Basic Trope: Hyenas are portrayed as evil, especially if they're also cowardly, vicious, and/or disgusting.
- Straight: Helena the Hyena is a Dirty Coward, primarily a scavenger, and is notably very vicious and evil.
- Exaggerated:
- Hyenas as a species are Always Chaotic Evil.
- Helena is a Complete Monster.
- Downplayed:
- "Evil" is too strong of a word to describe Harry, but he's certainly not very nice.
- Helena isn't a literal hyena but does have many hyena-themed motifs.
- Justified:
- Helena has a Freudian Excuse that made her this way.
- Helena scavenges because she grew up in a poor environment and has no other way to live.
- Inverted: Hyenas are portrayed as heroic.
- Subverted: Though Helena is believed to be evil, she ultimately reveals herself to be Good All Along.
- Double Subverted: Eventually, Helena undergoes a Face–Heel Turn.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged:
- There are some good hyenas and some bad hyenas.
- Helena is walking around in a Heel–Face Revolving Door.
- Helena is a Dirty Coward who's very vicious and vile. Her boyfriend Harry, however, is a Lovable Coward whose consistently domineered by his girlfriend. (Truth in Television; Female Hyenas are actually the dominant ones in a Hyena clan)
- Averted:
- There aren't any hyenas.
- There is nothing noteworthy about how hyenas act.
- Enforced:
- An Animal Stereotype.
- The hyenas are meant to be based on the ones from The Lion King (1994).
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Helena is no worse than a grumpy loner, but plays up hyena stereotypes to get everyone to leave her alone.
- Defied:
- Helena tries to avoid the negative stereotypes associated with her species.
- Hyenas are not portrayed as better or worse than the other creatures, and Harry points out that the others can be just as bad as hyenas, but they cover it up better.
- Deconstructed:
- Helena is a realistic depiction of a hyena, with all of the stereotypes of this trope (i.e. their laughter) being re-framed in this perspective.
- Helena is a Jerkass Woobie Destroyer of Worlds because other animals keep treating her badly.
- Reconstructed: Helena is in a more realistic setting, but still acts ruthlessly even by the standards of her species.
- Discussed: Mina the Monkey is distrustful of Helena just on principle, which makes Helena accusingly say "it's because I'm a hyena, isn't it?"
- Conversed: "Why aren't hyenas ever the heroes?"
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