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Basic Trope: A character that was Put on a Bus is killed off.

  • Straight: Zacharias moves from Tropetown to Chicago at the end of season two, and at the end of season three, Alice and Bob learn that he was killed in a Bus Crash.
  • Exaggerated: Zacharias runs out of the house screaming, "Goodbye forever, Alice & Bob!" and is immediately hit by a bus in the street.
  • Downplayed:
    • Zacharias is diagnosed with a terminal illness in the season finale, and he goes to Hawaii as his final wish. His death isn't reported until the start of the next season.
    • Yvette moves to Dallas during season 3; at the start of season 4, we learn she has moved to Dubai, making her return a near impossibility.
  • Justified: Zacharias' actor Zander Zwick decided to take a break from the show after season 2, leaving Zacharias open to making cameos in the future. By the end of season 3, Zwick decides to cut all ties to the show so Tropetown decides to kill off Zacharias.
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted:
    • When Zander Zwick leaves, the show is quick to kill Zacharias, but when Zwick decides to come Back for the Finale, the writers are forced to bring him back to life.
    • Zacharias turns out to have faked his death.
  • Double Subverted: It turns out that Zacharias was only given six hours in the living world and he dies again at the end of the episode.
  • Parodied: Zacharias gets on a bus that explodes right as he gets on.
  • Zigzagged: Tropetown handles different departures differently: When Zander Zwick quits, Zacharias is killed off after a season. When Yolanda Yoder quits, her character Yvette is simply put on a Long Bus Trip to Dubai, with a return unlikely. When Xavier Xanadu quits, his character Mr. X is very quickly killed off. When Wallace Williams quits, his character Warren is simply Put on a Bus, but when Williams passes away, Warren is also killed off in his honor. When Veronica Victor quits, her character Vivian Vixen is simply Put on a Bus, and Veronica makes several guest spots in the seasons to come. When Ursula Upton is having salary disputes with the higher-ups, her character Uma is preemptively put on a bus because it is assumed that Ursula will just quit if her demands are not met, but she decides to take a pay cut and return to the show, so Uma's Bus comes back.
  • Averted:
    • Zacharias never leaves.
    • Zacharias leaves, but he isn’t killed.
  • Enforced:
    • Zander Zwick refuses to return to Tropetown, so eventually the producers stop pestering him to return and kill off the character.
    • Zander Zwick passed away a year after he left the show. He was so associated with Zacharias that the producers had no choice but to let the character die with him.
  • Lampshaded: '"It's so sad what happened to Zacharias. I thought he would be back."
  • Invoked: Zacharias knew he was dying, so he moved out of Tropetown so his friends wouldn't have to see him die.
  • Exploited: It turns out that Zacharias and Bob's father were the last surviving members of a Tontine and Bob and his family suddenly become rich. The producers turn Zacharias' death into a kickstarter for future plots.
  • Defied: Whiles Ursula Upton is in salary negotiations, she threatens to quit. The producers threaten that if she quits, they will kill off Uma in such a way she will never be able to return, so Ursula takes a pay cut.
  • Discussed: "We haven't heard from Zacharias in a while, did something happen to him? Do you think he's died?"
  • Implied: A dying Zacharias moves to Hawaii, with him, his friends, and the audience all knowing he only has a few months to live. His death is never directly stated, but it is assumed that he dies sometime over the summer or in early season 3.
  • Played For Drama: A whole episode is dedicated to Alice and Bob mourning Zacharias.

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