Basic Trope: A character asks a question that makes another character question their actions.
- Straight: After Alice kills Bob for murdering Claire, her sister, Diana asks if Claire would have wanted it this way. This makes Alice have a My God, What Have I Done? moment.
- Exaggerated: Eddie has crossed the line hundreds of times. When Diana questions him, he immediately pulls a Heel–Face Turn and becomes The Atoner.
- Downplayed: Alice does reconsider her actions, but manages to comfort herself.
- Justified: Alice was Brainwashed and Crazy, and Diana knew the only way to save her was to ask her the question.
- Inverted:
- Alice is currently looking for the answer to a question, so she can turn evil. She does so when Faye accidentally gives her the answer.
- Armor-Piercing Response
- Subverted:
- Diana asks Alice if Claire would have wanted this, only for Alice to say yes...
- Later on, Faye is able to communicate with Claire from beyond the grave...and it turns out that yes, Claire did want it.
- Diana asked what's Alice planning on doing after she's getting away, but it resulted in an unimpressed Alice telling her that she's going to murder all of Bob's family and friends, leaving Diana in horrified silence.
- The response is an Armor-Piercing Response that's just as damaging (if not more) as the intended question.
- Double Subverted: ...then she suffers a Villainous Breakdown.
- Parodied: Diana's question isn't even related to what Alice did, like "Did you eat a whale this morning? It good to have your cells good for photosynthesis!". It still works!
- Zig Zagged: Alice can't decide if she's bothered by Diana's question or not.
- Averted: Diana just uses The Power of Friendship.
- Enforced: Alice is an Ensemble Dark Horse, and so the producers want Alice to stay alive, conflicting with the original idea. The writers decide this is the best way to do it.
- Lampshaded: "Why did you ask me that question? Now I just feel guilty!"
- Invoked: Diana has a crush on Alice, so she decides to think of a question to ask her so that Alice could perform a Heel–Face Turn.
- Exploited: Alice notices Diana's plans, and goes along with it so she can corrupt Diana.
- Defied: Despite her feelings, Diana decides to just arrest her.
- Discussed: "Hey, Diana. What's the chance that you will beat up Alice?" "None. I'll just ask her a question to make her reconsider her actions."
- Conversed: "Why didn't Alice think of that before she killed Bob?" "Maybe she wasn't thinking straight."
- Deconstructed:
- Alice is so broken from the question that she is either Driven to Suicide, or spends the rest of her life regretting the misery she brought and knowing that no one will forgive her.
- Alice's entire psyche cannot be deconstructed (and/or damaged) by one single question. Alice's response to Claire doing this is either to snark out at Claire's attempt at being an uber-shrink, answer the question but not changing at all, or attacking Claire because she's too clever for her own good.
- Played For Laughs: Claire's question is simply Stating the Simple Solution that Alice never considered: "Why didn't you just call the police?"
- Played For Drama: Claire's question brings up deep dark Freudian Excuses and mental breakdowns. Alice spends several hours afterwards screaming and crying and Claire feels bad for doing it, but at least now Alice can start to heal.
- Played For Horror: Alice reacts to Claire's question as if Claire had read her one of the most disturbing passages of the Necronomicon, completely demolishing her psyche for good and making her commit suicide immediately and gruesomely. This result also traumatizes Claire to the point she needs to go to a mental hospital.
- Implied: Alice seems like she might turn fully evil after killing Bob, but doesn't. When asked why, she says, "I didn't have a good answer."
Back to Armor-Piercing Question
