Basic Trope: Something fake, such as a work of fiction or a practice, is mistaken for a real situation.
- Straight: Alice shows up late for school and there's a fire drill. She thinks the school really is on fire.
- Exaggerated: Bob is acting, playing the part of a boy on fire. Alice thinks he really is on fire, even though he obviously isn't.Alice: "Oh my gosh, Bob! You're on fire! Invisible fire!"Bob: "Seriously?"
- Downplayed: When Alice shows up late, she says to her teacher, "This is a drill, right?"
- Justified: Well, seeing as Alice was late, she wasn't notified that it was a drill. Even if she couldn't see any smoke or flames, the fire might only be inside the building for now.
- Inverted: And You Thought It Was a Game
- Subverted: Alice shows up late for school and sees everyone evacuating. She says to Bob, "Yikes! The school's on fire!", but Bob says, "It's just a drill." He's wrong— the school really is on fire.
- Double Subverted: But it's a stage play...
- Parodied:
- Zigzagged: Alice asks her whole class whether it's a drill or the school really is on fire. Everyone claims something different.
- Averted:
- Alice instantly recognises it as a drill.
- The school is actually on fire.
- Enforced: "We need an episode about fire safety, but having an actual school fire will make the kiddies paranoid! Let's have her mistake a drill for a real fire."
- Lampshaded: "And you thought it was actually on fire!"
- Invoked: Bob lies to Alice that the school is on fire during the drill.
- Exploited:
- Defied: Alice decides never to assume anything.
- Discussed:Principal: "We need to start having fire drills."Vice Principal: "What if one of the students shows up late and thinks it's a real fire?"
- Conversed: "Oh man, now she's gonna think it's a real fire!"
- Implied: Alice is seen acting very scared during the fire drill.
- Deconstructed: Alice immediately calls 911, and gets in trouble for wasting their time.
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs:
- Played for Drama:
- Played for Horror:
Back to And You Thought It Was Real
