Basic Trope: A character realizes that nothing is going to work and decides to give up.
- Straight: Bob decides to give up after realizing that he can't change the world.
- Exaggerated: Bob crosses the Despair Event Horizon after realizing that he failed to change the world.
- Downplayed: Bob doesn't stop caring completely, but he does become bored more often.
- Justified:
- The fact that Bob lives in a Crapsack World where Humans Are Bastards makes it hard for him to make things better.
- Bob helping to fight against the evils of the world only makes things worse than he expected. As soon as he realizes this, he quits trying to change things.
- Inverted:
- Bob realizes that things got better and starts to care again.
- Determinator
- Subverted: Right before he completely gives up, Bob gains new hope after seeing he has left some impact.
- Double Subverted: But it's not a big impact and he stops caring again.
- Parodied: Bob gives up on life after trying and failing to open a jar of tomato sauce.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob gives up on some causes after losing all his hope for them, commits as much to some as he did before, puts less effort towards others (but doesn't give up on them outright), tries harder on some others, and takes up another group of causes anew.
- Averted: Bob doesn't give up in trying to fight for the world.
- Enforced: The author is planning to develop Bob from a idealistic into a cynical character.
- Lampshaded: "Dude, what's up with you? You're gonna give up saving the world just like that?"
- Invoked:
- Bob gives up after trying to change something he could not change, having never realized he couldn't change it.
- Emperor Evulz gives Bob a Breaking Speech about how he's accomplished nothing to make Bob give up.
- Deconstructed: By giving up, Bob only ends up losing even more than if he had kept fighting in the face of adversity.
- Reconstructed: Bob retreats into selfish hedonism, deciding to pursue fleeting sense pleasure because nothing matters. He's utterly contemptible, but he's able to fight for his own needs.
- Exploited: Evulz recruits Bob with the promise of rewards that will make his meaningless existence more pleasant, at least.
- Defied:
- "I don't care how hard it takes for the world to get better. I refuse to give up."
- As soon as Bob starts sounding even slightly apathetic, his love interest Alice gives an inspirational speech to remind him what's he's fighting for.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Bob, who had been The Heart, has taken a blasé attitude towards their current quest.
- Played for Laughs: Bob goes into heavy depression... but then is completely fine after eating some ice cream. Specifically strawberry.
- Played for Drama: Bob goes into heavy depression... and the villains take advantage of his unwillingness to fight and make things even worse.
Back to Stopped Caring
