Basic Trope: A character can instinctively sense the condition of a machine through long-time familiarity.
- Straight: Ace driver Rick Roadster knows that something is wrong with his car because of a minor vibration when he puts it into gear.
- Exaggerated: Rick knows something's wrong with his car because the seat cushion doesn't feel right when he gets in.
- Downplayed: Rick feels an odd vibration and briefly wonders if there's a problem.
- Justified:
- Rick has driven his car for years and keeps it in perfect condition, so any minor deviation stands out to him.
- Rick has latent Psychic Powers.
- Inverted: Rick doesn't notice anything wrong with his car even when it abruptly lurches forward when he puts it into gear.
- Subverted: After putting his car into gear, Rick suspiciously says "something's wrong..." A moment later, he remembers that he left his suitcase in the living room.
- Double Subverted: As Rick goes to get his suitcase, he spots a minor smudge on the hood and realizes that someone has tampered with his car.
- Parodied:
- Rick knows the age, gender, and appearance of the person who sabotaged his car as soon as he touches the door handle.
- Rick suddenly has an orgasm, not because of the very attractive Wrench Wench working on his car, but because of the very fact that she is working on his car.
- Zig Zagged: Rick seems to notice problems with his car, but then remembers he actually forgot to do something. However he spots a smudge on the hood, making him think someone tampered with it until noticing a cat likely caused the smudge instead. Accessing the trunk causes him to notice a piece of paint is missing, confirming someone tampered with it.
- Averted: Rick is not able to tell if the car has a small problem just by riding
- Enforced: "Let's show how good Rick is with cars"
- Lampshaded:
- "How can you possibly tell whenever your car has problems Rick? Got some kind of psychic power?"
- "Hey, Rick, why are you so worried?" "My car feels wrong" "How can it feel wrong?"
- Invoked: Rick pays very close attention to his car so he can impress his friends with his "machine empathy".
- Exploited: Knowing that Rick can sense the condition of his precious car, a rival does minor things to it over the next several months to trick Rick into thinking he can't handle the car properly anymore.
- Defied: Not wanting to come off as a freak, Rick ignores his car's issues.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "How can Rick know when his car is wrong when it is still working?"
- Implied: Every time Rick takes his car to the mechanic a clear issue gets discovered and dealt with.
- Deconstructed:
- Rick has a hypersensitive sense of touch which affects his everyday life to a crippling degree.
- Due to being able to sense the condition of his car, Rick has become angrier and more depressed because he isn't sure if he's causing his car's problems or if its other people's fault. In addition, having become an important part of his life, Rick feels extremely awkward when he doesn't have his car, isn't keen on letting other people ride along, and should it ever get totaled Rick would drop into despair.
- Reconstructed: Since Rick's car is very important to him, he takes good care of it, learns to be a mechanic so he can repair it himself, and becomes a good judge of character as a side result.
Go back to Machine Empathy, but be careful, something doesn't feel right...
