Basic Trope: A character makes a private decision that reveals their moral fiber, or lack thereof.
- Straight: Long-distance runner Bob is given the chance to put one over on Alice without anyone knowing by emptying her inhaler before a race.
- Exaggerated: Bob is given the opportunity to erase Alice from existence, leaving behind no evidence that he is the culprit.
- Downplayed: Bob learns an embarassing fact about Alice that he can use as a psychological weapon during the race.
- Justified:
- Bob is desperate to win, so the prospect of cheating without getting caught is very alluring.
- Bob had a chance to talk to a good friend well before the race, and said friend knows how bad he wants to beat Alice for taking his record, but reminds him that he should do it fair, because once he cheats, he can't take it back and likely won't stop there. His friend couldn't know that Bob would empty the inhaler, but his word's ring in Bob's head and Bob relents.
- Bob isn't angry at Alice in particular, but Alice's father and Bob's father have a history. Alice's father ruined Bob's father's chance at being a sprinter, and Bob feels it is appropriate to therefore ruin something that belongs to Alice's father: Alice herself. When Bob has the opportunity, he realizes she doesn't deserve to be a victim of a blood feud considering neither of them were around when their parents fought and Alice wouldn't know why her inhaler failed. He decides this isn't appropriate, and the better revenge would be to beat Alice without cheating.
- Inverted:
- Bob slashes Alice's leg in broad daylight surrounded by dozens of witnesses while laughing like a maniac.
- Bob sabotages Alice's inhaler. As she lies on the ground choking, surrounded by others, he begins openly gloating about her inhaler failing, which leads to others realizing that her inhaler was sabotaged and Bob did it. Bob is promptly arrested and subsequently disqualified.
- Bob sabotages the inhaler and deliberately leaves a note on it mocking the fact he did it.
- Subverted:
- Bob makes the decision to tamper with Alice's inhaler—but Alice has a spare, making his attempt at cheating pointless.
- Bob wants to prove he's better than Alice, and passes up the chance to sabotage her not for moral reasons, but because it wouldn't help him achieve his goal. He can't beat her if she doesn't compete, after all.
- Double Subverted:
- Bob has already beaten Alice before without tampering with her inhaler, and just wanted to see what would she would do if it actually happened, letting him know more about her and what he could possibly do next time.
- Bob also can't prove that he's better unless he beats Alice himself. Doing something like sabotaging her would make it far too easy.
- Parodied:
- Alice gives Bob her inhaler to hold on to, along with detailed instructions on how to empty the cartridge.
- By the time Bob decides to go ahead to tamper with Alice's inhaler, they're already in the middle of the race.
- Zig Zagged: Bob tampers with the inhaler, but regrets it immensely and does his best to keep Alice from using it before the race. Things escalate from there.
- Averted:
- Bob picks up Alice's inhaler... but he doesn't know it's hers. He puts it in the lost and found.
- Alice makes sure to keep her inhaler next to her at all times.
- Enforced: "Bob's been straddling the line for a while; let's give him a chance to really cut loose."
- Lampshaded: "Okay, God, just give me a few minutes to think."
- Invoked: Alice left her inhaler out on purpose to test Bob's mettle.
- Exploited: Alternatively, Alice left her inhaler out to try and get Bob disqualified if he tries anything.
- Defied:
- Bob stays away from Alice and her things before the race, knowing he wouldn't be able to resist if the opportunity presented itself.
- Alice takes extreme measures to prevent her things from being accessed, let alone tampered with, to not give anybody the temptation of sabotaging them (and her).
- The race has a standing law that any kind of suspected sabotage will be handled with zero tolerance and all suspected people will be expelled first and told "sorry" later. Bob decides to not chance having three hundred people out for his blood.
- Discussed: "You'd think people would try to avoid creating moral dilemmas in high-stakes situations like this."
- "Nobody will have to know..."
- Conversed: "Hey Alice, you think Bob's messing with your inhaler over there?"
- Implied:
- We don't find out exactly what Bob does, but he definitely did something.
- The inhaler fails much later in the story. Earlier in the story, there is a scene where it shows Bob seeing an inhaler.
- Deconstructed: Bob spends so much time debating whether or not to sabotage Alice that he ends up blowing the race.
- Reconstructed: Bob comes to terms with losing; by not cheating, he maintains his self-respect.
- Played for Laughs: Bob's coach slips him a gun to use on Alice.
- Bob "sabotages" the inhaler. In truth, he coated the mouthpiece in peppermint, which catches Alice off guard, but otherwise it works perfectly fine. Bob, for whatever reason, expected this scheme to work and for Alice to be forced to drop out of the race.
- Played for Drama:
- Bob's actions and their consequences in tampering with Alice's inhaler are thoroughly explored, for better or ill.
- Bob's entire future career as a runner is on the line due to multiple losses, resulting in him losing sponsors and thus income. He is desperate for money, and doesn't know what to do as he has only ever been an athlete. Spotting the inhaler is a dark moment where Bob realizes he has a chance to take a victory and regain public adoration. As Bob goes to sabotage Alice's inhaler, he has a flashback about when he met her and she admitted to having been inspired thanks to his determination. Despite his losses, she's proud to race against someone she respects. The scene ends without us knowing whether Bob sabotaged the inhaler, and it is only revealed much later when Alice uses it and it works/fails.
- Played for Horror:
- Bob doesn't hesitate at all when given the opportunity to sabotage Alice's inhaler. Alice chokes to death.
- Bob not only sabotages the inhaler, but witnesses her death in all of its agony. He is never arrested or investigated as nobody has any reason to believe Bob did it. In part, Bob feels worse that he got away with it, and becomes withdrawn. Everyone just assumes he's upset because he witnessed a death and gives him space. Bob spends sleepless nights jumping at shadows from his own guilt as his mind spirals into madness.
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