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Snowclone and Puns
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Some of these examples contain unmarked spoilers. Proceed with caution.

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Snowclones

    Snowclones 

    Renamed 
  • Abridged for Children: Originally "Dropped Abridged on It", from Dropped a Bridge on Him. This trope is when a work of literature is rewritten in an abridged version to make it more suitable for children. The former Trope Namer was Star Trek: Generations, which otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Ashes to Crashes: Originally "Chekhov's Ashes", from Chekhov's Gun. The trope is for funeral ashes being scattered inappropriately. The former Trope Namer was Anton Chekhov, who otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Bait-and-Switch Tyrant: Originally to be "Bait-and-Switch Umbridge", where a seemingly intimidating authority figure is decent person. Named for "The Umbridge", former name of Tyrant Takes the Helm, itself named for Dolores Umbridge of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix who seems nice when introduced only to reveal her love of Cold-Blooded Torture.
  • Big, Bulky Bomb: Originally "BFB", from BFG, this is about gigantic bombs. The former Trope Namer was the BFG-9000 from Doom (1993), which is a gun, not a bomb.
  • Bizarro Episode: Originally "BLAM Episode", with the "BLAM" standing for Big-Lipped Alligator Moment. This trope is where an ongoing series has an episode or instalment that's much stranger than the rest of the series and doesn't fit well into the overall continuity. The former Trope Namer was the singing alligator from All Dogs Go to Heaven, but he only appeared in two scenes, rather than taking up an entire instalment of the series.
  • Endless Game: Originally "Kobayashi Mario", from "Kobayashi Maru", which was itself the original name for Unwinnable Training Simulation. The Trope is for video games that let you keep playing until you're killed, with no ending or victory condition. The former Trope Namer was the Kobayashi Maru from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which was a military training exercise, not a video game. Also, while the Kobayashi was impossible to win without cheating, it didn't allow you to play endlessly—the simulated Captain would always be killed off quickly no matter what they did.
  • Epic Movie: Originally "BFM", from BFG. The Trope is for movies that are epic in scope. The former Trope Namer was the BFG-9000 from Doom (1993), which had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Finger-Tenting: Originally "Clasp Your Hands if You Deceive", from Clap Your Hands If You Believe. The trope is when a character is shown clasping their hands to indicate that they are a devious villain. The former Trope Namer was Peter Pan, who is neither a villain nor known for clasping his hands.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Originally "Bigger Bad", a snowclone of Big Bad, this is when there's a villain who isn't directly involved in the plot enough to be considered the Big Bad, but who is still more dangerous or more significant than the actual Big Bad to the setting overall. The former indirect Trope Namer was Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who never had such a role. (However, several other demons on the show were straight examples.)
  • In Vino Veritas: Originally "Doctor Jekyll and Mister Jack Daniels", from Jekyll & Hyde, this is when a character drinking radically changes their personality. Named for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where Jekyll's reasons for changing into Hyde did not involve alcohol.
  • Involuntary Group Split: Originally "Rocks Fall, Party Splits", a snowclone of Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies from Something*Positive, which does not happen during the group's roleplay sessions.
  • Painful Body Waxing: Originally "Wax On, Wax Scream", a snowclone from the trope Wax On, Wax Off, involving body hair waxed off in a painful way. It otherwise has nothing to do with the latter trope, which is about mundane-looking training regimens and named after Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid (1984) teaching Daniel martial arts via car waxing in addition to other chores.
  • Quickly-Demoted Leader: Originally "The Obi Wrong" as a snowclone of "The Obi-Wan" after Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars, now renamed Mentor Archetype. At no point the prequels is Obi-Wan demoted to serve under his apprentice Anakin, and he only loses his mentorship position in the original trilogy due to dying.
  • Sudden Downer Ending: Originally "Cerebus Ending", from Cerebus Syndrome. The trope is when an otherwise upbeat or comedic series has an abrupt Downer Ending. The former Trope Namer, Cerebus the Aardvark, had ceased to be upbeat or comedic long before it ended.
  • Suggestive Collision: Originally "Gravity Is a Harsh Seductress", from Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress. The trope is when two characters fall in close proximity and end up in a suggestive position. The former name came from a line in The Tick that had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Thanatos Gambit: Originally "Xanatos Funeral" named after Xanatos Gambit, which a character makes plans to be carried out after their death. Trope Namer David Xanatos from Gargoyles never had any such plans, due to him not dying in the show.
  • That One Level: Originally "Scrappy Level", from The Scrappy. The trope is for levels in a game that are notorious for being frustratingly difficult. The former Trope Namer was Scrappy-Doo from Scooby-Doo, who is not a video game level.
  • Three-Month-Old Newborn: Originally "Dawson Babies", from Dawson Casting, named for Dawson's Creek. Dawson Casting is where adults are cast as teenagers; "Dawson Babies" was where month-olds are cast as day-olds, which didn't happen on Dawson's Creek.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Originally "Dropped a Bridget on Him", a reference to Guilty Gear and a snowclone of the otherwise unrelated trope Dropped a Bridge on Him, where Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Generations dies after a bridge collapses under him. Of course, Captain Kirk is never revealed to be a different gender than expected. Additionally regarding the former trope namer, Bridget identifies as a trans woman as of Guilty Gear -STRIVE-, but that game hadn’t come out yet when the trope was renamed.
  • Villain Over for Dinner: Originally "Did Mom Just Have Tea With Cthulhu?", from Did You Just Index Cthulhu?. The trope is when a hero with a secret identity discovers one of their civilian loved ones unwittingly socializing with one of the villains they fight in their hero identity. The former Trope Namer was Cthulhu from the Cthulhu Mythos, who was never shown socializing with anyone.

    Partial credit 
  • Adaptational Achilles' Heel: From Achilles' Heel, this is when a new version of a story gives a character an exploitable weakness which wasn't present in the original story. The Trope Namer is Achilles' heel in Classical Mythology, which was the only spot in his body where a strike could wound him. The idea of his heel being his weakness didn't appear in any version of the Achilles story prior to The Achilleid, so it fits the "adaptational" part. However, The Achilleid is also the source that introduced the idea of his being supernaturally impervious to wounding to begin with—earlier sources describe him as a One-Man Army, but not as actually invincible—so it wasn't technically giving him a new weakness.
  • BFS: From BFG, this is about gigantic swords. The Trope Namer was the BFG-9000 from Doom (1993), which is a gun, not a sword. The Doom Guy, or Doom Slayer, does not wield a sword until Doom Eternal introduces The Crucible.
  • Forgot Flanders Could Do That: From Flanderization, a reference to Ned Flanders from The Simpsons for where a Flanderized character shows traces of their old self. The Trope Namer himself is a mixed example (there are straighter examples elsewhere in the series):
    • He underwent two Flanderizations: the first being a weirdly religious but still generally decent person, and the second (and more damning) being his infamous growing obsession with Christianity and becoming more bigoted and moralizing due to it. With his second marriage to Edna Krabappel, he reverted to the first Flanderization of being a nice yet kind of boring man, making him a case of Character Rerailment.
      • Prior to said rerailment, The Simpsons Movie had this happen to him, where Bart is annoyed with Homer's Jerkass ways and starts viewing Flanders as a better father figure who's very caring, if still quirky.
    • One Flanderization not related to his religiosity was him being revealed as muscular in "A Streetcar Named Marge", which would occasionally be referred to in future episodes, usually for comedy.
  • Hyde Plays Jekyll: From Jekyll & Hyde, this is when one of the personalities in a Jekyll-and-Hyde pairing pretends to be the other. Named after The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where Hyde was never explicitly depicted pretending to be Jekyll, but it was implied that he had had to start doing so towards the end of the story as Jekyll lost control of the timing of his transformations.
  • Luke, I Might Be Your Father: From Luke, I Am Your Father, this is when a story hints at revealing two characters to be parent and child, but without definite confirmation. The name "Luke, I am your father" comes from a common misquotation of what Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker during their duel in The Empire Strikes Back. The original revelation in Empire did leave it open to interpretation whether Vader was telling the truth or lying to mess with Luke's head, but Return of the Jedi definitely confirms that Vader really is Luke's father.
  • Muggle Power: From Muggles, this is when the Muggle characters in a story unite against the non-Muggles. Named after the Muggles in Harry Potter, who did not do this in the original series; thanks to the Masquerade, most of them don't know the non-Muggles even exist. In the Spin-Off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Second Salemers are an example, but they live in America, where they're called "No-Majes" rather than "Muggles".
  • Robosexuals Are Creeps: From Robosexual, this is when human-robot relationships are portrayed in a negative light. The Trope Namer is Futurama, where human-robot relationships were shown as carrying stigma, but the series was inconsistent as to whether this stigma was actually justified or not. The trope was played straight in "I Dated a Robot", the first episode to give the topic in-depth focus, but the idea was largely abandoned in later seasons as the homosexual relationships for which "robosexuality" was often seen as a metaphor became more widely accepted in real life. By the time of Season 6 episode "Proposition Infinity", the show's treatment of the topic bordered on being an inversion, with robosexuals being portrayed as a harmless minority group whom irrational bigots oppressed.

Puns

    Puns 
  • Adipose Rex: A very fat king. The name is a pun on Oedipus Rex, in which the eponymous king is never said to be fat.
  • The All-Concealing "I": First-person narration is used to hide information about the protagonist so as to avoid giving away a twist. The name is a pun on the All-Seeing Eye, a traditional symbol of divine providence that has no relation to the trope. (Nowadays, the phrase "The All-Seeing Eye" is more often associated with the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings, but that's not an example of the trope either.) Likewise:
    • The All-Seeing A.I.: A computer opponent in a game that has an unfair advantage over the human players due to its superior knowledge of the game's environment. The name is another pun on the All-Seeing Eye, which doesn't have anything to do with computers.
  • All the Worlds Are a Stage: The final level or area of a game combines elements from all the previous stages. Named as a pun on "all the world's a stage", a saying which originates from As You Like It and has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Angry, Angry Hippos: Hippos are portrayed as terrifying and hyper-aggressive creatures. The name, while often Truth in Television, is a pun on the board game Hungry, Hungry Hippos, where the hippos don't really have any character traits aside from being hungry, so they're never portrayed as scary or aggressive. Likewise:
    • Huggy, Huggy Hippos: Hippos are portrayed as cute and lovable. The name is another pun on Hungry, Hungry Hippos; again, the hippos in that game don't really have any characterization, so they aren't portrayed as cute or lovable either.
  • Apocalypse How: An apocalyptic catastrophe happens. Named as a play on Apocalypse Now, in which the "apocalypse" isn't a literal apocalypse, but rather a hyperbolic description of The Vietnam War. For the same reason, it's also not an example of any of the other apocalypse-related tropes that are puns on its title, such as:
  • Art Attacker: Using art as a weapon. The Trope Namer is Art Attack, a British children's art show in which nobody weaponized the art; the trope was just a Pun on the show's name.
  • Baa-Bomb: Jokes involving sheep exploding. The name is a pun on the Bob-ombs in Super Mario Bros., who do explode but are not sheep.
  • Bad Export for You: The internationally exported version of a work is much lower-quality than the original. The name is a pun on "No soup for you!", the catchphrase of the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld, which had nothing to do with exports. For the same reason, it's also not an example of the various other tropes, most of them export-related, that are puns on it, such as:
  • Bayonet Ya: The trope is about literal bayonets—a blade attached to the end of a firearm so that you can use it even if you run out to ammunition. The trope's name is a pun on Bayonetta, whose protagonist has a wide range of weapons but not any actual bayonets.
  • Bears Are Bad News: The trope is about dangerous bears. The name is a pun on The Bad News Bears, who are not literal bears but a Little League baseball team trying to evoke that imagery.
  • Black and Blue and Scary All Over: A combination of black and blue colours is used to make something seem frightening. The name is a pun on the riddle, "What's black and white and red all over?", which is variously answered as either "a newspaper"note  or "a penguinnote  with a sunburn". In neither version do the colours have any particular symbolic significance, nor are they meant to be scary. For the same reason, it's also not an example of the other similarly-named tropes involving symbolic use of colours, such as:
  • Boogie Knights: One or more characters dance while clad in armor. The name is a pun on the film Boogie Nights, which doesn't feature anyone dressed up as a knight.
  • Bullet Holes and Revelations: A scene where two characters are fighting for a gun which suddenly goes off, and there's a delay before the viewer sees which one got shot. Named as a pun on the Muse album Black Holes and Revelations, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Camera Obscurer: A character takes a picture of something important, but ruins it by putting their finger over the lens or leaving the lens cap on. The name is a pun on the camera obscura, a Real Life optical phenomenon that has nothing to do with the trope.
  • The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: A character covers up a murder by reporting the cause of death as something other than murder. The name is a pun on "The lady doth protest too much, methinks", a line from Hamlet that otherwise has nothing to do with the trope. Likewise:
    • My Species Doth Protest Too Much: A character from a Planet of Hats turns out not to fit in with the rest of their planet. The name is another pun on "The lady doth protest too much", which otherwise has nothing to do with this trope either.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A character who is normally incompetent, but can be a dangerous opponent in the right situation. Named after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which doesn't have any character who fits the trope.
  • Day of the Jackboot: A totalitarian regime takes over. The Trope Namer is The Day of the Jackal, which is about an Assassination Attempt against French President Charles de Gaulle in revenge for ending the Algerian War—political and anti-democratic, but not necessarily with the aim of installing a totalitarian regime. It's a pun on the work combined with the slang term "jackbooted thugs" coined by Right-Wing Militia Fanatics to describe government agents whom they think are trying to install a totalitarian regime.
  • The Day the Dinosaurs Died: Works portraying the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Trope Namer is the accident in which several musicians (e.g., Buddy Holly) died in a plane crash, which was known as "The Day the Music Died" after the song "American Pie". However, neither the accident nor the song involved any dinosaurs. Likewise:
    • The Day the Music Lied: When the background music suggests that something cool is about to happen, but then the cool thing doesn't happen. The name is another play on "The Day the Music Died" from "American Pie", but neither the accident nor the song involved music falsely suggesting something cool would happen.
  • Disease by Any Other Name: A disease is described in enough detail that viewers can tell what it is, but is not named directly. The name is a pun on the line "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" from Romeo and Juliet, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope. Nor does it have anything to do with most of the other tropes that pun on its name, such as:
  • Dread Zeppelin: A villain uses a zeppelin as part of their villainy. The title is a pun on the band Led Zeppelin, who otherwise have nothing to do with the trope. While there is another band called Dread Zeppelin, they also have nothing to do with the trope either.
  • Dumb and Drummer: Drummers being stereotyped as stupid. The name is a pun on Dumb and Dumber, where neither of the title pair are drummers.
  • Dysfunction Junction: The main cast of a work have serious mental health issues. The name is a pun on the Schoolhouse Rock! segment "Conjunction Junction", which isn't an example since none of the characters in the segment suffer from mental illnesses.
  • Egg MacGuffin: A character discovers an egg, which then hatches into an animal that the character adopts as a pet. The name is a pun combining McDonald's' Egg McMuffin with Alfred Hitchcock's term "MacGuffin", neither of which has anything to do with the trope.
  • Elvis Has Left the Planet: Elvis Presley turns out to have been abducted by aliens, or to have been an alien himself. The name is a pun on "Elvis has left the building", a phrase that was often used by public announcers at the end of Elvis's concerts, which had nothing to do with aliens.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: All attempts to fulfill the Series Goal before the story's end fail because doing so would end the story prematurely. The name is derived from the line "Failure is not an option!" in Apollo 13. In this film, there are no opportunities for the astronauts to get home sooner than they do, and the successful completion of this goal is a Foregone Conclusion.
  • Fight Fur Your Right to Party: People wearing animal suits at a party. The name is a pun on "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" by The Beastie Boys; while the song is about partying, there's nothing in the song or the video to indicate that anyone at the party was wearing such a suit.
  • Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: A vampire who isn't evil. The Trope Name is a reference to Spider-Man and his catchphrase "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man", but he's just a mutated human, not a vampire. Likewise:
  • Ghosts Abhor a Vacuum: Ghosts or other spirits that can be defeated using vacuum cleaners. The name is a play on "nature abhors a vacuum", an idiom often used to summarize a theory from Aristotle's Physics. In that context, "vacuum" was used in the sense of "a space completely devoid of matter", rather than referring to a vacuum cleaner, and it didn't have anything to do with ghosts or evil spirits. Likewise, these other puns on "nature abhors a vacuum":
    • Nature Abhors a Vacuum Cleaner: Animals react badly to the sound of vacuum cleaners. The original saying had nothing to do with either vacuum cleaners or animals reacting badly to anything.
    • Nature Abhors a Virgin: A character's virginity is presented as a flaw that they overcome by the end of the story. The original saying had nothing to do with virginity.
    • Nature Adores a Virgin: The inverse of the above, where virginity is presented as a cherished or desirable trait. Again, the original saying had nothing to do with virginity.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: Queens are stereotyped as evil. Named as a pun on "God Save the Queen", the United Kingdom national anthem, which is actually about the inverse trope, The High Queen. (However, "God Save the Queen" is also the title of a satirical song by The Sex Pistols, which plays the trope straight.)
  • The Gods Must Be Lazy: A powerful deity who rarely or never uses their power. Named after The Gods Must Be Crazy, where the eponymous "gods" don't use their power because they don't actually exist. Likewise:
  • The Greatest Story Never Told: A character accomplishes something remarkable, but nobody else knows about it or believes it happened. Named after The Greatest Story Ever Told, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • A Handful for an Eye: Throwing something into an opponent's eyes to temporarily or permanently blind them. The name is a pun on "an eye for an eye", a quote from The Bible that has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Heaven's Devils: Demons who, rather than being enemies of God, are portrayed as fulfilling a necessary role in God's plan and doing so with His explicit approval. The name is a pun on the Hells Angels, who otherwise have nothing to do with the trope.
  • Heroes "R" Us: A heroic organization. The name is a pun on the toy store Toys-R'-Us, who are mainly just a standard toy-selling business and aren't specifically dedicated to things such as life saving.
  • I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: A mundane substance is treated like a psychedelic drug. The name is a play on I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, a margarine brand that has nothing to do with the trope.
  • In the Past, Everyone Will Be Famous: In stories involving Time Travel, characters who travel back in time are disproportionately likely to run into famous historical figures as opposed to average people from the past. The name is a pun on Andy Warhol's quote "in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes", which had nothing to do with time travel.
  • Invasion of the Baby Snatchers: Aliens or supernatural creatures that specifically steal human babies. Named as a pun on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where the aliens target all humans indiscriminately.
  • It's a Wonderful Failure: A video game that, when you get a Game Over, shows you the horrible fates that happen to all the people you were supposed to be helping as a consequence of your failure. The name is a pun on It's a Wonderful Life, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Jack the Ripoff: A criminal trying to copy the M.O. of a more famous criminal. Named for Jack the Ripper, who was a Serial Killer, but there's no evidence that he was trying to copy another serial killer. (However, he did inspire a few straight examples from people trying to copy him.)
  • Kosher Nostra: A Jewish mafia. The name is a pun on "Cosa Nostra", which is an alternative name for the Sicilian Mafia.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": A great hero gets excited upon meeting another hero. Named after The Knights Who Say "Ni!" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who have nothing to do with the trope.
  • Lady Not-Appearing-in-This-Game: An attractive woman is prominently featured on the cover art or in advertisements for a video game, but said character has only a minor role in the game if she appears at all. The name is a pun on Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Film from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who is neither a woman nor prominently featured in the advertisements for the movie. Likewise:
    • Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: A character doesn't appear at all in trailers or advertisements for a work, despite having a prominent role within the work itself. This is another pun referencing Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Film, who, as his actual name indicates, had no role in the actual movie.
  • The Loins Sleep Tonight: A man is about to have sex but can't get a boner. The name is a pun on the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by Solomon Linda, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Looking a Miffed Animal in the Mouth: A character doesn't realize the danger an animal poses until the animal opens its mouth. The name is a pun on the ancient proverb, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth"; the implication there is that the horse's mouth might show signs of its being aging or otherwise low-value, not that the horse will turn out to be an immediate physical danger to the person receiving it.
  • Mage in Manhattan: A villain from a Magical Land comes to our world to cause havoc. Named as a pun on the film Maid in Manhattan, which has nothing to do with magic.
  • "Magic A" Is "Magic A": Works involving science-fiction or fantasy elements are careful to establish consistent limitations on how these elements work in-universe. The name is a pun on Ayn Rand's Catchphrase "A is A", a shorthand she often used to express the primacy of consistent and logical thinking in her epistemology (logicians call this "the law of identity"). The only one of Rand's stories to feature science-fiction or fantasy elements is Atlas Shrugged, where the protagonists' technological innovations are generally portrayed as being able to do whatever the plot requires, with no clear limitations established.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: A hero who is willing to sacrifice his own life in a situation that doesn't require it. Named as a pun on Rebel Without a Cause, where nothing like this happens. Likewise:
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: A telepath's powers turn out to be more of a curse than a gift. The name is a pun on "a mind is a terrible thing to waste", a slogan popularized by the United Negro College Fund, which had nothing to do with telepathy.
  • Missed Him by That Much: Two characters manage to miss meeting each other by an improbably small margin. The Trope Namer is Get Smart, where "Missed it by that much!" was one of Max's catchphrases; while he used it in a variety of situations, the sense of the trope never happened to him (although if it did, you can bet he'd say the line).
  • Mobile-Suit Human: The trope is about tiny beings such as aliens or Funny Animals using a mechanical suit to pass off as human, effectively a scaled down Humongous Mecha. The title is just a pun on Mobile Suit Gundam, a show that doesn't really dabble in that kind of fantasy creature (but does center on mechs, hence the joke).
  • My Country 'Tis of Thee That I Sting: Vocally criticizing your own country. The name is a reference to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" by Samuel Francis Smith, which is actually the exact opposite—the whole song is Smith listing all the things he loves about the United States.
  • My Own Private "I Do": A wedding with few to no guests, either because the participants rushed to do it or because they want to have the special moment to themselves. The name is a pun on The B-52s song "My Own Private Idaho", which doesn't have anything to do with marriage. Nor does the film that takes its name from the song.
  • My Significance Sense Is Tingling: A character can somehow sense that a noteworthy event has just happened, but can't figure out what specifically. The name is a play on Spider-Man's catchphrase, "my Spider-Sense is tingling", which is about a sense that warns him of imminent dangers, not one that tells him about things that have already happened.
  • My Skull Runneth Over: A character receives some kind of crippling drawback, or dies, as a result of learning more knowledge than their mind is capable of handling. The name is a play on "my cup runneth over", a saying which comes from The Bible and has nothing to do with the trope.
  • The Need for Mead: Stock portrayals of taverns in fantasy adventure stories. Named as a pun on The Need for Speed, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Night of the Living Mooks: A villain using undead creatures as interchangeable minions. Named for Night of the Living Dead (1968), in which the zombies are just a mindless horde that attack randomly, rather than acting as minions for another villain.
  • No Campaign for the Wicked: A video game that does not allow the player to play on the villains' side. The name is a pun on "no rest for the wicked", an expression which originates from Miles Coverdale's translation of The Bible. There, it was used as a reference to the eternal nature of sinners' punishments in Hell and had nothing to do with video games. Likewise, these other puns on "no rest for the wicked":
  • No Hugging, No Kissing: A work that avoids portraying romance. Named after Seinfeld and its "no hugging, no learning" rule, which was about the characters not experiencing Character Development or emotionally supporting each other.
  • No Woman's Land: A misogynistic society. Named after "No Man's Land" of trench warfare, which was avoided by soldiers due to them being easy targets.
  • Obsessed Are the Listmakers: A character who is obsessed with making and/or following checklists. The name is a pun on "blessed are the peacemakers", a quote from The Bible that has nothing to do with the trope.
  • One of These Doors Is Not Like the Other: A maze that can only be navigated by observing which door is subtly different from the rest. The name is a play on the Sesame Street song "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others", which expressed the broad concept but was never applied to mazes or doors.
  • One Judge to Rule Them All: A contest nominally has a panel of judges, but has one judge who unilaterally decides the verdict, making the others irrelevant. The name is a play on "One Ring to Rule Them All", a part of the inscription written on the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings, which had nothing to do with panel shows. Likewise:
    • One Myth to Explain Them All: All myths about paranormal phenomena turn out to be distorted versions of a single real paranormal phenomenon. The name is another play on the One Ring's inscription, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • "Pop!" Goes the Human: A character suddenly expands until they explode. The name is a play on the classic English nursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel", which is a metaphor for pawning an expensive coat and has nothing to do with things exploding.
  • Power Gives You Wings: A character gains wings as part of a power-up. The title is a pun on Red Bull's slogan "Red Bull gives you wings". However, their products don't actually make you grow wings (rather humorously, they've actually been sued by people who expected the drink to literally give them wings).
  • Purple Is the New Black: Comics and animation use dark purple in place of black. Named as a pun on Orange Is the New Black, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Putting on the Reich: An evil group with uniforms reminiscent of the Nazis. Named as a pun on "Puttin' on the Ritz" by Irving Berlin, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • The Resolution Will Not Be Identified: A program airs its final episode without giving any indication that it's supposed to be the finale. Named as a pun on The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • Revenge of the Nerd: A nerdy character, almost Always Male, grows up to be attractive and win the girl in the end (or at least stick it to the girls who rejected him). The Trope Namer is Revenge of the Nerds, which isn't an example because the protagonists never really stop being super-nerdy (nor are they actually out for revenge, just surviving against an aggressive jock-laden college fraternity).
  • Rock Beats Laser: Societies with only primitive technology are able to defeat ones with far more advanced weapons. The name is a pun referencing the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, where the actual rule being referenced is "rock beats scissors" and no high-tech weapons are involved.
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: A character views another, more idealistic character's worldview as silly and childish. Named as a pun on "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!", the catchphrase of the children in Trix commercials, which is just about cereal and has nothing to do with idealism or any other philosophical worldview. For the same reason, it's also not an example of:
  • Strange Cop in a Strange Land: A cop has to journey outside of their assigned jurisdiction to solve a case or catch a criminal. The name is a play on "stranger in a strange land", a phrase that originates from The Bible, where it refers to the Jewish people in Egypt and has nothing to do with policemen. The phrase also inspired the title of the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, where the "stranger" is a man who was raised by Martians, and is not a cop. Likewise, neither of them relate to any of the other tropes that pun on the phrase, such as:
    • Stranger in a Familiar Land: A character returns to their old home after a long absence, and finds that they can no longer fit in. Neither the Biblical saying nor the novel are about this.
    • Stranger in a Strange School: A mundane human ends up in a school intended for paranormal beings. Neither the Biblical saying nor the novel have anything to do with this.
  • Take Me Out at the Ball Game: A murder at a sporting event. The name is a pun on the waltz song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", in which "take me out" is used in the sense of "take me on a date", and no murder occurs.
  • This Is Your Premise on Drugs: Describing a work as something familiar on some kind of drug. The Trope Namer is an infamous 1987 anti-drug Public Service Announcement in which the line was "this is your brain on drugs"—and it was just a fried egg, nothing weird at all.
  • Total Eclipse of the Plot: The trope is about a solar eclipse being a plot point. It is named after the song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, which does not feature an actual eclipse. The "eclipse" is a metaphor for the couple's dysfunctional relationship.
  • Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: A character is established as evil or unpleasant due to their bad hygiene. The name is a pun on John Wesley's quote "cleanliness is next to godliness", which is referring to the exact opposite of this trope.
  • The Von Trope Family: A character having "von" attached to their family name is used to signal that they are eccentric or untrustworthy. Named as a pun on the von Trapp family from The Sound of Music, who are neither notably eccentric nor untrustworthy in any way.
  • We Didn't Start the Führer: A work portrays Adolf Hitler as an alien or supernatural being rather than a human. Named as a pun on the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, which otherwise has nothing to do with the trope.
  • When Harry Met Svetlana: A cooperation between a man and woman on opposite sides of an international conflict, where the man works for the nation that the target audience is expected to identify with, while the woman represents a nation that the target audience is expected to see as more foreign and exotic. The name is a play on When Harry Met Sally..., which has nothing to do with the trope aside from both involving a man and a woman.
  • Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: Bars catering to the LGBT Community are portrayed as far wilder than those catering to cisgendered heterosexual people. Named as a pun on "Where Everybody Knows Your Name", the theme song to Cheers, which has nothing to do with the trope aside from both involving bars.
  • A Wild Rapper Appears!: An abrupt guest verse by a rapper in the middle of an otherwise non-rapped song. The name comes from a common misquote of the line used to announce wild Pokémon appearing in the Pokémon games, which has nothing to do with rappers or songs in general.
  • Wind from Beneath My Wings: A character is able to generate strong winds by blowing their wings. The name is a pun on the song "Wind Beneath My Wings", in which both the "wind" and "wings" are metaphorical and have nothing to do with the trope.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: A villain who poses a threat to everyone in the story, but is sympathetic due to the tragic circumstances that led them to do so. The name is a pun on a line from the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna, after revealing his true form to Arjuna, describes himself as "Time, destroyer of worlds."note  But Krishna is not a villain, nor is he motivated by a tragic backstory—rather, he is God incarnate, and the point of the line is that all creation and destruction is part of his divine plan.
  • You Have to Burn the Web: Starting a big fire with a spider web. The name is a pun on You Have to Burn the Rope, which has no spider webs.
  • Yowies and Bunyips and Drop Bears, Oh My!: Australian cryptids. A reference to the chant "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" from The Wizard of Oz (1939), but that movie was not set in Australia, nor did it feature any cryptids (unless you count the Flying Monkeys).

    Renamed 
  • Climactic Battle Resurrection: Originally "Battle Royale with Cheese", this is when all the characters who've died throughout the story are resurrected so they can participate in a battle at the climax. The former name was a reference to a scene in Pulp Fiction that otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Dies Wide Open: Originally "Dies Wide Shut", this is when a character dying is conveyed by their falling over, motionless, with their eyes wide open. The former name was a pun on Eyes Wide Shut, which otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter: Originally "Pardon Me, Stewardess, I Speak Iambic Pentameter", this is for dialogue that is written in iambic pentameter for no evident in-story reason. The former name was a pun on a line from Airplane! that otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • More Friends, More Benefits: Originally "Mambo Intimacy 5", this is when a video game rewards you for forming lots of relationships of close trust, whether platonic or sexual. The former name was a pun on "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega, which was just about a guy who Really Gets Around and had nothing to do with unlocking rewards in a video game.
  • Improbably Female Cast: Originally "Pink Bishōjo Ghetto" which is about the entire cast being dominated by women. The former title is a reference to the relatively obscure term "pink ghetto", which refers to how women tend to have relatively low-paying jobs while men dominate the higher-paying jobs.
    • Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Originally used to be "Blue Bishōnen Ghetto", a snowclone of "Pink Bishōjo Ghetto", itself renamed to Improbably Female Cast. The trope is about a cast full of young handsome men, and nothing to do with a "pink ghetto" or "blue ghetto", whereby women and men respectively cannot get promoted to prestigious or lucrative jobs.
  • One-Neighbor Neighborhood: Originally "Möbius Neighborhood", this is when a character lives in an apparently populous neighbourhood, but is only ever shown interacting with one set of neighbours. The former name was a reference to the Möbius strip, a kind of one-sided surface first described by the mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius, which had nothing to do with neighbours.
  • Predatory Business: Originally "VoldeMart", this is for big businesses that use underhanded tactics to crush their competitors. The former name was a pun on Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, who otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Psycho Supporter: Originally "Crouching Support, Hidden Batshit", this is when an insane character is shown as fanatically devoted to another character's ideas. The former name was a pun on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which otherwise had nothing to do with the trope.
  • Sickbed Slaying: Originally "If You Should Die Before You Wake", this is when a character sneaks into the hospital to murder another character. The former name was based on a line from a prayer in The New England Primer, a 17th-century theology textbook, which was meant to be said by children before going to bed and did not specifically involve hospitals or murder.
  • Supernatural-Proof Father: Originally "Dad's Afraid of No Ghosts", this is when the father in a family is slower to perceive supernatural occurrences than his wife and children. The former name was a play on a line from the Ghostbusters theme song, which had no relation to the trope as disbelieving in ghosts and other supernatural beings is very different than believing in them and being equipped to fight them.
  • Transformation Name Announcement: Originally "I Am Hero, Hear Me Roar!", this is when a character announces the name of their new form after transforming. The former name was based on a line from the song "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy, which didn't involve transforming into anything.

    Partial credit 
  • Brawn Hilda: A large, strong, manly, and generally not very attractive woman. The Trope Namer is Brünnhilde from The Ring of the Nibelung, who's written to be genuinely attractive—it's just that the ending song is so demanding on the lungs that for the most part, only large women could physically perform it, leading to that becoming the archetype for the character.
  • Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Positive portrayals of spiders. The name is a pun on Spider-Man's catchphrase, "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man". Spider-Man isn't actually a spider — he's a human superhero — but his powers and aesthetic are modelled after one.
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: A conflict between three factions, where one faction is the most heroic, one is the most villainous, and the third is the most morally ambiguous. Named as a pun on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where the conflict between the three title characters does fit the trope—but "The Bad" there is used to mean what the trope name refers to as "The Evil", while "The Ugly" corresponds to what the trope refers to as "The Bad".
  • I Am Not Weasel: An anthropomorphic animal who is frequently mistaken for a different species of animal by other characters in-universe. Named as a pun on I.M. Weasel from I Am Weasel, who is an example, but in the opposite of the way the trope name implies — the people who call him a weasel are correct, while the mistake that other characters often make is thinking he's actually some other type of small mammal.
  • Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Sapient animals and regular humans are shown co-existing, without anyone treating this as unusual. The name is a pun on the line "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" from The Wizard of Oz (1939). While the movie does show its human protagonist Dorothy casually interacting with talking lions and monkeys, the ending reveals that it was all in her dreams; in the movie's base reality, there aren't any sapient animals besides humans.
  • Malcolm Xerox: A militant, hardline, aggressive black Soapbox Sadie, modeled after Malcolm X. Malcolm himself was an example only early in his political activism; his actual political views were much more nuanced and evolved significantly over his lifetime, culminating in an eventual rejection of all racism late in his life. The trope is The Theme Park Version of his views more than anything else.
  • To the Future, and Beyond: A Time Travel story where characters keep going further and further into the future repeatedly. The name is a pun on "To infinity, and beyond!", referencing Buzz Lightyear's catchphrase in the Toy Story series. At the time the trope launched, the franchise was not an example at all, as none of the plots in the series had ever involved Buzz time-travelling. However, Lightyear, which came out later, does have Buzz using time travel in this manner.

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