Chaotic Stupid/Playing With

Basic Trope: A character who has "Chaotic" (and usually Neutral, too) in their alignment overemphasizes that, and does stupid things in the name of being a Cloudcuckoolander.

• Played Straight: Mad Maxine paints her dog purple just because she can. She is very impulsive.
• Exaggerated:
  • Mad Maxine paints herself purple and cartwheels naked in front of the Big Bad just because she can. She is very impulsive, and does not (or cannot) control her impulses.
  • Mad Maxine hops up onto the royal dining table in front of the king, drop her knickers, and takes a piss right in his face.
• Justified:
  • Maxine has some kind of mental disorder or disability that prevents her from having the awareness or self-control necessary to control her impulses.
  • Maxine does not understand the proper behavior for this time and place. In her culture, wearing purple body paint and cartwheeling naked in front of someone is a signal of intent to fight, or to join forces with them, not just loony behavior.
• Inverted:
  • Lawful Stupid.
  • Or The Cuckoolander Was Right.
• Subverted:
  • Mad Maxine can be impulsive and wacky, but is capable of controlling her impulses when the situation calls for it.
  • Mad Maxine is a Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Double Subverted: Most of the time. This time, however, she took off her clothes in the middle of a battle and did cartwheels in front of the Big Bad just because she felt like it.
• Parodied: Mad Maxine's behavior gets her Stuffed Into the Fridge. Or Put on a Bus. And There Was Much Rejoicing.
• Deconstructed: Mad Maxine acts this way because she wants attention. Any attention. She's also bored and wants to shake things up a little. (Or, perhaps this isn't so much Maxine as the DnD player behind Maxine.)
• Reconstructed: Maxine learns when it's OK to do crazy things, and when it's not. She might still exhibit impulsive behavior, but will stop if asked or reminded.
• Zig Zagged: Sometimes Maxine is a loony, other times, she appears to be a perfectly sane, reasonable, high-functioning, intelligent, well-behaved member of the team.
• Averted:
  • Maxine does not have "Chaotic" as part of her alignment.
  • Maxine is "Chaotic," but she's Chaotic Good or Chaotic Evil.
  • Maxine is played by someone who knows how to play Chaotic Neutral properly.
• Enforced:
  • The player fails to understand that even Chaotic Neutral characters can (and should) curb their impulses.
  • The DM has this campaign on the rails and the other players are a bunch of Munchkins. Maxine's player has damn well had enough of this. She CAN play a more rational character, even a more rational Chaotic Neutral character, but when everyone else is so fucking serious, where's the fun in being logical?
• Lampshaded: "Um, wow. Mad Maxine sure lives up to her name there, Pal."
• Defied: Mad Maxine is ashamed of her behavior in the past, and does the best she can to control her impulses for the good of the party she's with now so she won't be "that" person again.
• Discussed: Mad Maxine's behavior is going to get her in trouble. Not to mention she's annoying!
• Conversed: It is possible to play a Chaotic Neutral character without being a moron. But it takes practice. And help from an experienced DM.
• Played For Laughs: The person behind Maxine wants to introduce Comic Relief, but really overdoes it. But it actually works, and everyone loves Maxine. Yes, even the DM.
• Played For Drama:
  • Maxine has to learn to control herself. It's easier said than done, but she does her best.
  • Maxine's lack of impulse control is her Start of Darkness.

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