Basic Trope: A character believes that something isn't real, when in reality it is.
- Straight: Alice doesn't believe that narwhals are real.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob is The Smart Guy and the Only Sane Man, and yet, he doesn't believe in narwhals.
- Bob thinks the entire continent of Australia isn't real. Even when he meets people who say they are from Australia he just assumes they must be in on the hoax, not realizing or caring that not only would millions of random people have to be in on the hoax, but so would almost every company that makes maps or books about world geography.
- Alice doesn't believe in doorknobs, even though it is implied that she sees them every day.
- Alice doesn't believe in narwhals, Bob doesn't believe in herons, Charles doesn't believe in handkerchiefs, and Diane doesn't believe in cigars.
- Downplayed:
- Alice doesn't believe in Aluminum Christmas Trees.
- Alice doesn't believe in honest lawyers.
- Alice hears about ligers (lion/tiger hybrids) and isn't sure if they can really exist.
- Justified:
- Alice is The Ditz.
- Alice is a Cloudcuckoolander.
- Alice Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality.
- Alice was told things about narwhals that are completely untrue (they can fly, shoot lasers from their eyes, and speak Esperanto). When people try to tell her about real narwhals, she keeps thinking about the fictional narwhals that she's used to.
- Alice has only seen narwhals in cartoons, and knows that some cartoons make up species.
- Alice doesn't believe in something that's obscure enough that people would think it's fake.
- Inverted:
- Alice believes that zombies are real.
- Faeries Don't Believe in Humans, Either
- Subverted:
- Alice was just being silly when she told Bob that she doesn't believe in narwhals.
- We find out the story takes place in the future, where thanks to Gaia's Lament narwhals have died out and Alice had only heard of them through stories passed down from others.
- Double Subverted: Alice then reveals that she doesn't believe in teapots.
- Parodied:
- Alice doesn't believe that air exists, even though she's constantly breathing it.
- Alice is a narwhal herself, but still didn't believe in narwhals.
- Zig Zagged: Alice doesn't believe that werewolves are real. While werewolves don't exist in real life, they do exist in the setting the story takes place in.
- Averted: Alice knows that narwhals are real.
- Enforced: Rule of Funny
- Lampshaded: "You just have to meet my friend Alice. She's amazing!" "Alice? Isn't she the lady who thinks narwhals are a myth?"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- "No, why would I think narwhals are a myth? I'm a normal person like you!"
- Bob proves to Alice that narwhals are real.
- Discussed: "How do we tell her?"
- Conversed: "How can Alice possibly be oblivious or stupid enough to think that narwhals aren't real? The only way she wouldn't be aware of the concrete evidence confirming narwhals exist would be if she was the biggest idiot in the world!"
- Implied:
- Alice is completely stunned the first time she sees a narwhal, and it seems she might have not known they existed.
- Alice casually lists narwhals among mythical creatures such as yeti, unicorns, phoenixes, and centaurs.
- Played For Drama: An evil narwhal is planning to harm Alice and her friends, but Alice doesn't take the threat seriously because she doesn't think narwhals are real.
You thought there would be a link here? The main page isn't real!
