History PlayingWith / AssassinOutclassin

** Alice is an unexperienced assassin and Bob is secretly proficient in martial arts.

* '''Deconstructed''': Eventually, no-one accepts contracts on Bob in the first place, [[TheDreaded as they realise it's suicide.]] [[LifeWillKillYou He eventually dies happily of old age.]]

** Bob has [[TheDreaded a reputation for this sort of thing,]] so Alice turns down the job immediately, nothing [[PragmaticVillainy she wouldn't live cut a profit if she took suicidal jobs.]]

* '''Downplayed''': Alice screws up an assassination attempt, and after a desperate fight Bob manages to kill her in self-defence, albeit still coming away with a serious wound and fearing for his life.

** Alice is an unexperienced assassin, and Bob is secretly proficient in martial arts.

* '''Averted''': The assassin either fails and escapes, or succeeds in killing Bob.

** "Your assassin posed no challenge. Next time, have the courtesy to send one with a mop and bucket,[[LudicrousGibs so they're easier to clean up.]]

* '''Conversed''': "Who sends a nameless {{Mook}} to kill a [[PlotArmor main character]]? It's like they haven't even ''heard'' of the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality..."

* '''Discussed''': "Wait, your target is ''[[{{Badass}} Bob]]''!? ...IfYouDieICallYourStuff!"

* '''Lampshaded''': "This isn't the first time someone's been sent to kill me, you know. Although I suppose [[AppealToObscurity you wouldn't have heard about the other times...]]"

* '''Invoked''': Alice's contract on Bob is a UriahGambit. Alice's boss knows how tough Bob is, and is trying to send Alice to her death.

* '''Exploited''': Alice realises just in time that Bob is winning, and decides "You can kill me, but I'm TakingYouWithMe."

* '''Reconstructed''': [[CarnivalOfKillers A massive army of assassins]] is sent against Bob, each part of a massive Tontine, in that whoever survives the attempt will receive a king's ransom.

* '''Implied''': Alice's attempt is never seen, but when Bob shows up at her boss's office he's got a new scar and is carrying Alice's distinctive WeaponOfChoice.

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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%
%%* '''Deconstructed''': ???
%%* '''Reconstructed''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???

* '''Averted''': Although such a situation might have been foreshadowed, no assassination attempts - successful or not - occur at all.

* '''Exaggerated''': While [[NonchalantDodge barely breaking a sweat]], Bob manages to overthrow the attempt in such a way that [[SelfDisposingVillain Alice]] [[CriticalFailure accidentally kills herself instead]].

* '''Averted''': ???

* '''Lampshaded''': ???

* '''Conversed''': "Who sends a nameless {{Mook}} to kill a main character? It's like they haven't even ''heard'' of the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality..."

* '''Downplayed''': ???

* '''Played For Laughs''': Assassins attacking Bob, and being effortlessly overpowered/HoistByHisOwnPetard/suffering {{Critical Failure}}s, is a RunningGag; they're collectively the Wile E. Coyote to his Road Runner.

%%* '''Implied''': ???

* '''Justified''': Alice is an unexperienced assassin, and Bob is secretly proficient in martial arts.

%% To be added:
%%* '''Lampshaded''': ???

* '''Invoked''': Alice's contract on Bob is a UriahGambit -- her boss wants her dead.

* '''PlayedForLaughs''': Assassins attacking Bob, and being effortlessly overpowered/HoistByHisOwnPetard/suffering {{Critical Failure}}s, is a RunningGag; they're collectively the Wile E. Coyote to his Road Runner.

* '''Conversed''': "Who sends a nameless {{Mook}} to kill a main character? It's like they haven't even ''heard'' of the SorthingAlgorithmOfMortality..."

* '''Enforced''': An assassination was necessary plot-wise, and the odds are against Bob, but since in this work NobodyCanDie, Alice ''has to'' be defeated by him anyway.
* '''Invoked''': During the fight with Alice, Bob thinks about his role in his organization and that his importance makes the success of Alice's attempt rather unlikely.
* '''Exploited''': The one who hires Alice is aware that Bob's PlotArmor will protect him, and the assassination is meant to distract him only.

%%* '''Conversed''': ???

%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

* '''Discussed''': After fighting off Alice, Bob talks to Carol about how common it was for the target to win in this situation.

* '''Subverted''': Alice didn't actually want to assassinate Bob.

* '''Discussed''': After fighting off Alice, Bob talks to Carol about how how common it was for the target to win in this situation.

'''AssassinOutclassin''': Assassinations fail.

* '''Exaggerated''': Bob singlehandedly defeats Alice.

* '''Inverted''': Alice is victorious.

** Alice and Bob both want to assassinate each other, and there is no clear assassin-target relation.
* '''Double Subverted''': Alice changes her mind.
* '''Parodied''': Alice trips while sneaking up on Bob, and therefore fails without any intervention of Bob.

%%* '''Double Subverted''': ???

&&* '''Lampshaded''': ???