About: You Don't Want to Catch This   Sponge Permalink

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This trope is for when a disease is used as a deterrent, preying on the fears of those being tricked in order to escape capture. The idea behind it is taking advantage of other people's survival instincts. Used to up suspense sometimes. The danger of getting caught and losing all your progress is something we can relate to and shows that the hero's (and it's always The Hero) job will not be a cakewalk. However, the method used tends to have a much better success rate than it would in Real Life. It rarely has any large impact on the plot. Compare Playing Sick, Hypochondria.

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  • You Don't Want to Catch This
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  • This trope is for when a disease is used as a deterrent, preying on the fears of those being tricked in order to escape capture. The idea behind it is taking advantage of other people's survival instincts. Used to up suspense sometimes. The danger of getting caught and losing all your progress is something we can relate to and shows that the hero's (and it's always The Hero) job will not be a cakewalk. However, the method used tends to have a much better success rate than it would in Real Life. It rarely has any large impact on the plot. Compare Playing Sick, Hypochondria.
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  • This trope is for when a disease is used as a deterrent, preying on the fears of those being tricked in order to escape capture. The idea behind it is taking advantage of other people's survival instincts. You've finally infiltrated a city or stronghold. You're looking around wondering what to do next when suddenly you hear a voice telling you to stop. It appears a guard or other equivalent Mook has just happened to pass by and catch you. You're suspicious as it is, but if he looks more closely, he'll realize you're an enemy of the state or you have some incriminating evidence on you that you don't want him to find. What do you do? Fake a disease, of course. It doesn't even have to be a real disease, as long as it sounds appropriately scary. Gorapoxacephalitis will work just fine, then start shambling around, act disconnected from the world, and mention it's contagious, the guard will go running in the other direction leaving you alone. In fact, you get bonus points if you made up the disease on the spot and it came entirely from your imagination. Extra bonus points if the guard mentions that he's heard of the disease before. Used to up suspense sometimes. The danger of getting caught and losing all your progress is something we can relate to and shows that the hero's (and it's always The Hero) job will not be a cakewalk. However, the method used tends to have a much better success rate than it would in Real Life. It rarely has any large impact on the plot. It's possible that this trope is more common in parody, where the disease used is so obviously not a real disease, it's funny that the guard falls for it. Compare Playing Sick, Hypochondria. Examples of You Don't Want to Catch This include:
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