Basic Trope: Bow-using characters tend to be analytical, independent, and not overly emotional.
- Straight: Alice, an Ice Queen who works alone, uses a bow in combat. Specialises in stealth operations and sniping afar.
- Exaggerated: Alice is an Emotionless Girl or an outright robot who uses a bow 24/7.
- Downplayed:
- Alice has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality who is proficient with the bow and the sword.
- Unlike the usual depiction of archers, Alice is a tall, muscular woman (definitely leaning into Aloof Dark-Haired Girl territory) who has a menacingly massive (and definitely powerful) bow with arrows that could be used as mini-spears.
- Justified: Alice Had to Be Sharp — being born in an environment with dangerous predators constantly out for her blood has made her cold and ruthless in order to live another day. Using melee weapons is one step closer to suicide, while the bow and arrow is more practical.
- Inverted: Alice, a Towering, Amazonian Stock Shōnen Hero, uses a bow in combat.
- Subverted:
- Alice intends to snipe a Giant Mook from afar with a poker face. Suddenly, she ditches the bow, grabs the nearest club, and goes Leeroy Jenkins.
- Alice is only the bow carrier, as it looks way too huge, heavy, and cumbersome to use. The real user of the bow is Bobin.
- Double Subverted:
- Turns out Alice was being possessed during her Leeroy Jenkins. Realising that she almost screwed up, she inwardly curses, claims the high ground, picks the bow back up, and is back to her usual calm self.
- Alice realizes that she can use the bow just as well as Bobin.
- Parodied: Anyone who picks up the bow and arrow have their appearance changed into that of Robin Hood, their personality changed into that of an emotionless robot. They are back to normal once they put the bow and arrow down.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: No one uses bows.
- Enforced: The executives find out that TV shows that feature a stoic, independent archer as the main lead (e.g. Alice) tend to have higher ratings, so they ordered the writers to change the protagonist's personality and skillset to that of Alice's, in hopes of following the leader.
- Lampshaded: "So this is Alice? The dull, mean one with the bow and arrow? Typical archers."
- Invoked: Bob is a levelheaded, no-nonsense archer whose attitude proves to be popular with the people due to how "cool" he is. Many of his fans, Alice included, emulate his appearance and mannerisms to keep up with the times.
- Exploited: Evulz successfully tricks Alice into facing him in an open field where he has the advantage against her. Evulz also wears protective gear that defends against Alice's arrows.
- Defied: Alice, sick of the "cold archer" stereotype, strives to become The Face of The Team while maintaining her prowess with the bow.
- Discussed: "Ah, there's Alice. With a good shot like her, our team will surely win." "Er... I'm not sure about that. She prefers to be left to her own devices. Better accuracy, less distractions, or stuff like that."
- Conversed: "Those archers in this show really need to lighten up, do they?" "Yeah, they should act like typical warriors."
- Deconstructed:
- Stealthy, pragmatic, and levelheaded, Alice specialises in kill-stealing, since she could simply shoot an enemy in the head from a distance. Consequently, Alice as well as other bow users are shunned by society, and archery becomes a symbol of dishonour and cowardice.
- Bow users, due to being associated with loners, are considered weirdos at best, and villains at worst. Meanwhile, the archery community either discredits extraverted bow users for not being "real bow users", or urges its members to Stop Being Stereotypical. Cue angst.
- Reconstructed: Alice endures the angst thrown at her, even managing to defeat the Big Bad and save the day via shooting the villain with an arrow. The "cold archer" archetype becomes the mark of a hero and a badass, while its critics are the ones being discredited.
- Played for Laughs: Alice shoots cupid arrows.
- Played for Horror: Alice is a no-nonsense Implacable Woman who one-shots anyone in sight. Due to her stealth, it is impossible to determine her location. A hapless victim could do nothing but constantly turn their head left and right, eventually taking an arrow to the eye, killing them.
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