Line #38 PlayingWith/ThatManIsDead


1	'''Basic Trope''': A character has decided to become their alter ego forever and declares the original persona dead.
2	* '''Straight''': Alice calls Bob by his name, but he says "Bob is dead. Call me Robert."
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Robert not only rejects his old name, but every aspect of his old appearance and personality.
5	** Robert arranges a funeral for Bob and makes everybody that knew him attend.
6	* '''Downplayed''': Robert does not outright reject his old name, but he is visibly uncomfortable with being called by it.
7	* '''Justified''':
8	** Bob, playing the role of Robert, is BecomingTheMask.
9	** Robert is UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}}; "Alice" was merely the persona that was attached to the gender he was assigned to at birth, and is not indicative of his true gender.
10	** Bob took the name "Robert" due to a traumatic experience and [[DespairEventHorizon it's too painful to remember his old life.]]
11	** Bob has suffered brain damage to the point that his personality is fundamentally different than before. So, in a way, [[FromACertainPointOfView Bob really is dead.]]
12	** Bob has died at one point, but [[BackFromTheDead was revived later on]]. However, he had a personality change that came with the traumatic experiences from his past life and the simple fact that he was dead. So, in a way, Bob ''is'' dead.
13	* '''Inverted''':
14	** Bob gets a headmate named Robert, and when he discovers this says that "Robert has been born."
15	** Bob finally gives up his alter ego and says that "Robert is dead."
16	** No matter how many times Alice points out how much Bob has changed, Bob insists that he's still the same old Bob.
17	** Bob was missing and assumed dead, and people insist on it and pretending "Robert" is an IdenticalStranger even when Bob is standing there insisting he is alive.
18	* '''Subverted''':
19	** Bob [[LiteralMetaphor really is dead]], like [[IdenticalStranger Robert]] has been [[CassandraTruth trying to tell everyone the whole time]].
20	** "Bob? He's taking a long vacation until I can make the streets safe. I'm Robert for now."
21	** Bob is FakingTheDead and was coaching his accomplice to address him as Robert instead of by his true name.
22	* '''Double Subverted''': "For now" turns out to be indefinite.
23	* '''Parodied''':
24	** [[TheDitz Alice]] upon being given the "that man is dead" line assumes that Robert is Bob's identical twin and is sorry that Bob died.
25	** Bob mentions that his old name is dead in the middle of a casual conversation that has nothing to do with his identity.
26	** "Bob is dead. Call me Robert." "Okay, Robert-" "Robert is dead. Call me Ronald." "Ron-" [[OverlyLongGag "Ronald is dead. Call me Roland."]]
27	** "Aron is dead. Call me Aaron" or other variants involving homophones. The character on the receiving end of this is thoroughly confused.
28	* '''Zig Zagged''': "Bob is dead", then "Robert is no more", and finally "I was never Bob".
29	* '''Averted''': Bob stays himself.
30	* '''Enforced''': The writers want to show just how far gone Bob is, so they have him declare that Bob is dead, and to call him Robert.
31	* '''Lampshaded''': “Why is it that when someone has an alter ego they consider the original self dead?”
32	* '''Invoked''': "If he says that Bob is dead, he can't object to me taking Bob's stuff."
33	* '''Exploited''': Bob tells people that ThatManIsDead to unnerve his enemies, who become convinced that Bob has turned DarkerAndEdgier.
34	* '''Defied''': "We can't let him continue down this path, or Bob will be gone and there will be only Robert."
35	* '''Discussed''': "Just because he's very convincing as Robert, doesn't mean that Bob is gone forever."
36	* '''Conversed''': "I'm not going to employ cheap theatrics and say that my old self is gone. I've simply grown into Robert."
37	* '''Implied''': The character stops answering when called Bob.
38	* '''Played For Laughs''': Bob, after his favorite lunch gets taken off the menu at his favorite restaurant, dons a cape and claims "Bob is dead." Alice completely misses the point and responds incredulously, "No, you're not. You're right there!"
39	----
40	"There Is Only Zuul" is dead. Call me ThatManIsDead.
41	----
42	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
43	%%
44	%%* '''Deconstructed''': ???
45	%%* '''Reconstructed''': ???

Context PlayingWith / ThatManIsDead