Basic Trope: It is suggested that a male character is using something phallic-looking to compensate for a small penis.
- Straight: Bob carries a BFS, and other characters suggest that he is compensating for a small penis.
- Exaggerated: Bob carries a BFS bigger than a skyscraper... And he's a eunuch.
- Downplayed:
- Bob carries a sword slightly bigger than the standard issues... Because he believes that his member is just average.
- Bob carries the same knife everyone does, but is the only one to wear it in front of his waist.
- Justified:
- Bob's penis has a curse set on it that forbids him to use anything else than a BFS.
- The other characters just have dirty minds.
- Inverted:
- Bob carries a tiny dagger since he's expressing instead of compensating.
- Bob often flaunts his pecker to compensate for the derringer and tiny knife he has to wield.
- Bob, a transvestite, fights with a glamorously-feathered steel fan to compensate for his lack of feminine appeal.
- Bob tries to make his penis bigger to compensate for something nonsexual like ugliness or femininity.
- Bob doesn't even try a little at anything because he feels his big penis is enough to keep ladies interested.
- Bob, worried that people would only notice him for his massive penis, overcompensates with an over-the-top personality or collection so literally anything else about him can be noticed first.
- Gender-Inverted:
- Alice uses her small throwing knives as weapons to compensate for her gaping vagina.
- Alice, lover of all things wet and slippery, took up diving to cover up how dry she was down there.
- Alice carries a pair of Big Bulky Bombs to compensate for her small boobs.
- Alice's extensive collection of Christmas knick-knacks is compensating for her fears of what happens after the calendar hits 25.
- Alice is ashamed of how petite she is in every aspect (height, chest, and her nethers are so tight nothing wider than a toothpick could fit), so she wields an absolutely massive gun to make up for it.
- Alice was Raised by Dudes, and carries a huge sword to compensate for her lacking a penis.
- Subverted:
- Bob carries a BFS, and is accused of Compensating for Something. Nope! He's a tripod.
- Bob is actually Bobbi, and wields the BFS for convenience's sake.
- Double Subverted:
- However, it turns out that Bob is still secretly very insecure, and carries a BFS because it's even bigger.
- Bobbi has a raging case of penis envy
, and takes it out using her phallic broadsword.
- Parodied: Bob attaches two kiwifruits to the hilt of his BFS.
- Zig Zagged: B.O.B. is a combat robot with a very male voice who uses a wide variety of guns and vaguely phallic shaped blades. Some accuse him of compensating for his lack of genitalia by using overly large weapons and tough guy talk, others figure he just uses them for effectiveness and doesn't care about organic thoughts. It turns out his designers made him like that in an attempt to make him too intimidating for anyone to want to fight... except for one who really was just compensating for something.
- Averted: Bob carries a normal-sized sword. Penis size is never brought up.
- Enforced: "We don't want the viewers to make any mistake as to how manly Bob is. Let's make him carry a huge sword or something to reinforce the image".
- Lampshaded:
- "That's a pretty... phallic sword you've got there. I guess the little sword must not be slashin', eh? EH?".
- "Can you guys shut up abut my sword, yeah I know it's big, but please, I've heard enough dick jokes about it that it's getting old."
- Invoked: Bob is insecure about his small penis, and decides to prove to the world he's a badass by carrying a big sword.
- Exploited: "Hey you! You with the HUGE sword! Aren't you Compensating for Something? (Cue the warrior getting in a mad rage and making a mistake or deciding to strike at the taunter rather than another, more fragile target.)
- Defied:
- Whenever poked about being compensating for a small penis with his huge sword, Bob casually unzips his pants and whips out his long and girthy "other sword" with a completely deadpan expression, shutting everyone up.
- Bob is insecure about his size. But he knows that if he overcompensates to make himself feel better then everyone will know. So he doesn't even bother doing anything crazy manly.
- Bob isn't insecure about anything, and asks the others why if he's the one with the penis problem, why they're the ones constantly bringing it up during their fight.
- Alternatively, Bob points out that he isn't the one seeing penises in everything vaguely phallic.
- "And please don't start with the dick jokes. It makes you look desperate."
- Discussed: "Bob is definitely not Compensating for Something. Take it from me, he's got NOTHING to compensate for".
- Conversed: "Why do Barbarian Heroes always carry such big swords?" "I dunno, maybe they're Compensating for Something".
- Implied: Bob carries a BFS. His penis size is never brought up directly... But some girls seen in the background during every single of his fights are always shown giggling whenever he wields the thing. It's never made clear if it's because of this trope, or due to the cheesy pre-fight speeches he always delivers, or something else all-together.
- Deconstructed: Bob was raised to believe that it is his duty to be a man, and his insecurity about his small size leads him to take it too far in every other respect.
- Reconstructed: Bob eventually realizes that the women are into his skills, much more than his genitalia. He continues his usual manner, but much more confidently.
- Played For Laughs:
- Played For Drama:
- Bob believes that his lack of manhood is the reason his wife Elizabeth cheated on him and if he compensates for it by being extra manly, she will love him again (she never will) or he will find a woman who will love him (he never will).
- Bob is hurt by the "no dick" jokes not because of the emasculation, but because he's a trans man and is afraid that's what the jokes are really about.
- Played For Horror: Bob's excessively large sword is a Phallic Weapon in every sense of the word — as in, he uses it to rape people because his dick isn't big enough to make the act hurt.
"Man, this entry sure is pretty long, Troper! ...Maybe YOU are Compensating for Something. (ZING!)"
