgeois Bohemian: Limousine liberal and Radical chic (United States), Champagne socialist (United Kingdom), Chardonnay socialist(Australia/New Zealand), Gauche caviar (France)
- Bowdlerise: Expurgation
- Box Office Bomb: Box Office Bomb
- Boy Band: Boy Band
- Brain Drain: Human capital flight
- Brain Freeze: Ice cream headache
- Brain In a Jar: Brain in a vat
- Brain Uploading: Mind uploading
- Brainwashed: Mind control
- Brand Name Takeover: Generic trademark
- Bread and Circuses: Bread and Circuses
- Breakout Character: List of breakout characters
- Brick Break: Breaking (martial arts)
- British Royal Guards: Queen's Guard
- Broken Record: Assertiveness: Broken record
- Brown Note: Brown Note
- Buccaneer Broadcaster: Pirate radio
- Bulletproof Vest: Bulletproof Vest
- Bullet Time: Bullet Time
- The Bully: Bullying
- Burger Fool: McJob
- Burial in Space: Space burial
- Buried Alive: Premature burial
- Bury Your Gays: LGBT stereotypes in scripted television: "Bury your gays"
- But Not Too Black: Discrimination based on skin color: Examples of African American Colorism
- But Not Too Gay/But Not Too Bi: Queerbaiting
- Butterfly Knife: Butterfly Knife
- Byronic Hero: Byronic hero
C
- The Caper: Caper story
- Cassandra Truth: Cassandra (metaphor)
- Changeling Tale: Changeling
- Cheesy Moon: The Moon is made of green cheese
- Chekhov's Gun: Chekhov's gun
- Chewbacca Defense: Chewbacca defense
- Clip Show: Clip show
- Comic Book Time: Floating timeline
- Cosmic Egg: World egg
- Crocodile Tears: Crocodile tears
- Deflector Shield: Force field (fiction)
- Development Hell: Development hell
- Damsel in Distress: Damsel in distress
- Double Entendre: Double entendre
- Droste Image: Droste effect
- Dynamic Difficulty: Dynamic game difficulty balancing
- Dyson Sphere: Dyson spheres in popular culture
- Ear Worm: Earworm
- Everything's Worse With Snowclones: Snowclone
- Evil Eye: Evil eye
- Evil Laugh: Evil laughter
F-J
- False-Flag Operation: False flag
- Fan Service: Fan service
- Fictional Political Party: List of fictional political parties
- Final Girl: Final girl
- Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing (Though it is a common literary term.)
- Four Is Death: Tetraphobia
- Freaky Friday Flip: Body swap
- Freemium: Freemium
- Freudian Slip: Freudian slip
- The Gadfly: Social gadfly
- Gallows Humor: Gallows humor
- Gaslamp Fantasy: Gaslamp fantasy
- Gaslighting: Gaslighting
- Genie in a Bottle: Jinn
- Gentleman Detective: Gentleman detective
- Gentleman Thief: Gentleman thief
- GIFT: Online disinhibition effect
- Grandfather Paradox: Grandfather paradox
- Hammerspace: Hammerspace
- Hand Waving: Handwaving
- Harsh Vocals: Death growl (but the intro lists harsh vocals as a variant)
- Hazmat Suit: Hazmat suit
- Heavy Metal Umlaut: Metal umlaut
- Here There Be Dragons: Here be dragons
- Hime Cut: Hime cut
- Honey Trap: Honeypots in espionage fiction
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Hooker_with_a_heart_of_gold
- I'm a Humanitarian: Cannibalism in popular culture
- The Principle of Evil Marksmanshipcovers these three tropes:
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy (Stormtrooper Effect)
- Mook Chivalry (One-at-a-time Attack Rule)
- Conservation of Ninjitsu (Inverse Ninja Law)
- Indian Summer: Indian Summer
- Inherently Funny Words: Inherently funny word
- In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race: Race of the future
- Isometric Projection: Isometric projection
- Jewish Mother: Jewish mother stereotype
- Jumping the Shark: Jumping the shark
K-O
- Kaiju: Kaiju
- Kawaisa: Cuteness in Japanese culture
- Knight Errant: Knight-errant
- Kraken and Leviathan: Kraken and Leviathan
- Leitmotif: Leitmotif
- Lite Creme: Sensational spelling
- Loose Lips: Loose lips sink ships as well as Wikipedia:Wikipedia is in the real world
- Loudness War: Loudness war
- MacGuffin: MacGuffin
- Magic Carpet: Magic carpet
- Magical Girlfriend: Magical_girlfriend
- Magical Negro: Magical_negro
- Magnum Opus: Magnum_opus
- Mammy: Mammy_archetype
- Man-Eating Plant: Carnivorous plant#Cultural depictions and Man-eating tree
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl
- Mary Sue: Mary_Sue
- Meaningful Name: Aptronym
- Memetic Mutation: Internet meme
- Metal Scream: Screaming (music)
- Microtransactions: Microtransactions
- Min-Maxing: Min-maxing
- Miranda Rights: Miranda warning
- Moe Anthropomorphism: Moe_anthropomorphism
- Mondegreen: Mondegreen
- Money to Burn: Money burning
- Monkeys on a Typewriter: Infinite monkey theorem, Infinite monkey theorem in popular culture
- Monster Clown: Evil clown
- Munchkin: Munchkin (role-playing games)
- Mutants: Mutant (fictional)
- Nazi Hunter: Nazi_hunter
- Nekomata: Nekomata
- Network Decay: Channel drift
- Nice Jewish Boy: Nice_Jewish_boy
- Noble Savage: Noble_savage
- Nose Art: Nose_art
- No True Scotsman: No_true_Scotsman
- Nouveau Riche: Nouveau_riche, see also Parvenu
- Obfuscating Insanity: Feigned madness
- Occult Detective: Occult detective fiction
- One-Hit Wonder: One-hit_wonder
- Opinion Myopia: False consensus effect
P-T
- Patchwork Story: Fix-up
- Percussive Maintenance: Percussive_maintenance
- Plot Device: Plot_device
- Plot Hole: Plot_hole
- Portable Hole: Portable_hole
- Powered Armor: Powered exoskeleton
- President for Life: President_for_Life
- Prison Ship: Prison_ship
- Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat: Hat-trick (magic trick)
- Pyrrhic Victory: Pyrrhic_victory, also Cadmean victory which is virtually the same.
- Rags to Riches: Rags_to_riches
- Ray Gun: Raygun
- Raygun Gothic: Raygun_Gothic
- Red Herring: Red_herring
- Red Shirt: Redshirt_(character)
- Ring of Power: Magic ring
- Robinsonade: Robinsonade
- Ruritania: Ruritania, also Ruritanian romance for the related genre
- Saw a Woman In Half: Sawing_a_woman_in_half
- Scandalgate: List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
- Scatting: Scatting and Non-lexical vocables in music
- Schrodingers Cat: Schrödinger's cat in popular culture
- Scunthorpe Problem: Scunthorpe_Problem
- Screwed by the Lawyers: Tragedy of the anticommons; also applies to patent law, land ownership, leasing issues, etc.)
- Sdrawkcab Name: Ananym
- Self-Immolation: Self-immolation
- Sea Monster: Sea_Monster
- Shaggy Dog Story: Shaggy_Dog_Story
- Shark Tunnel: Shark_tunnel
- Shipping: Shipping_(fandom)
- Short Runners: List of television series canceled after one episode, though that's a little more restrictive.
- Sissy Villain: Also classed under Queer coding
- Signature Song: Signature_song
- Situational Sexuality: Situational sexual behavior
- Snipe Hunt: Snipe_hunt
- Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Soap_Opera_Rapid_Aging_Syndrome
- Solar-Powered Magnifying Glass: Burning glass
- Spontaneous Human Combustion: Spontaneous_human_combustion
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Star-crossed
- Streisand Effect: Streisand effect
- Super Couple: Supercouple
- Syncro-Vox: Syncro-Vox
- Sweeps Week Lesbian Kiss: Lesbian kiss episode
- Switched At Birth: Babies_switched_at_birth
- Tastes Like Chicken: Tastes_like_chicken
- Tetris Effect: Tetris_effect
- The Thirty-Six Stratagems: Thirty-Six_Stratagems
- This Is a Work of Fiction: All persons fictitious disclaimer
- Tickle Torture: Tickle_torture
- Tin Can Telephone: Tin_can_telephone
- Tontine: Tontine#Tontines_in_popular_culture
- Tsundere: Tsundere
- Tuckerization: Tuckerization
- Turtle Island: Aspidochelone
U-Z
- Unconventional Formatting: Ergodic literature (although our definition is much more broad)
- Unobtainium: Unobtainium
- Unreliable Narrator: Unreliable_narrator
- Vaporware: Vaporware
- Very Special Episode: Very_special_episode
- Video Phone: Videophone
- Visual Pun: Visual_pun
- Walk and Talk: Walk_and_talk
- Walk This Way: Walk_this_way_(movie_line)
- Wet Sari Scene: Wet_sari_scene
- What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: Bambi effect
- William Telling: Apfelschuss
- Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Suspension of disbelief
- World Building: Worldbuilding
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Yamato_Nadeshiko
- Zero-G Spot Sex in space