Basic Trope: As a period of time passes, a character grows a beard to show it.
- Straight: Bob has been on a quest for several months. A cut revealing he has grown notable facial hair is used to show this.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob has been on a trip for a month. A cut reveals he has grown an extremely long beard and very shaggy hair.
- Bob and all of his male companions grow beards. The women also grow long hair.
- Bob grows a super long beard, after a few minutes.
- Downplayed: Bob simply grows some shaggy hair or develops some stubble.
- Justified:
- The male characters are in a situation (deserted island, etc.) where they don't have the opportunity to shave.
- It's used as part of an Age Cut to show the difference between pre- and post-pubescence.
- Inverted:
- A cut reveals that Bob has shaved off his facial hair.
- An Age Cut is used and reveals a character has gone bald.
- Subverted: A cut occurs that reveals Bob has grown a beard, implying a long amount of time has passed. The beard is actually fake and only five minutes has passed.
- Double Subverted: Bob takes off the fake beard to reveal he has grown an actual beard. Turns out it has actually been three months.
- Parodied:
- Bob and Sally have been waiting for five minutes. They both grow beards that reach their knees.
- The character affected belongs to a species that is incapable of growing hair (much less a beard), a robot, or similar 'non-living' creature.
- A woman grows a beard.
- Zig Zagged: Bob goes on a trip. A cut reveals he has grown a long beard, which he shaves off immediately. He then proceeds to put on a fake beard.
- Averted:
- None of the time cuts use beard or hair growth to show the passage of time
- All of the characters have Perma-Shave or have beards for the entire story
- All of the characters are bald and/or incapable of growing body hair
- Perma-Shave
- Enforced:
- One of the writers likes facial hair for whatever reason and wants an excuse to include it.
- The writers think that otherwise viewers won't be able to understand a long amount of time has passed.
- The lead actor grew a beard between the canceling and uncanceling of the show.
- Lampshaded: "It's been a while since we've seen you, Bob. You look really different because of your beard."
- Invoked: Bob uses his beard and the fact he's been gone for a very long time as a way to ensure no one will recognize him.
- Exploited: Bob uses a fake beard to pull a prank on his gullible friend, making him believe he has fallen asleep for several months.
- Defied: Bob makes a conscious effort to continue to shave and cut his hair.
- Discussed: "We're going to be on this trip for a long time. I'll probably have a beard by the end of it."
- Conversed: "Hero Mc'Hunkington has definitely been stranded on that island since last episode. You can tell because of his beard."
- Implied: The characters find a man with a long beard who has been stranded on a deserted island for an unknown amount of time.
- Deconstructed: ???
- Played For Laughs: Bob's beard grows to a comically long length and is ripped off in the following scene.
- Played For Drama: Bob's beard is a Beard of Sorrow, showing how he has reacted to a Despair Event Horizon or a Sanity Slippage
It's been a while since you've been back to Time-Passage Beard *strokes new beard*
