Basic Trope: An older character used to be immoral and rebellious when they were younger.
- Straight:
- Bob, who is now a responsible and loving parent, used to be a teenager who disobeyed authority, sneaked out to parties, bullied his classmates at school, and forgot to brush his teeth.
- Bob, who now serves as a law-abiding cop, used to be a bad-tempered, foul-mouthed, and authority-hating teen who always stirs up trouble in the neighborhood.
- Exaggerated: Bob, who is now the earth's savior, used to be an evil teenage emperor who oppressed all of the adults in a Teenage Wasteland.
- Downplayed:
- Bob used to be a teenager with a bad attitude and had a habit of rebelling against authority, but as an adult, he doesn't do that anymore, although he still retains the attitude.
- Bob used to be a teenage anarchist who usually meant well, but had a bit of attitude problem. Now he's a nice cop who believes in democracy and tries to change the system from within.
- Justified: Bob realizes and learns from his misbehavior in his youth and decides to turn his life around.
- The changes Bob wanted actually occurred in society, thus he has nothing to seriously rebel against.
- Inverted:
- Bob, The Sociopathic Big Bad, used to be a nice, cheerful, and kind-hearted young man who always helps those in need.
- Rebellious Bob was pretty obedient when he was a teenager.
- Subverted:
- Bob was always a law-aiding citizen. Those were just rumors made up by some Gossipy Hens.
- It seems like Bob has become more obedient as an adult, but he's just gotten more clever about hiding his rebellion.
- Double Subverted:
- Or at least, that's what he says. He's embarrassed by thinking about his past.
- When Bob was a teenager he "rebelled" in showy and blatant ways for attention that caused trouble for others. Now that Bob is an adult, when he "rebels" in civil ways that might actually change what he sincerely thinks is wrong, and just doesn't feel a need to tell anyone about it.
- Parodied:
- Bob is said to have been a real rebel during his youth. All he did was poke an antique at a museum.
- Bob goes from an alcoholic anarchist druggie to kind hearted, but blindly obedient fascist the moment he turns 20 without any explanation unless you count him saying "that's how grown ups act."
- Zig Zagged: Bob shifts to be a responsible adult working conventional finance jobs who funds more radical activism.
- Averted: Bob never changes from his trouble-making ways that he retained as a teen.
- Enforced: The creators want an Aesop about how people change.
- Lampshaded: "Well, look who's decided to grow out of their wild teen years."
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: "Just because I'm an adult doesn't mean I will stop doing what I want!"
- Discussed: "Bob has matured for the better."
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Bob has broken a few laws as a teenager, and while he has matured, those mistakes keep coming to bite him in the ass.
- Implied: Bob is a law-abiding man, but he has photos of many wild parties.
Back to Former Teen Rebel.
