Exposition of Immortality/Playing With

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Basic Trope: He's an immortal / extremely long-lived supernatural. Look at his immortality.

  • Straight: The immortal character remembers, dreams of or otherwise shows things that demonstrate his longevity.
  • Exaggerated: The immortal has a huge collection of things collected through the ages and remembers a similar thing he did 500 years ago every time he possibly can.
  • Downplayed: The immortal makes choices that seem old fashioned, but can be otherwise attributed to eccentricity.
  • Justified: ???
  • Inverted: The immortal goes to great lengths to keep up with current trends and fashions.
  • Subverted: The immortal doesn't have any of the things that might demonstrate his unusual age.
  • Double Subverted: ...except for that one thing.
  • Parodied:
    • The immortal maintains a huge and obvious collection of artifacts that actually aren't proof of his long life.
    • The trope in the form of a Visual Pun.
  • Deconstructed: The trope is played in such a way to show various logical and moral problems with the trope as normally played.
  • Reconstructed: The trope is played straight, but with the problems brought up by the Deconstruction dealt with or addressed.
  • Zig Zagged: The trope is Played With several times over until it becomes a Mind Screw.
  • Averted: Neither the trope nor the situation in which it would occur is ever brought up.
  • Enforced: Something in Real Life that causes Executive Meddling and/or the authors to use the trope.
  • Lampshaded: The immortal may say something like "What, did you think I'd keep something proving I'm a thousand years old lying around where anyone can find it?"
  • Invoked: A Genre Savvy Character sets up a situation where the trope can occur.
  • Exploited: A Genre Savvy Character takes advantage of the fact that the trope will occur, possibly-- but not necessarily-- Invoking it in the process.
  • Defied: A Genre Savvy Character tries to prevent a trope from happening.
  • Discussed: Genre Savvy Characters talk about the trope in a situation where it is likely to happen.
  • Conversed: Genre Savvy Characters talk about the trope in a Show Within a Show.
  • Played For Laughs: Declarations of immortality are met with flat disbelief or a character who is depicted as very old, but never directly referred to as immortal, does something that suggests they are. Like claiming your place of birth is a prehistoric continent.
  • Played For Drama: The trope is played in the most melodramatic way possible.
  • Plotted A Good Waste: The (normally unintentional) trope is used quite intentionally.

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