Basic Trope: A character travels along a ledge high above ground level to get to another point.
- Straight: Billy is on the ledge of a tall building; he travels along it to get to a nearby window.
- Exaggerated: Billy has to walk along an incredibly narrow ledge while also crouching underneath an air conditioner, all while someone pees right above his head.
- Downplayed: It takes Billy just a couple seconds to walk across a ledge about ten feet off the ground.
- Justified:
- Billy’s occupation requires him to walk ledges to scrub bird poop every Tuesday.
- Corridor 7 of the 9th floor has collapsed making the ledge the only route for getting to the stairwell.
- Billy can't afford to be spotted by Gruesome Terry. note
- Inverted: A large slab of sentient ledge walks all over Billy's face.
- Subverted: It seems as if Billy is about to step on the dangerous ledge, but it turns out to be another room instead.
- Double Subverted: …Billy steps into this room, only to have the floor disappear, and he falls onto a ledge.
- Parodied:
- Every room in the building Billy is in is connected by ledges.
- Billy walks across a ledge whose wall has gloves punching out of it.
- Zig Zagged: It looks as if Billy is about to walk on a ledge. But when he steps out onto it, it is a catwalk. However, the catwalk gives way and drops Billy onto a ledge.
- Averted: Billy does not walk on a ledge; Billy walks down a corridor.
- Enforced: The producers want to make a movie that takes place exclusively in the city on an art nouveau building. They say that ledge scenes make more money and get better reviews, and the building is attractive with nice ledges.
- Lampshaded:
- “There’s a hallway! We can walk!”
- Billy says, “Why the hell can’t I just go down the hallway instead of walking on that thin ledge?!”
- Invoked: Billy wants to get the jump on a group of criminals by walking along the ledge.
- Exploited: "Billy is walking on the ledge now. Let’s shoot at him! He’s got nowhere to go!"
- Defied: Billy refuses to walk on the ledge to clean poop anymore, as he could fall without the proper gear.
- Discussed: Ann and Bob see Billy going to work on Tuesday to scrub bird poop. “Billy seems to walk on ledges quite a bit. You’d think he’d invest in climbing gear or a harness”
- Conversed: Ann and Bob are watching a film where action star Billy has no choice but to go walking on a ledge to get to another room because of a convenient obstruction. They comment on the annoyance of his lack of gear.
- Implied: It is previously shown that, apart from the door, the boardroom has no exit except for a drafty ledge and a broken window latch. Billy is locked into the boardroom. He reappears later in a different room.
- Deconstructed: Billy runs away from The Men in Black by walking on a ledge without any climbing gear. However, the high altitude creates cold, windy conditions, and the ledges are short and not well maintained. So he falls off the side of the building and suffers horrendous injuries.
- Reconstructed: After several months of therapy, he realizes that, to save the skyscraper, he has to get back out there and do his job. So he braves the ledge once again (with climbing gear this time).
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