Basic Trope: Someone is sent to do a menial task, such as peeling potatoes, often in the military.
- Straight: Private Partz is sent to the kitchen to peel potatoes as Punishment Detail.
- Exaggerated:
- Pvt. Partz is assigned this duty right out of basic training.
- He is a high-ranking officer, such as a general, not a lowly private.
- Downplayed: ???
- Justified:
- It's a form of Punishment Detail, or part of his training, to enforce humility.
- Pvt. Partz's job is as a cook, or an assistant to one.
- Pvt. Partz is filling in for someone who's out sick.
- Inverted: Karma Houdini
- Subverted: Pvt. Partz is Reassigned to Antarctica
- Double Subverted: To do the grunt work no one else wants to do.
- Parodied: Pvt. Partz is sent to Potato Island and left there.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Pvt. Partz does not get assigned to peel potatoes or do other menial work.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "One potato down...900,000 to go."
- Invoked: Pvt. Partz does something he's not supposed to do.
- Exploited: The Army of Tropestan uses this to keep labor costs low.
- Defied: Pvt. Partz is disciplined in another way, up to and including dishonorable discharge.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Due to lack of civilian contractors, the Tropestan Army assigns some soldiers to perform menial tasks. This negatively affects the number of soldiers that are available for combat.
- Reconstructed: The Tropestan Army reserves this task for soldiers who are unable to fight on the front lines or as punishment.
Back to Peeling Potatoes
