Basic Trope: A philosophical response to a literally asked question.
- Straight: Sam asks his friend Tyler why they're here, and Tyler proceeds to go into philosophical insight. Sam responds with "I meant why did we come to this store?"
- Exaggerated: Sam asks his friend Tyler why they're here, and Tyler tells a story that began with the Big Bang. Of course, Sam meant why they're hiding in the girl's bathroom.
- Downplayed: Sam asks his friend Tyler how they got here, and Tyler tells a story of how they met. Sam responds with "I meant how did we arrive in France?"
- Justified: Tyler has a habit of answering things from a philosophical perspective.
- Inverted: Sam and Tyler are fighting a war, and when Tyler asks Sam why they're in the war, Sam answers from a literal viewpoint, instead of a philosophical one like Tyler expected.
- Subverted: Tyler goes into philosophical insight and finishes his response with the literal answer to Sam's question.
- Double Subverted: ...After which he continues with his insight.
- Parodied: "Why are we here right now?" "The creation of the universe is a difficult subject to tackle." "I mean, why are we in this store?" "Like I was saying, nobody truly knows how our universe came into being." "Why are you like this?" "I suppose it all started with the Big Bang..."
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Tyler answers Sam's question literally, or Sam asks a philosophical question and receives such a response.
- Enforced: The people who write the story want to show what sets Sam and Tyler apart.
- Lampshaded: "Why do I bother asking you anything?" asks Sam. In which Tyler then responds with a lengthy psychological monologue.
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Sam words his question carefully so Tyler can't possibly misinterpret it.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Tyler accidentally makes Sam feel very depressed by delivering a long existential spiel, and his tendency to do this when answering basic, normal questions means that Sam doesn't want to spend time with him anymore.
- Reconstructed: Tyler is an incredibly convincing Anti-Nihilist with an optimistic philosophy that makes answers to basic questions unexpectedly uplifting. Sure, it does make conversations less efficient, but Tyler is a good friend to have.
- Played For Drama: Tyler does this because he is clinically depressed, and absolutely everything reminds him of his insignificance in the universe.
- Implied: Sam specifies to Tyler that he is asking physically why they're here and speaks in a mildly annoyed tone, implying Tyler has a habit of misinterpreting these questions.
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