Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means « stereotyped and trite. » In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries.
» TVTropes, un wiki recensant les mécanismes classiques des scénarios. Passionnant. Sinon, Trope existe en français, avec un sens proche.