Basic Trope: A character comes up with an obviously fake and rather odd excuse to leave.
- Straight: Trying to get out of an awkward conversation with Alice, Bob says "Oh, sorry, I hear my cat calling me!" and runs off.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob says "My cat's calling me to drown the dishes and my bed needs a story burned to it."
- "My cat is calling me from hell, you know, because my cat is Satan and all. He's asking me to come over and murder some people because cats are evil and so am I. I'm honestly not sure why I haven't already left. How are you today, you look nice. Wait, I was making an excuse to leave, wasn't I? Oh, fuck it, I'm just gonna leave."
- Downplayed:
- Bob says "Oh geez, I left the oven on." He says this when he's having dinner with Alice at her place and they had lunch at a restaurant earlier.
- Bob is not trying escape the date, he just needs a minute to calm his nerves.
- Justified: Bob is under a lot of stress and pressure and can't think straight.
- Inverted: Bob bluntly says: "This is boring, may I go home now?"
- Subverted:
- Bob's cat can talk, and it is calling him.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels.
- Double Subverted: Bob is actually a Voice Changeling and the "call" is just a prerecorded message.
- Parodied:
- Bob says something about his cat calling for him and runs off. Cue to Bob running home, while his cat deafeningly yowls from afar: "Bob!!! Come here, you forgot to make your bed!!!"
- "I would love to stay and chat, but I hate you."
- "Sorry, but I need to, uh, um, excuse." "Oh, okay."
- Zig-Zagged: Bob says "I forgot I left my house on fire." It's odd, but considering the world is magic, it's hard to tell if it's a bad excuse or not, especially since Bob's powers are fire-based.
- Averted: Bob's phone goes off and he legitimately has a reason to leave.
- Enforced:
- The writers want to add some comedy right before a rather sad scene.
- The writer couldn't figure out how to end the scene in a non-awkward way, so they made it very awkward on purpose.
- Lampshaded:
- "Sorry, I need to think of an excuse to stop talking to you!"
- "That's totally what's happening, and I didn't make that up to leave this embarrassing situation!"
- Invoked:
- Alice notices a very distracted Bob, and decides to try and prove it by making the conversation awkward.
- While giving his excuse, Bob looks at random objects to think of an excuse.
- Exploited: Alice makes Bob say "I hear my cat calling" while his girlfriend is around the corner, and making it sound like "cat" is the nickname of another girl, in order to generate mistrust among the two of them.
- Defied: Bob gives an excuse and starts to run, but Alice grabs him to force him to stay.
- Discussed: "Bob comes up with the weirdest excuses to leave whenever a supervillain attacks, and then Onslaught Man shows up. Do you think he's ... afraid of Onslaught Man?"
- Bob: "I, er, need to go...er, um...wash my hair." Alice: "You're bald, Bob." Bob: "Well, hey, I never said it was my ''head'' hair I plan to wash." Alice: "Ew, gross, dude. Just go."
- Conversed: "This is one weird show. Bob's excuses get stranger every episode."
- Played for Laughs: Because Alice is The Ditz, she believes Bob's made-up excuse.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice was going to warn Bob of a threat to his life/safety/health. His poorly excused departure prevents her from warning him and takes him directly into its path.
- Bob showcases he is slowly becoming a jerk by his cycle of excuses: at first he has some actually justifiable excuses (sick mom), then begins to make increasingly absurd excuses and finally bluntly tells his friends and Alice that he does not has an excuse and he is going to leave and they can fuck off.
Oh, sorry I can't show you more of this page, because uh ... I Need to Go Iron My Dog! Okaythanksbye!
