History Main / AnAesop

* AnvilOfTheStory: The moral is incredibly unsubtle and presented heavy-handedly.
** {{Anvilicious}}: The moral lands on the audience's heads with all the subtlety of an [[AnvilOnHead anvil]].

* CentralTheme: The underlying (moral and/or philosophical) theme that the story is about.
* MonikerAsEnticement: Do what the work says and you'll have a special title!

** GoldenMoment: [[DeadHorseTrope The very mawkish]] summation of the moral seen in old {{Dom Com}}s.

** CluelessAesop: A show mishandles a serious life lesson because a full explanation of the topic is too complex or adult for the audience, language, and tone of the show (e.g. a NoHuggingNoKissing cartoon tries to discuss sexual assault).
** DoNotDoThisCoolThing: A story meant to demonstrate that X is bad, but unintentionally [[MisaimedFandom makes X look really, really cool]].

* SpaceWhaleAesop: When the moral is shown via bizarre, illogical, or downright impossible consequences.

* AntiEscapismAesop: Reality is better than fiction, so don't get too far lost in an imaginary world (including this story).

** ''AnAesop/{{Aisopos}}''

* TeachHimAnger: You are not always the villain when you are angry, In some situations, it is the healthiest choice you can make.

* FightingBackIsWrong: An aesop about bullying isn't about "fighting fire with fire" and should be solved in a better way.

AnAesop is among the JustForFun/TropesOfLegend. Almost every work can be considered to have an Aesop, so only put series-wide examples, or examples that have no sub-trope here.

Ironically, the Greek storyteller [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop Aesop]] probably doesn't deserve the dubious honor of having this trope named after him. In their original forms these stories likely did ''not'' end with heavy-hitting moral [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]]. The listeners (for Aesop would have been an oral storyteller) were probably left to sort out the meaning for themselves; the one-liner morals (such as "slow and steady wins the race") were likely tacked on by modern compilers, and were often used as rhetorical devices by later orators to make a point.

** SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The importance of the message justifies its Anvilicious presentation.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The moral lands on the audience's heads with all the subtlety of an [[AnvilOnHead anvil]].

* HardTruthAesop: A moral that is unexpected and defies conventional wisdom (but may be good advice nevertheless).

* FightingBackIsWrong: An aesop about bullying isn't about "fighting fire with fire" and should be solved in a better way.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: A moral that is unexpected and defies conventional wisdom (but may be good advice nevertheless).
** FightingBackIsWrong: An aesop about bullying isn't about "fighting fire with fire" and should be solved in a better way.

* AWeightyAesop: Junk food is bad for you, so eat something that's more healthy.

* GayAesop: A lesson about acceptance and tolerance for the UsefulNotes/LGBTCommunity.

* PrejudiceAesop: Don't prejudge people.

** ''Aesop/BigCityGreens''
** ''Aesop/GravityFalls''
** ''Aesop/GrizzlyTalesForGruesomeKids''
** ''Aesop/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

** ''Aesop/GravityFalls''
** ''Aesop/GrizzlyTalesForGruesomeKids''
** ''Aesop/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

[[caption-width-right:350:Friends like ''Calvin and Hobbes'' always last a lifetime.]]

* BeYourself: An Aesop about not trying to be someone else.

** SpaceWhaleAesop: When the moral by shown via bizarre, illogical, or downright impossible consequences.

** SpaceWhaleAesop: When the work undermines the moral by showing characters ignoring it and suffering bizarre, illogical, or downright impossible consequences.

* ALessonLearnedTooWell: The character learns an Aesop early but doesn't learn when ''not'' to apply it.

* AWeightyAesop: Junk food is bad for you, so eat something that's more healthy.

[[caption-width-right:350:A rare straight example from ''Calvin and Hobbes''.]]

Ironically, the Greek storyteller [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop Aesop]] probably doesn't deserve the dubious honor of having this trope named after him. In their original forms these stories likely did ''not'' end with heavy-hitting moral [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]]. The listeners (for Aesop would have been an oral storyteller) were probably left to sort out the meaning for themselves; the one-liner morals (such as "slow and steady wins the race") were likely tacked on by modern compilers.