Basic Trope: Dangerous surgery performed with little care for the patient.
- Straight: Dr. von Metzger performs intestinal surgery with a saw, pliers and a drill.
- Exaggerated: Dr. von Metzger performs brain surgery with a lathe and a pickaxe.
- Downplayed: Dr. von Metzger performs rhinoplasty, but instead of osteotome he reshapes the patient's nose with a chisel.
- Justified:
- Dr. von Metzger is a little bit zealous.
- He does not have any other tools in current situation or he's too poor to afford proper medical tools.
- Dr von Metzger is not a medically certified doctor, so he doesn't have access to proper tools hence his rather unusual toolset.
- Bob is not undergoing surgery and the "doctor" in question is a Torture Technician hired by the Big Bad, a Villain Protagonist taking advantage of Bob's fear of doctors, or is a creep with a medical fetish.
- Dr. von Metzger is a military doctor fresh out of medical school with no experience on operating on people, let alone ones affected by the horrors of war. Worse still, the state can't afford to equip their war doctors with proper equipment, forcing Dr. von Metzger to make do with whatever he can find.
- Inverted: Doctor needs to open up the patient's skull with a bone saw, but he tries to grind it open with a piece of dental floss.
- Subverted:
- Dr. von Metzger is seen preparing to operate his patient; his face looks like he's about to have a lot of crazy fun. But he uses normal tools.
- Bob isn't the patient but the donor.
- Dr. von Metzger pulls out a chainsaw during the operation, before sheepishly putting it away again and claiming that he grabbed the wrong item.
- Double Subverted:
- In the middle of his operation, he pulls out a wrench from under his table...
- Dr. von Metzger doesn't switch to more appropriate tools after access to the organs to be donated to his patient has been achieved.
- After putting away the chainsaw, he then pulls out a jackhammer.
- Parodied: Dr. von Metzger's business card states, along with other information, "Sledgehammer To The Head Anaestesiology, Ph.D."
- Zig Zagged: The Doctor is prone to dangerous surgeries, but his psychiatrist advised him not to do this, and he is trying to operate normally. But can't hold himself once in a while.
- Averted: Dr. von Metzger is a normal and sane specialist and never performs dangerous surgeries.
- Enforced: The show's creators needed to make a really scary doctor.
- Lampshaded: "Oh no, everyone but Metzger! He'll turn me inside out!"
- Invoked: Dr. von Metzger is a battlefield medic. He needs to operate on a bullet-wounded officer, but his tool kit is too far away, so he makes the officer drink some alcohol to reduce pain and pulls out the bullet with pliers.
- Exploited: When the wounded hero is captured by the Big Bad, he offers him medical help; however he also wants to make the hero suffer, so he sends him to Dr. von Metzger.
- Defied: Dr. von Metzger does not want to lose his job at the hospital, so he does not experiment on his patients.
- Discussed: "Does he even know about professional ethics?"
- Conversed: "Looks like the show's creator has a thing against doctors."
- Implied:
- "It took two months for Bob's sutures to heal. That doctor is not your usual one..."
- Dr. von Metzger enters the operating room with a bag full of both regular surgical equipment and also construction equipment.
- Deconstructed:
- Everyone tend to stay away from Dr. von Metzger because of his bad reputation. He eventually loses all his clients.
- Due to him flunking medical school, Dr. Von Metzger has spent several years as a Back-Alley Doctor and has gained a reputation as The Dreaded due to... mixed results when it comes to his vocation.
- Dr. Von Metzger ends up on the run due to his multiple surgery attempts ending in death, and has had to change identity more times than he can count. This eventually leads him to be arrested for practicing medicine without a license and multiple murder charges.
- Bob is so traumatized by the experience that he develops a fear of doctors, effectively ensuring that Bob will end up dead due to his deep reluctance to see an doctor.
- Reconstructed:
- Then the war happens, and citizens are forced to ask help from Dr. von Metzger.
- Those who do survive the surgery end up being people who can vouch for Dr. Von Metzger should the man wind up in trouble with national authorities.
- However due to a national shortage of prison doctors due to the brutal violence that happens in such prisons, Dr. Von Metzger is offered a job as a prison surgeon so he can avoid the death penalty.
- Played For Laughs: Doctor pulls out a giant pink hammer and smashes his patient to the head to make him go unconscious.
- Played For Drama:
- "Do you know why I am missing three fingers? This man... You better not to ask him for a help. He told me I would be all right, and then he pulled out THIS thing..."
- Dr. von Metzger knows the choice is watching someone definitely die waiting for better, or grabbing what could be found in the nearest toolbox and high proof vodka for sterilization.
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