Basic Trope: A character has feelings of angst and emotional issues over being adopted.
- Straight: Bob finds out he was adopted and has an identity crisis, experiencing feelings of confusion, anger and sadness over this.
- Exaggerated: Bob finds out he was adopted and has a full-on mental breakdown.
- Downplayed: When Bob finds out he's adopted he feels a bit upset and unsure, but he soon accepts it.
- Justified:
- Bob never felt like he fitted in with his family and finding out he's adopted further exacerbates this; he feels he doesn't truly belong to any family because he's not biologically related to the family who raised him, while his birth parents seemingly didn't want him.
- Bob's parents never told him he was adopted and he finds out accidentally, making him feel betrayed and lied to.
- Bob is told about his adoption in a rather blunt and insensitive way; he argues with his mother and she blurts out he should be grateful they took him in.
- Bob finds out his birth parents loved him and were forced to give him up against their will, so he feels he was stolen from his real family.
- Bob is bullied for being adopted and not having a 'real' family.
- Bob's adoptive family are abusive, so naturally he wishes they hadn't adopted him.
- Inverted:
- Bob is Happily Adopted.
- Bob is an orphan who angsts about not getting adopted.
- Subverted: Bob's parents think he's having emotional problems because he was adopted, but he reveals he doesn't care about that and his problems are rooted in something else.
- Double Subverted:
- It turns out Bob really does feel insecure about being adopted, but he lies to his parents about this so as not to make feel bad.
- Being upset about being adopted is just one more brick in that wall. Once he gets over the issue that is making him upset now, that is when the "I'm adopted" angst becomes priority.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Bob isn't adopted.
- Enforced: The writers want to explore issues relating to adoption and decide Bob is a good character to use for this.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Andy uses Bob's insecurities about being adopted to further alienate him from his family and get him to do his bidding.
- Defied: Bob's parents were open and honest with him about his adoption from the start; they always made sure he knew that he was their son and they loved him even though they're not biologically related. As a result, Bob doesn't feel any angst about his adoption.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Bob's angst over his adoption leads to him lashing out at his adopted family even though they love him. He unfairly blames his adoption for all the problems in his life and it ends up ruining his relationship with his family.
- Reconstructed: Bob realizes that although he was adopted, his family is still his family. They all go to therapy together to work out their issues and while Bob still feels insecure about the adoption at times, he and his family are able to reconcile.
- Played for Drama: After finding out he's adopted, Bob (who is a minor) impulsively runs away from home to track down his birth parents. His adopted family are worried sick and Bob gets into some bad situations.
