Basic Trope: A slave character content with that status.
- Straight: Bob is a dutiful slave to Carl the Planter and seems okay with it.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob thanks Heavens for being Made a Slave. He feels so good, he can't possibly think of a life as a free man.
- Bob is very horribly treated, but still loves to be a slave anyway.
- Downplayed:
- Bob is very old, and has no hopes of escaping successfully or having the skills to live as a fugitive. However, he helps fellow slave Alice when he finds about her plan to stage a slave uprising in Carl's plantation.
- Bob is not miserable being a slave. But he certainly yearns for his freedom.
- Carl doesn't own Bob, but is a Bad Boss and gives Bob little freedom. Bob is okay with this.
- Justified:
- Bob is under Mind Control by Carl.
- Bob is a robot programmed to be happy.
- Bob is part of a Hive Mind. Being a slave is the only possible status in his species.
- Bob would be murdered or worse if he fought his slave status. Carl, while technically his owner, is actually an abolitionist and they are allies, waiting for the opportunity to free Bob.
- Bob owes his life to Carl. Bob's culture dictates that he must repay it by being Carl's slave, and Bob is happy to go with it.
- Bob is Carl's willing BDSM slave.
- Bob is a high status slave, akin to the secretaries and tutors of Ancient Grome, and actually lives better than most people. He might even have sold himself into slavery.
- Bob almost ended up worked to death on another plantation. His new owner Carl made him a butler.
- Bob follows a religion that emphasizes contentment. He would be happy as a slave or as an emperor.
- Bob is technically Carl's slave, but Carl is a doofus and Bob manipulates him at will. Bob is the ruler of the plantation in practice.
- Carl is a childhood playmate of Bob, treats him well, and intends to manumit him when he inherits him. Bob's official owner on the other hand, is always far away and never bothers Bob.
- In Bob and Alice's culture, spouses are by law, mutually each other's slaves.
- Bob's culture is an Empire ruled by a God-Emperor. What's the big deal about being a slave when everyone is?
- Unlike typical slave masters, Carl treats Bob nicely, therefore Bob develops a positive feeling and devotion to Carl.
- Bob was Conditioned to Accept Horror.
- Bob was born into slavery and can't imagine any other life.
- Bob believes that it's his duty to serve others, so of course he'll carry out that duty for Carl.
- Bob's particular line of slavery is something he loves doing.
- Bob and Carl come from a society with very different social mores and morals. What seems horrifying and awful to us is relatively normal to them. Their perception of freedom and rights would also be very distinct from what a Westerner thinks.
- While the term "slave" has nasty connotations for us, its meaning is a bit different in Carl's society. While Bob is technically a slave, it could easily be, in practice, some kind of indentured servitude.
- The slave system isn't as oppressive as it seems: despite being bound to work Carl's lands, certain laws mean that Bob does have some rights and freedoms despite being technically property. Bob's status is more akin to being a feudal peasant than a straight-up Atlantic-style chattel slave.
- Bob is content with being an Extreme Doormat and having all his choices handled by someone else.
- The reason why Carl got Bob in the first place was because Carl saw how Bob’s previous owner treated him like absolute garbage and Carl felt sorry for him, so he bought Bob from his cruel master so he could give Bob a better life. Even if Carl can’t free Bob for whatever reason, at least he deliberately goes out of his way to treat Bob much better than his previous master to ensure that he’s happy.
- Carl isn’t actually a slave-owner by choice, and he’s actually hates slavery in general. Bob was basically forced on him without his consent (either via some kind of unbreakable Magically-Binding Contract or some other unusual circumstances), and neither him nor Bob had any say in the matter whatsoever. Because of this, Carl feels really guilty about being a slave owner, even an involuntary one, so he goes out of his way to make sure that Bob is treated really well, because he feels responsible for Bob’s well-being.
- Inverted:
- Carl is happy to be a slaver.
- Bob hates being a slave, even if his treatment isn't all that bad.
- Subverted:
- Bob pretends to be happy being a slave, but he isn't.
- Bob will be flogged if he shows unhappiness.
- "Slave" is a meaningless status in Bob's world. He is not forced to serve anyone.
- Bob is actually a free man, posing as a slave.
- Bob is being brainwashed by Carl to be happy.
- Bob is in fact not a slave at all and it is all a ruse concocted together with his supposed "master" to stay beneath notice.
- Double Subverted:
- Bob actually pretended to be secretly unhappy in order to fish Alice as the mastermind of the slave rebellion and out her to Carl.
- Bob feigns unhappiness because he likes to be flogged.
- ...until he is captured by an alien race where slavery is very much real, and Bob is happy to serve them.
- After being discovered, Bob's punishment is to be enslaved for real, and he is happy because he has come to enjoy being a slave.
- Parodied:
- Always cheerful Bob introduces himself as "Bob, the Happy Slave". Other characters wonder if he is insane.
- Bob wears a broad grin as he is beat to within an inch of his life, and enthusiastically thanks Carl afterwards.
- Zig Zagged: Outing Alice to Carl was all part of the plan. When Carl and his men come to take her, the other slaves ambush them.
- Averted:
- Every slave in Carl's plantation is unhappy.
- None of the workers on Carl's plantation are slaves.
- Enforced:
- The show was produced in the pre-civil rights South and Executive Meddling demanded the inclusion of a happy slave character. The result was Bob.
- The show is based on Alice's true story. Bob the Happy Slave is one of the enemies she had to overcome.
- Bob is the protagonist of the novel Bob, the Happy Slave, an early 19th-century pro-slavery propaganda piece.
- Lampshaded: "Bob is a surprisingly happy slave man, if you catch my drift."
- Invoked:
- Carl sets up a situation where he gets to save Bob's life, thus making Bob more willing to repay him by serving him.
- Bob has himself sold into slavery to Carl, because that's what he wants out of life.
- Bob formerly belonged to a cruel master and was treated horribly. Carl bought Bob and treated him decently, knowing that it would make him less likely to rebel or escape.
- Exploited:
- Alice knows that Bob is happy to serve Carl the Planter and deliberately keeps him in the dark while she plots a slave rebellion. Bob acting as usual helps make Carl dismish the clues that something is brewing in the plantation.
- Whenever abolitionists show up to protest against Carl, he trots out Bob to show how happy his slaves (supposedly) are.
- Defied:
- Alice discusses their status with Bob and tries to convince him that he can't be really happy as a slave.
- Bob wonders why he feels happy when he shouldn't.
- Bob knows that Carl is a fairly good master, but he's still helping with the OTHER slaves' revolt.
- Discussed: "What makes him so happy? Is it the lashes, or the whole thing about being treated like property?"
- Conversed: "There is the character in that book, Bob, the Happy Slave."
- Implied: Bob doesn't get much characterization, but seems pretty happy about being a slave in the few moments he's seen.
- Plotted A Good Waste:
- The writers dropped subtle hints that Bob was secretly unhappy or had been brainwashed into his present situation, but didn't state it outright. The audience catches on this and feels sorry for Bob and even more horrified by slavery.
- Bob, the Happy Slave deliberately pandered to a pro-slavery crowd, and Bob got the expected acclaim from this.
- Deconstructed: Carl takes Bob's willing service for granted and starts bossing him around, thus ruining their relationship and making the service less willing.
- Reconstructed: Carl takes care to appreciate Bob's willing service.
- Played For Laughs: Bob is disaster prone and so willing to serve Carl that he won't listen even when he yells Stop Helping Me!. Hilarity Ensues.
- Played For Drama: Bob was brutally broken until he accepted his status as a slave and considered himself unable to be anything else.
Now go back to Happiness in Slavery, you know you like it!
