Basic Trope: The bassist is the least popular member of the band.
- Straight: Singer Sally, guitarist Gavin, drummer Diane, keyboardist Katie, and bassist Bob are the members of the rock band The Tropers. Fans recognize Sally, Gavin, Diane and Katie easily, but everyone tends to gloss over Bob.
- Exaggerated:
- Even the other members forget that Bob's a member of the band and constantly mistake him for a roadie.
- Fans even recognize the regular roadie, Rick — at Bob's expense.
- Downplayed: Bob isn't recognizable to the common public, but Tropers fans recognize his talent.
- Justified:
- The Tropers' music focuses more on bombastic vocals, epic riffs, and really long drum solos than on the bassline, so Bob doesn't stand out compared to the rest.
- Bob sucks at playing bass, but the rest of the members like him too much to kick him out of the band.
- Bob prefers to stay out of the limelight and is perfectly content to let the rest of the members have all the attention.
- Bob is the not-quite-as-good replacement for Bill, who was the most popular member of the band.
- Bob's band's producer undermixed the Bass tracks on their record.
- Inverted: Bob's popularity outshines those of Sally, Gavin, Diane, and Katie.
- Subverted: Bob gets tired of being ignored, so he starts his own band, This Troper, where he's the frontman.
- Double Subverted: And he becomes the least popular member of that band, too.
- Parodied: When Bob suddenly becomes sick before a show, the rest of the band replaces him with a monkey. Nobody notices.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob has been a member of many bands, some where he was popular, others where he wasn't, a few where he was just sort of in the middle...
- Averted:
- The Tropers don't have a bassist.
- Bob doesn't outshine his bandmates, but neither do they overshadow him.
- Enforced: "What, we can't give the bassist any glory? Okay, how 'bout we make it so that nobody else remembers him?"
- Lampshaded: "This is my favorite band, The Tropers! This is Sally, Gavin, Rhonda, Diane, Katie, and ... and ... the other guy."
- Invoked: Bob becomes a bassist just so he can stay out of the limelight.
- Exploited: Bob is an investigator who needs to covertly infiltrate the symphonic folkcore psychobilly music scene without drawing attention to himself, so he joins The Tropers as the bassist.
- Defied: Bob engages in various attention-seeking stunts so that the fans remember him.
- Discussed: "Sure, I'll be your bassist. No, I don't mind being relegated to a footnote in The Ultimate Symphonic Folkcore Psychobilly Guide."
- Conversed: "Why is Bob even a member of The Tropers in the first place? Nobody even remembers he exists."
- Implied: The Tropers are being jointly interviewed, though their bassist is absent for unspecified reasons.
- Played for Laughs:
- Being unrecognized, Bob rants on Twitter about it. Nobody notices him even there.
- Bob is the Butt-Monkey of The Tropers in all interpersonal interactions, incurring Amusing Injuries from their practical jokes and with them finding narm in most of what he says.
- Played for Drama: Bob's lack of attention from the fans or sometimes his own bandmates causes so much tension that he eventually quits, despite being longtime friends with the others.
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