Basic: A badass character falls in love and loses their love interest.
Straight: Action Girl Irene falls in love with Jayden, and then Jayden is killed in a bombing. Irene is shattered.
Justified: The Big Bad dropped the bomb on Jayden because Irene kicked his butt all over the map in the last battle and stole the MacGuffin.
Inverted: Jayden, an average Joe Schmo who works in insurance, falls in love with badass Irene, who then gets killed fighting The Big Bad. He is heartbroken.
Subverted:
Jayden's death was fake, and Irene didn't actually have to lose him.
The rest of the heroes are expecting Irene to be heartbroken by Jayden's death, but turns out she's totally fine.
Double Subverted:
Then he breaks up with her, which still breaks Irene's heart.
Turns out Irene is a Stepford Smiler, and she's actually breaking inside.
Parodied: After Jayden dies, Irene orders a black supersuit, dyes her hair black, and declares that someone else needs to be the team badass because she's the emo now.
Averted:
Irene doesn't lose anyone important to her.
Irene is not heartbroken, and no one expects her to be.
There is no badass.
Enforced: The audience is complaining that Irene is too icy and not relatable enough, so they use this trope to make her less stony and more relatable to anyone who has lost a loved one.
Implied: Irene is an offscreen character. Her sister, Kari, explains to main character Lucas that Irene was the best fighter on the team before the bombing, but now she can't focus on fighting. When Irene appears onscreen for the first time, there are tears on her face.
Played for Laughs: After Jayden dies, Irene spends all her fights reciting mopey Shakespearean monologues while kicking villain butt.
Played for Horror: After Irene's period of grief, she becomes an unstable psycho. Her fighting skills make her a danger to everyone around her.
Exaggerated
Irene spends the next 4 seasons of the show being heartbroken.
Irene loses everyone she loves.
Downplayed:
Irene is mildly sad.
Irene is only heartbroken for one episode.
Lampshaded: "Irene's like, totally heartbroken over Jayden still, and it's been 2 months. We're going to get our butts beaten with our badass still totally depressed and useless."
Invoked: The Big Bad kills Jayden knowing that Irene, the team badass, will be heartbroken.
Exploited: Madeline, another villain, learns of The Big Bad's killing of Jayden from her informants, and attacks the heroes while Irene is indisposed.
Defied: Kari goes out of her way to protect Jayden so Irene's heart isn't broken.
Discussed: "Kari will be fine. This isn't some drama-superhero movie, she's too strong for that."
Conversed: "Gotta say, I really wish Irene would go back to normal. She was my favorite character- I mean, she's such a badass! But now she's all heartbroken and stuff. I miss her."
