Basic Trope: A character gets someone out of a Heroic BSoD by slapping them.
- Straight: Danny has a breakdown, so Julia slaps him in the face to bring him to his senses.
- Exaggerated:
- Julia gives Danny a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to snap him out of his Heroic BSoD.
- Danny has a bad day at work and cries a Single Tear. To snap him out of it, Julia beats him so badly that he nearly dies from his injuries!
- Downplayed:
- Julia grabs Danny by his shoulders and briskly shakes him to bring him to his senses.
- Julia doesn't inflict physical violence on Danny, but she delivers a "verbal-slap" on him that manages to put him back together.
- Julia gives Danny a playful Dope Slap before her You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech.
- Justified:
- Danny is being incredibly wangsty, and this is the only (fast) way to get through to him.
- Julia is unsympathetic to others feeling down, and thinks that being harsh and physical with them is the best way.
- Much earlier, Danny explicitly said, "if I ever do [X], please, just slap me". Julia is simply honoring the request.
- Danny's breakdown is happening at a time when the group is in danger, and he needs a physical jolt to bring him back and realize what's happening around him.
- Inverted:
- Julia hugs Danny and tells him it'll be okay.
- Alternatively, Julia slaps Danny while he's calm. It makes him angry.
- Alternatively, Danny calms himself down by slapping Julia.
- Julia slaps herself in the face; Danny is distracted from his panic by confusion.
- Subverted:
- Julia marches angrily up to Danny, as if she's about to hit him. Then her face softens, and she gently consoles him instead.
- Alternately, Julia slaps Danny, but that only pushes him even further into his breakdown.
- Double Subverted:
- She tells him she's going to get something that will help, and leaves. A few moments later she returns with a glass of cold water, splashes it all over him, and yells at him to get a grip.
- So Julia slaps Danny again and it brought him to his senses.
- Parodied: Danny hits back. He and Julia get into a fistfight.
- Zig Zagged: Julia's mostly nice to Danny, helping him through his problems, but when things get really bad she resorts to being percussive and harsh with him.
- Averted: Danny snaps out of his BSOD by himself.
- Enforced: "Julia's not the type to put up with Wangst, so it'd be in character for her to react like this."
- Lampshaded: "Thanks, I needed that."
- Invoked: Hit Me, Dammit!.
- Exploited: Julia is abusive towards Danny and uses this trope in effect to beat him while he's depressed.
- Defied:
- Danny forces himself to calm down when he sees Julia gearing up to slap him.
- Julia is an Actual Pacifist, so after considering slapping Danny, she gives him a Cooldown Hug instead.
- Seeing Julia readying a slap, Oleg grabs Julia's wrist and simply says "no".
- "I swear, if you try to slap me right now I'll Kill You!"
- Julia is about to slap Danny but is stopped by Andrea who grabs her wrist and throws her away and says, "How can you even think about slapping ''your'' boyfriend?! I can't believe you're mean for a Girly Girl while I'm nice for a tomboy, you're just an aloof asshole who shows no sympathy towards others! Do everyone on this planet a favor and take a hike! YOU BITCH!" Julia cries and runs away in tears.
- Discussed:
- "I know he was being whiny, but you didn't have to hit him like that!"
- "So you helped Danny out of depression by slapping him?!"
- Conversed: "So this episode teaches us that in order to help depressed people, you slap them across the face like a dog. Nice moral for us to learn."
- Implied: Danny leaves one scene depressed. He returns later, happier but with a red mark on his face.
- Deconstructed:
- Julia's treatment of Danny doesn't get him out of Heroic BSODs, it just makes his emotional problems worse. It gets so bad he's eventually Driven to Suicide, and Julia bitterly regrets her actions.
- Danny shoots Julia for kicking him while he's down.
- See Parodied, only Julia was Bullying a Dragon and is severely hurt.
- Julia is in the midst of her own Heroic BSoD, and as a result she ends up becoming much more violent than she normally would, with potentially tragic consequences.
- Danny just takes it to the opposite extreme, and he learns that he shouldn't complain or falter in public if it means being met with violence. Instead of maturing or expressing his problems in a healthier manner, he just walls up everything instead, putting on a mask of "returning to normal" that everyone accepts.
- Reconstructed: The suicide attempt fails, and Julia, determined to make amends, stops being harsh with him and instead helps him to overcome his problems. This results in Character Development for both.
- Played For Laughs:
- Danny leers and says, "I kinda enjoyed that," so Julia slaps him again.
- The slap does nothing to help Danny's freak-out and he takes a moment to point it out.
- Played For Drama: Julia slaps Bob and gives him a nasty speech about how he needs to end his self-pity, which makes Danny very angry and slaps her right back, knocking her down to the ground. Because of this, Danny is on very poor terms with Julia and the rest of his friends, and he doesn't want to be anywhere near them.
Back to Get A Hold Of Yourself Man AND SNAP OUT OF IT!
