Basic Trope: A character pretends they did something bad by accident.
- Straight: Alice knocks over Bob's glass, but claims it was an accident.
- Exaggerated: Alice destroys the entire neighborhood, but acts like it was an accident.
- Downplayed: Alice "accidentally" gives Bob the wrong thing.
- Justified:
- Alice wanted a quick way to get out of trouble.
- Alice (and possibly Bob) were The Distraction.
- Alice getting back at Bob for laughing at her various embarrassing slips and falls.
- Alice was attempting to invoke Cute Clumsy Girl to attract Bob.
- Inverted:
- Alice did something bad by accident, but for some reason, she claims she did it on purpose.
- Alice claims that something good she did on purpose was by accident.
- Alice claims that something good she did by accident was on purpose.
- Subverted: Alice actually didn't mean to knock over Bob's glass.
- Double Subverted: Later, Alice pretends she didn't mean to take something from Charlie.
- Parodied: Alice claims she didn't do something while she's doing it.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Sometimes Alice uses this excuse, other times not.
- Some characters use this excuse, others don't.
- Alice goes back and forth between saying that the same action was accidental and deliberate.
- Averted: Nobody pretends they didn't mean to do something bad.
- Enforced: "No way would Alice be that clumsy. Remember that gymnastics championship in season 3?" "Okay, fine, I'll have her fake it."
- Lampshaded:Alice: I didn't mean to knock over your glass, Bob.
Bob: You looked a lot more in control of yourself than somebody who knocks something over by accident, Alice. - Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Alan sees that this excuse works for Alice, so he starts using it himself: knocking things over left, right, and centre, all followed with "Sorry, it was an accident" within seconds.
- Defied: Bob physically pushes Alice away from the glass as soon as he realizes she's trying to pull this.
- Discussed: "I know you're about to say that was an accident, and I'm not buying it anymore."
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Alice seemingly knocks over the glass on accident, but then she seems to smirk for unknown reasons.
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