Basic Trope: A baby animal thinks someone else (usually a human) is its parent.
- Straight: A baby bird thinks Alice is its mother.
- Exaggerated:
- The baby bird thinks Alice is its father.
- The baby bird thinks an inanimate object is its mother.
- The baby bird thinks a cat is its mother.
- The baby bird thinks Alice is its mother, Bob is its father, Carol is its aunt, Dave is its grandpa, etc.
- The whole cast meets a family of baby birds and everyone has a bird who thinks they're its mother or father.
- Downplayed:
- The baby bird can talk and it asks Alice if she's its mother.
- The baby bird thinks its aunt is its mother.
- Justified:
- The bird belongs to a type of species that bonds with the first animal it sees.
- The baby bird doesn't know what its species looks like.
- The baby bird thinks Alice adopted it.
- Alice was disguised as a bird.
- Alice is another bird, but just not this one's mother.
- Inverted:
- Alice is delusional and thinks a baby bird is her kid.
- A baby bird thinks its mother is a human.
- Subverted: The baby bird loves Alice, but then it turns out that it knew she wasn't its mother.
- Double Subverted: But Alice still has to explain that Bob isn't the bird's father.
- Parodied: The baby bird can talk and it calls Bob, "Mommy". Bob doesn't mind being mistaken for the bird's parent but demands it call him "Daddy" instead.
- Zigzagged: The bird has trouble deciding what to think of Alice, and wonders if she's its mother or sister or a predator or what.
- Averted: The baby bird recognises that Alice is a human.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "Do I look like a bird to you?"
- Invoked: Alice tries to fool the baby bird into thinking she's its mother.
- Exploited: The baby bird belongs to an aggressive species, so Alice thinks, "If it thinks I'm its mother, it won't hurt me!".
- Defied: Alice avoids baby animals lest they think she's their mother.
- Discussed: "What if they think I'm their mother when the eggs hatch?"
- Conversed: "How come in that episode of Alice and Bob, the baby bird thought Alice was its mother? She doesn't look anything like a bird!"
- Implied: The baby bird follows Alice around.
- Deconstructed: The baby thinks Alice is its mother, so when its real mother arrives, it doesn't trust her.
- Reconstructed: The baby realises its mistake upon seeing Mrs. Bird.
- Played for Laughs: The baby bird acts like a stereotypical little kid, demanding Alice read it a bedtime story, give it dessert, etc.
- Played for Drama: The baby bird's mother died and so it latched onto Alice as its surrogate mother.
- Played for Horror:
Back to Imprinting.
