History Main / DeadUnicornTrope

* "Humanity, fuck yeah!" stories are usually claimed to be a subversion of humanity being a weak and dull species in sci-fi by depicting humanity as a highly dominant and feared power in a SpaceOpera setting. However, while HumansAreAverage is indeed a trope, it's a trope far more associated with fantasy than sci-fi (and even then, it's less "humans are boring" and more "humans are the baseline and everyone else has tradeoffs", with humanity almost always being the most widespread and common sapients). While there are stories out there where a sapient alien species is shown to be far superior to humanity in technology and/or morality, this is mostly confined to stories like ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill'' where humanity's technology is only modern. In a StandardSciFiSetting, it's far more common for humanity to be at worst a peer power to other alien races, and more often a superpower, usually only being truly outclassed by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens or by an antagonistic threat that our human protagonists ultimately overcome. HumanityIsSuperior and HumansAreWarriors are ''far'' more common--Creator/JohnWCampbell famously turned down any story that didn't play the former straight.

* "Humanity, fuck yeah!" stories are usually claimed to be a subversion of humanity being a weak and dull species in sci-fi by depicting humanity as a highly dominant and feared power in a SpaceOpera setting. However, while HumansAreBoring is indeed a trope, it's a trope far more associated with fantasy than sci-fi (and even then, it's less "humans are boring" and more "humans are the baseline", with humanity almost always being the most widespread and common sapients). While there are stories out there where a sapient alien species is shown to be far superior to humanity in technology and/or morality, this is mostly confined to stories like ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill'' where humanity's technology is only modern. In a StandardSciFiSetting, it's far more common for humanity to be at worst a peer power to other alien races, and more often a superpower, usually only being truly outclassed by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens or by an antagonistic threat that our human protagonists ultimately overcome. HumanityIsSuperior and HumansAreWarriors are ''far'' more common--Creator/JohnWCampbell famously turned down any story that didn't play the former straight.

* Stereotypical [[BowChickaWowWow '70s porn music]] usually associated with the classic adult film era between the early 1970s and mid 1980s was nowhere near as prevalent as people think. Most of the [[PornWithPlot plot oriented adult films]] during that time period had a regular music score similar to mainstream films, written by legitimate composers; while some of them (most notably ''Film/DebbieDoesDallas'') did utilize the stereotypical "funk" sound, it was usually done in an ironic or satirical fashion.

** RageAgainstTheHeavens commonly features in StockParody of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', but the franchise's use of it and [[CorruptChurch related tropes]] in mainline entries is NewerThanTheyThink, originating in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. The villains of earlier entries were more likely to be [[AGodAmI humans with delusions of godhood]] or {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, though Kefka in ''VI'' and Sephiroth in ''VII'' did muddy the waters a fair bit by making use of LightIsNotGood angelic imagery. Religious factions rarely played a large role (to the point where early localizations could {{Bowdlerise}} them without impacting the plot) and were typically heroic. One of the few to play GodIsEvil entirely straight is ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'', which came out in late 2013. Before that, use of the tropes was limited to spinoffs like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', which still isn't quite accurate either [[note]]the antagonists happen to be a host of demons led by a fallen angel[[/note]], which are outside the scope of typical parodies. This can be chalked up to SmallReferencePools: God is often fought in EasternRPG[=s=], and ''Final Fantasy'' is the one most outside Japan know about.

** RageAgainstTheHeavens commonly features in StockParody of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', but the franchise's use of it and [[CorruptChurch related tropes]] in mainline entries is NewerThanTheyThink, originating in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. The villains of earlier entries were more likely to be [[AGodAmI humans with delusions of godhood]] or {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, though Kefka in ''VI'' and Sephiroth in ''VII'' did muddy the waters a fair bit by making use of LightIsNotGood angelic imagery. Religious factions rarely played a large role (to the point where early localizations could {{Bowdlerise}} them without impacting the plot) and were typically heroic. One of the few to play GodIsEvil entirely straight is ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'', which came out in late 2013. Before that, use of the tropes was limited to spinoffs like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', which still isn't quite accurate either [[note]]the antagonists happen to be a host of demons lead by a fallen angel[[/note]], which are outside the scope of typical parodies. This can be chalked up to SmallReferencePools: God is often fought in EasternRPG[=s=], and ''Final Fantasy'' is the one most outside Japan know about.

* The ScaryMinoritySuspect hasn't been played straight in a ''very'' long time; it was notably condemned in Roland Knox's "Ten Commandments" of the FairPlayWhodunnit, which were written in '''''1928''''' (more specifically, it was about "[[YellowPeril Chinaman]]" villains). Even back in the day of widespread racism, people were sick of obvious minority villain characters in media. Since then, it's almost exclusively been portrayed as a subversion where the minority suspect is a RedHerring, often as a PrejudiceAesop designed to highlight the accuser's bigoted attitudes.

* When a story needs a parodic name for a hypothetical superhero, it'll more often than not be in the pattern <adjective> <verb>er, with the adjective and verb part alliterating. E.g. Avid Avenger, Purple Pugilist, etc. Just about the only well-known real superheroes whose name actually follows this formula are ComicBook/MartianManhunter and ComicBook/SilverSurfer. However, other Superheroes may have nicknames in this style (e.g. ComicBook/IronMan being nicknamed the Armoured Avenger), making this misconception understandable.

** RageAgainstTheHeavens commonly features in StockParody of ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', but the franchise's use of it and [[CorruptChurch related tropes]] in mainline entries is NewerThanTheyThink, originating in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. The villains of earlier entries were more likely to be [[AGodAmI humans with delusions of godhood]] or {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, though Kefka in ''VI'' and Sephiroth in ''VII'' did muddy the waters a fair bit by making use of LightIsNotGood angelic imagery. Religious factions rarely played a large role (to the point where early localizations could {{Bowdlerise}} them without impacting the plot) and were typically heroic. One of the few to play GodIsEvil entirely straight is ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'', which came out in late 2013. Before that, use of the tropes was limited to spinoffs like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', which are outside the scope of typical parodies. This can be chalked up to SmallReferencePools: God is often fought in EasternRPG[=s=], and ''Final Fantasy'' is the one most outside Japan know about.

** Some hold the stereotype that all EasternRPG[=s=] have very generic anime art-styles and feature excessive amounts of fanservice, often with a dose of WorldOfBuxom and the main character (often [[SilentProtagonist Silent]]) getting a BattleHarem of some kind; all of which is used to criticise the genre. It also turns up as a standard setting in trashy {{Isekai}}. The only mainstream works that follow this stereotype is ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' (where the hero can potentially recruit three {{stripperiffic}} women, and the Sacred Bikini is the game's best armor) and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' (where 90% of recruitable [[{{Mon}} Blades]] are buxom women in {{Stripperific}} outfits). Only ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' on the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' side comes close, but there are no playable male characters, and the costumes vary based on the characters' jobs. The games that do follow the stereotype are generally niche {{Ecchi}} games that most JRPG fans haven't even heard of, let alone the general public. It should also be noted that most RPG parties are either [[TheSmurfettePrinciple predominantly men]] or gender-equal with maybe ''one'' female party member that fits the sexy stereotype.

%%* When ''Film/TheSmurfs'' came out, the Internet acted like its premise of "beloved cartoon characters get sucked into the REAL WORLD" was already a cliché and the premise of basically every live-action reimagining of a classic cartoon. Except it had only happened once before, in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'', which hardly anyone actually saw and most such critics forgot even existed. (And that film had been a lot more ''Roger Rabbit''-like in its approach, as the characters were explicitly extracted from cartoon-land into a world where they were already recognized as cartoon stars.) The premise would eventually get played completely straight in ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog'', to a mostly positive response.

* The ScaryMinoritySuspect hasn't been played straight in a ''very'' long time; it was notably condemned in Roland Knox's "Ten Commandments" of the FairPlayWhodunnit, which were written in '''''1928''''' (more specifically, it was about "Chinaman" villains like Literature/FuManchu). Even back in the day of widespread racism, people were sick of obvious minority villain characters being responsible. Since then, it's almost exclusively been portrayed as a subversion where the minority suspect is a RedHerring, and is meant to say far more about the potential bigotry of the accuser than anything else.

* Similar to UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000, the whole idea of {{Tabletop RPG}}s promoting Satanism (with ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' being most frequently accused of this, if only because it was the most well known) was all part of the whole "Satanic panic" of TheEighties. While demons and the like do exist in the game, they are explicitly labelled as being evil, and mainly serve as enemies for the players to kill, not worship. Gygax was a devout Christian,[[note]] More accurately he was a Jehovah's Witness at the time he created the game, left for unrelated reasons, and became a Mainline Protestant later in life.[[/note]] and it's quite visible in early editions: one of the first gods created in the setting was Saint Cuthbert, who is not only Lawful Good, but is explicitly based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuthbert a real-life Scottish saint]] (and they're even [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy implied to be the same person]]). The closest thing to a straight example of this is ''TabletopGame/EmpireOfSatanis'', which wasn't invented until 2003 and which the creator eventually revealed was meant more as a joke/troll game, mixed in a lot of UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} and the Franchise/CthulhuMythos and was universally panned.
** Even in spite of all this, some fringe [[TheFundamentalist fundies]] still cling to this mindset, acting like a game being ''about'' the occult is the same as the game ''itself'' being occult,[[note]]Which actually isn't even an accurate description of D&D, which is a FantasyKitchenSink setting[[/note]] which is like thinking that watching a movie ''about'' gun violence will give you lead poisoning.

** All country songs are about dogs or trucks, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs dogs in trucks]]. That's why many parodies of country music say it's not a country song without a truck or a dog (e.g. Music/DavidAllanCoe's "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" or British musical comedian Creator/JasperCarrott's routine). Except there are hardly any country songs that are ''actually'' about dogs or trucks; only a few mention them in passing at all, and pickup trucks were equally rare until the proliferation of "bro-country" in TheNewTens -- whose sound hardly has anything to do with country in the first place. (However, the stereotypes of country songs frequently being about booze or adultery are entirely accurate, the latter to the point where there are even country songs ''[[LampshadeHanging about]]'' the abunddance of adultery-themed country songs.)

* [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Pop culture zombie tropes]] are often thought to be derived from African or Afro-Caribbean legends, but they're hardly alike. In those traditions, [[VoodooZombie zombies are corpses resurrected by magicians to be slaves]]. These zombies will not attack you (unless, presumably, their masters order them to) and can't "spread" their condition to you. The threat of ''becoming'' a zombie [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie is scary]], but the idea that the zombies themselves hurt people has no basis in folklore. Likely it's a misappropriation of [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier Ghouls]] in legend, undead who would, sure enough, eat people, but these creatures come from Middle Eastern legend. In fact, at no point in ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' is the word "zombie" spoken, but "ghoul" is (the ending credits does list "featured zombies" though). The fans ran with zombies, though, and the term stuck as [[TropeMakers the film spawned an entire genre]].

* ''Film/{{Frankenstein}}'': The codified form of TheIgor first appeared in Mel Brooks' parody, ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'', rather than either the Universal Horror films or the [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} original novel]]. Brooks' Igor was a CompositeCharacter of two figures: Fritz, Dr. Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant in the [[Film/{{Frankenstein 1931}} first Universal movie]] (who fulfills the basics of the trope, but wears modern clothing, not hooded Medieval peasant garb), and Ygor from the [[Film/SonOfFrankenstein third]] and [[Film/TheGhostOfFrankenstein fourth movies]], a non-hunchbacked (though broken-necked, which caused him to carry one shoulder higher) schemer who wanted to reanimate the monster for his own personal gain.

* Female-oriented [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]] stories commonly feature a young woman being [[RebornAsVillainessStory reincarnated into the body of the "villainess"]] (read: {{Ojou}} love rival) character in an [[RomanceGame otome game]], and usually takes place in an upper class society on the cusp of war where the villainess is set to marry the game's primary love interest. However, this kind of plotline does not commonly exist in real life otome games. Even considering the ''VideoGame/{{Angelique}}'' series, most otome games do not match the description of the typical otome game seen in "otome isekai" stories, usually either using a comparatively modern setting or being about something else entirely, even in a medieval fantasy setting. The idea of love rivals and other important girls in otome, while not totally fictitious, mostly gives way to [[BefriendingTheEnemy "friendship routes"]] and even occasionally a GayOption; and as for antagonistic female characters, the ones that feature are usually pure villains. There ''are'' some prominent love rival characters in female-oriented works, but more often than not they're featured in [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo romance manga]] rather than in dating sims. And even then, that trope had [[AnimeAndMangaOfThe1990s hit its peak in the '90s]] and [[AnimeAndMangaOfThe2000s early 2000s]]. It is even lampshaded in one such story, ''The Old Man Reincarnated as a Villainess'', where the protagonist mentions prominent rival characters similar to the villainess of the story -- but they are all from classic shojo manga, not otome games.
** The [[RebornAsVillainessStory "otome isekai" genre]] as a whole may have taken inspiration from the web novel ''My Motto is Living Honestly and Humbly'', where the main character was reborn as the love rival. However, the [[TrappedinAnotherWorld isekai world]] was a [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo romance manga]]. Later stories added game mechanics from otome games such as event flags, branching paths, and multiple love interests (to develop [[HaremGenre reverse harems]]), but kept the typical shoujo manga elements such as the villainess character.

** Game show hosts being always-smiling {{Large Ham}}s who give a "slimy used-car salesman" vibe, crack awful jokes, and wear loud flashy suits. Most of the genre's greats were a bit silly and bombastic at times, but even someone like the famously slick and glib [[Series/TicTacDough Wink Martindale]], Gene Rayburn handling six panelists on the comedy-driven ''Series/MatchGame'', or Monty Hall arranging bargains with costumed contestants on ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'', knew when to show seriousness and authority with a big prize on the line. The existence of the highly exaggerated [[Series/SesameStreet Guy Smiley]] likely helped codify this image. Gus Glitz from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YFoGWIFXVI Mr. Game Show]] in 1987 is based on this, as is his Creator/{{VH1}} resurrection on ''Series/GameShowMomentsGoneBananas'' in 2005. Many prolific game show hosts are extremely far away from this stereotype entirely, with prolific hosts such as [[Series/ThePriceIsRight Bob Barker]], Creator/JackBarry, Creator/BillCullen, and Creator/AlexTrebek featuring very few to none of the traits associated with such a role.

** Interestingly, Christian characters like the aformentioned Daredevil, Nightcrawler or Starlight will be more likely to have their inclusive and healthy faith be questioned by a PoliticallyIncorrectVillain religious extremist. Hell, DD and Kurt's Devil iconography/appearence is more central to the character than their faith.

** A pretty common element of said parodies is also the idea of said heroes being TheFundamentalist, or overtly religious in some other sense, such as the Jesus Society of America from ''Marshal Law'', Oh Father from ''ComicBook/TheBoys'', or most supes from the latter's otherwise much more nuanced [[Series/TheBoys2019 TV adaptation]]. For the most part, though, even when comics were at their most conservative, superheroes tend to only acknowledge Christianity in extremely minor ways: they'd celebrate Christmas or say "oh, lord," and that was about it. If a character's faith is a significant part of their identity, it's much more common for them to be Jewish ([[ComicBook/TheThing Ben Grimm]], ComicBook/KittyPryde), atheistic (ComicBook/MisterTerrific, ComicBook/{{Quasar}}), pagan (ComicBook/TheMightyThor, ComicBook/WonderWoman), or even follow a fictional religion (ComicBook/{{Superman}}). The rare characters who ''are'' explicitly Christian almost never fit the Bible-thumping God-is-good equality-is-Satanic mold, and in fact would likely consider that type of Christian to be heretical; characters who are simply religious (ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}, ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}) tend to be moderate and tolerant, while characters actively empowered by Christian cosmology (ComicBook/TheSpectre) tend to take a critical view of it. Major characters who ''do'' fit this archetype tend to be '''villains''', such as the Purifiers in ''X-Men''. In short, this sort of Christian was ''never'' portrayed positively in mainstream superhero comics, not even in a subtle, dog-whistle kind of way--there do exist uncritically fundamentalist superheroes, but most of them are found in [[TheMoralSubstitute relatively obscure media made by Christians, for Christians]], such as ''Series/{{Bibleman}}''.

* When a story needs a parodic name for a hypothetical superhero, it'll more often than not be in the pattern <adjective> <verb>er, with the adjective and verb part alliterating. E.g. Avid Avenger, Purple Pugilist, etc. Just about the only well-known real superheroes whose name actually follows this formula are ComicBook/MartianManhunter and ComicBook/SilverSurfer.

* Parodies of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' almost always portray the title character as [[MemeticLoser a weak, helpless creature who gets crushed by .]] In the actual movie, while it does ''start'' with Bambi as a helpless baby, he toughens up considerably after his mother's death, and the climax is him ''winning'' a fight against another large stag for mating rights.

* ThreeWishes: A lot of people may think that Genies only granting three wishes is older, probably from Middle Eastern folklore and/or the ''Literature/ArabianNights''; however, that's not the case. Some precedents may exist in literature and folklore mostly from the West, but the oldest version of the three wishes rule appeared for the first time in cinema in 1940's ''[[Film/TheThiefOfBagdad1940 The Thief of Bagdad]]'', and almost all examples of the rule are subsequent. Djinns in Mid-Eastern folklore do not normally grant wishes, but if you managed to magically bind one it would grant you any wish with no limit. It is said that that is how King Solomon built the first temple, for example.
** On a related note, the actual process of granting the wish in actual Middle Eastern folklore didn't involve the Djinn waving their fingers and magicking whatever you wished for into reality; it was accomplished through mundane means. If, for example, you wished to be the Sultan of your kingdom, the Djinn would simply go and purchase the title from the current Sultan for you.

** The trope of Clark Kent changing into Superman [[SecretIdentityChangeTrick in a phone booth]] was only ever used straight twice, in the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons'' of the 1940s and the [[VideoGame/SupermanAtari2600 Atari 2600 game]]. Superman did it once in the comic books of the same period, only to note how difficult it is to change costume in a phone booth, meaning this was [[UnbuiltTrope deconstructed when it was new]]. All future uses of the trope are parodies or LampshadeHanging. In fact, it would be kind of stupid for Superman to change costume in a ''glass'' phone booth where anybody could see him, and indeed phone booths in the 1940s were made of solid wood -- yet every parody or homage will use a modern glass phone booth. [[https://www.cbr.com/tv-legends-did-superman-actually-change-in-a-phone-booth-on-tv/ Brian Cronin sets the record straight in his "Comic Book Legends Revealed" blog here.]]

** The trope of Clark Kent changing into Superman [[SecretIdentityChangeTrick in a phone booth]] was only ever used straight twice, in the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons'' of the 1940s and the [[VideoGame/SupermanAtari2600 Atari 2600 game]]. Superman did it once in the comic books of the same period, only to note how difficult it is to change costume in a phone booth, meaning this was [[UnbuiltTrope deconstructed when it was new]]. All future uses of the trope are parodies or LampshadeHanging. In fact, it would be kind of stupid for Superman to change costume in a ''glass'' phone booth where anybody could see him, and indeed phone booths in the 1940s were made of solid wood -- yet every parody or homage will use a modern glass phone booth. [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/07/22/comic-book-legends-revealed-324 Brian Cronin sets the record straight in his "Comic Book Legends Revealed" blog here.]]

* Female-oriented [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]] stories commonly feature a young woman being [[RebornAsVillainessStory reincarnated into the body of the "villainess"]] (read: {{Ojou}} love rival) character in an [[RomanceGame otome game]], and usually takes place in an upper class society on the cusp of war where the villainess is set to marry the game's primary love interest. However, this kind of plotline does not commonly exist in real life otome games. Even considering the ''VideoGame/{{Angelique}}'' series, most otome games do not match the description of the typical otome game seen in "otome isekai" stories, usually either using a comparatively modern setting or being about something else entirely, even in a medieval fantasy setting. The idea of antagonistic female characters in otome, while not totally fictitious, mostly gives way to [[BefriendingTheEnemy "friendship routes"]] and even occasionally a GayOption. There ''are'' some prominent love rival characters in female-oriented works, but more often than not they're featured in [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo romance manga]] rather than in dating sims. And even then, that trope had [[AnimeAndMangaOfThe1990s hit its peak in the '90s]] and [[AnimeAndMangaOfThe2000s early 2000s]]. It is even lampshaded in one such story, ''The Old Man Reincarnated as a Villainess'', where the protagonist mentions prominent rival characters similar to the villainess of the story -- but they are all from classic shojo manga, not otome games.

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
* Many skeptics attempt to discredit Literature/TheBible by asserting that the Egyptian Pyramids were built by paid laborers, not by slaves.[[note]]The pyramids were built by peasants in the off-season while their fields were beneath the Nile floodplains; it is generally believed that the pyramids were, in part, public works projects intended to give them something to do after the harvest but before planting season resumed. They weren't "paid" in the modern sense because Ancient Egypt lacked a currency.[[/note]] While this is very true, and it's also true that there currently isn't much evidence that there were ever Hebrews living in Egypt, the Bible never specifically claims that the Hebrew slaves were used to build pyramids; in fact, the Bible never mentions the pyramids. This misconception likely arises from the conflation of the two things most people know about ancient Egypt, as well as the pyramid-building scenes in ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' and other film adaptations of the Exodus story, which do show the Hebrew slaves building the pyramids.[[note]]Which is hugely anachronistic, as the Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs had stopped building pyramids by the time of the New Kingdom, when the Pharaoh of the Exodus would have reigned.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]