Basic Trope: A character, probably facing something embarrassing, turns to look at the dog, which also displays some sign of being ashamed.
- Straight: After accidentally burning The Team's mansion down and getting ridiculed by his teammates, Bob turns to look at the Team Pet, Tropey, who gives a whimper and a disapproving woof before walking away.
- Exaggerated:
- Tropey slaps Bob upside the head.
- Not only does he give a whimper and a disapproving woof, Tropey also bites Bob's ankle painfully to prove his point.
- Downplayed: Tropey looks away, his eyes actually following a cat passing by, but still showing Bob's guilty conscience.
- Justified:
- Tropey has the same intelligence as any other human and is therefore reacting the same way.
- Tropey has a good enough sense of empathy to tell that everyone else is ashamed and joins them, even if he is not able to understand precisely why.
- Inverted:
- Tropey, after destroying Clay's bedroom and being scolded by his owners (especially by Clay, who may even Kick the Dog out of anger), looks to Bob, who shakes his head and walks away.
- After Bob accidentally burns The Team's mansion and is ridiculed by his teammates, he looks to Tropey, who licks him on the cheek approvingly.
- Subverted:
- Bob gives a hopeful glance at Tropey, who whimpers a bit... then walks over, tail wagging, to provide support anyway.
- Tropey merely learned that it's best to look away when Bob is in this mood. Bob, not being able to read minds, merely assumes Tropey is ashamed and may be projecting his own feelings onto Tropey's actions.
- Double Subverted:
- Tropey at first gives a little whimper but then walks over to comfort Bob... before turning with a woof and walking away as soon as Bob reaches out to pet him.
- However, as he walks away, Tropey gives a whimper and a disapproving woof, which Bob did not expect to happen.
- Parodied:
- After Bob accidentally burns The Team's mansion down and is ridiculed by his teammates, a cat passes nearby and gives a strangely canine-like whimper and a disapproving woof to him. Then an elephant walks past and does the same. Then a zebra walks past and does the same. Then a chimpanzee walks past and does the same. Then an alien walks past and does the same.
- Tropey, who is non-sapient, suddenly gains the power of speech just to give Bob "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Zig-Zagged: Tropey flip-flops constantly between whimpering, giving a disapproving woof, nuzzling Bob's leg, and licking Bob's cheek.
- Averted:
- Bob doesn't even look at Tropey after he accidentally burns The Team's mansion down and is ridiculed by his teammates.
- Tropey doesn't react at all and doesn't even know what's going on.
- Enforced: Tropey is supposed to be a literal Morality Pet. Therefore, his whole purpose is to show whether Bob is doing the right thing or not for the benefit of the audience.
- Lampshaded: "Oh, great. Even Tropey's mad at me."
- Invoked:
- Clay, standing next to Tropey, gives him a light kick to make him whimper when Bob looks over, in an attempt to get the point across of how bad their actions really were.
- Tropey is genetically modified to be able to express emotions like this.
- Exploited: Alice decides to record Tropey whimpering and giving a disapproving woof to Bob so she can upload it to YouTube, claim it as evidence that dogs are actually smart, and gain Internet fame. It works.
- Defied: Bob, knowing in advance that what he has done is very wrong and stupid, keeps Tropey far away to avoid further humiliating himself.
- Discussed: "Are you sure Tropey is really smart?" "Yeah. I bet he'll give Bob an ashamed whimper and a woof if he does something ridiculous."
- Conversed: "Oh, look. The next scene's going to be the dog's reaction shot, just wait... see, I told you!"
- Played for Drama: Bob has actually offended God, and Tropey's shame is just the first hint of a long Walk the Earth plotline where all living things shun him.
What did you do?! Look, Even the Dog Is Ashamed!
