Basic Trope: Overly proud of leading an ascetic life.
- Straight: Sam likes to say that people who like alcohol are weak and stupid.
- Exaggerated:
- Whenever Sam catches someone drinking, he'll go on a multi-page Character Filibuster that can be summed up as "you suck for supporting an industry that does nothing but ruin lives, and if you think drinking is even remotely enjoyable, you've been brainwashed".
- Sam is a full-blown Dry Crusader, and believes that makes him a saint.
- Sam believes that using alcohol, tobacco, weed, or even prescription drugs — even just once — instantly makes you less of a human being.
- Straight Edge Evil
- Downplayed:
- Sam thinks drinking alcohol is a pointless waste of time, but he doesn't think it's that much worse than the other things he happens to dislike.
- Sam is an occasional drinker, but he is very much of the opinion that other Drugs Are Bad, and he despises alcoholics.
- Justified: Sam lost many friends to alcoholism and he wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
- Inverted:
- Sam drinks, and claims that teetotalers "don't know what real fun is" and are "too scared to face their true selves".
- Sam is The Teetotaler, but believes this makes him inferior to his drinking friends.
- Subverted: Sam berates Ellie for getting drunk. It turns out to be justified — she's pregnant.
- Double Subverted: Later, Sam berates Tom for enjoying a single beer on his day off.
- Parodied:
- Sam claims that the best part of being a teetotaler is knowing that you're superior to everyone else.
- Sam is a Straw Hypocrite and makes no attempt to hide it.
- Zig Zagged:
- Averted: Sam is The Teetotaler, but doesn't think less of people who choose to drink.
- Enforced: The show is sponsored by a winery, which "suggested" a scene in which teetotalism is Damned By a Fool's Praise.
- Lampshaded: "Gee, Sam... we just like to have a little beer now and then!"
- Invoked: Sam's parents encourage an anti-alcohol attitude a bit too much.
- Exploited: A bar uses "and you'll spite that annoying, self-righteous Sam" as an argument for drinking.
- Defied: "I drink. Not a lot, but I drink. Aside from that, I am a perfectly normal person who takes great care of his body and livelihood. And if you can't stand that, for the love of God, either leave or at least don't act like such a self-righteous jerk."
- Discussed:
- Conversed: "I don't drink, but the smugness of this anti-alcohol PSA makes me want to down a bottle of vodka in pure spite."
- Deconstructed: Sam's self-righteousness ends up driving away his friends. Even other teetotalers want nothing to do with him, as they hate how he makes them all look like smug jerks.
- Played For Drama: Sam's opposition to drugs is so extreme that he thinks less of his own son for needing prescription drugs once.
- Implied: Sam notably scowls whenever he sees anyone drinking.
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