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Basic Trope: A character is out for revenge, and the target cannot buy them off.

  • Straight: Dave kills one of Bob's friends, and Bob sets out to get revenge by killing Dave, who tries to save himself by offering him large sums of money, but Bob is not persuaded.
  • Exaggerated: Bob wants to kill Dave for breaking his window. Dave offers him all of his unrealistically massive wealth, but Bob isn't persuaded. In fact, he may even burn down all of Dave's finances.
  • Downplayed: Bob had a price, but Dave failed to meet it. Had he offered a larger bribe, Bob would have backed down.
  • Justified:
    • Bob's grudge is just that strong.
    • Dave's attempt at bribery only makes Bob see him as a Dirty Coward.
    • Dave tries to attach strings to the bribe, so Bob would not take it even if matched his price.
    • The bribe is bait for a trap. If Dave had just let Bob get the money and run, maybe, maybe Bob would have called it off, but Dave just had to get clever...
    • Dave spends every single second of screentime acting like the most loathsome human being in Earth history and could not even bother to try to turn it down when he tried to bribe Bob. The disgust Bob feels at the mere thought of owing this piece of slime anything fuels his grudge further.
    • The bribe attempt came too late. If Dave had tried to bribe Bob at the beginning of the story, Bob would have probably accepted. But now at the climax when Bob is five feet away with a gun to his face with injustices piled up (and some optional Character Development about how there are some things worth fighting for other than cash) that bunch of money is only useful to slow down the barrage that is coming.
  • Inverted: Dave is a Death Seeker who provokes Bob specifically so he will kill him. When Bob instead retaliates by stealing his wealth, Dave uselessly tries to persuade him to kill him instead, but Bob really only wants money.
  • Subverted: Bob initially refuses the bribe, but thinks it over at the last second and stops short of landing the killing blow, saying he'll accept the bribe after all.
  • Double Subverted: After being paid, Bob reveals he was lying and still wants revenge, and kills Dave anyway.
  • Parodied: Dave is Bob's Sitcom Arch-Nemesis, and they quarrel over something insignificant. When Bob threatens a Cool and Unusual Punishment, Dave uselessly tries to bribe him with Monopoly money.
  • Zig-Zagged: Bob reconsiders several times over whether to accept the bribe, but doesn't make up his mind until the very end of the story.
  • Averted:
    • Bob accepts the bribe.
    • No bribery is attempted.
    • No one is out for revenge.
  • Enforced: The author wants to hammer home just how deep Bob's grudge runs.
  • Lampshaded: "You really thought you could just buy your way out of this one?"
  • Invoked: ???
  • Exploited: Bob takes both the money and Dave's life.
  • Defied: Elise warns Dave not to try to bribe Bob, explaining how Bob just cannot be bought off once he seeks revenge.
  • Discussed: "Never, ever cross Bob. If he has a grudge, all the money in the world won't do you any good".
  • Conversed: ???
  • Implied: Alice tells Carol of the time Bob took revenge on Dave. Alice says that Dave tried his hardest to persuade Bob to back down, but doesn't specify what his persuasion attempts consisted of.
  • Deconstructed: ???
  • Reconstructed: ???
  • Played for Drama: Dave was framed for the murder, and only tried to bribe Bob after he didn't believe him, meaning Bob's grudge cost an innocent life.

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