Retirony/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A character is killed just before retirement.

  • Straight: George and Fred are police officers who are pals. During Fred's last case, a mafia boss named Jonathan kills Fred one day before Fred retires from police work.
  • Exaggerated: George and Fred are police officers who are pals. During Fred's last case, a mafia boss named Jonathan kills Fred one second before Fred retires from police work, possibly during his retirement party.
  • Justified: Fred is The Mole that Became The Mask.
    • Jonathan is an old enemy of Fred's who kills Fred in revenge, and chooses his last day as a police officer to make his revenge sweeter.
  • Inverted: George kills Jonathan before Jonathan retired from mafia work.
    • Fred dies one day after he retired.
    • Fred dies during his first day of work.
    • Fred, who has been dead since the start of the series, comes back to life on the day another character joins the job.
    • Jonathan kills Fred just before Jonathan retires.
  • Subverted: Jonathan shoots Fred, but Fred survives.
  • Double Subverted: Jonathan visits Fred in the hospital later that day and finishes the job.
  • Parodied: Fred spends the moments before he dies actively Tempting Fate with regards to dying before retirement.
    • Fred wears his special red shirt on his last day of work.
  • Deconstructed: Everyone is so afraid of being murdered that nobody wants to retire.
    • Fred decides to stay home at his last day, arming himself to the teeth, locking the door and windows with extra locks, barricading his home and don't sleep until he survive the day.
    • Fred gets himself fired instead.
  • Reconstructed: Thus, when Fred mentions he's "ready to retire", everyone knows the unspoken implication.
    • Fred would rather die than keep doing his job. He hates his job that much.
  • Zig Zagged: When Jonathan fires, he shoots George, who does not plan on retiring any time soon. Fred survives, but is so grief-stricken that he contemplates suicide. His other colleagues, however, talks him out of it. Fred finishes his last day of work in one piece.
    • But George's death haunts Fred and causes him to come out of retirement. And then When Fred retires for real, he dies.
  • Averted: Fred makes it through his last day on the job without any incident.
    • Fred doesn't have a job to retire from.
    • Fred does not retire.
  • Enforced: "We're writing Fred out of the show, his character was going to just retire, but where's the drama in just letting Fred quietly move to Florida and take up shuffleboard?"
  • Lampshaded: "You'd best take precautions, Fred: Lady Luck isn't too kind on those who are about to retire."
  • Invoked: Fred is the victim of a Serial Killer who hunts and kills his victims based on when they're about to retire.
  • Defied: Out of paranoia, Fred refuses to come into work on his last day before retirement.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???

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