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| 9 | [[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twa_comedy_killed_capture_1.PNG]]]] |
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| 11 | ->''"No one else gonna say it? Fine! I fucking will! I wish Alucard was here! Yeah!...Yes really, because when he was around shit wasn't so scary! If anything it was fuckin' hilarious! But ever since he left everything's so goddamn serious! Like there's something ''missing''!"'' |
| 12 | -->-- ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'' |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Some stories manage a nice balance of silly and serious. But one of the most foreboding aspects of any series about to go a dramatic route for a StoryArc is the sudden ignoring of the 'sillier elements', ComedicReliefCharacters and other humorous elements of a show -- which, if done too obviously, can come across as rather awkward and forced. Sometimes the funnier characters are [[PutOnABus sent off]], leave of their own accord, or are even killed... Occasionally, the [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome writers simply stop talking about]] the comical characters and focus on the dramatically relevant ones. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Alternatively, the characters may still appear in the story, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness but without making their usual jokes]]... In extreme cases, [[BreakTheCutie that's the whole idea of the story]]. In less extreme cases, the characters may receive a "DudeNotFunny" rebuke, or simply stay cool because of the ongoing drama. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | From an objective writer's standpoint this can seem logical, if you're the type of writer who feels squicky about needlessly endangering characters. In any case, it can be a big affront to fans of comedies in general. Part of a TV show's attempt to follow the FirstLawOfTragicomedies. Compare CerebusSyndrome, ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself. Contrast FunPersonified. Usage of this may lead to the show JumpingTheShark if the comedic element was more enjoyable, or GrowingTheBeard if the comedy was unfunny in the first place. If the characters in question are scrubbed out with no hope of return, it's KillTheCutie you want. If the henchmen or hero's friends are funny and they both run off, this shades into ScrewThisImOuttaHere. Contrast the KnightOfCerebus, whose ''arrival'' is foreboding. |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!Example subpages: |
| 21 | [[index]] |
| 22 | * ShooOutTheClowns/AnimeAndManga |
| 23 | * [[ShooOutTheClowns/AnimatedFilms Films — Animated]] |
| 24 | ** ShooOutTheClowns/DisneyAnimatedCanon |
| 25 | * ShooOutTheClowns/VideoGames |
| 26 | * ShooOutTheClowns/WesternAnimation |
| 27 | [[/index]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | !!Other examples: |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Audio Play]] |
| 33 | * Mid-way through the fourth season of AudioPlay/WereAlive the soldiers from Irwin: Puck, Robbins, Muldoon and Carl, mostly known for their back and forth bickering, are attacked by [[EliteZombie Behemoths]] inside the jailhouse where Ink was storing them. Robbins, Muldoon and Carl are killed and Puck spends much of the remainder on the series bed-ridden in The Colony's hospital. |
| 34 | * In AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho's "The Davros Mission", the [[ThoseTwoGuys Holmesian Double Act-pastiche characters]] mostly serve as comic relief although their own agenda is taken seriously, though their role is diminished after the first act while the plot focuses on tense scenes of Lareen psychoanalysing Davros. They then, after being virtually forgotten, suddenly show up immediately ''after'' the most powerful emotional scene in the plot, in a brief, serious scene in which they get exterminated within less than a minute. Their death kicks off the collapse of Lareen's plan, [[TheBadGuyWins Davros finally getting the upper hand against the Daleks]] and the very nasty DownerEnding. |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 38 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In the story ''Asterix and Obelix All at Sea'', Obelix is turned to stone, and Asterix is openly weeping next to his petrified body. ''Asterix'' stories use various standard joke templates, one of which is of three characters who escalate with three increasingly complex puns about the bad situation; and the villagers looking at Obelix all do this with "stone" puns. Asterix cuts them off, telling them to shut up because this is serious and his best friend is dead, and the villagers agree to stop making jokes in poor taste. After this, there aren't any jokes beyond one bit of LaserGuidedKarma at the expense of the Romans who are partially responsible for Obelix's death (they accidentally set their ship on fire when trying to send a signal), one DarkComedy gag (Getafix thinking the other villagers are smashing Obelix's petrified body to pieces) and one piece of intentionally forced slapstick with Vitalstatistix falling over for no reason. Obelix's prospects of recovery are almost non-existent, Asterix is too busy mourning him to care about his duties as a village warrior, and the Romans are plotting to trap and kill the escaped slaves in the B-plot. The jokes don't start up again until one of the potions they're trying to revive him with finally works, bringing him back (albeit [[FountainOfYouth in child form]]). |
| 39 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': |
| 40 | ** In 1964, [[Characters/BatmanSupportingCast Bat-Mite]], Ace the Bat-Hound, ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, and the original ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} were swept under the rug when the "New Look" Batman was launched. The often-silly sci-fi adventures of the previous era also took a back seat to more straightforward detective stories. Believe it or not, the 1966 TV show was actually ''less'' silly than most of the Batman stories of the late '50s and early '60s. |
| 41 | ** After the 1966 ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' show went off the air, there was a considerable and sustained backlash against anything resembling its tone in the comic books. Batman returned to his roots as a "grim avenger of the night" in the '70s. Batman started working alone much more often, with ComicBook/{{Robin}} and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} relegated to the sidelines and backup stories. |
| 42 | ** This trope exists for Batman in-universe as well -- it's stated on more than one occasion that Batman gets meaner and angrier when he doesn't have a Robin with him, which is actually how Tim Drake became ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}} to begin with (although he originally was trying to convince [[Characters/NightwingDickGrayson Dick Grayson]] to become Robin again). |
| 43 | ** The story "Urban Renewal" from ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'' has an in-universe occurrence of this trope as its plot. Gotham's particularly [[{{Bizarrchitecture}} bizarre-looking buildings]] such as a huge globe at the top of a travel bureau, or a building shaped like a giant cash register, are being taken down. One man is waxing nostalgic for these old kitschy locales, and decides to publish a coffee table book dedicated to them--and the one publisher who accepts it is Bruce Wayne, who is himself nostalgic about fighting crime atop these ridiculous buildings back in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the day]]. |
| 44 | ** Creator/NeilGaiman's story in 1989, ''Secret Origins Special'', features a retired Riddler amidst the same giant novelty objects, musing on the new DarkerAndEdgier world. |
| 45 | ** However, very little in comics ever goes completely away. All of the above-mentioned "silly" elements of Batman have been revisited over the years, albeit usually in a "modernized" way. |
| 46 | * ''Franchise/TheDCU'': As with ComicBook/{{Batman}}, both ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/WonderWoman got the sillies cleared out of their titles in the late sixties and early seventies. In Superman's case, this meant Krypto, Mr. Mxyzptlk, the Bizarro World, Lori the mermaid, the Superman robots, etc., while for ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'' it meant Bird Boy, Merboy, the Glop, the Holliday Girls, even Steve Trevor! In Superman's case, however, the housecleaning didn't "take". Fans really ''liked'' Krypto and the Bizarros and all, so most were brought back after only a few years, and Superman's adventures stayed pretty lighthearted right up until the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', after which they became DarkerAndEdgier. In Wonder Woman's case, though, shooing the clowns kind of crippled the title, because virtually ''her entire supporting cast'' had been deemed silly and eliminated ([[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Steve Trevor and Etta Candy]] kept popping in and out, but the rest were just ''gone''). In all the years since, she has never really been able to settle on a single, stable supporting cast or even setting. |
| 47 | ** This is a good example that "silly" is contextual, too. Mxyzptlk is certainly out-of-place in a more serious tone, but the robot duplicates of Superman, given Kryptonian tech, could have a legitimate place in a more serious story. (As would be proved in 1999's BewareTheSuperman story ''Superman Rex''.) |
| 48 | * ''Dirkjan'': One of the three-panel comics of the Dutch comic is a literal version of this trope. It goes something like this: [[spoiler:Captain Dirkjan to his men: "Men, we're pirates. It's time we get serious. From now on, no more sickbay, you just keep fighting and working. Whoever is too sick to fight is thrown overboard. Any questions?" A clown (who has been offpanel until now) asks: "What about the clini-clowns?" (= clowns that entertain sick kids in the hospital)]]. Of course it's much funnier in comic-form. |
| 49 | * ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': The core of Flash's comparatively irreverent and small-time RoguesGallery dies horribly in the first pages of ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed''. The Trickster -- perhaps the most outwardly ridiculous one of all prior to this -- survives and reflects bitterly on the days when he "[rigged] bombs up the butts of rubber chickens. What was I ''thinking'' all those years?" He doesn't entirely give up the rubber chickens, though. |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': When the comic started getting darker and more serious in the late '80s, Maria and Walter the Wobot were written out. Walter eventually came back to lead a new [[RobotWar robot rebellion]], and had to be killed by Dredd. |
| 51 | * ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXII'': The [[AdaptationExpansion heavily expanded]] manhua adaptation makes it quite clear that things are about to take a turn for the worse when [[VideoGame/KOFMaximumImpact Hyena]], the smarmy, [[{{Gonk}} comically funny-looking]] referee, gets casually swatted away like a fly by [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXI Magaki]]. This is immediately followed up by the climax, in which everyone physically capable of fighting tries desperately to overwhelm Magaki through sheer numbers, with most of them failing. |
| 52 | * ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'': Invoked in the parody of ''Series/{{Roseanne}}''. When the kids are pondering running away from home, "D.D.T.", whose unintelligible mumbling is almost a guaranteed laugh, starts to speak, but his sister tells him this is no laughing matter. |
| 53 | * ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'': After they were introduced into the comic book universe, the Smurflings are hardly heard from again, mostly appearing as guest stars and cameos, while the stories mainly focus on the adult Smurfs. |
| 54 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': The comic pulls a harsh one of these during its ZombieApocalypse story arc. [[spoiler:Among those infected with Dr. Eggman's Metal Virus bioweapon and turned into Zombots is Sonic's new friend Tangle the Lemur, the comic's resident PluckyComicRelief. The storyline was already one of the darkest in [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the entire franchise]], but it adopts an even ''more'' serious tone upon Tangle's elimination since so much of the series' comedy eminates from her.]] |
| 55 | ** [[spoiler:In addition to Tangle, some other comical characters--Big the Cat, for example--also fall victim to the Metal Virus. Sonic's own comedic traits [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness eventually fade away as his losses mount]] and he nearly [[HeroicRROD exhausts himself to death]] resisting his own infection; at one point, he even tries to infect Eggman in a spiteful rage.]] |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]] stops joking when the MoralEventHorizon gets crossed. In fact, he stops talking at all, leaving you to fight a faceless, voiceless being with spider powers who wants to beat you to death. It's notable that the guy who can joke about anything wasn't laughing when [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] made some less-than-appropriate comments about Mary Jane. And then punched Logan through unbreakable glass. |
| 57 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': The ''Blue Harvest'' story arc of ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarkTimes'' featured H2, a droid with dark humor, whose role in the plot was generally limited to hilarious sarcastic one-liners. As with all ''Dark Times'' stories, things continuously got worse and worse for the characters, but when we learned that the beloved DeadpanSnarker got shot and damaged beyond repair, we realized that things went ''really'' serious. |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'': In the late '80s, the comic started upping the stakes with vicious villains with personal grudges against Johnny and Wulf, and main characters started dying. When this happened, the Gronk just kind of disappeared. He was finally brought back for the GrandFinale of the classic series, but his personality was almost [[TookALevelInBadass completely inverted]]. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': During the ''ComicBook/MutantMassacre'' arc in the late '80s, [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] (a swashbuckling practical joker), [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Colossus]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]] were PutOnABus due to injuries sustained against the Marauders. Colossus returned to the team just in time for ''ComicBook/TheFallOfTheMutants'' arc, which ended with the world thinking the X-Men were dead, and precipitated one of the teams [[DarkerAndEdgier Darkest and Edgiest]] periods. Nightcrawler and Kitty went on to co-found ComicBook/{{Excalibur|MarvelComics}}, the LighterAndSofter X-team at that time. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 63 | * ''Fanfic/DanganronpaMementoMori'': Chapters 3 and 4 get rid of several supposedly light-hearted students such as [[spoiler:TheComicallySerious Masao Mifune, the PassionateSportsGirl Kozue Sumiyoshi, the [[TheFakeCutie exposed false cutie]] Luka Aikuchi, the GentleGiant Hirou Shinju, and the [[HeroicWannabe bragging wannabe hero]] Yukiharu Fuyumura]]. Chapters 5 and 6 are the DramaBombFinale, with tensions between the survivors reaching their boiling point and escalating into violence, alongside several dramatic revelations. |
| 64 | * ''Fanfic/DanganronpaKommSusserTod'': [[spoiler:SweetBaker Nanae Mochizuki is executed for AccidentalMurder at the end of Chapter 3, with [[KillTheCutie her death]] and the remaining students' loss of morale impacting the second half of the story]]. |
| 65 | * ''Fanfic/DanganronpaParadiseLost'': [[spoiler:PerkyGoth Sumire Takemi is the victim of Chapter 4, and LovableJock Goh Hanma is the (unwitting) culprit. Their deaths pave way for several dark revelations surrounding the remaining students and the [[DeadlyGame Killing Game]]]]. |
| 66 | * ''Fanfic/GodHelpTheOutcasts'': Unlike the original ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'', the jokes take a backseat for the sake of CharacterDevelopment and drama. |
| 67 | * In ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' {{Dark Fic}}s (and there are a lot of them), this almost always happens to GIR, the cheerful, lovable, childishly innocent robot. To give you a general idea, in one story, Tak, gone crazy with a lust for revenge against Zim, dismantles him and delivers his remains to Zim in a cardboard box. |
| 68 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' {{Dark Fic}}s, poor [[GenkiGirl Pinkie Pie]] is either absent or severely mentally disturbed. The [[Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles most infamous of these]] turns her into a full blown SerialKiller, while [[Fanfic/{{Bittersweet}} another]] has her very death be the start of the fanfic., |
| 69 | * ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': [[spoiler:Around the chapter "Nihilus" is when the story reaches its darkest point. This is compounded by [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Nora]] being critically injured in the following chapter and spending the entirety of the Fall of Beacon in a coma.]] |
| 70 | * ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': In the increasingly dark second half of the story, as [[VillainProtagonist Jade]]'s SanitySlippage is hitting its [[VillainousBreakdown breaking point]], she fires [[TerribleTrio the Enforcers]], who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere skip town]]. |
| 71 | * ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': In preparation for their counter-invasion of Axum, the Jedi Council has every single [[KidSidekick Padawan]] remain behind at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with the younglings under Yoda's supervision while most of the Jedi Masters and Knights are away fighting [[KnightOfCerebus the Imperium]] on Axum. Hence why with the exception of Ahsoka (who is a Jedi Knight in all but name anyway), there are no teenage Jedi involved in the [[WarArc Second Battle of Axum]]. |
| 72 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11161847/1/The-Vicious-Gods-Wrath The Vicious Gods Wrath]]'' is a DarkerAndEdgier retelling of ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', and it rams it home when [[spoiler:Jaco dies early trying to prevent Freeza's full resurrection]]. |
| 73 | * In Chapter 4 of ''Fanfic/WhatIsAPersonWorth'', Leni and Luan have their comical side somewhat toned down after Lincoln gives his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at his family and then immediately after that happens, he has his fight with Lynn Jr. |
| 74 | * In ''Fanfic/WhereTalentGoesToDie'', [[GenkiGirl Ami Yuuki]] is among the two murder victims in Chapter III. Midway through the final class trial, the mastermind uses "Manners Mode" to silence Monokuma, partly because the mastermind is sick of listening to Monokuma. |
| 75 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10213251/1/The-Second-Great-War The Second Great War]]'', a {{Crossover}} between the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' and ''Film/PacificRim'', [[spoiler: the first Autobot casualties in the war against the Kaiju are the wisecracking Twins, Mudflap and Skids]]. |
| 76 | * ''FanFic/TotalDramaLegacy'': [[PluckyComicRelief Cody Jr.]], [[ConspiracyTheorist Zack]], [[DumbJock Wayne]], and [[GenkiGirl Marissa]] are all static characters with no romance subplots that mainly exist to be funny. All of them are eliminated by "[[WhamEpisode Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself]]". |
| 77 | [[/folder]] |
| 78 | |
| 79 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 80 | * ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In TheMovie GrandFinale, [[OfficialCouple Miss Brooks relationship with Mr. Boynton]] finally takes centre-stage. |
| 81 | ** The established teenage characters are pushed out of the limelight. HighSchoolHustler Walter Denton is around for several jokes, but doesn't have much affect on the main plot and isn't in the second half of the film. HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Harriet Conklin is unfortunately all but DemotedToExtra. Recurring character DumbJock Stretch Snodgrass is around early in the film, but isn't around once the plot picks up steam. |
| 82 | ** CanonForeigner Gary Nolan and his father Lawrence give Miss Brooks a chance to place her considerable teaching ability and intelligence in general to work; versus the usual PiratesWhoDontDoAnything approach the show usually takes to Connie's English classes. |
| 83 | ** Principal Osgood Conklin remains his blustery, dictatorial self. He's given a subplot where he's in a struggle to keep his job while Head of the Board of Education Mr. Stone wants to have him dismissed. This leads to Mr. Conklin trying to be elected for the new position of "Coordinator of Education" against Mr. Stone. |
| 84 | ** Mr. Boynton finally wants to propose to Miss Brooks . . . once he gets enough money to support her. |
| 85 | ** Miss Brook's landlady, friend and confidante, GrannyClassic and CloudCuckoolander Mrs. Davis is up to some of her usual hijinx. However, she puts those aside when she determines the time is ripe to finally get Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton married. [[spoiler: she succeeds, and Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton marry and live HappilyEverAfter]] |
| 86 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 87 | ** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Luke and R2-D2 go to Cloud City to rescue the others. When Luke enters a room to have a dramatic confrontation with Darth Vader, R2 gets locked out. Even earlier than that, [[DeadpanSnarker Han Solo]] getting frozen in carbonite, and being taken away to Jabba the Hutt might be an example of this trope, as the film does get more intense and dramatic from then on out. |
| 88 | ** Jar Jar Binks getting his role greatly reduced throughout the ''Star Wars'' prequels is half this trope, half the response to him being TheScrappy. He goes from a major player in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' to a side character in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' to only appearing in three scenes with one line in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. |
| 89 | ** In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' Anakin orders R2 to stay with the ship as he makes his way to slaughter the Separatist leaders, later [=C-3PO=] remains in Padmé's ship and doesn't ''even come out'' when Anakin mortally injures her and during Obi-Wan and Anakin's duel; he only has an off-screen moment for carrying the dying Padmé back to the ship, and utters just one more funny comment just before the movie ends. |
| 90 | ** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'''s third act, when [[spoiler:Han, Chewie, and Finn leave the Resistance base and head off to Starkiller Base to rescue Rey and then assist the rebels in destroying it]], the KidAppealCharacter BB-8 stays behind with Poe and only partakes in the action safely tucked in Poe's X-Wing. |
| 91 | ** In ''Film/RogueOne'' the droid K-2SO, who served as a comedic relief for most of the film, [[spoiler:is the first one of the group to get killed]]. |
| 92 | * Happens in, of all things, a world war movie, specifically ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089279/ Hitler's SS]]''. When the flamboyant comedian and friend of Rohm, Putzi, gets taken off by the Gestapo and winds up beaten to death, you know the Soviet's about to hit the fan. His death not only marks the turning point in the movie, but the turning point in the war, and the scramble by the two brothers to preserve everything they're going to lose no matter who wins the war. |
| 93 | * The comic relief in both of ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' movies can be hit-or-miss, but to his credit, the writer/director definitely knew when to knock it off. Both have a point in the story ([[spoiler:taking out the "sick fuck" hitman and the Saints' subsequent showdown with Il Duce]] in the first, [[spoiler:Greenly's murder]] in the second) where the the tone gets much darker, the stakes get much higher, and the all the joking around stops ''cold'' for the rest of the film. |
| 94 | * This is coupled with [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself This Is Something She's Got to Do Herself]] in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', just before Sarah faces the Goblin King, when she tells the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits quirky friends who helped her make it that far]] that she has to go on alone. |
| 95 | * ''Film/EnterTheEagles'': The film's resident PluckyComicRelief fellow, Tommy, dies in a shootout that climaxes the film's second act, just as the film is reaching its more serious climatic final scene. |
| 96 | * In ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', Little Godzilla becomes imprisoned in a crystal cage by [=SpaceGodzilla=], and the film becomes more dramatic until [[KarmicDeath SpaceGodzilla is disposed of]], and Little Godzilla is freed from his prison. |
| 97 | * In ''Film/FightClub'', when Tyler leaves the narrator in the house alone with Project Mayhem, it marks the turning point in the story when he realizes that things are going too far. Also with Tyler out of the picture, the comedic moments in the film all but dry up. |
| 98 | * In the ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' direct-to-video sequel, Ursula (while not the comic relief of the film) is put to sleep while the big fight at the end happens, regaining consciousness just when it ends. This proves to be odd, as in the previous film, Ursula was actually able to contribute to the ending battle. |
| 99 | * Richie provides a lot of comic relief in Film/It2017 and Film/ItChapterTwo through his banter with Eddie and antics, and then[[spoiler: Eddie dies in Chapter 2 climax and Richie, [[CannotSpitItOut having been in love with him]] [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend since childhood]], understandably [[HeroicBSOD takes his death the hardest]] and loses a lot of his spark until the credit rolls]]. |
| 100 | * In ''Film/CirqueDuSoleilJourneyOfMan'', the Flounes who accompany TheEveryman literally vanish into thin air after the aerial cube sequence, representing the beginning of the now-adolescent protagonist leaving his youthful ideals behind. [[spoiler: They return after he recovers said ideals, when he is The Old Man.]] |
| 101 | * In ''Film/ALittlePrincess1995'', the comical Amelia runs away with the milkman mere ''seconds'' before Miss Michin bursts into the attic room, accusing Sara of stealing her locket and segueing into the dramatic climax. |
| 102 | * In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:every mutant introduced in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' except Havok was killed off at some point between films. ''First Class'' is easily the most lighthearted of the X-Men movies and the characters killed--Emma Frost, Angel Salvatore, Banshee, and Azazel--represent its more colorful tone]]. |
| 103 | ** Quicksilver is sent home before the climactic White House battle despite the film showing how mindbogglingly useful his powers would be in that situation. |
| 104 | * In ''Film/{{Gravity}}'', crew member Shariff has a funny accent and loves space bungee jumping. He's the first to be removed from the main plotline, courtesy of a [[spoiler:high speed piece of space debris to the face]]. |
| 105 | * ''Film/BigDaddy''. Nazo. Oh, how funny he is, acting as a composite of the ButtMonkey and the {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. Things can never be truly bleak when he's around - can they? We get our answer when Arthur Brooks shows up at Sonny Koufax's apartment and reveals that he has found out about Sonny's defrauding of social services, and that Sonny is now under arrest. Cut to Nazo, who supposedly is too dumb to do anything but make a joke about this - but instead he says to Sonny, sincerely and sympathetically: "I'd like to help you, but my status in this country is not exactly legal." (The character being played by ''Creator/RobSchneider'' only makes it all the more cool.) |
| 106 | * Although Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' is pretty dark throughout, it gets darker still toward the end. Comic-relief character Alexander Knox, having just appeared in a slapstick scene, gets legitimately knocked out and doesn't appear again until the finale. Meanwhile, the Joker's [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily bumbling henchmen]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run off]] as the Batplane approaches, the Joker stops being funny for a moment and utters a PrecisionFStrike ("Come on, you gruesome son of a bitch - come to me!")...and the Batplane is shot down, crashes, and explodes - [[NearVillainVictory apparently killing Batman before girlfriend Vicki Vale's eyes]]. While frantically trying to clear away the rubble from the crash, Vicki is taken hostage by the Joker and the two go into a church. Batman survives, but he is bleeding and barely able to walk; only his determination to kill the Joker enables him to continue. Once Batman (painfully) reaches the top of the church tower, the "Waltz to the Death" sequence begins and the movie assumes a "lighter", tragicomic tone until the end. |
| 107 | * In the third act of ''Film/MaryPoppins'', after Bert the chimney-sweep leaves the Banks house after duetting with George for "A Man Has Dreams", George is summoned to his bank for a formal dismissal, and we get a somber scene of George walking to the bank with no dialogue or songs; even the "Bird Woman" is absent from the steps of the cathedral, although her vaguely hopeful theme music plays. When George reaches the bank, [[NothingIsScarier the sound goes totally silent]] except for dialogue, followed by a rather distressing InsigniaRipOffRitual. But once he figures out the meaning of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", it lightens up again. |
| 108 | * ''Film/{{Babe}}'': While Ferdinand leaving the farm isn't an immediate sign of things getting darker, it's telling that he doesn't return until the most dramatic part of the movie is over. |
| 109 | * In ''Film/Predator2'': Jerry Lambert is murdered by the Predator before the climax. |
| 110 | * ''Film/TheThirdMan'': [[NiceGuy Sergeant Paine]] is [[spoiler:shot by the BigBad when he stumbles out in front of the latter]]. This occurs right before [[TheProtagonist the hero]] [[MostWritersAreWriters Holly Martins]] [[spoiler:mercy kills his close friend]]. |
| 111 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 112 | ** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': |
| 113 | *** After the big fight at the airport, [[Film/IronMan Tony]] tells Spider-Man to go back home for his own safety and even threatens to tell Aunt May if he doesn't. This itself happens before the dramatic final act. It's justified given his several brushes with death or serious injury during the battle. |
| 114 | *** Likewise, most of the other usual suspects for quips (Hawkeye, Ant-Man, sometimes Falcon) are [[spoiler:on the Anti-Accords side and therefore in jail]] during the finale. Of the characters still in play, the only one who jokes around a lot is Tony, and [[spoiler:he goes [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness very, very]] [[TranquilFury quiet]] once he sees the security tape]]. |
| 115 | ** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Groot, Drax, Mantis and Rocket are absent from the scene in which Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter Quill. |
| 116 | ** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': The first half of the movie is rather light-hearted, with a LaughablyEvil villain, a lot of good-natured teasing among the heroes, and a couple of humorously awkward situations. Then [[spoiler: Killmonger kills Klaue and (apparently) T'Challa, and aside from a bit of trolling by M'Baku]] the second half becomes deadly serious. |
| 117 | ** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': |
| 118 | *** The opening of the film picks up right where ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' left off, but [[spoiler: Korg, one of ''Ragnarok'''s major comic relief characters, is nowhere to be seen. Turns out, he managed to evacuate the ship with Valkyrie and the other survivors]]. |
| 119 | *** [[spoiler:Of the heroes that ComicBook/{{Thanos}} disintegrates with the Infinity Gauntlet or personally kills, five of the twelve are members of the Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}, leaving only Nebula and Rocket (neither of whom were the most comical of the group) left out of them. In addition, the notably wisecracking ComicBook/SpiderMan is among the casualties, causing Tony to become very cynical and unlikely to joke for most of ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.]] |
| 120 | ** Inverted in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': The film starts off on a sombre note, but once [[spoiler:Ant-Man returns from the Quantum Realm thanks to a Rat and rejoins the Avengers, the film lightens up.]] |
| 121 | ** ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'': Trevor Slattery, the fake Mandarin from ''Film/IronMan3'', and Morris, the animal guide of the group, spends most of the final battle [[FakingTheDead pretending to be dead]] on the battlefield. |
| 122 | ** In ''Film/{{Eternals}}'', after Ikaris is [[spoiler:revealed to have killed Ajak and leaves with Sprite to ensure Tiamut awakens, Kingo and his valet (the comic relief characters) leave the rest of the Eternals, with Kingo saying he thinks the Emergence should come to pass, and he wouldn't be much help if he tried to stop the Emergence anyway. He isn't present for the final confrontation.]] |
| 123 | ** Due to the darker nature of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', Betty Brant, Flash Thompson, Mr Harrington, and Mr Dell are out of the story before the first act ends. Moments of levity from Ned and MJ are significantly diminished as well, especially after [[spoiler:Aunt May is murdered by the Green Goblin and Peter is at his lowest point]]. |
| 124 | * At the beginning of the final act of ''Film/MrNiceGuy'', where Jackie, Miki, and Lakeisha are captured by BigBad Giancarlo, Diana is punched out by one of his cronies, and Tara/Sandy, having been badly beaten at the construction site, similarly drops out of focus. The uncut version has a scene of Romeo visiting the two in a hospital ward, while the New Line Cinema cut [[UncertainDoom leaves their fate more ambiguous]]. |
| 125 | * ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'' [[PutOnABus puts John and Molly on a bus]] [[LongBusTrip (which does not return in]] [[Film/HalloweenResurrection the sequel)]] prior to Laurie's final confrontation with Michael. |
| 126 | * In Disney's ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', the three fairies disappear before the climax in which Maleficent and Diaval confront King Stefan, with Aurora helping them. |
| 127 | * In ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', Rizzo and Gonzo leave during the visitation of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, as the spirit's foreboding nature would naturally not gel well with their zany antics. They return for the finale. |
| 128 | * The 1954 Toho movie, ''Film/SevenSamurai'' features Yohei, the comical villager getting killed before the dramatic final battle. |
| 129 | * ''Film/FridayThe13thPart2'' has Ted, a good-natured practical jokester. When the main characters go to check up on the camp near the end, Ted stays behind at a bar, missing the entire climactic battle. In fact, Ted never crosses paths with Jason Voorhees even once! |
| 130 | * ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'' does this on a {{meta|Fiction}} level with regards to the ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' franchise as a whole. The fact that, by 1994, the ''Nightmare'' films had long since [[JumpingTheShark jumped the shark]] and inflicted severe VillainDecay upon Freddy Krueger is heavily commented on and a major theme of the story. A key scene that sets the tone in the first act involves Creator/RobertEnglund appearing in costume as Freddy on a talk show and getting a huge pop from the crowd, which includes a large number of kids who know him not as a sadistic supernatural SerialKiller who [[WouldHurtAChild targets children]] but as a wisecracking, CreepyAwesome pop culture personality. This film's version of Freddy, by contrast, jettisons all of the {{camp}} that he had built up in later sequels, with [[BodyHorror nastier-looking burn scars]] and none of the BlackComedy that he brought before. Most of the Hollywood meta-humor, meanwhile, falls away in the second half of the film, while the plot comes to be about Freddy kidnapping Heather Langenkamp's son. |
| 131 | * ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'': The jovial Etta Candy almost completely disappears in the final act of the movie, only showing up again when she, Diana, and Steve's friends visit the memorial wall during the peace celebration, as well as TheStinger in the home-video release. |
| 132 | * The Creator/SteveMartin / Carl Reiner film ''Film/AllOfMe'' plays with this trope. Like the previous collaborations between the two, it is still a comedy and never seriously tries to be anything but. However, previous Martin/Reiner films like ''Film/TheJerk'' and ''Film/TheManWithTwoBrains'' tended to be rather zany, madcap and off-the-wall, relying heavily on fast-paced surrealism and absurdism, a loose relationship with the fourth wall and Martin himself playing a rather deranged and dimwitted buffoon. ''All of Me'', however, is more naturalistic and plot-based, Martin's character is basically a [[TheEveryman down-to-earth nice guy]] with a few quirks, and the humour mainly comes from the absurd situation that Martin's character finds himself in and his interplay with the woman responsible for it (played by Creator/LilyTomlin). |
| 133 | * ''Film/WeAreTheNight'': The film becomes more dark and dramatic after [[spoiler:PerkyGoth Nora dies]]. |
| 134 | * ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'': [[spoiler:Charlie]], the society's most outspoken member, gets expelled after [[spoiler:Neil's death]] [[HonorBeforeReason for refusing to sell out Mr. Keating]] and [[FisticuffProvokingComment punching]] [[TeachersPet Cameron]] [[FisticuffProvokingComment after discovering he was the first one to turn against Keating]]. |
| 135 | * ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'': Judy, the snarkiest of the main characters, gets hit by the poisonous barbs from [[ChekhovsGun one of the purple flowers]], and with Peter trying to comfort her, this leaves Alan and Sarah to face Van Pelt themselves. [[spoiler:Thankfully, when Alan wins the game, time is reset to 1969, and Alan and Sarah take the opportunity to save Judy and Peter's parents and the kids themselves]]. |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 139 | * In ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', the [[spoiler: death of Jehan]], who had provided nearly all of the comic relief in an otherwise serious story, acts as a giant "Bad End Incoming" flag. |
| 140 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 141 | ** How did Creator/JKRowling show that the climax of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' was SeriousBusiness? [[spoiler:By killing off Fred, one half of the series' biggest EnsembleDarkHorse and PluckyComicRelief duo.]] |
| 142 | ** Also, initially "funny" characters like Ron and Luna get CharacterDevelopment which causes them to act more serious as the series winds down. Even Dobby becomes kind of serious [[spoiler:before he's killed]]. Professor Trelawney, however, doesn't become more serious. During the Battle of Hogwarts, she is seen comically hitting Death Eaters with crystal balls, although she's still absent from the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort (or at least if she's there, it's not mentioned). |
| 143 | ** ''Earlier, ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'' got about as literal as possible with it: on a trip into Hogsmeade, the Trio note that Zonko's joke-shop has gone out of business. |
| 144 | * In Lloyd Alexander's ''The High King'', [[spoiler:the well-meaning but comically inept Prince Rhun is the first character to die,]] signalling the start of a substantially darker climax to ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain''. |
| 145 | * The mass death of the comic relief [[TheDitz Wild Turkeys]] in ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow'' shows how serious the battle against Cockatrice will be and darkens the mood of the book considerably. |
| 146 | * While ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' is naturally quite grimdark from the very beginning, things don't go into full-despair, AnyoneCanDie mode until after the death of [[spoiler:GentleGiant "Try Again" Bragg]]. |
| 147 | * One of the darkest villains in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Shagnasty the skinwalker, proved its status as such by striking down [[spoiler:Toot-toot,]] a previously nigh-invincible comic relief character. |
| 148 | * Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/RoburTheConqueror'': The servant Frycollin, who's given the burden of supplying most of the comic relief, is [[PresentAbsence notably absent]] during the two most dramatic moments in the book. The first time, his absence is itself PlayedForDrama and ends up being a minor ChekhovsGun; the second time, it's just explained that he's [[OptOut tired of all the hullaballoo and decided to stay home]]. |
| 149 | * In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', this happens over the course of the first book, where Ned Stark's Captain of Guard, Jory Cassel who is quite a light-hearted figure, is killed in a fight with Jaime Lannister's men. Later his replacement, "Fat Tom", is also killed by Lannister men. |
| 150 | ** A rather tragic example during the [[spoiler:[[NastyParty Red Wedding]], in which Robb Stark and most of his army are killed. His mother Catelyn Stark threatens to kill Aegon "Jinglebell" Frey, a disabled grandson of [[EvilOldFolks Walder Frey]] who is used as a fool by the Freys, unless he lets Robb go, under the mistaken assumption that he's Walder's son and that Walder cared for him. Walder simply says that Jinglebell's his grandson, and was never much use anyway. After Robb is murdered, Catelyn cuts Jinglebell's throat and is then killed herself. Played with in that the way Jinglebell is treated before that by his family really isn't funny.]] |
| 151 | ** When Lord Beric Dondarrion and the Red Priest Thoros of Myr appear in the first books Beric is a flamboyant young knight and Thoros a fat and jolly drunk. After [[spoiler:Beric's multiple deaths and resurrections by Thoros he becomes a more somber character while leading [[LaResistance the Brotherhood without Banners]], while Thoros slims out and shapes up due to his fighting. Beric even gives a speech about how he keeps losing himself with each resurrection, he can't remember where his castle was or about the woman he was pledged to marry]]. The tone with the Brotherhood still has its light-hearted moments, considering they are JustLikeRobinHood, especially before Beric appears. After [[spoiler:Beric's final death when he resurrects Catelyn as Lady Stoneheart, her control of the Brotherhood makes the tone in their appearances even darker, with some of the lighter characters such as Anguy the Archer and Edric Dayne leaving, and Thoros going back to drinking, but in a more depressing manner]]. |
| 152 | * In Creator/RobinJarvis' ''[[Literature/DeptfordMice The Oaken Throne]]'', Wendel Maculatum [[CourtJester the jester]] naturally ceases to be a funny character when it's revealed that [[spoiler:he is the murderous HighPriest of [[GodOfEvil Hobb]]]]. |
| 153 | * Throughout the first ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'' book, the adolescent Alfie is a plucky young bulldog that alleviates tension with his fun attitude and LeeroyJenkins antics. In the very first chapter of the second book, ''A Hidden Enemy'', Alfie gets slapped by Alpha to show that Alpha is a major threat. It was such a serious blow that Alfie was wounded and ended up bleeding out two chapters later. He's the first major death in the series. |
| 154 | * In ''Literature/OliverTwist'', the Artful Dodger is arrested and shipped off to Australia just before the string of events that result in [[spoiler:the murder of Nancy and the deaths of Sikes and Fagin]]. |
| 155 | * The third book of the ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse'' trilogy has a markedly different tone compared to the first two. It still has comedic moments, but the erractic Wolf was PutOnABus at the end of the last book (and when she comes BackForTheFinale she's undergone enough CharacterDevelopment that her belligerance is actually proportional and appropriate to a given situation) and the Clippy-like AI for the ship barely appears and is never named - possibly because everyone's taken a few months to get trained and doesn't have to stop to consult tutorials mid-battle anymore. |
| 156 | * The final chapter of ''The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'', does away with the book's lighthearted antics with its opening line "[[WhamLine Christopher Robin was going away]]". The tone becomes somber, almost mournful as all the animals begin to realize that things won’t be the same anymore. The only example of levity shown is through Eeyore's “Goodbye” poem, which degenerates into an absentminded ramble. When everybody goes to Christopher Robin to give him the poem, Eeyore senses that he wants to be alone and storms off. While Christopher Robin reads it, everyone else quietly disappears. Only Pooh is left. To a child listening to the story, it’s slow-paced with not much happening. To an adult reading, it’s surprisingly moving and perhaps upsetting. |
| 157 | [[/folder]] |
| 158 | |
| 159 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 160 | * ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': |
| 161 | ** Lovable optimistic snarker [[spoiler: Tripp]]'s death heralded a much darker chapter in [[spoiler: Skye's life]] and the show. Lampshaded by Skye: |
| 162 | --->'''Skye''': We're gonna laugh a lot less, that's for sure. |
| 163 | * ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', when Trance stopped being purple. |
| 164 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 165 | ** Poor Spike is left to rot in a wheelchair while the significantly less cuddly Angelus steals the spotlight in the second season. |
| 166 | ** Season 6: Jonathan and Andrew are sent to jail, and Warren faces off with Dark Willow, who takes over as the FinalBoss, seeking vengeance for Tara's demise. |
| 167 | * When [[spoiler:PluckyComicRelief characters Cal and Chloe die]] in episode 11 of 13 in murder mystery ''Series/HarpersIsland'', it's the final sign that there will be no more funny bits. |
| 168 | * ''Series/BattleBots'' was always a serious competition, but the original run on Creator/ComedyCentral decided to frame it as being a parody of televised sports in post-production, shoehorning in comedy sketches and other silliness with the contestants between fights, and FanService co-hosts. The current seasons, which began on Creator/{{ABC}} and moved to Creator/DiscoveryChannel in 2018, are much more serious in tone. |
| 169 | * A good indicator of whether or not ''Series/BreakingBad'' is about to get incredibly serious or dark is whenever Saul Goodman, the sleazy lawyer behind Walter White’s criminal business, leaves the scene in an incredibly tense situation. Fittingly, he does not even appear in the incredibly dramatic and tear jerking finale. |
| 170 | ** However, some of this becomes a bit of CerebusRetcon once his spin-off prequel, ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' reveals that most of his sleazy personality is a front, and he’s a very broken man man beneath his public persona. |
| 171 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': |
| 172 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'': Comic-relief villains Toxica and Jindrax go through a HeelFaceTurn and ride off into the sunset to "find themselves" before the two-part season finale, which is pretty bleak until the last few minutes. Their ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' counterparts, by contrast, neither reformed nor survived. |
| 173 | ** For the final two episodes of ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', which are the most sombre the franchise had seen at that point, and have a severe DownerEnding, Bulk and Skull don't make a single appearance. |
| 174 | ** Also Bulk and Skull during ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace''. As the series got darker, they had a reduction of screen time, but their actions in the last episode make up for it. |
| 175 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' removed Bulk and Spike from the final five episodes (save for one scene) in order to emphasise that things were coming to a climax. |
| 176 | * In ''Series/YoungDracula'', Wolfie (Vlad and Ingrid's younger half-brother) seems to disappear after [[spoiler:Erin becomes a vampire]] and things get much darker. |
| 177 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 178 | ** An unusual example: Jon Pertwee did this ''to himself'' after his first few stories. He was cast with many of his comedic talents, such as magic tricks and skill with doing different voices, in mind, but Jon ultimately decided to play it straight for the remainder of his five years. |
| 179 | ** At the beginning of Season 18 the Doctor hangs up his shabby rainbow boho ensemble in favour of a much classier dark red outfit, sets his QuirkyCurls into a smoother mane, and suddenly starts acting detached and moody. A few stories later, Romana, the witty MetaGuy and pseudo-DistaffCounterpart, is PutOnABus along with the funny little RobotDog. Then we get the "Return of the Master" {{Arc}}, which is extremely sad and dramatic and involves everyone on a companion's planet and the Doctor dying. |
| 180 | ** In their [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon initial appearance]], the Slitheen exhibit [[{{Gasshole}} uncontrollable farting]], supposedly owing to the compression caused by having to wear [[GenuineHumanHide human suits]]. (This circumstance even spurs in the Ninth Doctor's most notorious line of dialog from his entire tenure: "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?") Then the most interesting member of the Slitheen [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown returns]] and is given a more serious storyline... and not-so-coincidentally is suddenly able to perfectly suppress all of her comedy flatulence from about half-way through the episode on. |
| 181 | ** The Tenth Doctor's funniest companion was Donna Noble--while she wasn't exclusively PluckyComicRelief, she and he formed a comic double-act for much of their companionship. Just before the Doctor's death storyline begins, she's written out in an '''[[VictoryGuidedAmnesia extremely unfunny way]]'''. Two breather specials later, Ten's recurring streak of hubris [[AGodAmI hits its peak]] and he basically signs his own death warrant. |
| 182 | ** Towards the climax of the episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], [[ThoseTwoGuys the Vinvocci]] -- who have mainly been light relief up until this point -- leave the Doctor and Wilf on Earth to confront [[spoiler:the Master and the Time Lords]], after which they decide the Doctor's incoming regeneration is SomebodyElsesProblem and fly off in their spaceship to never return. |
| 183 | ** The Series 9 prequel short "The Doctor's Meditation" and the first half of "The Magician's Apprentice" have the Doctor confiding in the kindly but slow-witted Bors in medieval Essex while the former is having TheLastDance; Bors believes the Doctor to be a magician and owes him his life over almost choking to death on a marble. During the Doctor's "farewell concert" and his reunion with Clara and Missy, Bors begins to choke again...and coughs up a snake that's part of [[spoiler: Davros's]] just-arrived henchman Colony Sarff, who rounds up the other three. From there, it's revealed that Bors is now [[spoiler: a Dalek puppet, meaning he died at some point]], and the episode goes downhill from there emotionally. |
| 184 | ** "The Girl Who Died" is a mostly-lighthearted story, with the LargeHam villains are sent packing with their tails between their legs via the Doctor and Clara threatening to reveal their cowardice to the universe via a viral video! Then it turns out that [[spoiler: sweet Ashildr]] died in the course of their undoing, and the episode takes a heartbreaking turn as [[spoiler: the Doctor decides to revive her, even though it will also make her immortal]], which paves the way for further tragedies down the line. |
| 185 | ** In the end Series 9 had no {{Breather Episode}}s, climaxing with an extremely dark three-part story that temporarily turned the Doctor into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. To counteract this grimness, the follow-up ChristmasEpisode "The Husbands of River Song" is a colorful romp with comical villains who embody EvilIsHammy to varying degrees, and other secondary characters are mostly PlayedForLaughs. The climax sees all of the villains destroyed or neutralized before pulling the ''very'' serious plot twist that [[spoiler: the Doctor and River crash-land on the planet he knows is where they spend their final night together]], and the denouement is bittersweetly romantic save for a quietly humorous interlude that reveals the fate of the remaining characters. |
| 186 | * In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', PluckyComicRelief and LovableCoward Hot Pie is shuffled off to a safe place midway through the third season. Following his departure, not only does any hope of a happy ending in Arya's arc (of which he was a part) become extremely unlikely, but the events after he leaves also give little hope of a happy ending for the series as a whole. Fortunately, Arya meets up with him again in the final season, and he still works at the bakery he was left at. He is also the one who informs her that the Starks had retaken Winterfell, leading to Arya reuniting with her remaining family. |
| 187 | ** In general, the jesters and fools of the novels have either been dropped altogether (Moon Boy, Butterbumps, Patchface) or found their roles severely cut (Ser Dontos Holland), even the disturbing ones (Shagwell, Jinglebell). |
| 188 | * For the season two finale of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' when The Machine is about to [[spoiler:go offline]] [[TeamPet Bear]] disappears. It's explained he was with Leon. |
| 189 | * In ''Series/InspectorRex'', Giandomenico Morini, a funny, childlike character, transfers to Milan and is replaced by Alberto Monterosso, a more serious character, before [[spoiler:Fabbri is killed]]. |
| 190 | * In ''Series/{{Justified}}'', Boyd's murder of [[spoiler:Dewey Crowe]] in season 6 takes the show in a darker direction. |
| 191 | * The shift from comedy to drama on ''Series/{{MASH}}'' was expedited by the departures of such mostly-comedic characters as Henry Blake (at the end of season 3), Trapper John (season 4), Frank Burns (season 6), and Radar (season 8). |
| 192 | ** After Radar's departure, Klinger's character became far less wacky and comedic when he was made company clerk, which required him to abandon his cross-dressing. |
| 193 | * In ''Series/TeenWolf'', while Stiles is the comedic relief of the show and responsible for a lot of the show's most hilarious moments, his overall role has become significantly less funny as the seasons have progressed. In season 1, he's the straight comic relief. In season 2, he remains comic for most of the season, but the last few episodes have him hallucinating his father blaming him for his mother's death and then he's kidnapped and viciously beaten by the villain [[IHaveYourWife to teach Scott a lesson.]] In 3a he's still the funniest character on the show, but has matured somewhat and near the end goes into HeroicBSOD when [[spoiler: his father is taken as a sacrifice and Stiles spends 16 hours dead in ice water to get him back]]. This trope really kicks in 3b, the darkest season of the show to date, as Stiles spends the first few episodes of 3b basically losing his mind, then [[spoiler: thinks he's dying of the same disease that killed his mother, only to discover he's possessed by the BigBad, spends multiple episodes being mentally tortured and forced to hurt his friends, and ultimately the arc culminates with him trying to commit suicide to save everyone]]. |
| 194 | * Rex the ''Coelurosauravus'' from ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' acted as the adorable and comedic TeamPet of the group, and as such he had a growing tendency to vanish from an episode whenever things got serious until eventually he barely appeared or was mentioned at all, save for a couple quick cameos to remind us that he's still around/alive. In one episode, he's nearly ''killed'' by Connor Temple's herpetophobic RomanticFalseLead when she locks him in a fridge, but fortunately Abbey finds him and saves him. |
| 195 | * This trope is the most likely explanation for the SupermanStaysOutOfGotham situation between the mainstream MCU heroes and the MCU Netflix shows. Even at their darkest, most MCU movies are a thousand times LighterAndSofter than any of the Netflix shows, so keeping the movie heroes out of New York ensures that the dark, gritty, mature tone of the Netflix shows remains no matter what. |
| 196 | ** Also why there hasn't been a Creator/StanLee cameo, since these tend to be comedic BigLippedAlligatorMoment's in the films. Instead, the shows have his face being used on campaign posters from the NYPD, shown throughout the shows. |
| 197 | * {{Enforced|Trope}} by ''Series/BabylonFive'', which operated under a standing order from Creator/JMichaelStraczynski that any [[GratuitousAnimalSidekick animal sidekicks]], [[RobotBuddy funny robots]], [[KidAppealCharacter cute kids]], or [[AcePilot hotshot pilots]] were to be brutally killed off as soon as physically possible, if they appeared at all. This was ''not'' a bluff; the one time [[ExecutiveMeddling executives tried to add a snarky pilot to the cast]], he was immediately and horribly killed in his first episode, while a cutesy kid appeared in another episode almost solely to [[LittlestCancerPatient die a tragically avoidable death]]. |
| 198 | * ''Series/SomedayOrOneDay'': After [[KnightOfCerebus Xie Zhong Ru's]] appearance, Huang Yu Xuan's colleagues steadily make fewer appearances and eventually stop appearing in the plot altogether, as the average tone of the episodes grows to the darker side and the threats to the main characters increases. |
| 199 | * A minor version happens in ''Series/{{Glee}}'' during one of the darkest storylines in the entire series, Karofsky's suicide attempt. When New Directions learned about it, the four queer members of the club--Kurt, Blaine, Brittany, and Santana--confront rival glee club the Warblers and their antagonistic leader Sebastian. Brittany is the only named character to remain silent for the entire scene. She's a BrainlessBeauty best known for her nonsensical one-liners, which would've been completely out of place for a such a somber scene. |
| 200 | * ''Series/RadioEnfer'': Every character who appeared during the final season appeared in the second part of the two-parter GrandFinale, with the exception of [[StereotypicalNerd Germain]] and [[BrainlessBeauty Jean-David]], who were both comic reliefs. Both of them were sent to the hospital because of an accident caused off-screen by Jean-David in the previous episode. [[ShooOutTheNewGuy This was likely done so the finale could focus on the characters introduced in the first two seasons (as Germain and Jean-David were introduced during Season 4 and Season 5 respectively)]]. Averted with [[Bungling Inventor Galgouri]], who was also a comic relief character introduced after Season 2 (Season 4 in his case), and yet managed to appear in said GrandFinale and have a prominent part in it. |
| 201 | [[/folder]] |
| 202 | |
| 203 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 204 | * Music/{{Eminem}}: |
| 205 | ** Eminem's first five major-label albums all contain at least one goofy, comedic, radio-friendly single filled with punchlines and (usually) celebrity references: "My Name Is", "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me", "Ass Like That"/"Just Lose It", and "We Made You". They also all include skits from Interscope personnel telling him to [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder tone it down]], and the DepravedHomosexual Ken Kaniff. ''Recovery'', an album in which Eminem attempts to [[CareerResurrection revive his career]] by rebranding himself as a RecoveredAddict and [[ToBeAMaster hip-hop star athlete]], speaks confessionally about his addiction problems and the murder of his best friend Music/{{Proof}}, and does not have a comedic lead single or any skits. The following album, ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'', which was intended as an OlderAndWiser version of Eminem's 2000s persona, led with the silly and colourful "Berzerk" and incorporated skits, including an (as of 2023, final) appearance from Ken Kaniff. |
| 206 | ** Eminem's persona trilogy of albums all have a sequence of button-pushing shock comedy or horror songs, followed by a skit from Paul in which he suggests Eminem tone it down, which leads into a more confessional part of the album. Subverted in ''Music/{{Encore}}'', where Paul's claims he's worried about Eminem just cause Eminem's songs to get even more vulgar and weird. Also subverted in ''Relapse'', where Paul is so grossed out by the content that he quits, leading Em to descend even further into nastiness. Played with on ''Kamikaze'', where Paul similarly shows up to object to the album's content and get Em to change it, but it's that he thinks making an album entirely out of TakeThatCritics {{Diss Track}}s is a bad strategy. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 210 | * In ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'', Tim Stoker provides much of season 1's ComicRelief; even after [[spoiler:being injured in the Jane Prentiss attack and finding out he can't quit his job]] serve as his CynicismCatalyst and he begins to hate the Institute, he's still a DeadpanSnarker who brings levity to many of the darker scenes of seasons 2 and 3. When he [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice blows himself up]] in order to stop the [[ApocalypseHow Unknowing]]]] at the end of season 3, it paves the way for the much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker, grimmer tone]] of season 4. |
| 211 | [[/folder]] |
| 212 | |
| 213 | [[folder:Puppet Shows]] |
| 214 | * Upon the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', Rizzo decides that events have gotten too scary and Gonzo agrees, so the {{Interactive Narrator}}s leave with Gonzo saying to the audience, "You're on your own folks, we'll meet you at the finale." |
| 215 | * In ''Film/SesameStreetPresentsFollowThatBird'', all of the Muppets sans the obvious exception of Big Bird are absent from the dramatic car chase towards the end. |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 219 | * ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' does this during the later days of the Fedcom Civil War and all throughout the Jihad. Units and characters whose main purpose was to give a slightly humorous, referential, or colorful flavor to the world are almost all killed off or disbanded, ostensibly to demonstrate that the setting was fully embracing the bleakness of its storyline. [[spoiler: This includes units such as the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Fighting Uruk-hai]], [[Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension Team Banzai]], and [[WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther Ace Darwin's Whipits]] among others.]] |
| 220 | [[/folder]] |
| 221 | |
| 222 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 223 | * OlderThanSteam: Creator/WilliamShakespeare knew the value of this trope. |
| 224 | ** Mercutio in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is the UrExample: his Act III death [[DisasterDominoes sets the rest of the play's tragic events in motion]]. |
| 225 | ** The Fool in ''Theatre/KingLear'' vanishes without explanation before Lear's mad scene and the death-filled Act V, though one theory is that this is merely because The Fool and Cordelia were played by the same actor in Shakespeare's own production. Another theory is that The Fool was killed off offstage: one production opened with a tableau of The Fool and Cordelia hanging side by side on a hangman's noose. A few productions have had him silent but on stage during the mad scene, and Lear killing him during his mania. Of course, one interpretation is that Lear is the fool for much of the play, the Fool is acting much wiser than him. About the time the Fool disappears from the Play, Lear has become wiser. |
| 226 | ** In ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', after Brutus and Cassius have reconciled from an argument, the poet barges into their tent, and tries to lighten the mood, only for Brutus and Cassius to send him on his way: |
| 227 | --->'''Cassius''': How now! What's the matter?\ |
| 228 | '''Poet''': For shame, you generals! what do you mean?\ |
| 229 | Love and be friends, as two such men should be,\ |
| 230 | For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye.\ |
| 231 | '''Cassius''': Ha, ha! How vilely doth this cynic rhyme!\ |
| 232 | '''Brutus''': [[GetOut Get you hence, sirrah! Saucy fellow, hence!]]\ |
| 233 | '''Cassius''': Bear with him, Brutus. 'Tis his fashion.\ |
| 234 | '''Brutus''': I'll know his humor when he knows his time.\ |
| 235 | What should the wars do with these jigging fools? Companion, hence!\ |
| 236 | '''Cassius''': Away, away, begone! |
| 237 | ** In ''Theatre/HenryV'', Falstaff's offscreen death puts the audience on notice: the former Prince Hal is now King Henry, and can afford no more cheap laughs. |
| 238 | ** In ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', [[ThoseTwoGuys Rosencrantz and Guildenstern]] are gotten rid of by the end of Act IV, where Hamlet changes the execution order they're delivering from himself to them. The death of [[OldWindbag Polonius]], meanwhile, sets the act in motion. |
| 239 | * The disciples in ''Theatre/{{Godspell}}'' are played as literal clowns and wear clown makeup to mark them out as followers of Jesus. He finally calls them together and removes their makeup in the scene immediately preceding his crucifixion and death. Making this more a case of ''Erase'' The Clowns. |
| 240 | * In ''Theatre/StreetScene'', the comic NarrativeFiligree in the second act abruptly ceases when Mr. Maurrant shoots his wife and her lover to death, only to ironically resume in the last minute of the play when the plot has already reached its DownerEnding. |
| 241 | * In ''25 Saints'', Tuck and Sasha are shooed out shortly before the KillerFinale. |
| 242 | * In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', shortly after [[spoiler:all the students, save Marius, are killed on the barricade]], who should appear but comic relief Thenardier! Only to sing a song about how God is dead, steal a ring off of Marius's (supposed) corpse, and exit, robbing more dead people of their valuables [[spoiler:including his own dead son and daughter]]. Instead of shooing out the clowns, they chose to make the clown ''exactly as serious and horrifying as the surrounding action''. |
| 243 | * ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'': |
| 244 | ** Lafayette, Laurens, and Mulligan, who are responsible for many lighthearted moments in the show, are all gone by the end of Act I, right before Hamilton's life snowballs into a shitshow. Their actors are double-cast as Jefferson, Philip Hamilton and Madison respectively. |
| 245 | ** King George appears sporadically through the musical providing humorous/cynical commentary on events through reprises of his song. But his last appearance is in "The Reynolds Pamphlet" where he has no lines but is one of the politicians dancing and taunting Hamilton for blowing his chance at becoming president due to his affair. The rest of the musical is much more somber, as it covers the death of Hamilton's son Phillip and the events leading up to the famous duel and Hamilton's own death, and as a result, an appearance from George would have been inappropriate in tone. |
| 246 | * In ''Theatre/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame: TheMusical'', Quasimodo shoos away his imaginary gargoyle friends upon crossing the DespairEventHorizon during TheElevenOClockNumber, "Made of Stone". |
| 247 | * In ''Feathers and Teeth'', Chris's comedic German neighbor Hugo Schmidt is the first victim of the eponymous feathered-and-toothed creatures. |
| 248 | [[/folder]] |
| 249 | |
| 250 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 251 | * In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', Henry doesn’t take part in either the final confrontation with Dennis or the escape from Barbarossa. |
| 252 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': |
| 253 | ** Taiga Fujimura. Whenever she suddenly stops coming over for some reason, things are going to get worse. |
| 254 | ** Also note that Sakura Matou gets the [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Unlucky Childhood Friend]] treatment and disappears around the same time as Taiga in the first two arcs, which is more Shoo Out the Cute than the Clowns. Then comes the [[DarkAndTroubledPast Heaven's]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Feel]] [[RoadCone scenario]]. |
| 255 | * Arihiko in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' has a funny tendency to simply stop showing up after about the third day. In Ciel and Akiha's routes he stays slightly more important as they involve the school more. |
| 256 | * This happens with a character's ''mask'' in ''VisualNovel/DramaticalMurder''. Clear initially comes across as a pure CloudCuckoolander comic relief character who wears a bizarre-looking gas mask all the time. His route starts out as more of the same, with Aoba being continually driven up the wall by his wacky antics. Then Aoba persuades Clear to remove his mask and his route and character do a sudden 180 into [[spoiler:WhatMeasureIsANonHuman territory]] and there is literally not a single humorous or light-hearted scene after that. |
| 257 | * You can tell a route in ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' is about to get more serious when Hisao's crazy neighbor Kenji stops showing up. In Lilly's route, he shows up after [[spoiler:Lilly tells Hisao that she's going to Scotland]] (albeit while [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness not quite acting like he usually does]]). Interestingly enough, Shizune's route, he appears in [[spoiler:the scene immediately before the bad ending]], of all times. |
| 258 | * This tends to happen in ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' around Chapter 3 or 4: |
| 259 | ** In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', [[spoiler:Ibuki Mioda]], one lighthearted, cheerful and fairly humorous student, is murdered in the third chapter, as a sign that the game is getting significantly darker. This is even an EnforcedTrope, as her killer lampshades that it's precisely ''because'' of her carefree, quirky personality that made her so well liked and her death was intended to plunge everyone into despair. It then happens again almost immediately in Chapter 4, which sees the deaths of both [[spoiler:Nekomaru Nidai and Gundham Tanaka]] — who, while not as peppy in-universe as [[spoiler:Ibuki]], were basically the last two sources of comic relief for the audience thanks to their LargeHam personalities. The final two chapters are ''much'' darker, with all the remaining characters being relatively serious by nature and understandably traumatised given the circumstances. |
| 260 | ** The second game also has Kazuichi make a robot toy known as [[spoiler:"Minimaru," a miniature replica of the robot Nekomaru that says some of his lines and serves as a ReplacementGoldfish of sorts]]. The toy gets turned off for the last two trials, which are the darkest in the game. |
| 261 | ** In the third game, ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' we have [[spoiler:Miu Iruma]], the loud, perverted source of a lot of humour in the story, particularly the trials. Her death and its fallout ''instantly'' cause a significant change in tone, and the remaining students are drastically shaken by the AwfulTruth behind her death. |
| 262 | ** Also from ''Danganronpa V3'': the Monokubs, the "children" of Monokuma, gradually die off over the course of the game, with one dying each time a student is executed. The fourth execution, the same chapter in which [[spoiler:Miu Iruma dies and the group is forced to convict an amnesiac Gonta, who'd been manipulated into killing her]], kills off the remaining two Monokubs as a sign of how much darker things have become. Replacements for the Monokubs are brought back in the final trial, but Monokuma has them blown up each time they fail to hinder the remaining protagonists, and all of them are destroyed by the time the identity of the mastermind is revealed. |
| 263 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 264 | ** The final cases generally tend to be the most serious due to all the high stakes in the trials. While there can be some comedic or at least chuckle worthy moments, they are exceedingly rare and the courtroom dramas are played very seriously. |
| 265 | ** The final trial with the final witness in ''Trials and Tribulations'' has all the comedy and laughs completely thrown out the window. The cross-examinations has the witness, [[spoiler: Maya,]] heartbreakingly scared and cornered, almost begging to Phoenix to not make [[spoiler: her]] talk about what happened. There's sorrow on both sides of the courtroom when the discussion of why the murder took place comes up. Even at the very end when the defendant is cleared of murder charges, the usual applause from the gallery is absent, and no confetti is thrown. |
| 266 | ** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' in Case 5. Things get so serious and dramatic, with the stakes so high for Apollo, Phoenix and their client, that [[PluckyComicRelief Athena]] is completely left out of the action and just watches the trial from the gallery. This is because, if the defense is not able to prove their client innocent and Athena participates, she will get executed along with the guys. So they tell her to stay away. |
| 267 | ** In the same case, Trucy is told to stay home when the rest of the cast travel to Khura'in. She reappears at the end of the case, having stowed away in Edgeworth's suitcase. |
| 268 | ** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' features a six-member jury in most of the trials that take place in British courts- the latter three chapters of the first game, and the second and third chapters of the second game. Each of the members qualifies as comic relief to varying extents, usually having their own quirks and bizarre reasons for thinking the defendant's guilty. In the last trial of the second game, which spans the final two chapters, the jury is not present, partly because of the mood of the trial- [[spoiler:Inspector Gregson, a significant recurring character, has been killed, and Prosecutor van Zieks is charged with his murder]]- and partly because the trial is a closed court attended only by members of the judiciary. |
| 269 | * In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', any given arc generally gets serious (and scary) after the shrine festival. Until then it's usually a chance to show the characters at their cutest. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 273 | * [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice''. The episode "Comic Relief Characters" suggests getting rid of the comic relief for the final act, even if it results in MoodWhiplash and the story taking itself too seriously. |
| 274 | * ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': |
| 275 | ** In episodes focused on the Freelancer project, despite [[LaughablyEvil O'Malley, Wyoming, and Gary]] being prominent villains in the first five seasons, and all having origins lying in the project, their screentime has been greatly limited, with only Wyoming getting a few brief lines. This is due to how their goofier personalities would clash with the more serious tone of the Freelancer segments. |
| 276 | ** O'Malley/Omega got a minor form of this in the opening of ''Reconstruction''. In ''Blood Gulch Chronicles'', he manifested as a parody OmnicidalManiac SplitPersonality of whoever he was infecting. In the opening of season six, we hear the account of a shell-shocked soldier who had dealt with O'Malley arriving in his vicinity... and it's not played for laughs. |
| 277 | *** It's implied this is because O'Malley had only infected idiots, resistant pacifists, or Texas before. Once in some semi-competent soldiers with some actual aggression to use and no experience restraining an AI... |
| 278 | * ''[[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'': A running gag throughout the [=YouTube=] Arc arc has the CEO of [=YouTube=]'s surname, Susan Wojcicki, to be randomized every time her name shows up. In ''Mario VS [=YouTube=]'', her name is displayed properly. [[spoiler:Although [[DownplayedTrope still funny at some points]], from that point on, the arc takes a very dark turn with [[BigBad SMG3]] deciding to [[RetGone erase [=SMG4=] and his gang via the [=YouTube=] Remote]]. In the next episode, ''Deleted'', he does that. Those deaths are played seriously for some of the characters, namely Tari and Meggy]]. |
| 279 | * ''WebAnimation/SuperMarioBrosZ'': This happens with Wario and Waluigi twice: |
| 280 | ** In Episode 1, they’re sent flying out of the stadium by a Bob-omb when [[ArchNemesis Bowser]] arrives to challenge Mario. |
| 281 | ** In Episode 2, Metallix's missiles catapult them away from Luigi and Yoshi. The following sequence consists of Yoshi falling off a cliff and getting into a brutal fight with Metallix. |
| 282 | [[/folder]] |
| 283 | |
| 284 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 285 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has, for example, phased out the "anime martial arts instructor" (a character who exists almost solely for comedy, e.g. trying to go "super saiyan" in his first appearance), in favor of Nanase's mother (a character who exists ''solely'' to cause drama, e.g. criticizing Nanase for not spending every single waking hour devoted to schoolwork and then punishing her for objecting to this). |
| 286 | * Happens in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''; the heavier the plotline, the less you'll see of [[RobotBuddy Pintsize and Winslow]]. |
| 287 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': |
| 288 | ** The "Fire and Rain" StoryArc (a large peak in seriousness in the first five years of the comic) occurred in Nebraska, thousands of miles away from the usual setting, with no [[TalkingAnimal Talking Animals]], [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]], or any of the strip's other wacky attributes. Just an insane assassin and a terrified coed. Okay, one person gets turned into a camel, but even that was treated pretty seriously by the comic's standards. |
| 289 | ** Years later, [[TalkingAnimal Kiki]] is similarly absent for the entirety of the "[[NothingIsTheSameAnymore bROKEN]]" StoryArc. She appears sleeping in the background at some point and then isn't seen until after the funerals. |
| 290 | * Early in ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'''s [[CerebusSyndrome "Hob" Arc]], Tiny Carl Jung is invited by the Tokamak's to accompany them in seeing Kimiko's newest discovery. He declines. |
| 291 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': |
| 292 | ** The author has pointed out that some of the {{troll}}s receive more focus in the comic due to being more important to the plot, with the less important ones generally staying in the background. With the storyline becoming more serious and the stakes becoming higher, it seems somewhat telling that among these DemotedToExtra trolls are [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom Nepeta]] and [[TheStoner Gamzee]], while Vriska not only is counted as an important character, but the one ''responsible for setting the events of the entire arc in motion.'' Gamzee has since come roaring back into the plot, or at least the trolls' segment of it, but surprise surprise: [[spoiler:he's shed the comic relief mantle. Though he's still hilarious in a dark sort of way.]] |
| 293 | ** Earlier, Jade's dreambot was a silly little source of PluckyComicRelief and general cuteness. At the end of act four, however, it [[spoiler: malfunctions and explodes after Jade's dreamself dies]], marking the beginning of ''Homestuck'' becoming a much more serious story. |
| 294 | ** ''Literature/TheHomestuckEpilogues'' has a much heavier emphasis on the hardships of growing up/adulthood than the comic proper and is darker in tone. The Carapace race had been free of at least the teen angst of the humans and trolls, so it's not that surprising that they are DemotedToExtra in the Epilogues, with an offhand comment in Meat revealing that [[spoiler:WV/The Mayor had died at some point. Presumably from old age, being in the past to help create Earth C, while the Game players had time-travelled to where civilization had been made]]. |
| 295 | * Obadai seems to disappear whenever things get serious in ''Webcomic/RumorsOfWar''. He isn't above instigating some drama himself, as a semi-GenreSavvy TricksterMentor of sorts, but he plays a small role in the action of the story -- which may be [[MentorOccupationalHazard for another reason entirely]]. (He does display signs of GenreSavvy, after all.) |
| 296 | * Bricky (a talking brick) will often disappear from ''Webcomic/TheLifeOfNobTMouse'' when a more serious storyline is running. The exception was when KnightOfCerebus Grandfather Time first arrived however, as Bricky played a key role in defeating the Grandfather's minions. |
| 297 | * Tom Siddell typically has [[TheRant some humorous blurb]] under the strips of ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. He always shuts up when the plot dips into genuinely somber material, especially if it involves backstory concerning Annie's late mother. |
| 298 | -->'''Tom:''' Page notes will return when the chapter stops being about dead people. Come on. |
| 299 | * Throughout the darkest ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'' arc, "Missing Person", involving the investigation of a kidnapping and climaxing in attempted murder turned attempted suicide, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} GenkiGirl Lisa Winklemeyer is absent with the exception of a silent and understated two-panel appearance early on. |
| 300 | * ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'' has a similar situation as Gunnerkrigg. Each page has a funny or sarcastic little aside underneath, but when the situation starts getting dire--such as when Noisemaster goes into the final stage of his plan to wipe out the Melody Kingdom--it vanishes. (There's a difference between merely perilous and this sort of deathly serious, because TheRant is still there when they almost get chunked into the sun.) |
| 301 | * The early years of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' had the Partnership Collective: a Borg-like hivemind of lawyers whose drones took the form of goofy-looking snakes in ties. They were silly, weak and largely non-threatening, as well as laughably unsympathetic. As the main storyline grew more complex and the protagonists dealt with far more severe situations, and antagonists willing to commit atrocities to get their way, the silly lawyer-snakes just didn't cut it anymore and were phased out. (Justified in-story; the Toughs have a bounty contract on them and will gleefully kill any drones they see, so the Collective is avoiding them. They ultimately sell the contract to [[LawEnforcementInc Sanctum Adroit]], though not without a little regret.) |
| 302 | * Most pages of ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'' have witty little [[AltText Alt Texts]]. They tend to be absent, however, when the story's tone gets dark. Lampshaded on one occasion by the author herself. |
| 303 | --> '''Alt Text:''' ...Is [[KnightOfCerebus that weirdo]] gone? Phew, I can talk again. |
| 304 | [[/folder]] |
| 305 | |
| 306 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 307 | * The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' amassed quite a lot of quirky/humorous elements since its beginnings, and currently it seems most silly elements are being {{Retcon}}ned (as with [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/chowderclef "Chowderclef"]], which states that Dr. Clef was never the cool dude he was presented as.) See [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-192324/scp-like-foundation-personnel this forum thread]] for further explanation. |
| 308 | * ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', once the game is more than half-finished. At the start, there seem to be some comic relief characters, and some other stuff that seems a bit odd and out of place in such a grim situation, mostly {{Narm}}ish or just good humoured. This is fixed by the second half. Once the characters remaining are dawned upon with the fact that they are the only ones left alive out of 200+ classmates, even more noticeable towards the end, the comedy evaporates, and the shit does '''down'''. |
| 309 | * In ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', Linkara's conflict with "The Entity" is preceded by its slowly absorbing everyone else on earth, thus eliminating the quirky, humorous supporting characters (Ninja-Style Dancer, Harvey Finevoice, Pollo, Iron Liz) and leaving Linkara to face it alone. Interestingly, the biggest "clown" in the cast, [[DiscoDan 90s Kid]], is instead [[spoiler:possessed by the Entity]], so he is still at least physically present (as much as he usually is anyway; [[ActingForTwo Linkara plays him]]), but behaving in a far from humorous manner. |
| 310 | ** The first person to disappear was ''literally'' [[NonIronicClown Boffo the Clown]]. |
| 311 | ** Similar, during the movie, [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Nostalgia Critic]] is left in bed, indisposed. |
| 312 | * The ''[[WebAnimation/DorklyOriginals Dorkly]]'' article, "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20140518073918/http://www.dorkly.com/post/60847/these-8-characters-are-definitely-going-to-die These Eight Characters are Definitely Going to Die]]", includes in the list, "[[AcePilot The Wisecracking Pilot]]", and uses this logic to explain his (less likely to be "her") death. |
| 313 | -->'''How They're Going to Die''': [[FaceDeathWithDignity With a quip]]. |
| 314 | -->'''Why''': Because killing comedy creates drama, that's the rule. |
| 315 | * ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' has this for its three presidential election rap battles. For 2012 (Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney), it's light-hearted and most of the lyrics are based off exaggeration. For 2016 (Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton) however, it's noticeably DarkerAndEdgier, with the lyrics being based off what both candidates actually said. Abe Lincoln does appear in both rap battles but he's more serious in the second battle than the first one. For 2020 (Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden), the rap battle's tone is ever darker and edgier than 2016's, with Lincoln not even being present at all, to reflect how [[SeriousBusiness serious the 2020 elections are]]. |
| 316 | * ''WebVideo/EscapeTheNight'' starts out as rather comedic, largely thanks to [[SassyBlackWoman GloZell]] and her LargeHam acting. As soon as the guests begin to die, she’s heavily toned down and begins to fall OutOfFocus. She briefly returns to the spotlight but is much less comedic and more unpleasant(her hamminess is now PlayedForDrama instead of being PlayedForLaughs). After her death, the show takes a MUCH darker turn. |
| 317 | ** The same thing happens with Liza, who dies about half way through and marks a turning point in the season. |
| 318 | [[/folder]] |
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