Basic Trope: Someone tries to act friendly to a dangerous animal, falsely assuming that the animal will also be friendly towards them.
- Straight: Bob sees a monkey, and tries to pet it thinking that it's going to be friendly to him. The monkey attacks Bob.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob is thoroughly convinced that an Eldritch Abomination or other obviously dangerous monster is going to be friendly towards him.
- The monkey is very obviously agitated, but Bob still thinks the monkey is trying to be nice to him.
- Downplayed: The monkey never attacks Bob, but does start to show signs of aggression when Bob approaches it. Bob takes the hint and backs off.
- Justified:
- Bob is unfamiliar with monkey behavior and mistakes the monkey's "fear grimace" for a friendly smile.
- Bob knows that monkeys can be funny creatures, but doesn't quite understand that they can also be dangerous when provoked.
- The monkey is one of the smaller species, and Bob assumed that it can't possibly be dangerous because of its small size.
- Bob loves monkeys and was just excited to see one for himself.
- Bob thinks All Animals Are Domesticated.
- Inverted: Bob is extremely cautious around all animals, even ones that are domesticated and/or harmless.
- Subverted:
- Bob is warned not to approach the monkey, but the monkey is actually quite fine with Bob's company.
- Bob is seen acting friendly with a monkey, and then approaching it. However, he's a zookeeper, and knows what he's doing.
- Double Subverted: However, Bob ends up annoying the monkey, and it attacks him.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Bob does not approach wild animals.
- Enforced: To discourage the audience from handling wild animals without knowing what they're doing.
- Lampshaded: "And today Bob has learned that not all animals are dogs."
- Invoked: Charlie encourages Bob to touch the monkey, believing that the resulting injury will fully shake his naive mindset.
- Exploited: Charlie attempts to murder Bob by sending a Killer Rabbit after him, knowing Bob will think it's cute and harmless.
- Defied:
- Alice tells Bob not to get close to the monkey, knowing that it could attack him.
- Bob finds animals interesting, but he realizes that wild animals can be dangerous and decides to keep his distance.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Laughs: The monkey subjects Bob to Amusing Injuries.
- Played for Drama: Bob is severely injured or killed by the monkey.
- Played for Horror: The monkey ends up being an Animalistic Abomination.
Back to Naïve Animal Lover
