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Basic Trope: A character is rewarded for doing a good deed.

  • Straight: Bob gives the homeless Charles ten dollars. Charles then gives him a funny white rock that Bob later finds out is worth a thousand dollars.
  • Exaggerated:
  • Downplayed: Bob gives Charles ten dollars. The next day, he wins second prize in the beauty contest and gets thirty dollars.
  • Justified: Charles knows that the rock he found has incredible value, and wants to give it to Bob to help him as much as he was helped by Bob with the ten dollars.
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted: After getting the ten dollars from Bob, Charles considers getting something back for him as a thank you, but he decides against it, thinking he's in too sorry of a state to be able to reward him properly.
  • Double Subverted: Later on, however, when Charles gets his feet on the ground, he decides to get a valuable gemstone to reward him with.
  • Parodied: Bob tells Charles that his hair looks nice. The very next second, he receives twenty billion dollars, ten top-level limos, control over the U.S.A., and Charles' hand in marriage.
  • Zig-Zagged: Bob gives Charles ten dollars and gets a funny white rock in return. His friend Alice looks at it and suggests it could be worth a lot more than that, so Bob takes it to a mineral buyer, who tells him that, unfortunately, it isn't. But then it turns out to be a valuable artifact, and Bob sells it for ten thousand dollars, which he shares with Charles.
  • Averted: Bob gives Charles ten dollars and is just thanked; no particular reward is given to him.
  • Enforced: This episode is An Aesop on how important charity and generosity are to a human being.
  • Lampshaded: "If you get this rewarded for being a good person, makes you wonder why Emperor Evulz is still being evil."
  • Invoked: Bob is taught at a young age about how karma is a thing. As such, he chooses to be giving at every opportunity. While it is out of genuine generosity, he does hope he gets something back as a result.
  • Exploited: Bob only does good deeds if he knows that he's gonna get something good out of it. As a result, people start rewarding him solely to get his assistance.
  • Defied: Charle's mother despises Bob for unknown reasons. When Charles tries to give him the gemstone, she takes it from him and tells him to stay away from Bob.
  • Discussed: "It's like my mother always told me; no good deed goes unrewarded. Not only does being good make you feel good, it helps you get goods."
  • Conversed: "My favorite childhood cartoon always preached that generosity is more rewarding than greed, and it always gets you more."
  • Deconstructed:
    • Bob only gives to people he thinks will return the favour — except that such people aren't the ones who are least capable of doing so, i.e., those most in need.
    • People come to see Bob, rightly or wrongly, as just giving so they'll give back to him. Either way, his reputation suffers.
  • Reconstructed:
    • He gives to everyone who's less well off than he is, from lower-middle-class to homeless.
    • He convinces them that he really is giving because Good Feels Good.

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