Medals for Everyone/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: The cast are all rewarded for their efforts after defeating the villain.

  • Straight: The King awards Alice, Bob, Claire and Dan Knighthoods for slaying his general-turned-evil.
  • Exaggerated: The King grants Bob Alice's hand in marriage and names Alice and Bob his successors, appoints Claire as the new head of his army and grants Dan's request to form an alliance with his homeland.
  • Downplayed: The king announced a one-off public holiday in celebration and makes Alice, Bob, et al guests of honour at a feast.
  • Justified: Well, the king would look pretty bad if he wasn't seen to reward the people who saved his kingdom (and announcing his heir had found herself a husband would be a pretty big deal anyway).
  • Inverted: Alice, Bob, Claire and Dan are publicly sent off on their quest by the king to make it clear that they're working on his authority.
  • Subverted: The King thanks Alice, Bob, Claire and Dan...then gives them a paltry (but not unreasonable) sum of money for their efforts and tells them to push off.
  • Double Subverted: ...as a Secret Test of Character to ensure that they truely are worthy of knighthoods by humbly accepting their payment and moving on.
  • Parodied: Everyone requests (and is given) extremely basic rewards.
  • Deconstructed: The ceremony is largely so that the king can get away with not paying the heroes too much money (they wouldn't want to be seen publicly haggling for a better reward at a ceremony, after all).
  • Reconstructed: The recognition from the King (and the 100% Heroism Rating that comes with it) is priceless anyway.
  • Zig Zagged: Some of the cast members are rewarded publicly, others just take their package and scram.
  • Averted: The heroes agree their price with the king, take it on completing their quest and move on.
  • Enforced: The studio demanded that everyone be knighted as a Sequel Hook.
  • Lampshaded: "Just pay you? When I have such a perfect opportunity to show off some heroes to my subjects? Wait right there while I call in my emergency honour guard and contact the town crier! Do we still have that red carpet? What about the brass band?"
  • Defied: The heroes can't stand ceremonies and just ask to be paid.
  • Discussed: "The traitor is dead, your majesty." "Perfect! We'll hold a ceremony to reward you tomorrow."
  • Conversed: "Ooo, is this the bit where the king gives them all their rewards?"
  • Exploited: Dan came from an enemy nation and took part in the quest so he could use the ceremony to assassinate the king.
  • Played for Laughs: The situation as as described under "averted", but the king's rather insistent.
  • Played for Drama:
    • Dan and Claire didn't make it. Alice and Bob silently mourn them in the ceremony.
    • The Big Bad's Dragon turns up for one last assault and turns the occassion into a Ballroom Blitz.

For your efforts in reading this Playing with Wiki entry I award you a link back to Medals for Everyone!

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