Basic Trope: Disproportionate Retribution for shoplifting.
- Straight: Alice steals from a store. Sam the Shopkeeper gets so upset that he kills her.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice steals something, and for this crime she suffers a horrific Public Execution.
- Alice didn't actually steal anything at all, but Sam thought she was trying to shoplift and punished her severely.
- Downplayed:
- Sam makes Alice pay a hefty fine for shoplifting.
- Sam slaps Alice when he catches her shoplifting.
- Sam doesn't really care if Alice steals something not worth much money. He only punishes people who steal the more costly items.
- Sam threatens to kill Alice for shoplifting, but doesn't go through with it.
- Sam pulls a gun on Alice, but only to keep her from escaping until the police arrive.
- Sam severely (but non-lethally) injures Alice for shoplifting
- Justified:
- Sam is selling items that need to be regulated, are very valuable, and/or could be dangerous in the wrong hands. He wants to make sure that shoppers are properly qualified to own these items before purchasing, and (possibly righteously) believes that shoplifters could be doing much worse with what they steal.
- Sam could get fired if he lets shoppers steal things.
- Sam takes his job very seriously.
- Sam is a Knight Templar who believes that Jaywalking Will Ruin Your Life.
- Alice was also carrying a weapon or otherwise seemed dangerous, and Sam was afraid for his life.
- There's been a string of thefts, including armed ones, and the authorities can't or won't help. Sam realizes that he has no one that can help him, so he takes it upon himself to deal with thieves personally.
- Inverted:
- Sam encourages, or even rewards, Alice for shoplifting.
- Sam is an Extreme Doormat who does nothing when Alice shoplifts.
- Alice KILLS Sam when he catchs her shoplifting
- Subverted: Sam acts like he's about to attack Alice... but he instead has a calm conversation with her about why she shouldn't shoplift.
- Double Subverted: Then he attacks her.
- Parodied: Sam sends Alice to hell for literally lifting his shop
- Zig-Zagged: Sam's punishments toward shoplifters differ. Sometimes they're disproportionate, sometimes they're reasonable, and sometimes he doesn't care.
- Averted:
- Alice doesn't shoplift.
- Sam doesn't notice or care that Alice is shoplifting.
- Sam gives Alice a reasonable punishment when he catches her shoplifting.
- Enforced:
- It's a video game; Alice is the player character, and the game needs a reason why she can't just go into a store and steal things, so they make Sam the Shopkeeper punish the player for shoplifting.
- The work wants to discourage audiences from shoplifting.
- The work is deconstructing Ballistic Discount.
- Lampshaded:
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Since the shopkeeper is so obscenely powerful as to punish even the most overpowered adventuring shoplifter without fail, Alice gets him to take on the Eldritch Abomination threatening the world.
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: "Don't test Sam. Trust me. Remember what happened to Jess? She's lucky he only shot her in the arm and not the stomach."
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Laughs: Sam kills Alice, only for her to respawn and try to shoplift again, only for Sam to catch and kill her again, and the loop goes on.
- Played for Drama: Sam forces Alice into a strip search and rapes her.
- Played for Horror: Sam is an Eldritch Abomination who attacks Alice when she shoplifts.
- Deconstructed: Sam kills Alice for shoplifting... and ends up arrested when another terrified customer calls the police. He's charged with murder, and is sent to prison, due to his over-the-top solution to the problem.
- Reconstructed: When word gets out about Sam killing a shoplifter, petty theft suddenly becomes incredibly rare afterward. Sam probably didn't intend for it, but would-be thieves end up realizing that they could end up like Alice if they decide to steal from a store owner who could be willing to kill thieves. Even if other store owners don't do it, the risk of losing one's life over convenience store items is way too great for many.
Back to Shoplift and Die... hey, you better pay for that!
