Basic Trope: A supposed utopia isn't.
- Straight: Bob happens upon a kingdom called Troperia, where everyone has cool jobs, nobody gets sick, and parties occur every week. It turns out that most of the inhabitants are golems and everyone is beholden to the local Caligula, who loves playing at utopia.
- Exaggerated: Bob happens on Troperia, where everyone smiles all the time, no one has died of old age or sickness in years, and the entire city holds a non-stop party. It turns out the inhabitants have all gotten smiles painted on their souls because the magical dragon that uses the town as a food source hates the effect sadness has on meat.
- Downplayed: Bob happens on Troperia, which looks like a friendly small town. It turns out to have a Retired Monster living there.
- Justified: ???
- Inverted: Bob happens on Troperia, where everyone is in reverence of the person in charge, no medical records have been updated, and Stepford Suburbias are everywhere. It turns out that the ruler is The Good King, nobody's gotten sick, and everyone in those suburbs really are as happy as they seem; the reason it looks like a dystopia is simply because the king liked the aesthetic.
- Subverted: Bob happens on Troperia, which seems unnaturally happy... and is. Bob was just being paranoid.
- Double Subverted: It turns out Bob was Properly Paranoid about Troperia, as the genuinely happy part of the place is staffed by unhappy ousiders.
- Parodied: Bob happens on Troperia, where the Town with a Dark Secret bit is billed as part of the utopian experience; after all, a perfect town has to have perfectly imperfect flaws.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob happens on Troperia, which initially seems perfect until he finds its seedy underbelly. It turns out Troperia's working on genuinely making the facade what they pretended it was, but it's taking some time and probably won't be a true utopia until long after he leaves.
- Averted: No utopias, false or otherwise, appear in the work.
- Enforced: Troperia was written as a regular utopia, but cynicism or fears it would be seen as unrealistically perfect caused the author/editor/higher-up to weasel in the Obligatory Catch.
- Lampshaded:Bob: This place is so perfect there's got to be a catch.
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: The inhabitants use the utopian appearance of the kingdom to lure in outsiders and get them to stay.
- Defied: "Before you ask, no, we are not hiding some dark secret from travellers, and we're not being suspiciously specific about it either. Seriously, what is with you guys?"
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: ???
Back down the Road of Happiness to False Utopia. Don't worry; everything is perfect!
