Basic Trope: A character who suffers from flaws and hindrances, whose story tends to be as much about overcoming their own weaknesses as about conquering the enemy.
- Straight: Alice has a lack of confidence in her abilities and must overcome her own doubts in order to defeat the Big Bad.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice has a long list of crippling neurosis and can't even get out of bed in the morning, but must defeat an Evil Overlord.
- Byronic Hero
- Downplayed:
- Justified:
- Alice grew up with Abusive Parents and has a reason for her lack of confidence.
- Alice is The Atoner who, after having so much guilt and remorse, wants to change so badly, but is also painfully aware that there are people who may not forgive her past transgressions, which is why she's not confident when trying to redeem herself.
- Inverted:
- Ideal Hero.
- The Ace.
- Invincible Hero.
- It’s the villain who has to overcome their flaws in order to achieve their Evil Plan.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain
- Subverted: Alice seems like a decent person despite her flaws, yet when her various issues cause many people to suffer, her pity is only herself.
- Double Subverted: ???
- Parodied: Alice whines about her social problems to the point where the Big Bad leaves on his own because she just can't stand to hear anymore.
- Zig Zagged: Alice overcomes her doubts when she gets a new boyfriend. He dumps her, however, so she reverts back to having a self-esteem issue, only to realize her brief stint with self-confidence was due to a renewed sex life. She then goes out and turns into Good Bad Girl, but soon realizes this shallow lifestyle made her feel even worse. She finally figures out she had self-confidence in her all along and vows to be more positive in life.
- Averted: Alice has no major problems.
- Enforced: The writers want to give the audience a hero they can relate to.
- Lampshaded: "Everytime I think I've finally won, something always sets me back. It's as if my life is more interesting when I'm miserable."
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz knows Alice is the one prophesied to eventually defeat him so he sets off to make her life miserable in hopes Alice will never have the drive to realize her destiny and defeat him.
- Defied: Alice is The Pollyanna and doesn't let her problems get her down.
- Discussed: "Alice has it rough, but it makes her more endearing somehow."
- Conversed: "I like this character. She's going through the same problems as me."
- Deconstructed: A rare optimistic deconstruction - Alice realizes that with her powers, she shouldn't have to worry about not getting a date, bullying, money issues, or anything else and uses them to solve her problems.
- Reconstructed: And an even rarer cynical reconstruction - she ends up abusing her power and acting like a total Jerkass, which alienates the few people who cared about her. This, of course, just adds to her problems.
- Played For Laughs: Alice saves the world, then has a "Why me?" expression when she can't get a date.
- Played For Drama: Alice dealing with her personal problems show her determination in the face of adversity.
Back to Classical Anti-Hero.
