Characterization Marches On/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: As a character develops, traits are introduced which contradict their portrayal in earlier installments.

  • Straight: In the Pilot, Jessica chose to eat vanilla ice cream over chocolate. Now her love of chocolate is her trademark.
  • Exaggerated: In early episodes, Jessica hated chocolate so much that she couldn't eat it without gagging. Now she can't go ten seconds without it.
  • Justified:
    • Jessica's tastes changed.
    • Jessica likes both, but prefers chocolate; she just ate vanilla the previous time because she had a craving for it.
    • Jessica always, without fail, chooses chocolate over vanilla - but she will eat vanilla, if chocolate is not available.
  • Inverted: Jessica was a well-developed character when introduced, but writers have taken to making her do whatever the plot requires; most noticably, she liked chocolate, but now can absolutely insist on having vanilla one episode, strawberry the next, peppermint the third, and each time she says it's the only flavor she has ever liked.
  • Subverted: Jessica loves chocolate, but she loves vanilla even more.
  • Double Subverted: ...but she prefers to save vanilla for special occasions.
  • Parodied: Another character talks to Jessica about when she liked vanilla, but Jessica has no memory of it.
  • Deconstructed: Jessica had a bad experience eating vanilla ice cream and she hasn't been able to eat it since.
  • Reconstructed: Sometime after the pilot, Jessica discovered how much she loved chocolate.
  • Zig Zagged: Jessica's taste in ice cream varies constantly.
  • Averted: Jessica is a Static Character.
  • Enforced: "That episode where Jessica became obsessed with chocolate was so funny! Let's make that her character quirk."
  • Lampshaded: A snippet from the pilot is shown during a Clip Show and the other characters comment on her not eating chocolate.
  • Invoked: The writers thought it would be better if Jessica liked chocolate, so they Ret Conned her tastes.
  • Defied: The writers refused to let Jessica's prior characterization be completely contradicted, so they show her eating vanilla ice cream from time to time.
  • Discussed: "Jess, are you SURE that hit to the head didn't cause any damage? After all, you liked Vanilla and now you don't."
  • Conversed: "Hey, do you remember that girl who used to love vanilla? I wonder what she began seeing in chocolate!"

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