History Main / DownPlayedTrope

* ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'' downplays PunchClockVillain with the concierge played by Creator/TimCurry. He's doing his job and is right that Kevin used his father's credit card illegally to book a room, but he's overly motivated in catching Kevin and it looks like he's doing it out of spite.
* ''Film/HappyDeathDay'' downplays DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist. Every time Tree dies she wakes up she wakes up weaker and weaker and she feels the after effects of whatever killed her last. If the cycle goes on too long she won't even be strong enough to wake up at all.

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying reality (overestimation). On the right: downplaying expectations (underestimation). [[Source https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Never_underestimate_or_overestimate.svg]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying reality (overestimation). On the right: downplaying expectations (underestimation).]]

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying reality through overestimation. On the right: downplaying expectations through underestimation.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying reality.
On the right: downplaying expectations.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying the sense of reality. On the right: downplaying the sense of expectations.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying the reality. On the right: downplaying the expectations.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:On the left: downplaying reality. On the right: downplaying expectations.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' downplayed PinkMeansFeminine by making Arcee blue, with just pink touches.
* Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic's'' Princess Celestia downplays PrincessesPreferPink, as she only has a pink outline and pink strands in her hair; she is mostly white. Not that you'd know it, looking at the earliest toys based on her, which depicted her with a ''pink'' coat instead of a white one. Thankfully, with the arrival of Princess Cadance, a princess who really ''is'' pink, Celestia is now free to have the ''first'' toy that actually looks like her made ''years'' after her introduction.
* ''WesternAnimation/GlitchTechs'' downplayed FakeUltimateHero. Mitch Williams is legitimately talented and can easily fight [[ActionGirl Miko Kubota]] on equal terms. His ranking at the top of the local Glitch Techs is repeatedly shown to be heavily based on cheating, killstealing and undercutting his rivals however, not to mention how he's far from the heroic archetype he would like you to think he is.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' downplays {{Yandere}}. Morty Smith doesn’t do anything creepy to Jessica or treats her as a possession. However, whenever he finds a scenario where he might end up with her, he goes to pretty sociopathic lengths to achieve it. He gave her a love potion because he couldn’t handle that she was dating Brad, which ended up mutating her and causing Rick to label him as a creep for trying to roofie her. Likewise, one of Morty’s Mindblowers shows that he’s violently protective of her, as he was willing to torture an alien for releasing a worldwide virus that nearly killed Jessica. He’s also willing to sell Rick, his own grandfather, for some trim as he ignored Summer’s concerns about Tiny Rick overwhelming Rick’s mind because he helped him get close to Jessica. Furthermore, upon gaining a death crystal that let him see a future where Jessica comforted him in his old age, Morty committed several atrocities to ensure it happens, up to avoiding resurrecting Rick and killing many cops and military man while acting like an AKIRA.

* ''Machinima/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.

** Downplays PetTheDog. While Oroku Saki/Ch'rell/The Shredder can throw it away at a moments notice, he seems to have ''some'' level of affection toward his higher level lieutenants; he personally raised Karai, trained Hun, rarely ever significantly punished them, and they're the only ones he listens to. He also respected the power of the Foot Mystics, which they reciprocated to some extent, even when they thought he was an "abomination".

* The ''WebVideo/TheUltimateEdChronicles''
downplays the {{Bowlderise}} trope at times (especially when they are PlayedForLaughs and CensoredForComedy, due to Ed Edd 'N Eddy being a DenserAndWackier comedy), this making the videos feel like a sillier ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon''.

* LoveTriangle is downplayed in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. Not only do Cordelia and Sumia ''never'' catfight over their "love interest" Chrom (Sumia is one of his potential wives, but [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden Cordelia isn't]]... and yet Chrom's '''not''' mentioned in their support talks), but both women can [[SecondLove end up with other men]] [[CelibateHero or as bachelorettes]] if the player so desires.

* ''Fanfic/CodePrimeR1Rebellion'' downplays ThouShaltNotKill. Optimus is relaxing the rules due to the fact Britannia has the technology to fight the Autobots on equal footing, plus some of the Britannians being just as evil as the Decepticons. [[WouldNotShootACivilian Civilians are still off-limits.]]

* Rei Kiriyama from ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion'' is a downplayed example of TheEeyore. He spends much of his time and narration contemplating over his many issues and is prone to frequent emotional lows. However, he is not ''unreasonably'' depressed, and he is capable of showing other emotions for more than just a brief moment.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'' downplays CrazyJealousGuy. Germany and Japan may have been [[GreenEyedMonster intensely jealous]] of each other, but they didn't actively try to ban Italy from being with the other.

* The ''WebVideo/TheUltimatedEdChronicles''
downsplays the {{Bowlderise}} and {{Badbutt}} tropes at times (especially when they are PlayedForLaughs and CensoredForComedy, due to Ed Edd 'N Eddy being a DenserAndWackier comedy), this making the videos feel like a sillier ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon''.

* King Graham in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder'' is a downplayed EmpoweredBadassNormal. The magical fruit he ate in the previous game not only cured him of his fatal illness, but also gave him strength far beyond what his advanced age should allow. However, his abilities are exactly as they were when the series began. [[spoiler:This is no longer downplayed when he learns Iconomancy.]]

* ''WebAnimation/ShareMyStory'': downplays MyGodWhatHaveIDone. When Clara tells the protagonist that she got with Brandon behind his back and they are in a relationship now, she is in tears. However, that does not stop her from kissing Brandon in front of him.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': downplays {{Yandere}}. Morty Smith doesn’t do anything creepy to Jessica or treats her as a possession. However, whenever he finds a scenario where he might end up with her, he goes to pretty sociopathic lengths to achieve it. He gave her a love potion because he couldn’t handle that she was dating Brad, which ended up mutating her and causing Rick to label him as a creep for trying to roofie her. Likewise, one of Morty’s Mindblowers shows that he’s violently protective of her, as he was willing to torture an alien for releasing a worldwide virus that nearly killed Jessica. He’s also willing to sell Rick, his own grandfather, for some trim as he ignored Summer’s concerns about Tiny Rick overwhelming Rick’s mind because he helped him get close to Jessica. Furthermore, upon gaining a death crystal that let him see a future where Jessica comforted him in his old age, Morty committed several atrocities to ensure it happens, up to avoiding resurrecting Rick and killing many cops and military man while acting like an AKIRA.

* ''ComicBook/Dynamo5'': Downplay JealousParent. According to Scatterbrain (Gage Reinhart), the supervillain Chrysalis is afraid that her looks are fading and she can't attract men anymore. He said that she is jealous of her daughter Cynthia because of her looks and that she probably can better attract men. However, it appears that Chrysalis does not let her jealousy affect her relationship with her daughter, and they appear to be close.