Basic Trope: A character believes his/her friends have forgotten his/her birthday, but it turns out they didn't (usually they turn out to have been planning a Surprise Party).
- Straight: Bob thinks Alice and the others have forgotten his birthday, but it turns out they remembered and had been planning a birthday party for him all along.
- Exaggerated: Everyone insists that Bob's birthday is on a different day, accuses him of being an Attention Whore on a day that's not his birthday, and mocks him for thinking it was, only to surprise him with a party later.
- Downplayed: Bob thinks that his birthday has been pushed aside for more important stuff... and then everybody gives him one gift each at the end of the day.
- Justified: They are preparing a surprise birthday party for Bob and don't want to ruin the surprise, and it never occurred to them to just wish him a happy birthday without indicating any knowledge of a party.
- Inverted:
- Bob forgets his own birthday.
- Everyone thinks Bob's birthday is today, but it's actually not.
- Everyone else remembers that it's Bob's birthday, much to his chagrin since he is a rather dull sort who would rather spend his birthday working than celebrating.
- Subverted: The other characters really did forget Bob's birthday.
- Double Subverted: They are all just that good at acting.
- Parodied: Everyone really forgot Bob's birthday. Alice remembers it right at the last minute and calls everyone else to stage a short-notice surprise birthday party for Bob.
- Zig Zagged: Bob's coworkers pretend not to know it's his birthday and then throw a surprise party. He wonders why Alice hasn't shown up to the party yet, only to discover she really did forget. Then it turns out that she was planning her own surprise party, but all of the guests at her party think it's a party for someone other than Bob.
- Averted:
- Bob notices people not making a fuss about his birthday and calls them out on it, forcing them to give away the surprise of the surprise party long before planned.
- There isn't a Birthday Episode.
- Bob's friends don't throw him a surprise party.
- While Bob's friends do throw him a surprise party, they still acknowledge that it's his birthday. They just make sure not to say anything about a party.
- Enforced: "We're running low on script ideas here. Why don't we just have everyone pretend to forget it's Bob's birthday?"
- Lampshaded: "Why does this always happen to us: We think people have forgotten our birthdays, but they haven't and were just preparing for a party? Even The Ditz should be able to notice the pattern by now!"
- Invoked: Alice has a hectic day making sure everybody feigns unawareness of Bob's birthday, constantly having to stop people from wishing him a happy birthday, to make the surprise all the better.
- Exploited: The Big Bad notices that Bob is feeling down about the others "forgetting" his birthday, so they strike while he's feeling sorry for himself.
- Defied:
- Bob notices that Alice uncharacteristically "forgets" his birthday, so he catches on that she must be lying, then tells her that he doesn't want a surprise party at the end of the day and would rather have the whole day with her instead.
- Alice organises the surprise party, but she tells Bob's other friends, "If you see Bob, don't give anything away, but at the same time, don't pretend it's not his birthday either. Just wish him a happy birthday, but don't say anything about a party."
- Discussed: "How do we prevent Bob from thinking we've forgotten his birthday while we're planning his party?"
- Conversed: "I never understood how in that episode, the characters didn't just wish him a happy birthday. They could've easily done that without spoiling the surprise; just don't mention anything about a party."
- Deconstructed:
- Bob is disheartened by his friends and family seemingly not caring about his birthday. As such instead of going home after work, he drives down to a bar where he drinks himself into a stupor. He ends up rushed to the hospital to be treated for alcohol poisoning. All the while his family and friends are waiting at his home talking about how excited he will be when he walks in the door and sees the wonderful surprise party they prepared for him.
- Based on the Exaggerated example, Bob is pissed off with his friends for lying to him the entire day about forgetting his birthday to the point of mocking him, so the surprise at the end doesn't cheer him up, and only ends up making everyone looking like they're carrying the Jerkass Ball. Alice tries explaining that they wanted the surprise to be better, but Bob dismisses that and says that what she and everyone else put him through was pretty hurtful and storms off.
- Everyone suddenly pretending to not remember Bob's birthday makes him suspicious about their behavior, since the way they are handling it is Out of Character for them all. He quickly discovers the surprise while the others are embarrassed and realize that they could have hid the surprise without outright acting so oblivious altogether.
- Played For Drama: Bob is horrified both that they missed how upset he was at their neglecting him, and that they actually broke into his house to set up the party. He kicks them out, and it's unhappy for all.
Back to Not-So-Forgotten Birthday
