Basic Trope: A character gives another character a speech in which they delineate all of their flaws.
- Straight: Bob gives Alice a speech on why she is a failure.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob gives Alice a very, very long, detailed speech that carries on for hours and hours, describing in great detail every failure she's ever made in her life.
- To the Pain
- Bob gives a monologue towards humanity detailing each and every one of its flaws. It's so thoroughly articulate and convincing that the entire world commits suicide
- Downplayed:
- Bob notes that Alice is "kind of a bitch," but doesn't really go much further.
- Bob gives a speech on why Alice is a failure... to his friend.
- Bob calmly but firmly explains to Alice her many shortcomings, and how she must work hard to improve.
- Justified:
- Bob frequently speaks his mind bluntly and he just saw Alice doing something stupid.
- Alice always picks on Bob, who finally speaks out against her.
- It might just be what Alice needs to overcome her shortcomings.
- Inverted:
- Bob gives Alice a speech on why she is better than she thinks she is.
- Bob tells Alice everything that is great about her, and she feels horrible about it.
- Bob starts to rant at Alice, only to slowly realize that he's the same as Alice and has a Heel Realization. He may decide to reform himself after this revelation.
- Bob gives Alice a speech on why he is a failure.
- Rousing Speech
- Subverted:
- I Have Just One Thing to Say
- Alice actually takes pride in everything Bob criticizes her for, and it turns into one gigantic Insult Backfire.
- Double Subverted: Bob's speech starts off listing Alice's flaws, but then he starts praising her...before going right back to conclude that she's still a horrible person.
- Parodied:
- Bob gives a passive-agressive speech that involves lots of egregious things and Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking.
- Bob literally gives out several reasons on why Alice sucks, before giving her a speech on how to improve herself.
- Zig Zagged: Same as the Double Subverted example, but it cycles between flaws and strengths/accomplishments. The outcome is not necessarily a conclusion that Alice is horrible.
- Averted: Bob and Alice have an ordinary, non-judgmental conversation.
- Enforced: "This is getting out of hand. Find some way to chew Alice out for all the bad stuff she's done."
- Lampshaded:
- "Wow. Tell her how you really feel, Bob."
- "Is there anything that you don't hate about me? Because it really looks like you think that I literally can't do anything right."
- Invoked: Alice is trying to put Bob into a sense of moral outrage to snap him out of his Heroic BSoD.
- Implied: Claire sees Alice shuffle away from a room with a Thousand-Yard Stare and Bob sitting inside. When Claire asks what the hell happened, Bob only answers with "truth to power".
- Exploited:
- Alice knows that Bob loves this trope, so she waits until he gets into his speech before launching a sneak-attack.
- "The five minutes you just wasted telling me how much I suck we could have used for literally ANYTHING else. I just want you to know that."
- Defied:
- Shut Up, Hannibal!/Shut Up, Kirk!
- Bob refuses to give a speech because he'd only be wasting his breath.
- Bob is so angry that he can't even speak.
- Bob gets to know what Talk to the Fist feels like before he can say a single word.
- Alice gets away from Bob before he can say a single word at her.
- Alice beats Bob to the punch by delivering a "The Reason I Suck" Speech and then caps it with a "...so, is there anything else you want to tell me?". This manages to psych out Bob, showcasing that Alice knows perfectly well that she sucks and why she sucks, and most importantly, that she doesn't care.
- Discussed: "Ow. Alice must feel bad about all that."
- Conversed: Alice and Charlie debate whether using emotional and verbal warfare is a valid and/or effective battle tactic.
- Deconstructed:
- The speech causes Alice to snap and suffer an Heroic BSoD.
- Bob gives Alice a speech about her flaws which then angers Alice who then gives Bob a speech on his own similar flaws, telling him that he's no better and thus has no right or position to be so judgmental of her.
- Bob is given a lot of criticism himself for calling out Alice in such a way that breaks her.
- Due to being made off-the-cuff, being highly passionate and clearly biased, Bob's speech comes across less like the well-written examples and more of immature ranting.
- Reconstructed:
- ...But, although shaken, she takes Bob's criticisms to heart and becomes a better person. Because of this, she gains Bob's respect.
- Bob comes to the terms that he and Alice are not so different after all, and they both made an agreement to help each other overcome their flaws.
- Bob explains to them why it had happened and reminds them of her actions.
- Despite being presented as an angry, off-the-cuff rant, Bob's actual criticisms of Alice's personality are still completely valid.
- Played For Laughs:
- Bob gives Alice a speech on why she is so terrible at playing video games.
- Bob gives Alice a speech on why she's a terrible person. Alice replies with "So you think I'm cute?"
- Bob gives Alice a speech on why she's a terrible person. Alice replies with an apathetic "Yeah, whatever", and continues to do whatever she was doing, leaving a frustrated Bob to walk away, knowing he can't get through her.
- Bob gives Alice a speech on why she's a terrible person. Alice was distracted and didn't hear any of it.
- Played For Drama:
- Alice is the 'talk shit, get hit' type of person, so when Bob tears into her, she hands his ass to him.
- Alice snaps and kills herself. Bob winces, knowing he will be seen as a monster now.
- Bob's speech is about how much Alice has driven people away by being The Scrooge. Alice answers that every penny she saves is meant to pay for her mother's operation (and then explains why this is the only option she has and can't do anything else like being lent money). Bob's reaction, in a nutshell, is "My God, What Have I Done?".
- Played For Horror:
- "Bob" is a sadistic demon that gives Alice a speech about how worthless she is and she should die, right here and right now.
- Congratulations, Bob! You little five-minute speech became Alice's stressor. You may wish to remember that when you hear the news about how Alice went on a killing spree.
- Congratulations, Bob! You little five-minute speech pointing out the flaws of the Aliens got misinterpreted and made them believe that humans are savage beasts that do not deserve to exist. You may wish to remember that when you hear the news about how the Aliens have declared war and are now trying to end humanity.
Back to "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
