Basic Trope: One who doesn't give the proper gratitude.
- Straight: Bob saves Alice from falling into a spikes pit. Alice blames Bob for causing her to almost fall into said death trap.
- Exaggerated: Bob saves Alice from falling into the spikes. In return, Alice pushes Bob down to those spikes!
- Downplayed:
- Bob saves Alice from falling into the spikes. Alice then walks away without acknowledging that Bob just saved her life.
- Bob saves Alice from falling into the spikes. Alice thanks him for putting his "dirty" hands on her.
- Alice is a villainess plotting against Bob. She sincerely thanks him, but still attempts to kill him afterwards.
- Justified:
- Bob is a well-known troublemaker, so Alice assumes the spikes were part of his prank and that he saved her when the prank went wrong.
- Alice is too arrogant to thank those whom she looks down upon.
- Alice screams "Stranger Danger" because she is six, and Bob's a stranger who just grabbed onto her arm.
- Bob is a villain who saves Alice from falling into a pit in a Pet the Dog moment. Despite this, one good moment doesn't negate all the crimes he's committed. Thus, Alice doesn't thank Bob because she knows about all his crimes.
- Alice is prideful enough to believe that Bob saving her is something that he is obligated to do, rather then going out of his way to be charitable.
- Alice would not be killed by falling onto the spikes, but within the pit is something the duo needs to obtain. Bob saving her was Unwanted Assistance.
- Bob is a Good Is Not Nice type of character and he was a major Jerkass to Alice. This made Alice feel getting saved by him less satisfying and more frustrating.
- Bob is actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing trying to buy Alice's trust to further his motives, and she sees right through his act.
- Bob accidentally (or not-so-accidentally) ripped off Alice's clothes while rescuing her. She is too humiliated to be thankful.
- Bob accidentally (or not-so-accidentally) broke Alice's leg while rescuing her.
- Alice is a villainess plotting something Bob would be against.
- Alice is a fiercely independent person and sees herself as very capable of getting out of these situations on her own, and Bob saving her wounded her self-esteem.
- Bob fails to save Alice from the spike pit. Alice refuses to show gratitude for "trying your best" when Bob's best still failed to prevent serious injury.
- Inverted:
- Bob saves Alice from tripping into a puddle of mud and Alice becomes his Meido from that day on.
- Alternatively, Alice is very thankful to Bob for saving her. Bob, however, rejects it.
- Bob shoves Alice into a pit of spikes, but for some reason, she thanks him for that!
- Bob expects to be rewarded for not throwing Alice onto the spikes.
- Subverted:
- Alice is a well-known Alpha Bitch. But when Bob saves her from falling into the spikes, she thanks him.
- Alice doesn't show any gratitude to Bob for saving her from monster attacks. Carol explains that defeating the monsters removes them from history, leaving those who aren't time wardens like them to lose all memory of it.
- "I'll tell you what I'll say... Thank you..."
- Bob was the one to force Alice into the perilous journey in the first place. Saving her is the least he could do.
- Double Subverted:
- Once they get back home, she backstabs Bob by lying to the authorities that Bob almost raped her.
- However, once Alice becomes one herself, she still is never grateful without so much as a reason for her to be upset about becoming one.
- "...for immediately ruining my day by showing up to save me!"
- Parodied:
- After Bob saves Alice from falling on the spikes, Alice pushes Bob into the spikes, calls the police and says to them that he intended to push her into them, after he had raped her, of course... And then she lights him on fire!
- Later, Alice finds herself in peril again. Bob, who survived, rescues her again, but strips her, brings her to a talk show, ties her hands to a pole and forces her to thank and flatter him on an uncensored worldwide broadcast.
- Zig Zagged:
- Bob saves Alice multiple times, and she alternatively loves him and hates him for it.
- Whether or not Alice will repay an offer depends on whether she sees it as a "fair trade" or "condescending charity".
- Averted: Alice is thankful to Bob for saving her.
- Enforced: The creators want to show that kindness does not always get rewarded.
- Lampshaded: Bob gives a sarcastic "You're welcome!" when Alice neglects to thank him.
- Invoked: Joe knowing that Alice would turn on Bob plants the spikes and sends Bob to Alice.
- Exploited: Knowing Alice is unlikely to thank him, Bob arranges to have his rescue and her angrily insult him recorded so he can blackmail her later with being exposed as an ungrateful snob.
- Defied: The moment Alice starts blaming Bob, he abruptly pushes her down into the spikes.
- Discussed: "I don't know why Bob keeps saving Alice. She never thanks him for it!"
- Conversed: "I know doing good is its own reward, but people like Alice really prove it."
- Deconstructed:
- People stop trying to help Alice.
- Alice eventually gets hit with a well-deserved Jerkass Realization, ridden with guilt because of how she treats Bob. When she tries to atone, she gets an especially bitter taste of her own medicine.
- Should Alice be captured yet again, Bob has had enough of Alice at that point, and lets Evulz keep her.
- Reconstructed:
- Alice's best friend Carly knows what had really happened and rewards Bob, albeit in secret. She also helps reverse the wrongdoings Alice did to Bob, if possible.
- Carly gave Alice a good What the Hell, Hero? Speech and calls her out and says that people like her don't deserve to be saved, Alice realizes what she has been... only to shrug it off and remain ungrateful.
- Alice decides to thank Bob for saving her... while still hating him.
- Played For Laughs: Bob uses one of Alice's high-tech gadgets to save her from the spike pit, which gets destroyed in the process. Alice then demands that Bob buy her a new one, which he can easily afford.
- Played For Drama: After Bob saves Alice from falling into a spike pit, instead of thanking Bob, she goes on an angry rant about how Bob is an idiot for being responsible for nearly getting her killed because of his foolishness, which upsets Bob. Once Alice gets in trouble again, Bob sees her and refuses to rescue her this time and outright says she deserves to suffer her fate.
- Played for Horror:
- Alice The Sociopath is in life-threatening straits that she brought upon herself by trying to kill Bob and begs Bob to help her. Bob does. Alice immediately kills him, tossing in a sarcastic "thank you" as a Bond One-Liner.
- Alice's ungratefulness is the final push that drives Bob into "fuck all of humanity and make it suffer big time" mode, and the results get very bloody very fast.
- Alice is ungrateful. Bob does not takes the insults lying down and immediately gives her a more painful death than the one he just saved her from.
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