Tropes

Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations.

If used correctly, they help move the narrative along, because the author has less to explain. Badly used and it can become a "Cliché".

For example, if you want to show your character is smart, show him playing chess. Everybody knows smart people play chess ! If you want to show that the next character that just entered is smarter than the one before, have her just glace over his shouder and solve the game he has been struggling with. This way you can show instead of tell, which always enhance the narrative.

Badly used it becomes a Cliché, an element that has been overused to the point of loosing it's original meaning or it's effect. In colloquial use, it refers to something that is expected or easily predicted. They are often used for comic effect.

Benjamin Chamberlain

 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder - 'nuff said
 * All Love is Unrequited - Charlotte. Despite his attempts to woo her, and the fact that she knows he's in love with her, she is in love with Insidious and keeps refusing his advances. Still has chance to be averted, though is increasingly unlikely given the time he has left in Los Angeles. See also Sympathy for the Devil.
 * Actually fits the Evil Brit accent trope - as the only character on the show with a British accent, this has not been averted nor inverted.
 * Monster Sob Story - Due to an illegitimate birth, his mother is unjustly more volatile towards him. See Abusive Parents . See also Cry for the Devil.
 * Magnificent Bastard - Averted due to Villainous Breakdown

Malachai Parker

 * A Day in the Limelight - frequent flashbacks that focus on his history and his family's.
 * Anti-Villain - Due to his high sense of morality, Kai is very much the anti-villain.
 * He is a badass