The Best Character Tropes from Tumblr 

The best trope is "Clean-mouthed ray of sunshine that gets to say f**k exactly once so you know when things have gotten real."

Parental figure that keeps accidentally collecting kids. "Wth why do I have 6 kids now."

One of the favorite tropes is "I know I'm a fake, but everyone has expectations of me". Characters are: Reigen(Mob Psycho 100), King(One Punch Man), and Buggy(One Piece).

One of my favorites tropes is a character having a sheltered or rough upbringing that led them to be awkward/stoic. Then as the series goes on, other characters help them loosen up and we see that they’re actually just a silly person who never felt like they were able to open up to anyone. (Bonus points if they give me second hand embarrassment at some point or their friend group does hang outs to do things they never got to do growing up)

I said this on my blog, but I think we should abandon the whole "Nerd girl gets pinned by bad boy and gets soooo nervous and stutters a lot". Normalize her actually being a nerd. Normalize her having geeky interests like Sci fi and Music. Normalize her getting the highest grades in class. Normalize her having mostly male friends not because she thinks "girls are drama" but because most nerds are just guys. Normalize her *actually being intelligent* .

One of my favourite tropes is when the parent of a character who is the embodiment of some sort of abstract concept is just a regular, random bloke. The embodiment of French language: I would like toi to meet ma mère. Protagonist: Oh, cool, so is she, like, the personification of Medieval French, or Latin, or Proto-Indo-European, or something like that? French: Non, non. She's juste Jennifer.

One of my favorite character tropes is the villain who sort of goes through a redemption arc by being adopted into the team/family of hero characters. They still act a bit evil but not in a dangerous way, they're more like a quirky aunt/uncle who helps fight off more powerful villains who show up.

characters who are both sweet and tough but don't use one to mask the other. Like they use the different parts of themselves when the situation calls for and it doesn't negate the other part of their personality.

I love it when flirty characters can’t handle being flirted with. Like, a flirty character flirts with a character who’s generally disinterested but eventually catches feelings and flirts back causing them to be like hjsksmdjsmsjw Also I’m the red character, the reason being I’m the designated Huey and rise!Raph of my friend group

I love when a character who's fought literal monsters is more horrified by comparably normal things i.e. Ginger Snaps when Bridgette has seen one of her classmates die, but is only left speechless when her mother explains puberty

My favourite underrated trope is when a character is in disguise but actually turns out to be a clone wearing said disguise. I remember seeing it in a SpongeBob episode where SpongeBob dresses up as “Girly Teen Girl” from “Farawayvillie” to get into Pearl’s slumber party, but fails and runs away crying. And you know who showed up in a truck with Mr. Krabs shortly afterwards? SpongeBob. That means that Girly Teen Girl is out there somewhere. Best underrated trope.

I also love the trope of a villain character just being a natural born, untreated Psycho. Enough with the sappy 'America's Got Talent' tears. The reason he punched a puppy is bc he's like that, he's been that as a kid and he's staying that way.

My favorite is the character who tries their hardest to be brave and strong but when you look into their backstory you realize they're probably just extremely traumatized and their brave "facing danger no matter what" is most likely actually an attempt at self-destruction masked by a chivalrous exterior. (Asuka Soryuu is probably the most well-known example of this).

I love the trope of a mean, intimidating looking character who is actually a big sweetheart OR a sweet, cute and innocent looking character who is actually vulgar, rude and cocky. I have ocs based on those tropes :D

Subversion of thr villain/hero not wanting to fight a teen Villain teen realizes masked hero is either kinda evil or also a teen bc they have no qualms against fighting a child

I see Caine, I click. Dapper-dressed man with object for a head is the best trope.

"Character that is very small, but also frighteningly powerful, or just frightening in general" is a good one.

About the trope of not moving on after the lover died, I want more of “I can get over their death, but I will never love anyone again, because that person is the only one for me and I will remain faithful to them even after their death´´ and they actually do that, dedicating the rest of they life to cherished close platonic relationships and his hobbies. That what i would do, and what i wish my husband would do if i had one

I love characters who always make you happy to see them, but you don't know if they'll last because they're too likeable. Think Agent Coulson from the MCU. I think TV Tropes calls them Mauve Shirts, because they aren't in the main cast, but they're not as disposable as a red shirt, so they're always on a pendulum of luck.

Two of my absolute favorite character tropes are: A) character who views everyone around them as a tool, but also is nice to said everyone because you gotta keep your gears and nuts and bolts in good condition, right? B) character who views everyone as a chess piece, including themselves& can and WILL put their life at stake in order to achieve something

Idk if this is a basic trope or not but i like characters who act funny/like a shameless flirt but actually have a ton depth to them and their actions usually from deep trauma (leo from Rottmnt and Sylvain from fire emblem three houses)

I love characters who are objectively evil but since they aren’t the big bad, they can just manipulate both the good and the bad guys to create a situation where they’re the only one coming out of this conflict with a win. (I’m mainly talking about Dimentio (Super Paper Mario) and Jarlaxle (Legend of Drizzt), but I would love to hear other characters that also fit this!)

1: When characters team up and instead of passive aggressive snarking or nitpicking (unless it's for light ribbing) each other, they're polite and complimentary to each other. Example: The Spider-Men in No Way Home right before they face off against the villains at the Statue of Liberty. They don't bash or try to one-up each other, they have a fun conversation about their past experiences and lift each other up. 2: When the absentminded idiot acknowledges that a situation is bad. Example: Ed in Ed, Edd n Eddy when the Eds try a bus scam with Ed acting as the horse but he loses control when going downhill. When asked if he can slow down, he just says “No”. If the empty-headed moron knows it’s gonna be bad, it’s really gonna be bad.

I think I’ve realized that my favorite characters tend to either be -adopts everyone And -adopted by everyone

Accidental found family is the freakin' best. Like, a group of characters who get tossed together and don't know what the hell's going on, but they end up being each other's ride or die. Alkaloid from Enstars is a great example

7:08 I’m an absolute FIEND for the emotional hug trope because it works in both platonic and romantic works

“Nothing hits harder than when that character who always wears suits wears something non-formal” Ah yes, Sanji at the end of One Piece’s Thriller Bark Arc, nice to see you again my old friend

NGL The alien + Vampire "Trope" sounds like an old SIMS Story mode lore...

oh I ADORE characters who refuse to accept they were in the wrong, because they're not able to handle the amount of guilt that would come with it if they did. Especially when lots of help actually makes them accept that they did mess up, and were wrong.

Ok so I'm going to suck at explaining this....but I love it when characters are more powerful/skilled then the other characters realize, and the moment that it leads to when they figure it out. A stereotypical example is if you think of any superhero movie, where the friends/family of the superhero are completely stunned when they realize that this person that to them is just a normal person actually has the power to save them all. It doesn't have to be a superhero thing, but idk I just find that moment so satisfying.

Gimme a fantasy show but one of the main characters is just a gunslinger. Everyone else is castin fireball while this guy is castin The Glock.

The question at the end isn't "are you the red or blue character". It's "when will the red and blue character make out".

A character who had a fated destiny or mission but completed it and now has to contend with the after part

I notice I have a few types of characters I like to read or write about. One is basically the "jerk with a heart of gold" thing, either by using a jerkish personality to hide insecurities to the public or they are geniunely and openly nice...they just also have a habit of being a sarcastic smartass without a filter. Said characters can provide a lot of humor (or angst, either I like.)

1:32 from experience, I can tell you: Always have a roll of duct tape on you. People thought I was wierd, until one day, a guy came into school with a broken project he had fallen down on. I asked if duct tape would help, he said "of course it would asshole" and then his eyes visibly lit up with hope when I handed him the roll. He saved his project, stutteringly thanked me profusely, and rushed to class. So, yes, always carry a roll of duct tape with you, in your purse or a backpack or something. That, or a flashlight for power outages.

Definetly the "crazy awesome" sort of character. ●Freeman (Accursed Farms version) - can take out a platoon & its tank,while singing _Modern Major General_ and improvising a third verse,then move onto destroying an alien lair. ●Delta the Dungeon with no Epic Loot - few women get put in charge of a dungeon,fevew still succeed while being pacifists. ●Sun Wukong - need I say anything?Just watch the OSPRed videos on him. ●General Tarquin - bingeread the _Evil Overlord List_ and made it his entire personality. ●Jane the Mentalist - He can read anyone & manipulate them. ●Skippy & Mr.Welch - Strange minds think alike,& get up to plenty of shenanigans in the army & adventuring party. ●Old Man Henderson - the worst thing to happen to Lovecraftian horror. ●Agatha Clay/Heterodyne - The maddest Scientist to have ever madded in science! I want to see more people use INSANITY as a strenght rather than a weakness.

0:55 does this mean sokka qualifies as a himbo? he's a good dude, does pretty well with the ladies, and while he's an absolute genius inventor who's probably centuries ahead of his time at the age of fifteen...he also drinks straight from a random cactus and tries to use "wang fire" as a fake fire nation name

also. someone who wears formal suits 24/7, even to the beach and maybe even takes a bath still wearing this bonus points if that's a uniform

0:38 me to my online friends, I’m the oldest and all of them have parental trauma so I adopted them 😊

"Everyone else safe on board?" "Yes" "Good!"[kicks them to safety inside and seals the door] The kindly elder that has pleasant chats with the main group is dealing with enemies. Then manages to implicitly threaten said enemies without breaking their demeanor. The "normal" surrounded by supers and thus is the only one with any common sense.

Honestly, my favourite trope is when a character comes off as jarring and intimidating but, after getting to know them, they're probably just autistic and traumatised. Examples I like are Felix Hugo Fraldadius, Levi Ackerman, and Kousuke Hirahira.

The dapper dressed object in a suit trope instantly made me think of Funeral of Dead Butterflies and Dante from Project Moon.

Yall, after years of watching Tonka and PM Seymore i've finally got a tumblr! It's really nice there but can someone please explain how or why they are making Dashcon two?

My favorite tropes in stories is when the main character found a found family group where everyone in the group is willing to protect the main character because they saved them in some way, but the main character loves them so much that they sacrifice themselves to save them. And the group is absolutely devasted about it. I love this trope so much that I use it for my stories

2:53 Like that one time with Team Rocket in Kanto and then Meowth and Ash in the Kalos Malamar episode? Absolutely top tier episodes of the Pokémon anime, clearly.

the object head dapper man trope is the easiest tumblr sexyman thing you can do nowadays, if anything its becoming more and more alive

Affably Evil villains, my beloved. Like, yes, they could destroy all of humanity in one go, but then, they won’t be able to get any research done. Maybe they’re just super polite/speak in a friendly manner, but you know they’ve committed many crimes with more on the way. I just think it’s neat.

8:38 no, I want alien who thinks all humans work like vampires, because they crash landed in transylvania, and them trying not to look sus among humans by obviously hiding from the sun as one does.

12:27 this describes toriel from undertale perfectly

1:00 I would like to introduce you to Krov Matar Vrasin. Sure he can turn into a crocodile humanoid and tear apart foes with manic glee using some greatsword he got by making a deal with the fae, which just involves MORE violence for him, and yeah he one-rounded a Manticore... One time, though, he summoned a sphinx accidently, by saying; "Ella is nice, she gives cookies!" (Ella was the sphinx.) She came floating off the side of the flying ship with a tray of cookies. "Oh! Hello, Ella!" Soon enough, Krov was politely asking for cookies; "May I have a cookie?" and then later, "May I have another cookie?" No one else was being so polite to her, lol.

This is so specific but I LOVE when strait laced lawful good characters are secretly really weird/chaotic on the weekends. Like the most ridiculous stickler you know is in a punk band on the side. The reveals are like crack to me

My favourite character trope is the emotionless/expressionless character. I like them pretty much in any flavour. The one who for reasons has grown numb towards their emotions and doesn't really feel them anymore. The one who has a lot of emotions but is expressionless for some reasons so there is some disconnect from what they say to how their look (ononoki from Monogatari). The inhuman being who learns about human emotions. Plus point if the expressionless character has friends who just treat them like a normal person and don't mind their lack of expression.

My favourite character trope is guy who has zero braincells, completely oblivious to everything, but the sweetest person you'll ever come across (examples being Silver Twisted Wonderland, Simeon Obey Me, and Amagi Hiiro Ensemble Stars) Another trope I like is highly intimidating person who speaks like a high class poet who's personality is just autism and loving their friends (examples being Ran Nagisa Ensemble Stars, Malleus Draconia Twisted Wonderland, and Gundham Tanaka Danganronpa 2)

One of my favorite character tropes (or, in this case, a "character pairing trope") is what I would like to call "The Sapphic school witches" purely off of the fact that its fairly common despite how oddly specific it is. Picture this: Witch A: An outgoing young girl raised by a very ordinary family, fairly new to magic but is very passionate about it, and is considered a social outcast but manages to make friends with fellow outcasts, and often comes up with creative and unconventional solutions tobher problems. Bonus points if Witch A has always dreamed about becoming a witch ever since she was little, was recently taken in by a magical mentor figure, has a demon friend, and takes in a magical pet. Witch B: Has a more serious personality, much more experienced at magic than Witch A, takes her academics very seriously, starts off antagonizing Witch A but softens up to her after spending more time with her, and is constantly under the pressure of living up to her prestigious witch family's expectations. Bonus points if Witch B has also bullied Witch A's friends but softens up to them as well, has dadd and/or mommy issues, and is a perfectionist. Bonus points for both if they have opposing color schemes. An obvious example of this is Luz and Amity from the Owl House, but there's also Akko and Diane from Little Witch Academia, Coco and Aggot from Witch Hat Atelier, and Lone and Sorri from the webtoon Lone. This could even apply to Ruby and Weiss from RWBY if you remove the witches part.

You know what's my favorite trope? A band of kids getting together and forming some kind of hideout while in the middle of an apocalypse. Ever since A Quiet Place came out, I've always wondered what it would be like if a band of teenagers got like stuck in a school and had to make it like a fortress to survive (and possibly make a found family/society)

When the story acknowledges something obvious that would have resolved the plot. The key is to make it logical that characters wouldn't catch on to the right thing. You can make a joke out of it, use it to resolve a character arc (Wirt gets home once he realizes the Beast is lying), or create an oppurtuniy for another character to expose the flaws of the primary character(Picard's entire, "it is possible to not make any mistakes and still lose," speech only happens because Data won't accept defeat).

8:25 NO STOP I HAD AN ALIEN + VAMPIRE COUPLE IN SIMS 3 A FEW YEARS AGO AND I STILL FREAKING LOVE THEM AS OCS RATHER THAN SIMS!?!?! LIKE YOU KNOW HOW SOME SIMS YOU HAVE ARE JUST SIMS AND OTHERS GET UPGRADED TO OCS?!? I LOVE MY ALIEN AND VAMPIRE SO MUCH THEY ARE SO IN LOVE AND ADOPTED 3 CHILDREN (i consider the children sims, not ocs, which is sort of weird but im not going to question it)

i love cat coded boys... i cannot elaborate, unfortunately

When the big burly character (friend or foe) gets hit in the back and turns around, unphased and now very pissed while their soon-to-be victim look on in fear. (Running away or apologizing optional.)

10:05 i remember a very good tumblr post about two ppl hooking up and undressing each other and finding a comical amount of weapons

Okay, so I'm not super into hero x villain stuff but the post as 9:30 is kinda cooking

2:06 HINOMORIS MENTION the bonus points part is also so real i love sibling parallels

2:07 i looked at the girls in the top right and thought “is that franziska von karma?” and was a little sad when it wasn’t, until a few seconds later when FRANZISKA VON KARMA?!?

I'm ADHD coded orange character with an autism coded purple character bestie 🧡💜❤💙

Accidental adoption - See The Bad Batch. That is the whole damn show.

i love me a good grumpy character bonus if they have a pink best friend and or partner

0:42 I adore characters who are smart yet stupid. Phoenix Wright is a prime example. Some days he is unraveling conspiracy plots and turning hopeless cases around through pure deductive reasoning. Other days he is forgetting to flip over a piece of paper and is showing armed villains the only items that can defeat them. He is such a lovable stupid head, yet is also a lawyer who went undefeated for years somehow. Sissel from Ghost Trick is another lovely pick. He can zip through constant logic puzzles and save people from death with nothing but his sheer resourcefulness, but also manages to accidentally blurt out three secrets back to back while talking to an elementary schooler. He is so clever yet so blissfully derpy in all other facets.

Uncle Iroh is the best example of Soft, Warm, Fire Dad.

One of my favourite troupes is when villains, despite being genuinely evil and the like, are kinda goofy. Shout out to my D&D PC for being a capitalist who wants to take over the area in which in campaign takes place for his own personal gain while being a dorky nerd who loves guns

A trope I quite like is "Character who is always smiling/cheery, and when they stop, you know things are about to go from 0 to 100 quick"

I love sibling/sibling-like-friendship character’s, I have no idea why but it’s just so appealing, especially if it’s opposites. Examples: Razzle & Dazzle from Dandy’s World Mk and Mei from Lego Monkie Kid Albedo & Klee from Genshin Impact Aether/Lumine & Paimon also from Genshin Impact Goob & Scraps from Dandy’s World I want to add more but the rest are OC’s I made

This might just be the most basic list in the history of opinions, but THESE character stereotypes (among others) are the ones I find the most enjoyable and i have no idea why. Semi-popular examples will be included: 1 - Spunky, over-the-top yet still threatening villains (Wheatley) 2 - Absolute lunatic that’s fallen in love (Jason ‘JD’ Dean) 3 - AI that ISN’T trying to commit murder (TARS and CASE) 4 - AI that are evil, but done right (A.M, HAL 9000) 5 - Immoral and greedy higher ups (Mr. Krabs)

I love when a character is very smart but turns into an absolute buffoon with their bestie

You could probably make a whole video out of tumbr's favourite characters/character dynamics that is so hyper specific it only exist for their personal ocs or in this one super obscure piece of media

Ooh, the alien/vampire + immortal-wanting-mortality; the alien's blood makes the vampire mortal. So many possibilities.

I like dorks. (Otacon and Miles Edgeworth) They are both dorks, but in VERY different ways, but. I just can’t explain it. I don’t know HOW to explain it. I just really love both of these characters and the fact that they kinda fit in the same category (granted, said category is SUPER broad) makes me happy.

A twist on the mary sue archetype where the protagonist snaps and shows the world they were holding back their whole life. It flips the narrative on its head and the once arrogant and cocky villains now love in fear, with no more guarantee that every character will come back after being defeated.

8:27 May I introduce you to the world of Vampire Invader Zim AUs. I've seen at least 6 on my Tumblr dash alone. We as a fandom just seem to like the idea of Vampire Bee Dib fighting/dating/just being friends with Zim lol.

I had a totem barbarian character, she had the totem of the bunny. She loves cute stuff and coos at kittens, and will tear your head off if you kick a puppy.

10:57 I love this trope. These guys always have the best voice actors and personalities.

I love 'asshole character that gets redeemed but still has some of their asshole personality (but less and/or more silly), but ultimately means well' Ex: Wanderer, Fanny(BFB, TPOT), Peridot, Yellow Diamond, etc...

character who has been wallowing in their anger and depression for so long that they've built an emotional wall around themselves and are incredibly bitter and nasty to everyone they meet. their self isolation and horribleness leads to everyone they love parting ways with them, and eventually it turns into a cycle where their anger towards themself gets projected onto others which leads to anger towards themself for letting it happen again...

I have a few. 1. Well-dressed demons (usually in suits). 2. Geniuses who also have no idea what they’re doing. 3. Little guys that carry comically oversized weapons. 4. Little guys that are up to no good. 6. You know what? Just little guys in general. 7. Silly characters with eye obstructions (comically large hats, messy hair, foggy glasses, etc). 8. Characters that use bludgeoning weapons. 9. Evil henchmen. 10. Villains who value their evil henchmen. 11. Mad scientists (not to be confused with the second category). 12. Characters who support other characters when things aren’t going right. 13. Villains who purposefully avoid killing (remember, kids. You can’t kick someone in the shins if they don’t have legs). There’s no particular order here. I just listed them as I thought of them.

In my own setting, one of my themes is personifying acts of nature as animals, and one of them is that the waves of the sea are the scales on the back of the crocodile. The waves may be strong, the tempest insurmountable, but the most dangerous time to be at sea is always when the waters are completely still, because that's when the crocodile is stalking.

4:00 Being the protector of a system is kinda like that, it fucking sucks XD

Well-intentioned characters who trap other characters in an ideal world as an escape from reality because they can't stand watching people suffer, my beloved. Bonus points if this comes with existential dread.

A favorite of mine is unassuming looking and mostly indifferent character that turns out being extremely powerful.

_inhales_ SHOUT OUT TO THE CHARACTERS THAT SMILE DESPITE THE DARKNESS AND DO THEIR BEST TO PROTECT EVERYONE'S SMILES GODAI AND EIJI MY BOYS WAHEEEEEEEY also on a similar note DELINQUENTS WITH A HEART OF GOLD! BEAT IS BEST YEAY!!

0:33 oh hello Netflix’s Nimona (2023)

Guy who is Clearly Not Normal X guy who everyone else thinks is very normal but is actually even less normal than the other guy...and only the other guy knows this

I’m always a fan of “you got a better idea?” After someone points out that the incredibly crazy plan, is in fact, incredibly crazy, but it’s the only plan they have and no one has a better idea The only time I don’t like it is when it’s used in a condescending way, like one character has a plan they’re confident in, and someone brings up an alternate solution that gets immediately dismissed…though, I’ve only seen that done once, and the whole point of that was to point out that the condescending character WAS in the wrong

One my favorite tropes is “tortured soul finally loses their shit and makes everyone around them regret everything they’ve ever done” and recently I’ve started to wonder if that says something about me as a person 😭

"Character that keeps cool in stressful situations but is anxious when in a calming situation" Lin Beifong (except one can argue she's constantly stressed, and when in calming situations there's always a threat)

I saw the thumbnail and thought, “VOX!?!?!?!?” I guess that means it’s working

‘delinquent with a heart of gold’ is a personal favourite. someone who’s absolutely merciless to their enemies but will also help a little old lady cross the street

6:03 Guilty, seeing Vil Schoenheit wear something casual is something I still crave. Yet I still love how he's always formal cuz DAMN the queen be slaying.

Also I just love characters whose problems are partially/mostly their own fault. It’s got a special kind of angst and character drama that “this character’s problems are entirely inflicted upon them by others” just can’t capture. The guy’s gonna ruin his own and other people’s lives and I for one can’t wait to watch : )

Alright one character trope I love, especially to write, but haven't seen often is what I'm dubbing "The Swear-Buckler" where they have a little more distinction from the other characters of being more upset than normal, maybe anger issues too, usually due to past trauma and pain and trying to work with it. And while they can have sweet moments or show kindness, they can beat the crap out of you and tear you up, both physically and emotionally, they're good at it and will not show mercy if you get that point. I call them the "Swear Buckler" because in a series where swearing is a lot more reserved and used in less childish ways, they're the type to still swear like a sailor; and in a kids series where swearing is a big no no, they'll somehow be the only one to be allowed to get away with saying "Damn" every now and then. As somehow them having that personality and not swearing feels wrong. Yeah if they cannot curse the entire way and can still feel in character, that's not a swear buckler, that's just someone with angst and anger issues that can sass people. I bring this up because maybe people can point to more examples.

I’ll definitely take tumblr over TikTok

My favorite dynamic(from my OT3) is "I hate you, you hate me, but I guess we can share (insert character)"