Not Wearing Tights/Playing With

Basic Trope: A character possesses superpowers, displays heroic traits and frequently is involved in Superhero Comic Book style situations, but does not identify as a superhero or use traditional tropes of the genre.
 * Straight: Rachel has superpowers which she uses to fight evil and engage in heroic actions, but she doesn't wear a superhero-style costume and doesn't possess a superhero name or Secret Identity while doing so.
 * Exaggerated: The way Rachel received her superpowers could have come straight out of a 1960s Marvel Comics book, although she doesn't wear a traditional superhero costume there's a distinct 'theme' to the clothes she does wear, and she routinely battles a selection of lurid and over-the-top supervillains. She is also indistinguishable personality-wise from The Cape.Despite this, everyone dances around using the terms 'superhero' or 'like a comic book' to describe Rachel or her life.
 * Justified: Rachel lives in the real world, or a close approximation of same, where someone going around dressed like a comic book superhero would look ridiculous or too absurd to be taken seriously.
 * Superheroes and superhero comic books don't actually exist in this fictional universe, so while the viewers might recognise what's going on the characters themselves have no real frame of reference.
 * Inverted: Rachel adopts the moniker Amazing Girl and fights crime like a superhero (or tries to) despite having no superpowers.
 * Subverted: Rachel initially feels embarrassed to describe herself or act as a superhero and avoids the traditional tropes of a superhero -- but comes to accept who she is, designs a superhero costume, gives herself the name 'Amazing Girl', and becomes a 'proper' superhero.
 * Double Subverted: The 'Amazing Girl' thing is an experiment that doesn't work out so well; Rachel decides against it and swears off the traditional garb and tropes of a superhero.
 * Parodied: Rachel actually does wear a traditional superhero costume and to all intents and purposes acts like a traditional superhero, but bitterly resents actually being called a 'superhero'.
 * Deconstructed: Because Rachel refuses to call herself a super hero, she gets called a vigilante instead, and is treated as such by the police and public.
 * Reconstructed: While Rachel refuses to call herself a super hero, her list of good deeds speak for her and the public and police still treat her like The Cape she is.
 * Zig Zagged: Rachel fluctuates over whether she's comfortable acting as a superhero or not.
 * Averted: Rachel is referred to as a superhero and acts in the manner and according to the traditional tropes of a superhero, including a costume, code name, Secret Identity, etc.
 * Enforced: The writers consider comic books 'for kids' and 'beneath them'; as such, out of embarrassment or disdain they make every effort to distance themselves from the more overt superhero standards as much as possible.
 * The writers want to make their story as realistic as possible and feel that the situations integral to comic book superheroes, such as the Secret Identity and the traditional costumes, are unrealistic, cheesy and wouldn't work well in their universe.
 * Lampshaded: "Don't call me a superhero -- you don't see me walking around in tights, do you?"
 * Invoked: Rachel hates superhero comic books, and so when she finds herself given superpowers and thrown into comic book situations she resists doing the obvious comic book tropes as much as possible.
 * Defied: Rachel loves superhero comic books, and so when she gets the chance to be a superhero she throws herself into it with gusto.
 * Discussed: "Whatever you do, do not call Rachel a superhero. She'll bite your head off."
 * Conversed: "You'd think that in this show Rachel would notice that her life bares a startling resemblance to Superman's, but apparently not."
 * Played For Laughs: Because Rachel squirms with embarrassment every time someone mentions the word 'superhero' in connection with her, her friends and loved ones who are in on her secret gleefully bring it up at every opportunity if they want to needle her.
 * Played For Drama: Rachel lives in a society in which being a superhero and acting as such is a criminal offense punished severely (up to and including death) and so needs to downplay any suggestion that she might be one of these for her own safety.

Back to Not Wearing Tights