Basic Trope: The rumored safe zone turns out to be pretty much unsafe.
- Straight: Alice follows the rumors of zombie-safe zone, Arcadia. Upon reaching Arcadia, it turns out to be abandoned and have zombies inside.
- Exaggerated:
- It turns out Arcadia is the source of the zombie apocalypse and the most deadly zombies are there.
- There's rumors about Arcadia and in Arcadia there's rumors about Elysium and in Elysium there's rumors about Haven and in Haven there's rumors about Utopia and in Utopia there's rumors about Alexandria and in Alexandria there's rumors about Thunder Mountain and in Thunder Mountain there's rumors about Outpost 69... and every single one of those rumors are written in someone's Apocalyptic Log.
- Downplayed:
- Arcadia is genuinely a "safe zone" from zombies, but it's also callously pragmatic and highly authoritarian. Alice isn't willing to give up her freedom for security, and moves on.
- The revelation that Arcadia is an unsafe place gives Alice pause for a few seconds, then she rallies and spends the climax killing the zombies and making it safe.
- Justified:
- People keep on making rumors and Arcadia's name feeds the imagination.
- Arcadia used to be safe, but Alice is the Big Bad and she brought the Zombie Apocalypse with her.
- Arcadia may have survived all of the horrors tossed at it for decades on end, but they didn't had someone actively hindering things (willingly or not) from the inside. Which means that all it takes is either someone declaring A House Divided or Alice being a Walking Disaster Area and everybody is doomed.
- Arcadia was deliberately targeted by a Hope Crusher.
- Emperor Evulz wants Alice in his grasp. The best way to trap somebody is by giving them nowhere to run.
- Inverted: The rumored "death zone" turns out to be thriving and safe community.
- Subverted:
- It seems Arcadia is a disappointment and there's nothing... but it turns out they are just hiding underground.
- Arcadia, Queensland is a disappointment, but the rumors were about Arcadia, Peloponnese.
- Double Subverted:
- We find out about the above when they come to the surface, running for their lives from zombies that overrun the place.
- Not that that place is doing any better.
- Parodied: Arcadia is rumored to be the last place safe... from annoying commercials. And even there those pesky kids have brought their adverts.
- Zig Zagged: "Dead Zone" turns out to be just a rumor - but Alice makes it an Arcadia and all is going fine. Until it isn't and "safe zone" attracts zombies, who overrun the place. Then it turns out there was something in Arcadia that kills the zombies and when Alice learns to harness it, Arcadia becomes a true safe zone... until Emperor Evulz comes because that gizmo is the MacGuffin he needs to Take Over the World, and he orders his armies to bombard the place to rubble. But Alice and her True Companions survive and manage to rebuild after taking care of Evulz. But Evulz' Dragon is out there, trying to decide whether or not he should take revenge and if he does, whether or not he should aim for maximum suffering...
- Averted: Reaching Arcadia is the climax of the story, and it is more or less exactly as promised.
- Enforced:
- Producers want to make another season of the show, and Alice's Adventures in Arcadia would be kind of boring.
- "It's a prequel, you know how Trope Adventures I started!"
- Lampshaded: "Did you honestly believe that there is some mystical 'safe zone'? Open your eyes, you idiots, we're all gonna die!"
- Invoked: Big Bad spreads rumors of "Arcadia" to gather test subjects.
- Exploited: Despite knowing it's not there, Alice uses the rumor to organize grand journey to Arcadia and put her people out of zombie's way.
- Defied: Alice ignores the rumors as irrelevant, if not false. She'd rather make the world she knows better, instead of pinning her hopes on distant stories.
- Discussed: "What if it turns out to be nothing more than a rumor?"
- Conversed: "And yeah, you guessed it - it was a Room Full of Zombies."
- Implied: Alice goes to Arcadia and promises she'll come back. We never hear from her again.
- Played For Laughs:
- Seeing that Arcadia's not there, Alice throws a childish temper tantrum.
- The thing that makes Arcadia a "hope spot" is not its lack of safety but something idiotic and Faux Horrific like it being the world's largest congregation of Nickelback fans.
- Played For Drama:
- Seeing that Arcadia's not there, Alice has Heroic BSoD and a Freak Out.
- Death by Despair is a typical response by people who have sacrificed everything to reach a place as unsafe as the rest of the world, and discover it the hard way.
- Played For Horror: The revelation that Arcadia is not a safe spot at all is a Cruel Twist Ending and it kills all of the remaining cast members.
Rumors are, Safe Zone Hope Spot is safe from Moral Guardians. Care to check it?
