History WrongGenreSavvy / Comicbooks

* PlayedForLaughs in ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'', where the titular protagonist is firmly convinced that he's a real scientist in a [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness hard science fiction universe]], when he's really more of a ''Literature/DocSavage'' style adventurer in a [[TwoFistedTales pulp]] ScienceFantasy universe. This frequently pushes into FlatEarthAtheist territory, such as claiming time travel is impossible while ''talking to future versions of himself''.

* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': Sean is a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent lamia]] [[KnightInShiningArmor knight]] that leads LaResistance against {{Dracula}}'s corrupt and oppressive regime in {{Hell}}. He is fighting to free innocents and for the woman he loves and one of the enemies he fight with is a Nazi turned vampire. In any other story he would easily have been TheHero but alas, he is just a HeroAntagonist where previously mentioned [[NaziProtagonist Nazi is the main character]].

* ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'', a human girl from our world (or somewhere similar) that likes comics and is sucked into the Marvel Universe. So, she know many of tropes relative to superhero comics but sometimes this can backfire her.

* ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'', an human girl a human girl that likes comics and is sucked into the Marvel Universe. So, she know many of tropes relative to superhero comics but sometimes this can backfire her.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Champions 2016}}'', [[ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool Gwenpool]] crashes a confrontation between the team and the bigoted sheriff of a small town, causes chaos and forces the team to escape. In the clear, the team demands an explanation. Gwenpool reveals that she obviously saved them from some super villain action forcing them to be bigoted since this is a comic book; no one could be ''that'' bigoted! [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]] says that things aren't so black and white and that people can be that evil without super villain influence. Indeed, Gwen gets incredibly frustrated by the lack of super villains showing up and leaves still thinking that a villain of some sort will show up. The only consolation given is [[ComicBook/AllNewXMen O5!Cyclops]] telling Kamala that he hopes that she finds that super villain somewhere.
** Gwenpool hits this again in her own book when she encounters SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}. She says, out loud, that she'll be able to kill him because this is her book and she has PlotArmor. When Wade hears this, he figures out what's going on immediately and gives her a terrible TheReasonYouSuckSpeech that points out how out of her league she is with him because his Plot Armor is ''much'' stronger'' than hers

* Most of the time [[ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool Gwenpool]] is GenreSavvy by assuming that she is in a "generic superhero comic", but in subgenres more prone to RealityEnsues this can backfire big time. For example:
** In ''ComicBook/{{Champions 2016}}'' (which is VerySpecialEpisode), she crashes a confrontation between the team and the bigoted sheriff of a small town, causes chaos and forces the team to escape. In the clear, the team demands an explanation. Gwenpool reveals that she obviously saved them from some super villain action forcing them to be bigoted since this is a comic book; no one could be ''that'' bigoted! [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]] says that things aren't so black and white and that people can be that evil without super villain influence. Indeed, Gwen gets incredibly frustrated by the lack of super villains showing up and leaves still thinking that a villain of some sort will show up. The only consolation given is [[ComicBook/AllNewXMen O5!Cyclops]] telling Kamala that he hopes that she finds that super villain somewhere.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Champions 2016}}'', [[ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool Gwenpool]] crashes a confrontation between the team and the bigoted sheriff of a small town, causes chaos and forces the team to escape. In the clear, the team demands an explanation. Gwenpool reveals that she obviously saved them from some super villain action forcing them to be bigoted since this is a comic book; no one could be ''that'' bigoted! [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]] says that things aren't so black and white and that people can be that evil without super villain influence. Indeed, Gwen gets incredibly frustrated by the lack of super villains showing up and leaves still thinking that a villain of some sort will show up. The only consolation given is [[ComicBook/AllNewXMen O5!Cyclops]] telling Kamala that he hopes that she finds that super villain somewhere.
** Most of the time Gwenpool is GenreSavvy by assuming that she is in a "generic superhero comic", but in subgenres more prone to RealityEnsues (Champions is VerySpecialEpisode, her own book a DeconstructiveParody) this can backfire big time.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Champions 2016}}'', [[ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool Gwenpool]] crashes a confrontation between the team and the bigoted sheriff of a small town, causes chaos and forces the team to escape. In the clear, the team demands an explanation. Gwenpool reveals that she obviously saved them from some super villain action forcing them to be bigoted since this is a comic book; no one could be ''that'' bigoted! [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]] says that things aren't so black and white and that people can be that evil without super villain influence. Indeed, Gwen gets incredibly frustrated by the lack of super villains showing up and leaves still thinking that a villain of some sort will show up. The only consolation given is [[ComicBook/AllNewXMen O5!Cyclops]] telling Kamala that he hopes that she finds that super villain somewhere.

* ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'': A journalist discovers that certain New York residents seem to have been living for centuries without aging. He believes them to be vampires. The residents of Fabletown decide to play along and convince him he was mind-controlled by them and forced to have sex with an UndeadChild (in reality they knocked him out and took some suggestive photos with him and Pinocchio) and if he tells anybody their secret, they'll send the evidence to the police.

* 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 in the main page of this trope. 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' comic book:
** In "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 European comic WesternAnimation/{{Pete}} and Commissioner O'Hara are forced to join forces to make it clear to the former's wife and the latter's superior that they don't live in the world of CowboyCop action movies.
* There were two {{Franchise/Batman}} villains who went by the name "Film Freak", and both were defeated (and in the case of the first one, killed) because they thought life would play out like a movie. Of course, [[ThisIsReality it was a comic book]].
* In ''ComicBook/FunHome'', Alison considered herself the heroine of a ComingOutStory, until she finds out about her father and realizes she's only the comic relief to his tragedy.
* When he is guest starring in more optimistic comics like ''{{Spider-Man}}'', ThePunisher clearly thinks he is still in his own series, which is far more on the cynical side of SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism. Which is why he usually ends up as a villain. On the other hand many super heroes appearing in his comics also seem to think that they are still in their own series and often end up humiliated in various ways.
* 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]].
* ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'':
** A journalist discovers that certain New York residents seem to have been living for centuries without aging. He believes them to be vampires. The residents of Fabletown decide to play along and convince 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 tells anybody their secret, they'll send the evidence to the police.
** Later on, to deal with a BigBad, Pinocchio put together a Super Team of powerful Fables. WordOfGod is that the Super Team would have been toast.
* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'':
** 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 dangerous.
** Max Damage, from sister title ''Incorruptible'', has a similar problem - he is smart 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]].
** Gilgamos had become this, when he [[spoiler: killed Survivor. He presented a perfectly reasonable explanation why he did it that proved he knows the tropes of the world he lives in very well, but was not savvy enough to consider that Cary and his siblings may not share the same power, but ''his'' power - by killing him, he just depowered his brother, instead of empowering him.]]
* In the Creator/DCComics event ''Trinity'', Primat of the Dreambound seems firmly convinced she's a romance heroine, rather than a member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad. This doesn't limit her effectiveness, but does mean she tries to chat up opposing heroes even as she fights them, which would be disconcerting even if she wasn't [[InterspeciesRomance from Gorilla City]].
* 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.
* In ''ComicBook/{{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.
* A subtle example in ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim''. When Scott 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.]]
* In ComicBook/SouthernBastards, Earl thinks he's in a CleanUpTheTown story as the lone guy to take down Euless Boss, the football coach who runs the town and even gets a bat left by his father to do it. Instead [[spoiler: Boss beats Earl to death in the middle of the town and gets away with it as no one is strong enough to testify against him.]]
** 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 EccentricMentor 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.

** In one European comic {{Pete}} and Commissioner O'Hara are forced to join forces to make it clear to the former's wife and the latter's superior that they don't live in the world of CowboyCop action movies.
* Creator/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 Ennis' earlier ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}}'' story, "Zombie Night at Gotham Aquarium," Hacken also thinks he's in a "normal" zombie movie, and thus takes swift, decisive action after a bite from a zombified animal, [[IncrediblyLamePun hackin']] off his arm to avoid infection. Unfortunately for Hacken, this particular branch of Franchise/DCUniverse WeirdScience does not work that way, so it turns out that Hacken cut off his own arm for no good reason.

** 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 EccentricMentor 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.
* In ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'', Sarge has been in the army so long, and is so used to acting like a tough sergeant when ordering soldiers around, he tends to get into trouble by assuming he can use the same methods on civilians, [[http://beetlebailey.com/comics/september-18-2016/ as this strip shows.]]

** 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 EccentricMentor 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.

* Franchise/{{Superman}} has a strange life, as demonstrated when his ''first'' reaction to seeing [[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} a teenage girl flying out of a Kryptonian rocketship]] while [[DistaffCounterpart wearing a version of his own costume]] is "A girl, flying! It -- uh -- must be an illusion!"

%%* 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]].

* {{Franchise/Superman}} has a strange life, as demonstrated when his ''first'' reaction to seeing [[{{Supergirl}} a teenage girl flying out of a Kryptonian rocketship]] while [[DistaffCounterpart wearing a version of his own costume]] is "A girl, flying! It -- uh -- must be an illusion!"

* The IDW incarnation of ComicBook/GIJoe had the Baroness considering herself a fantastic and deadly assassin who's also a genius manipulator and waiting for the chance to easily overthrow Cobra Commander and take over Cobra for herself. In reality, she's a petty, vain, spoiled woman who falls into childish tantrums when things don't go her way. In fighting, she's pretty crappy, her only victories coming from ambushing her opponent or shooting them in the back. As for her "mind games," Cobra Commander and Destro literally laugh at her transparant attempts to play them and that she's nowhere near as samrt as she thinks. While the Baroness considers herself Cobra's best agent, she's really the joke of the organization.

* In Ennis' earlier ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}}'' story, "Zombie Night at Gotham Aquarium," Hacken also thinks he's in a "normal" zombie movie, and thus takes swift, decisive action after a bite from a zombified animal, [[IncrediblyLamePun hackin']] off his arm to avoid infection. Unfortunately for Hacken, this particular branch of DCUniverse WeirdScience does not work that way, so it turns out that Hacken cut off his own arm for no good reason.

** Max Damage, from sister title ''Incorruptible'', has a similar problem - he is snart 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]].

** His big brother Peter can be the same way as he's convinced he's a jock and can be a star player if given the chance when in truth, he's horrible at every sport he tries.

* 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.

* ''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 smart 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.
* 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 a ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' comic, a perp tries to escape from Dredd by jumping into what he assumes to be a laundry chute, but ends up being a waste disposal unit.

** Big brother Peter can also be this way as he thinks he's a star athlete and major jock just waiting for the chance to show his stuff in a game. In truth, he's a terrible athlete and the coaches think he's useless even as a bench-warmer.