History of Soap Operas
How Not to Ruin a Soap
Soap Tropes are cliched plot lines used in soap operas.
Examples of tropes in General Hospital[]
- AMA - Stands for 'Against Medical Advice'. Characters leave hospital shortly after major operations (usually with no bad effects). (ex: Jason Morgan)
- Baby Switches - Usually involves a dead baby being switched with a live baby. (ex: Danny Morgan & Victor Lord III, Wiley Cooper-Jones & Wiley Quartermaine-Corinthos)
- Back from the Dead - A supposedly dead character that comes back to life. (ex: Jason Morgan, Robert Scorpio, Anna Devane, Robin Scorpio-Drake, Drew Quartermaine)
- Barging In - No one knocks at or locks their door. (ex: Carly Spencer walks in on everyone)
- Child Illnesses - Children almost always get a rare illness. (ex: Danny Morgan, Wiley Corinthos)
- Collateral Damage - A parent's actions negatively affect his/her children. (ex: Sonny Corinthos)
- Common Comas - Usually followed by amnesia. (ex: Drew Quartermaine, Nina Reeves, Lucas Jones)
- Conveniently Clueless - The opposite of Leaps of Logic - characters who have consistently shown to be intelligent and solve mysteries are in the dark about an obvious plot or can't see someone is outwardly uncomfortable about a secret kept from them. (ex: Everyone as Nina Reeves hides "Mike")
- Convenient Security - No security cameras around until they are needed (ex: Damian Spinelli will hack into the camera feed)
- Daily Blackmail - Characters are constantly being blackmailed by others (ex: Ava Jerome)
- Daily Kidnappings - (ex: Aiden Webber, Maxie Jones, Wiley Corinthos)
- Deathbed Non-Confession - Character dies before telling important information to other characters (ex: Ewen Keenan)
- Deja Who? - Previous actors return as new characters and no one notices. (ex: Roger Howarth as Franco Baldwin and Austin Gatlin-Holt; Michael Easton as Silas Clay and Hamilton Finn)
- D.I.D. - Stands for 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'. Due to a traumatic past. (ex: Connie Falconeri as Kate/Connie, Luke Spencer as Luke/Fluke)
- Doppelgängers - A not related lookalike. (ex: Sam McCall & Alicia Montenegro & Livvie Locke, John McBain & Stephen Clay & Hamilton Finn, Mac Scorpio & James Meadows, Nikolas Cassadine & Connor Bishop)
- Dramatic Events - Big revelations happening at a major event. (ex: The Nurses' Ball)
- First Time's the Charm - Female character gets pregnant after a one-night-stand or after having sex with a male character for the first time. (ex: Brando Corbin and Sasha Gilmore)
- Forgive and Forget - Despite the horrible things characters do to each other, they still can end up friends or tolerating each other. (ex: Nina Reeves & Ava Jerome)
- Forgotten in Prison - Character is sent to prison when the writers want to get rid of a character. (ex: Shawn Butler, Matt Hunter, Steve Webber, Nikolas Cassadine)
- Going Somewhere? - Driving is only shown when the characters in the car end up in an accident (ex: Alexis Davis, Rafe Kovich, Jr.)
- Good Guy Turned Bad Guy - Used as an excuse to kill a character off by making him or her evil (ex: Ewen Keenan, Rafe Kovich, Jr.)
- Gratuitous Shirtless Scenes - Being shirtless for extended periods of time like answering the door without a shirt on. (ex: Nathan West, Griffin Munro, Harrison Chase, Dex Heller)
- Impossible Science - (ex: freezing the world, freezing and unfreezing people, Robin Scorpio-Drake almost invented a potion to cure mortality)
- Incompetent Police Force - (ex: Port Charles Police Department)
- Incompetent Security - (ex: Despite Sonny Corinthos having guards outside his house, everyone seems to walk right in)
- Inconvenient Amnesia - A character can't remember something important (usually after waking up from a coma) (ex: Lucas Jones)
- Instant Children - (ex: Sam McCall, Sasha Gilmore, Esme Prince, Charlotte Cassadine)
- Instant Druggies - (ex: Rafe Kovich, Jr., Sasha Gilmore)
- Instant Recovery - Character has quick recovery time after major brain surgery/operations, cuts heal quickly. (ex: Jason Morgan, Ava Jerome)
- Interrupted Weddings - (ex: Valentin Cassadine & Nina Reeves)
- It's Just a Flesh Wound - Characters survive multiple bullet wounds and stabbings. (ex: Jason Morgan, Sonny Corinthos)
- Leaps of Logic - Characters suddenly figure out something without enough information (ex: Anna Devane, Valentin Cassadine).
- Lookalike Relatives - (ex: Holly Sutton & her half-sister Paloma Perez, Luke Spencer & his cousin Bill Eckert, Mikkos Cassadine & his cousin Petros Cassadine, Stephen Clay & his brother Silas Clay)
- Lying for Your Own Good - Character doesn't tell other characters something to protect the other person's feelings (ex: Sonny Corinthos)
- MacGuffin - Storyline tied to obtaining an object. (ex: The Left-Handed Boy, The Chimera)
- Marriages of Convenience - (ex: Nelle Benson & Hank Archer/Julian Jerome, Michael Corinthos & Willow Tait, Nikolas Cassadine & Ava Jerome, Carly Spencer & Sonny Corinthos/Jason Morgan)
- No Bathroom Needed - (ex: Peter August was held hostage for over a month and never asked to use the bathroom)
- No Blood Relation - Characters who are related but not by blood are fine to put together as a couple due to most of the characters being related to each other in one way or another. (ex: Dante Falconeri and Sam McCall)
- No Body Found - A character is killed offscreen so they can be brought back to life later (ex: Drew Quartermaine, Morgan Corinthos, Holly Sutton)
- No Children Allowed - Unless they are required for a storyline, children are usually offscreen with a nanny as young actors have limited time they are allowed to be in the studio. (ex: Rocco Falconeri, James West)
- No Experience Required - Characters quickly learn new job without much (if any) training. (ex: Lulu Spencer, Michael Corinthos)
- No Reaction to Recasts - (ex: James Franco was recast with Roger Howarth as Franco Baldwin and no one said anything because they were supposed to look the same)
- Offscreen Action - Explosions (usually warehouses) that happen offscreen. (ex: Mob wars with Sonny Corinthos)
- Offscreen Breakup - Character who is no longer on the show breaks up with a character on the show. (ex: Starr Manning, Dillon Quartermaine, Ellie Trout)
- Quick Travel Times - Characters can suddenly be anywhere around the world. (ex: Dante Falconeri and Lulu Spencer traveled to Turkey and back to Port Charles within one episode; Felicia Scorpio and Carly Spencer traveled to Amsterdam and Canada within one episode)
- Rapemances - A rape turned into a romance (ex: Luke Spencer & Laura Webber)
- Redemption of Past - Usually through the discovery and removal of a brain tumor (ex: Franco Baldwin), or from discovery of acceptable birth parents (ex: Franco Baldwin)
- Retcons - Stands for 'Retroactive Continuity' (ex: Mikkos Cassadine and Cesar Faison originally had no children)
- Short Memory - Unless it is something major, no one in town remembers all the terrible things others have done to them. (ex: Sonny Corinthos)
- Speaking Private in Public - Characters loudly discuss secrets in front of others who occasionally walk in on them and the third person either doesn't hear/mishears or believes the lie they are told. (ex: Steve Webber & Maggie Wurth)
- Surprise Identical Twins - (ex: Emily Quartermaine & Rebecca Shaw, Jason Morgan & Drew Quartermaine, Kevin Collins & Ryan Chamberlain, Carlos Rivera & Joe Rivera)
- Switched Lab Tests - (ex: Helena Cassadine)
- Traumatic Births - Mothers rarely give birth in the hospital or go through easy labor. (ex: Maxie Jones, Sam McCall)
- Traumatic Childhood - Often use as a vehicle to redeem a character who has done unfathomable things in recent storylines. (ex: Sonny Corinthos, Franco Baldwin)
- Traumatic Life - Characters are somehow still sane after multiple kidnappings, murders, rapes, etc. unless required by storyline. (ex: Michael Corinthos)
- Who Needs Protection? - There is a surprisingly low number of STDs or STIs considering all the characters have unprotected sex with each other. If they do use protection, the condom usually breaks. (ex: Jason Morgan and Elizabeth Webber)
- Who's the Daddy - Typically from an affair or ONS while in a committed relationship. (ex: Elizabeth Webber)
- You Again? - Several (usually related) characters share the same name and have to be referred to by different names. (ex: Luke, Lucky, and Lucas were all born with the name Lucas)