History Main / IRONY

A tragedy can have dramatic irony in it without being tragic irony; tragic irony depends on the audience knowing ''how the story ends'' ahead of time. This might be intentionally produced by a FramingDevice, such as making the whole piece a {{Flashback}} so the audience sees the end first, or it might be unintentional because [[ItWasHisSled the end of the movie becomes very well known]], [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil or somewhere in between those two]], or it could simply be a story that the viewer is expected [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready to already know about]] (such as ''Pearl Harbor'', ''{{Titanic}}'', ''The Passion of the Christ'', or ''RomeoAndJuliet'').

This would be Tragic Irony ''if'' the audience knew from the start that the father had murdered his wife (say, if it were shown early in the film) and could foresee that investigating the father would lead to that discovery. If the audience discovered that fact ''at the same time'' as Charles, then it becomes situational irony (at least, the first time you watch the film...) because the viewers and Charles suddenly realize that everyone would have been better off if he had never started investigating.

* In 1932, Peg Entwistle, a Los Angeles actress, committed Suicide by jumping from the big ''H'' of the great Hollywood sign, because nobody seemed to want her as an actress. ''On the same day'', finally a letter from a film producer arrived, offering her a role in a movie. She should have played a girl, ''that commits suicide''.
* In 1958 the then Minneapolis Lakers (now known as the Los Angeles Lakers) drafted Elgin Baylor an acrobatic basketball prodigy with immense athleticism and scoring capabilities. For years Baylor served as the centerpiece and leader of the Laker squad, even when they finally moved to Los Angeles. Baylor carried the team valiantly, never won a title and eventually age and injuries forced him to retire at the start of the 1971-1972 season. The Lakers would go on to create a 33-win streak (yes, you read that right, 33-0), still an NBA record and they would bring Los Angeles it's first NBA championship title.

[[quoteright:330:[[FinalFantasy http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Final_Fantasy_1_psx_jp1_3956.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:Been going strong since 1987 with no end in sight.]]

* While not not about irony in and of itself, the ''ProtectedFromEditors'' trope is, itself, protected from being edited. That's definitely an example of irony in action.

A positive example is the FinalFantasy series. The original was named because Square had almost ran out of money and decided to make their final game a fantasy RPG, hence "Final Fantasy". They're currently making FinalFantasy XIV, meaning that "Final" Fantasy is one of the longest running video game series ever.

->''"You say, isn't it terrible about global warming? And I say, no, it's funny. We're going to bring on global warming because we ran too many leaky air conditioners? We used too much spray deodorant, so now we'll be doomed to sweat forever? That's not sad. That's irony. Note to [[AlanisMorissette Alanis]]: That '''is''' ironic."''
-->--''Marco, {{Animorphs}} #15: The Escape''

---> '''Nina:''' Elliot, that's not ironic, [[MissingThePoint that's what happened.]]

->''"[[AlanisMorissette It's like rain on your wedding day]]." Only if you're marrying a weatherman and he set the date.''
-->--[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT1TVSTkAXg Ed Byrne]]

->''"The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention. Now that...IS...irony!"''
-->--''[[http://benderirony.ytmnd.com/ Bender]], {{Futurama}}''

* TamoraPierce wrote an origin story for the new White Tiger that takes place before the superhero civil war. Almost every time Spider-Man shows up, he's talking about his [[OneMoreDay wife.]]

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->''"That's where the actual meaning is the exact opposite of the literal meaning."''
-->--''RealityBites''

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Final_Fantasy_1_psx_jp1_3956.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:There are ''fourteen'' of these now, and a fifteenth on the way.]]

* In {{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}, Beezy exclaims that something is ironic. He then pauses and wonders if he actually knows what irony is. Later in the episode, he's still wondering if he got it right.

* An in-universe example in Jingo. Nobby Nobbs uses socratic irony on Colon to point out the flaws in his thinking about the Klatchians.

[[caption-width-right:330:This was supposed to be the last game they made. There's ''fourteen'' of these now, and a fifteenth on the way.]]

*** To add insult to injury, ThisTroper once saw, at his sister's summer-camp show, a girl who was seemingly ''completely'' tone-deaf (like cat's-nails scraping on a tin roof, tone-deaf), who was given This. Song. As a SOLO. Out of pity. ....On second thought, that's not ironic. Just incredibly cruel.

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* ''RahXephon'', [[XJustX just.......RahXephon]].

* An example of situational irony can be found on this very wiki: there are plenty of people who link the the pages ThisTroper, SoYeah, and XJustX when using the phrases in question, in spite of the fact that those pages discourage the use those phrases.

* ''RahXephon'', [[XJustX just.......RahXephon].