Basic Trope: Character is hard to trick because he's too ignorant to notice the bait.
- Straight: Evil Empress Alice tries to seduce Bob into restoring her dark powers. He has such a poor grasp of flirtation that Alice's words fall on deaf ears.
- Exaggerated: Bob mistakes Alice caressing his arm as an assassination attempt and quickly subdues her, foiling her plans.
- Downplayed: See Straight, but Alice is a store customer looking for a discount, while Bob is an aloof manager.
- Justified: Bob's parents sheltered him as a child in the hopes that he would focus on his studies. It limited his knowledge of social cues.
- Inverted: Alice's attempts to charm Bob are clumsy. Bob, usually vigilant and perceptive, sees her as no threat and falls right into her trap.
- Subverted: Bob gets caught sweeping several women off their feet later that day, so it's clear his encounter with Empress Alice was a ruse.
- Double Subverted: A few hours ago, Bob got a crash course in talking to girls by some bemused, but grateful town Casanovas. He's doing it all by rote.
- Parodied: Bob's rejection wounds the Empress's pride. Forgetting the point of seducing Bob, Alice tries to get him to notice her in comically overblown ways.
- Zig Zagged:
- Averted:
- Enforced: "The ladies in the audience think Bob's innocence is cute and really hate that vamp Alice...hmmm..."
- Lampshaded: "Wow," says Empress Alice. "Even if I was genuinely interested in you, you'd be too stupid to get anywhere with me. What a shame!"
- Invoked: The rebel forces deprive their soldiers of social interaction to keep them loyal and simple-minded.
- Exploited: Bob and Alice's encounter was engineered in a scheme to help Empress Alice get a boyfriend and mellow out. The rebels know that she likes her men simple and determined, like Bob.
- Defied: Before seducing Bob, Alice sends a minion to spell it out for him: "Dude, I heard Evil Empress Alice is into you. Go talk to her!"
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
Back to
Too Dumb to Fool
