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Invented Invalid

 Invented Invalid
type
FeatureClass
 Invented Invalid
label
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid
page
InventedInvalid
 Invented Invalid
comment
Visiting a sick or injured relative is commonly accepted as a valid excuse to miss an event. If it's a close enough relative, you might even get out of work for that hospital visit. But who says you're really headed to the hospital?
So this trope comes into play when a character makes up a sick or invalid relative in order to escape their daily life/obligations, excusing their absence to others as a visit to said relative. Common examples include a student missing on lessons and exams, a worker taking a day off, or a rich aristocrat/Millionaire Playboy going out to town or to the country.
This can be played several ways. The "visit" could be an alibi to let that character visit someone, or an excuse to get out of sight before the full moon rises. Or, most likely, the character just can't face going out to dinner with the Obnoxious In-Laws, and invents a cousin on the other side of the family to explain his absence.
A subtrope of Invented Individual and Faking Another Person's Illness. Compare I Need to Go Iron My Dog for varying levels of believability.

Examples
 Invented Invalid
fetched
2023-09-20T16:06:45Z
 Invented Invalid
parsed
2023-09-20T16:06:45Z
 Invented Invalid
processingComment
Dropped link to BritCom: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Invalid
processingComment
Dropped link to TropeCodifier: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Invented Invalid
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Invented Invalid / int_22f49cdf
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_22f49cdf
comment
Castle: When Castle's ditzy first ex-wife Meredith comes back into town, she at one point tells their daughter Alexis' high school that her grandmother has died so can she please be excused from classes. She neglects to mention that said grandmother died several years ago; she really just wanted to take Alexis shopping.
 Invented Invalid / int_22f49cdf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_22f49cdf
featureConfidence
1.0
 Castle
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_22f49cdf
 Invented Invalid / int_261c8d3f
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_261c8d3f
comment
In The Simpsons episode Homer's Phobia, Smithers spots Camp Gay antiques dealer John with the title family at a restaurant and confronts him with, "So, this is your 'sick mother'?"
 Invented Invalid / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_261c8d3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Simpsons
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_261c8d3f
 Invented Invalid / int_277975b4
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_277975b4
comment
One Miss Marple story has a complicated version where a pair of sisters rents an apartment, one being the kind of invalid who takes advantage of her condition to boss people around. Fortunately the long-suffering sister hires a maid who specializes in dealing with these cases. Then one day the apartment is burgled and the sisters vanish. It turns out the maid was the "invalid" in disguise, who robbed the apartments while everyone assumed she was asleep.
 Invented Invalid / int_277975b4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_277975b4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Miss Marple
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_277975b4
 Invented Invalid / int_2d11206b
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_2d11206b
comment
In Angel (1984), Molly claims to be living with her invalid mother, and uses this as an excuse not be involved in any extracurricular activities. However, her mother actually abandoned her when she 12, and there is no else besides Molly living in the apartment.
 Invented Invalid / int_2d11206b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_2d11206b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Angel (1984)
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_2d11206b
 Invented Invalid / int_468bebb0
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_468bebb0
comment
In later Discworld watch books, the City Watch gives an allowance of days off for three grandmother's funerals per year. This was instituted after Nobby started taking up to eight.
 Invented Invalid / int_468bebb0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_468bebb0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Discworld
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_468bebb0
 Invented Invalid / int_4e45b093
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_4e45b093
comment
On The Big Bang Theory, Leonard makes up a story about going to a symposium to keep from going to Penny's recital. Sheldon feels that story is insufficient and makes up a more elaborate one that involves going out of state to visit a cousin in rehab, even going as far as hiring an actor to play said cousin.
 Invented Invalid / int_4e45b093
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_4e45b093
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Big Bang Theory
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_4e45b093
 Invented Invalid / int_52cffcc
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_52cffcc
comment
If Wishes Were Ponies: This is how Starlight Glimmer plans on hiding her disappearance from her job under her fake identity. She even goes the extra mile and visits an unrelated terminally ill mare in a hospital to give her story more weight.
 Invented Invalid / int_52cffcc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_52cffcc
featureConfidence
1.0
 If Wishes Were Ponies / Fan Fic
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_52cffcc
 Invented Invalid / int_83ad2ee5
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_83ad2ee5
comment
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Lupin mentions that he would often claim his mother was chronically ill as an excuse for his frequent absences, since he didn't want anyone finding out he was a werewolf and needed to be away from the school during his monthly transformations.
 Invented Invalid / int_83ad2ee5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_83ad2ee5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_83ad2ee5
 Invented Invalid / int_8d814070
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_8d814070
comment
On M*A*S*H Klinger tries many times to get out of the army, including presenting the Colonel with a letter from home saying his mother is dying. The Colonel pulls out Klinger's file filled with letters from home saying his mother is dying, father is dying, sister is dying, sister is pregnant, sister is dying and mother pregnant, etc.
 Invented Invalid / int_8d814070
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_8d814070
featureConfidence
1.0
 M*A*S*H
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_8d814070
 Invented Invalid / int_8dfbdff2
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_8dfbdff2
comment
On Law & Order, Ed Green and Cyrus Lupo are in the middle of an investigation that Green discovers to be tied to an old flame. He tries to get out to warn her by leaving work early, claiming that he needs to visit a sick friend. And thus starts a chain of events that end up costing him his career...
 Invented Invalid / int_8dfbdff2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_8dfbdff2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Law & Order
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_8dfbdff2
 Invented Invalid / int_9e2f90f4
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_9e2f90f4
comment
Whenever Vice Admiral Vergo in One Piece is going away, he claims it as "visiting his sick little sister". What he actually does is meeting his boss Doflamingo and/or his associates.
 Invented Invalid / int_9e2f90f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_9e2f90f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 One Piece (Manga)
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_9e2f90f4
 Invented Invalid / int_a8729c90
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_a8729c90
comment
In an episode of The Fairly OddParents!, Timmy's mother calls in saying that she has to visit a sick aunt, whose name she invents on the spot. She does this along with the mothers of Timmy's other friends so they can go on a relaxing ski retreat alone.
 Invented Invalid / int_a8729c90
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_a8729c90
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Fairly OddParents!
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_a8729c90
 Invented Invalid / int_d5ddd6c1
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_d5ddd6c1
comment
In an episode of Pokémon: The Series, Jessie pulls this trick. When Meowth finds out, he is not amused.
 Invented Invalid / int_d5ddd6c1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_d5ddd6c1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pokémon: The Series
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_d5ddd6c1
 Invented Invalid / int_e063fc66
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_e063fc66
comment
Towards the Sun: "Visiting a sick relative" is an expression among the Fire Lord's staff meaning "I've pissed off the rulership/nobility, so I'm fleeing the palace to avoid being killed". Zuko unintentionally sparks a civil war when, after Iroh deposes him to prevent him from working himself to death, Zuko publicly implies that he's leaving before Iroh can kill him for disagreeing with the new regime, when he literally is visiting a sick relative — Azula, who is in an asylum.
 Invented Invalid / int_e063fc66
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_e063fc66
featureConfidence
1.0
 Towards the Sun (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_e063fc66
 Invented Invalid / int_ea4f62db
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_ea4f62db
comment
In an episode of Family Guy, Meg knocks on the door of the boy she was going to go to the prom with. He answers, then goes back into the house for a minute. We hear a gunshot, and he comes back out crying that he can't go because he must attend his brother's funeral. He didn't "make up" his brother's condition, but presumably created it by shooting him—so this could be the trope taken up to a pretty twisted eleven.
 Invented Invalid / int_ea4f62db
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_ea4f62db
featureConfidence
1.0
 Family Guy
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_ea4f62db
 Invented Invalid / int_f236a7c7
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_f236a7c7
comment
In Belisarius Series the hunted runaway princess Shakuntala escaped the evil empire's city by dressing in the finery of- well- a princess- but a generic one rather then the one that they were looking for (to make sure anyone would be too intimidated by her awesome authority to question), and traveling in an ostentatiously princessly caravan to what she claimed was a dying father. Presumably that was felt needed to explain why a woman would be traveling in early medieval India.
 Invented Invalid / int_f236a7c7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_f236a7c7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Belisarius Series
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_f236a7c7
 Invented Invalid / int_f655ed11
type
Invented Invalid
 Invented Invalid / int_f655ed11
comment
Discussed in Frasier ("The Two Mrs Cranes"). Gil is looking to get out of a dinner party, and asks Frasier to back him up on an excuse. Frasier explains he's driving his father to his army reunion. Gil assumes it's this trope, and laments that he can't use the same excuse - he already "killed off" his father to escape a "Labour Day Clam Bake".
 Invented Invalid / int_f655ed11
featureApplicability
1.0
 Invented Invalid / int_f655ed11
featureConfidence
1.0
 Frasier
hasFeature
Invented Invalid / int_f655ed11

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Invented Invalid
processingCategory2
Narrative Devices
 Invented Invalid
processingCategory2
Truth and Lies
 Towards the Sun (Fanfic) / int_7c47e9b9
type
Invented Invalid
 Angel (1984) / int_7c47e9b9
type
Invented Invalid
 The New Girlfriend / int_7c47e9b9
type
Invented Invalid
 Discworld / int_7c47e9b9
type
Invented Invalid
 The Brittas Empire / int_7c47e9b9
type
Invented Invalid
 The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre) / int_7c47e9b9
type
Invented Invalid