Basic Trope: A character cheats in a competition and in doing so gets bitten by Laser-Guided Karma.
- Straight: Alice is behind Bob in a BMX race so she veers off course to take a shortcut. When she gets back on the track, she's ahead of Bob but her bike malfunctions and she crashes.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob is so far ahead of Alice but the shortcut takes her near the finish line where she crashes just before it.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat.
- Downplayed: Alice and Bob are in a footrace. After Alice takes a shortcut, she trips, falls and watches as Bob crosses the finish line.
- Justified:
- Alice has never won anything in her life, so she really wanted to assure her victory no matter the cost... Too bad her plan backfired on her.
- The shortcut is sandier/muddier/bumpier than the course.
- Inverted: Bob takes a shortcut even though he's ahead but when he's back on track, Alice has moved in front.
- Subverted:
- Alice takes the shortcut. She doesn't crash her bike and wins the race.
- Alice heads for the shortcut but a tree falls on its entrance, blocking the route. She decides to stay on course.
- The finish line was actually on the shortcut route. By deviating from the given path and demonstrating aptitudes for lateral thought, Alice manages to be become the TRUE race's winner.
- Alice takes the shortcut but her conscience gets the better of her. Halfway through, she turns around and gets back on track.
- The shortcut is an actual part of the race; thus, it is actually legal. Alice lost, but she did not cheat.
- Double Subverted:
- But the judges tell Alice they saw her take the short cut and deny her the trophy.
- Alice tries to ride over the tree and crashes her bike along the short cut route.
- The people who manage to win the race by going the long roundabout allegedly real route also get bonuses depending on lap time, determination and showing true spirit of competitiveness. It's not the way the game is supposed to be won, but if that is the way that it was won, the judges are not going to screw the players over. With everything else this piles on, the other racers probably got better prizes than Alice.
- The "secret test" to win that is allegedly cheating do gets more harshly judged, though, because the judges need to weed out "used lateral thinking" (acceptable), "definitely is a cheater" (unacceptable) and "lucky idiot who didn't knew you were not supposed to take that path" (grey area).
- Turns out that was her imagining what might happen if she refused to cheat and promptly laughs at it. She ends up getting a flat tire on her bike after running over a few thorns on the shortcut, costing her the race.
- The "shortcut" only appears to be legal because everyone does it when they try to cheat; it left a giant path, which sometimes confuses cheaters into thinking it's legal, but it's really not.
- Parodied:
- Alice takes the shortcut, but the path turns out to be made of quicksand. By the time she makes it out, Bob has already won and he laughs at her for cheating.
- Alice wins and taunts Bob for being a loser. However, just as she retrieves the trophy, she is hit by The Nudifier. She runs away in humiliation and nude photos of her go viral online.
- Zig Zagged: Alice sees many shortcuts on the track. She doesn't know which one will pull her ahead of Bob, passing them as she goes. She tries a few just to see where they will take her.
- Averted: Alice plays completely by the rules and nothing bad happens to her.
- Enforced: The executives want everyone to know that if you play fair, nothing bad will happen.
- Lampshaded: "Maybe if I played by the rules, this wouldn't have happened."
- Invoked: Alice heads for a shortcut but thinks of what might happen to her if she cheats.
- Exploited: Alice takes the shortcut anyway but becomes more cautious of the roads, being careful not to crash her bike.
- Defied: Alice sees the shortcut but ignores it, knowing it's against the rules.
- Discussed: Alice thinks about the shortcut, remembering that those who cheat on TV always lose or get reprimanded for it.
- Conversed: "You know you're not going to get away with taking that shortcut. Try it and see what happens but I'm warning you."
- Implied: Alice thinks of a way to beat Bob. She wonders if there must be a shortcut and if there is one questions if something will bad happen to her for not following the rules.
- Deconstructed: Alice really wants to impress her dad Charlie but has always been in the shadow of Bob's skills. She knows she'll have to resort to cheating to win and impress him, but when she tries to do so, she gets caught and disqualified. Her loss predictably makes her dad disappointed in her and the whole incident drives her to give up BMX racing.
- Reconstructed: When she returns to Charlie, he's disappointed not because she lost but because she tried to cheat and he tells Alice that even if she lost he still would've been proud of her for going out there and trying her best no matter what.
- Played for Laughs:
- Alice openly admits to cheating and does some Unsportsmanlike Gloating to Bob. Her bike then inexplicably runs out of gas at the finish line.
- Alice gets hurt when she crashes her bike ... in the most comical fashion possible.
- Alice takes the shortcut but so does Bob. They both crash their bikes after getting back on track.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice dies from the injuries she sustains when she crashes her bike after cheating.
- Alice takes the shortcut, then her bike flips into the audience pit.
Go back to Cheaters Never Prosper, but don't cheat... if you know what's good for you.
