Basic Trope: Someone dislikes a piece of literally writing so much that they use it as toilet paper, or something similarly undignified.
- Straight: Tom receives a book titled A Wonderful Love Story. He couldn't care less about romance, so he decides to use the pages as toilet paper.
- Exaggerated: Tom receives so many unwanted books that he never has to buy actual toilet paper.
- Downplayed: Tom dislikes the ending of the book, so he tears out the final chapter and uses the pages as napkins.
- Justified:
- Tom is illiterate and genuinely can't see any other use for the book.
- The book is shoddy knockoff of a popular book, this is the only legal use it has. *
- Tom really needs to poop and he has no available toilet paper at hand.
- The book is The Turner Diaries, stolen by Tom from a Neo-Nazi.
- Inverted:
- Tom loves the book so much that he wallpapers his house with its pages.
- Tom buys some actual toilet paper with text on it. He likes it so much that he reads it as a book instead of using it for its intended purpose.
- Subverted: Tom takes the book to the bathroom, and... reads it.
- Double Subverted: He then says, "wow, this is rubbish" and uses it as toilet paper.
- Parodied:
- Tom finds out why this trope doesn't work with other media.
- Tom receives a digital copy of A Wonderful Love Story and tries to wipe his butt with his Kindle (or a lawyer-friendly lookalike).
- Zig Zagged:
- Averted: Tom just throws away the book or gives it to someone else.
- Enforced: A Wonderful Love Story is a Take That! to a real romance novel.
- Lampshaded: "That crappy book was only good for wiping my butt."
- Invoked: Tom finds a ridiculously cheap copy of A Wonderful Love Story, so he buys it specifically to use it as toilet paper.
- Exploited: A company notices how many people use A Wonderful Love Story as toilet paper and starts selling actual toilet paper with AWLS-like quotes on it.
- Defied: Tom's girlfriend takes the book away from him before he gets the chance to wipe his butt with it.
- Discussed: "You don't want to know where the unsold newspapers end up..."
- Conversed: "How come people on TV always use crappy books as toilet paper? You'll only get a sore butt and a clogged toilet out of it. Just sell them instead or something."
- Implied: Tom's bathroom contains a copy of A Wonderful Love Story with many of its pages missing.
- Deconstructed:
- Tom gets a sore butt because it turns out that the paper was pretty rough.
- Tom's toilet gets clogged because the pages don't dissolve properly.
- Tom's girlfriend, who loved the book, is horribly insulted when all of her friends classify it as "only useful to wipe your butt" and when it turns out Tom actually used it in such a way? Out come the slaps and the screams about how she doesn't wants to see him, or anybody else, ever again.
- Played For Drama:
- During a heated debate, one of Tom's political rivals says he might as well wipe his rear with any political constitution.
- Tom offends and disgusts Christians by using The Bible as toilet paper.
- There was something very, very important written on the pages of that book Tom just used to wipe his ass - a note from Alice's children, the number of a contact for Tom's business, a reminder from Jim of where and when he has to take his doctorate test because the regular venue is closed for repairs, etc. The absolute best-case scenario will still involve having to sift through a wastebasket full of shit.
- Played For Horror: Horror Hates a Rulebreaker. And the rule was "don't damage the cursed book". Which Tom just did by using half of its pages to wipe his ass. For further horror, maybe the beasts from beyond that are now going on a killing spree are quadruple-driven to kill Tom because of how he damaged the book.
Back to Only Useful as Toilet Paper.
