Basic Trope: A character pretends to be pregnant.
- Straight:
- Alice lies about being pregnant in order to scare off Bob, a persistent suitor she has no interest in.
- Alice lies about being pregnant with Bob's child in order to prevent him from leaving her.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice gives a devastatingly convincing impression of being pregnant (inducing vomiting in order to simulate morning sickness, wearing a bodysuit, hiding her period, simulating an ultrasound with the help of an accomplice who works at the hospital), in order to leave no doubt in the suitor's mind that she really is pregnant.
- Alice takes every step in order to fake the pregnancy, including a massive weight gain, hiding her periods and even kidnapping a baby from a adoption agency to pretend that it is hers.
- Downplayed: Alice doesn't come out and say it, but alludes to being pretty preoccupied "for the next nine months or so" (even though she isn't pregnant). Bob takes the hint.
- Justified: Alice is a cop trying to infiltrate an illegal adoption ring. Pregnancy is part of her cover.
- Inverted: Alice is pregnant, but pretends she isn't for fear of scaring off Bob, who she's interested in.
- Subverted: Alice lies to Bob about being pregnant, but then discovers later on that she actually is pregnant after all!
- Double Subverted: ... never mind, false alarm.
- Parodied:
- Bob stuffs a pillow under his shirt to fake pregnancy and get a maternity leave from his boss. Surprisingly, the boss takes the bait.
- Alice doesn't want to be pregnant, and decides that the best way for her to fake it instead... is to have a baby, because it's the most "convincing". She doesn't seem to understand the ramifications of this, no matter how many times it's explained to her, and keeps insisting that it's okay because she's not "really" pregnant.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Alice isn't interested in Bob, but just tells him straight rather than making up an elaborate excuse.
- Enforced: The creators had intended The Reveal that Alice is pregnant to be a surprising plot twist. The executives, however, are worried how it'll impact upon the established dynamic of the show, and force them to retcon Alice's admission so that she was actually lying to Bob. They ignore that this is completely out of character for Alice and makes her far less sympathetic to the audience.
- Lampshaded: "People like you, always lying about getting pregnant like it's some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: "I'm not going to resort to faking a pregnancy to scare him off!"
- Discussed: "Alice, in movies, lying about being pregnant always seems to work."
- Conversed: "Hey, a romcom. Is the female lead going to lie about being pregnant?"
- Implied: Bob goes over to Alice to flirt with her. A few minutes later he yells "You're WHAT?!" and leaves, muttering something about "damaged goods". Alice and her friends are seen cackling with glee.
- Played For Laughs: Bob arranges a date with Alice at a restaurant. Alice purposely arrives a hour before he does, orders a large quantity of food and eats until she looks pregnant. Bob appears at the restaurant and sees Alice's belly, and Alice declares "Hey, Bob, I'm pregnant!".
- Played For Drama:
- Alice's deception is shown to be emotionally controlling and manipulative, and devastates Bob, who wanted so badly to be a father, when he learns the truth.
- Alice fakes a pregnancy in desperation to stop her abusive partner from being physically violent with her, and to give herself a window of time to escape. She fears, for good reason, that all she's done is make the situation much worse, and knows that if they realize what's happening, they'll kill her.
Back to Fake Pregnancy.
