Basic Trope: Someone is thought to be suicidal but they're not.
- Straight:
- Alice sees Bob looking somber and talking about "ending it all". She worries that he's suicidal but it turns out that he's thinking of retiring and "it all" only refers to his career.
- Alice sees Bob on a ledge. She thinks he's about to jump. He's not.
- Exaggerated: Alice sees Bob peeling a potato with a knife. She promptly calls 911 out of fear that he's planning to use that knife to kill himself.
- Downplayed: Bob is genuinely suicidal. He's just not planning on jumping off that ledge.
- Justified:
- Bob had been a bit gloomy lately, which Alice had misinterpreted as depression.
- Alice had lost someone to suicide recently, which has caused her to be more aware.
- Inverted:
- Alice thinks Bob is not suicidal, but he is.
- Bob is The Undead. Alice thinks he wants to come back to life, but he doesn't.
- Alice resurrects Bob from the dead, and finds him angry that he took him away from the afterlife.
- Subverted:
- It turns out he really is talking about ending his life.
- It turns out he really does want to jump.
- Alice never believed that Bob was intending to take his own life, it just seemed like she did.
- Double Subverted:
- ...as a (his job).
- ...but not to die. He has a Healing Factor which he shows off by jumping off ledges.
- ...but not before he has securely anchored his bungee-rope.
- Parodied: Alice thinks Bob is suicidal but it turns out he's talking about "finishing off" the cake.
- Zigzagged: Alice sees Bob looking somber and talking about "ending it all". She thinks he's suicidal but really he's talking about retiring. Then, she sees him on a ledge...but he doesn't want to jump. Then, she sees him with a gun pointed at himself...but it turns out he's showing her that he's Immune to Bullets.
- Averted: Alice does not mistake Bob for suicidal.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "I'm glad your job is all you're planning on ending."
- Invoked:
- Bob deliberately pretends to be suicidal to emotionally blackmail Alice.
- Bob gives off the right signs so that Alice subconsciously notice. Bob then fakes his death, knowing that Alice will tell everyone how she "should have seen it coming" and "didn't notice it till it was to late", allowing Bob to begin living under his new identity.
- Exploited: Bob purposely keeps Alice ignorant of the fact that he's not really suicidal so that he can get what he wants.
- Defied:
- As soon as Bob mentions ending it all, he hurriedly says, "by which I mean my job."
- As soon as Alice sees Bob by the ledge, he tells her, "Don't worry. I ain't planning on jumping."
- Discussed: "I'd better step away from this ledge before she thinks I'm suicidal or something."
- Conversed: "I hate seeing suicide mentions in TV shows, but I'm glad it was just a misunderstanding."
- Implied:
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs: Black Comedy.
- Played for Drama: Alice undergoes Heroic BSoD because she's worried about Bob.
Back to Mistaken for Suicidal.
