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Playing With / The Power of Rock

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Basic Trope: A character defeats an evil force using music

  • Straight: Bob defeats Lord Bloodstone by playing the opening Guitar Solo from Metal Meltdown.
  • Exaggerated:
  • Downplayed: Bob's music isn't magical, but motivates The Resistance into fighting harder.
  • Justified:
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted: Bob starts the opening riff...only he has absolutely no musical talent, and it has no effect.
  • Double Subverted: Bob just has performance anxiety, and once he gets into the song it improves in strength until it's powerful enough to defeat Lord Bloodstone.
  • Parodied:
    • The battle area turns into a massive performance hall, complete with screaming fans and glam rock outfits for Bob and his band.
    • Geodude! Yes a guitar player suddenly plays riffs and a Geodude emerges from the floor.
    • Bob defeats Lord Bloodstone with... jazz. Not even jazz fusion or creepy jazz, just something that sounds like it came out of a Vince Guaraldi album.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob starts what seems like a "No More Holding Back" Speech, which turns into the opening lyrics for a song that he then plays guitar along with, only to have his instrument break right before the song kicks into high gear. However, he finds that even simple percussion and vocal accompaniment has enough power to defeat the villain anyways.
  • Averted: Bob fights using conventional weaponry.
  • Enforced:
  • Lampshaded: "Defeated!? By arpeggios!? HOW!?"
  • Invoked: "In order to defeat the villain, we will write the best fucking rock song in history. Even Lord Bloodstone won't be able to stand against its sheer awesomeness!"
  • Exploited: The army recruits musicians to join all of their squads.
  • Defied:
    • Lord Bloodstone traps the heroes in a soundproof cell that blocks their music from having any effect.
    • Bloodstone knows that Bob will attempt to defeat him with music, so he and his minions all wear earmuffs for the climatic battle.
  • Discussed: "Why is it almost always rock music that the heroes use in this kind of situation? Are villains somehow immune to Bach or Lady Gaga?"
  • Conversed: "What kinds of rock do you think supervillains are more susceptible to? Bloodstone seems to be one of those villains who crushes the good emotions out of his subjects, so let's play a song showcasing how life is really worth living."
  • Deconstructed: During their final confrontation, Bob and his band begin playing some killer rock music, but the music has no negative effects on Lord Bloodstone. Instead, Lord Bloodstone orders his Mooks to open fire on the band, killing them all. It's a very sad ending.
  • Reconstructed: The music itself may have no supernatural effect, but Bob puts everything he has into one last song before his death, and the act of such a spontaneously beautiful performance is so emotionally moving that it makes Lord Blackstone reconsider his view of humanity, and perform a Heel–Face Turn.

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