What is the name of this "character suddenly has expert knowledge" trope?
What is this called? The trope where, in some episode, a character suddenly has advanced, expert knowledge in a field that they have never mentioned, especially something almost out of character for them, and especially it is never mentioned again in the series.
The one I just saw that made me think of it: In Daria S02E02 "The Daria Hunter" Britney displays expert knowledge in guerrilla combat when they go paintballing, but she is more or less a stereotypical cheerleader ditz in every other episode.
Others:
Community S01E23 Modern Warfare, S02E23-24 A Fistfull of Paintballs, For a Few Paintballs More, S06e11 Modern Espionage, where the main characters are all pro-level paintballers, but do nothing paintball related otherwise in the series.
How I met your mother S02E15 Lucky Penny where Barney successfully runs a marathon, after having displayed no serious athletic ability other than having sex all the time, and did not ever again for the rest of the series.
Weaker examples:
House S04e15 House's Head, where Chase, a diagnostician and a surgeon, suddenly becomes an expert hypnotist (not that great of an example since it is still a medical skill)
Simpsons S04e02 A Streetcar Named Marge where we find out Flanders is incredibly muscular.
Best Answer
I can't find a globally accepted trope name for it but tvtropes has given it a name Suddenly Always Knew That and Tvtropper always do this trope naming for this kind of things.
How did a character suddenly acquire a needed skill? By an unrelated previous life experience he never knew would prove so useful, sometimes a Retcon. In other words, the character always had the skill, but You Didn't Ask.
Pictures about "What is the name of this "character suddenly has expert knowledge" trope?"
What are character tropes?
In the context of fiction, character tropes refer to common attributes or even entire stock characters. The word trope comes from the Greek word tropos meaning \u201cto turn.\u201d Originally it referred to rhetorical devices that a writer uses to develop an argument.What is a character that knows everything?
Ziltoid the Omniscient A character that knows everything. Either literally everything, or simply everything worth knowing under the circumstances. May or may not have Blue and Orange Morality or a Omniscient Morality License.Who is a social expert?
The Social Expert is a character with people skills, especially when dealing with large groups of people. They can recognize the social patterns in a group, figure out people's motivations, and know who the person in charge is. The Social Expert can identify who's manipulatable, who's a manipulator, and who's neither.The Smart Girl Trope, Explained
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