Basic Trope: A character abandons their role to avoid getting involved in conflict.
- Straight: Bob works as a henchman for Damien the Terrible, but decides to leave Damien's castle rather than take part in the latest fight against Jesse Sunkiller.
- Exaggerated: Confirmed sightings of Jesse are always followed by mass desertions amongst Damien's troops.
- Downplayed:
- Bob splits offscreen and is only mentioned in passing.
- Bob realized he is incapable of fighting the hero and stayed away from the conflict but remained around to support Damien and give him gear
- Justified:
- Bob was forced into service for Damien and is looking for any excuse to quit.
- Bob just realized that Even Evil Has Standards and doesn't like the way Damien is going mad with power.
- Bob is just a hired gun who could easily find work elsewhere, so he feels no obligation to risk his life for Damien's lost cause.
- Bob is a Dirty Coward.
- Bob only works for Damien because he's holding his family hostage and will kill them if Bob doesn't do what he says. But Bob just found out a way to rescue them.
- Bob was promised that if he helped Damien Take Over the World, he'd be his second in command and rule the world with him only to realize Damien isn't going to keep his promise and/or is going to lose no matter what.
- Bob is a Psycho for Hire Nietzsche Wannabe who thinks rules are meaningless arbitrary concepts we enforce to make ourselves feel more significant than we actually are, while Damien has no problem bossing him around. Bob just figured working for him just isn't fun anymore.
- Bob joined Damien's side because of some quality he admired in Damien; however, he has come to realize that Damien no longer possesses those qualities.
- Bob was told that he wouldn't have to fight and risk getting hurt, but when Jesse storms Damien's castle with the intent to leave no survivors, he leaves.
- Bob knows that sometimes quitting is the best option and Jesse's arrival is one of those times.
- Bob was sick of dealing with Damien's crap.
- Alternatively, Bob was tired of his coworkers picking on him.
- Bob was Only in It for the Money and he just found out Damien had no intent on paying him.
- Jesse is a particularly nasty Anti-Hero who brutally murders the bad guys he beats. Bob had every right to go escape while he could.
- Bob realizes this is All for Nothing and decides to retreat. Not all fights are worth winning y'know.
- Inverted:
- Bob, Jesse's arch-rival, joins Damien's army just in time to fight Jesse.
- Bob is told to leave, but refuses.
- Subverted:
- Damien catches Bob trying to escape and drags him back to his post.
- Bob pretends to run off so he can prepare a surprise attack.
- Double Subverted:
- Once Damien is distracted fighting Jesse, Bob manages to escape successfully.
- Bob runs off for real after Jesse gives him a Death Glare.
- Parodied:
- Bob keeps a packed suitcase by the back door, ready to run at any given moment.
- Bob puts up with all manner of humiliations while working for Damien; however, the last straw comes when Damien cancels Casual Friday (or makes him work overtime without extra pay).
- Bob's desire to leave becomes so great that he straight-up vanishes into thin air.
- Zig Zagged: Bob flees before the fight starts, but then changes his mind and comes back. However, when he sees Jesse single-handedly wiping out the rest of Damien's army, he turns around and runs again.
- Averted: Bob does not attempt to run from the battle.
- Enforced: "We want to bring Bob back for the sequel. Let's keep him away from the final battle to explain how he survived."
- Lampshaded: "I can guess how this fight's gonna turn out, and I want no part of it!"
- Invoked:
- Jesse manages to convince Bob to walk away without a fight.
- Jesse operates as a Terror Hero to inspire this reaction.
- Exploited:
- Bob 'gives up' in order to surprise attack Damien.
- Bob gives up and pulls a MookâFace Turn... but it turns out that he's still loyal to Damien, because Bob and Damien both know how forgiving the heroes are.
- Defied:
- Damien equips Bob with an Explosive Leash to prevent him from going AWOL.
- Alternatively, Damien appears behind the first door Bob opens and points a loaded gun at him.
- "I ain't no damn wimp! I'm staying!"
- Bob tries to run away. Jesse just hunts him down. Jesse may even say something along the lines of "you really thought I was gonna forget about you?" before slaying the true very last member of Damien's forces (resignation notwithstanding).
- Discussed: "So you're working for Damien, huh? Got an escape route planned yet?"
- Conversed: "If Bob has any sense, he'll get outta there while he still can."
- Deconstructed:
- Bob's desertion is indicative of Damien's shortcomings as a leader, as he is unable to inspire loyalty in his followers.
- Bob becomes a target for revenge amongst those who remained loyal to Damien.
- While on the run, Bob is attacked by some of the wildlife that he was safe from when he worked for Damien.
- Reconstructed: Bob up and ran because he realized how just plain evil Damien was and didn't want to put up with his bullshit anymore. He later becomes a valuable companion to Jesse.
- Played For Laughs:
- Damien makes a grandiose speech about fighting Jesse to the last man, then turns around just in time to see Bob slam the exit door behind him.
- Bob's leaves in a rather non-nonchalant and casual way, because his hours were up.
- Bob does not just quit. He does it by delivering his retirement notice in the most bombastic and insulting way possible. Even Jesse has to pause his stormin' to behold what is happening.
- Played For Drama:
- Bob's exit comes at a crucial moment in the battle, leaving Damien at Jesse's mercy.
- Bob left because Damien does all the horrible crap he does just because he can. Since even Bob has standards, the latter ran away from the battle. Which is bad for Damien, because Bob was one of his best soldiers.
- Bob and Damien used to be good friends (regardless of the fact they were villains). Bob's decision to quit comes at the end of a great deal of internal conflict for him. For further drama, Damien is utterly heartbroken by Bob's refusal to stick through thick and thin.
- Played for Horror:
- Bob's decision to run away is a sign of his Sanity Slippage reaching critical levels and to make things worse for everybody else (who trusts and maybe even loves him) he has become perfectly willing to kill whoever becomes an obstacle to his escape.
- Jesse is a horrible man to encounter, whether alone or together. Bob, like many other slasher victims, committed the ultimately fatal decision to take his chances alone.
Forget it. You know what? Screw This, I'm Outta Here!
