Basic Trope: A falsely accused character must prove themselves innocent of a crime.
- Straight: Ryan has been charged with murder, and resolves to prove he didn't do it.
- Exaggerated: Ryan was caught with the body, knows who the real perpetrator is, and has to solve the crime while on the run.
- Downplayed: The crime is only vandalism, but the charges will still stick to Ryan without another suspect in the picture.
- Justified:
- Ryan is a Private Detective, and attempts to pin crimes on him are part of the job.
- Ryan is the prime suspect, and the authorities aren't too keen on making a thorough investigation. If he wants to remain a free man, he'll need to solve the mystery himself.
- Inverted: To save his girlfriend Irene, Ryan agrees to be jailed for a murder she committed.
- Subverted: Ryan really did commit murder, and his work toward finding the real killer is an attempt to Destroy the Evidence against him.
- Parodied: Ryan uses his "Get Out of Jail Free" Card to exculpate himself from the situation.
- Zig Zagged: Figuring they'll let him off scot-free when they capture the real killer, Ryan doesn't make any attempt to exonerate himself or get out of jail. It's only after a few months of prison life that he begins to worry, and breaks out to try and find evidence on a gone-cold trail...
- Averted: Ryan isn't charged with any crimes.
- Enforced: Ryan doesn't trust authority, especially the police, and doesn't have any friends who can get him out of his jam.
- Lampshaded: The police cruelly taunt Ryan with their lack of action, knowing he's too chicken to break out of his cell and make a run for it. They're wrong.
- Invoked: The entire murder plot has been foisted on Ryan by Gina to lead the police to the real killer.
- Exploited: Ryan knows Gina did that, and plots to pin the crime on her if he can't find evidence in his favor.
- Defied: Knowing any attempt to prove his innocence would be amateurish at best and harmful at worst, Ryan elects to remain in police custody, asking his friends to help them solve the crime.
- Discussed: Detective Hardin sharply questions why the amateur Ryan thinks he can do better at solving a crime than a professional police force.
- Conversed: "I know breaking out of jail looks bad, but if it's between that and stay here to be the fall guy, I'll take it!"
- Implied: A Cryptic Conversation between Victor and Ryan gives us an alternate suspect for the crime, and galvanizes Ryan to gather evidence against his enemy before his fate is sealed.
- Deconstructed:
- Ryan's attempts to solve the murder only muddies affairs; since the evidence against him is solid, it only makes it look as if he's trying to cover his tracks.
- Ryan successfully catches the true villain. However, he's already lost his loved ones, his possessions, and his reputation, and in the process of clearing his name of the original crime committed several actual crimes that ensure his victory is Pyrrhic at best.
- Reconstructed: Despite initial blunders, Ryan manages to guile, ploy and gambit his way into uncovering the real killer's identity at the last second.
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