Basic Trope: Natural water sources that look clear and pure are always safe to drink from.
- Straight: Alice finds a crystal-clear spring while hiking in the wilderness. She drinks directly from it and suffers no ill effects afterwards.
- Exaggerated: Not only is it safe, it's so pure it makes all other water taste like mud.
- Downplayed: The water looks safe to drink, but Alice feels mildly nauseous after drinking it.
- Justified:
- The spring is full of moss, which acts as a natural water filter.
- A unicorn or similar creature inhabits the area and purifies the water via magic.
- Inverted:
- The spring is full of murky brown water that smells like rotten eggs, but Alice is perfectly fine after drinking from it.
- The spring's clear water is due to a nearby arsenic deposit. Alice takes a sip and instantly drops dead.
- Subverted:
- Alice gets sick after drinking from the spring.
- Alice is safe only because she has a Healing Factor that destroys pathogens and disposes of heavy metals. Bob gets sick drinking it.
- Double Subverted: She's just dehydrated after a long day of hiking and felt ill after drinking too quickly. She takes it easy for a little while and feels better.
- Parodied: The spring literally sparkles and is surrounded by rainbows and brightly coloured butterflies. When Alice takes a drink, the water cures her acne, nearsightedness, and traumatic childhood memories.
- Zig Zagged: The spring looks safe, and it is, but a vile serpent hides near the spring and ambushes anyone who tries to drink from it. Alice kills the snake easily but gets bitten during the struggle. Fortunately, she always keeps some Magic Antidote on hand. When she finally goes to take a drink of water, she slips on a wet rock, falls, and bangs her head.
- Averted:
- Alice does not encounter any convenient natural water sources.
- All of the natural water sources that Alice encounters look safe but are filled with parasites, or harmful bacteria, or are otherwise unsuitable for consumption.
- Alice does not drink directly from the spring, and she makes sure to boil, filter, and/or otherwise purify all her water before she drinks it.
- Enforced: The production was filmed in Tropeland and funded by their board of tourism, so the creators have to make the countryside look as pure and inviting as possible.
- Lampshaded: "Don't drink straight from the spring." "Why? It looks fine!"
- Invoked: Alice is an ultralight backpacker. She doesn't bring any of her own water or the supplies needed to purify it, since they're heavy and all the natural water sources in the area are safe.
- Exploited:
- Alice is a fugitive, and she flees into an area with abundant clean water because she may need to hide out there for some time.
- Alice bottles and sells the spring's water.
- Defied: Bob poisons the spring, knowing that Alice will pass by and is naive enough to drink straight from it.
- Discussed: "That spring water looks inviting. Is anyone thirsty?"
- Conversed: "If television has taught me anything, it's that natural spring water is always clean and pure."
- Implied: Alice didn't bring any water supplies with her but she is frequently seen passing by clear rivers and drinking from her canteen.
- Deconstructed: Alice drinks from the spring and nearly dies after contracting a waterborne illness.
- Reconstructed: Alice only drinks straight from natural water sources if she knows for certain that they're safe.
- Played For Laughs: Alice cheerfully drinks from the spring. In the distance, a family of deer relieves themselves directly into the water.
- Played For Drama: Alice has been lost in the wilderness for days and doesn't find any natural water sources until she's about to die of thirst.
Back to Cool, Clear Water.
