Basic Trope: A character sells their soul for something comically insignificant.
- Straight: Sam sells his soul to the Devil to get good at the video game Tropin' Rhythm.
- Exaggerated:
- Sam sells his soul for a penny.
- God sells His godhood for a crumb.
- Downplayed: Sam sells his soul to get good at Tropin' Rhythm. This enables him to do a couple of things he wanted to do, like making a popular YouTube video about the game, but he doesn't get much out of the deal.
- Justified:
- Sam is The Ditz and has no idea how much he's actually paying for the deal.
- The Devil tricked Sam into taking the deal by lying about what he was actually giving up.
- For whatever reason, Sam wants to belong to the Devil. The skill at Tropin' Rhythm is just an excuse for Sam to make a contract.
- Sam rightly or wrongly believes that "Tropin' Rhythm" will be more useful than it appears.
- Sam rightly or wrongly believes he can outsmart the Devil and get the game skills he wants while keeping his soul.
- Inverted:
- The Devil already has Sam's soul, but he gets it back by sacrificing his rather insignificant skills at Tropin' Rhythm.
- The Devil kidnaps Sam and drags him to hell. Sam turns out to be such an annoying captive that the Devil is willing to offer him something, anything to make him go away. Sam says "just make me really good at Tropin' Rhythm, and I'm out of here."
- Sam tries to make a deal with God by saying that if he helps him out of a tough spot, he'll never play "Tropin' Rhythm" again.
- Subverted: Sam sells his soul to magically strip the head cheerleader nude at the Big Game. When she finds out later, the cheerleader is flabbergasted at how stupidly perverted he is.
- Sam sells his soul to get really good at Tropin' Rhythm. It turns out that the game is Serious Business, and as a result of the deal, Sam becomes a rich and extremely popular esports player.
- It first seems like Sam sold his soul to get really good at Tropin' Rhythm. It later turns out that he really asked for the far more useful power of being able to become an Instant Expert in anything.
- Sam complains about how hard "Tropin Rhythm is," and the Devil offers to take his soul to make him better at it. Sam instantly rejects this offer.
- Double Subverted:
- However, Tropin' Rhythm turns out to be yet another Flash In The Pan Fad, and Sam is quickly back to his normal life.
- But one particularly difficult level later, Sam agrees.
- Parodied:
- Zig-Zagged: Sam sells his soul to the Devil for fame, only to realize that Celebrity Is Overrated and regret not choosing something more valuable.
- Averted: Sam sells his soul to the Devil for something incredibly valuable.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "Really? You sold your soul to get good at a freaking video game?"
- Invoked: The Devil seeks out children and teenagers who don't realize the gravity of selling one's soul, and are easy targets to be duped into doing it without the Devil needing to give them much in return.
- Exploited:
- Defied:
- Sam is offered a chance to sell his soul to get good at Tropin' Rhythm, but he's completely unwilling to make a Deal with the Devil.
- This:The Devil: I can make you the best player the world has ever seen... all I want in exchange is your soul.
Sam: Are you kidding me? At least give me a billion dollars or something! - Sam offers to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for getting good at Tropin' Rhythm. The Devil, being a Noble Demon, refuses to take Sam's soul for so little in return.
- Discussed: Sam plays Tropin' Rhythm, and an impressed kid asks him when he sold his soul to get that good. Sam muses that if he had the chance to make a Deal with the Devil, he'd ask for much more.
- Conversed:
- Played for Laughs: Sam offers to sell his soul to the Devil. The Devil doesn't consider it very desirable, and after a long haggling session, reluctantly agrees to make Sam really good at Tropin' Rhythm in exchange.
- Played for Drama:
- Sam's willingness to sell his soul for something insignificant is a sign that he has a serious lack of self-worth. Even though he knows what the consequences of selling his soul are, he doesn't care, because he hates himself and believes that he'll go to Hell regardless.
- Sam's rash decision to sell his soul for skills in a video game sets off A Tragedy of Impulsiveness.
- Played for Horror: The "sold your soul" part of the equation is something Sam is really, really going to regret.
- Implied: Sam is introduced suffering in Hell, with his only comfort being periodic breaks to play "Tropin' Rhythm," which he is incredibly good at. When asked why he's in Hell, he refuses to elaborate beyond saying he got a "bad deal."
Sell your soul for a chance to view the main page here.
