Basic Trope: Somebody lies that they come from or have been somewhere. Trouble is, the other person also comes from/has been there and asks questions.
- Straight: Alice is skateboarding on a street where skateboarding is prohibited. She is caught by a man named Bob, who threatens to call the police. She tries to cover her tracks by saying that she's from out of town and didn't know skateboarding wasn't allowed on the street. Bob asks where she's from, and Alice replies, "Los Angeles". Bob says, "Really? I'm from LA too!" and starts asking her if she's been to certain restaurants, which suburb she comes from, etc.
- Exaggerated: Alice lies that she comes from a specific address in LA, which, if true, would mean she lives in the house Bob lived in as a child, so he begins asking her questions about what the house looks like now.
- Downplayed: The only follow-up to Alice's claim she's from Los Angeles is "Really? Well, I'm from LA too, what's the weather been like?".
- Justified: Alice chose Los Angeles because she is American, so if she chose a different country Bob would wonder why she has an American accent (and additionally, there are several different accents in LA so it wouldn't be as suspicious as, say, Brooklyn). She was just unlucky that Bob also happened to be from LA and she had no way of knowing.
- Inverted: Alice really did come from LA and so doesn't know skateboarding isn't allowed, but feels so guilty that she lies that she is a local and knows perfectly well it isn't allowed. Bob then starts asking her questions about local news, which she isn't familiar with due to being out of town.
- Subverted: Bob reveals that he actually comes from Los Angeles and Alice thinks he is about to ask questions, but he doesn't.
- Double Subverted: They run into each other again later and he does start asking questions.
- Parodied:
- Zigzagged: Alice lies that she is from Los Angeles. Bob, who is also from there, keeps trying to ask her questions but being interrupted.
- Averted:
- Alice comes clean.
- Alice does lie about being from Los Angeles, but Bob doesn't come from there.
- Enforced: This is put in to set up a moral about how lying can come back to bite you.
- Lampshaded: "What were the chances?!"
- Invoked: Charles, knowing that Bob is from Los Angeles, tells Alice to say she's from LA as a prank.
- Exploited:
- Defied: Alice considers telling Bob she's from LA, but decides to come clean instead lest he turn out to also be from there and ask questions.
- Discussed: "I tried telling him I was from LA, but as it turns out, he came from there too, and so he kept asking questions. Awkward!"
- Conversed: "If a character on TV lies that they're from somewhere, nine times out of ten they'll be lying to an actual native."
- Implied:
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs:
- Played for Drama:
- Played for Horror:
Back to I Am One of Those, Too.
