Basic Trope: A sailor believes in some crazy superstitions.
- Straight: Bob the sailor adamantly refuses to have bananas on the ship, as they are an ill-omen.
- Exaggerated: Bob doesn't even allow bananas within a three mile radius of the ship
- Downplayed: Bob makes a religious sign when he sees a banana on deck, but otherwise does nothing.
- Justified:
- There are evil spirits that are attracted to bananas on the ocean: While it's not a guaranteed attack, it's not a good idea to invite trouble for no reason: An exaggerated superstition doesn't mean it's not a baseless one.
- There are scientific reasons to not have bananas on the ship, such as the fact that they rot too easily. Calling it a superstition makes it much easier to explain: Every sailor understands bad luck, no matter where they come from.
- Inverted:
- Everyone is superstitious on an island community...except the sailors.
- Bob is a Flat-Earth Atheist who has no faith in anything.
- Subverted: When Alice brings a banana on the ship, Bob walks towards her, about to scold her...then says it's bad form to not share, especially since bananas go bad quickly.
- Double Subverted: then he berates her for being bad luck, as eating fruit during the daylight is an ill omen.
- Parodied: There is a gambling pool to see which crazy superstition Bob reacts to first on the voyage.
- Averted:
- Bob has no qualms with anything and does his job as normal.
- Bob is eccentric about odd things. But not because of luck or omens, but because he's just weird.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "Jesus, those sailors, Wooden Ships and Iron Men, such tough guys they are, but have a banana and they turn into ninnies."
- Exploited: A Double Agent wants to cause a mutiny so he brings on a bunch of bananas in the hopes it will cause the superstitious lot to turn against the captain.
- Defied:
- Bob is a Nay-Theist who refuses to indulge any superstitions.
- Implied: Bob mutters some prayers when he sees bananas on board, and only calms down once they are all eaten.
- Played for Laughs: Bob's superstitions are so hilarious that the crew makes jokes about it, making ship life much easier.
- Played for Drama:
- Bob is unable to function due to his superstitions so the ship ends up getting lost at sea.
- Dismissal of the superstitions end up being a real problem when a kraken attacks the ship, attracted by the smell of the bananas.
Rules on deck, everyone. No bananas, no throwing rocks at the gulls, and you have to go back to Superstitious Sailors.
