'''Basic Trope''': A dream/hallucination designed to keep you trapped there through sheer pleasantness.
* '''Straight''': [[TheHero Bob]] is in a world that is paradise to him, but fade... he's hooked up to [[MadScientist Carl's]] machine!
* '''Exaggerated''':
** Bob is spontaneously good at everything he wants to be and can do no wrong, because Carl put a hallucinogenic microchip in his wristwatch.
** All of society live inside a giant virtual reality machine that allows people to live out their fantasies.
* '''Downplayed''': Bob is in a simulated world that's pretty much the same as the real world.
* '''Justified''':
** Carl realized that Bob would never stop until his work was done... and so made a world where it was.
** The device is Bob's way of taking a vacation. A dream lasts 10 seconds, but can feel like ages. A quick nip into WhatCouldHaveBeen so he can remember what he's fighting for, and he's right as rain.
* '''Inverted''':
** Carl traps Bob in his worst nightmare.
** Bob's mentor designs such a machine as a LeaveYourQuestTest to see whether Bob has enough HeroicWillpower.
** The entire story takes place in a simulated world, and Carl gets rid of Bob by disconnecting him somehow.
** Bob ''thinks'' Carl has put him in a LotusEaterMachine, but the audience knows that this is reality.
* '''Subverted''':
** The machine was the fantasy, the paradise ''is'' reality.
** Bob's paradise becomes a nightmare.
* '''Double Subverted''':
** ...Except that was [[DreamWithinADream layering]] Carl used to trick Bob.
** ...And then is paradise again as soon as he deals with the threat. People love him even more now!
* '''Parodied''': Carl suggests that it would be easier for Bob if he weren't a hero, and the mere suggestion causes him to fall into a dream.
* '''Zig Zagged''': Bob's in a machine of Carl's [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment machinations]], except that's the reality. But not really, that was a clever ruse. And now it's becoming nightmarish, but Bob saves the day and makes everything ''better''... but that pushes it into UncannyValley perfection, making it no longer perfect...
* '''Averted''': Carl doesn't use this sort of manipulation.
* '''Enforced''': "We need Bob to be out of the way for the first half of the episode, but he would ''never'' let this happen..."
* '''Lampshaded''': "Ah, yes. Put me in a perfect world. I'll ''never'' figure it out."
* '''Invoked''':
** "I won't ''make'' you stay. I'll just make you ''want'' to."
** A huge amount of money is invested in creating a perfect virtual reality.
* '''Exploited''': Bob realizes early on he's in a fake world, but loves it so much he decides to just stay.
* '''Defied''':
** Carl builds a happy-dream-machine, but decides that his hatred for Bob is too great and he won't give him a happy experience even as a trap. Instead, he starts working on a nightmare-machine.
** "You can't give me a perfect world. [[WorldHalfEmpty Such things cannot be obtained,]] only [[WorldHalfFull sought after.]]"
* '''Discussed''': "And now you're going to get me out of the way by offering me a fake image of my heart's desire."
* '''Conversed''': "You'd think Carlps would know Bill's willpower is too strong for that sort of thing."
* '''Deconstructed''':
** Bob's dream world is perfect... but [[TooGoodToBeTrue humans shouldn't be]], and the fact that they are makes everything ''[[UncannyValley creepy]]''.
** Bob falls into despair because he feels he's not worthy of living in a perfect world due to past mistakes.
** Although Bob returns to the real world, he becomes depressed because [[PerfectionIsAddictive it's so hopelessly terrible compared to the dream]].
* '''Reconstructed''':
** Carl realizes this in beta testing, and makes everything ''just'' imperfect enough.
** Carl mass-produces these machines as "mini-vacation machines".
* '''Played For Laughs''': [[AntiHero B]][[DarkAndTroubledPast o]][[BlackAndGrayMorality b's]] heart's desire is... half a cup of sugar. Turning it into a nightmare is spilling water into the sugar. Cue BigNo.
** His allies [[DreamWalker travel into the dream]] to save him, but find it to be extremely unexpected for Bob's personality, such as a ManlyMan Bob dreaming of living in a SugarBowl, or NonActionGuy Bob dreaming of being a SuperSoldier. When they manage to wake Bob up, he coughs in embarrassment and says "LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain".
* '''Played For Drama''': Bob desperately wants to stay, and no one can manage to get him to leave even though they'll all die without him. Then [[LoveInterest Alice]] [[CannotSpitItOut spits]] [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove it out,]] [[WhamEpisode forever changing the show]].
** Bob's unexpected dream illustrates his HiddenDepths desires that [[TragicDream he will likely never get to achieve in life]]. After being revived, he thinks back to his dream life and bursts into tears.
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Go back to LotusEaterMachine. It's so nice and cozy...
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???