Basic Trope: The stereotypical vegetarian or vegan who thinks eating meat is the same as animal abuse.
- Straight: Alice does not eat meat, and is always whining about the fact that other characters do.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice doesn't eat or drink anything, let alone water, because she believes all organisms are sentient. She's also willing to seriously injure or murder anyone who sees no problem with eating meat.
- Alice uninvites people from her wedding reception because they're unwilling or unable to swear off animal products going forward.
- Alice is a Shameless Fanservice Girl who goes naked because she believes that clothes are made from animal parts. She struts around in public using her wiles to seduce men into joining her cause.
- Downplayed:
- Alice is a vegetarian, but only because going meatless is the trendy "it" diet this week. Next week, it'll be paleo, and the week after that she'll be on the grapefruit diet. As for dealing with those who disagree with her dietary viewpoints, she only gets on their case when they're particularly nasty about it.
- Alice is not fully committed to vegetarianism but still goes meatless as often as possible, though she often brings up the issue when having a meal with friends.
- Alice frequently talks about the benefits of a vegetarian diet, but doesn't bully people into it.
- Justified:
- Alice is a member of an Animal Wrongs Group, or other environmental group.
- Alice can't eat meat for medically-diagnosed health reasons.
- Alice has to abstain from meat for religious reasons.
- Alice is some form of Funny Animal or Talking Animal that is naturally an exclusive herbivore, such as a cow.
- Inverted:
- In a setting where all or most other characters are vegetarians or vegans, Alice eats meat, and whines about others not doing so.
- Alice lives on an all-meat diet, and whines about the fact that other characters eat plant-based foods too.
- Subverted:
- Alice is seen eating fish or poultry.
- Alice doesn't whine about other characters eating meat.
- Alice isn't a vegetarian or vegan, just a picky eater.
- Alice can't eat meat because of a medical condition; doctor's orders.
- Alice is not a vegan or vegetarian, but she's on some other restrictive diet (macrobiotic, low-carb, gluten-free, fruitarian, ketogenic, raw-foodist, organic-only, what have you)
- Alice's issue is with industrial agriculture, and considers growing (and killing) her own food as more ethical as she controls its production.
- Double Subverted:
- She still claims that she's a vegetarian, but that fish or poultry don't count as "meat."
- Or she's quick to point out that it's "soy-based chicken substitute," "tofu," "seitan," "Qorn," or something along those lines.
- But she does try to persuade them to eat less of it because it's better for the environment, or animal rights, or for health reasons.
- Which annoys other characters, who have to prepare a separate dish just for her when they invite her over for dinner.
- That "medical reason" was self-diagnosed after Alice read an article online, or watched The Doctor Oz Show. Alice has never once addressed that with her doctor.
- She's still constantly bragging about her diet, trying to "convert" other characters, etc.
- Arguments on how her lifestyle is impossible to implement on large scale flies right over her head.
- Parodied:
- Someone mentions Alice's strict diet of mushroom broth, and asks her how she's feeling. Alice replies, "Real sick...but proud of myself!"
- Bob, an Extreme Omnivore, attempts to convince people to stop eating one very specific food item.
- Alice's "Straw" Vegetarianism extends to a willingness to try to subsist on a diet of actual straw, for no better reason than that if a cow can live that way, a human should be able to do it too.
- Alice won't eat anything that casts a shadow.
- Alice tries to get a carnivorous animal to go vegan, only for the creature to eat her.
- When convinced that the clothes she is wearing are made with animal products, Alice strips naked during a televised debate.
- Zig Zagged: Sometimes Alice harangues others about meat, sometimes she doesn't.
- Averted:
- No one attempts to "convert" anyone else's diet.
- The characters' diets are never mentioned.
- Enforced:
- "Those holier-than-thou vegans who assume everyone who eats meat is an irredeemable monster sure are annoying. Let's make the meanest character on this show a vegan to reflect that."
- The show is sponsored by a meat company.
- Lampshaded:
- "I don't eat animals because it's wrong. I only eat spinach."
- "Just because you think eating meat is wrong doesn't mean everyone else has to agree with your opinion. Telling me to quit eating meat will do nothing but annoy me."
- Invoked: A vegetarian or vegan group disseminates literature about how a meatless diet is the only natural or healthy way for humans to eat.
- Exploited:
- Betty asks Alice to join her Free the Frogs cause, which Alice does.
- Alice becomes a vegetarian/vegan chef (either personal or restaurant), publishes a vegetarian or vegan cookbook, produces a Cooking Show like that, and/or starts a vegetarian/vegan restaurant/food truck/catering business/bakery/etc.
- A Cult puts all of its members on a mandatory diet that consists of beans and little else, in highly-rationed portions, to make it easier to exert control over its members. (It's hard to think for yourself or question authority when you're hungry, and when you're not getting enough protein for proper brain function.)
- Defied:
- Alice decides that giving up meat is too big a sacrifice, and so does not.
- "Are you kidding? The only reason we don't eat each other is because we taste gross.
- Alice decides not to proselytize, reasoning it will just make life harder.
- Discussed: "Why would I care whether you guys eat meat? I went off it for health reasons, not to save the planet."
- Conversed: "Why does Alice beg her friends to go vegetarian? It's obvious they're not going to."
- Played For Laughs: Whenever Alice brings up vegetarianism, she never gets her point across as she is always subject to some sort of meat-based slapstick or her friends keep exaggerating her views to the point of parody.
- Played For Drama: Alice's proselytization begins putting a strain on her relationships, and then nutrient deficiencies and other health problems begin cropping up.
- Played For Horror: Alice is a Serial Killer who targets non-vegetarians and eats their flesh, reasoning that humans don't count as animals.
- Deconstructed:
- Alice starts to lose friends because they'd rather have their meat than be her friend.
- Alice's grudge against meat eaters is fueled by her community's attitude towards vegetarianism, whether that be a lack of vegan options or stereotypes such as this very trope.
- Alice makes all vegetarians look bad, even the more reasonable ones. The vegetarians around her start eating meat to avoid ridicule.
- Alice develops severe anemia from her strict meat-free diet.
- Alice puts her cat Charlie on a vegetarian diet. Charlie, as a carnivore, becomes malnourished, and Alice is arrested for animal abuse despite claiming to be staunchly against it.
- Reconstructed:
- Alice finds new friends who are vegetarians or don't care about Alice's ways.
- Alice's friends all remain friends with her despite her diet.
- Dan, a vegetarian of the non-straw variety, calls Alice out for perpetuating stereotypes. People learn from him that not every vegetarian is like Alice.
- Alice follows medical advice, takes iron supplements, and makes sure to eat plenty of iron and protein rich veggie foods.
- Alice is fine with obligate carnivores eating meat, even if she's anything but fine with humans doing so. Alternatively, she only gets herbivorous pets like rabbits.
- Implied: Alice makes a face when Bob talks about getting a burger.
Back to Straw Vegetarian
