Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Young characters do something forbidden and manifestly stupid.

  • Straight: Sam and Bob go to visit the rickety old house, said to be haunted, that their father forbade because it was unstable.
  • Exaggerated: "What shall we do? How about visiting that castle on the cliffs? -- the one where everyone who visits dies -- you saw the bodies. You're not chicken are you?"
    • "What shall we do?" "I don't know, what all have our parents told us NOT to do?" "Well let's see, First ..."
  • Justified: They're young and immortal! (A view, alas, not unknown in Real Life.)
  • Inverted: The father forbids it as Schmuck Bait and the sons dutifully obey.
  • Subverted: As they get near, Bob drags his heels and says it's stupid.
  • Double Subverted: But Sam accuses him of cowardice, and he comes anyway.
  • Zig Zagged: Sam and Bob enter the forbidden castle despite the danger. However it turns out that they were just superstitious because of the wizard that used to live there. However the descendants of his creations still roam about so they were right about the danger. Then Sam and Bob find two enchanted broadswords that grow stronger the more courageous the wielder is, become heroes, and effortlessly dispatch the monsters.
  • Parodied: Sam and Bob are forbidden to jump off cliffs.They shout "You're not the boss of me!" and jump off the highest point.
  • Deconstructed: Every single one dies. What's more, none of them are missed due to being viewed as idiots who had it coming.
  • Reconstructed: The inexperience and energy of youth overrides the experience and caution of age... and anyway, there might be cool stuff in there.
  • Averted: Sam and Bob are not any more inclined to do dumb things than any other character.
  • Enforced: "You need to get in them into the haunted house somehow."
  • Lampshaded: "You know, this looks just like the haunted house in all the horror flicks -- imagine what all our friends will say when we tell them!"
  • Invoked: The vampire moves into a rickety old house to lure prey.
  • Defied: "Go in there? No way! Look, just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
  • Discussed: "It’s amazing what being called a chicken does to people...."
  • Conversed: "... Oh come on! I don't care if you can't see the fourth wall, you are CLEARLY GOING TO DIE IN THERE!"

Back to Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb --unless you're some kind of chicken.

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