Basic trope: A character feels insecure about their height.
- Straight:
- Bob is 5’4”, and feels less like a man because of it.
- Alice is 6’0”, taller than her boyfriend and the tallest girl in her friend group, causing her angst.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob is only a quarter of an inch shorter than the average height of a man, but he doesn't want to go outside because he is afraid people will laugh at him.
- Alice is only slightly taller than average, but feels like she’s 50 feet tall and is very picky about dating, stating that she only dates guys with gigantism.
- Downplayed:
- Bob is from a short country where his height is average, but he travels to a taller country and feels short.
- Alice is only taller than her boyfriend when wearing high heels.
- Justified:
- Bob lives in a society that values being tall as a positive trait.
- Alice lives in a society where being short is associated with femininity.
- Inverted:
- Bob feels great thanks to his short stature, as he can fit in small spaces.
- Alice feels great thanks to her tall stature, as she is tall enough to be a model.
- Gender Inverted: The two are gender inversions of each other.
- Subverted:
- Bob just thinks he is smaller because he hangs around people taller than him. He later finds out he is taller than the average height.
- Alice just thinks she is taller because she hangs around with younger girls who are still growing.
- Alice (or Bob) is often mocked for their height. Despite expectations of angst, Alice's internal P.O.V. reveals that she is perfectly content with her height. From her perspective, the opinions of her critics ultimately don't matter (though Alice hopes they stop annoying her).
- Double Subverted:
- But he later moves to a country where the average height is much taller than where he previously lived and is barely the size of most woman there.
- But just as her younger friends catch up to her, she has a late growth spurt and becomes taller once again.
- She is gaslit into doubting herself because of her height.
- Parodied:
- Bob walks around in kids' clothes since most other stuff won't fit, internally hoping that no one will notice. Unfortunately, they do.
- Alice wears men’s Size 18 shoes since they are cheaper than women’s size 20 shoes. And they’re still too tight!
- Zig Zagged:
- Bob lives in an area where there is a wide range of sizes, so he is not sure how to feel about his height.
- Alice is a Tomboy and hangs around with guys more than girls. She is shorter than all but one or two of her guy friends, but she would be taller than most girls if she hung out with them instead.
- Averted:
- Alice / Bob is of average height.
- Alice's / Bob's height is never mentioned by the narrative, and she / he doesn't have any strong feelings about her / his height either way.
- Enforced: "Lol, haven't you heard about little man syndrome. We should totally get some of that into the show. You know what to do, writer."
- Lampshaded: "You know, sometimes I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller."
- Invoked: Bob asks Alice how's the weather up there.
- Exploited: Alice makes fun of Bob's height since she knows he feels insecure about it.
- Defied:
- Alice is sad because she is so tall, but she learns to live with it.
- Bob is sad because he is so short, but then he sees a David Versus Goliath movie. Motivated, he curses himself of being mopey and gets back up.
- Discussed: "Why do all small men have to be so mad, just because they are not very tall."
- Conversed: "I would be so sad if I was the same height as Bob." "Really? I'm a short fellow and I don't angst about it like this Bob character does. This show sucks."
- Deconstructed: People feel insecure about their height because their height makes it hard for them to get a job, revealing that the society they live in discriminates people based on height, which causes problems.
- Implied: Bob gets asked online by Alice how tall he is. He avoids answering the question.
- Played For Laughs: Bob keeps rearranging Alice's seat and hides her shoes with heels, so he doesn't have to deal with the fact that she's taller than him.
- Played For Drama: Bob ends up living in solitude because he does not feel that he can find anyone who would be together with someone at his size.
- Played For Horror: Alice (or Bob) angsts about her height because she knows that she would be killed in any minute by a nigh-omniscient Serial Killer who kills anyone that don't conform to the ideal height.
Back to Height Angst.
