• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

What tropes in science fiction annoy you?

Passing through a scanner which shows anatomy in the wrong place (not that there aren't Humans who have this problem)?
I'm one of those people, I have a pelvic kidney.
Or showing they’ve been possessed by an aliens by having their eyes turn completely black, without any reason or mechanism given for that actually happening.
At least with The X-Files and Supernatural there was an explanation. In X-Files I don't know if they said it specially but I had alway assumed the people's eyes turning black was literally Black Oil filling up their eyes. And Supernatural's demons were clouds of black smoke, like the Black Oil, I always assumed it was the demon smoke itself filling covering their eyes.
 
Not limited to sci fi, but Star Wars streaming sure had an issue with "to the death" fights where one person is critical but the other person just leaves them there, allowing them to return as plot dictates. And Obi-Wan Kenobi did it twice including Episode III!
 
Last edited:
I may have already mentioned this during this 7-year thread, but I was talking to my wife about it recently: the gag of showing a character is an alien by having their eyes flash a glowing color on cue. It's gotten to be quite a tiresome cliche. It also seems biologically unlikely :).

They have some firefly genes added to the section of their Iris DNA...Yeah, that's the ticket!

(we could flash Morse at each other. Just imagine the expressive abilities if we could change brilliance in each particular section of the iris! I could have rolled my eyes at Dad without moving them! Our eyes would glow when we dream...So many possibilities!)
 
Most major Battle Set Pieces are based on Archaic Tactics or Dumb Tactical Ideas.

The "Hollywood Tactics" TV Tropes Article says it best.

Alot of modern Space Franchises have this issue.

Very rarely is a Space Battle Portrayed in the most realistic way with the Tactical Knowledge & Technical Capability it should have given it's world settings.

This applies to almost every single major Sci-Fi Space Franchise, so it's not just limited to Star Trek.

Each one has their flaws.
 
“Gosh, how did you defeat all those genetically engineered beings who were bigger, stronger, smarter and faster than ordinary humans like you and me?”
The superior being that is vastly more intelligent, but isn't really all that smart.

Star Trek's Khan is a example of this.
 
Time loops. I hate time loops. Even though I know not to think about it too much cuz it's just a show/movie/book/game/whatever I think about it anyway without even trying to and it annoys me.

Awkward considering my Mum's favourite TNG episode is Time's Arrow and she puts it on All. The. Time. lol
 
Robots just turning evil. It doesn't make sense to me since it seems like a huge design flaw. If there is a reason for it, like the androids in the Alien franchise turning evil because it are programmed to prioritize capturing an alien over human life, it can work. Alien Romulus did a great job where this is a conflict for Andy who was reprogrammed to protect his "sister" above anything else. But when a robot with laser beam eyes and chainsaw hands gets struck by lightning and learns that humans invented war so now all humans have to die, it's just lazy.
 
Does that ever happen in reverse?
You mean turn good?

Johnny 5 from Short Circuit was a killer robot who got struck by lightning, came to life, and went on a series of wacky misadventures. Except for one character who has aged like milk left outside in Florida and a scene where the lovable robot is nearly beat to death on camera, it's wonderful.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top