Basic Trope: A human (often, though not always, an attractive female virgin) is sacrificed to the Powers That Be, by being thrown alive into an active volcano.
- Straight: Aerith is tossed into a volcano as a sacrifice to Pyro, the God of Fire, who has a thing for beautiful young virgins.
- Exaggerated: Several young women are sacrificed to Pyro en masse.
- Downplayed:
- Instead of a Human Sacrifice, virginal or otherwise, an animal is sacrificed in this manner.
- Aerith is made to venture into a volcanic chamber alive and medidate for a handful of minutes before coming out alive.
- Justified: Pyro demands Human Sacrifices, and this is seen as an easy way of getting them to him.
- Inverted:
- Aerith is rescued from the volcano.
- Pyro dedicates himself to his priestess, Aerith.
- Pyro was once a mortal hero whose virgin sister was murdered in a sacrifice to a volcano. Human Sacrifice is a sure way to draw his wrath, and a Virgin Sacrifice will leave you encased in burning rock magma dying slowly over hundreds of years.
- Pyro descends from godhood to appease Aerith, who is threatening to kill him.
- Aerith is thrown off a cliff into the ocean to appease the ocean god Aqua.
- Subverted: Aerith is carried up the mountain for a ceremony, but the ceremony does not involve throwing her into the mouth.
- Double Subverted: An Orthodox priest demands that the priests perform the "proper ceremony".
- Parodied:
- Aerith is sacrificed. Pyro returns her, explaining that when he said he wanted a virgin to be sacrificed, he meant a male virgin.
- Aerith is returned because she isn't a virgin, or she isn't attractive enough, or what have you.
- Aerith is a total Gonk.
- They sacrifice Aerith to the volcano god Pyro, and she is then judged by the death god... also Pyro.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Aerith's culture does not practice human sacrifice.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited:
- The Wacky Wayside Tribe is hoping to please Pyro (and thus spare their lives, property, crops, etc. from destruction), by giving him something he likes.
- Aerith becomes the victim of vicious rumors, and volunteers (or is forced) to undergo a "trial by fire": if she survives, she's still a virgin. If she doesn't, well, she was going to be executed for sexual misconduct anyway, or there's no point in living Defiled Forever.
- Defied:
- The tribe does not sacrifice humans, and simply offers Pyro some bacon (or a whole pig) instead.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied:
- We see artifacts of the tribe, and a lot of them depict things like volcanos or Pyro viewing a figure falling through the air.
- After escaping from an island, Aerith is noticeably unconformable around the subject of volcanos, red or ravage liquids, heats, or heights.
Back to Appease the Volcano God
