Basic Trope: This Serial Killer has a predictable gimmick as part of their modus operandi.
- Straight: Alice, aka the Poe Killer, murders people by using methods from the stories of Edgar Allan Poe.
- Exaggerated: Alice, aka the Poe Killer, meticulously recreates Poe's stories from the method of killing, to the setting, down to the gender of the victim.
- Downplayed: Alice’s killings are random and unthemed, but she always wears a pair of boots with the words “Poe Killer” carved into the bottom, giving her a unique footprint.
- Justified: Alice has monomania.
- Inverted: Alice kills people in such a patternless way that none of the investigating authorities suspect that all the murders were committed by a single person.
- Subverted: Alice, aka the Poe Killer, murders one person with a pillow, another with an axe, and a third with a scythe...but when caught, she admits she just used whatever was nearby.
- Double Subverted: However, she secretly selects another author to mimic in her next set.
- Zig Zagged: Alice has killed many people, but not all of them are Poe references.
- Parodied: Alice is known as the Pie Killer for always utilizing pies in her murders. Most people find the murders quaint and humorous, which frustrates Alice who doesn’t understand why people aren’t taking her seriously
- Enforced: The author writes the murders as themeless, but the producer wants to tie all of them together.
- Lampshaded:Detective Bob: Looks like this killer's going all the way through the set.
- Invoked: Alice's Evil Mentor teaches her that she needs a theme.
- Exploited: Given Alice's fixation on Poe, all the detectives read his stories to try to guess her next move.
- Defied: After a Poe themed murder, Detective Bob deduces that a wannabe serial killer will kill again to continue the theme. He arrests Alice, the victim’s Poe obsessed ex-girlfriend, before she can kill again.
- Discussed: “You guys ever hunt down a serial killer who keeps the skin of all her victims? Or is do you focus on traffic tickets?”
- Conversed: “Every famous serial killer’s got to have a gimmick. Gacy was a clown. Joker was a clown. Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of them were clown themed.
- Deconstructed: “Alice is quickly apprehended by police as her highly specific murders lead the police straight to her.
I am Theme Serial Killer, and my victims are all part of the murder index.
