Line #17 PlayingWith/WitnessProtection


1	'''Basic Trope''': A character is given a new home and a new identity as protection in exchange for testimony against an individual or an organization.
2	* '''Straight''': Alice Jones testifies against TheDon, and has her name changed to Anne Smith and is moved out with her husband and children to [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere a small town]] [[FlyoverCountry in]] [[DownOnTheFarm farm]] [[LovecraftCountry country]].
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** ''All'' of Alice's relatives and friends are put into the program, too.
5	** Alternatively, Alice is put into the program, but [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou her husband and children are not allowed to go in with her]].
6	** The government forces Alice to become the exact opposite of her old self, even making her get an EasySexChange.
7	* '''Downplayed''': Alice spends a few weeks being shuffled between motels under false names, until the petty crime ring she witnessed against is finally dismantled.
8	* '''Justified''': If members of TheMafia have a way of finding Alice and/or members of her immediate family, they could harm or kill her (and her husband and kids, too).
9	* '''Inverted''': A criminal organization gives a criminal a new identity after they've committed a crime, to help them hide from the law.
10	* '''Subverted''': Alice moves away to the aforementioned small town, but is not part of a government program.
11	* '''Double Subverted''': But she has changed her name and her hair color, and her past history is a bit sketchy.
12	* '''Parodied''':
13	** Alice goes into WP for doing something mildly embarrassing, like [[CuteClumsyGirl tripping on the stairs in front of everyone.]]
14	** Alice's "new identity" is a PaperThinDisguise.
15	** Alice is put in a witness protection program so incompetent that [[WitlessProtectionProgram it probably would be safer for her to take off on her own]].
16	* '''Zig Zagged''': ???
17	* '''Averted''': Alice is not placed in WP and goes about her normal life.
18	* '''Enforced''':
19	** RuleOfDrama
20	** The writers needed an excuse to have Alice PutOnABus.
21	* '''Lampshaded''': ???
22	* '''Invoked''': Alice testifies against TheDon in a high-profile, federal case.
23	* '''Exploited''': ???
24	* '''Defied''':
25	** Alice doesn't want to be put into a program that would force her to start all over again from scratch and decides to take her chances.
26	** Alice's family members dissuade her from testifying against TheDon because they refuse to turn their lives upside-down just to ''maybe'' increase the chance of The Don being convicted.
27	** Everyone involved in TheMafia is caught, and then executed or jailed for life, so there's no one left to threaten Alice anyway.
28	* '''Discussed''': ???
29	* '''Conversed''': ???
30	* '''Implied''': Anne Smith's birth certificate was issued by a hospital that didn't exist yet when she was born. [[note]]Could also be a case of it being a copy issued by a successor hospital to the original.[[/note]]
31	* '''Deconstructed''': Alice misses her family and friends, and worries if they might be in danger, too. And what if someone finds her?
32	* '''Reconstructed''': Alice does everything in her power to keep her identity secret and makes new friends, and starts a new life. She knows that contacting old family and friends could put herself and her family in danger.
33	* '''Played For Drama''': Alice's husband Bob and their children resent Alice because they were forced to turn their lives upside-down as a result of her decision to testify: Everyone had to cut off all of their old friends, and then abandon their beloved home for good. Bob had to give up a well-paying job he enjoyed to become a farmer, which he despises. Worse, it's AllForNothing, as TheDon only got a slap on the wrist (or even got OffOnATechnicality) anyway. In the end, Alice has ''no one'' from her old life left: Bob has divorced her, and her children left as soon as they turned 18.
34	* '''Played For Horror''': Bob is so upset about having to abandon his highly successful career and his entire social life that he cuts a deal with TheMafia to blow Alice's cover in exchange for leaving him alone when he returns to his old life.
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36	Back to WitnessProtection
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38	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
39	%%
40	%%* '''Implied''': ???

Context PlayingWith / WitnessProtection