Basic Trope: A character breaks down laughing in a time of crisis or tragedy.
- Straight: Bob is told that Alice is dead and breaks down laughing.
- Exaggerated: Bob is told that Alice is dead, and he breaks down into demented cackling. Cut to him now locked into a padded cell wearing a straitjacket, still laughing uncontrollably.
- Downplayed: Bob's first reaction is to break down in Inelegant Blubbering, but snatches of hysterical laughter break through.
- Justified:
- Bob's been through enough that the last straw just makes him laugh at how much the universe seems to hate him.
- The thing causing Bob's madness is Actually Pretty Funny.
- Inverted:
- Bob breaks down crying after Alice accepts his marriage proposal.
- Bob laughs maniacally upon realizing he got out of a very dangerous situation okay.
- Subverted:
- Bob's friend enters the room at the sound of wild laughter, worried that Bob's gone off his rocker, but realises there are tears streaming down his face.
- Bob's squad comes under attack and he breaks out laughing as he fights back. He was actually only slightly nervous but nerve gas resulted in laughter. It helps maintain a reputation though.
- Double Subverted: ...but Bob never stops laughing, and it doesn't take long before Charlie's fears for his sanity return.
- Parodied: Bob handles Alice's death with dignified stoicism... and then he breaks his pencil, and starts laughing maniacally.
- Zig Zagged: Bob laughs, then cries, then laughs again, and then goes silent, and slowly curls into a ball.
- Averted:
- No one laughs during tragic or crisis moments.
- No one laughs. Ever.
- There are no tragic or crisis moments.
- Enforced: What better Start of Darkness for a Monster Clown?
- Lampshaded: "Let me come to grips with my grief. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!"
- Invoked:
- Bob is trying to invoke the healing power of laughter. It's not working.
- Bob laughs in order to make them think he's crazy.
- Exploited:
- Bob laughs when being beaten up to annoy the person who is beating him up.
- Bob laughs to convince someone of his insanity.
- Defied: Bob starts giggling but suppresses it.
- Discussed: "Crap, run. He just heard Alice is dead. He'll probably try to turn us into a coat now."Carol: Bob, S-stop laughing Bob, i-it's not funny!
Bob: THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I'M LAUGHING~! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! - Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Bob's Freak Out disturbs the people around him - his friends leave and he loses his job. He's advised to seek psychiatric help to help him grieve properly, but he's too far gone to even take basic care of himself and ends up locked in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, leading to the above Exaggerated scenario of him locked in a padded cell wearing a straitjacket while still laughing uncontrollably.
- Reconstructed: This gives Bob a full-time chance to destroy everything, his way.
- Played For Laughs: Someone asks Bob what's so funny, and doesn't quite get that Alice's death isn't a joke to him. Awkwardness ensues.
- Played For Drama: Emotional strain overwhelms Bob's anti-manic medication and the euphoric surge of a breakthrough episode of mania causes Bob to laugh madly as his rational mind crumbles. It's time to go back to the asylum...
So, you headed back to Laughing Mad, huh? Heh, hehheheh, heeheeheee HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHAAA!!!!!
