History Main / JustTheIntroductionToTheOpposites

* In ''CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'', one VillainOfTheWeek is a "wuzwolf" ([[IncrediblyLamePun he wuz a wolf, now he's not]]), a wolf who turns into a legendary monstrous creature know as a "human".

-->''"Gangs of old ladies attacking fit, defenseless young men."''\\
-- ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''

* Pretty much the point of ''AbsolutelyFabulous,'' where the daughter is the one telling the adults to turn the boom box down and to stop drinking so much.

Let's say hypothetically, a princess, complete with PimpedOutDress, [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia tiara]] and [[PrettyInMink ermine]] [[PimpedOutCape cape]], walks down a hallway one way, while her servant, in a French maid outfit, walks the other way, carrying some food. The princess bumps into the maid, causing the food to fall on the maid. The ''princess'' begs for forgiveness and tries to wipe off the maid's dress, while the maid hysterically snaps at the princess for being clumsy, and complains about how much her dress cost.

* ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' did a sketch where a father was a successful playwright, and the son was a miner, and estranged for that. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPSzPGrazPo&feature=channel_page Just watch it here.]]

** And the sketch 'Northern Playwright' featuring father behaving like a stereotypical worker and his no less stereotypical yuppie son. It turns out that father is in fact a famous playwright and the son is a ordinary coal miner.

* Used on the ''MartinMolloy'' raido show. After a news story about two pensioners who were arrested after an argument over a poker machine turned into a violent punch up, Mick Molloy launched into a spiel about how old people today had no respect for authority and how teenagers were sitting at home at night, too scared to go out because of the gangs of old people roaming the streets, and how what old people needed was another dose of national service.

* TheJerk starts with the character explaining he was born "a poor black child," only to discover his white roots when he first hears swing music on the radio.

* An episode of {{Scrubs}} had Elliot's boyfriend Keith upset with her because he wanted a committed stable relationship, and Elliot just wanted him for sex. Dr. Kelso treats their argument like an entertaining TV program: "It's like he's the chick and you're the dude!"

[[AC:Video Games]]
* This occurs between two minor [=NPCs=] in FinalFantasy13. The player first meets the father who complains that he lost his son and his son told him that he should always stay in one place if they get separated, while the son is nearby complaining about his father getting lost. When father and son meet up the son chastises the father for not staying in one place as he was told. Considering the tiny number of [=NPCs=] and otherwise standard NPC dialogue in the game it's rather odd that they would bother to add this bit of characterization in an area where many gamers will miss it (one must explicitly intentionally backtrack to hear the final conversation between father and son).

[[AC:Music]]

[[AC:Radio]]

[[AC:Comics]]
* A ''JudgeDredd'' story centred around an athlete who garnered massive controversy and criticism by doing well despite no pharmaceutical or bionic enhancements.
* ''Normalman'' is the only non-superpowered human on the planet Levram.
* In CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew, one VillainOfTheWeek is a "wuzwolf" ([[IncrediblyLamePun he wuz a wolf, now he's not]]), a wolf who turns into a legendary monstrous creature know as a "human".

[[AC:StandUpComedy]]
* StewartLee "Later on I'll be explaining how my tragic and ultimately fatal heroin addiction helped me overcome my previous dependence on Born Again Christianity."
* Towards the end of his one-man show, ''NormanRockwell Is Bleeding'', ChristopherTitus imagines what would've happened if his mother's mental institution had had an open mike night:
-->''My mom would be up here, and you'd be reading about me as her crack-addicted son. A man can dream, can't he?''

[[AC:StandUpComedyl]]

Let's say hypothetically, a princess, complete with PimpedOutDress, [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia tiara]] and [[PrettyInMink ermine cape]], walks down a hallway one way, while her servant, in a French maid outfit, walks the other way, carrying some food. The princess bumps into the maid, causing the food to fall on the maid. The ''princess'' begs for forgiveness and tries to wipe off the maid's dress, while the maid hysterically snaps at the princess for being clumsy, and complains about how much her dress cost.

Fast Eddie is a dictator! Rise up against the tyrant! -EA

[[Bong milk is good for the brain.:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/werewolf_9693_8856.jpg]]

But you can't tell your boyfriend about it! He'd freak out and leave you, or worse. But then, you can't keep it a secret forever, either. At some point, one of your supernatural incidents will inevitably happen exactly when you were having a romantic dinner. Or maybe your relationship has simply reached the next level, and you feel that you need to be completely honest with him.

So what now? How will he react? Well, it turns out he's perfectly okay (well, for the most part he's perfectly okay) and understanding with it! That's right, as a reward for your sacrifices, the PowersThatBe will make sure that you end up with a truly noble and loving soul who loves you for who you are and doesn't care what you are. So no worries!

This trope is a DoubleStandard, in that wives and girlfriends are pretty much automatically accepting of their ActionHero husband/boyfriend's actions, whereas the number of husbands/boyfriends who automatically accept that their significant other is an ActionGirl are pretty thin on the ground. For the guy who is a super and needs a girlfriend, his powers are often a plus for her (because AllGirlsWantBadBoys). For women, finding a guy who truly doesn't have a problem with dating someone with superpowers when he's a {{Muggle}} is the bigger issue, because, well, NoGuyWantsAnAmazon.

Compare ButYourWingsAreBeautiful, when a disguise forms part of the powers. Compare to ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend for the ActionGirl [[InvertedTrope variant.]] Compare and contrast BoyMeetsGhoul, for the guy/girl who is on the other end of this trope. See also TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife, which is an aversion of this trope.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* The central premise of ''[[NogizakaHarukaNoHimitsu The Secrets of Haruka Nogizaka]]''. The titular girl is an otaku.
* Ditto with ''[[OreImo My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute]]''. Except that the guy is not a boyfriend, but the big brother... [[{{Squick}} yeah]].
* Austria from ''AxisPowersHetalia'', in regards to his VictoriousChildhoodFriend Hungary. While he's concerned for her well-being, in the end he knows that if she wants to fight, he better lets her... since she will go [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] and destroy the enemy. Considering their childhood, [[LoveAtFirstPunch he knows it beforehand]]!
* [[ShamanKing Keiko Asakura]] had been dumped by ''every'' single boyfriend she had when they learnt she was able to see spirits. Until the last JerkAss left her and a penniless musician with similar abilities comforted her. That guy was Mikihisa, and she would marry him.
* Horribly deconstructed with [[spoiler: Shiso and Ceres]] in ''AyashiNoCeres''. [[spoiler: Shiso started like this, but being left helpless when he and Ceres got attacked [[IJustWantToBeSpecial made him very frustrated]], so he asked Ceres to give him a part of her powers [[IWillProtectHer so he wouldn't be a burden on her.]] But then, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity said powers turned out to be too much to handle]], and ItGotWorse...]]


[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* [[NiceGuy Kong]] is this to [[XMen Kitty Pryde]] in UltimateMarvel, even going so far as to yell "You're welcome!" at AllOfTheOtherReindeer for not thanking her when she saves their lives.
* Back in the GoldenAge, Steve Trevor was this for WonderWoman (a remarkably progressive move for the times), and not at all threatened by the idea of getting rescued by or mooning over a woman who was twenty times stronger than him. The Silver and Bronze Age characterizations of him were...[[TooDumbToLive unfortunately]] [[JerkAss less so]], which probably led to him being deleted from continuity PostCrisis.
* In an old What If comic, Jimmy Olsen married Supergirl because of amnesia. Once she recovers and lets him know, he's totally fine with being married to Superman's cousin.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''InnocentBlood'', FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Marie has her understanding CopBoyfriend Joe.

* Elend in Brandon Sanderson's ''{{Mistborn}}''. At least [[spoiler:until he gets superpowers himself.]]
* Seth in ''WickedLovely''. When Aislinn tells him that she can see faeries, he has exactly one moment of "Is this a joke?" before accepting it and trying to help her with her faery situation.

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]
* The ''GhostWhisperer'' features Jim the Understanding Husband.
* Both [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] and played straight in ''{{Bewitched}}''. The original Darrin (Dick York) was less than understanding, to the point of being downright hostile to Samantha when she used her magic. TheOtherDarrin (Dick Sargeant), on the other hand, tried his hardest to be understanding, the point that it was more the fault of Endora and the rest of Samantha's family that TheOtherDarrin didn't get along with witches.
* Played with in the ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' TV series. Harvey ''does'' leave Sabrina when he finds out she's a witch, not out of intolerance but because she'd been using magic to mess with his life for years. He eventually does come back to her, though, and says he never had a problem with her being a witch per se.
* Zack was the "gay best friend" equivalent of this in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', at least until ExecutiveMeddling got in the way.
* Unless she's dating one of the undead, Buffy never got this on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (even Riley, who was himself a demon fighting super-soldier, had an inferiority complex due to dating a genuine superhero). It's Willow who hit the boyfriend jackpot with Oz; upon being told the truth about the supernatural world she runs in, he replies, "Actually, it explains a lot," and just goes with the flow from there.
* Tyler Ford in ''TheMiddleman'''s unaired season finale (released as a comic)...[[spoiler:at least, until MM pushes the ResetButton]].
* Allison's husband Joe on ''{{Medium}}'' believes in her powers and is understanding and accepting of them.
* In ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', 2x09. Merlin discovers [[spoiler: Freya turns into a bastet at night, but he isn´t afraid and stills takes care of her. He even pets her cat´s head...]]
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/understanding/ this]] ''WapsiSquare'' comic. Also the page quote.
* {{Subverted}} (although this may be a retrospective way of seeing it) in ''SluggyFreelance''. Leo seems to be accepting of all the weird things Zoë tells about happening to her - but it turns out that was only because he thought she was lying. In the words of another jerk he hangs out with, "You've got to respect a girl who realizes romantic relationships are based on lies and goes to town with it!" As soon as Leo finds out it was all true, he feels betrayed, and they eventually break off.

* [[PhineasAndFerb Candace]] seems to have this with Jeremy. Despite all of Candace's attempts to put a stop to PhineasAndFerb's projects, the guy never, ever seems to lose his cool, and they're still an item.

* [[JojosBizarreAdventure ZA WARUDO!]]
* ''{{Sonic Adventure 2}}''.
* ''ShadowTheHedgehog''.
* ''Okami''.
* ''{{Onimusha}} 4'': Jubei Yagyu's special ability to slow down time.
* ''MegaManX 5'': When you use Dark Hold. And hence, TatsunokoVsCapcom.
* The Unknown from ''KingdomHearts: BirthBySleep'' will cast Stop on you and rewind time a few seconds to heal himself, with this effect.

[[AC:Other Coloured Indications of Timestop]]
* ''{{Persona 3}}'': The whole world is covered in a green filter during the Dark Hour
* ''DarkerThanBlack'': When Amber/February users her powers she and whoever else she chooses to affect turns gold and is able to move around while the rest of the world is tinted in a strange purple or blue color.
* ''[[{{Discworld}} The Thief Of Time]]'': The visual effects are described in a way that's [[ShownTheirWork actually sort of plausible]]: everything ahead of Lobsang is blue-shifted, while on the one occasion he glances behind him while moving the view is red-shifted to impenetrability.
* In ''PrinceOfPersia: The Forgotten Sands'', the timestopped world is simply darker.
* ''The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything'': Uses a red filter.
* ''ShakuganNoShana'': The sky becomes dark red.
* ''{{Bayonetta}}'': The Witch Time tints the world in dark blue.
* ''CardCaptorSakura'': Everything turns a shade of gold.
* ''{{Homestuck}}'': A red zodiac appears on the victim, who flashes red. [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003664 As seen here]]. It doesn't seem to be in effect for all timestops though, just some.
* GhostTrick: The ghost world is basically the normal world with time stopped and a tinted filter over it, different ghosts receiving different colored filters.
* RedDeadRedemption has it's bullet time filtered in a sepia screen.
* In ''BunnyMustDie'', the world turns bluish when time stops, red when time is reversed, and yellow when time is slowed.
* In the non-fighting games of TouhouProject, the screen darkens when Sakuya stops time.
* The ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' and ''MegaManStarForce'' games have some chips/cards which freeze the action while they play out; these darken the screen.

-->''"Gangs of old ladies attacking fit, defenseless young men."''\\
-- ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''

A lot of comedy comes from switching around expectations. This trope is about a specific kind, where roles are reversed. But unlike FreakyFridayFlip, PrinceAndPauper, and SwappedRoles, no explanation or justification is given, and it's as though this situation was always this way. The comedy is more about the absurdity of it all, than what happens to the characters.

Let's say hypothetically, a princess, complete with PimpedOutDress, [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia tiara]] and [[PrettyInMink ermine cape]], walks down a hallway one way, while her servant, in a French maid outfit, walks the other way, carrying some food. The princess bumps into the maid, causing the food to fall on the maid. The ''princess'' begs for forgiveness and tries to wipe off the maid's dress, while the maid hysterically snaps at the princess for being clumsy, and complains about how much her dress cost.

Occasionally used for drama, where the situation is meant to be thought-provoking instead of funny.

Named for ''[[YouCantDoThatOnTelevision You Can't Do That On Television]]'', which would use that line as a CatchPhrase to start a series of such sketches.

Compare OppositeDay, PersecutionFlip.

SuperTrope of GenderFlip.

[[AC:Film]]
* ''LittleManTate'' contrasts the titular Tate, a very mature child, with his childlike, immature mother.
* The film ''[=~White Man's Burden~=]'' is a dramatic example; it takes place in a world where the majority/minority status of white and black people are reversed.
* The film ''TheWrongMan'' had a subplot of a greedy, ruthless farmer threatening the meek, struggling-to-get-by banker with closing his business down.

* One scene in ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' parodies ''KingKong''; a giant woman[[hottip:*:actually a [[spoiler:Dungeon Dimensions creature in disguise]]]] holds a normal-sized ape (the Librarian) in one hand while climbing a tall building.
* "Disobedience", by [=~A. A. Milne~=], is about a three-year-old boy whose mother wanders away from his supervision and gets lost.
* In ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', there is a poem about five Golgafrincham princes who, amongst other things, 'rescue beautiful monsters from ravening princesses'.

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]
* ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' did a sketch where a father was a successful playwright, and the son was a miner, and estranged for that. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPSzPGrazPo&feature=channel_page Just watch it here.]]
** "Hell's Grannies" sketch.
** The Pythons did this a lot. They had one sketch where a woman let an encyclopedia salesman into her home because he said that he was a burglar.
** As well as one sketch about a world where ''everyone'' is {{Superman}}, but one of them is secretly... ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome THE BICYCLE REPAIRMAN!]]''
** [[LongGag Also]], "the Baby Snatchers"...[[spoiler: gangs of men dressed up as babies who kidnap adults]].
* ''[[YouCantDoThatOnTelevision You Can't Do That On Television]]''
* Pretty much the point of ''AbsolutelyFabulous,'' where the daughter is the one telling the adults to turn the boom box down and to stop drinking so much.
** The show grew out of a sketch on French & Saunders called ''Modern Mother and Daughter'', which presented this as being somewhat TruthInTelevision.
* In an episode of ''GraceUnderFire'', a middle-aged dad was staying at his son's house, they have a fight, and the dad storms into his room and starts blasting swing music. The son pounds on the door and tells him to turn it down.
* The weekly murder mystery ''{{Castle}}'' has the mystery-writer main character (played by Nathan Fillion) dealing with his party-girl cougar of a mother and his sage, sensible teenaged daughter, who also acts as his Watson.
* ''RutlandWeekendTelevision'':
-->'''Presenter''': Hello. Are people difficult bastards or not? To clear this up, I have with me in the studio one really difficult bastard...
-->'''Difficult Bastard''': Hello, good evening.
-->'''Presenter''': ...And the bishop of Summerset.
-->'''Pope''': Get lost.
-->'''Presenter''': Can I turn to you first, bishop?
-->'''Pope''': Shut up.
* A sketch from ''ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' where a husband and wife are arguing because he's just returned from a business trip and she finds a bra in his suitcase. She asks, mildly annoyed, if she's cheating on him, which he cops to absentmindedly. The fight escalates as she brings in other "minor" issues such as her desire to have a baby and secret gambling addiction, until she suddenly bursts into tears and he figures out what this is ''really'' about -- that time he left the fridge door open and a whole quiche and some milk went bad.
* Done as a TakeThat on ''ABitOfFryAndLaurie'', when Laurie's character walks into a convenience store and requests EIGHT PACKETS OF CONDOMS, PLEASE, loudly specifying brands and styles, and furtively asking for Jason Donovan's latest single in between.
* An episode of {{Scrubs}} had Elliot's boyfriend Keith upset with her because he wanted a committed stable relationship, and Elliot just wanted him for sex. Dr. Kelso treats their argument like an entertaining TV program: "It's like he's the chick and you're the dude!"

[[AC:Video Games]]
* This occurs between two minor [=NPCs=] in FinalFantasy13. The player first meets the father who complains that he lost his son and his son told him that he should always stay in one place if they get separated, while the son is nearby complaining about his father getting lost. When father and son meet up the son chastises the father for not staying in one place as he was told. Considering the tiny number of [=NPCs=] and otherwise standard NPC dialogue in the game it's rather odd that they would bother to add this bit of characterization in an area where many gamers will miss it (one must explicitly intentionally backtrack to hear the final conversation between father and son).

[[AC:Music]]
* Against Me!'s video for "Thrash Unreal" features a group of well-dressed, respectable looking adults going to a party... which immediately devolves into a mosh pit when they get hammered off the wine.

[[AC:Radio]]
* In ''AcropolisNow'', set in Ancient Greece, homosexuality is the norm and sex with girls is something only done for reproductive purposes. Straight characters are seen as a bit weird.

* ''TheSimpsons'' had an episode where Grandpa is staying at their place and borrowing their car for dates, annoying Homer to the point where he grounds Grandpa, who storms up to his room and starts blasting big band music. Complete with LampshadeHanging:
-->'''Homer:''' He has to learn! Just like ''my'' father taught me!\\
'''Marge:''' He ''is'' your father!\\
'''Homer:''' ''({{Beat}})'' Cosmic.
** The trope is [[PlayingWithATrope utterly screwed with]] when Homer says:
-->'''Homer:''' Oh sure, when he's in trouble he's ''my'' father!
* The ''HighSchoolMusical'' parody episode of ''SouthPark'', where the kid's dad was a rather flamboyant singer, and the kid wanted to play basketball.
** "Red Man's Greed" is this trope. The [[strike:Indians]] "Native Americans" (''SouthPark'' insists on using that terminology.) are {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s who invade South Park and set up casinos. They give the white people SARS, and [[MagicalNativeAmerican the traditional white trash panacea, 7-Up, cures it]].

[[AC:Comics]]
* A ''JudgeDredd'' story centred around an athlete who garnered massive controversy and criticism by doing well despite no pharmaceutical or bionic enhancements.
* ''Normalman'' is the only non-superpowered human on the planet Levram.
* In CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew, one VillainOfTheWeek is a "wuzwolf" ([[IncrediblyLamePun he wuz a wolf, now he's not]]), a wolf who turns into a legendary monstrous creature know as a "human".

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* [[http://www.theonion.com/video/aa-destroying-the-social-lives-of-thousands-of-onc,18349/ This]] video from ''TheOnion News Network'' protrays AA as a life-destroying addiction which can only be countered by consumption of alcohol.

<<|ComedyTropes|>>
<<|InAnotherMansShoes|>>

** The Pythons did this a lot. They had one sketch where a woman suspected a burglar trying to get into her house was actually an encyclopedia salesman.

* This occurs between two minor NPCs in FinalFantasy13. The player first meets the father who complains that he lost his son and his son told him that he should always stay in one place if they get separated, while the son is nearby complaining about his father getting lost. When father and son meet up the son chastises the father for not staying in one place as he was told. Considering the tiny number of NPCs and otherwise standard NPC dialogue in the game it's rather odd that they would bother to add this bit of characterization in an area where many gamers will miss it (one must explicitly intentionally backtrack to hear the final conversation between father and son).

* The ''SouthPark'' episode "Red Man's Greed" is this trope. The [[strike:Indians]] "Native Americans" (''SouthPark'' insists on using that terminology.) are {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s who invade South Park and set up casinos. They give the white people SARS, and [[MagicalNativeAmerican the traditional white trash panacea, 7-Up, cures it]].

* "Disobedience", by AAMilne, is about a three-year-old boy whose mother wanders away from his supervision and gets lost.

* One scene in ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' parodies ''KingKong''; a giant woman[[hottip:*:actually a [[spoiler:Dungeon Dimensions creature in disguise]]]] holds a normal-sized orangutan (the Librarian) in one hand while climbing a tall building.