Basic Trope: A character only prays if they've done anything else they can and feel defeated.
- Straight: After Alice is in a Humiliation Conga, she does everything she feels she can, but when it all fails, she gives up and starts praying.
- Exaggerated: Even though Alice is meant to be religious, she doesn't pray when she doesn't feel defeated, even at logical times for a religious person to pray (like during church, before meals etc).
- Downplayed:
- Alice has prayed several times when she doesn't feel defeated, but mainly prays when she does feel defeated.
- Alice prays when she feels she's running out of options.
- Justified:
- Alice didn't want to bother God by asking for help when she could solve her own problems.
- Alice is agnostic, and, while not strictly an atheist, skeptical about God's existence, so she only sees prayer as a last resort.
- Alice is an atheist, but she is in a Trapped-with-Monster Plot and about to do something that is either going to save her or kill her horribly and as the saying goes "there's no atheists in a foxhole".
- Inverted:
- Alice prays first, and when that fails, she takes matters into her own hands.
- Alice is an atheist who refused to pray when she almost died in a car accident and instead focused on surviving, while her religious friend who resorted to prayer ended up dying.
- When Alice gives up, she loses her faith in God.
- Alice prays too much. Eventually Jesus himself arrives to her home to tell her that asking his Father to make sure the rice doesn't gets stuck together and to not fall into any potholes when she can do it herself is just excessive.
- Subverted: Alice is about to start praying, but changes her mind and takes another option.
- Double Subverted: When that option fails, she prays.
- Parodied: Whenever Bob sees Alice praying, even at a logical time and place to pray, he believes she needs motivation.
- Averted:
- Alice does not pray.
- Alice prays at moments when she is not close to giving up.
- Zigzagged: Alice prays several times over the course of her Humiliation Conga, sometimes she feels more defeated than other times.
- Lampshaded: "Dear Lord, I do not usually pray to you unless I'm really desperate so I apologise for my negligence."
- Enforced: The author is making a point about atheism.
- Invoked: Bob tells Alice "Don't pray unless it's really serious."
- Exploited: The god decides to help Alice out in order to give her faith.
- Defied: Alice randomly prays during the day to let God know that she doesn't only acknowledge His existence when she's about to give up.
- Discussed: "Why does Alice only pray as a last resort?"
- Conversed: "For a religious person, that character doesn't pray very often unless it's a desperate situation. I mean, I've never seen her saying grace or anything." "Well, hey. Maybe she doesn't like being considered a bother or annoying towards God, but the saying grace thing is definitely some valid criticism."
- Implied:
- Alice gets into a praying position when she feels she has no options, but doesn't say anything.
- Alice is seen looking unhappy and praying, but it is left unknown why she appeared sad.
- Played for Laughs: After Alice prays, God replies "Why didn't you ask sooner?" and instantly solves the problem.
- Played for Drama: Alice believes she is dying and thinks her prayer will be her last words.
Back to Prayer Is a Last Resort.
