Basic Trope: Anybody who shows off a photo of their family or loved ones bites the dust very soon after.
- Straight: Before entering The Very Definitely Final Dungeon, Bob shows Alice a photo of his family. He then heroically sacrifices his life to defeat the Big Bad.
- Exaggerated:
- The moment the photo is visible to Alice, a super powerful death ray instantly incinerates Bob.
- The photo locket is booby-trapped, and explodes when opened.
- All of Alice's companions discuss their families, with Alice being the only one not to mention hers. In the end, everyone dies with Alice being the Sole Survivor.
- Downplayed: Bob shows Alice his family photo midway in the war. He dies in the final battle.
- Justified:
- During the part of the fight that required the most intense concentration, the family photo distracted Bob, enabling the Big Bad to strike Bob with one last attack.
- Bob pulls out the photo because he's about to die and he knows it, and felt he should share that bit with Alice before biting it.
- Bob looking at the photo shows us his family is on his mind, not the war he is in, meaning he is to distracted to survive.
- Inverted:
- Bob dies as a result of NOT showing the family photo.
- Bob showing his photo is to demonstrate that he has been promoted to the main cast as a Mauve Shirt.
- Bob lives, but comes home to find his family dead.
- Bob is mortally wounded, and pulls out the family photo a second before his death and says goodbye.
- Bob lives and everyone else dies.
- Bob lives but the family photo is destroyed.
- Bob looking at his family photo gives him the adrenaline and motivation he needs to survive before help arrives.
- Subverted:
- Bob defeats the big bad and emerges triumphantly from the burning, collapsing wreckage of the dungeon.
- The Photocase acts as a guard that saves him from a fatal blow. His picture doesn't make it but, he does.
- Evulz picks Bob's family photo after defeating him and gloats about how idiotic he was to believe insignificant Mauve Shirt like him could stop him. Bob exploits this distraction and thrusts his knife through Evulz throat.
- Bob shows the photo to Alice, who wants to visit Bob's family, but she gets killed instead of Bob.
- Bob shows Alice a photo of his family before performing a Heroic Sacrifice. He later turns up alive, mockingly revealing that he was The Mole, and the photo was a stock photo he used to mess with Alice's head.
- Claire sneaks up on Bob while he is looking at something in his hand. The object turns out to be a mirror he used to watch her and attack when she comes in reach.
- Double Subverted:
- Then a burning piece of debris falls in him, simultaneously crushing and incinerating him.
- Then there's another gunshot heard. Bob then lies on the ground with blood splattered right next to his destroyed picture.
- Bob gets so distraught at Alice's death that he dies of heart attack.
- Bob secretly feels guilty about betraying Alice, looks at a photo of his real family to reassure himself, and then dies in his battle with Alice.
- Bob's counterattack fails and Claire kills him. As Claire loots his remains, she notices that there's a picture of Bob's family hidden within the mirror.
- Parodied:
- A locket with a family photo can be equipped as an "accessory". Doing so imposes a massive penalty to your luck stat.
- The photo is of Bob’s wife naked and surprised at her Birthday Suit Surprise Party.
- Zig Zagged: Everyone in the Badass Crew has a family photo, and they all take a moment before an impending Suicide Mission to show each other. Some of them survive, others don't.
- Averted:
- No one ever mentions or shows a family photo.
- Bob shows his family photo, but he survives and doesn't come close to dying.
- Enforced: We need the audience to feel sorry for that guy and his family. Let's make him show a family photo, then have him die.
- Lampshaded: Game over prompt: Perhaps showing Alice that family photo wasn't such a good idea after all. Restore, Restart, Quit?
- Invoked:
- Bob shows the family photo in order for the enemy soldiers to keep aiming at him, allowing his comrades to kill those enemies with ease.
- The Mole Alice talks Bob into showing her a picture of his family, sealing his fate. He dies shortly afterwards.
- Exploited: While Bob is showing Alice his photo, Charlie sneaks up to Bob and kills him as he's distracted.
- Defied: As Bob reaches into his pocket for the photo, Alice scolds him, loudly reminding him that showing a family photo during a major crisis is extremely bad luck, especially if the crisis is nearing resolution.
- Discussed: "You know, if you had shown your family photo back when we were in the war, I bet you'd be dead by now".
- Conversed: "That guy in the show just looked at a family photo. He's pretty much dead now."
- Deconstructed: Alice concludes that family is a distraction, and becomes unwilling to emotionally connect with others, superstitiously believing it caused Bob's death.
- Reconstructed: But once the world is saved, Alice opens up again; Bob's photo of his family becomes a reminder of what she was fighting for.
- Implied:
- Bob is seen showing the family photo. He gets shot and is never seen again, however, it is never outright confirmed that he died.
- After Bob is injured, the same family in the photo are seen weeping at the hospital.
- Played For Laughs: Back at Bob's neighborhood, Charlie says to Diana "The neighbors are such daredevils. They have a family photo in their hallway and are always showing it off to visitors. Good thing this war isn't taking place at their place or they'd be dead by now!".
- Played For Drama:
- Bob's heroic sacrifice is a very dramatic scene, complete with Bob saying his final goodbyes and Alice crying.
- The series shows the dehumanizing effects of war, when Bob's desperate attempts to remember his family and cling to his humanity end up getting him killed.
- Claire sneaks up on Bob, a mook, and kills him. She then sees the photo of his family he was holding, and feels guilty about killing him.
Back to Fatal Family Photo, and isn't my little girl the cutest-
