History Main / DownPlayedTrope

* Yazan Gable of ''ZetaGundam'' downplays the AxeCrazy and PsychoForHire tropes. Yazan is a dangerously insane, feral predator who joined the army just so he could get the chance to hurt people and has no empathy whatsoever for those around him. However, he's as rational as a person with that kind of motivation can be, enjoys the company of a few likeminded sociopaths (though he doesn't care at all when they die), follows the orders of those superiors he respects, and is generally portrayed as a brutal uncaring thug rather than the cackling madman that is typical of both tropes.

Cassandra Cain Batgirl downplays DumbMuscle

* In Videogame/TalesOfTheAbyss, the resident TeamPet comes equipped with a downplayed BreathWeapon. He's too young to use it without an AmplifierArtifact, and even then it's too weak to be useful outside of puzzle solving.

* RedVsBlue downplays OutdatedOutfit with Caboose, who opted to stick with his Halo 1 armor and weapon when every other main character was upgrading to Halo 3. His armor is only outdated in-universe, while to viewers not familiar with the games he just looks like a custom loadout.

* David Sarif of ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' fits this aspect of CorruptCorporateExecutive. He's not a bad guy ''per se'', especially given the setting. He's shown to genuinely care about his employees, but he's also willing to cut some corners that would be difficult to explain in an investigation and to take "creative" interpretations of some of his employee contracts. That said, he's the nicest bigshot you'll meet in the setting [[spoiler:and the only one not in cahoots with the Illuminati.]]

It's been said that "[[NotASubversion a trope can't be partially subverted any more than a woman can be a little bit pregnant]]". So then what do you call it when TheButlerDidIt, but "it" [[PokeThePoodle was eating the last cookie in the jar?]] Or when [[PowerGlows a powerful weapon glows]] so little you can't even notice it in good light? Or when someone only becomes slightly peeved [[BerserkButton rather than incredibly furious]] [[EmbarrassingNickname at being called a certain nickname?]]

'''We'll tell you what to call it: a Downplayed Trope.'''

* Yazan Gable of ''ZetaGundam'' downplays the AxeCrazy and PsychoForHire tropes. Yazan is a dangerously insane, feral predator who joined the army just so he could get the chance to hurt people and has no empathy whatsoever for those around him. However, he's as rational as a person with that kind of motivation can be, enjoys the company of a few likeminded sociopaths, follows the orders of those superiors he respects, and is generally portrayed as a brutal uncaring thug rather than the cackling madman that is typical of both tropes.

* ''FairyTail'''s Fairy Law is a downplayed, laser-guided FantasticNuke. They have the real thing in the MagiTek KillSat Etherion, though.

* Yazan Gable of ''ZetaGundam'' downplays the AxeCrazy and PsychoForHire (and arguably the CompleteMonster) tropes. Yazan is a dangerously insane, feral predator who joined the army just so he could get the chance to hurt people and has no empathy whatsoever for those around him. However, he's as rational as a person with that kind of motivation can be, enjoys the company of a few likeminded sociopaths, follows the orders of those superiors he respects, and is generally portrayed as a brutal uncaring thug rather than the cackling madman that is typical of both tropes.

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* ''{{Futurama}}'' downplayed ImplausibleDeniability in ''Into the Wild Green Yonder'', when the head of the robot mafia isn't denying his wife stole his lucky foot. He's just insisting they need more evidence when the evidence so far is conclusive.

A Downplayed Trope is when a trope is played to a much smaller extent than it usually is. In particularly extreme cases, the lack of extent to which the trope is played is PlayedForLaughs for the same reason as its antithesis, the ExaggeratedTrope. The exact definition varies on a case-by-case basis, but the above works as a general rule. It's also why TheSameButLess doesn't really make a new trope, since TropesAreFlexible.

* ''TransformersPrime'' downplayed PinkMeansFeminine by making Arcee blue, with just pink touches.

* ''TheMatrix'' downplays LikeAGodToMe, where a guy calls Neo a "personal Jesus Christ", but in the context of being polite instead of amazed.

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* Similarly, ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's]]'' Princess Celestia downplays PrincessesPreferPink, as she only has a pink outline and pink strands in her hair; she is mostly white.

* In ''{{Bastion}}'', you have a ShortRangeShotgun in the Scrap Musket, but those qualities can be downplayed by installing upgrades that tighten the spread and reduce the damage falloff at range. Or it can be further tuned in the other direction with an opposite upgrade that ''further'' widens the spread.

It's been said that "[[NotASubversion a trope can't be partially subverted any more than a woman can be a little bit pregnant]]". So then what do you call it when TheButlerDidIt, but "it" [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous was eating the last cookie in the jar?]] Or when [[PowerGlows a powerful weapon glows]] so little you can't even notice it in good light? Or when someone [[BerserkButton only becomes slightly agitated]] [[EmbarrassingNickname at being called a certain nickname?]]

It's been said that "[[NotASubversion a trope can't be partially subverted any more than a woman can be a little bit pregnant]]". So then what do you call it when TheButlerDidIt, but "it" [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous was eating the last cookie in the jar?]] Or when [[PowerGlows a powerful weapon glows]] so little you can't even notice it in good light? Or when someone [[BerserkButton only becomes slightly agitated]] [[DoNotCallMePaul at being called a certain nickname?]]

It's been said that "[[NotASubversion a trope can't be partially subverted any more than a woman can be a little bit pregnant]]". So then what do you call it when TheButlerDidIt, but "it" [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous was eating the last cookie in the jar?]] Or when [[PowerGlows a powerful weapon glows]] so little you can't even notice it in good light? Or when someone [[BerserkButton only becomes slightly agitated at being called a certain nickname?]]

* Yazan Gable of ''ZetaGundam'' downplays the AxeCrazy and PsychoForHire tropes. Yazan is a dangerously insane, feral predator who joined the army just so he could get the chance to hurt people. However, he's as rational as a person with that kind of motivation can be, follows the orders of those superiors he respects, and is generally portrayed as a brutal uncaring thug rather than the cackling madman that is typical of both tropes.

We'll tell you what to call it: a Downplayed Trope.

* ''TheMentalist'': The butler was the driver for the socialite who did it, making him an accomplice. Said socialite arranged for the butler to go free if she confessed.