Wounded Gazelle Gambit/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Somebody pretends to be a victim to get others' sympathy and turn them against the accused aggressor.

  • Straight: Lisa makes it look like Marcy attacked her in order to keep Ken from seeing Marcy as a potential Love Interest.
  • Exaggerated: Lisa is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who constantly frames all of her "rivals" and "enemies", making them out to be Complete Monsters when they're anything but.
  • Justified: Lisa is aware that Ken has the The Dulcinea Effect bad.
    • Alternately, Macy really hits Lisa, just not around Ken. Lisa figures if she gives Ken evedence, Ken would watch Macy closer.
  • Inverted: Marcy did beat Lisa up, but nobody believes her.
  • Subverted: Lisa pretends that Marcy beat her up, but Ken isn't fooled.
  • Double Subverted: ...However, others are fooled by Lisa's lies, so Marcy still has to deal with her reputation being damaged.
  • Parodied: Ken doesn't really mind that Marcy did these bad things, causing Lisa to keep gossiping Up to Eleven until she hits Eats Babies.
  • Deconstructed: Lisa's lies ruin Marcy's reputation; after trying and failing to clear her name several times, Marcy decides she's had enough -- she might as well do the things she keeps getting blamed for. Thus, she attacks Lisa, pounding the crap out of her.
  • Reconstructed: And when Lisa tries to get help, Marcy acts like she's just spreading more lies.
  • Zig Zagged: Ken doesn't believe Lisa's lies about Marcy, but others do, ruining her reputation. Lisa gloats about this to Marcy until she snaps and beats her up; later, Marcy's friend Nora reveals she secretly recorded Lisa bragging about how she lied and plays it over the school intercom, clearing Marcy's name. Lisa tries to tell everyone about how Marcy really beat her up, but they think she's still lying.
  • Averted: Lisa has too much Pride to even pretend somebody else could hurt her.
  • Enforced: Everyone believes it for a while, but it backfires on Lisa in the end.
  • Lampshaded: "You say Marcy assaulted you? I instantly believe you, and dare not entertain the idea that you might be bluffing in order make Marcy's life miserable. Here, need a hand?"
  • Invoked: Lisa's Girl Posse suggests she try this, since Ken is known to be very sympathetic to anyone who's been bullied.
  • Exploited: A Bully Hunter Bitch in Sheep's Clothing takes advantage of Lisa's reputation by secretly attacking her, then spreading rumors that Lisa's the one lying about what happened to wring out sympathy in this fashion.
  • Defied: Marcy is an amateur photographer and has photo evidence that disproves everything she's accused of.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Played For Laughs: Lisa falsely accuses Marcy of doing things that she considers a crime, even if others don't: "She didn't perfectly color-coordinate! She didn't go to the big shoe sale! She's wearing lip balm instead of lip gloss!"
  • Played For Drama: Lisa accuses Marcy of sabotaging her science project, and the teacher believes her, saddling Marcy with a detention and a big fat F for the project she slaved over, while giving Lisa an A for the half-assed exhibit she threw out. Encouraged by this, Lisa continues to make accusations that turn the teachers against Marcy, causing them to view her as a troublemaker and making her grades suffer, putting her future at risk.

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