History PlayingWith / LethalChef

** Julia is a bad chef, but not that bad.

** Julia is just plain bad at cooking.

** Julia's cooking has a body count associated with it.

* '''Exploited''': The hero finds out that [[BigBad Emperor Evulz]] needs a new chef. They have Julia apply for the job so she can assasinate the Emperor with her cooking not-skills.

** Julia is actually a ''lethal'' chef.

* '''Downplayed''': Julia is a bad chef, but not that bad.

* '''Inverted''':Julia is a SupremeChef.

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* '''Subverted''': We hear Julia is a horrrible chef, but her food is okay.

--> '''Julia:''' [[OhNoNotAgain Oh no! Not again!]]

* '''Deconstructed''':
** Julia's inability to cook makes it hard for people to take her seriously as a useful member of the household.
** Julia starts a fire with one of her cooking disasters.
** Parodied #1 if one were to play it seriously (or comedic in a dark, gross way)
* '''Reconstructed''':
** The rest of the family doesn't mind, since their taste buds are so shot, they'll eat anything.
** The fire is put out quickly, so nobody gets hurt.

* '''Played For Laughs''': Almost always is.

* '''Subverted''': We here Julia is a horrrible chef, but her food is ok.

* '''Downplayed''': Julia's food just looks bad, but tastes good.

* '''Inverted''':
** Julia is a SupremeChef.
** See "Downplayed"
* '''Subverted''': A famous chef declares Julia's bad cooking as culinary genius.
* '''Double Subverted''': The famous chef only said that to Julia because (a) he's a JerkAss who likes to raise people's self-esteem before crushing them, (b) Julia has a crush on him, he knows it, and was innocently trying to spare her feelings, or (c) everyone else's cooking sucks so bad that hers looks good in comparison.

* '''Invoked''': See "Enforced"

* '''Exaggerated''': Julia can't even microwave...or make Cup-O-Noodles.

* '''Justified''': Julia is just plain bad at cooking.

* '''Inverted''': Julia is a SupremeChef.

* '''Parodied''': Julia's culinary "experiments" have caught the attention of the Center for Disease Control and after her latest attempt at dinner, the CDC come in and quarantine her kitchen.

* '''Deconstructed''': Julia's inability to cook makes it hard for people to take her seriously as a useful member of the household.

* '''Reconstructed''': The rest of the family doesn't mind, since their taste buds are so shot, they'll eat anything.

* '''Zig Zagged''': Julia's cooking ability depends on what ingredients she has in her house. When she has enough money for groceries, she makes great food; when money's tight, it's time to break out the Tums and the airline barfbags.

* '''Averted''': Julia is too lazy to cook and has never tried.

* '''Defied''': Realizing Julia doesn't know the first thing about cooking, her friends ban her from the kitchen.

* '''Played For Drama''': Julia's lifelong dream is to become a great chef, but her [[GiftedlyBad inherently terrible skills]] and inability to improve make it hard for her to succeed.

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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???

* '''Downplayed''': Julia's food just looks bad. In reality, it's actually very tasty.

* '''Played For Laughs''': Julia's boyfriend hides from Julia whenever she tries to feed him to avoid hurting her feelings. Wacky chase scenes ensue.

** "Justified #2" and "Justified #4" if done as a VerySpecialEpisode of a sitcom. For "Justified #2," the focus is on learning disabilities and the importance of literacy. For "Justified #4," the focus is on how living in a dysfunctional family can and will screw a person up -- especially if that person is/was designated an OnlySaneMan (or woman) who spent every waking moment of his or her life trying to justify their family members' insane behavior or get them out of their many moral, legal, and ethical jams.

* '''Played For Laughs''': See "Parodied" and "Deconstructed #2"

* '''Zig Zagged''': Julia's cooking ability depends on what ingredients she has in her house.
** Julia sucks at cooking, but is a whiz at baking.

* '''Enforced''': "We need a believable character flaw for Julia... how 'bout we make her completely unable to cook?"

* '''Exaggerated''': Julia can't even microwave.

* '''Downplayed''': Julia's food looks horrible: however, it tastes just fine.

** Julia's cooking causes a fatal case of food poisoning and she vows never to pick up a pot again.
** "Justified #2" and "Justified #4" if done as a VerySpecialEpisode (for #2, it's about learning disabilities and the importance of literacy; for #4, it's about how living in a dysfunctional family can and will ruin a person's perspective on the world, especially if that person is/was the OnlySaneMan (or woman) in the family).

** Julia was never taught how to cook at any point in her life.

** Julia's inability to cook is caused by a dysfunctional childhood in which she had to fend for herself and her parents were too lazy or wrapped up in their own problems to teach her how to cook.

** "Justified #2" if done as a VerySpecialEpisode of a sitcom

** Julia is an alien from another planet (or a FunnyForeigner) from another planet (or country) where the standards of what's tasty and what isn't are ''very'' warped.

** Julia is an alien from another planet with clashing opinions on what's considered tasty.

* '''Subverted''': A famous chef declares Julia a culinary genius and everyone else has bad taste in food.
** Julia's a good cook--but when her kitchen is invaded, she does very lethal things to the invaders.
* '''Double Subverted''': The chef lied because he wanted her to like him.

* '''Deconstructed''': Julia's inability to cook makes it hard for her to win over her LoveInterest, Bob.

* '''Reconstructed''': ...but Bob's an ExtremeOmnivore anyway, so it's all good.

** Julia is an average cook.

* '''Discussed''': "Why does it seem that these shows always include at least one comically bad cook?"

** Everyone who smells Julia's food vomits instantly.

* '''Justified''': Julia is a CloudCuckooLander, has defective taste buds or simply inexperienced at cooking.
** Julia comes from a foreign culture with a terribly unique cuisine.

* '''Subverted''': A famous chef declares Julia a culinary genius. Apparently the rest of the cast has no taste in food.

* '''Parodied''': Julia's culinary experiments tend to [[ItCameFromTheFridge gain mobility and sentience]], and then they go into an homicidal rampage.
--> '''Julia:''' [[OhNoNotAgain Oh no! It's happening yet again!]]
** When Julia makes a bowl of CEREAL, it catches on fire even though nothing around it was at the time.
* '''Deconstructed''': Julia's inability to cook makes it hard for her to win over [[{{Big Eater}} Bob]]...

* '''Zig Zagged''': Julia is very bad at cooking, but only on the stove. She's an absolute whiz at baking. But then she keeps making the microwave explode when heating up TV dinners...
** This is a science fiction show with many different aliens. Tulga (an alien) hates her cooking, but Burhues (an alien of a different species) loves it. Lorf (an alien from a third species) doesn't really care.
* '''Averted''': Julia's cooking skill is never brought up.

* '''Invoked''': A person is trying to be MOE, and purposely cooks a terrible dish, or they look for someone with terrible cooking skills.

* '''Played For Laughs''': Julia's boyfriend hides from Julia whenever she tries to feed him to avoid hurting her feelings. Wacky chase scenes ensue.
* '''Played For Drama''': Julia's lifelong dream is to become a great chef, but her [[GiftedlyBad inherently terrible skills]] and difficult to improve don't help her at all. This causes her a lot of stress and angst.
** Julia's inability to cook is caused by a troublesome childhood and adds stress to her marriage.
** Julia's cooking causes a fatal case of food poisoning.

* '''Exaggerated''': Julia can't even microwave or make a bowl of cereal.
** Julia's food is a bio-hazard and the kitchen had to be sealed off.

* '''Parodied''': Julia regularly makes pots explode when she cooks.

* '''Played For Laughs''': Julia's culinary experiments tend to [[ItCameFromTheFridge gain mobility and sentience]], and then they go into an homicidal rampage.
--> '''Julia:''' [[OhNoNotAgain Oh no! It's happening yet again!]]
** When Julia makes a bowl of CEREAL, [[TheSimpsons it catches on fire even though nothing around it was at the time.]]

* '''Straight''': Everything [[{{Meaningful Name}} Ju]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Child lia]] tries to cook tastes bad.
* '''Exaggerated''': Julia is completely incapable of making anything edible.
** Julia actually kills someone with her cooking.
* '''Justified''': Julia is inexperienced at cooking.
** Julia is an [[AlienAmongUs alien in disguise]], and while her culinary skills are rather good (or even sublime!) on her planet, [[FishOutOfWater by Earth standards they are just terrible]].

* '''Subverted''': Julia, despite her reputation, is a good cook.
* '''Double Subverted''': ...However, it's eventually discovered that she has a secret chef that cooks for her. When she's forced to cook on her own, she's just as bad as rumored, or worse!

* '''Defied''': "Very funny, Bob, but believe it or not, I ''don't'' make pans explode on a regular basis."

* '''Enforced''': "We need a believable character flaw for Julia...how 'bout we make her completely unable to cook?"

* '''Invoked''': ???