Basic Trope: Character is unrecognizable after being away for many years.
- Straight: Alice disappeared years ago while on a mission. When she returns, Bob does not initially recognize her.
- Exaggerated: Alice not only is unrecognized by Bob, but when she tries to make him remember, he invokes But for Me, It Was Tuesday ("There were fifty 'Alices' in our unit and most of them are gone now. You're gonna have to be more precise.")
- Downplayed: Alice disappeared a few months ago and while it's difficult to do so, Bob recognizes her after a few seconds.
- Justified: Alice went through a lot in the time she was missing and it changed her face, making her hard to recognize.
- Inverted: Alice disappeared years ago. When she returns, she looks exactly the same and Bob instantly recognizes her.
- Subverted: Despite how long she's been gone, Bob is immediately able to recognize Alice.
- Double Subverted: Although he has a couple of seconds of going "uhhh..." because he can't recall if Alice wore that exact same hairdo last time he met her and she may not like what he's gonna say about it.
- Parodied: Alice is away for about five minutes and changes the side her hair is parted on. Bob completely fails to recognize her even when she tells him who she is.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Nobody ever disappears for a long time.
- Enforced: The plot twists the author has in mind would never work if Bob recognized Alice immediately.
- Lampshaded: "No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me, Bob."
- Invoked: Dracone keeps Alice away for years and puts her through torture that irrevocably scars her face.
- Exploited: Alice uses the fact that Bob can't recognize her to see how he feels about her.
- Defied: Bob insists he can't recall Alice no matter what she says to try to boot up his memory.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
Back to No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me.
