I am trying to make a comprehensive list of WG-related tropes, and so far, this is what I have:
Acrofatic: When an overweight character has surprising agility.
Balloon Belly: When a character’s belly grows impossibly huge from eating too much food.
Breaking the Scale: When a character breaks a scale by stepping on it.
Collateral Damage: When the friends or foes of the main character gaining weight also start packing on the pounds.
Curves Inquiry Conundrum/Fluff-Fishing
‘‘Does this insert article of clothing make me look fat?’’
‘‘Does this insert article of clothing make my butt look big?’’
Excuses
‘‘I am big boned’’
‘‘I have a glandular problem’’
‘‘Must have shrunk in the wash’’
Fattening the Victim: When a character tries to fatten up another character.
Formerly Fit: When a character who used to be skinny has now gained a lot of weight.
Fall From Grace: When a formerly fit character’s weight gain marks their downfall (like a cheerleader or athlete).
Freshman 15: An expression that refers to the 15 lbs. gained during a student’s first year in college.
Intentional Weight Gain: When a character tries to gain weight intentionally.
Mirror Introspection: When a character checks themself out in the mirror.
Mistaken Pregnancy: When a character gets mistaken for being pregnant.
Post-Stress Overeating: When a character eats too much and gains weight from emotional stress.
Stuckage: When a character gets helplessly stuck in a tight spot and struggles to wiggle free.
Time Skips: Gaining weight in a realistic fashion takes time; time skips speed up stories considerably so each stage of the WG process can get a time in the spotlight without having to write a novel.
Wardrobe Malfunctions
Popping Buttons
Projectile Button-Popping: When a popped button hits another character
Weigh-Ins: When a character weighs themself.
Weight Woe: When a character has issues with their weight.
I would appreciate any contributions or ideas for tropes that aren’t already listed. Clever ideas for trope names would also be appreciated. I am also looking for images to go along with each trope for a big chart I plan on making. Thank you in advance to all who participate
Curse of Corpulence/Hefty Hex: when a character gains weight by means of a spell, curse, or cursed object
Body Armor: when a character’s weight gain is accompanied by an increase in HP, defense, or both, particularly in RPGs
Big Fat Awakening: When a character’s weight gain causes them, their love interest, or both to discover that they have a fat kink
Eating Contest: a competition in which contestants attempt to eat the greatest amount of a particular food or course of foods. A winner is declared when all other contestants have quit/been disqualified. Eating Contests may lead to Wardrobe Malfunctions
–Typical example: Pie-Eating Competition
Food Challenge: an event in which the challenger must consume an unusually large meal in a short span of time. Unlike the Eating Contest, a Food Challenge is typically not a competition between multiple competitors. Classically, this would be a challenge set by a restaurant in which winners receive a comped meal, a token prize, and their picture placed in the restaurant’s “Hall of Fame;” losers must pay (a typically high price) for their challenge meal. More contemporary examples may include TikTok and YouTube eating challenges
–Typical example: Eat a three-pound burger in 90 minutes, and you get the meal free, a t-shirt, and your picture on the restaurant’s Hall of Fame wall
Magic Metabolism: When a character’s excess calorie consumption turns into body fat instantaneously or at a much faster rate than is humanly possible
Secret Snacking: when a character hides their excess eating habits from other characters, especially when those habits include junk food and other high-calorie foods
Erotic Eating: when eating or being fed arouses a character
Tubby Teasing: when one character insults a fat character about their weight, fitness, eating habits, or similar characteristics. This trope is a spectrum, ranging from light consentual teasing between loving partners to harsh, mean-spirited insults between a bully and their victim
Can’t See My Toes: when a character has so much body fat that it obscures other parts of their body from their vision, typically the feet
Holiday Spread: when a character gains weight as a result of overeating during a holiday. Common holidays for this trope are Christmas and (in North America) Thanksgiving and Halloween
Wrecking Ball Gut: when a character accidentally knocks over and breaks an object with a fatty part of their body, especially the belly, hips, and ass
Occupational Hazard: when a character gains weight as a result of their job or hobby. Examples may include a baker who tests their recipies, or an office worker eating breakroom snacks and remaining sedentary
Ballooning Breakout: Subtrope to “Stuckage”; instead of wiggling out or losing weight, a character gets out by growing even bigger, destroying their prison entirely.
Belly Bed: A character’s belly is big and soft enough to be used as a bed, either by themself or by another character.
Flabby Coverup: A character hides or loses things in their fat rolls.
Belly Censor: A character’s belly hangs down low enough to preserve their decency even when they’re not wearing underwear.
Furniture Flattening: A character breaks a chair, a couch, or even a bed under their weight. Often preceded by creaking noises as the furniture reaches its limit.
Round Out and Roll Out: A character’s weight gain makes them so round that they can roll around like a ball.
Two-seater Tuckus: A character’s butt takes up two (or more) seats. They may sit on multiple chairs at once, or fill up a bench or couch that would normally seat multiple people.
Weight Taller: A character grows taller as a side effect of gaining weight. Often done as a matter of convenience in visual media, even when macro growth is not explicitly mentioned.
For what it’s worth, since we’re already borrowing some terms from TV Tropes, their name for this is “Kevlard”.
Fat Brat: When a character becomes “brattier” as they gain weight.
Mutual Gaining: When two characters, usually romantic partners, intentionally gain weight together.
Opposites Attract/Size Comparisons: When there is a difference in size between two characters/partners.
Plumber’s Crack: The top of a person’s buttocks as seen when they bend over and their pants slide down.
Strong-Fat: When a character is both muscular and fat.
Sympathy Gaining: When a character gains weight in solidarity with a friend or partner who is experiencing weight gain and feelings of discontentment about their body.
Unintentional Weight Gain: When a character unintentionally gains weight.
Fattening Revenge - Someone getting vengeance by making their target gain weight. Can sometimes backfire resulting in their own weight gain.
Failed Diet - Character continuously tries to lose weight through dieting and exercise but repeatedly falls off the wagon. Often associated with rewarding oneself for their hard work or excusing their overindulgences as “cheat days”
New Job Gain - The culture and sedentary lifestyle change of a new office job leads to weight gain. Example: A former athlete now works a desk job as a secretary, constantly dipping into complementary donuts.
Mukbang - South Korean in origin; the act of streaming/broadcasting as you eat elaborate meals
Sleep Eating - A character is constantly sleep walking to the fridge and stuffing themselves, sometimes leading to them wondering why they just can’t seem to lose weight despite their strict diet.
Mother Knows Best - A mother, grandmother, or matronly figure constantly stuffs the character with their home cooking. Most of the time, they are oblivious to its effects on the character. “Look at you, you’re wasting away!”
Giving In to the Gain - The moment a character who had been fighting their weight gain through diet and exercise finally gives up and accepts it. This can take the form of self-love (deciding to love their new body), eroticism (admitting they’re turned on by their gain), or surrendering (despite still not liking it, they realize they’re powerless to fight it anymore)
For “Body Armor”, I think you’re referring to what TV Tropes calls “Kevlard”; it’s a pun on, obviously, lard and not-so-obvious Kevlar, a material used in body armor (…I think).