History WrongGenreSavvy / Comicbooks

** Plutonian, being a CaptainErsatz of {{Franchise/Superman}}, is expecting things to turn out in his life like they do in your average {{Superhero}} comic. The problem is that he is not in your average superhero comic, but a {{Deconstruction}} of one. This actually plays a part in what leads to his FaceHeelTurn, after which he becomes DangerouslyGenreSavvy.
** Max Damage, from sister title ''Incorruptible'', has a similar problem - he is GenreSavvy enough to realize that the best thing to keep a reformed supervillain like himself from sliding back to his old ways is to get a MoralityPet, so he gathers several people who serve him as those. However, he doesn't realize that he is in a deconstruction either, so [[spoiler: most of his new friends get broken in one way or another]].

* ''TheIncredibleHulk'', when he appears in the SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} story arc ''Operation Annihilation'', assumes that when Deadpool is attacking him, that he was hired by somebody to provoke him into a trap. In truth, Deadpool is acting on his own [[DeathSeeker trying to provoke the Hulk into killing him]], but even when he tells Hulk that nobody hired him, the Hulk still assumes it's part of some more elaborate scheme. Later in the same story, some somewhat GenreSavvy soldiers see the Hulk rampaging and guess that Deadpool is the cause of it. They guess right, but when they see Deadpool in a bus full of children, they assume he's taken them hostage, when he was actually trying to rescue them.

** In flashbacks, we see the young Euless was a weak would-be football player taken under the wing of blind Big. Big plays the role of MagicalNegro to teach Boss how to be a better player, thinking he's the WiseMentor to help Euless escape his criminal father and be a better man. Instead, Euless takes the lesson to be "let nothing stand in your way," agreeing to kill his father in exchange for a crime lord arranging him to be coach of the team and when he muses he'll have to kill the crime lord too, Big realizes he gave the boy the tools and drive to be a monster, causing a literal MyGodWhatHaveIDone.

* A moment of being GenreSavvy ended up being this happened when the Franchise/XMen dealt with Dracula. Yes, using a cross on Drac is a good way to keep him back. But, it really doesn't ''work'' unless you have the ''faith'' behind it, which the very Jewish ComicBook/KittyPryde and the oh-so-unrepentant ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} find out.

* In the weekly series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' Renee Montoya of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'' is hired by ComicBook/TheQuestion to surveil an old abandoned warehouse. As a veteran of the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department she is very familiar with the process of surveillance and Gotham crime, and is not even surprised when the old warehouse turns out to have a trap door hidden inside...[[GenreShift and then she finds the nightmarish alien thing beyond the trap door and the crates full of laser weaponry]]. Those she did ''not'' see coming.

* In the weekly series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' Renee Montoya of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'' is hired by TheQuestion to surveil an old abandoned warehouse. As a veteran of the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department she is very familiar with the process of surveillance and Gotham crime, and is not even surprised when the old warehouse turns out to have a trap door hidden inside...[[GenreShift and then she finds the nightmarish alien thing beyond the trap door and the crates full of laser weaponry]]. Those she did ''not'' see coming.

* Yet another Garth Ennis example: the ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' spin-off ''The Good Old Boys'' features Cal, who thinks that he's an ActionHero, and that he has BelligerentSexualTension with the female lead that will eventually lead to a LoveEpiphany. Turns out he's actually the ButtMonkey of a BlackComedy with two CorruptHick [[VillainProtagonist villain protagonists]].

* Yet another Garth Ennis example: the ''{{Preacher}}'' spin-off ''The Good Old Boys'' features Cal, who thinks that he's an ActionHero, and that he has BelligerentSexualTension with the female lead that will eventually lead to a LoveEpiphany. Turns out he's actually the ButtMonkey of a BlackComedy with two CorruptHick [[VillainProtagonist villain protagonists]].

* A potential and subtle example in ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim''. When Scott finally faces Nega-Scott (a shadowy doppleganger who manifests himself during troubling moments for Scott), Scott fights under the belief that if he beats Nega-Scott, he can move on from the past (the savviness comes from Nega-Scott being inspired by Shadow Link, something not unexpected in a world with video game physics). However, [[spoiler: Kim tells Scott he can't run from his mistakes and he needs to accept them. [[EnemyWithout Nega-Scott being a manifestation of Scott's mistakes and Scott's reluctance to confront his fault in them]] (though Gideon's tampering of his memory also contributed heavily, meaning it was partially an ''inability'' to do so. Scott finally acknowledges this and absorbs Nega-Scott.]]

* A potential and subtle example in ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim''. When Scott finally faces Nega-Scott (a shadowy doppleganger who manifests himself during troubling moments for Scott), Scott fights under the belief that if he beats Nega-Scott, he can move on from the past (the savviness comes from Nega-Scott being inspired by Shadow Link, something not unexpected in a world with video game physics). However, [[spoiler: Kim tells Scott he can't run from his mistakes and he needs to accept them. [[EnemyWithout Nega-Scott being a manifestation of Scott's mistakes and Scott's reluctance to confront his fault in them (though Gideon's tampering of his memory also contributed heavily, meaning it was partially an ''inability'' to do so. Scott finally acknowledges this and absorbs Nega-Scott.]]

* A potential and subtle example in ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim''. When Scott finally faces Nega-Scott (a shadowy doppleganger who manifests himself during troubling moments for Scott), Scott fights under the belief that if he beats Nega-Scott, he can move on from the past (the savviness comes from Nega-Scott being inspired by Shadow Link, something not unexpected in a world with video game physics). However, Kim explains what it really means (Nega being a manifestation of Scott's mistakes and his unwillingness/inability to face them (Gideon tampered with Scott's memories)), so Scott finally acknowledges this and absorbs Nega-Scott.

* Most or even all of the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' heroes might be said to be this, except perhaps Dr. Manhattan: The Comedian acted like the hard-bitten, jaded "hero" ([[NinetiesAntiHero or protagonist, at least]]) of a cynical, realpolitik cold war spy story, but comes undone by the horror he discovers and grimly awaits his own murder; Rorschach thinks the heroes are being picked off by an old villain turned far more deadly, back after years for revenge, and if he was in one of the Dark Age of Comics imitations spawned thanks to this series he might be right; Nite-Owl wants to act as if he and Rorschach can be Silver Age heroes again and save the day, their past failures and brutality redeemed by noble victory--but he's in a deconstruction; Silk Spectre's entire worldview is upended by the story's conclusion; and Ozymandias is perhaps the most deluded of all, [[spoiler:insisting he's not a comic-book villain. Technically, he's right, but neither is he a Antivillain doing a terrible thing for the Greater Good: Adrian Veidt is a desperate idealist turned KnightTemplar, his plans likely to be undone at the end of the story, and it's implied it may have all been for nothing anyway]]. Dr. Manhattan, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality though not completely in the right]], is the most aware of the futile story they're actually in.
-->'''Manhattan''': We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' comic book "Sheriff of Bullet Valley", Donald keeps comparing the present situation to various Western movies he's seen, resulting in his getting everything backward and inadvertently helping the villains.

* In one ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip, Dogbert finds a magic lamp and summons the GenieInABottle. He expects it to grant him three wishes but the Genie says they don't have a contract and turns him into a wiener.
** At least it was an experience he could [[IncrediblyLamePun relish]].
* Early in ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' there was a journalist who discovered that certain New York residents seemed to have been living for centuries without aging. He believed them to be vampires. The residents of Fabletown decided to play along and convinced him he was mind-controlled by them and forced to have sex with a little boy (in reality they knocked him out and took some suggestive photos with him and Pinocchio) and if he told anybody their secret, they'd send the evidence to the police.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' Plutonian, being a CaptainErsatz of {{Franchise/Superman}}, was expecting things to turn out in his life like they do in your average {{Superhero}} comic. The problem is that he is not in your average superhero comic, but a {{Deconstruction}} of one. This actually plays a part in what leads to his FaceHeelTurn, after which he becomes DangerouslyGenreSavvy.

* In ''LexLuthorManOfSteel'', SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor is convinced that he's in a {{Deconstruction}} of the superhero genre where the superhero who is loved and admired by all turns out to be an uncaring and aloof SmugSuper who doesn't care about the little people underneath him, or even a villain hiding in plain sight. Thing is, while Lex is correct that he's in a deconstruction, it's not a deconstruction of Superman -- it's actually a deconstruction of supervillains like ''him''.

* In ''Comicbook/ThePulse'', ''Daily Bugle'' reporter Terri Kidder uses a smokescreen about profiling Norman Osborn to get an interview with him and ask him about the disappearances of [=OsCorp=] personnel. Suffice to say [[NeckLift this doesn't end]] [[NeckSnap well for her.]]

* Early in ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' there was a journalist who discovered that certain New York residents seemed to have been living for centuries without aging. He believed them to be vampires. The residents of Fabletown decided to play along and convinced him he was mind-controlled by them and forced to have sex with a little boy (in reality they knocked him out and took some suggestive photos with him and Pinocchio) and if he told anybody their secret, they's send the evidence to the police.

* ''TheIncredibleHulk'' when he appears in the SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} story arc ''Operation Annihilation'', assumes that when Deadpool is attacking him, that he was hired by somebody to provoke him into a trap. In truth, Deadpool is acting on his own [[DeathSeeker trying to provoke the Hulk into killing him]], but even when he tells Hulk that nobody hired him, the Hulk still assumes it's part of some more elaborate scheme. Later in the same story, some somewhat GenreSavvy soldiers see the Hulk rampaging and guess that Deadpool is the cause of it. They guess right, but when they see Deadpool in a bus full of children, they assume he's taken them hostage, when he was actually trying to rescue them.

* A potential and subtle example in ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim''. When Scott finally faces Nega-Scott (a shadowy doppleganger who manifests himself during troubling moments for Scott), Scott fights under the belief that if he beats Nega-Scott, he can move on from the past (the savviness comes from Nega-Scott being inspired by Shadow Link, something not unexpected in a world with video game physics). However, Kim explains what it really means (Nega being a manifestation of Scott's mistakes and his unwillingness/inability to face them (Gideon tampered with Scott's memories)), so Scott finally acknowledges this and absorbs Nega-Scott.

* A potential and subtle example in ''Scott Pilgrim''. When Scott finally faces Nega-Scott (a shadowy doppleganger who manifests himself during troubling moments for Scott), Scott fights under the belief that if he beats Nega-Scott, he can move on from the past (the savviness comes from Nega-Scott being inspired by Shadow Link, something not unexpected in a world with video game physics). However, Kim explains what it really means (Nega being a manifestation of Scott's mistakes and his unwillingness/inability to face them (Gideon tampered with Scott's memories)), so Scott finally acknowledges this and absorbs Nega-Scott.

* In ''{{Irredeemable}}'' Plutonian, being a CaptainErsatz of {{Franchise/Superman}}, was expecting things to turn out in his life like they do in your average {{Superhero}} comic. The problem is that he is not in your average superhero comic, but a {{Deconstruction}} of one. This actually plays a part in what leads to his FaceHeelTurn, after which he becomes DangerouslyGenreSavvy.

* In ''{{PS238}},'' a SuperheroSchool exists beneath a normal elementary school, with the students able to mingle during lunch and recess. One of the normal children, [[ConspiracyTheorist Cecil Holmes]], realizes that there's ''something'' weird about the kids from some of the other classes, but incorrectly believes that they're aliens instead of DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals. To be fair, [[MuggleBornOfMages Tyler]] purposely threw him off track.

* In ''Comicbook/ThePulse'', ''Daily Bugle'' reporter Terri Kidder uses a smokescreen about profiling Norman Osborn to get an interview with him and ask him about the disappearances of [=OsCorp=] personnel. Suffice to say [[NeckLift this doesn't end]] [[NeckSnap well for her.]]

* GarthEnnis: ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' features many characters thinking like a "normal" zombie or invasion movie, not realizing it's a Garth Ennis comic and the butt-raping zombies will get you no matter how clever you try to be.

* In ''{{PS238}},'' a SuperheroSchool exists beneath a normal elementary school, with the students able to mingle during lunch and recess. One of the normal children, [[ConspiracyTheorist Cecil Holmes]], realizes that there's ''something'' weird about the kids from some of the other classes, but incorrectly believes that they're aliens instead of DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals. To be fair, [[MuggleBornOfMages Tyler]] purposely threw him off track.

* Most or even all of the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' heroes might be said to be this, except perhaps Dr. Manhattan: The Comedian acted like the hard-bitten, jaded "hero" ([[NinetiesAntiHero or protagonist, at least]]) of a cynical, realpolitik cold war spy story, but comes undone by the horror he discovers and grimly awaits his own murder; Rorschach thinks the heroes are being picked off by an old villain turned far more deadly, back after years for revenge, and if he was in one of the Dark Age of Comics imitations spawned thanks to this series he might be right; Nite-Owl wants to act as if he and Rorschach can be Silver Age heroes again and save the day, their past failures and brutality redeemed by noble victory-but he's in a deconstruction; Silk Spectre's entire worldview is upended by the story's conclusion; and Ozymandias is perhaps the most deluded of all, [[spoiler:insisting he's not a comic-book villain. Technically, he's right, but neither is he a Antivillain doing a terrible thing for the Greater Good: Adrian Veidt is a desperate idealist turned KnightTemplar, his plans likely to be undone at the end of the story, and it's implied it may have all been for nothing anyway]]. Dr. Manhattan, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality though not completely in the right]], is the most aware of the futile story they're actually in.

* In ''{{PS238}},'' a SuperSchool exists beneath a normal elementary school, with the students able to mingle during lunch and recess. One of the normal children, [[ConspiracyTheorist Cecil Holmes]], realizes that there's ''something'' weird about the kids from some of the other classes, but incorrectly believes that they're aliens instead of DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals. To be fair, [[MuggleBornOfMages Tyler]] purposely threw him off track.

* Hunter Zolomon in his persona of [[EvilCounterpart Zoom]] from the ''TheFlash''. He's convinced that he's a StealthMentor / AntiVillain that helps heroes grow stronger by making them experience personal tragedies. In truth, he's delusional to the point where he qualifies as legitimately mentally ill, and is as much a danger to heroes as any fullblown villain is.

* In ''LexLuthorManOfSteel'', LexLuthor is convinced that he's in a {{Deconstruction}} of the superhero genre where the superhero who is loved and admired by all turns out to be an uncaring and aloof SmugSuper who doesn't care about the little people underneath him, or even a villain hiding in plain sight. Thing is, while Lex is correct that he's in a deconstruction, it's not a deconstruction of Superman -- it's actually a deconstruction of supervillains like ''him''.

* ''TheIncredibleHulk'' when he appears in the [[SelfDemonstrating:Deadpool Deadpool]] story arc ''Operation Annihilation'', assumes that when Deadpool is attacking him, that he was hired by somebody to provoke him into a trap. In truth, Deadpool is acting on his own [[DeathSeeker trying to provoke the Hulk into killing him]], but even when he tells Hulk that nobody hired him, the Hulk still assumes it's part of some more elaborate scheme. Later in the same story, some somewhat GenreSavvy soldiers see the Hulk rampaging and guess that Deadpool is the cause of it. They guess right, but when they see Deadpool in a bus full of children, they assume he's taken them hostage, when he was actually trying to rescue them.

* In the weekly series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' Renee Montoya of WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries and GothamCentral is hired by TheQuestion to surveil an old abandoned warehouse. As a veteran of the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department she is very familiar with the process of surveillance and Gotham crime, and is not even surprised when the old warehouse turns out to have a trap door hidden inside...[[GenreShift and then she finds the nightmarish alien thing beyond the trap door and the crates full of laser weaponry]]. Those she did ''not'' see coming.

* ''TheIncredibleHulk'' when he appears in the [[SelfDemonstrating:Deadpool Deadpool]] story arc ''Operation Annihilation'', assumes that when Deadpool is attacking him, that he was hired by somebody to provoke him into a trap. In truth, Deadpool is acting on his own [[DeathSeeker trying to provoke the Hulk into killing him]], but even when he tells Hulk that nobody hired him, the Hulk still assumes it's part of some more elaborate scheme. Later in the same story, some somewhat GenreSavvy soldiers see the Hulk rampaging and guess that Deadpool is the cause of it. They guess right, but when they see Deadpool in a bus full of children, they assume he's taken them hostage, when he was actually trying to rescue them.

* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason is like this all the time. His attempts to apply the rules of popular culture, fantasy, and science fiction to reality usually get him humiliated at best or injured at worst.

* Most or even all of the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' heroes might be said to be this, except perhaps Dr. Manhattan: The Comedian acted like the hard-bitten, jaded "hero" ([[NinetiesAntiHero or protagonist, at least]]) of a cynical, realpolitik cold war spy story, but comes undone by the horror he discovers and grimly awaits his own murder; Rorschach thinks the heroes are being picked off by an old villain turned far more deadly, back after years for revenge, and if he was in one of the Dark Age of Comics imitations spawned thanks to this series he might be right; Nite-Owl wants to act as if he and Rorschach can be Silver Age heroes again and save the day, their past failures and brutality redeemed by noble victory-but he's in a deconstruction; Silk Spectre's entire worldview is upended by the story's conclusion; and Ozymandias is perhaps the most deluded of all, [[spoiler:insisting he's not a comic-book villain--he's right, but he's also not a Antivillain doing a terrible thing for the Greater Good--Adrian Veidt is a sociopath whose plans will (heavily implied) all come undone and be for naught in the end]]. Dr. Manhattan, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality though not completely in the right]], is the most aware of the futile story they're actually in.

* In the second volume of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', a redneck in a diner is giving Lord Fanny, the Brazilian transvestite shaman, a hard time. In response, King Mob grabs the man's groin ([[GroinAttack and not in a good way]]) and gives us the speech shown above. At first the redneck apologizes, but then he decides to attack King Mob anyway, and thus we get to witness [[MuggingTheMonster the other trope]] invoked by King Mob in his little speech.