Basic Trope: A crowd is in danger of exploding into riot.
- Straight: The subjects of Troperville gather around the castle hoping for word that the king will send aid to a disasterous fire caused by soldiers. An officious guard tries to order them off, and someone throws a rock. The crowd follows the lead, beating up the guards, smashing up the windows, and spreads out.
- Exaggerated: The subjects gather to hear the king's speech, the princess, waiting, sneezes, and they erupt into a riot that spreads throughout the kingdom, resulting in its becoming a wasteland and killing all within.
- Downplayed: The crowd listening to the king growls a little when he talks, but disburses afterwards.
- Justified:
- The king has a long history of causing and not compensating for trouble.
- The king wasn't informed of the issues the crowd had until it was already too late.
- Inverted: Ivan attempts to incite a rebellion among the poor - however the latest prince is too compassionate and the mob not only cheers but end up recruited!
- Subverted: The crowd is angry and shouting but never break out into a riot.
- The crowd is ready to riot, but Faye successfully de-escalates the situation.
- Double Subverted: Until a glory seeking guard captain tries to break it up and shoots a pregnant woman. The crowd ensures that things end poorly for him.
- Parodied: No one can even remember why they're doing this!
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: The citizens of Troperville don't start a riot.
- Enforced: The producers demanded that the movie adaptation be Darker and Edgier so the crowd of protesters that join the heroes end up rioting.
- Lampshaded: "Mr. Lulz, there's a big unruly crowd here to see you."
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Thieves use the rioting as a distraction and rob the palace.
- Defied:
- The mob's leader points out how stupid dealing with chaos by causing more chaos is.
- The police does not even lets it become a riot. Their act of Police Brutality to gather the crowd is so lightning-fast and excessive than by the time handful of people that will survive catch on, all they can do is run.
- The people decide to walk away and get drunk/high/laid/pretend it's not their problem rather than deal with the complex mechanics and various pains of being part of a riot.
- Discussed: "Oh, look, another riot. Must be Monday."
- Conversed: ???
Back to Powder Keg Crowd
