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'''Entrepreneur''': You may be able to see a fence here. }}
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Part, if not most, of the show's appeal is the utterly-insane inventions and businesses some people put forward. Generally speaking, pitches break down into four categories:
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The US title ''Shark Tank'' redirects here; if you're looking for the similarly-named trope, see [[Shark Pool]]. Not to be confused with the video game ''[[Dragon's Lair]]''.
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* [[Arch Enemy]]: Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne. Jones described Bannatyne as "a shit" in Series 1, and doesn't seem to have changed his opinion. Bannatyne says he can't see what Jones' problem is. Bannatyne ended up going down this path with James Caan later on.
* [[Artistic
** The Canadian Dragons were once confronted with the crown prince of this trope, [
* [[Bald of Evil]]: Kevin "[[Blatant Lies|Mr. Wonderful]]" O'Leary.
* [[Berserk Button]]:
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** Peter Jones hates sloppily-dressed people.
** Anybody that expects the Dragons to put up a significantly greater amount of money than they themselves have.
** If a company is even borderline illegal, Jim Treliving ([[Canada, Eh?|former RCMP officer]]) will not be amused.
** Telling a diabetic (or anyone with a health condition for that matter) that they should stop taking insulin or whatever else they're using to treat their condition because that article you read on the internet says that herbal medication can cure them. A snake oil salesman who tried this got chewed out for making such bold claims.
* [[Brutal Honesty]]: Some are more brutal than others, but none of the Dragons are the kind to mince words about a product's or company's flaws.
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'''Entrepreneur:''' They fall off. }}
* [[Catch Phrase]]: The Dragons have an official one, "I'm out." The contestants have developed an unofficial one used when they have been given an offer "Could we have a moment to discuss this?"
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* [[Critical Research Failure]]: Often committed by the contestants, either by only doing a laughably small amount of research (for instance, asking their parents or neighbours whether they think the product is a good idea), or by actually bothering to do full research and then outright disregarding it when it paints a less-than-rosy picture for the future of their business or product. Needless to say, the Dragons are relentless to people who have done either of these.
* [[Dramatic Curtain Toss]]: Some investors like to reveal their product to the Dragons this way.
* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Averted in one episode of Season 5 of the Canadian Version. One of the entrepreneurs was a [[Hello, Nurse!|Blonde Bombshell]] who pitched nut-free cookies. Apparently, even before the entrepreneur had started her speech, Arlene Dickenson had written her off as an airhead and was subsequently impressed by the blonde's pitch as well as her confidence. Arlene then confessed and apologized for her prejudice and was one of the Dragons who eventually signed up a deal with her.
* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: Series 1 of the British edition.
** People had to carry their own products up the stairs, instead of the items being put there by the production team before the pitch.
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** Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones seem to have more tolerance for bad pitches. (No doubt their impatience in later seasons is due to having to sit through hundreds of awful ideas.)
** It's also a little disconcerting to watch later seasons with the briskly no-nonsense Deborah Meaden, then watch seasons one and two with very soft and rather quiet Rachel Elnaugh as the female dragon.
* [[Ear Worm]] ([[In
* [[Exactly What It Says
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* [[Five
** The Sharks
*** [[The Big Bad]] - Kevin O'Leary
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* [[Idiot Ball]]: One pair of investors in series 9 of the UK version (who had delivered a very confident pitch) had ''six offers'' from ''four Dragons'' - and managed to get every Dragon to declare themselves out after deciding to stick to their original demand of 25%. Their best offer was for 30%, with a 5% refund if they hit the first year target they had repeatedly declared was easy and realistic.
* [[It Will Never Catch On]]: Duncan Bannatyne and Deborah Meaden's attitude towards Reggae Reggae Sauce. To this day, Peter Jones likes to remind them of their prediction.
* [[Market
* [[The Mean Brit|The Mean Canuck]]: Kevin O'Leary. He once told an entrepreneur who brought in an innovative new type of computer screen that if the guy was his VP of sales, he'd have been fired a long time ago. Which arguably missed the point, since the guy had come in to get someone who was actually good at sales; namely, the Dragons, to handle that side of the business while he and his colleagues continued to develop the technology.
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** In the UK version, just about ''all'' of the Dragons were Mean Brits. Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis, and Deborah Meaden fall squarely into this category. Simon Woodroffe and Rachel Elnaugh weren't quite as bad, but could certainly turn on the nastiness when needed. Even Doug Richard, who is technically American, could earn an honorary Mean Brit title due to the fact that he could be as nasty as the others, and has resided in the UK for some time. James Caan (no, not that one) is the only real exception to this rule, as he is by far the nicest of the British Dragons (Richard Farleigh was the nicest overall, but is actually Australian). Hilary Devey seems to be covering for Caan as "the nicest one".
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Seen in the US version when a premium pogo stick company came in asking for an investment to go mass-market. In contrast to their regular ruthlessness, the Sharks encouraged him to stay high-end; declining to invest not because of a flaw in the company but because they simply felt the company was doing fine on its own.
* [[The Pete Best]]: Simon Woodroffe, who was only around for the first UK series. Rachel Elnaugh to a lesser extent; she was there for series one and two, but was soon forgotten once the much more vocal and imposing Deborah Meaden replaced her.
* [[Power Walk]]: The UK opening sequence, "shot to resemble a [[Quentin Tarantino|Tarantino]] [[The Caper|heist movie]]" ([[Charlie Brooker]]).
* [[Put
* [[Screwed
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: James Caan bailed out on the show after a massive dispute with Duncan Bannatyne, caused by Bannatyne effectively accusing Caan of being a tax dodger in his newspaper column.
* [[Smug Snake]]: Kevin O'Leary epitomizes this trope.
* [[Stage Money]]: The UK set includes ostentatious stacks of banknotes on the table beside each Dragon, which they would occasionally use to illustrate "throwing your money away".
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Reality TV]]
[[Category:Nonfiction Series]]
[[Category:Dragons' Den]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
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