Basic Trope: The main characters are the only ones who do the main actions of the story.
- Straight: Alice and Bob lead the faceless rebel army against the Evil Empire. While said army are fighting the empire's army offscreen, Alice and Bob break into the castle and usurp the royal family.
- Exaggerated: Alice and Bob are the only characters who do anything.
- Downplayed: Alice and Bob lead a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, and they get much more characterization in comparison to their more two-dimensional friends. They defeat the guards while Alice and Bob kill the king and any heirs.
- Justified:
- The story is so small-scope that there isn't much for any side characters to do.
- Alice and Bob work for such a small organization that they're the only ones available to do anything.
- All of the characters have equal main roles.
- Alice and Bob are badasses far, far beyond the rest of the army, so The Brigadier makes the most of them.
- Captains are supposed to do everything they can to make sure that everyone else can safely abandon a sinking ship, some take it more serious than others (this is also why most captains are expected to go down with the ship).
- Alice and Bob are Surrounded by Idiots, and are the only members of the organization capable of getting anything done.
- Alice and Bob are the only ones not hit by the epidemic, making them responsible for what should normally be left to a full CDC team.
- Inverted: The entire army except Alice and Bob do the fundamental tasks during the fight against the empire.
- Subverted: Alice and Bob appears to be doing everything but then it is revealed that they are clones.
- Double Subverted: Except one set of clones still does everything.
- Zig Zagged: Sometimes, the main characters do tasks that they wouldn't be allowed to do under their job or authority, but other times there are side characters doing them.
- Averted: The work includes installments which focus on characters other than Alice and Bob.
- Enforced: The execs insist on Alice and Bob doing everything of importance because they're the protagonists and the audience wants to see them save the day, not some random supporting character.
- Lampshaded: "Why do you have that many tasks for your job?"
- Deconstructed:
- The overwhelming amount of responsibility placed on Alice and Bob's shoulders causes them to crack and suffer a nervous breakdown.
- The underwhelming amount of responsibility placed on everyone else's shoulders causes them to feel completely unimportant and not cared for.
Back to The Main Characters Do Everything.
