Basic Trope: Food is used to bribe a character.
- Straight: Bob refuses to enter the Abandoned Hospital until Alice offers him some apple pie.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob absolutely refuses to do anything unless you offer him a feast complete with several pies.
- The local currency happens to be edible, meaning that all labor and goods are paid for with food.
- Downplayed: Starving Artist Bob is willing to paint a really crappy painting in exchange for lunch.
- Justified:
- Bob is a Big Eater, food is a very powerful motivator for him.
- Bob is in a place where good food is quite scarce.
- Bob lives in a third-world country where all food is scarce.
- Bob experienced starvation in the past and is still highly food-motivated due to the trauma.
- Inverted:
- Bob bribes Alice for the pies.
- Bob is forced to eat broccoli as a punishment.
- Subverted:
- Alice tries to bribe Bob with pies, but it doesn't work.
- Bob knows Alice can't cook, but still accepts the 'bribe' as he knows that it means she believes the issue to be important.
- Double Subverted: She then successfully bribes him with chocolate cookies.
- Parodied: Bob has a brand of packaged snack food ("Bob-Snacks") named after him.
- Zig Zagged: Bob is a picky eater, and on at least three occasions Alice has tried to bribe him with different types of food, with varying degrees of success.
- Averted: Alice bribes Bob with a Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition of his favourite movie.
- Enforced: The Network wants the show to include An Aesop about the importance of eating vegetables, so the plot must include Alice successfully bribing Bob with a healthy salad.
- Lampshaded:
- "I knew offering you pie would work!"
- "Would you do it for a Bob-Snack?"
- Invoked: When Bob sees that Alice wants to bribe him to do something, he mentions his favourite food to give her the right idea.
- Exploited:
- Yolanda uses pie to get Bob to sleep with her.
- The Cake Is a Lie.
- Defied:
- Bob isn't receptive to offers of food, so when people want to bribe him, they have to look for something else.
- Bob declines all bribes including food.
- Discussed: "Dammit, Bob... what do you want me to offer you? Cash? Booze? Sexual favours?" "I dunno... perhaps some apple pie would be good, mm-hmm?"
- Conversed: "That Bob! He'll do anything for Alice. Or rather, he'll do anything for Alice's pies." "I know, right? She must bake the best pie in the universe!"
- Deconstructed: Bob will do anything and everything for Alice, as long as it involves pies. However, little does he know is that Alice is manipulating him for her own selfish deeds.
- Reconstructed: Bob decides to pay Alice back by bribing her with potato chips so she can apologize to him.
- Played For Laughs:
- Bob's reward for losing weight is half a ton of greasy potato chips.
- Bob is an Extreme Omnivore, and Alice bribes him with non-food items which he eats.
- Played For Drama: Bob is literally starving, and ready to do anything for food... which Alice ruthlessly exploits.
- Untwisted: Bob says he won't work no matter what Alice may bribe him with. She offers him money, DVDs, and various other bribes, all of which he turns down. But when she offers him an apple pie in exchange for some chore, he accepts.
Back to Food as Bribe. There's an apple pie in it for you.
