Basic Trope: An otherwise powerful character is submissive in BDSM.
- Straight: Bob who is a CEO likes to be submissive during sex.
- Exaggerated: In Bob's society, it is considered normal for powerful people to be submissive in bed.
- Downplayed:
- Bob the CEO is a switch; he does enjoy being submissive, but he can be dominant too just like the rest of the time.
- Bob is in lower management, he has only a little power. He still doesn't like wielding it and happily ditches the authority's mindset the instant he clocks out of work.
- Justified: Bob spends most of his time being powerful so he wants to have Freedom from Choice for once.
- Inverted: Bob the lowly cashier fantasizes about being a powerful CEO manhandling his secretary and frequently acts out that fantasy in the bedroom.
- Subverted: It looks like Bob is going to be the one tied up, but he ties of Alice instead.
- Double Subverted: But then Bob decides he doesn't want the power, he lets Alice tie him up.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: Bob is a switch in the bedroom, and he frequently job-hops in and out of jobs with varying levels of authority.
- Averted: Bob does not have in interest in BDSM.
- Enforced: "Having a CEO tie people up would be a bit disturbing, let's have him get tied up."
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Bob's rival Charlie exposes his love life to cause a scandal.
- Defied: Alice and/or Bob insist that Alice is the one to be tied up.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: One time when Bob's wife shows up to pick him up from his executive office and drive him home, she greets him with a teasing hand grasping his necktie...
- Untwisted: Bob the CEO dominates Alice the secretary, except Bob is a figurehead with no control, and Alice is an Almighty Janitor who actually runs the company.
- Played for Drama: Despite being a sub Bob proves to be rather degrading to his lovers the way he coerces them into elaborate mistress personas.
Back to Aggressive Submissive
