History Main / Bathos

** The Season 3 BigBad, Mayor Richard Wilkins III, is an immortal dark sorcerer with an ultimate goal of becoming a powerful ancient demon. And he approaches all of this with the demeanor of a 1950s sitcom dad, lists dark rituals on his to-do list followed by PTA meetings, thinks mini-golf is a cure all for assassins who failed to hit their target, is a germaphobe and will wipe his hands after killing someone, and engages his minions in conversations about their favorite newspaper comics (he prefers ''ComicStrip/TheFamilyCircus'', his vampire henchman loves ''ComicStrip/{{Marmaduke}}'', and both look at the assistant mayor [[TakeThat with mild disgust]] when they learn his go-to funny is ''ComicStrip/{{Cathy}}''... keep in mind the scene starts with the mayor casually pulling a Kleenex out of a cabinet that is filled with dark magic paraphernalia and wiping his hands and none of the three bat an eye). One of the few times he actually gets upset, it's when a new minion inadvertently kills a demon that the mayor has to sacrifice a human baby to on a recurring business. The minion thinks he'll be happy to be out of the deal only to discover that the Mayor is livid: while he doesn't like to make the payment, he ran a campaign on being an honest politician and he hates even the appearance that he's breaking a promise.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E4FearItself Fear Itself]]", Buffy and her team deal with increasingly horrifying nightmares caused by Crachnar, the lord of nightmares. Buffy errantly summons the demon, which starts to come forth... [[AntiClimax and it's only about 5 inches tall]]. Xander immediately begins to tease it, then Buffy steps on it. The punchline to the episode involves Giles re-examining the [[TomeOfEldritchLore scary old book]] they first read about Crachnar in and kicking himself for not realizing that the caption under the picture, when translated, means "actual size".

* This is where nearly all the humor of ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' comes from. It is written like a lighthearted comedy about a group of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits, a wiseass, an eccentric genius, a straight man, a working class everyman, and their ComicallySerious secretary, who come together to start a pest control company... that is shot like a horror movie where said "pests" are ''ghosts''. The irreverent way these knuckleheads deal with horrific world-ending abominations makes it one of the most memorable movies ever written, with scenes like when the BigBad of the film [[EldritchAbomination Gozer]] needs a [[{{Kaiju}} Destructor form]] and compels our heroes to choose one. They figure out the trick and blank their minds out... except Ray didn't. So now the giant monster that is attacking New York is... the [[RentAZilla Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man]].

*** Thor gives Surtur a PreAsskickingOneLiner right before summoning Mjölnir, though he mistimed it and it takes a couple seconds for it to reach him. Thor asks Surtur to give him a moment.
*** As he was leaving Dr. Strange's manor, he summons Mjölnir (in the form of an umbrella), and it again takes several seconds for it to reach his hand. This time, things are getting knocked down and glass is breaking as it travels through Strange's manor. Thor awkwardly apologizes as he's waiting for it to get to him.
*** In Valkyrie's introduction, she has a typical badass's introduction, taking a long slug from the liquor bottle in her hands before strutting down the ramp of her spaceship, but she [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome drunkenly stumbles]] and falls off the side instead.

*** A dramatic, intense confrontation between Kylo Ren and Rey through the Force is made funnier by the fact that Ren is [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] and Rey's [[DistractedByTheSexy trying not to stare]].

** And of course, this classic pair of lines:
--->'''Kapoor:''' Can you even imagine what he's going through up there? He thinks he's totally alone, he thinks we gave up on him. What does that do to a man, psychologically? What the hell is he thinking right now?\\
''[[[DescriptionCut cut]] to Watney stepping out of the shower with Lewis's music playing in the background]''\\
'''Watney:''' I am definitely gonna die up here... [[BaitAndSwitchCOmment if I have to listen to any more god awful disco music]].
** This is even better in the novel, in which Watney's response is to wonder why ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} can control whales. [[FridgeLogic They're mammals]].

* If you come to think about it, ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' is this in spades. On one hand you have a billionaire who tragically lost his parents to violent crime and as a result, is driven to a crusade against crime that pits him against various psychopaths while his own sanity is put into question. At the same time he fights crime dressed as a giant bat and is aided by colorfully dressed [[KidSidekick Kid Sidekicks]] and among many of his enemies include a [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker laughably monstrous clown]] and a criminal whose gimmicks are based on various holidays. This is especially prominent during his [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] days where he among other things is [[https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/1JnfZ0rm3CIfJ9yPSiXgDHYOCrXZyPSK6hykmeNADR26O-HDC6nCaH6nscXqh1WzfcqXH_H4uBhVxaCni-biyk08PaAyb7-YndRohJh3Mm8yStw2yrlqyhTo=w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu turned into a child]] and at one point [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/8/8c/Detective_Comics_241.jpg/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20081218152007 owned a collection of different-colored Batsuits]].

* Watch either ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' or ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' with UsefulNotes/ClosedCaptioning on Creator/{{Netflix}} and you're in for a treat. Whoever was responsible for them felt it necessary to actually ''spell out'' sound-effects, which can take serious or intense action scenes and render them hilarious instead when you see "pew pew pew" or "badabadabada" instead of the typical (laser sounds) or (helicopter flying overhead) you'd see on most other shows.

--> '''Winslow''': ''[in the middle of an angry mental breakdown]'' I'm sick of your laugh, your snoring, and your Goddamn ''[[{{Gasshole}} faaaahts!]]'' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Your God! Damn!...]]''[[PercussiveTherapy Goddamn your fahts!]]''

--> '''Winslow''': ''[in the middle of an angry mental breakdown]'' I'm sick of your laugh, your snoring, your goddamn farts! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Your god! Damn!...]]''[[PercussiveTherapy Goddamn farts!]]''

* On the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', this trope is played for all its worth.
** Several highly climatic and emotional scenes on the SMP have taken place near some fairly vulgar structures, including and not limited to a floating sign that said the word "CRY"[[note]]It was first built by Tommy during the Election Arc to read "[=POG2020=]", but it got vandalized by the party's political opponents to read "[=ASS2020=]", then Eret changes it to "POGTOPIA" to show their support for LaResistance after TyrantTakesTheHelm in (L')Manburg, and finally Quackity gets rid of it on Schlatt's orders and rebuilds it to read "CRY" as a nod to the Manburg motto of telling people to "Cry about it". The floating sign has since been blown up by Tommy on his 17th birthday stream[[/note]], another floating sign that said "YOU 💔 LITTLE PENIS"[[note]]It used to say "I ❤️ ANDREA", but it got griefed several times over the months[[/note]], and multiple penis statues.
** The plotlines of the SMP itself cover some extremely heavy topics, including and not limited to war, mental health, trauma, death, abuse, suicide, cults, etc. However, almost all of the series also takes place in Minecraft, making it inherently goofier than a series with such dystopian and dark themes would otherwise be.

* On the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', this trope is played for all its worth.
** Several highly climatic and emotional scenes on the SMP have taken place near some fairly vulgar structures, including and not limited to a floating sign that said the word "CRY"[[note]]It was first built by Tommy during the Election Arc to read "[=POG2020=]", but it got vandalized by the party's political opponents to read "[=ASS2020=]", then Eret changes it to "POGTOPIA" to show their support for LaResistance after TyrantTakesTheHelm in (L')Manburg, and finally Quackity gets rid of it on Schlatt's orders and rebuilds it to read "CRY" as a nod to the Manburg motto of telling people to "Cry about it". The floating sign has since been blown up by Tommy on his 17th birthday stream[[/note]], another floating sign that said "YOU 💔 LITTLE PENIS"[[note]]It used to say "I ❤️ ANDREA", but it got griefed several times over the months[[/note]], and multiple penis statues.
** The plotlines of the SMP itself cover some extremely heavy topics, including and not limited to war, mental health, trauma, death, abuse, suicide, cults, etc. However, almost all of the series also takes place in Minecraft, making it inherently goofier than a series with such dystopian and dark themes would otherwise be.

* ''WebVideo/RomeoAndJulieta'' makes use of this, particularly the original film.
* ''WebVideo/TheJerrySeinfeldProgram'' is a DeconstructiveParody of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' that gets progressively more bizarre, horrible, and absurdist...but the victims of this cruel universe are '''Jerry and George from ''Seinfeld'''''.
* In episode 7 of ''WebVideo/MemeHouse'', [[spoiler:Bulk Bogan is suddenly murdered by his friend]]. Due to [[ComedicSociopathy the nature]] [[MemeticMutation of the series]], ''everything'' leading up to, surrounding, and following the event is this.
* Discussed near the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI9RSlHqu-w this video]], which points out that many attempts at bathos in modern cinema end up simply becoming badly-applied comic relief instead, because so many writers insist on shoehorning gags or snark into scenes that are supposed to be dramatic. As noted on the AngstWhatAngst page, using humor as a tension-breaker isn't always the best thing to do, since building and holding tension are frequently ''good'' things in storytelling, and humor can ruin them just as easily.

* [[WordOfGod According to]] ''Creator/JamesRolfe'', this is what makes his ''WebVideo/AngryVideoGameNerd'' character work. He has explained how he makes a conscious effort to have the character take himself and the subject matter ''deadly'' seriously, while he "reviews" video games that are around 40 years old, overuses vulgarity and ToiletHumor, and [[BanOnPolitics utterly refuses to have any "important" topics like politics or current events]]. Doing things like powering up with PoweredArmor made of NES accessories to destroy games, having to battle characters like [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Vorhees]] and [[Franchise/LooneyTunes Bugs Bunny]] in order to review their games, having a torture chamber in his basement to punish bad games, and in one occurrence throwing his copy of ''Green Dog'' in '''[[LargeHam REAL LAVA]]'''... just to pointlessly complain about games that have been out of print for decades is where all the humor of the character really comes from.

** In one episode George, distracted by her office crush, accidentally slices off her middle finger with a paper cutter, complete with loads of blood and screaming. As said crush is carrying her out to go to the hospital, [[HealingFactor she puts her finger back on]] just in time to gloat to her romantic rival by flipping her off on the way. A second laugh can be had when she realizes she put the finger on backwards and has to fix it.

** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E4FearItself Fear Itself]]", Buffy and her team deal with increasingly horrifying nightmares caused by Crachnar, the lord of nightmares. Buffy errantly summons the demon, which starts to come forth... [[AntiClimax and it's only about 5 inches tall]]. Xander immediately begins to tease it, then Buffy steps on it.

** Two of the books involve an alien race called the Helmacrons, and though both of them involve just as much stress, trauma, and risk of death as any other mission the Animorphs embark on, this gets somewhat softened by the Helmacrons themselves, who are a fraction of an inch tall, but believe themselves to be the greatest conquerors in the universe, making them the most hilariously extreme example of TheNapoleon you could imagine. In their first appearance, [[spoiler: the ever-intimidating Visser Three shows up in the climax, but the story is resolved when the Helmacrons are defeated by someone morphing an anteater.]]