Basic Trope: When characters discuss the Aesop in a metacontextual way, usually sabotaging whatever flimsy moral may have existed in the first place.
- Straight:Bob: "You know, I learned a valuable lesson today, guys. Caring about other people makes you mentally and physically stressed out."
- Exaggerated:Bob: "You know, I learned a valuable lesson today, guys. Instead of putting my life before others, I'll just end everyone's lives including my own!
- Alternatively, Bob always states the wrong moral every episode.
- Downplayed:Bob: I learned that life isn't about doing things for yourself, but it's about doing things for others to get extra money.
- Justified:
- Bob easily forgets about the lesson he learned.
- Bob is really stubborn about learning his lesson.
- Space Whale Aesop
- Inverted: Bob somehow gets a legitimate Aesop from a ridiculous, morally-unsound situation.
- Subverted:Bob: "I've learned my lesson today, guys. Caring about other people makes you mentally and physically stressed... but it's always worth it."
- Despite making a nasty one-liner undermining the Aesop, in future installments, Bob does start caring about people more.
- Double Subverted:Bob: "...Nah. It's not worth it! I'm going home!"
- Parodied: ???
- Zig Zagged: After undermining the Aesop, Bob's apathy becomes a Yo Yo Plot Point.
- Averted: Bob states what he actually learns without changing the subject.
- Enforced: "People love Bob for being the selfish fool, so lets make an episode where he sabotages a lesson he was supposed to learn."
- Lampshaded: "What a great way to ruin an ending, Bob!"
- Invoked:
- Bob thinks aesops are cliched, so he decides to ruin the moral just to make it seem interesting.
- Feeling that his friends would rub it in his face, Bob decides to sabotage the lesson to avoid giving them the satisfaction at his expense.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- Bob's friends force him to state what he actually learned about.
- Bob tries his to learn from his lesson without subverting it.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Because Bob subverted the lesson, his friends abandon him knowing that he doesn't want to learn anything.
Back to Ignored Aesop
