Basic Trope: A rare nice event happens to the Butt-Monkey for a change.
- Straight: Melanie spends most of her time on the Alice and Bob show being humiliated by the other characters, having horrible, implausible accidents happening to her, and is the punchline to every joke. Nothing ever seems to go right for her, and she's the only heroic main character to never end an episode happy. One day, she wakes up to find that not only has her improbable misfortune stopped, but she actually finds 50 dollars on the floor. To make matters better, she ends up being the one who saves the day from Emperor Evulz and is praised by everyone as a hero.
- Exaggerated: Melanie goes from The Chew Toy to the
Black Hole Sue in the space of one scene. - Downplayed:
- Nothing nice happens to Melanie, but nothing as horrible as she is used to.
- Melanie, who has occasional bad luck, now gets an occasional leg up every now and again.
- Justified:
- The universe/deity of her religion/fate starts to feel bad for how he's treated Melanie in the past, and decides to give her a break.
- Melanie starts wearing Four Leaf Clovers, which prove surprisingly effective.
- Karmic Jackpot
- Pure coincidence. Bad things happen to her by chance, and now good things are too.
- Inverted: Melanie is the Creator's Pet, usually used to Character Shilling, being naturally brilliant at everything and loved by everyone, who finally gets her comeuppance for a change.
- Subverted: Yank the Dog's Chain
- Double Subverted: The afore-mentioned chain-yanking was a Secret Test of Character. Melaine, being the Woobie she is, is still consistently heroic afterwards, and receives a Karmic Jackpot for her behavior.
- Parodied: Melanie turns into a Parody Sue within one minute.
- Zig Zagged: Hopscotch between Straight, Subverted, Double Subverted and Averted. Whatever the case, and in other words, she will always be either thrown a bone, get her chain yanked, or simply kicked.
- Averted:
- Melanie's luck doesn't improve.
- Or alternatively, Melanie isn't the Butt-Monkey.
- The studio that made Alice and Bob are making a sequel series and plan to have Melanie's character Take a Level in Badass. But she refuses to renew her contract and cuts ties with the series and the entire studio in response to her prior treatment.
- Enforced: Melanie's mistreatment on the show is enough to make a large proportion of the Fandom feel sorry for her, and tire of the abuse she gets on the show. The last thing the writers want to do is alienate the Fandom so they write a episode where Melanie gets to save the day to win them over.
- Lampshaded:
- "...Is this what happiness feels like?"
- When Melanie finds herself winning a battle against a feared-villain and going through the episode relatively unscathed, Yasmine asks if she has her script.
- Invoked:
- Sandra feels sorry for Melanie, and is generous and caring towards her to counterbalance the way the rest of the world is towards her.
- Melanie makes a Deal with the Devil so that she'll suddenly start being lucky.
- Exploited:
- Taking advantage of her popularity and her status as butt monkey. A rival studio to the one that made Alice and Bob want Melanie to an star in their new show instead of the upcoming Alice and Bob II. Offering better payment, a better contract and a more enticing role.
- Defied: Just as things start to miraculously look up for Melanie, she's avoided every punch in the episode so far, she's getting compliments from superior fighters, she finds herself a cool new sword, a anvil randomly drops on her head and knocks her out. Damien remarks that the natural balance of the world has been restored.
- Discussed: "You know, out of all the people to ride off into the sunset victorious in the end, I still can't believe it's Melanie." "Yeah well, God knows she's earnt it."
- Conversed: "Huh. Shouldn't Melanie be lying unconscious in a garbage can by now?" "Usually. Guess the writers must be trying to appeal to her fanbase."
- Played For Laughs: Even Melanie's victories are a result of her own terrible luck.
- Played For Drama: Melaine's sudden lucky streak is the calm before the storm: things are about to get much, much worse for her.
- Deconstructed: One fleeting moment of happiness doesn't do much for Melaine in the long run... if anything, it makes her feel the sting of her usual bad luck that much harder when it returns.
- Reconstructed: The fact that Melaine's life is full of crap makes it that much more heartwarming when things go her way for once, and when her friends see how she responds, they go to greater lengths to make sure more bones are tossed her way. They all like it When She Smiles.
Be kind to the unabridged page for once, and go back to Throw the Dog a Bone . I'm sure your presence would prove a rare treat for them.
