History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / ComicBooks

* [[Characters/WatchmenRorschach Rorschach]] from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' is one for Creator/SteveDitko's characters like Mr. A and The Question, and to a lesser extent, Franchise/{{Batman}}. Rorschach subscribes explicitly to an Objectivist viewpoint - BlackAndWhiteMorality, atheism, and that anyone who holds such a viewpoint can act as judge, jury and executioner. As Moore points out, this kind of person can only maintain their worldview by indulging in PsychologicalProjection, paranoia, {{Hypocri|te}}sy and a certain level of denial. He pretends to be uncompromising despite compromising his stated values all the time, and he's a terrible human being for it: Rorschach despises rapists and kills them without remorse, but his patriotism and admiration for the [[HateSink Comedian]]'s persona causes him to overlook the rape of [[MsFanservice Silk Spectre I, Sally Jupiter]], [[MadonnaWhoreComplex who Rorschach considers to be a whore]], leading him to dismiss the crime as a "temporary moral lapse" of an otherwise upstanding American citizen. He also decries Ozymandias' plan to wipe out New York City while he previously praised President Truman dropping nuclear bombs on Japan as it ended a world war. Rorschach's unshaking belief in his own worth over society's norms leaves him living as a hobo, impossible to employ, sleeping in the street, eating trash and breaking into his friends' houses to eat cold beans stolen from the fridge. His most advanced gadget is a Batman-like zipline pistol he just stole from his partner Nite Owl II.

** [[Characters/IrredeemablePlutonian The Plutonian]] deconstructs the SupermanSubstitute. [[BewareTheSuperman Tony]] was a straight up {{expy}} of Franchise/{{Superman}}, except his DarkAndTroubledPast caused by their similar origins and powers resulted in his private motivations as a superhero wildly askew with genuine decency and faith in others and [[FaceHeelTurn ultimately snaps]] due to not being psychologically capable of bearing the responsibilities and physical complications that come with it.

* ''ComicBook/GrimmFairyTales'': Sela Mathers is a deconstruction of TheStoryteller trying to teach AnAesop to her readers. Sela starts the series as a teacher using her magic book to teach lessons to people to make the right choice by reading them dark fairytales showing the gruesome fate that awaits them if they continue down their destructive path. At first, things were good, and the people who read Sela's stories made the right choice and better their lives. But eventually, Sela meets people who ignore her advice; they eventually wreck their lives, showing that despite giving good advice and showing the consequences of continuing their bad behavior, there would be people who would ignore good advice and continue their actions. Some issues show that some things are too complicated for Sela and that reading her stories couldn't help the person she's trying to help. Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, The woman that was reading the book was trying to murder an older man that she married for money; when she read the book and tried to stop the murder, it was too late, and she was killed with Sela noted that it was too late for that woman to make things right for her. Bluebeard had Sela read a story to a woman who suspected her husband was having an affair; the story made the woman afraid her husband was going to kill her, so she stabbed her husband just add it was revealed that he was planning a surprise party for her to the women's horror and it's revealed that the woman was supposed to read the last page of the book that would've told her that the danger she thought she was in from her husband was just her paranoid fears. Beauty and the Beast shows Sela reading her stories to a couple in a toxic and abusive relationship. Sela's story convinces the woman to break up with her boyfriend, but the boyfriend, who was revealed to come from an abusive home, decides to kill himself, with Sela noting that he was supposed to do the right thing and wonders why she should care. Eventually, Sela herself snaps because of all the people who destroyed their lives despite the advice you tried to give and starts using the book to kill people that she believes deserve it. Sela only stopped when the person who gave her the book stepped in, and Sela was reminded of the time she read The Juniper Tree to a woman who did the right but still lost her daughter anyway. Sela then accepted that despite how hard she tries, she will still lose people who will not take her advice, and she should focus on the people she can save.

* Xerek from ''ComicBook/TheIncredibles'' comics is a deconstructed BornWinner. His superpower enabled him to be fortunate all his life, gaining wealth, power, and stature well into his old age, but the non-stop success eventually made him feel unfulfilled and hollow, since he never managed to achieve what he really wants in life and became disenchanted with the world. As such he becomes an OmnicidalManiac and DeathSeeker simply because life has nothing to offer him anymore.

* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' is one for Creator/SteveDitko's characters like Mr. A and The Question, and to a lesser extent, Franchise/{{Batman}}. Rorschach subscribes explicitly to an Objectivist viewpoint - BlackAndWhiteMorality, atheism, and that anyone who holds such a viewpoint can act as judge, jury and executioner. As Moore points out, this kind of person can only maintain their worldview by indulging in PsychologicalProjection, paranoia, {{Hypocri|te}}sy and a certain level of denial. He pretends to be uncompromising despite compromising his stated values all the time, and he's a terrible human being for it: Rorschach despises rapists and kills them without remorse, but his patriotism and admiration for the [[HateSink Comedian]]'s persona causes him to overlook the rape of [[MsFanservice Silk Spectre I, Sally Jupiter]], [[MadonnaWhoreComplex who Rorschach considers to be a whore]], leading him to dismiss the crime as a "temporary moral lapse" of an otherwise upstanding American citizen. He also decries Ozymandias' plan to wipe out New York City while he previously praised President Truman dropping nuclear bombs on Japan as it ended a world war. Rorschach's unshaking belief in his own worth over society's norms leaves him living as a hobo, impossible to employ, sleeping in the street, eating trash and breaking into his friends' houses to eat cold beans stolen from the fridge. His most advanced gadget is a Batman-like zipline pistol he just stole from his partner Nite Owl II.

** The Crossed is a deconstruction of the HatePlague TechnicallyLivingZombie and the AlwaysChaoticEvil fantasy race. While the Crossed are indeed a nightmarish threat, many stories show that a population composed entirely of hyper-agressive sociopaths is [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome simply unsustainable]]. By the time of ''+100'', humanity has heavily outnumbered the infected population, and the only reason they have not been wiped out already is the occasional "fresh" infection [[spoiler: and Salt's manipulations]].

** Both Surge and Kit are deconstructions of the EvilCounterpart . Surge is not Sonic's first EvilCounterpart, a point he lampshades when they're finally face to face. Surge differentiates herself from the others when its shown that she was forced to be one against her will through brainwashing, leaving her very mentally unstable and holds an IrrationalHatred towards Sonic that she herself does not understand. Sonic's attempts to talk her down fall on deaf ears because Surge was groomed to only want to kill him and she rationalizes she has nothing else to live for besides that. To twist the knife further, despite her best efforts, it's made abundantly clear when she faces Sonic that she stands no chance against him and he's barely taking her seriously. Meanwhile, Kit is a deconstruction of this, as well as the {{Sidekick}} . Kit is Surge's sidekick, basically being the answer to Tails. Like Surge, however, this role was forced upon him and while Surge has her hatred of Sonic to motivate her, Kit has nothing driving him besides his desire to help Surge and when she's not around to tell him what to do, he starts falling apart very quickly. Tails is able to subdue him fairly easily since Kit is more concerned about Surge than fighting. Kit shows how devoting your entire life to someone else is detrimental to one's own self-esteem and sense of identity, something Tails grew out of ages ago.

** Both Surge and Kit are deconstructions of the EvilCounterpart . Surge is not Sonic's first EvilCounterpart, a point he lampshades when they're finally face to face. Surge differentiates herself from the others when its shown that she was forced to be one against her will through brainwashing, leaving her very mentally unstable and holds an Irrational Hatred towards Sonic that she herself does not understand. Sonic's attempts to talk her down fall on deaf ears because Surge was groomed to only want to kill him and she rationalizes she has nothing else to live for besides that. To twist the knife further, despite her best efforts, it's made abundantly clear when she faces Sonic that she stands no chance against him and he's barely taking her seriously. Meanwhile, Kit is a deconstruction of this, as well as the {{Sidekick}} . Kit is Surge's sidekick, basically being the answer to Tails. Like Surge, however, this role was forced upon him and while Surge has her hatred of Sonic to motivate her, Kit has nothing driving him besides his desire to help Surge and when she's not around to tell him what to do, he starts falling apart very quickly. Tails is able to subdue him fairly easily since Kit is more concerned about Surge than fighting. Kit shows how devoting your entire life to someone else is detrimental to one's own self-esteem and sense of identity, something Tails grew out of ages ago.

** Both Surge and Kit are deconstructions of the EvilCounterpart . Surge is not Sonic's first EvilCounterpart, a point he lampshades when they're finally face to face. Surge differentiates herself from the others when its shown that she was forced to be one against her will through brainwashing, leaving her very mentally unstable and holds an Irrational Hatred towards Sonic that she herself does not understand. Sonic's attempts to talk her down fall on deaf ears because Surge was groomed to only want to kill him and she rationalizes she has nothing else to live for besides that. To twist the knife further, despite her best efforts, it's made abundantly clear when she faces Sonic that she stands no chance against him and he's barely taking her seriously. Meanwhile, Kit is a deconstruction of this, as well as TheSidekick . Kit is Surge's sidekick, basically being the answer to Tails. Like Surge, however, this role was forced upon him and while Surge has her hatred of Sonic to motivate her, Kit has nothing driving him besides his desire to help Surge and when she's not around to tell him what to do, he starts falling apart very quickly. Tails is able to subdue him fairly easily since Kit is more concerned about Surge than fighting. Kit shows how devoting your entire life to someone else is detrimental to one's own self-esteem and sense of identity, something Tails grew out of ages ago.

** The Plutonian deconstructs the SupermanSubstitute. [[BewareTheSuperman Tony]] was a straight up {{expy}} of Franchise/{{Superman}}, except his DarkAndTroubledPast caused by their similar origins and powers resulted in his private motivations as a superhero wildly askew with genuine decency and faith in others and [[FaceHeelTurn ultimately snaps]] due to not being psychologically capable of bearing the responsibilities and physical complications that come with it.

* ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'': Edmund "Yellowbelly" Wickenthorpe is a deconstruction of [[DirtyCoward dirty cowards]] and [[CowardlyLion cowardly lions]]. While Edmund's cowardice does result in the deaths of Nicole and Sweeney, he survives the Crossed and he comes across as way more rational and sensible than his peers, who insisted on fighting against hopeless odds.
** First of all, Edmund is only a teenager (16-18) as he had just left high school before C-Day and he has no life experiences that would make him brave in the face of danger. He's old enough to understand what's happening, too young to be independent, and too old to depend on others. He was also the sole survivor of the carnival massacre, he saw his town and family get brutally murdered by the Crossed, and everyone else calls him a coward for being understandably scared in the face of danger.
** [[spoiler: Sweeney refused to leave the gun store and tried to make Edmund fight to the last breath, despite the Crossed already winning the battle and running away being more sensible. Shooting Sweeney might have been unncessary but since the building was already swarming with Crossed, Sweeney couldn't be reasoned with and Edmund had to think fast before they were both killed by the crossed.]]

** [[spoiler: During the battle against the Crossed, Edmund falls the bike and hides in the bushes as the battle continues. The rider, Ringo, was killed in the crash and Edmund was underprepared to fight the Crossed so he made the smart decision of hiding in the bushes so he can survive another day.]]
** [[spoiler: Nicole's death wasn't a result of cowardice, she lunged forward as Edmund was checking if she was ok and he instinctively pulled the trigger in response under the belief she had turned. The only true act of cowardice was when he defiled Nicole's corpse and desecrated it to cover the [[AccidentalMurder accidental murder]].]]
** [[spoiler: While Edmund did eventually redeem himself by saving Donna, she still kills him by brutally staving his head with a rock as punishment for killing Nicole. Ironically, had Edmund abandoned Donna to save himself then his death could have been avoided.]]

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': Starline deconstructs the BigBadWannabe, LoonyFan and OnlySaneMan tropes. Starline has admired Eggman for a long time and had long wanted to be Eggman's apprentice. But as the Metal Virus arc progressed, Starline slowly began to realize that Eggman [[BrokenPedestal was not the genius he made him out to be.]] Eventually, [[spoiler:Eggman fires him when his misguided attempt to help Eggman results in the Deadly Six controlling the Zombots, but even afterwards, he still attempts to prove himself Eggman's equal by forming his own team comprising of himself, Zavok, Mimic, Rough and Tumble. However, as Zavok [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech later points out]], for all his talk of being Eggman's successor, [[NotSoDifferentRemark he ended up making the exact same mistakes as Eggman]] such as not thinking his plans through and callously disregarding his allies. Starline himself concedes that [[VillainHasAPoint Zavok has a point]] and by the end of the Bad Guys miniseries, gives up on being Eggman's equal and decides to be Eggman's superior. However, ''Imposter Syndrome'' shows that he ''still'' hasn't learned his lesson. Seeing his action figure in Eggman's Egg Cave is all it takes for him to want to be Eggman's partner again, showing his obsession with Eggman is still there. Also, his attempts to keep Surge and Kit in line with the Hypno Glove backfire as they end up building a resistance to it, allowing him to eventually turn on him and manipulate him for their own plans. Throughout the series, he sees himself as the smartest man in the room and constantly criticizes Dr Eggman for being short-sighted and impulsive despite possessing many of his flaws and not being as smart and rational as he thinks. For every contigency plan he makes, there are other things he neglects which cause him to lose despite considering himself smarter and saner than everyone else.]]

* Xerek from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' comics is a deconstructed BornWinner. His superpower enabled him to be fortunate all his life, gaining wealth, power, and stature well into his old age, but the non-stop success eventually made him feel unfulfilled and hollow, since he never managed to achieve what he really wants in life and became disenchanted with the world. As such he becomes an OmnicidalManiac and DeathSeeker simply because life has nothing to offer him anymore.