Basic Trope: A character Rage Quits their job.
- Straight: After five years of putting up with all the nonsense at Incompetence, Inc., Bob snaps and walks out on his job, never to return.
- Exaggerated:
- Before leaving, Bob injures or kills a few of his coworkers.
- Bob does this at pretty much every job he's ever had, within two months of hire.
- It's Bob's first day on the job.
- Half the staff walks out, causing the business to close down shortly after.
- Downplayed:
- Bob uses his office computer to look for a new job.
- Bob gives his boss a curt resignation letter explaining that he is no longer working for the company, effective immediately.
- Justified:
- Bob's job and/or boss is just that horrible.
- Bob is on strike.
- Bob has a mental illness that gives him intense mood swings and/or poor impulse control.
- Incompetence, Inc. has No OSHA Compliance and after a particularly nasty mishap, Bob fears he's one disaster short of serious injury or death if he continues (as well as being naturally angry).
- Inverted:
- Bob's boss openly fires him in front of the entire office.
- Bob is Kicked Upstairs.
- Bob is hired at a new job.
- Bob has to come groveling back to Incompetence, Inc.
- Subverted:
- Bob's loud display of quitting was just an act, as he was already fired.
- Bob comes in the next day.
- Bob calms down and gives in his notice.
- Double Subverted:
- Just to pick up his last paycheck and leave a dog turd on his boss' desk.
- The last two weeks push him over the edge and he quits in a rage.
- Parodied: His coworkers and boss are all too happy to see him go.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob starts preparing to do this, then changes his mind, then decides he will quit in a fury after all.
- Averted:
- Bob doesn't quit his job in any way.
- Bob quits, but does so properly (two weeks' notice, civilized letter of resignation, etc.).
- Bob is unemployed.
- Bob's boss refuses to accept his resignation (often with some additional strong-arming needed).
- Enforced: Rule of Drama, Rule of Funny
- Lampshaded: "You can kiss my ass! I'm leaving!"
- Invoked: Bob is unhappy with his work conditions, the fact that his complaints get dismissed, the way the company is run, the fact that he's sat at the same desk for 5 years and worked for 4 different companies, and crappy paycheck and benefits package.
- Exploited:
- Bob is bluffing, hoping his boss will give him something to make him stay (a raise, a promotion, or a corner office).
- Bob was impersonating an employee, and then pretends to loudly quit to make a quick exit.
- Defied:
- Bob knows that this could ruin his future career prospects, and that he doesn't have a new job yet, so he decides to stick it out a bit longer and quit in a more civilized manner.
- "You won't quit, because of three things. One: I won't accept you quitting. Two: You doing something awful like putting a dog turd on my desk won't make me fire you. Third: If by some miracle you actually convinced me to fire you, and not go for Rule Four, I will make damned sure you are blacklisted even amongst the beggars and sex workers. And fourth: that nanotech bomb on your skull means that your ass is mine for life."
- Jim from PR meets all newcomer employees with a "I won't put a gun to your face and force you to stay in the company. But if you ever decide to quit and, for some… let's call it a brief moment of listening to that devil on your left shoulder… you decide to do something stupid on your way out — anything from standing on a chair and show the "I Quit" you painted on your chest with marker like that guy from Chicago I can't remember the same of right now or telling everybody "fuck you" and up to harming the company with a prank or a little bit of economic malfeasance… and yes, I mean everything in between… I will make it my mission in life to burn you so bad you won’t be able to afford being buried in a ditch."
- Discussed:
- Deconstructed:
- Screaming "I quit" does not count as an actual resignation. Bob is listed as "terminated" rather than "resigned".
- Bob had no plans for anything that would get him an income afterwards. Or, if he did, none of them works out.
- Bob loses a very good severance package because he quit instead of being fired. And if he quits in a way as flagrantly insulting to the company as some of the examples in media do, he'll be lucky if he does not loses whatever little benefits he got from quitting (alongside a chunk of his savings) from the company suing him.
- Conversed: "Here comes the big 'I quit' scene."
- Played for Drama: Bob had good relationships with his coworkers of similar rank and they all get A Day in the Limelight after he quits, showing what he did for them that they'll miss.
You know what you can do with this life-wrecking task? Take This Job and Shove It!
