Ret-Gone/Playing With


 * Basic Trope: Character is erased from existence.
 * Straight: Bob kills his grandfather in the past and stops existing.
 * Exaggerated: Bob kills the ancestors of the entire human race.
 * Up to Eleven: Bob prevents the Big Bang itself
 * Justified: Bob was never supposed to exist, and by killing his grandfather he can create a Stable Time Loop that restores the original timeline.
 * Inverted: Bob is an only child, and when he returns from travelling in time, he discovers that he now has a seven year old younger sister that he didn't have before.
 * Subverted: Bob kills his grandfather, thinking he will cease to exist, but doesn't.
 * Double Subverted: ... until Bob discovers he starts to slowly fade out of existance.
 * Parodied: My Own Grampa, with incest jokes all around.
 * Deconstructed: Bob was meant to take down the Big Bad Emperor Evulz. Now that he doesn't exist, Evulz already rules the world.
 * Reconstructed: Evulz was Bob's grandfather.
 * Zig Zagged: But with Bob gone, the timeline proceeds as normal, so Bob fades back into existence. But then the timeline changes, and Bob fades out. And so it proceeds as normal, and Bob fades into existence. And...
 * Averted: Bob doesn't kill his grandfather.
 * Enforced: The writer is a fatalist and views time travel as mocking God.
 * Lampshaded: "Oh no, I know how these things work. I'll probably end up killing my grandfather and stop existing or something."
 * Invoked: ???
 * Defied: Bob takes precautions when traveling in time so he won't be able to kill his grandfather even by accident.
 * Discussed: "This armband makes you temporal paradox-proof."
 * Conversed: "Hey, do you remember who Bob was going back in time to kill again?" "Yeah, Chris." "Wasn't that his grandfather's name?" "Come to think of it, yeah, he actually is Bob's- ...wait a second..."
 * Played For Laughs: ???
 * Played For Drama: Bob's grandfather was a big jerk that severely hurt and traumatized a lot of people, including Bob. Now Bob has the opportunity to erase all this and make many people's lives better, by killing him in the past, but is he right in doing so? And what will happen to Bob if he does?

Back to Ret Gone.