Basic Trope: A character has a letter (generally the first letter of their name) on their clothes.
- Straight: Alice has an "A" embroidered on her shirt.
- Exaggerated:
- All the characters have a letter on their clothes.
- Alice's shirt is covered in letters.
- All of Alice's garments, right down to the socks, underwear, jewelry, etc., have an "A" on them somewhere.
- Downplayed:
- Alice only wears the shirt with the "A" sometimes.
- The "A" is very small.
- Alice wears a shirt that has a fancier, cursive "A" that's on the breast pocket after personally commissioning it from her local tailor.
- Justified:
- Alice is in a setting where everyone must have their first initial on their clothes.
- Alice has an identical twin whose name starts with another letter, such as Greta, and this is how people tell them apart.
- Alice has to wear a uniform, but she's a nonconformist, so she embroiders the "A" on her shirt to set herself apart.
- She's working for Alfonso's Burger Joint. (Having it be the character's initial is optional, not mandatory.)
- Alice just likes wearing an "A" on her shirt.
- Alice, Bella, Betty, and Derrick are at an ABBA concert.
- Inverted: A big letter wears a shirt with a person embroidered on it.
- Subverted: Alice was wearing the "A" on her shirt, but it was All Just a Dream.
- Double Subverted: She decides she wants an "A" on her shirt and embroiders the "A" on.
- Parodied: Alice and Bob go back in time to Ancient Greece, where they meet Alice's ancestor Damali, who has an Uncanny Family Resemblance to Alice and wears a big Delta on her clothes around where Alice has her "A".
- Zig-Zagged: Sometimes, Alice wears the "A", sometimes not.
- Averted:
- Nobody has a letter on their clothes anywhere.
- Alice lives naked.
- Lampshaded: "What does the 'A' stand for?"
- Enforced: To make it clear which character is Alice.
- Invoked: Alice's tailor designs her shirt and sews the "A" on it.
- Exploited: People can instantly recognise Alice due to the "A" on her shirt.
- Defied: There's a place with a dress code that doesn't allow letters on clothes for whatever reason.
- Discussed:Alice: I'd like to have my own insignia, but what do I put?Bob: Just put your initials.Alice: I have these Embarrassing Initials A.I.D.S. and I don't want people to make fun of me.Bob: Just put an "A", then.
- Conversed: Alice is a character in a Show Within a Show which Bob is a fan of. He introduces Frank to the show.Frank: Who are those two ladies?Bob: That's Alice and Greta, they're identical twins. You can tell them apart 'cause Alice has this big ol' "A" on her shirt.
- Implied: In a Meaningful Background Event, a character is seen pointing at another and asking, "What does that stand for?"
- Deconstructed: Alice is only distinguishable, or known, for her "A" shirt. When she does something or even appears wearing something other than her "A" shirt, nobody notices her.
- Reconstructed:
- Then she gets her shirt back and everybody knows it was she who did that or was present.
- She does something so noteworthy that what she was or was not wearing at the time is immaterial.
- Played for Laughs: Alice's "A" is very intricately done. Bob says, "All that fuss over just one letter?!"
- Played for Drama: Bob thinks Alice died because he sees a blood-stained shirt with an "A" on it. It turns out she was just injured, but the scene with him finding the blood-stained "A" shirt and crying is still a dramatic moment.
Back to Brought to You by the Letter "S".
