Basic Trope: One character is near a long drop, and another character tells them not to look down.
- Straight: Bob is walking on a narrow bridge over a ravine. Alice says, "Don't look down," so of course Bob does just that and is terrified by the long drop next to him.
- Exaggerated: Bob is walking on a tightrope between two skyscrapers, Alice tells him not to look down when he's halfway across, and this scares Bob so much that he almost falls off.
- Downplayed: Alice tells Bob beforehand not to look down, and Bob looks a little uncomfortable while crossing the bridge.
- Justified: Alice wants Bob to get across the ravine safely, and thinks telling him not to pay attention to the great height will increase the chances of that happening.
- Inverted:
- Alice is The Sociopath, so she tells Bob to look down because she likes seeing him afraid.
- As Reverse Psychology, Alice tells Bob to look down into the long drop.
- + Justified: The bridge has barriers, and the view is amazing.
- Subverted: When Alice tells Bob not to look down, he says he's not stupid enough to do that.
- Double Subverted: Once Bob is almost out of danger, he gets curious and decides to have a small peek down.
- Parodied:
- The bridge Bob is walking across goes over a very small drop. If he fell off, he wouldn't even twist his ankle.
- Alice tells Bob "Don't look down!". Bob does so anyways. Alice responds by angrily throwing a rock at his face to knock him down. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK DOWN YOU STUPID FUCK!!!"
- Zig-Zagged: Alice tells Bob, "Don't look down," and he looks down and gets scared. Then she tells him to look up, but he thinks she's attempting Reverse Psychology and doesn't look up until much later. Later still, Bob works up the courage to cross the bridge, and when Alice tells him not to look down again, he says he's not foolish enough to do that.
- Averted: Neither Bob nor Alice is anywhere near heights.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "I told you not to look down!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- Alice is about to warn Bob not to look down, but Claire tells her not to do that.
- Alice tells Bob to look up at her to avoid using the word "down", and keeps talking to keep Bob engaging with her and away from what's below him.
- Discussed: "Good Gods, what a height! I'm never doing that again!"
- Conversed: "Why did you tell me not to look down?! Telling me that is going to make me want to look down!"
- Played for Laughs: Bob's reaction to looking down is comically over the top.
- Played for Drama: Bob angsts about his having looked down because he absolutely must cross that bridge.
- Played for Horror: Bob becomes a nervous wreck because he saw an Eldritch Abomination in the ravine.
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