Professor Guinea Pig/Playing With

Basic Trope: A scientist performs experiments on himself.

• Straight: Dr. Bob injects himself with an experimental drug to find out if it cures his disease.
• Exaggerated: Dr. Bob performs surgery on himself and restructures his genetic structure to give himself superhuman abilities.
• Justified: Dr. Bob is anxious to test his experiment but couldn't find any subjects.
• Subverted: Dr. Bob drinks a mysterious potion in his lab, but it turns out to be fruit juice.
• Double Subverted: He then drinks the real stuff.
• Inverted: Dr. Bob was led to believe he was performing "experiments" on himself. It turns out that someone staged the whole thing and Dr. Bob was being watched all along.
• Parodied: Dr. Bob performs all sorts of experiments on himself, including but not limited to replacing various body parts with inanimate objects just to see what would happen.
• Averted: Dr. Bob follows proper procedure, testing on animals, gathering volunteer test subjects, and never even thinks about testing on himself.
• Deconstructed: Dr. Bob's many experiments have left him in terrible health, as well as discrediting his reputation as a scientist.
• Reconstructed: Dr. Bob realizes that his life is in shambles, and performs one final test to see if he can undo his earlier experiments.
• Zig Zagged: Dr. Bob tests the formula on himself, goes mad, and begins testing variants on other people, only to find that they produce different results, so he goes back and tries a new formula on himself.
• Enforced: The writers needed a scientist to develop super powers.
• Lampshaded: "I should probably find some other people to experiment on…Or maybe not."
• Invoked: Dr. Bob knows that the experiment will provide excellent results, so insists on trying it on himself first.
• Exploited: The Corrupt Corporate Executive who funds Dr. Bob's research refuses to pay for test subjects knowing that Dr. Bob would use himself if he can't find any.
• Defied: Dr. Bob refuses to experiment on himself, knowing how dangerous it can be.
• Discussed: "You've got a tentacle growing out of your back. Have you been experimenting on yourself again?"
• Conversed: "Dr. Bob is going to get himself killed one of these days."
• Played For Laughs: Dr. Bob injects himself with a serum, which turns him into a monster, just in time for his important date with Alice. Hilarity Ensues.
• Played For Drama: Dr. Bob injects himself with a serum, which turns him into a monster. Now he must battle with his inner demons or risk destroying everything he's ever loved.

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