Shame If Something Happened/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A villain makes a threat towards the hero and / or the hero's family by way of an oblique, roundabout comment, usually in the form of a compliment loaded with significant subtext.

  • Straight: Alex is approached by Damien, an enemy, who makes an offhanded comment about Alex's wife Susan and how 'it would be terrible if anything happened to her.'
  • Exaggerated: Damien lists practically every one of Alex's family, friends, loved ones and casual acquaintances, including Alex's pets, indicating how horrible it would be if anything bad happened to them.
  • Justified: Damien values subtlety and prefers to make a oblique threat rather than just coming out and saying it.
    • Damien is a coward who fears the consequences of threatening Alex directly, but has no problem with implying possible harm to him or his family.
  • Inverted: Damien makes a direct, gruesome and particularly bizarre death threat directed to Alex's beloved ones. However, the latter is not unsettled because he knows Damien is just trying to act tough.
    • Damien threatens Alex directly, but makes sure to mention how sad it would be if Susan suddenly became a widow.
    • Damien casually mentions that Alex probably wouldn't mind not having to work for Jeff any more.
  • Subverted: Alex interprets Damien's comment about 'your lovely wife Susan' as a threat; Damien was in fact just making small-talk, and since he has standards is appalled at the thought that he would threaten an innocent bystander.
  • Double Subverted: Damien's protests are just for show, since he does threaten Susan in such a fashion soon after.
  • Parodied: Alex is a bit slow on the uptake and doesn't immediately get what Damien's getting at. This forces the increasingly frustrated Damien to have to spell it out for him.
    • Damien's threats are more like Poke the Poodle: "Nice carpet you've got here. It would be a shame if someone were to... track dirt on it."
  • Deconstructed: ???
  • Reconstructed: ???
  • Zig Zagged: Alex interprets Damien's compliments as a threat, which surprises Damien. But later Alex's friend sees his Mooks going to Susan's house. But it turns out that they were delivering her flowers. But then Damien becomes jealous and threatens Susan for real.
  • Averted: Damien doesn't mince words, and essentially comes out and says that if Alex isn't careful he'll kill Susan.
  • Enforced: This is a kid's show, and the writers can't get away with Damien making overt threats.
  • Lampshaded: "Were you threatening my wife there, Damien?"
  • Invoked: "I bet you've seen enough TV to know what I'm talking about when I say how terrible it would be if something happened to your lovely wife."
  • Defied: "What a lovely...I'm not going to beat around the bush. Pay up, or Susan dies."
  • Discussed: "He talks and acts like a gentleman, but his words and heart are filled with poison. This man evilness knows no limits... He's a terrifying monster."
  • Conversed: "This guy has watched too many gangster's movies. Just go and say it outright, damn it!"

Back to Shame If Something Happened

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Shame_If_Something_Happened/Playing_With?oldid=926288"