Trope Talk: Secret Tests of Character

Comments · 2.3K

• NI

  @nickmalachai2227 · 3 weeks ago

  Meanwhile, the unsecret test of character: "Hey kid, you like proving yourself?"

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• AD

  @adamsbja · 3 weeks ago

  I once helped an old man across a bridge and he gave me a blessing that my enemies would find their attacks turned against them.<br><br>I assume he was messing with me (because Portland) but I&apos;m not 100% sure (because Portland).

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• RA

  @raptorclaw1505 · 3 weeks ago

  Luke Skywalker may have never met a secret test of character he couldn&apos;t flunk with flying colors, but at least that includes the ones given to him by the bad guys.

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• ET

  @EternalFireseal · 3 weeks ago

  Mario &amp; Luigi: Partners in Time has a test of character I really like. &nbsp;The mystical guardian will only let &quot;brave heroes&quot; through. &nbsp;Mario&apos;s heart is free of fear, but Luigi is a bundle of anxiety, so it&apos;s agreed that he&apos;ll undertake a test of courage. &nbsp;But the guardian keeps changing the rules and lecturing Luigi about the imperfections in his character. &nbsp;Instead of just going through the gate by himself, grabbing the MacGuffin, and coming back to pick up Luigi, Mario explodes at the guardian for being so dismissive of his brother&apos;s achievements. &nbsp;The guardian then cheerfully declares that <i>Mario</i> has passed the test; because Mario had no fear, the guardian had to find ways to test his other qualities. &nbsp;Luigi&apos;s heroism was never in question.

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• JO

  @johnterrencesmith2148 · 3 weeks ago

  Shoutout to Gawain for getting a B- on his secret test of character.

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• AR

  @arcuscaelestis8994 · 3 weeks ago

  What!? No &nbsp;GlaDOS with the whole <br>&quot;Well done. Here are the test results: You are a horrible person. I&apos;m serious, that&apos;s what it says: A horrible person. We weren&apos;t even testing for that.&quot;

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• YE

  @yeetman4268 · 3 weeks ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9mYHS8fu8o&amp;t=340">5:40</a> &quot;The no-win scenario still believes in you.&quot; Thanks no-win scenario, I really needed some encouragement in these difficult times and your reassurance means a lot to me

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• GA

  @GarandGunner · 3 weeks ago

  And then there&apos;s the reversal of this trope that is Ender&apos;s Game, where it turns out what the protagonist thought was just a test turns out to be very very real because the higher ups knew that if these child generals knew it was for real there was absolutely no way they would have taken the risks and made the sacrifices needed to win.

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• TH

  @TheLochKessMonster · 3 weeks ago

  I kinda like the idea of the Good Daughter archetype who gets taken advantage of at home for her quiet obedience coming across a disguised god/fairy/story specific entity who keeps asking her for more and more onerous help until she finally gets frustrated enough to snap and say no more, only for the entity to be like &quot;Finally! You know, you&apos;re really too nice for your own good, you should stand up for yourself more often.&quot;

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• OB

  @Obi-Wan_Kenobi · 3 weeks ago

  Anakin didn&apos;t just fail the secret tests, he also failed all the most obvious ones.

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• PE

  @peepopopo7140 · 3 weeks ago

  Shout out to Gravity Falls for having the characters call bullshit on the test giver (a unicorn) and then beating her up to steal her hair.

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• AG

  @aggressivelymediocre350 · 3 weeks ago

  This is only semi-related but I love how the Steven Universe episode “The Test” kind of plays with this trope. The test is set up by his caretakers the gems as a straightforward test of general adventuring competence, but the secret is that it is of course rigged for Steven to win. This turns the test of brawn into a test of character where Steven has to pretend that he bought into it to give the gems a win for their self-confidence, rather than get the catharsis of exposing them for still babying him and lying to him, putting their needs over his own. They didn’t mean to test his character instead of his competence, but they accidentally did end up testing him that way, although the fact that this underdeveloped 13 year old needs to parent his own caretakers will be explored much later in the series

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