History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / LiveActionTV

* John Mitchell and Hal Yorke from ''Series/BeingHumanUK', along with the many other good vampires in the show, deconstruct the idea of the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire. Despite how much a vampire may wish to be this and become TheAtoner, it is very much apparent that vampires are an inherently destructive and predatory race, and any attempt to be otherwise is doomed, as the hunger always wins. If anything attempting to control their psychological addiction to blood just leads to their relapses being even more bloody and violent than usual, and these relapses can be caused either by extreme emotional stress or due to one mistake. It's also pointed out that since they're immortal, it's only a matter of time before they slip up since they literally can't control their bloodlust for an eternity.

** Vanessa is a big deconstruction of the AmateurSleuth. [[spoiler: After Jake's disappearance/death, she uses her platform on social media to investigate what happened, only to really humiliate and harass Addy and the rest of Murder Club. She ends up being used by Giselle, a stalker of Jake's, as well as SimonSays,the new BigBad. When SimonSays kills Giselle, she is blamed for it and becomes scared that Murder Club killed Giselle and will kill her next. She goes offline for a while, only to learn that no one took her investigation seriously. When TJ is framed, she doesn't help him until her disdain for Murder Club drives her to do so. Throughout her investigation, she keeps finding clues but also comes to the wrong conclusions all of the time. When Cole informs her that Jake did in fact kill Simon, she loses faith for a moment before taking advice from a priest the wrong way and continuing. This results in her going from being a pawn of SimonSays to the next target and Murder Club resorts to kidnapping her and telling her the truth to keep her safe. When the situation is over, Vanessa goes on television to uphold Murder Club's story while taking all of the credit. In the end, Vanessa achieves very little and just makes things worse.]]

** Vanessa is a big deconstruction of the AmateurSleuth. [[spoiler: After Jake's disappearance/[[spoiler: death]], she uses her platform on social media to investigate what happened, only to really humiliate and harass Addy and the rest of Murder Club. She ends up being used by Giselle, a stalker of Jake's, as well as SimonSays,the new BigBad. When SimonSays kills Giselle, she is blamed for it and becomes scared that Murder Club killed Giselle and will kill her next. She goes offline for a while, only to learn that no one took her investigation seriously. When TJ is framed, she doesn't help him until her disdain for Murder Club drives her to do so. Throughout her investigation, she keeps finding clues but also comes to the wrong conclusions all of the time. When Cole informs her that Jake did in fact kill Simon, she loses faith for a moment before taking advice from a priest the wrong way and continuing. This results in her going from being a pawn of SimonSays to the next target and Murder Club resorts to kidnapping her and telling her the truth to keep her safe. When the situation is over, Vanessa goes on television to uphold Murder Club's story while taking all of the credit. In the end, Vanessa achieves very little and just makes things worse.]]

** Vanessa is a big deconstruction of the AmateurSleuth. After Jake's disappearance/[[spoiler: death]], she uses her platform on social media to investigate what happened, only to really humiliate and harass Addy and the rest of Murder Club. She ends up being used by Giselle, a stalker of Jake's, as well as SimonSays,the new BigBad. When SimonSays kills Giselle, she is blamed for it and becomes scared that Murder Club killed Giselle and will kill her next. She goes offline for a while, only to learn that no one took her investigation seriously. When TJ is framed, she doesn't help him until her disdain for Murder Club drives her to do so. Throughout her investigation, she keeps finding clues but also comes to the wrong conclusions all of the time. When Cole informs her that Jake did in fact kill Simon, she loses faith for a moment before taking advice from a priest the wrong way and continuing. This results in her going from being a pawn of SimonSays to the next target and Murder Club resorts to kidnapping her and telling her the truth to keep her safe.

* Mabel's friend Zoe in ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding'' who had mysteriously died in prior to the start of the series deconstructs AssholeVictim and ManicPixieDreamGirl.
** AssholeVictim: From the little scenes we see of her, she is a very conceited and elitist person and only died because [[spoiler: she was trying to shove Theo but accidentally tripped and fell over the building roof.]] However her death only made things worse and the fallout ended up destroying the friendship between the remaining members of the Hardy Boys gang.
** ManicPixieDreamGirl: Towards [[spoiler: Theo]] as she was one of the few people who could and was willing speak to them, even flirting with him, resulting in [[spoiler: Theo]] developing a crush on her. But Zoe could be very nasty when angered and [[spoiler: Theo]] finds out the hard way when she laughs at their heartfelt romantic confession and she started insulting them when they tried to give advice to her.
* Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell of ''Series/TheShield'' are utterly brutal deconstructions of the CowboyCop. Both are macho, tough cops willing to bend or even outright break the law in order to see justice done and more than willing to perform a JackBauerInterrogationTechnique{{s}} on suspects. Rather than make them appear admirable, the series shows that they're amoral DirtyCop{{s}} who are no better than the criminals they catch and whose idea of justice boils down to pointless sadism and murder. Similarly, the series demonstrates that their behavior is more living out a power fantasy than anything else; Vic is an AttentionWhore and a ControlFreak who loves the job because it allows him to indulge in this, while Shane is a pathetic, mentally unstable screw-up who relishes in his power and being able to vent his frustrations by beating anyone at his mercy.

* Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell of ''Series/TheShield'' are utterly brutal deconstructions of the CowboyCop. Both are macho, tough cops willing to bend or even outright break the law in order to see justice done and more than willing to perform a JackBauerInterrogation on suspects. Rather than make them appear admirable, the series shows that they're amoral DirtyCop{{s}} who are no better than the criminals they catch and whose idea of justice boils down to pointless sadism and murder. Similarly, the series demonstrates that their behavior is more living out a power fantasy than anything else; Vic is an AttentionWhore and a ControlFreak who loves the job because it allows him to indulge in this, while Shane is a pathetic, mentally unstable screw-up who relishes in his power and being able to vent his frustrations by beating anyone at his mercy.

** Steve Harrington. Ever sat through an 80s film and yelled at the chick-magnet JerkJock for being a stereotypical CardCarryingVillain for no good reason beyond "we need a jerk character in this spot for you to hate"? Well, here we have one who refreshingly wises up to, and actively faces down, his slight InferioritySuperiorityComplex problems ''before'' he becomes a punchable cardboard cut-out destined for Wall Street. [[spoiler:He about-faces and goes quite a long way towards mending busted fences like a human being with a semi-functional social intelligence quotient should. And, also gives us a pretty good reason ''why'' Nancy saw anything in him beyond his looks in the first place by doing so, to boot. And in season two he keeps the pace up and becomes an affirmative NiceGuy [[OddFriendship and forms a bond with Dustin of all people]].]]

** The episode "[[Recap/ThirtyRockS3E5Reunion Reunion]]" deconstructs Liz's teenage counterpart, the CoolLoser ''a la'' [[WesternAnimation/{{Daria}} Daria Morgendorffer]] or [[Series/MySoCalledLife Angela Baker]]. Liz considered herself a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold in high school, having few friends and coping with harassment by the AlphaBitch and her GirlPosse by making witty remarks. At her ClassReunion, she discovers that everyone else saw her so-called "snarky comebacks" as mean-spirited insults and they all saw ''her'' as TheBully, hence why no one liked her. Her so-called friends were acquaintances who only hung out with her due to proximity, and the supposed AlphaBitch was actually a ClassPrincess who tried to reach out and befriend her (surprise, surprise, her friendliness was actually [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome why she was so popular in the first place]]). She even had to go to therapy to cope with the abusive remarks Liz inflicted on her.

** Liz Lemon deconstructs characters like Series/MurphyBrown, [[Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow Mary Richards]], and [[Series/DesigningWomen Julia Sugarbaker]], feminist TV heroines who constantly fight to stand up for themselves and use [[DeadpanSnarker dry, sarcastic wit]] as a weapon against those they considers unrighteous. Her wit is paired with a HairTriggerTemper, an incredibly vicious, condescending, and self-righteous manner, an extreme stubborn streak, and a drive to prove herself that goes past feminism and straight into ItsAllAboutMe territory, and while she is the OnlySaneEmployee holding ''[[ShowWithinAShow TGS]]'' together, that speaks less to her stability than to the fact that everybody else on the show is even crazier than she is.
** The episode ''[[Recap/ThirtyRockS3E5Reunion Reunion]]'' deconstructs Liz Lemon's teenage counterpart, the CoolLoser ''a la'' [[WesternAnimation/{{Daria}} Daria Morgendorffer]] or [[Series/MySoCalledLife Angela Baker]]. Liz considered herself a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold in high school, having few friends and coping with harassment by the AlphaBitch and her GirlPosse by making witty remarks. At her ClassReunion, she discovers that her constant put-downs had actually caused everyone to see ''her'' as TheBully and hate her. Her so-called friends were acquaintances who only hung around her due to proximity, and the supposed AlphaBitch was actually a ClassPrincess who tried to reach out and befriend her (surprise, surprise, her friendliness was actually [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome why she was so popular in the first place]]). She even had to go therapy to cope with the abuse Liz inflicted on her.
* In ''Series/TheCrown2016'', Phillip's initial and only role is to be the HotConsort to Queen Elizabeth, after having given up his career, his home, his name and his self-worth. He had no other duties besides looking presentable next to his wife and is stopped at every turn from contributing anything that he could call his own. All of this results in him feeling inferior to his wife and causing tension in their relationship, frequently partying and getting drunk with his friends because he is bored out of his mind. In later seasons, he comes to terms with his role as the British consort and his marriage grows more stable. This shown in the very last scene of Series 4, when Princess Diana complains about her unhappy marriage with Charles to him, but he takes the moment to firmly remind her that her first and foremost duty is to Elizabeth and the Crown.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' deconstructs ManicPixieDreamGirl through Castle's first ex-wife and Alexis's mother. Her first appearance demonstrates that despite her cheerful and bright personality, Meredith is very flighty, impulsive, irresponsible and even more immature than Castle. Castle describes their relationship like having a deep fried Twinkie, in that "once in a while is a treat, all the time will kill you."
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' frequently deconstructed VigilanteMan with several of it's unsubs. [[DependingOnTheWriter While the level of deconstruction varies,]] what remains constant is that vigilantes are ultimately killing to make themselves feel better, not much different from the show's typical SerialKiller. Furthermore, there is ''always'' innocent collateral damage to their rampages, either because of MisplacedRetribution, an incorrect assumption about someone's guilt, or simply someone getting in their way. The very first vigilante the team dealt with was ultimately a schizophrenic who thought killing his victims would make the voices go away, and it's entirely up in the air whether or not his victims were truly guilty. Regardless of how the general public feels about them or [[AssholeVictim how deserving the]] [[KickTheSonOfABitch victims are]], the BAU cannot ignore or condone their actions, and have to treat them as they would any other murderer.

** Cookie is your typical BlackAndNerdy GadgeteerGenius, right? Not exactly. During the show we see that despite Cookie’s intelligence, he is barely able to function in the real world. He always tries to think up the most outlandish ways to succeed in school and always backfires. Eventually, he realizes that in order to get by, he needs to start thinking rationally and give up the high-tech solutions.
** The typical mean kids on campus, AlphaBitch Missy and [[TheBully Bully]] Loomer. They just seem like your typical jerks at first, but as the series progresses, they get to grow. By Season 3, Missy has lost a lot of her popularity and most people at Polk recognize she’s just a jerk and nothing more. Nowadays, she’s mostly crushing on Ned and trying desperately to remain relevant. Short story: mean girls on campus are rarely ever popular in real life. As for Loomer, he and his gang spent the start of the series pulling pranks on Ned and Cookie. At first it seemed to be ForTheEvulz, but as the series goes on it’s clear [[JerkassWoobie he’s just a troubled kid willing to take out his frustration on everyone else]].

** It also deconstructs CainAndAbel. Jimmy [=McGill=] (the future [[AmoralAttorney "Saul Goodman"]]) and his older brother Chuck [=McGill=] are two brothers who alternate between showing genuine concern for each other and attempting to sabotage each other. Because Jimmy is the protagonist and an underdog, initially it seems like Chuck is supposed to be the "bad brother" and TheResenter, but over the course of the series it becomes clear that both [=McGills=] are quite prone to petty jealousy, underhanded schemes, and their criticisms of each other are not unfounded. [[spoiler:In the end, it's Chuck who dies in a house fire [[DrivenToSuicide that he himself started]], with the implication that his last fight with his brother caused a relapse of Chuck's mental illness.]]

** Allison is one for the CloserToEarth sitcom wife. On the surface, she seems like the typical snarky but ultimately devoted and supportive wife; underneath, she's deeply unhappy and utterly tired of having to act as the [[OnlySaneMan "voice of reason"]] only to be dismissed as a "nag" when she tries to bring in some sanity to Kevin's antics. And when she finds out he drained their savings, she ''snaps'' and finally decides enough is enough. But since she's unable to just divorce him thanks to him controlling all their money and isolating her from having a social life of her own (thus leaving her with no one to really turn to for help), she decides she has to resort to less savory methods (first attempting to kill him, then faking her own death) to finally be free of him.

*** OneOfTheBoys: Patty starts off the series as the "token woman" of Kevin's friend group, expressing little sympathy or patience for whatever Allison is going through despite knowing full well what kind of person Kevin is, even [[FemaleMisogynist frequently making snide comments about Allison's "girly-girl" personality type and interests]]. It's deconstructed in that Patty herself is also mistreated, insulted, and put down by the guys as much as Allison is. And after Allison calls her out for failing to consider the harmful consequences of Kevin's antics (like getting her fired from a really nice career), Patty is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified with herself]] as she realizes how she enabled Kevin's abuse of Allison because she thought it was funny.

** Neil gets the most as the BumblingSidekick and YesMan. He's even more immature than Kevin is, which is heavily implied to be the result of some kind of mental disorder, and it's made clear that he's just as much a victim of Kevin's abuse as Allison and Patty are, with Allison even noting how Kevin laughs when Neil bleeds and a flashback showing Patty having to get painkillers for him whenever he injured himself during a stunt gone wrong. He's also very dependent on Kevin's very conditional approval and while Kevin is closer to him than he is to Allison, Kevin is repeatedly shown to not care for Neil's UndyingLoyalty. He's taken apart even further in the second season after he spends the first season finale trying to [[spoiler:attack Allison when he finds out about her plot to kill Kevin]], where it's revealed that he is a bit more perceptive than he lets on (though he's still not the brightest bulb), has a drinking problem, and a lifelong problem of [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not knowing his own strength]]. Getting his eyes forcibly opened (metaphorically speaking) to Kevin's toxicity also forces him to see how little his so-called best friend cares for him and ultimately reaches his own breaking point as well.

** Steve Harrington. Ever sat through an 80s film and yelled at the chick-magnet JerkJock for being a stereotypical CardCarryingVillain for no good reason beyond "we need a jerk character in this spot for you to hate"? Well, here we have one who refreshingly wises up to, and actively faces down, his slight InferioritySuperiorityComplex problems ''before'' he becomes a punchable cardboard cut-out destined for Wall Street. [[spoiler:He about-faces and goes quite a long way towards mending busted fences like a human being with a semi-functional social intelligence quotient should. And, also gives us a pretty good reason ''why'' Nancy saw anything in him beyond his looks in the first place by doing so, to boot. And in season two he keeps the pace up and becomes a affirmative NiceGuy [[OddFriendship and forms a bond with Dustin of all people]].]]

** Jason Carver in season 4 is a deconstruction of TheHero, and of teenaged detectives like Archie from ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' and several characters from modern TeenDrama. He certainly seems to think he is this, and so do many others. And if Jason was the protagonist, he’d like be like Archie. However, since Stranger Things’s cast are all outsiders and nerds, the exact opposite of Jason and many other TeenDrama protagonists, the only things he appears to be good at are basketball and self-indulgent speeches, none of which makes him a good detective, yet he still believes he has the right to lead his friends on a manhunt. That, and his "investigation" basically amounts to vigilante justice, torturing Eddie's friends for information, and presumably planning to murder Eddie, things that would probably be dismissed as no big deal if Jason was the main character. Plus the RousingSpeech that Archie likes to do all the time on Riverdale? It’s turned on its head as Jason uses it to turn Hawkins against Eddie and the heroes into attacking them for being into heavy metal and Dungeons and Dragons. Jason is basically what these types of characters would be like in real life: biased, irrational, entitled, manipulative, vindictive, and completely out of their depth.

** The episode "Reunion" deconstructs Liz Lemon's teenage counterpart, the CoolLoser ''a la'' [[WesternAnimation/{{Daria}} Daria Morgendorffer]] or [[Series/MySoCalledLife Angela Baker]]. Liz considered herself a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold in high school, having few friends and coping with harassment by the AlphaBitch and her GirlPosse by making witty remarks. At her ClassReunion, she discovers that her constant put-downs had actually caused everyone to see ''her'' as TheBully and hate her. Her so-called friends were acquaintances who only hung around her due to proximity, and the supposed AlphaBitch was actually a ClassPrincess who tried to reach out and befriend her (surprise, surprise, her friendliness was actually [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome why she was so popular in the first place]]). She even had to go therapy to cope with the abuse Liz inflicted on her.

* The ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "Reunion" deconstructs the DeadpanSnarker[=/=]MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold. Liz considered herself as such during high school, having few friends and having to cope with harassment by the AlphaBitch and her posse by making witty remarks. At her reunion, she discovers that her constant put downs had actually caused everyone to see her as TheBully and hate her. Her so-called friends were acquaintances who only hung around her due to proximity and the supposed AlphaBitch was actually a nice person who tried to reach out and befriend her (surprise, surprise, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome her friendliness was actually why she was so popular in the first place]]). She even had to go therapy to cope with the abuse Liz inflicted on her.
** Liz in general deconstructs the ''Series/MurphyBrown'', feminist character that uses sarcastic wit as a weapon against those she considers unrighteous. As it is, she is "ItsAllAboutMe" unleaded and the fact she's a woman just thinks it justifies her bitchiness and penchant for DisproportionateRetribution, and her "sarcastic wit" as mentioned above is less funny and more genuinely hurting.

** The eponymous Kevin himself is one for the [[BumblingDad "immature doofus husband"]] prevalent in many a DomCom, showing just how exhausting and insufferable such a person would be to deal with in real life over an extended period of time. Kevin is a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]] ManChild who, at best, [[InnocentlyInsensitive is genuinely oblivious]] to the destructive effect his actions have on other people, and at worst, is a petty and mean-spirited bully whose goofy behavior is [[ObfuscatingStupidity partly an act]] to [[TooFunnyToBeEvil get away with his more deliberately malicious actions]]. His {{Zany Scheme}}s are destructive more than not and it's shown how his household is financially struggling due to [[MoneyDumb his reckless spending habits]]. He treats his wife Allison more like a maid and [[ParentingTheHusband a surrogate mom]] than a partner while his friends are more like [[YesMan butt-kissers who have to go along with everything he does]]. Meanwhile, Allison's initial attraction to him during the start of their relationship and marriage has completely evaporated away over the years, not helped by how his antics have taken up all her time and energy, leaving her isolated and with no way of being able to get away from him. And when Kevin ends up [[spoiler:inadvertently driving away his social circle when Allison's attempts to break free from his "sitcom world" have ripple effects on the others, he's revealed at the bottom of everything to ultimately be an utterly monstrous and violently abusive (but ultimately pathetic) lout who only got away with his actions for as long as he has by bulldozing other, weaker willed people]].

** Patty deconstructs TheSnarkKnight. She's revealed to also be just as resentful of her life situation as Allison is, being a SadClown who has all but resigned herself to being stuck in Worcester with her dumb manchild brother and his equally idiotic jerk of a friend. She only participates in Kevin's group partly because of Neil and partly because [[ItAmusedMe she's bored and they're funny]] and when she ultimately wises up to how toxic Kevin truly is, she is unable to hang out with him in good conscience anymore.

** Neil gets the most as the BumblingSidekick and YesMan. He's even more immature than Kevin is, which is heavily implied to be the result of some kind of mental disorder, and it's made clear that he's just as much a victim of Kevin's abuse as Allison and Patty are, with Allison even noting how Kevin laughs when Neil bleeds and a flashback showing Patty having to get painkillers for him whenever he injured himself during a stunt gone wrong. He's also very dependent o, Kevin's very conditional approval and while Kevin is closer to him than he is to Allison, Kevin is repeatedly shown to not care for Neil's UndyingLoyalty. He's taken apart even further in the second season after he spends the first season finale trying to [[spoiler:attack Allison when he finds out about her plot to kill Kevin]], where it's revealed that he is a bit more perceptive than he lets on (though he's still not the brightest bulb), has a drinking problem, and a lifelong problem of [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not knowing his own strength]]. Getting his eyes forcibly opened (metaphorically speaking) to Kevin's toxicity also forces him to see how little his so-called best friend cares for him and ultimately reaches his own breaking point as well.

** Allison is one for the CloserToEarth sitcom wife. On the surface, she seems like the typical snarky but ultimately devoted and supportive wife; underneath, she's deeply unhappy and utterly tired of having to act as the [[OnlySaneMan "voice of reason"]] only to be dismissed as a "nag" when she tries to bring in some sanity to Kevin's antics. And when she finds out he drained their savings, she ''snaps'' and finally decides enough is enough. But since she's unable to just divorce him, she decides she has to resort to less savory methods (first attempting to kill him, then faking her own death) to finally be free of him.

** Neil gets the most as the BumblingSidekick and YesMan. He's even more immature than Kevin is, which is heavily implied to be the result of some kind of mental disorder, and it's made clear that he's just as much a victim of Kevin's abuse as Allison and Patty are, with Allison even noting how Kevin laughs when Neil bleeds and a flashback showing Patty having to get painkillers for him whenever he injured himself during a stunt gone wrong. He's also very dependent o Kevin's very conditional approval and while Kevin is closer to him than he is to Allison, Kevin is repeatedly shown to not care for Neil's UndyingLoyalty. He's taken apart even further in the second season after he spends the first season finale trying to [[spoiler:attack Allison when he finds out about her plot to kill Kevin]], where it's revealed that he is a bit more perceptive than he lets on (though he's still not the brightest bulb), has a drinking problem, and a lifelong problem of [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not knowing his own strength]]. Getting his eyes forcibly opened (metaphorically speaking) to Kevin's toxicity also forces him to see how little his so-called best friend cares for him and ultimately reaches his own breaking point as well.

** Steve Harrington. Ever sat through an 80s film and yelled at the chick-magnet JerkJock for being a stereotypical CardCarryingVillain for no good reason beyond "we need a jerk character in this spot for you to hate"? Well, here we have one who refreshingly wises up to, and actively faces down, his PoisonousFriend and slight InferioritySuperiorityComplex problems ''before'' he becomes a punchable cardboard cut-out destined for Wall Street. [[spoiler:He about-faces and goes quite a long way towards mending busted fences like a human being with a semi-functional social intelligence quotient should. And, also gives us a pretty good reason ''why'' Nancy saw anything in him beyond his looks in the first place by doing so, to boot. And in season two he keeps the pace up and becomes a affirmative NiceGuy [[OddFriendship and forms a bond with Dustin of all people]].]]

* ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'':
** Alison provides a perfect deconstruction of the AlphaBitch and TheFriendNobodyLikes. Her behavior gained her and the Liars the disdain of 90% of the town, and she has multiple enemies in the A-team that want her dead. By season 5, the Liars themselves wonder why they ever put up with her and do everything they can to get her arrested when they suspect her of murder. In fact, Alison is so hated that [[spoiler:when she was hit in the head with a rock and presumed dead, her ''own mother'' buried her to cover for her attacker!]]
** She also ended up being a deconstruction of PoisonousFriend, as the actions of the Liars towards stemmed from years of bottled-up resentment due to her actions.

** Allison is one for the CloserToEarth sitcom wife. On the surface, she seems like the typical snarky but ultimately devoted and supportive wife; underneath, she's deeply unhappy and utterly tired of having to act as the [[OnlySaneMan "voice of reason"]] only to be dismissed as a "nag" when she tries to bring in some sanity to Kevin's antics. And when she finds out he drained their savings,

** The eponymous Kevin himself is one for the [[BumblingDad "immature doofus husband"]] prevalent in many a DomCom, showing just how exhausting and insufferable such a person would be to deal with in real life over an extended period of time. Kevin is a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]] ManChild who is completely oblivious to any of his wife's needs or desires, essentially [[ParentingTheHusband relying completely on her]] for everything. His {{Zany Scheme}}s are destructive more than not and the couple is financially struggling due to his reckless spending habits. Allison's initial attraction to him during the start of their relationship and marriage has completely evaporated away over the years, not helped by how his antics have left her isolated and with no way of being able to get away from him. His other relationships are similarly deconstructed - his father is completely blind to his son's faults, his best friend Neil is a dim simpleton who is completely dependent on Kevin's (very conditional) approval, and his other friend Patty is only around because she's Neil's sister and when she wises up to [[ToxicFriendInfluence how utterly toxic Kevin truly is]], she forges a genuine friendship with Allison.
** Allison is one for the CloserToEarth sitcom wife. On the surface, she seems like the typical snarky but ultimately devoted and supportive wife; underneath, she's deeply unhappy and utterly tired of having to act as the [[OnlySaneMan "voice of reason"]] only to be dismissed as a "nag" when she tries to bring in some sanity to Kevin's antics.

** Kevin's father Pete is not so much the CoolOldGuy dad usually seen in sitcoms so much as he's an enabler who has completely failed to raise his son properly.
** Neil gets some as the BumblingSidekick. He's even more immature than Kevin is, which is heavily implied to be the result of some kind of mental disorder, and it's made clear that he's just as much a victim of Kevin's idiocy and narcissism as Allison and Patty are. The second season reveals that he [[spoiler:is a bit more perceptive than he lets on (though he's still not the brightest bulb), has a drinking problem, and a lifelong problem of [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not knowing his own strength]]]].

* The eponymous character of ''Series/KevinCanFuckHimself'' is one for the [[BumblingDad "immature doofus husband"]] character prevalent in many a DomCom, showing just how exhausting and insufferable such a person would be to deal with in real life over an extended period of time through the eyes of his long-suffering wife Allison. Kevin is a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]] ManChild who is completely oblivious to any of his wife's needs or desires, essentially [[ParentingTheHusband relying completely on her]] for everything. His {{Zany Scheme}}s are destructive more than not and the couple is financially struggling due to his reckless spending habits. Allison's initial attraction to him during the start of their relationship and marriage has completely evaporated away over the years, not helped by how his antics have left her isolated and with no way of being able to get away from him. His other relationships are similarly deconstructed - his father is completely blind to his son's faults, his best friend Neil is a dim simpleton who is completely dependent on Kevin's (very conditional) approval, and his other friend Patty is only around because she's Neil's sister and when she wises up to [[ToxicFriendInfluence how utterly toxic Kevin truly is]], she forges a genuine friendship with Allison.
** Allison is one for the CloserToEarth sitcom wife. On the surface, she seems like the typical snarky but ultimately devoted and supportive wife; underneath, she's deeply unhappy and utterly tired of having to act as the [[OnlySaneMan "voice of reason"]] only to be dismissed as a "nag" when she tries to inject some sanity to Kevin's antics.

** Kevin's father Pete is not so much the CoolOldGuy dad as usually seen in sitcoms much as he's an enabler who has completely failed to raise his son properly.

* Walter White, the VillainProtagonist of ''Series/BreakingBad'', deconstructs JustifiedCriminal. The plot is kicked off when Walt is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, with the best-case scenario being he only has two years left to live. [[FallenOnHardTimesJob His jobs as a high-school chemistry teacher and a car washer]] hardly makes enough money for his family to live on, let alone pay for his cancer treatments. As a result, he decides to team up with his former student Jesse Pinkman and use his chemistry skills to cook meth to earn cash for his cancer treatments, and to leave money for his family to live on. His actions have far-reaching consequences that he couldn't even ''begin'' to imagine, as he ends up getting several people [[spoiler:including [[DeathOfAChild at least two innocent kids]] and his own brother-in-law]] killed. As the series goes on, the more clear it becomes that Walt enjoys the thrill and challenge of doing the wrong thing, and he's not using the meth cooking to provide for his family, he's using his family to keep having a reason to do it. [[spoiler: Walt himself finally admits to both himself and Skyler in “[[GrandFinale Felina]]” that he got into the meth trade [[ItsAllAboutMe because he liked the power and prestige he had as a drug kingpin, he felt so alive]], [[BecauseImGoodAtIt and he was good at what he was creating]]]]. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment The first sign that his pride, not the cancer diagnosis, is the main source of his actions shows up in "Gray Matter"]]; Gretchen and Elliot Schwarz, his former collegues, learn about his cancer via Skyler and offer him a well-paying job at their company with good health insurance. [[DontYouDarePityMe Walt rejects it even though taking the job would have instantly solved all of his financial problems without any illegal baggage]]. [[spoiler:While Walt ''does'' manage to get a hefty inheritance gathered for his wife and children, they completely disown him during [[DramaBomb "Ozymandias"]] (to the point where his son Walt Jr. legally changed his first name to “Flynn” and Skyler [[ShedTheFamilyName reverts to using her maiden name]]) so even if the police didn't confiscate his remaining drug cash if he sent it to them, they want nothing to do with it. In order to prevent his actions being AllForNothing, Walt has to coerce the Schawarz's into setting up a trust fund Flynn will recieve on his 18th birthday with the remaining drug money, in order to make it look like the money came from a philanthropist couple's act of charity. The series ends with Walt dying from a bullet wound in a meth lab after he killed off Uncle Jack's Neo-Nazi gang as revenge for killing his brother-in-law and so they'd no longer be a threat to his remaining family members, seconds before the police show up. Long story short, [[PyrrhicVillainy Walt suceeded in getting that nest egg for his family, but he destroyed or at least partially ruined the lives of everybody around him in the process]] and his crimes are going to forever haunt the family that survived the series.]]