A Death in the Limelight/Playing With

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Basic Trope: A minor character gets her fifteen minutes of fame right before dying.

  • Straight: Alice becomes the center of attention by saving Bob's life. Then she dies.
  • Exaggerated: In the two minutes before dying, Alice receives a Nobel Peace Prize and is worshiped by the entire free world.
  • Justified: Alice knew she was dying, and this is her Last Dance.
  • Inverted:
    • Alice remains completely unknown and outlives those who were known by decades, living a perfectly dull life on the sidelines.
    • There's an episode revolving around the birth and early life of a new character who then becomes part of the cast.
  • Subverted: Alice gets her day in the limelight and gets abruptly run over, but she lives thanks to extensive medical care.
  • Double Subverted: ...Then it turns out she's bleeding internally. She dies.
  • Parodied: Alice becomes world famous right before being in a freak, media circus of an accident, involving helicopters, cop cars and marching bands.
  • Deconstructed: Alice goes through a long process of Character Development and gains some truly extraordinary qualities, leading her friends to be drawn to her like they never were before. Soon after this happens, Alice discovers that she has a brain tumor, and her friends all accompany her to her death. She is forever remembered for her short-lasting greatness.
  • Reconstructed: This leads her to have her fame even after death.
  • Zig Zagged: Alice waits for fame, which she gets, but some still won't admit that she's worth admiring, and so she takes a long walk in the dark and gets jumped. She lives, and some of her friends grow to accept her, while others start to lose interest in her again--then she finally dies, and her friends all feel sorry for her.
  • Averted: Alice gets a day in the limelight and doesn't die.
  • Enforced: "Alice's actress is leaving the show. Let's give her a cool sendoff."
  • Lampshaded: "Say, isn't it funny how Alice died just when she was starting to get some attention?"
  • Invoked: Alice knew she'd be remembered better if she died just when she was getting recognition, so she brought it on herself.
  • Defied: "I just got my fifteen minutes, I'm not going to croak anytime soon!"
  • Discussed: "We should've seen it coming that Alice would die now. She was never all that before."
  • Conversed: "Huh, they gave Alice her own special episode? They're probably gonna kill her off next week."

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