Basic Trope: An Aesop about forgiving others for their transgressions.
- Straight: Alex learns to forgive Jason for assaulting him, putting him in the hospital for a couple of weeks.
- Exaggerated: Alex learns to forgive Jason for all of the bad things he has done to him such as beating him up regularly, killing his family, stealing his money, wrecking his car, treating him like a slave, and breaking his video game memory card.
- Downplayed: Alex learns to forgive Jason for humiliating him in front of his peers.
- Justified:
- Choosing not to forgive means that Alex would allow his grudges to affect every aspect of his life (i.e. alienating his friends, interfering with his job, etc.).
- Alex follows a religion that advocates and obligates believers to forgive their transgressors.
- Alex discovers that Jason is in a much worse place than him (being poor, powerless, etc.), and therefore can't find in himself to carry a grudge against him.
- Choosing revenge over forgiveness can corrupt Alex.
- Choosing revenge over forgiveness will lead Alex to feel no satisfaction after it.
- Jason made up for his wrongdoings, making the forgiveness feel more earned.
- Inverted: Alex learns that he must get revenge against Jason for beating him to a pulp to emotionally fix his scars.
- Subverted:Alex: I forgive you for all of the bad you have done to me, Jason. ''(beats Jason to a pulp)'' Psyche!
- Double Subverted:Alex: And if I hadn't, you'd have been conscious when the medusa came by and turned everyone who was awake into stone. Returning the "favor" was just a fringe benefit.
- Parodied: Alex learns to forgive Jason for unknowingly urinating on his grass.
- Zig Zagged: Alex forgives Jason, only it leaves a gaping hole of self doubt in him when Jason hurts him once again. But later, Alex realizes that he doesn't blame Jason, but himself for being gullible, and re-forgives Jason and himself, while bringing Jason to justice without undue violence.
- Averted: Alex doesn't forgive Jason at all.
- Alex doesn't need to forgive Jason because he never blamed him to begin with; Alex pities Jason who is himself a victim of abuse and a broken home and is taking it out on others.
- Enforced: "Revenge stories seem to promote violence and hatred. Let's teach people that forgiveness is the right way make the world a better place."
- Lampshaded: Alex notes that normally he wouldn't even think of forgiving Jason, but the Humiliation Conga he just went through has put him in a forgiving mood.
- Invoked: Alex knows Jason is a lying snake, and pretends to forgive him as part of a Engineered Public Confession so when he tries to stab him in the back, he's exposed.
- Exploited: Jason knows Alex is very probably going to grow up into an All-Loving Hero, and knows he's unlikely to suffer for his bullying.
- Defied:
- "Fuck forgiveness! I'm gonna kick your ass!" [Gives Jason a beatdown of a lifetime]
- Alex neither forgives nor seeks revenge on Jason. Being angry and resentful are too much at the core of Alex's heart for him to ever want to "end" his grudge by forgiving or revenging himself on Jason.
- Discussed: "I forgive you, even though you're clearly holding a knife behind your back. What? Forgiving someone doesn't mean I expect you to reform, or that I go all naive and trust you not to try to hurt me again."
- Conversed: "You'd think the people Alex forgives would take the hint and be gracious, most of them end up dying by abusing it afterwards."
- Implied: Everyone hates Jason for his con-artist past, except for Alex. For his part, Jason goes out of his way to try and find a way to "repay" Alex for some unspecified reason.
- Deconstructed: Despite Alex forgiving him, Jason is never repentant for what he's done and continues to treat Alex like crap. Why bother forgiving people who are never sorry and will continue to do it again?
- Reconstructed:
- Alex realizes that the point in forgiving Jason isn't him becoming a Love Martyr or Horrible Judge of Character, or hoping that Jason grows as a person. Good deeds are done for their own sake, and more "selfishly" so that Alex gets the best revenge of all: living free of the rage, resentment and violence Jason is directly or indirectly forcing on him through his bad behavior.
- Alex resolves to forgive others who are truly sorry and are willing to change their ways. He also makes it clear that he will give only one chance, and if they cross him again, there will be no second chances for him to give.
- Played For Laughs: Jason is a colossal screw up, and Alex is his long suffering friend who always gets some humiliating hijinks because of Jason. It becomes a show staple for Jason to sheepishly ask Alex for forgiveness, and Alex to groan as he does.
- Played For Drama: Jason smirks smugly, expecting Alex to once again forgive him, especially since not doing so means the Big Bad will kill all their friends. Alex... doesn't, and in fact attacks Jason in a bitter rage, no longer willing to let this Entitled Bastard walk all over him, the lives of other be damned.
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