Basic Trope: A character fails to recognize a definition that fits them perfectly.
- Straight: Alice describes her crush as being a member of the school's baseball team who also bakes the most delicious cupcakes. Bob, the very person she's describing, wonders if such a guy exists.
- Exaggerated: Alice gives a very detailed description about Bob, including his address, his family and the locations of his tattoos and birth mark. Bob continues to be unaware that Alice is indeed talking about him.
- Downplayed: Alice describes her crush as being on the school's baseball team, and Bob doesn't understand that she's talking about him, but Alice could just as easily be talking about anyone else on the school's baseball team.
- Justified: Bob is a Ridiculously Average Guy, and the descriptors that Alice mention could easily apply to many of their classmates (apparently, many of the members of the school's baseball team also bake because they need to raise money for their uniforms and equipment), and Bob doesn't want to embarrass himself by jumping into conclusions.
- Inverted: Alice describes her crush to Bob, and Bob assumes she's talking about him, even though none of her descriptors fit him (e.g. her crush is 195 cm, with a muscular frame, a blond pompadour, and blue eyes. Bob is 165 cm, with a scrawny build, a dark bowl cut, and brown eyes).
- Subverted: Bob is only pretending to be dense because he wants Alice to directly tell him how she feels instead of beating around the bush.
- Double Subverted: It turns out Alice is not talking about Bob. She's actually referring to his brother Charles, who was also present in the conversation, and is blissfully oblivious.
- Parodied: Bob is wearing a name tag. Alice describes her crush as someone who is wearing a name tag with "Bob" written on it. Somehow Bob doesn't catch on.
- Zig Zagged: Alice rattles of some descriptions that fits Bob, but he's unaware, so she adds more and more descriptors, and the realisation seems to finally dawn on him. Until Alice also mentions that her crush is "one of the best player in the baseball team". Bob, who doesn't believe that he's such a good player, begins to have second thoughts that Alice is talking about him after all.
- Averted: Bob immediately realise that Alice is talking about him.
- Invoked: ???
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "Bob, have you looked into the mirror recently?"
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: When Bob asks Alice who she's talking about, she angrily responds, "I'm talking about you of course. Try to be more self-aware next time."
- Discussed:Carol: Alice is talking about Bob right?
Danny: Of course. I think everyone knows that. Except for Bob, strangely enough. - Conversed: "If Bob would just take a hint and LOOK at himself for once, this series wouldn't have so many USELESS filler episodes and they could get back to the fighting, but NO, he just has to act like he's not being mercilessly described to the finest damn detail!"
- Deconstructed: Bob lacks self-awareness, and doesn't notice when his friends try to indirectly reproof him for his flaws and mistakes. His failure to heed their advice turns them away from him.
- Reconstructed: Bob's friends understand that Bob is not so perceptive, and they must be direct if they want to tell him something.
Back to Oblivious to Their Own Description, wonder who it’s about?
