Hypocritical Heartwarming/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Person A heaps abuse on Person B, but when Person C tries the same thing on Person B, Person A leaps to their defense.

  • Straight: Katie is constantly calling Bob lazy and fat, but when Gary calls Bob fat? Katie springs up, saying, "Hey! Only I can call Bob that!"
  • Exaggerated: Katie never says a single good thing about Bob. Ever. But when someone remarks, fairly neutrally, "You're awfully tall..." Katie springs up, saying, "Nobody is allowed to talk about my Bobby-wobbykins that way but me!" And then gives said person a Megaton Punch.
  • Justified: Katie knows Bob well, and knows he'd rather hear the tough truth than a white lie. But while Katie does it out of genuine concern, Gary is just trying to be insulting.
  • Inverted: Everyone else insults Bob mercilessly, but when Katie offhandly mentions that Bob's getting a little chubby, a random stranger stops to defend him.
  • Subverted: Gary insults Bob. Katie goes, "HEY!... Gary, buddy! I haven't seen you in ages!"
  • Double Subverted: She then punches him. "And that's for saying nasty things about Bob!"
  • Parodied: Gary calls Bob a "Fat, lazy slacker!" Katie's response: "HEY! ...Bob's not a slacker!"
  • Deconstructed: When Katie is defending him, Bob realizes her hypocracy--she insults him all the time! Why should she get away with it? Realizing that he's fed up with her treatment of him, he stops hanging out with her.
  • Reconstructed: ...But then he realizes that no one else is ever honest with him about his flaws, leading to his interactions with other people becoming awkward. He and Katie reconcile, and she agrees to tone it down (while still being just blunt enough).
  • Zig Zagged:
  • Averted: Gary insults Bob, but Katie doesn't say anything.
    • No one insults anyone.
  • Enforced: "Hey, Katie! Gary just called me fat and lazy! Aren't you gonna tell him that no one's allowed to insult me but you? Hint hint?"
  • Lampshaded: Gary says, "Oh--I point out how you've put on maybe five pounds, and I'm Satan himself, but she calls you an obese warthog and it's all good? What's up with that?"
  • Invoked:
  • Defied: Katie refuses to defend Bob, because she knows Gary's criticisms are true and she thinks Bob needs to hear it from someone who doesn't always harp on him so he gets the point.
  • Discussed:
  • Conversed: "It's kinda funny how Gary calling me "chubby" bothers me, but you calling me an "obsese warthog" never does."
  • Played For Laughs:
  • Played For Drama:

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