History Main / ZigZaggingtrope

In other words, think of an example of this as any that is too screwy or complex to be one of the other TropeTropes. As a rule of thumb, if someone cannot describe a use of a trope any better than "[[PlayingWithATrope played with]]", it's likely this. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Alternate title has nothing to do with a]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII certain, infamous boss fight]].

** As a result of the above actions, Carly appears as a ShipperOnDeck in the first [[FanNickname iSeddie]] episode ''iLose My Mind'', cheerleading for Sam and Freddie to get together, asking the audience about it and generally acting extremely happy about the situation. Then in the next episode ''iDate Sam And Freddie'' she's Zig Zagged by being caught in the middle of their fights, telling them that they shouldn't be together because they can't sort their own problems out.

** Also done with VirginTension. For the majority of the series, Athena's concern was that Clara might have her virginity stolen by pervy male supervillains. It never occurred to her that Clara would choose to ''[[TheirFirstTime give]]'' her virginity to them, or that the lucky supervillain would happen to be [[spoiler: one of Clara's [[SchoolgirlLesbians classmates]]]].

* ''Fanfic/CourtneysCrusadeForRedemption'' does this with IKnowMortalKombat. With Sam; for the boxing challenge, everyone tells him that just because he's good at playing Videogame/PunchOut doesn't make him a good fighter, and, luckily for him, he doesn't need to find out. Later, it turns out that being a great VideoGame/MarioKart player makes him very good at boat-racing.

* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' has a triple subversion of UselessUsefulSpell. The game has an [[StandardStatusEffects instant death]] spell (and wand that contains the spell in consumable form) that's TooAwesomeToUse against regular enemies. However, the list of things immune to it is "everything that's already dead", which, in the first subversion, does not include all the bosses (it's about half; as an extreme example, two of the three endgame bosses are vulnerable to it, one is immune). However, the most powerful bosses (that are vulnerable to it) will simply respawn, making it much less powerful against them than you'd expect. However, it's still the most effective weapon to use against them anyway...

* ''ComicBook/Dynamo5'' Does this with AssholeVictim. The more we learn about Captain Dynamo/William Warner, one of the world greatest heroes, the more despicable he appears to be. It is revealed in the series that he was a habitual womanizer who cheated on his wife, Maddie Warner, even when it compromised his crime-fighting duties. He also was not above using his shape shifting power to impersonate married women's husbands in order to sleep with them. He had an affair with one of his enemies, a supervillain named Chrysalis, and had a daughter with her named Cynthia, and led a second life to help raise her. The worst thing he did was when he fathered a child with an alien woman that he had met in outer space, after coming to the aid of her malfunctioning starship. When the mother gives him the child because she can't raise him herself, he leaves the infant at a F.L.A.G. research facility, where the child grows up without parents. When one of the scientists bonds with the child and begs Captain Dynamo to free him, Captain Dynamo refuses. However, his wife Maddie Warner and best friend Augie Ford still very much respect his memory and miss him, despite learning about his faults. It is implied that Captain Dynamo/William Warner truly did love his wife Maddie Warner and his best friend Augie Ford and aside from the cheating and womanizing, he took his crime-fighting duties as protector of Tower City seriously.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' does this with their GoldfishPoopGang: Team Rocket [[VillainDecay quickly goes from being a threat to being a]] GoldfishPoopGang. They volley between legitimate threats and harmless nuisances. As of season 14, they are dangerous threats with an EvilCostumeSwitch. But then they change back to white. Then ghosts suck out their life force, making them goofy for one episode. Then they're back to serious again. And now they're back to being goofy in ''X & Y''.

* ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' pulls this off right at the very beginning, and relating to the game's major plot-twist. In order to lift a curse cast on their world, the heroes try a magic spell to summon the demon responsible, Overlord Zenon, but it was seemingly botched, and they instead get Zenon's spoiled daughter, Rozalin. [[spoiler:Then comes the major twist, revealed at the end of the game, that Rozalin ''is'' Zenon as a {{Reincarnation}}, and her father (who isn't even biologically related to her) is just a poser who took on the name just to spite her. The heroes [[BrickJoke did succeed in summoning Zenon]] after all; however, it was still the Fake Zenon that they were after, since he's the one who cast the curse, so in a way the summoning ritual still failed.]]

* ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' gives us the best example of two tropes zig-zagging each other. In "The Prisoner of White Agony Creek", Scrooge [=McDuck=] and Goldie O'Glit end up arguing in a cabin. Suddenly, Goldie kisses Scrooge, cashing in on a volume worth of BelligerentSexualTension. She then promptly punches him across the room. They practically tear the cabin apart, but then everything goes quiet for several hours. Some members of the posse following them think they killed each other, but the GenreSavvy Roy Bean [[LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone knows better]].

In other words, think of an example of this as any that is too screwy or complex to be one of the other TropeTropes. As a rule of thumb, if someone cannot describe a use of a trope any better than "[[PlayingWithATrope played with]]", it's likely this. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Alternate title has nothing to do with a]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII certain, infamous boss fight]]

%%* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' does this to many, many, many things ([[MindScrew it seems]]) such as [[HumongousMecha giant robots]], the [[AdultsAreUseless usefulness of anyone over 18]], the [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman nature of man]], the [[AGodAmI nature of the divine]] and... [[RageQuit you know what? Just watch the show.]]

It can also rssult from an attempt to {{Deconstruct|ion}} a given trope by considering it thoroughly from every possible angle.

* ''Manga/UchiNoMusumeNiTeODasuNa''

** SilentAntagonist : While Ghostface never talks while on screen, they do threaten their victim by phone calls. Justified as they need a voice changer to hide their identity.
** JokerImmunity : While Ghostface comes back every movie like any slasher film villain, they do in fact die for good at the end of each film. [[LegacyCharacter The new Ghostface is actually a different person every time]] taking the identity.

* The ''film/{{Scream}}'' serie zig-zags between mutliple tropes :

** JokerImmunity : While Ghostface comes back every movie like any slasher film villain, they do in-fact die for good at the end of each film, [[LegacyCharacter the new Ghostface is actually a different person every time]] taking the identity.
** VillainBasedFranchise: Even though the franchise identity is build around it's antagonist Ghostface, this is in-fact a different villain everytime, while the protagonists are the same for the whole serie.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' does this with the concept of the UnwantedHarem. It starts out as one, but oh wait, he's ObliviousToLove, then a bunch of the cast fall in love with him anyway, but it doesn't count because he [[ChasteHero never reciprocates]], unless [[IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn it's unintentional]], etc. It's still not entirely clear if the series is actually an UnwantedHarem or not.

* In ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'', WifeHusbandry is sent through a blender. Minamoto is [[DefiedTrope absolutely not trying to do this]], but [[InvertedTrope The Children want him to]] (not that they want him to wait that long), everyone else either [[LampshadeHanging thinks he's doing this]] or [[ShipperOnDeck is trying to get him to do it]]. Also, according to the future timeline, [[spoiler: it's DoubleSubverted when Minamoto and Kaoru get together ''despite'' his best efforts.]]

* ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' does this with the CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys trope in it's depiction of France, playing it straight earlier on in the series, but averting it later on. The dub tends to play it straight, though, and England even calls him that in one episode.

* TheMole is played with in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books with Snape. As in, the main characters have thought (and therefore the reader thinks) that he was ''every single sub-trope of this'' at some point, until finally he just becomes ambiguous. It was played straight to begin with, then inverted to become TheMole, then the main characters thought he was a HeelFaceMole who was just duping Dumbledore and can't be trusted, and then the inverse of ''that'', etc, etc. That is, up until TheReveal, where [[WordofGod it's established]] that [[spoiler: he's just doing it for [[UnrequitedLove Lily]] [[TheOneThatGotAway Potter]]]].

* TheMole is played with in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books with Snape. As in, the main characters have thought (and therefore the reader thinks) that he was ''every single sub-trope of this'' at some point, until finally he just becomes ambiguous. It was played straight to begin with, then inverted to become the ReverseMole, then the main characters thought he was a HeelFaceMole who was just duping Dumbledore and can't be trusted, and then the inverse of ''that'', etc, etc. That is, up until TheReveal, where [[WordofGod it's established]] that [[spoiler: he's just doing it for [[UnrequitedLove Lily]] [[TheOneThatGotAway Potter]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Does this with the AesopAmnesia trope. Luz wants to be able to do magic more then anything, but her impatience leads to her always trying to skip past the boring learning part, which ''always'' ends in disaster. Yet, time and again, she goes back to looking for a shortcut instead of realizing that, for her to really do magic, she needs to learn the old-fashioned way by just studying and slowly growing her talents. On the other hand, she and Eda are making up her education regiment since she lacks a witch sac and Eda can't see the glyphs that Luz can. It's natural that Luz keeps trying to see if the next adventure has the answer.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing'' zigzags AmazingTechnicolorWildlife. Most of the animals are naturally-colored, but the male lions are either bright yellow with blood red manes or dark brown with black manes. The ''I Just Can't Wait to Be King'' musical number plays this trope straight though.

** VillainBasedFranchise : Even though the franchise identity is build around it's antagonist Ghostface, this is in-fact a different villain everytime, while the protagonists are the same for the whole serie.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fanfic ''Fanfic/CourtneysCrusadeForRedemption'' does this with IKnowMortalKombat. With Sam; for the boxing challenge, everyone tells him that just because he's good at playing Videogame/PunchOut doesn't make him a good fighter, and, luckily for him, he doesn't need to find out. Later, it turns out that being a great VideoGame/MarioKart player makes him very good at boat-racing.

In other words, think of an example of this as any that is too screwy or complex to be one of the other TropeTropes. As a rule of thumb, if someone cannot describe a use of a trope any better than "[[PlayingWithATrope played with]]", it's likely this.