Comedic Sociopathy/Playing With
Basic Trope: Injuries and other misfortunes which befall one character are ignored or made light of by the others for comic effect.
- Straight: Dan trips Bob, causing him to break his leg. Dan says nothing more about the incident except to berate Bob for holding them back as he struggles with his crutches and oversized cast.
- Exaggerated: Dan trips Bob, causing him to fall into a pit of alligators and become horribly mangled. Dan fails to notice Bob's absence for five minutes, and becomes aware he is gone only when Bob does not answer one of his questions.
- Justified: Dan and Bob are actually mortal enemies, involved in a fight to the death. Dan's just evil enough to use such a dirty tactic as tripping, and then laughing at Bob's fall.
- Inverted: Dan trips Bob, who lands on his nose, causing it to bleed. While Dan panics and tries to call the hospital in horror, Bob stands up, sighs, and grabs a tissue.
- Subverted: Dan goes to trip Bob, but Bob spots it, and prevents it from happening.
- Double Subverted: ... Which then leads to Dan falling over himself.
- Parodied: Dan's pranks regularly cripple or even outright kill Bob, but thanks to Negative Continuity, Bob is always back and in good health by the start of the next episode.
- Deconstructed:
- The fall is hilarious at first, but then Bob doesn't get up. Dan is then racked with guilt over his prank while Bob spends several days in a coma, followed by months of recovery and physiotherapy.
- Alternative: Dan is a diagnosed Sociopath and is savvy enough to do actions when its comically appropriate. Soon Bob and others find this out and seek to have him institutionalized.
- Reconstructed: ...which is hilarious!
- Dan's guilt trip and Bob's coma dreams are both a respective Mind Fuck.
- Zig Zagged: Dan very nearly trips Bob, but then at the very last second Bob catches his balances, and rights himself, shoving Dan, who nearly falls. Dan then grabs Bob for balance, and both of them start to wobble. They both stop each other from going over, and thank their lucky stars, before Claire pushes them both over.
- Averted: Dan reacts to Bob's injuries with appropriate care and concern.
- Enforced: It's a comedy show, and a realistic reaction to horrific injury would be inappropriate.
- Lampshaded: "Did you have a nice trip?"
- Invoked: Dan abuses Bob because cruelty is funny.
- Defied: Dan considers harming Bob for fun, realizes what an outraged lecture he'll get from Alice afterward, and doesn't do it.
- Discussed: "Bob's... well. He's the kind who would trip you, step on your back with soccer cleats, and then laugh about it." "Hehehe..."
- Conversed: "You know, if anyone actually did this in real life, it would be passive-aggressive abuse and borderline assault."
Back to Comedic Sociopathy. Psych.