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1->''"Now, I've noticed a tendency for this programme to get rather silly. Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I'm not having things getting silly!"''
2-->-- '''[[TheComicallySerious The Colonel]]''', ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''
3
4How does the work present itself? Do the characters appear to treat their current situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency or do the actors seem to be having way too much fun with their roles?
5
6The answer depends on where the series falls on the Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness.
7
8* A largely silly series relies heavily on the RuleOfCool, the RuleOfFunny, and the RuleOfFun. Much of the dialogue is made up of cheesy one-liners, and emotions and reactions are often exaggerated or otherwise played for laughs. NoFourthWall and NegativeContinuity may also be present, though not required, and it is possible to use both tropes in serious works as well. Expect WorldOfHam series to often fall squarely on this end of the scale.
9* A mostly serious series relies more on the RuleOfDrama, and the writers at least try to make the dialogue and emotional responses as realistic as possible, though if written or delivered poorly it can still result in {{Narm}}. It is possible that there may be moments of comic relief, but in general the series will retain its serious tone throughout.
10
11It should be noted that when a creator creates a piece of media, they often take their work very seriously and want it to be good. But that doesn't mean that the work in question has to take ''itself'' seriously.
12
13It should be also noted that this scale is completely independent of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism. It is entirely possible to have a work be idealistic but retain the same level of seriousness throughout, such as in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Likewise, it is equally possible to have a very silly and campy work be downright cynical throughout, such as ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
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15Careful fact-checking might be a good indication of where the show lies on the scale. If the person clearly [[ShownTheirWork did do the research]] and the situation presented on the show at least closely resembles how it would happen in RealLife, then most likely the show takes itself seriously. However, it should be noted that just because they didn't check their facts, doesn't mean that the show was supposed to fall on the silly side. It could just as easily have been the result of carelessness or ignorance as to how things actually work on the part of the writers, thus leaving the series still serious, but filled with plot holes and factual errors. On the other hand, if the presentation is clearly done as a parody, or presented in such an outlandish and over-the-top manner, then the show itself probably doesn't take itself too seriously.
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17 This is also not a measure of quality. Many works are silly, but highly acclaimed, and many works are serious, but panned. Conversely, many works on the serious end are highly acclaimed, while many silly works are awful. Many works that are on the serious side but are considered bad have been criticized for [[TooBleakStoppedCaring taking themselves TOO seriously, thus becoming humourless, po-faced and pompous]] on top of their other faults, and many people believe that [[SoBadItsGood such works would have been more enjoyable]] had they been more {{camp}}, sometimes leading the creator to attempt a ParodyRetcon. Conversely (although relatively rarer), it is possible for a show to not take itself seriously enough, which can affect the audience's ability to immerse themselves in the drama; if the writers and characters obviously don't take what's happening seriously, why should the audience? True to form, works that are SoOkayItsAverage can fall on either side of the scale, with slight silliness being moderately prevalent.
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19 Many fan bases tend to take the object of their fandom more seriously than the casual viewer and often vocally demand that the show reflect this; see MaturityIsSeriousBusiness for more on fans of this mindset. PanderingToTheBase can pose a problem, however, if as a result of this a show initially quite 'silly' begins to take itself ''too'' seriously, with the result of turning off casual viewers. If silly scenes and serious scenes are back-to-back to each other, beware of MoodWhiplash. CerebusSyndrome can occur if the work starts out on the silly side, and eventually ends up on the serious side over time. Some concepts can confuse the scale, such as BlackComedy -- comedy is generally more silly, but the subject matter of BlackComedy is dark and serious.
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21Compare and contrast {{Bathos}} when the story zigzags between silly and serious and/or when the story can be both silly and serious. See also SillinessSwitch, which is designed to slide a work towards the silly end. For shifts towards silly or serious, see LighterAndSofter, DenserAndWackier, and DarkerAndEdgier.
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23----
24!!Examples:
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26[[foldercontrol]]
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28[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
29* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'' can best be described as a GagSeries with sincere heart. On the one hand, the creators' response to the absurdity of the concept is to lean into it by piling the absurdity on. On the other hand, Rentarou's romances need to be sincere and heartfelt to make the concept work. Which means the series needs to be able to [[MoodWhiplash switch between modes when needed]].
30* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' goes from one side to the other whenever it feels like it. At times it occupies both sides of the scale simultaneously. And it works.
31* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' is definitely on the silly side of things. NoFourthWall, NegativeContinuity, an UnreliableNarrator who interacts with the characters, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney Mask the Money...]] and that's all without the [[ParodySue Parody Stu]] main character who is both a Marty Stu AND TheChewToy ''at the same time''. The picture for this ought to just be Hayate talking about the [[{{Yakuza}} "Very Nice People."]] This doesn't stop the series from doing serious, or semi-serious, story arcs, as with The End of the World or Golden Week. This happens more in the manga than the anime, though even then there is only one truly serious story arc and it still keeps the comedy.
32* Some people consider ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' too silly because even when the story gets serious, visual gags abound and the characters manage to crack jokes in the middle of the most adverse of situations, causing immense MoodWhiplash. Possibly the only two parts that does without any measure of humor is the [[WholeEpisodeFlashback lengthy flashback]] [[TearJerker about the war in Ishval]] and Shou Tucker. And halfway through an episode of ''Brotherhood'' (its direct anime adaptation), a very excited and cheerful announcer will sometimes yell "FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST" in the midst of a gory battle. MoodWhiplash twice within 15 seconds. The [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime version]], on the other hand, while often mixing deadly serious and completely farcical elements just like the source material, took itself ''much'' more seriously and included allusions to very adult themes (most infamously, [[spoiler:gang rape]]). Given this, it seems strange that ''Brotherhood'' received a higher rating of R-17, whereas the 2003 anime was a PG-13.
33* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' starts off on the far side of silly, but winds up somehow mixing hyper-reliance on RuleOfCool with {{Tear Jerker}}s and [[ShootTheDog dog-shooting]].
34* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' can go from one length to the other without any warning, but when the going gets serious, it usually stays serious until the end of the arc. This creates a good effect of MoodWhiplash. On the other hand, there is ''Kira'', which is so full of FanService and ridiculousness that most fans [[FanonDiscontinuity disown it]].
35* ''Manga/ElfenLied'' also has some extremely radical shifts from silliness to seriousness and back again and gives off plenty of MoodWhiplash of its own. Overall it probably doesn't take itself too seriously.
36* ''Anime/MDGeist'' takes itself very seriously and many have criticized it for doing so, given how poorly made and ridiculous it was. The fact that it manages to keep a straight face while talking about an evil called '''DEATH FORCE''' stored in an impenetrable fortress called '''BRAIN PALACE''' is part of the reason why it's SoBadItsGood.
37* ''VisualNovel/{{SHUFFLE}}!'' is another one that goes from one end to the other. The first half of the series is full of fun, {{fanservice}} and harem jokes. The second? It got worse. Most people find this an example of GrowingTheBeard, but a few think it's JumpingTheShark.
38* ''Manga/KillMeBaby'' is at the extreme of the silly side, being chock full of AmusingInjuries. Only during the 13th episode of the anime is when the series manages to get serious, and even then it's only for a few moments.
39* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' starts off very far on the silly side and although it gradually becomes more serious as the series progresses, it never completely loses its sense of humor.
40* The ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' manga for the most part takes itself pretty seriously. The main exceptions are the scenes involving either Puck or Isidro, who both tend to be extremely silly and have even broken the fourth wall a few times. Puck and Isidro are not present in the anime due to the anime mainly taking place during the Golden Age arc of the manga, which has the Band of the Hawk bringing their occasional moments of humor to the series -- right up until [[spoiler:they die horribly when the Eclipse goes down]].
41* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' owns this trope. It's mostly a gag comedy but it can seesaw into dark and sentimental territory.
42** Serious fight scenes are interspersed throughout but there is always witty dialogue to accompany them. Characters are really good at ruining serious moods.
43** This series often serves to deconstruct various (and more serious) genres in a humorous way.
44* ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a series that can be shockingly violent and dark at times, while being ridiculously silly near-simultaneously:
45** The universe of the series is set in a world where the two major powers are 1) a corrupt government that overtaxes all its citizens to support the lavish lifestyle of a few wealthy aristocrats, and 2) a handful of bloodthirsty psychopaths who kill anyone they don't like and could overthrow the government if they didn't hate each other so much. In a manga where the main character is friends with a talking reindeer and a singing skeleton.
46** The fight scene in the Alabasta arc where Usopp, the lovable comic relief, ''gets his skull cracked and nose broken by a 4-ton bat'' (among other painful things), features a gun-dog hybrid who sneezes exploding baseballs.
47** Another example of ''One Piece'''s ambiguousness in this is the Arlong Arc. During the flashback to the death of Bellemere, her fall to the ground following being shot is cut through a few times with other brief flashbacks of giggle-inducing footage of young Nami and Bellemere's relationship. Very hard to cry and giggle at the same time.
48** The Dressrosa arc has a scene where Franky (a half-naked cola-powered cyborg with light-up nipples) fights a middle-aged man dressed as a baby, who then gets a heart-wrenching backstory about ''dressing in his dead son's baby clothes because it's the only way he can connect with his catatonic wife when she's injured in an accident after learning of his secret double life as a criminal''
49* ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' falls so far on the silly side that it ''breaks the scale''.
50* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is a complicated case: in its lightest moments it could almost be categorized as comedy, but its dark climax is... rather grave.
51%%* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'' may be one of the few shows that trumps the [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion show above]] in seriousness. Seriously, there is ''no'' show that is more serious than ''Texhnolyze''.
52%%* ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'', perhaps, considering ''Texhnolyze'' is sort of its SpiritualSuccessor...
53%%* Though not as dark, ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'' is very serious.
54* Comparatively, ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' takes very serious subjects, such as suicide, domestic violence and rape, and makes them [[BlackComedy *funny* ]].
55* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' and ''Anime/{{Rahxephon}}'': both music-themed mecha shows, both very clever, both on opposite ends of the scale. For one thing, FLCL uses modern rock and Anime/{{Rahxephon}} uses classical music.
56* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' is decidedly serious. It has comic-relief moments, but only one real laugh line ("No, it's still broken.").
57* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is ''extremely'' serious, with the exception of some short goofy moments, and keeps the more over-the top villains for short moments while giving most of the time dedicated to serious and tridimensional villains.
58* ''Manga/DeathNote'' is very serious. Most of the humour is subtle and the kind that makes you chuckle, not laugh out loud. It doesn't cross over into {{narm}} ''too'' often in the anime...and almost never in the manga.
59** Most notably, Ryuk's hijinks, especially when apples are involved, Misa's shenanigans, and almost everything about L, and Mello's chocolate-eating habits.
60* ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' spends exactly 2 episodes being serious. When you have a living ResetButton as part of the cast, it comes with the territory. By contrast, the manga features a sliding scale that is all over the place: with hectic silliness interlaced with looming seriousness. It tends to hit the serious end [[spoiler:when dealing with Il Palazzo and Kabapu's origins, motivations and encounters. Also worth noting the fact that Excel's past and first encounter with Il Palazzo is hinted to be a dark one. Last but not least, the daily life of Excel and other ACROSS operatives are presented to be dire - dirt-poor and always near-starved, at some points imprisoned and/or homeless (to the point where Excel considers imprisonment to have the advantages of 'three hot meals a day and a cot']]
61* ''Manga/{{Blame}}'' begins as SeriousBusiness and ''ends'' as SeriousBusiness, though an almost complete lack of [[{{wangst}} drama]] prevents any {{narm}} from showing up. There ''are'' a few darkly humorous scenes though, near the beginning... If you squint.
62** ''"My arm should be around you. Should you come across it, please take it with you."''
63* In ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'', OrdinaryHighschoolStudent Yuuri is flushed down a toilet into an alternate universe where he is seemingly arbitrarily crowned king of demonkind. Then they hit you with the FantasticRacism and SealedEvilInACan. It slides on down the scale toward serious through the series, with a few (mostly) filler-induced fluctuations.
64* ''Manga/Reborn2004'' started out deeply steeped in RefugeInAudacity with its ButtMonkey protagonist and gun-toting [[EnfantTerrible baby]] tutor...then the [[CerebusSyndrome Kokuyou arc]] happened. Now its a largely serious piece with perhaps a bit more comic relief than usual thrown in as a reminder of its roots.
65* ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' is very far on the serious side. It's realistic in that a few characters can see the humorous parts of life as well, though.
66* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' swings between both ends of the scale, which results in a fair bit of MoodWhiplash - especially if you're having an ArchiveBinge and watching ''[[Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu Fumoffu]]'' and ''The Second Raid'' back to back. Given the way later installments in the light novels are going, expect more of the same.
67* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' seems light-hearted at first, but after the Land of Waves arc Starts, it can get very serious even by {{Shonen}} standards, especially after the time skip. Dear god where to begin there.
68** Naruto the titular character himself also exhibits this trope. In Serious mode, he has the "I want to be stronger than all Hokages", "I will never give up", "I have to catch up to Sasuke and bring him back", Sennin mode, kyuubi mode, and now the Rikudo mode. In Silliness mode, he has the sexy technique, farting humour, stupidity, ramen obsession, pervert. This was nearly lampshaded once, when Naruto went into Kyuubi mode and started a rampage, and Sakura sees a flashback of Naruto smiling with his hand on the back of his head, and remarks, "Is he really ''that'' Naruto?"
69** He often does both at the same time (and make it effective). In the introduction arc, Kakashi sticks his finger in Naruto's ass with so much strengh it sends him flying, several arcs later, when Naruto is fighting against his (until that point) stronger enemy he decides to use the same technique, except that instead of a finger he sticked an explosive, Gaara states that his sand armor was the weakest in that part.
70** In terms of other characters, any fight focusing on the HotBlooded Rock Lee or Might Guy, or the [[JiveTurkey jive talking Killer B]] will mix comedy and drama throughout.
71* ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'' is pretty serious. [[{{Chibi}} The second part]], on the other hand, is '''very''' silly.
72* ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' is a series that's very aware it's a sports manga and has no problem poking fun at itself; whether it's lampshading particular cliches, cracking jokes during moments that would be played as tense in any other series, or having characters so over-the-top and fun that any flatness they may have is forgiven.
73* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
74** The franchise has usually placed itself far at the serious end of the scale, with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'', ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'', and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', the most cinematic Gundam shows thus far, probably at the farthest end of the serious side of all of the series. The ones that go closest to the silly side include ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]''.
75** ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' is for the most part a very silly and fun show. It does, however, tend to dip into the serious side of things, namely when it involves the Cyber-Newtype expy, Aila. ''Especially'' episodes 20 and 21.
76* ''Franchise/DragonBall'' is a popular case. In the beginning, the first ''Manga/DragonBall'' series was pretty silly but starts getting more and more serious over time. By ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', it's mostly serious but still has quite a few humorous aspects to it such as the Ginyu Force, Mr. Satan and a lot of things in the Majin Buu arc. Then came ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' where silliness increases over time and little serious situations comes after (such as Goku Black and Jiren).
77* ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'' is an often very serious manga, with gory deaths and no character being safe from getting killed; however this doesn't stop it from constantly adding jokes or over the top elements. Even the normally very serious main character Gally/Alita has moments in which she cracks jokes, does silly things or accidently reveals that she is not as smart as she pretends. Last Order drives the point home when one character got heavily injured and the distraction to get him away results in a super sonic thumb fight between two martial arts fighters.
78* ''Manga/YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches'' is, as a rule, on the silly end of the scale - even though it tries to be a bit more serious in its continuity, plot and characterization than your standard comedy fare, it still has silly humor as its main forte. A couple of the arcs do come closer to a middleground, however - for example, the first memory wipe arc which revolves around a fairly serious concept (feeling the pain of loneliness when others have forgotten about your existence) but still has way too many comedic moments to be on the serious end of the scale. The series generally suffers from MoodWhiplash, and the comedic and serious moments tend to replace each other when you least expect it.
79* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' manages to have two distinct tones for each medium; the anime is notably more serious in atmosphere than the manga--of which teeters between stomach-churning gore and campy discussion about secret butt-wiping techniques.
80* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' is notable in that the [[Manga/GhostInTheShell manga]] and [[Anime/GhostInTheShell1995 anime]] are on somewhat different points on this scale, notably with respect to the horror of [[MindRape ghost hacking]], in which a person's entire identity can be ripped away. In particular they treat the garbage man who was manipulated by the puppet master in very different ways. The manga treats it for laughs, in which he returns to work the next day and is promptly made fun of by his coworker. The anime explores the horror in which he realizes that the picture that he believed to be him with his daughter was of him alone and that he could not remember her name or how long he had been married to his wife.
81* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' starts off relatively silly with it mostly being a SliceOfLife comedy. That deeply changes after Episode 11 where the plot kicks in and gets more serious. It gets even more serious in Episode 15 when [[KnightOfCerebus Croix]] shows up and Episode 22 gets the character to go into the DespairEventHorizon.
82* ''Anime/ReCreators'': Serious, and increasingly so as the series goes on. At first, ''Re:CREATORS'' was willing to treat the idea of [[RefugeeFromTVLand fictional characters coming to the real world]] with some degree of levity, [[spoiler:then [[KillTheCutie Mamika dies]]]] and it all goes to hell afterwards. Really, did anyone expect anything else from the creator of ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' and the director of ''Anime/AldnoahZero''?
83* ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' is an interesting case. It starts out tilted towards the silly end of the spectrum because, although its story was fairly serious, there were also plenty of moments dedicated entirely to comic relief. However, the series steadily got more and more serious until, a little after the middle of the series, it became absolutely dead serious. The comic relief moments didn't go away completely, but there were far less of them, and the series became much more likely to make you cry than laugh.
84** Alternatively, the anime version of ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' sits pretty far on the silly scale, as the anime changed several aspects of the manga and was cancelled before things got too serious.
85* ''Anime/SailorMoon'' mixes both ends of the scale throughout, as the majority of the episodic, MonsterOfTheWeek episodes are very silly in tone, while the more plot-driven episodes are much more serious in nature.
86[[/folder]]
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88[[folder:Comic Books]]
89* ''ComicBook/TankGirl'' is set in the Australian outback in a dystopian future. The main character is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a girl who drives a tank]]. And drinks beer. And snogs kangaroos. On the silly side, most plots are very thin and resolved in some ridiculous way.
90* ComicBook/{{Bone}} creates a perfect balance here. The heroes could be walking through the dark forest, right into a very serious and threatening ambush of two rat creatures. The next thing you get is the two arguing about whether they should capture them alive or [[RunningGag make them into a quiche]].
91* ''ComicBook/SinCity'', as dark as it is, is so over the top and insane that it often ventures into BlackComedy with a dash of RuleOfCool.
92** Perfect case in point: [[TheBerserker Marv.]] Any action he takes could apply, but possibly the most wildly [[RuleOfCool ludicrous]]: Marv flat-out torturing a series of seemingly random, shady people in his search for information. This culminates with an image of him in a car, holding an unfortunate face-down in the asphalt, driving at a speed fast enough for the unfortunate's legs to be up in the air. In essence, he is using the street as a grindstone and holding a dude's face into it. Marv's line, also captured in TheMovie, is "I don't know about you, but I'm having a ball." This sequence captures this trope masterfully, as not only is the situation extraordinarily insane, not only would this guy have not survived through the first two seconds of this abuse, not only could Marv ''never hope to actually get information out of this guy afterwards'', but ''Marv is one of the good guys.'' With zero irony, Marv is a sympathetic hero searching for truth and justice AND ALSO a psychotic madman who murders and tortures freely in this horrible CrapsackWorld. The seriousness and silliness is completely interwoven throughout all of the Sin City stories, with varying degrees of success.
93* Every run of ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} before the Daniel Way relaunch was a balancing act of serious plot and character development, and wacky humor, black comedy, and comedic "caper"-esque scenarios. Creator/GailSimone's ''Agent X'', being an extension of her ''Deadpool'' run, was identical in tone to these, while her similarly-approached ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' was a seedier, more depraved version of that. The comics launched in 2008 with Daniel Way's run are almost exclusively focused on setting up scenarios for the purpose of laughs, making Deadpool more of a Looney Tunes cartoon that interacts with the more straight-faced Marvel Universe. An exception to that is Deadpool as he appears in Uncanny X-Force, where for comedic purposes he's batshit insane, but for drama purposes he displays more poignant humanity (such as a sequence where he [[WhatTheHellHero calls out the other members of the team for killing a child]], an issue that happens to parallel a moment in Frank Tieri's Deadpool run). Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan's 2013 run, however, marks a return to the pre-Way approach, balancing serious and silly.
94* The ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse has had both dramatic and comedic subplots in many stories since the early 1940s. But the contrast between comedic and relatively serious stories is sometimes greater than expected. In some stories, the featured characters are fighting for their lives against ruthless foes, harsh weather conditions, or supernatural forces. Danger seems omnipresent, and death seems near. In other stories, these same characters engage in silly arguments, obsess over trivial matters, or antagonize each other because they had nothing better to do at the time.
95[[/folder]]
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97[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
98* Prior to ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'', Creator/{{DreamWorks Animation}}'s animated films are on the serious side before later being almost entirely silly.
99* Creator/{{Pixar}} can do this time to time on this scale for their films.
100* Creator/The Peanuts movies (excluding [[WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie]]), the first two films, ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' and ''Snoopy Come Home'' have sillier plots whereas the latter two films, ''Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back)'' and ''Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown'' have more serious plots.
101[[/folder]]
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103[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
104* ''Film/MoulinRouge'' could be considered the perfect representation of this scale because it begins serious, goes silly for a long time and then, at the second act, smashes onto seriousness. Resulting in serious MoodWhiplash. The opening scene is Christian James at his typewriter, obviously quite depressed and a little teary at [[spoiler:Satine's death and having to write their story, which was her last request]], as he writes about how a narcoleptic Argentinean man crashes through his ceiling, followed soon by a midget dressed as a nun. It's followed by Zidler dressed as a bride singing Madonna's "Like a Virgin" done as a Creator/GilbertAndSullivan number, complete with Creator/BusbyBerkeley choreography. [[spoiler:But before that, we learn Satine has tuberculosis and hasn't told anyone, a sure sign that's she's going to die, probably in the final act.]]
105* Given its extremely bizarre plot, the creators decided to make ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'' as campy and silly as possible, and they even reshot certain scenes to make them sillier.
106* Despite their differing feel, each of the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' movies have maintained a consistently serious tone throughout. That was until ''Film/AlienResurrection'', which many fans are all too happy to [[FanonDisContinuity disown]].
107* The ''Film/{{Predator}}'' movies, on the other hand, take themselves slightly less seriously, with a high level of machismo throughout the first movie, along with one-liners peppering the dialogue throughout both films. Though the first movie does start out more silly and makes a big turn to seriousness once [[KnightOfCerebus the title character makes his first appearance]].
108* An ongoing debate over the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series is how silly or serious the three trilogies are in comparison to each other. Many long-time Star Wars fans were outraged by the silliness and slapstick in the prequels. Other fans, including Lucas himself, insisted that the original trilogy was quite silly as well. The age at which you originally watch each trilogy may be a factor in how you perceive them on the scale. One could say that the original Star Wars trilogy was an example of CerebusSyndrome, depending on how much you buy the theory that the more dramatic, character-driven sequel ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' was largely the doing of director Irvin Kirshner and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan rather than Creator/GeorgeLucas. Disney's sequel trilogy and spinoffs fall mostly on the serious side.
109* ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' lost a lot of viewers who were not expecting the slapsticky horror film parody to play the horror and drama of the ZombieApocalypse so straight at times in the second half. The filmmakers insisted that the film was not intended to be a parody, but a real zombie movie that also had a lot of humor.
110* The ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' films could go toward either end of the scale, depending on the director.
111** The Creator/TimBurton films were dark and gothic and had a very morbid sense of humor. [[Film/Batman1989 The first]] was successful but many people felt that ''Film/BatmanReturns'' went way too far in this direction.
112** Creator/JoelSchumacher's Batman films harkened back to the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' and so made his Batman films {{lighter|AndSofter}} and {{camp}}ier than the two previous films, complete with [[LargeHam hammy]] acting, evil schemes that were utterly ridiculous, and of course plenty of Bat nipples and Bat asses to go around. ''Film/BatmanForever'' was successful in this regard, but ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' went too far with this and is [[FranchiseKiller utterly reviled.]]
113** After 8 years without a Batman movie, Creator/ChristopherNolan took a more serious approach to Batman (though it still has its share of cheesy one-liners, as well as scenes like Bruce taking a ballet troupe on a private cruise just to screw up Rachel's date), with ''Film/BatmanBegins'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''. The addition of ComicBook/TheJoker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' added some humor, but what was there was [[BlackComedy extremely dark]]- The Joker's ''[[EyeScream magic trick,]]'' anyone?
114* The Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, comparatively, has among other points of contention frequently been criticized for going too far along the "serious" end of the scale, ending up being rather po-faced and humorless. The main outlier is ''Film/Shazam2019'', which is the most lighthearted and goofy DCEU movie.
115* ''Film/JamesBond'' has an inconsistent track record with this. Films like ''Film/DrNo'' and ''Film/LicenceToKill'' take themselves very seriously, but others like ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' or ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' remove the brakes on sanity. Bonus points to ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' for being a serious Clancy-style thriller one moment and a ride through MysticalIndia land the next. Both worlds collide when Bond deactivates a nuclear bomb...''while wearing a clown suit''. It seems to vary more from actor to actor.
116** Creator/SeanConnery's Bond was generally on the more serious side, although not afraid to have fun, go on grand adventures, and crack jokes. As his era went on, things slid more into super spy camp.
117** Creator/GeorgeLazenby's Bond had one fairly serious film, ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService''. Despite everything else, it ended on a very serious, sad, note.
118** Sir Creator/RogerMoore's Bond was frequently the silliest and campiest of them all, with films like ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' and ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' being considered the silliest in the series. They stepped down the silliness somewhat, but Moore's gift for comedy, as well as campy writing, stopped him from ever having films that were ever more than briefly serious.
119** Creator/TimothyDalton's Bond had no silly films. This version of James Bond was dark and remorseless. While never really silly or campy, he wasn't quite the most serious one.
120** Creator/PierceBrosnan's Bond started out fairly seriously in ''Film/GoldenEye'', but did often retain some camp elements and comedic bits. However, his films got sillier and stupider as they went along. Unfortunately, it wasn't the like the sort of fun, goofy, warm, affectionate camp that came to embody the Roger Moore era. They did try to keep the serious tone from ''Film/GoldenEye'', despite the plots becoming more convoluted and ridiculous. Really, it was just plain bad writing, which often tried to awkwardly marry together silly plots with the insistence that it was all SeriousBusiness.
121** Creator/DanielCraig's Bond is by far the most absolutely serious one of them all, to the extent where one could reasonably argue that he is a {{deconstruction}}. Craig plays Bond decidedly DarkerAndEdgier than any of his predecessors. This incarnation of James Bond doesn't joke, rely on gadgets, or save the world; he's a government-employed contract killer, and he absolutely is comfortable with it. ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' was, in many ways, the absolutely most gritty, realistic film in the entire series. ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' was dead serious, too, and apart from the somewhat improbably machinations of the villain, is pretty damn grounded. A frequent criticism of ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', however, is that it's ''too'' serious, and in its determination to be gritty and realistic strips away almost everything that makes James Bond movies unique and fun in the first place. It's notable that while still aiming for a DarkerAndEdgier tone, both movies that came after (''Skyfall'' and ''Film/{{Spectre}}'') nevertheless begin to re-incorporate some of the more traditionally 'goofy' elements of the Bond franchise as well.
122* Contrast ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' with the film often cited as its SpiritualSuccessor in audience participation, ''Film/HedwigAndTheAngryInch''. Both are musical comedies with queer overtones and an obsession with glam rock, but ''Rocky'' is absolutely devoted to the RuleOfFunny, with no character really possible to "read" except as a pastiche of other archetypes, the events not bound by logic so much as what would make the best song or ShoutOut, and frequent theatrical musical numbers; ''Hedwig'', on the other hand, takes itself generally seriously (with a bit of BellisariosMaxim), being heavily a character study with musical numbers that come without exception from the titular band's playlist (although not always being played by them), and a sense of humor that comes mostly from DeadpanSnarker Hedwig. It may tell of the difference in times that Meatloaf nearly quit ''Rocky'' upon realizing just what he was getting into until being assured everything was PlayedForLaughs, and is now a noted influence on the music in ''Hedwig''.
123* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' [[spoiler:goes all the way from the serious end, as it starts out with two thieving brothers on the run from the law (along with the family they kidnap), but halfway through it switches into an extremely campy vampire movie set in a debased Mexican bar.]]
124* ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' took its entire plot and much of its dialog from a completely serious movie called ''Zero Hour!'', then turned the silly knob up. ''Airplane'' is serious. And don't call it Shirley.
125* The ''Franchise/EvilDead'' films go from serious (''[[Film/TheEvilDead1981 The Evil Dead]]'') to silly (''Film/EvilDead2'', ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'') and back to serious (''[[Film/EvilDead2013 Evil Dead]]'' remake) as the films go on.
126* The screenwriters of ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' stated that when they knew the sequel called for larger-scale and more intense violence and death, they decided to try and balance it out with more outrageous humor. In other words, they tried to go down ''both sides of this scale at once''. Needless to say, fans were not pleased.
127* ''Film/TheRoom2003'': Every time Johnny is on screen, whatever seriousness the movie might have built up with the other characters is lost and his scenes quickly become hilarious.
128* Creator/ShaneBlack tends to play with the scale a lot, sometimes making a CerebusRollercoaster within a film.
129* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' is definitely very silly in concept but the characters in universe, the performance of the actors and the theme/sense of despotism is very serious. Somehow this doesn't clash with the ridiculous premise and goes beyond narm or narm charm into something glorious. No doubt helped by a sound track from Queen.
130* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'', as the longest running film franchise in history, [[CerebusRollercoaster has consistently bounced back and forth]].
131** The original ''Film/{{Godzilla 1954}}'' is an ''extremely'' serious and bleak film that depicts Godzilla's rampage of destruction as the horrific occurrence it would be in real life as an allegory to nuclear weapons. Even Godzilla himself is depicted as a TragicMonster, as much a victim of nuclear weaponry as humans.
132** The "Showa" era (1954-1975), particularly after [[Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain the second film]], moved to the silliness side more and more as time went on, especially after Godzilla began becoming more of a hero. While the last [[Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla two]] [[Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla films]] of the era moved a little closer to the serious side, they still had none of the bleak tone of the original.
133** The "Heisei" era (1984-1995) moved closer to the serious tone of the original (though never matching it). Godzilla went back to being portrayed as a force of destruction, though one that could occasionally be [[DestructiveSavior a lesser evil to the monsters he was fighting]]. While the films bounced back and forth a bit, with the [[Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla first]] and [[Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah last]] films of the era being the most serious, every one was far closer to the tone of the first film than anything in the "Showa" era.
134** The "Millennium" era (1999-2004) went a little back and forth for its entire run, as all but one of the films was a reboot taking place in its own continuity. It does contain arguably the most serious [[Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack film]] since the original, or at least the 1984 film.
135** ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'' was meant to [[RevisitingTheRoots hark back to the original tone]]. In terms of seriousness, it comes close to some of the darker films of the "Heisei" era, putting a serious focus on Godzilla's penchant for destruction, but also portraying him as one who could be a benefit.
136** ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' presents one of the serious depictions of Godzilla since the 1954 film. Godzilla is portrayed as a TragicMonster again, but also one who is extremely malicious, and there is the danger of the United Nations allowing a nuke to Japan to stop him.
137* Creator/TheCoenBrothers' solo outings have been on the exact opposite of this scale: Joel's solo directorial debut, ''Film/TheTragedyOfMacbeth'' is a serious drama that's an adaptation of one of [[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} the most famous tragedies]] ever written, while Ethan's solo directorial debut, ''Film/DriveAwayDolls'', is a silly and campy road trip comedy that not only doesn't take itself seriously, but outright actively refuses to. With that in mind, it's now very clear which of the brothers is the serious one and the fun one in their dynamic.
138[[/folder]]
139
140[[folder:Literature]]
141* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxyTrilogy'' has to be among the silliest works in print.
142** And pretty damn campy in every other format it's been done in, too.
143** It also lambasts the serious end of this trope with the Roary, a small silver award given for the most gratuitous use of the word "fuck"[[note]]In the American version, this was changed to the word Belgium.[[/note]] in a serious screen play.
144* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is another example of a work which is cynical but not "serious". It's set in a CrapsackWorld full of bizarre conspiracies and senseless tragedy, but the style of LemonyNarrator (himself a tragic figure) lends everything a lighthearted and over-the-top tone. Besides, many of the actual details, like the costumes adopted by the villains, can be accurately described as "cartoony".
145* ''Literature/ThePrincessBride''. Its setting, which is "before Europe" but "after America", is a good indicator how seriously it takes itself. And "after Paris", which is lampshaded by both the editor and Goldman in one of the asides.
146* ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'': often shifts suddenly from absurdist humor to depressing realism. A good example of this is the chapter following Doc Daneeka, which first describes [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated a series of events that happen to the doctor]] in such a way as to make them seem hilarious, only to then describe how they essentially ruined his life, leaving him a shadow of his former self.
147* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books are an interesting case; they started out mostly being silly, but while they have shifted to being more "realistic," they haven't actually stopped being ''funny''.
148** The books slide internally as well. ''The Fifth Elephant'', for example, begins with the fool's guild trying to put out a fire via slapstick, and ends with Carrot promising Angua that he'll kill her if necessary. Beginning silly and ending serious is the most common pattern.
149** In his acceptance speech for an award for ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'', Pratchett points out that, contrary to popular belief, funny is not the opposite of serious.
150** Discworld's place on the scale can be summed up as "silly, but not from the characters' point of view".
151* This funny-serious thing is also very prevalent in ''Literature/GoodOmens''. Case in point: Crowley. Wears sunglasses, drives a Bentley, DeadpanSnarker, terrorises his houseplants, questions God's grand plan and speculates on the paradoxical good and evil within humanity...
152* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' takes itself very seriously. Silly moments are few and far between, although not completely absent. Tragedy is far more common. This is writer Stephen R. Donaldson's trademark. Fantasy is SeriousBusiness (though he does it rather well, and improves over time).
153* Creator/StevenErikson's ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' is mostly dark and serious, even tragic, but the mood is lightened by a number of comic relief characters, such as Kruppe and Tehol Beddict and even some of the immortal demi-gods having a surprisingly silly sense of humour. For example, in ''Literature/DeadhouseGates'', the High Priest of Shadow sends Icarium Lifestealer and his companion Mappo Runt on a quest to find and recover his broom amids a continent-spanning rebellion and hundreds of shapeshifters trying to achieve godhood.
154* Most Creator/KurtVonnegut novels seem to work by piling absurdity and silliness upon absurdity and silliness until somehow you're left with something quite serious and profound.
155* J. Robert King's ''Mad Merlin'' trilogy completely fudges this. It's supposed to be an epic adventure but contains scenes too bizarre to be taken seriously. This in fact plagues nearly everything that King writes, both tie-ins and original fiction. No matter how hard he tries to write it a serious fantasy epic, it will be filled with bizarre, nonsensical and inexplicable events, sometimes going into downright silly and ridiculous and coming dangerously close to a RandomEventsPlot strung together from {{Big Lipped Alligator Moment}}s.
156* T.H. White's ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' starts off silly and gets more and more serious as it reaches its {{Anvilicious}} conclusion.
157* Kids' book ''Literature/JenniferTheJerkIsMissing'' starts out as a suspenseful tale of a kidnapped 8-year-old and the desperate attempts of a tall tale-telling boy to get his babysitter to believe him, then turns into the exciting attempt to rescue the girl but, once they get there, the mood swings over into silly territory. The kidnappers are ridiculous, one of them pointing his hand through his jeans so as to fake having a gun. Jennifer herself is so over-the-top bratty that it's hard to feel sorry for her being BoundAndGagged, especially when she lets a disdainful "ha ha" under her gag. If not for the suspenseful elements of the plot still continuing during the silly phase, it would easily be MoodWhiplash.
158* ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighers Of Adumar]]'' is an interesting case. Creator/AaronAllston was in top form in this one; this book is said to be the funniest novel in the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse, and certainly there are the most jokes and snarky irreverent remarks per chapter. Most of them coming from Wes Janson. At the same time, beneath the humor it's a very solid story about duty versus personal responsibility, with Wedge eventually deciding, in essence, "[[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw being in the New Republic military for my entire adult life]], [[TheCape I will not kill people who are not my enemies.]]"
159* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series as a whole demonstrates a gradual shift from silly to serious. For example, in only [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first book]] do the characters sing the extremely silly school song, which would feel rather out of place by [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Book 5]].
160* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' features some very serious situations, ranging from magical drug trafficking/murder to destroying the world, but our hero inserts quite a bit of silliness into these situations. He does become more serious as the series progresses, but the silliness does show through every now and again.
161* It's interesting to chart Creator/PGWodehouse's progression from serious to silly over his career. He was never ''seriously'' serious, of course, but his early works are more-or-less realistic school stories about chaps playing cricket and foiling burglars. Then he stirred things up by inventing the flamboyant Literature/{{Psmith}}, with his monocle and tendency to 'jaw', and as Creator/EvelynWaugh said, that was the moment that the 'divine spark' struck Wodehouse. Yet he continued writing realistic novels, including numerous romantic comedies in the 1920s. It was only when he was in his fifties that he dedicated himself entirely to silliness, concentrating on the Literature/JeevesAndWooster and Literature/BlandingsCastle novels and the various other farces that represent his best work.
162* Stella Gibbons began at the silly end of the scale with ''Literature/ColdComfortFarm''. Her subsequent novels tended to be much more serious, and not nearly so successful, a fact that depressed her.
163* Some works of the Creator/StrugatskyBrothers, namely those not part of the Literature/NoonUniverse continuity, while still quite serious in intent, fall on the silliness side in execution, notably ''Monday Begins on Saturday'', a very lighthearted fantasy parody with a hard science spin on it (the core idea is: magic obeys scientific principles and can be studied), with lots of stuff added for RuleOfFunny and RuleOfCool, lots of witty banter and snarky one-liners and the occassional campy character or two. ''Tale of the Troika'' is much more cynical in both versions (censored and non-censored), being a covert satire of Soviet bureaucracy, and is much more weird than silly, but RuleOfFunny and camp are still present. The same can't be said for the Noon Universe cycle - it started out serious and stayed that way throughout. While the first novels did contain humorous elements (the Strugatsky style, especially their humour, are something of a trademark among Russian SF fandom), they could hardly be classified as silly. All of this disappeared almost completely as CerebusSyndrome kicked in in full gear, with the later novels being on the utterly serious (and fairly dark) side of the scale, and their last novels, a few of which had no connection to the Noon Universe anymore, being utterly depressing barrages of GrimDark.
164* The works of Mikhail Zoshchenko, the flagship of Soviet satire, come off as extremely cynical, while at the same time being utterly silly. The characters and the situations described are so absurd that the reader can't help but laugh nearly constantly. All the while, like with most good satire, it should actually NOT be funny - Zoshchenko, who lived and wrote his stories during the Bolshevik revolution and the early Soviet era in the post-revolutionary period, stressed several times that he did not understand why people were laughing like mad when reading his stories, since the appropriate reaction would be to break down in tears - because, according to him, almost all of the stories were based on real events he witnessed in early Soviet society, the absurdity thus being shockingly real.
165* ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'' (if the title didn't give it away) is rife with silliness, though it becomes less frequent towards the end when it starts getting more [[MoodWhiplash grim and scary]]. For example: during the prologue, Dave and John become trapped in a haunted house's cellar that is flooding with feces -- the reason they can't escape being ''[[HilarityEnsues the door-handle has transformed into a lifelike human penis.]]''
166[[/folder]]
167
168[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
169* ''Series/TheXFiles'' has gone to both ends of the scale throughout its run. During Seasons 1-5 it generally took itself very seriously, except for the Darin Morgan episodes, which had a very surreal comedic feel to them. While Seasons 6 and 7 had their share of serious episodes, they also had quite a few episodes that went even further with the surreal humor to the point of making the episodes downright campy, such as the two-part "Dreamland" episode from Season 6 and "Hollywood AD" from Season 7. Season 8 returned the series to the more serious end of the scale, while season 9 once more had a mixture of serious episodes as well as lighthearted and really campy episodes as well.
170* ''Series/Millennium1996'', also created by Chris Carter, was serious throughout its first season but as with ''Series/TheXFiles'', fluctuated between seriousness and camp during seasons 2 and 3.
171* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' usually fell very far on the silly side of the scale, with intentionally hammy acting and very over-the-top characterization and often plots that present a sort of grotesque parody to sitcom plot conventions and other very outlandish stories.
172* Many Hispanic SoapOpera take themselves very seriously, no matter how silly the "tragedies" appear after being subjected to FridgeLogic. Because of that, doing comedic (or at least {{Dramedy}}) soaps, such as ''Series/YoSoyBettyLaFea'' and its Mexican spinoff ''Series/LaFeaMasBella'', is tricky and difficult. There have been interesting experiments where the producers follow the conventions, but present them with a slight farcical tone, where the main love story is treated seriously but the rest... not that much.
173* The ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' TV series of the 1960s not only rests at the "silly" end of the scale, it jumps off that end and keeps swimming. Some days you just can't get rid of a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4v1hAnfy1I bomb]].
174* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' fluctuates between the two extremes so much it could you give whiplash. It's certainly done the homework for the UrbanLegends, the psychology and what crappy (long-term) consequences could come from the characters' actions but not so much for the seriousness of wounds or how long it takes to get from one place to the other. And just when you think it's getting far too grim and bleak and disheartening for its own good, along comes a gimmicky episode like "Tall Tales" where Sam and Dean are raging bitches to each other and all their quirks and flaws are heightened to the point of absurdity. It started around the third season (with "A Very Supernatural Christmas" and "Mystery Spot", some of the season 4 episodes focused a lot on comedy (blended with angst), and season 5 took it to the extreme, since it was basically an alternation between very serious episodes, like "The End", "Abandon All Hope" and extremely silly episodes, like the one with Paris Hilton, or "Changing Channels", the latter of course being an example of this sliding scale all on its own, much like "Mystery Spot." [[spoiler:Most of the Gabriel episodes tend to be like this.]]
175* ''Series/DoctorWho'' jumps between the two so much that the entire series is one long example of MoodWhiplash. An example is Seasons Seventeen and Eighteen of the classic series. Seventeen is often criticised as being an example of a show not taking itself seriously enough; an increased emphasis on humour (thanks in part to script-editor Creator/DouglasAdams, best known for his work on ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''), a low budget mixed with some truly mad ideas and the production team's willingness to let series star and LargeHam Tom Baker off the leash entirely lead to a great deal of camp, which many fans felt ruined the drama a bit (of course, for other fans, this was all part of the charm). Conversely, Eighteen saw a new production team take over, and they promptly dialed back on the comedy, put Baker on a tighter leash and tried to introduce more gravity, seriousness and scientific earnestness into the show. However, it could be argued that they went too far the ''other'' way; fans began criticising the show for being po-faced and taking all the fun out of it. Then again, the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan base is [[UnpleasableFanbase notoriously unpleasable]].
176* One of the goals in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' was to create a show that combines comedy and drama ''without'' looking stupid.
177* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' is cynical but generally very silly. The only events treated with any real seriousness are Susan's death (possibly not even that) and the series finale. The series finale was a {{Deconstruction}}, showing how terrible all the characters' behavior [[RuleOfFunny within the confines of a comedy series]] would actually seem in RealLife. The episode never became particularly serious, though. Comparably, SpiritualSuccessor series ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' veers a bit more on the serious side. Unlike in Seinfeld, there ''are'' often consequences to Larry David's actions. The humor is also subtler and less slapsticky, the situations and how they play out are a bit more realistic, etc.
178* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is usually a very silly show. However, it does have its moments where it breaks away from the silliness and becomes quite serious. Mostly notably when Ross and Rachel break up in Season Three.
179* ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'', as a parody of after-school specials, naturally handles very serious issues such as drug abuse, prostitution and racism - but is about as silly as is humanly possible. When one character is hit by a car, his face is torn off and sticks in the car's radiator grill. The hit-and-run driver is later seen washing the car with it. CrossingTheLineTwice doesn't even begin to describe it.
180* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' is considered to be a comedy series, but unexpectedly switches between being silly and being serious several times in a single episode. The fact that (at least) each housewife has their own storylines allows the show to have silly and serious plotlines in the same episode.
181* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
182** The series started off being pretty serious and gradually slid down the silliness scale over its run, nearly becoming a self-parody by the eighth season. The producers tried to push it back up the serious scale by introducing a new BigBad for the final two seasons. Jack O'Neill, the leader of the [[FiveManBand SG-1 team]], was a frequent source of silliness for the first eight seasons. He often provided moments of comedic relief and MoodWhiplash. At the same time, he was a very competent, pragmatic, and sometimes tragic leader. He was one of the reasons the show could often seamlessly switch from one end of the Silliness Scale to the other, and back again, to great effect.
183** There's an episode where Jack gets stick in a GroundHogDayLoop and which features half an hour of comedy as he complains and makes use of his situation in various different ways. The last ten minutes however has him very seriously empathising with a man who lost his wife by referencing the death of his own son. Something he holds a lot of guilt and grief over, his somewhat silly persona being the there as an attempt to forget about it as he knows he'll never forgive himself.
184* ''Series/StargateUniverse'' took itself very seriously with only little bits of comic relief.
185* ''Series/TheFastShow'' is ''constantly'' silly, apart from one or two quite notable exceptions.
186** [[TheUnintelligible Rowley Birkin QC's]] sketches are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cwyq3XWeHE almost]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqSGmVlqR24 always]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDwDtUGDgTU entirely]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PICVTFfuOCg silly]], as he drunkenly recalls episodes his lifetime of {{Noodle Incident}}s, always ending with the catchphrase "I'm afraid I was very, very drunk!". However, in one sketch he recalls losing his true love, and Paul Whitehouse's delivery is, well... impossible to watch and be left with a dry eye. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlQ9KLrC4Us See for yourself]].
187** There's also the Ted & Ralph sketch where Ralph has to give Ted some rather terrible sad news... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGBTrCZObyA via a drinking game.]]
188* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' is somewhere in the middle. The stories are sometimes pretty serious, but rarely allowed to go far into the dark side, and sprinkled with lots of one-liners and the like. ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' is at the same time far more serious and far more silly than ''Power Rangers'', sometimes causing tons of MoodWhiplash. ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' switches back and forth between Rio and Mele's dark background story... and Jan wrestling pandas in the jungle.
189* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' is generally more on the serious side than ''Sentai'' (except things like ''[[Series/KamenRiderDenO Den-O]]'', but let's not get into that). Some series, though, especially ''[[Series/KamenRiderKabuto Kabuto]]'', have MoodWhiplash-inducing moments of stupid humour.
190* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' was constructed entirely from silliness. While some of their more satirical sketches were no doubt intended seriously on some level, having a large flashing sign reading "SATIRE" appear over it neatly drained away anything serious whatsoever. They {{lampshade|Hanging}}d the ludicrous nature of their humour with a certain Graham Chapman character, who would stop a sketch by pointing out that it's getting extremely silly, at which point it would move on to something just as ridiculous. There's also the election night sketch, where the results of various elections were announced, mostly between the Silly Party and the Sensible Party, with a few third party candidates from the Slightly Silly Party and the Very Silly Party, taking the title of this page quite literally.
191* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' seems pretty tame in the silliness department compared to something like Series/ThirtyRock or WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy, but consider that the show's format is (ostensibly) [[CriminalProcedural an hour long crime-drama]].
192** It gets pretty strange when the happy-go-lucky characters (especially Shawn) have to investigate what are increasingly horrifyingly violent murders. The characters themselves have even pointed out the weird contrast on occasion.
193** Specifically lampshaded when chasing a serial killer, when Shawn tells Gus that he has to be silly or he won't be able to deal with what he's facing. TruthInTelevision, to an extent, as morbid humor is often a coping mechanism.
194* ''Series/PushingDaisies'' works like this: you try to pour as much silliness as possible in a single episode and try to treat it with seriousness. The strangest part? It works. Just not well enough to have stayed on the air . . .
195* ''Series/MiamiVice'' started out in the first two seasons by being a fairly serious cop show but with 80's glamor and pastel colors. Then it got darker around the third season and had some pretty ridiculous plots during the fourth and fifth season but eventually tried to get back to how it was at the beginning in the fifth season.
196* The various ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series. While ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was pretty serious overall (with of course a few good jokes and comedic episodes here and there), the [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine two]] [[Series/StarTrekVoyager following]] series were a mixed bag of dead-serious episodes and pure comedy examples (some being [[BreatherEpisode Breather Episodes]]), such as Quark and family on ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' and The Doctor on ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' episodes.
197* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' has become distinctly less intense as the seasons progressed.
198* ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'' started out pretty silly (comparable to ''Series/{{Psych}}''), but has taken a turn in a more serious direction towards the end of season three. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks This development got a mixed reception]] [[BrokenBase from the fans.]]
199* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', while always keeping ''some'' measure of comedy, fluctuates all over the place with this trope. Pretty understandable, as it's a guy telling stories about a section of his life to his kids, and [[TruthInTelevision the events of peoples' lives have a tendency to fluctuate between serious and silly,]] without much regard for how appropriate the preceding context is. So we get stuff like Marshall and Lily's reproductive health specialist looking exactly like Barney, Lily refusing to be examined unless Barney is in the same room in case it really ''is'' Barney, Marshall being too neurotic to produce a sperm sample at the doctor's office and trying to do it at home while his oblivious visiting parents loudly inundate him with FetishRetardant, getting conned by Barney pretending to be his doctor, and ending with [[spoiler:Lily informing him out of the blue that his dad just died.]]
200* ''Series/{{JAG}}'' kept a balance between the serious and the silly.
201* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' mainly kept the serious switch on at least medium, but [[MoodWhiplash the basic structure would be a silly or lighthearted episode would be followed by a serious]] or WhamEpisode, and vice versa. ''Series/{{Angel}}'' also did this. While being generally [[DarkerAndEdgier more serious]] than ''Buffy'', it had some sillier episodes like "Smile Time" and "The Girl In Question.". The latter manages to do this in the same episodes, flipping between the (incredibly silly) adventures of Spike and Angel in Italy and a much, much darker plot about [[spoiler:Illyria assuming Fred's form and interacting with her parents, who had no idea that she had died.]]
202* Over the years, MedicalDrama ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' has been losing more of its comic elements.
203* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', critical plot points being played for laughs takes away from the sophistication of some of the cons they pull. [[SeasonalRot This is made worse in the final season.]]
204* The titular character in ''Series/TheTick2016'' is merrily dancing on silly end of the scale, being a complete loon, but the setting for the show goes for serious most of the time (with occasional funny moments like the BigBad stealing an ice cream cone from a kid), which is where the humor of the show comes from.
205* ''Series/TheOrville'': Generally on the silly side of things, but more serious than you might suspect. There are some jokes here and there, but the pressure of commanding a starship and the moral conflicts the characters get into is played largely straight. Seth [=McFarlane=] could have easily gone for pure farce, but he treats the material pretty earnestly, making it more of a ''Star Trek'' homage than a parody.
206* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': The show always presented the plotlines as serious matters despite - and perhaps in spite of - the subject matter being inherently silly. The only previous major {{Superhero}} shows were ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' in TheFifties and ''Series/Batman1966'' in TheSixties. The former handled the cape and tights aspect by presenting as a children's show complete with the dumb kid - Jimmy Olsen - to allow others to explain the plot. The latter handled it by being over the top Batusi levels of silly. Neither of those avenues were compatible with Wonder Woman. Both being too silly and too childish risked turning away women from watching the show and that was a demographic they could not afford to lose. This was one of the reasons why the concept took a failed TV Movie starring Creator/CathyLeeCrosby, retooling into another TV movie starring Creator/LyndaCarter, and two more specials before getting an 11 episode order from ABC for the 1976 season. There were serious questions about whether they could thread this particular needle. Creator/LyndaCarter has received significant praise for her treatment of the role. She played the character with seriousness and earnestness. She never displayed any concern or embarrassment about performing heroic feats in a satin bathing suit and as a result, neither did the audience. This was Wonder Woman's normal reality as an amazon from Paradise Island and the fact that no one else did the same was simply because they weren't from her homeland. The show's presentation in-universe always stayed on the serious end of the scale. The audience may know that Wonder Woman will always arrive in the nick of time to save Steve Trevor from getting shot and killed by the Nazis, but the characters did not. When Wonder Woman was told that Steve had been killed by a bomb ("The Last of the Two Dollar Bills"), she was genuinely scared. There were no nods or winks to the audience, just rushing to the scene and relief that he was still alive.
207* ''Series/SesameStreet'' is by definition a silly show, using colorful puppets and jokes to help children learn. But whenever there's a serious topic discussed in the series (such as death, 9/11, hurricanes, incarceration, etc), the topics are treated with the tact and seriousness that they deserve.
208* The fantasy series ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' toyed with both ends of the spectrum during its run. The basic premise of the series requires all Immortals (good and evil) being locked in a centuries-long battle for survival, and nearly every episode featured some violent deaths. But some episodes were rather bleak explorations of how accumulated mental traumas changed some characters for the worse, such as a pacifist becoming a vigilante killer. While some episodes had comic plots, including at least two romantic comedy-themed episodes, a spoof of classic Whodunnits, and one featuring an immortal wannabe-Myth/RobinHood whose past adventures included a satirical view of an OutlawCouple.
209[[/folder]]
210
211[[folder:Music]]
212* Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheWall'', believe it or not, does this from time to time. The message of the album--shutting yourself off from society is not a good idea--is quite serious, but moments of pure silliness shine through. "In the Flesh," for example, plays the hero as an EvilOverlord type, which is outright cartoonish in and of itself, and the lyrics are so over-the-top that they sound like the ravings of a frothing-at-the-mouth lunatic. And then there's "The Trial," which plays Pink's moment of clarity as a vaudeville show, complete with a judge that resembles an enormous, disembodied human backside that wears a judge's wig. And yet it only enhances the message: "Shutting yourself off from society is not only a bad idea, it is also a very silly and ultimately pointless one."
213* Captain Beefheart's work frequently goes from surreal and often sexual imagery to his rather serious environmental concerns. The best example of this is on the album Trout Mask Replica, where the rather serious (albeit cryptic) "Well" is sandwiched between the bizarre "Pena" and the hilarious "When Big Joan Sets Up". Another example is on the album The Spotlight Kid which features the song "Blabber N' Smoke". The lyrics of the song go from him making fun of his wife telling him not to smoke to insisting that we "clean up the air and treat the animals fair".
214* Music/IronMaiden have recorded serious songs as singles and released joke songs as B Sides for quite a while now.
215* Music/{{Microdisney}}'s "Money for the Trams" seems like serious commentary on yuppie culture... until Cathal yells "Take your stupid clothes off!"
216** Horse Overboard. In the past when a ship was carrying too much cargo they would have to put something overboard to stop it from sinking, and the horses would be the first to go. With that in mind the line "My wife is a horse" makes sense (it's about leaving your wife). Out of context however, it is a hilarious line, made funnier by the fact "horse" is of course a derogatory thing to call a woman.
217* Music/DieArzte usually occupy the silly side, not only in their song lyrics, but also in their stage antics and in interviews, where almost every answer could as well have been irony or them messing with their interviewer. However, they do have some very serious songs, though never more than a handful per album. They are also not above making fun of the serious points in their serious songs or making serious points in a silly song.
218* Music/TypeONegative is ''all over the place'' with this trope ranging from "Christian Woman" and their SelfDeprecation songs on one end, to "White Slavery" and "Everything Dies" on the other. And those are just some of the more extreme examples.
219* Music/{{Nirvana}} is deep down on the "serious" end of the scale, although not quite as deep down as one might expect - although most of their music was dead serious and laden with depressing and [[NightmareFuel often horrific]] imagery, they showed a sharp sense of humor during interviews and concerts. For instance, after rumors started swirling regarding his health, Kurt Cobain opened the famous 1992 Reading concert by getting pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair while wearing a hospital gown, pretending to collapse, before getting up and playing with the rest of the band.
220* Music/{{TomWaits}} likes to explore both sides of the scale. Some of his songs are so silly they might as well be novelty songs that you'd hear on the Dr. Demento show. Then he'll turn around and sing an absolute heartbreaker about the horrors of war and PTSD.
221
222[[/folder]]
223
224[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
225* Looked at from an out-of-universe perspective ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has the tongue so firmly planted in cheek its punching through, in-universe it is so serious and depressing it's rather surprising you have productive people at all considering how depressing it must be to be in charge of anything in 40k. It also depends on which perspective it's coming from. For example: a battle between the Imperial Guard and the Orks. If the story is from the Ork's perspective, the dialogue and descriptions take an amusing and humourous tone, talking about "takin' da biggest, baddest shootas and choppas ya can get 'old of, and spendin' da rest of da havin' a bit 'o' fun, krumpin' 'umie gitz with da boyz and tryin' not ta get zogged yaself". Take the point of view of an Imperial Guardsman, and the same battle is a terrifying fight for survival with your woefully inadequate lasgun and body armour, against hordes of hulking tough-as-nails green-skinned horrors brandishing monstrous cleavers and improbably-sized machine guns and flamethrowers.
226** Mainly this comes due to the age of the property. When 40k started in 1987 as ''Rogue Trader'', it was pure parody of SpaceOpera and just about anything scifi, with characters that were solely mash-ups of various popular scifi characters, as well being simply ''Warhammer'' in space (notably, there was a Tech Priest based on Scotty from ''Franchise/StarTrek''). Until the mid 1990s, it became a little more serious, then over-the-top serious during its 3rd Edition to the point of simply trying too hard. Since then, it has tried to find a balance between being slightly goofy, mostly grim and notably also being a heavy {{Deconstruction}} of science-fiction and even itself. The aforementioned Orks for example '''are''' the comedy faction of the setting, and them being humourous is kind of the point (where every other faction is semi-based on a historical army or myths, Orks are based on British ''football hooligans'' and Chavs), while Chaos might employ ''evil accountants'' as soldiers. On the other hand, things such as the creation process of Space Marines, Imperial Guard (average human soldiers) fighting against galactic horrors like the Tyranids, Necrons, Orks etc are intentionally depicted as grim and often hopeless endevours in the long run, but other works such as the ''Ciaphas Cain'' series show a more humanist, light-hearted side, how not everything is needlessly dark all the time, and that evil people not always get away with their cruelty (Commisars may be authorised to execute cowards freely, but push the troops too hard and the Commisar her/himself might have a rude awakening via UnfriendlyFire), contrary to what it might appear like. It's mostly related to being such a vast setting, spanning the entire galaxy and a core timeline of 10,000 years, so there is enough room for everything and anything.
227* The ''[[TabletopGame/GURPSIlluminatiUniversity Illuminati University]]'' setting for ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' actually makes the SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness adjustable, from "Silly" through "Weird" to the (more or less) serious, paradoxically named "Darkly Illuminated". The current edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' does much the same thing, with Straight, Classic, and Zap.
228* Most editions of ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' are pure slapstick. However, 3rd and 6th Edition both rein in the madness and look at the setting from a more serious perspective (though even so, many of the monsters are still just plain weird).
229* ''TabletopGame/{{Space 1889}}'': Victorian times and Victorian literature, in particular Victorian science fiction, which is the basis of the game, often seem rather silly to the modern mind. The game, however, takes itself seriously, with there being very little humor. The adventure Canal Priests of Mars has a rather silly person as one of the passengers, but that’s about it. Generally speaking, historical Victorians took themselves seriously.
230* ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' is somewhere in the middle, with tendencies towards the sillier, which works given it's based on pulp and retro sci-fi. You can walk around on islands in the skies of Jupiter for example, without being pulled deeper and crushed like a bug, though you'd better be wearing a space suit.
231* ''TabletopGame/ChuubosMarvelousWishGrantingEngine'' bounces all over the place, to the point where two of its core Arcs boil down to "fuss and meddle and get involved" (Storyteller) and "deal with really heavy shit" (Emptiness). As an example, let's consider two pregen characters from the Glass-Maker's Dragon campaign. Natalia Koutolika, the Prodigy, is a traumatised BrokenAce who endured hellish training to master her skills, believes HopeIsScary, and ''desperately'' needs a hug. Rinley Yatskaya, the Troublemaker, is a PluckyGirl [[TheTrickster trickster]] and TheHeart who binds the other characters together, dedicated to the wishing power of the human heart and also telling odd stories and making bad puns, who does things like steal the fruit out of still-life paintings and eat it. These two are not mutually exclusive for a campaign, and indeed a three-character run on GMD could consist of just those two and Principal Entropy, the Angel of Fortitude (who forms a sort of "middle ground" by being at once the otherworldly heir to the King of Evil's throne, and a guy who can always find the most convenient light source for posing dramatically).
232* The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' for the main ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting [[DiscussedTrope discusses this directly]] under "style considerations".
233-->...if you design adventures that are lighthearted, create [=NPCs=] that are slightly silly, or introduce embarrassing or humorous situations into the game, realize that it changes the tenor of the game. If the king of the land is [[TalkingAnimal a talking dog]] [[UnfortunateNames named Muffy]] or if the [=PCs=] [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear have to find]] a ''[[UnderwearOfPower brassiere of elemental summoning]]'' rather than a ''brazier of elemental summoning'', don't expect anyone to take the game too seriously. ...Related to how serious or humorous the game is, character names should be fairly uniform in style throughout the group. Although any character name is fine in and of itself, a group that includes characters named [[AliceAndBob Bob]] [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep the Fighter]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Aldorius Killraven]] [[HometownNickname of Thistledown]], and [[OddNameOut Runtboy]] lacks the consistency to be credible.
234[[/folder]]
235
236[[folder:Theater]]
237* ''Of Thee I Sing'' was the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize; for a satire on politics, it's quite idealistic. It's also gleefully silly, with the nine Supreme Court judges appearing to rule on such SeriousBusiness as:
238-->"Which is more important: corn muffins or justice?" (The answer is corn muffins, because FeminineWomenCanCook.)\
239"Will it be a boy or a girl?" (The Supreme Court decides the sex of Presidential infants by a strict party-line vote.)
240* ''Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You In The Closet And I'm Feelin' So Sad'' is both cynical and silly.
241* Creator/{{Shakespeare}}'s plays always run back and forth over this line. The comedies have serious undertones (''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' and spousal abuse, ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' and the damaging effects of rumors, ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' and racial prejudice) and the tragedies always have comedic asides (The Porter in ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', Mercutio in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Polonius in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'').
242* Jason Robert Brown has written on the more serious side of the spectrum, but ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'' is on the sillier side.
243* Creator/CirqueDuSoleil shows are idealistic but all over ''this'' spectrum -- ranging from whimsically comic (''KOOZA'', ''Theatre/{{OVO}}'') to bittersweet and melancholy (''Quidam'') or grand and stately (''Theatre/{{O}}'', ''KA''), with such shows as ''Mystere'', ''Alegria'', ''Varekai'', and ''Theatre/{{Corteo}}'' occupying a middle ground. A good indicator of where a show falls on the line is its clown acts -- how much time they get, how important the characters are to the rest of the show, the style of their humor, etc.
244* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' is ''much'' lighter than the novel it was based upon, especially with songs like "What Is This Feeling?" and "Popular" in Act 1. They also aren't above silly verbal puns that reference ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (such as "Melons, and lemons, and pears." "Oh my!") That said, their internal politics and character development are taken very seriously - so they strike a balance between ''Wizard of Oz'' camp and Gregory Maguire gloom.
245* The comic operas of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan are, of course, firmly planted on the silly end of the scale.
246[[/folder]]
247
248[[folder:Video Games]]
249* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' video games have gone up and down like a yo-yo. The main series Pokémon games play the plot straight, but have a lighthearted tone overall, with most [=NPCs=] the player runs into (even the regional villainous team's members) being on the silly side. Serious moments are usually limited to encounters with the BigBad and the current [[OlympusMons legendary version mascot]].
250** ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonXD XD]]'' relies on seriousness with some silly spots.
251** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' starts off as a silly series, but have gone serious in subsequent games in series. The initial ''Rescue Team'' games mixed both to a great effect, but ''Explorers'' are getting very serious with storyline progressing. ''Adventure Squad'' games play very big silly, while ''Gates To Infinity'' returns to the balanced scale with some lighter shade of seriousness.
252** ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger'' plays a big silly albeit with a few serious tone, while other games, such as ''VideoGame/HeyYouPikachu'' and ''VideoGame/PokeParkWii'', are on the silly end of the scale. But ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'' is more serious and dark.
253* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is full of {{lampshade|Hanging}}s and has completely [[BreakingTheFourthWall abolished the fourth wall]] very early on, but usually stays dead serious.
254* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series is typically a serious series, [[AnimationAgeGhetto even if the cel-shaded visual style of]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and other iterations may make you think otherwise, sometimes sliding to the middle of the scale at the very ''most'' when it comes to silliness for the comic relief that slightly lightens the series' somewhat-known melancholy. ''The Wind Waker'' itself, for example, has a contrast in tone between the comical situations seen in the sidequests and the more serious events and backstory narrated through the main story. Even ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', which [[DarkerAndEdgier stays on the serious side of the scale]], has its moments of extreme silliness, such as the dialogues with Tingle, the Beaver Brothers and the minions of Igos du Ikana. ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', another game, deals with deep philosophical questions about the nature of reality, but has instances where you trade with talking animals, rescue a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Chain Chomp]] from evil pigs, and [[spoiler:rescue a giant flying whale called the "Wind Fish".]]
255* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is generally a very [[CrapsackWorld grim]] sort of game revolving around weighty issues, possible [[MoralEventHorizon child-killing]], a forced HeroicSacrifice, demonic possession, and TheCorruption. Some of the inter-party banter, however, is just hysterical; of particular note are [[TheBigGuy Sten's]] fondness for cookies, [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana's]] pet nug, and all of [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan]] and [[DeadpanSnarker Alistair's]] back-and-forth snarking.
256* The early ''Franchise/TombRaider''s didn't take themselves seriously at all, with a heavy dose of RuleOfFun and RuleOfCool, even BreakingTheFourthWall at the end of ''Tomb Raider II'' as Lara shoots the player for trying to watch her in the shower. ''Last Revelation'' onwards, the series has become more and more sensible and mature.
257* This trope wouldn't be complete without ''VideoGame/SeriousSam''. Despite constantly claiming to be serious, the games are always far on the silly side of the scale. To show just ''how'' serious the game is, this quote from the man himself: "Now I'm seriously serious!"
258-->'''Sam''': (on picking up the ''atomic powered chainsaw''): '''LOOK MA! I'M A LUMBERJACK!'''
259* ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'': [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} The original game]], which was one of the pioneers of the FirstPersonShooter genre, has a mostly dark and serious mood, with the unnamed PlayerCharacter running down the dark and gloomy corridors of Hell while blowing away the evil demons and never so much as cracking a joke (or saying anything at all). However, it and [[VideoGame/DoomIIHellOnEarth its sequel]] still have a few bouts of goofiness and black humor, such as the plot of "Thy Flesh Consumed" being Doomguy getting revenge for his dead rabbit. ''VideoGame/Doom64'' amped up the seriousness, with its oppressive dark atmosphere and ambient soundtrack, something which was largely maintained by the horror-focused ''VideoGame/Doom3'' (outside of some humorous PDA entries and early game NPC interactions). But ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' take a more tongue-in-cheek approach; the main story and atmosphere are still relatively grim, but there's a lot more BlackComedy (with ''2016'' in particular taking the piss out of corporate greed and tonedeafness), a more slapstick tone to the violence, a lot of goofy easter eggs, and a protagonist whose attitude and antics are often mined for humor (such as his interactions with certain collectable figurines and his palpable glee in doing the exact opposite of whatever Samuel Hayden requests of him).
260* Contrast to ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', which doesn't take itself seriously at all. Duke constantly spouts off one-liners and making homages to movies and other video games as he explores each new brightly-lit level, saving naked babes and blowing away the alien scum.
261* While ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' is almost entirely serious (especially with the BloodierAndGorier fatalities and brutualities), that doesn't mean the franchise can't go into the scale of being silly like the RuleOfFunny based Friendships.
262* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' is generally silly, but with a definite tinge of seriousness. ToonPhysics are in full effect, and TheCaper may involve things like dropping disco balls to trigger earthquakes or "windmill throwing stars" without anyone batting an eye, but the characters themselves treat their world and each other ([[DeadpanSnarker more o]][[LargeHam r less]]) completely seriously. That the games touch upon themes ranging from drug abuse to legacy and loss and guilt, while still largely being FunnyAnimal caper films, occasionally featuring [[APirate400YearsTooLate pirates]] or [[GiantWoman size-enlarging evil spirits]], does not make categorization any easier.
263* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', with its unbelievably hard science and its completely consistent stories about the survival of Mankind in a DeathWorld is one of the most serious videogames ever created by man. Despite this, there's a good number of jokes scattered throughout the EncyclopediaExposita. Especially the Morganite quotes. On the subject of black holes: "Yes, yes, we've all heard the philosophers babble about 'oneness' being 'beautiful' and 'holy'. But let me tell you that ''this'' kind of oneness certainly isn't pretty and if you're not careful it will scare the bejeezus out of you."
264* The Metro series (''VideoGame/Metro2033'' & ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'') are decidedly on the serious side of the scale. Things are bleak.
265* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' falls somewhere in between. The Terran footsoldiers and commanders are fond of cracking jokes, throwing one-liners and being portrayed in a ''Duke Nukem''-esque style (the Confederacy is even the DeepSouth Recycled JustForFun/InSpace IN SPACE!); the Zerg, however, are portrayed as a ChaoticEvil force of destruction and assimilation, while the Protoss are portrayed as strict but virtuous and disciplined heroes, who occasionally crack a really good joke. This is a game where if you click often enough on a Protoss observer, it'll replay lines from other units, as well as "One small step for man", and the sequel's Viking unit is a TransformingMecha that's slated to say "[[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Transform and roll out]]!". It also has cutscenes in which people get claws shoved through their faces.
266* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' whips up and down the scale. The plot is generally serious (albeit [[MindScrew impenetrable]]), but on occasion the series does have to lighten up... because, after all, it's impossible to be fully serious when most of your cast comes from ''Walt Disney Studios''.
267* The villains in the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series have been steadily going from serious to silly as time goes by: The first game featured Mr. Dark, a more serious character (as serious as ''Rayman 1'' could be) with no funny bits at all. ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'' featured the Robo-Pirates, genuinely scary-looking monstrosities but with their own funny moments. ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'' had the Hoodlums, about as scary as the Robo-Pirates but much more cartoony, with lots of slapstick humor throughout the game. Finally there's the ''VideoGame/RavingRabbids'' party game series, featuring the psychotic but overall stupid Rabbids, who seem somewhat creepy at first until... "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
268* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series lies in the middle. The plot and the universe's lore are played straight, but the games run on RuleOfCool. The tone and characters also tend to be fun and lighthearted overall, but they get more serious when the situation calls for it. This is probably best exemplified by BigBad Dr. Eggman, being a comical and silly villain who [[BewareTheSillyOnes is nevertheless treated as a real, competent threat]]. When the stories fall too far in either extreme they tend to prove unpopular with fans, as exemplified by the [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', and the DenserAndWackier ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld''. This likewise applies to the characters -- on one hand there is the [[BaseBreakingCharacter base breaking]] serious and edgy Shadow; on the other hand we have [[TheScrappy unpopular]] zany characters like {{C|owardlySidekick}}hip and the Zeti.
269* The [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 first game]] in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series was definitely on the "silliness" side of the scale, featuring a wide variety of cartoony enemies and bright, colorful locales. The [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest second game]] took a few steps towards the "seriousness" side, with more realistic colors and settings and more ominous music, but took an equal amount of steps backwards for the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble third game]].
270* In ''VideoGame/LaMulana'', Elder Xelpud starts off as a cheery, screwy old man who [[ShoutOut rambles about MSX games]]. Also, in the village, Lemeza's cheerful theme music will play. Then when you beat the eight Guardians, he stops saying them for the rest of the game, the village music gets changed to the dark title screen music, his theme music no longer plays when you enter his tent (instead continuing to play the title music), and his random lines all get changed to the following:
271-->The wind is restless... / [[VideoGameRemake The wind sure is howling today...]]
272::Of course, you can turn the silly back on if you manage to make it though the BonusLevelOfHell in the remake.
273-->'''Lemeza''': (enters wearing [[spoiler:[[ManInABikini the Provocative Bathing Suit]]]])\
274'''Xelpud''': The wind sure is howling ([[{{Squick}} recoils back]]) to.... daaaayyy...
275* ''VideoGame/Mother3'' manages to exist on both sides of the scale at the same time. It isn't subtitled "Strange, funny, and heartrending" for nothing.
276* Creator/NipponIchi are renown for making games mostly on the 'silly' end of the spectrum. ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea|HourOfDarkness}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' are very silly (although not lacking in a few {{Drama Bomb}}s), as is ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'' and ''VideoGame/LaPucelle''. ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'' still manages to be quite silly while still being the most 'serious' of the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' games. ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'' can actually be ''quite'' serious (and [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism quite cynical]]), and would probably be even moreso if Gig hadn't been a main character. ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'', Nippon Ichi's ''most'' serious game, is about on the level of a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' or ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' game, even though it's also Nippon Ichi's most [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistic]] game. ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|APromiseUnforgotten}}'' almost inverts it. Its silly moments are played as serious and its serious moments are more often than not played as silly. Previous titles tend to be aware of when they're being silly or serious, but D4 doesn't seem to be aware. The result is more enjoyable for some than for others, thought reception has generally been very positive.
277* The ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series is the most extreme representation of the silly end of the scale. You've got ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' which is rule of silly and fun defined, which is in turn random character stories with even more random microgames which deliberately make as little sense as possible, and ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' which does away with a story so to speak and has Wario exploring extreme {{Theme Park Version}}s of places and fighting some extremely weird bosses (Evil cuckoo clock, basketball playing rabbit, what looks like a French duck chef riding a frying pan and randomly attacking the character from the ceiling or the side of the screen, etc), and collecting treasure that includes literal metaphors and random items with punny names.
278* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' is comfortably at home on the silly side of the scale, but is no stranger to taking brief visits to the serious side of things, such as in its [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 second game]]'s ''Octo Expansion]]'' campaign, before swimming back home.
279* The concept of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series - Nintendo characters fighting each other on a variety of quirky stages for no discernible reason beyond [[RuleOfCool it being cool]] - is fundamentally silly, and the games revel in this goofiness. The "Subspace Emissary" mode in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' takes itself a little bit more seriously than the rest of the game, but only just enough that the sheer ridiculousness of the story loops around to become legitimately awesome at points. On the other hand, the beginning of the ''World of Light'' mode in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' can be easily compared to the climax of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and [[spoiler:two of the MultipleEndings are straight CosmicHorrorStory endings resulting from {{Pyrrhic Victories}}.]]
280* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' and its sequel are planted firmly on the silly side, with such things as giant half-cow Venus flytraps that eat people (luring them in with a fake piece of cake in a transparently obvious trap) and a method of snatching freshly-dead loved ones from TheGrimReaper's clutches [[ChessWithDeath by winning a contest of either rock-paper-scissors or 'which hand is their soul in?']], depending on the game.
281* Up until ''Days of Ruin'', ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' lived happily way down the silly end of this scale. ''Days of Ruin'' has suddenly shifted the series right to the serious end. The transfer is handled reasonably well, but it's easy to miss the goofiness (saying that, the [[{{Woolseyism}} American version]] still has plenty of goofy moments, even in the post-apocalyptic setting). Also, one of the complaints leveled against the ''Battalion Wars'' games is that while the character and unit designs lean towards the silly side, the action and carnage are played entirely straight.
282* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' uses the scale like Banjo and Kazooie would a slide rule. And then came [[SillinessSwitch Nuts & Bolts]]...
283* Outside of a few {{Joke Character}}s, ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' is fairly far towards the serious side in its storytelling, while ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' is fairly far towards the silly end. Both are pretty far out-there on the "historical accuracy" scale, though.
284* There seems to be two realities conflicting with each other in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood''. One is the full-borne sequel to ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' with vampires, vampire-killers, and half-demons trying to struggle with themselves and the horrors their world throws at them; and the other is filled with chibi-cat girls and catboys, mecha-maids, a DarkMagicalGirl[=/Witch/=]MadScientist, and a [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giant]] Tsundere. The same goes for the fangame ''VideoGame/BattleMoonWars''. On one side, you get a sequel to ''Tsukihime'' and ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', with vampires, monsters, bloody fights and at least two [[CosmicHorror Cosmic Horrors]]. On the other hand, there is an ''open war'' between [[MagicalGirl Magical Girls]], TheHeartless are anime {{shout out}}s, the two Big Bads from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' [[FusionDance merge]] to become ''a stupid-looking ninja'', and two of your characters can use the [[CareBearStare Love Love Projection Fist]]. And let's not get started on the [[BonusDungeon Tohno Family Takeover Plan]]...
285* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'':
286** The first game is quite serious, but is quite willing to get silly at frequent intervals, sometimes blending dead seriousness and hammy silliness into the same ''moment'', i.e. the Dehuai arc. Dehuai is quite the large ham, but his plots have deadly consequences and he is a seriously difficult boss to beat when the time comes. The events following this skew towards the serious, what with [[spoiler:Yuri being in an internal battle trying to dominate the soul of a Demi-God called Seraphic Radiance]], but still manages to find breaths of comedy. The endings of the game also reflect both ends of the spectrum.
287** ''Shadow Hearts: Covenant''. Despite starting off by establishing [[spoiler:the first game's bad end as canon]], once the initial characters are introduced, things are quite clearly presented in a lighter and softer tone. Silly villains are sillier (but still deadly), hamminess is hammier, and combat is more bombastic and over the top. Even so, the scale of conflict and dark dangers presented here are much larger than those presented in the first game, and throughout the game Yuri must deal with [[spoiler:the loss of his love, Alice Elliot, who exchanged her soul for his in a tragically unsubverted DealWithTheDevil, and a curse that will eventually either steal his soul or his memories]]. However, once again, the possible endings reflect the Sliding Scale in that [[spoiler:one ending has Yuri losing his memories to the curse, dying and possibly lost in Limbo, while the other establishes him being time-travelling to shortly before the events of the first game, memories intact]]. As there is no direct sequel to this game, neither ending is officially canonical, but fanon has it that the continuity flows as such: [[spoiler:''Shadow Hearts'' bad ending -> ''Covenant'' good ending -> ''Shadow Hearts'' good ending]].
288** ''Shadow Hearts: From the New World''. This game does not share direct continuity with the previous two games, and as such is viewed as a GaidenGame within the series. This game lies FAR closer to the silly side of the scale then either of the previous two games. In fact, roughly half the characters who join your party are fairly comical in and of themselves. These include [[spoiler:a super patriotic geriatric ninja loyal to the USA, a MegaNeko with dreams of Hollywood stardom, and a Mexican musician with an instrument that doubles as heavy armament]].
289* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' is an interesting example of two series, both of which are traveling along the SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness - however, in different directions. The ''Tiberium'' series started out fairly seriously although with a fair bit of camp. Tiberium Sun moves the series into DarkerAndEdgier territories and Tiberium War is downright BlackAndGreyMorality depending on your mileage. ''Red Alert'' on the other hand started out serious with the premise of the HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct. ''Red Alert 2'' on the other hand had psychics, telepathically controlled squids and dolphins and female assassins in latex as well as an overall notching up of the camp in the cutscenes. ''Red Alert 3'' is downright silly: Armored bears shot out of cannons, [[InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha mechas]], MagicalGirl assassins, an overall plot that doesn't make sense whatsoever and of course [[LargeHam Tim Curry]].
290* The ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series starts off as silly, with Mega Man stopping Wily and his bunch of googly-eyed robots. It gets more serious with ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', where reploids are trying to destroy humanity with moderate success but there are bits of robot cartoonishness here and there. ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' is even ''more'' serious, set AfterTheEnd and trying to stop villains from making it even ''worse''. ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' seems to have lightened the series back up again though. The two spin-off series, ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' are definitely on the sillier side. And then you have ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' which the serious factor in the game is evident by looking at Mega Man Geo-Omega's expression on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Star_Force the]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Star_Force_2 box]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_Star_Force_3 cover]]
291* The ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' has always displayed both at the same time. For instance, the first game, ''Soul Blade''. On one hand you have Li Long, whose story is utterly tragic, yet believable. Then, on the other hand, you have Voldo, who is ridiculous. Sophitia has a move where she kicks her opponent in the balls and says "Oops". As the series goes on, it reveals more fantasy elements, which mean that the story is a lot harder to follow seriously. The fourth game features Darth Vader and Yoda as playable characters, their inclusion in a historical game being extremely silly.
292* ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'' has always taken itself far less seriously than many games in the genre. Its long running nature means that characters will develop over time, sometimes getting sillier as they go along. The best example is Paul, who started off as a serious fighter before descending into joke character mode. Part of the reason for this is because of the game's makers noticing how much he looks like a combination of Ken and Guile from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', which meant he would have to do something unique or parody them not to be seen as a ripoff. So naturally, his gimmick is that he is an arrogant American fighter who enters the tournament every year only to lose it nearly every time, has a special move that is a fire punch, and that his rival is a bear, Kuma. Despite this he has always been one of the best fighters in the game and simply doesn't have much bearing on the main story.
293* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games have some elements that can go either way. The world around the protagonists seems gritty and corrupt, but the radio stations seem reluctant to take themselves seriously, suggesting a somewhat more frivolous world.
294* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
295** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' is a very serious game overall, with a few pockets of silliness such as this [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Ghost-Free_Papers very good joke]], plus some wackiness [[ChivalrousPervert here]] and [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Lusty_Argonian_Maid there]]. Quite a few of its silliest moments are the result of {{Shout Out}}s and {{Easter Egg}}s, like the dead adventurer "[[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} Peke Utchoo]]" and the (well hidden) quest to acquire the sword "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_Brand Eltonbrand]]".
296** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', on the other hand is overall more silly, such as a Daedric Prince giving you a quest to cast a spell that [[NakedPeopleAreFunny strips everyone in a room naked]], in the name of [[ItAmusedMe good fun]]. And then there's [[MadGod Sheogorath]], who will threaten to kill you if you fail him, in a deep voice...only to notice, one line later, that he just made a pun.
297** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' goes back to the ''Morrowind'' formula of being generally serious with individual instances of silliness. Barbas, the MoralityChain in the form of a [[CanineCompanion talking dog]] to the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile, lampshades it:
298--->'''Barbas''': ''Skyrim is now host to [[OurDragonsAreDifferent giant, flying lizards]] and [[CatFolk two-legged cat-men]]... [[ArbitrarySkepticism and you're surprised by me]]? Yes. I just talked. And am continuing to do so.''
299* The ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' games vary widely: on the silly side, there's the LargeHam Grand Inquisitor, magic words like "Hello, sailor," and everything being manufactured by a company called Frobozz (tm). On the serious side, there's also some moments of genuine NightmareFuel, such as an EldritchAbomination in a maze, topiary stalkers, and a dark ur-grue that can possess the unwary player.
300* Invoked by ''VideoGame/SakuraWars 2'', which tracks the player character's position on this scale (based mostly on dialogue choices).
301* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' is almost always very serious. However, some of the SpacePirates' logs in the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' games are notable comic relief.
302-->"Attempts to duplicate Samus Aran's Morph Ball ability were halted [[TooDumbToLive after the prototype crippled and killed an unacceptable number of test subjects.]]"
303* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' lives all the way down the silly end of the scale, and loves every second of it.
304* Creator/{{Konami}}'s two popular shoot 'em up franchises, ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}'', lie far at opposite ends of the scale, with the cinematic ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' at the serious end and the cartoonish ''VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}'' far at the silly end. And then came ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' where Konami cranked up the silly and tore off the knob. ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}'' leans on the silly side, but it has its own plot that is on the lighter shade of seriousness.
305* ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' is way at the silly end of scale, being an affectionate parody over both the Japanese mecha anime and the American blockbuster action movies!!! Practically an Americanized, [[RatedMForManly manly]] version of ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}''.
306* ''VideoGame/{{Bug|1995}}''- Definitely at the end of the silly side. You know that when the "hit an enemy" sound is a wacky cartoon sound effect. Also, Bug's silly humorous quotes when he kills an enemy or when he takes damage show it too.
307* ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' manages to cover the entire scale gameplay-wise while keeping its serious story elements. At one point, you can dress yourself as a fat old lady with beard, and at another point, costumes homaging the Franchise/MegaMan franchise spawn up to goof up the zombie massacre (Frank as Mega Man; Chuck as Dr. Wily).
308* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series, which loves to hammer home the fact that WarIsHell, stays extremely serious most of the time, but is willing to get silly from time to time, especially when it comes to Joker and Garrus. A special mention goes to the "Citadel" DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the first half of which is a rather grim story involving terrorism, hijacking of the ''Normandy'', [[spoiler:Shepard's clone]], and AnAesop about the PowerOfFriendship driven in with iron nails, while the second half is basically most of the (surviving) characters of the series bumping into each other for [[HilarityEnsues massive hilarity]], ranging from [[PsychopathicManchild Grunt]]'s drunk antics, to [[OldSoldier Zaeed]] hitting on [[IceQueen Samara]], to Shepard and Javik participating in the shooting of a [[BMovie Blasto movie]] as themselves. The first half of Citadel was pretty hilarious in its own right, it basically slid whichever way it wanted, but it was pretty silly, especially with regards to the ''numerous'' jokes once they find out [[spoiler:Shepard has a clone]].
309* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' is for the most part, an enormous farce, but it occasionally dips into serious drama: [[WorldOfSnark Every character's a chatterbox comedian]], the game's filled to the brim with [[MythologyGag Mythology Gags]] and Nintendo-centric [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]], and the art style and character designs are bright and cartoony. Yet the plot twists are entirely serious and [[ChekhovsGun set up in advance]], the major villains are genuinely menacing, and there are parts where characters are in realistic peril, sometimes more than you might expect in a E-10 + rated game. It's probably comparable to the ''Zelda'' series in that extent.
310* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' (especially the [[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor middle two]] [[VideoGame/SuperPaperMario games]]) is very similar to ''Uprising'' in this respect.
311* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' is a more or less serious first-person shooter about aliens invading and enslaving all of humanity and driving them to near extinction, and the player character's battle to liberate humanity is played pretty straight. At the same time, there are still undertones of wry silliness throughout. A few specific examples:
312** The many scientists in the first game are exaggeratedly nerdy eggheads, and many of them are shown dying in morbidly hilarious ways.
313** One of the major supporting characters of the second game[[note]]who's one of said nerdy scientists[[/note]] keeps a de-fanged pet [[PuppeteerParasite headcrab]] affectionately named [=LaMarr=], which he feeds watermelons as a substitute for violently latching onto human heads.
314** Possibly one of the most cartoonish elements of the second game is Father Grigori, a shotgun-wielding religious madman who escorts you through his zombie-infested town while fanatically uttering Biblical references.
315* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' is a darkly humorous puzzle game with more prominently overt silliness involving a cheerfully insane A.I. forcing you to solve deadly puzzles with the promises of cake and grief counseling, all while cute robots and a CompanionCube keep you company. Some elements of it are just plainly dark, like the depressing back-story of both the player character and the main villain, but it's otherwise all BlackComedy.
316* The ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series began fairly seriously as a GTA competitor and drifted further into silliness as each game is released. In the first game you played as a member of what was essentially a vigilante gang. Pretty gritty. In the second game you tried to remake that gang into a criminal powerhouse while also engaging in some nonsensical antics, like spraying shit from a septic truck. In the third game you turned that gang into a multi-media empire and are essentially a criminal pop-culture icon and one of the weapons you can have is a giant purple dildo. In the fourth game, you are the president of the United States when Earth gets attacked by aliens who trap you in a virtual reality simulator that gives you superpowers. At that point it's pretty clear the series didn't just go off the rails, it gleefully jumped off the rails just before nuking them and didn't even look back at the explosion.
317* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' is firmly on the silly end of the scale; it abounds with [[ShoutOut gratuitous pop-culture references]], SelfReferentialHumor, {{Double Entendre}}s and crude MS Paint artwork. However, the depth of its gameplay means that its player community takes it very seriously.
318* ''[[VideoGame/StarControl Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters]]'' somehow manages to still be quite serious despite being very silly. The scale setting could generally be determined based on what alien race you were talking to at the moment. Talking to [[Cloudcuckoolander the Pkunk]]? Expect a very silly conversation. Talking to [[BigBad the Ur-Quan]], expect things to be ''very, very'' [[SeriousBusiness serious]]. And for all the silliness, even the silly parts were often important to helping you complete the game.
319* Compare ''VideoGame/AfterBurner'' to ''VideoGame/AceCombat''. The former takes air combat to the silly, arcady extreme, while the latter takes it much more seriously - even with its relatively lighter-hearted first two installments.
320* ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'', taking place in a computer simulation humans set up JustBeforeTheEnd and still running AfterTheEnd prefers to remain serious almost all the time, yet occasionally (if you look) descends into silliness with gleeful abandon, mostly in the various text logs you can find, though occasionally elsewhere.
321* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter''. On one hand, you have the huge monstrosities that you hunt for, including {{Giant Spider}}s that wear the corpses of slain monsters, a T. rex lookalike that systematically destroys ecosystems, black and {{purple|IsPowerful}} eyeless wyverns that infect living creatures with an aggression-inducing virus, and massive dragons that have control over the very elements themselves. On the other hand, you have villagers with consistent senses of humor, such as cute biped kitties as chefs and housekeepers, a pointy-eared elf-like trader who peppers his speech with GratuitousJapanese, a QuestGiver who develops crushes on the monsters she sends you to hunt, and a seasoned hunter who can't go a single sentence without making puns off of monster names.
322* Individual ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' games run the gamut from grim, [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] atmospheres (''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars'', ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'') to over-the-top SummerBlockbuster-esque antics (''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'', ''VideoGame/NeoContra'').
323** Also note that in ''Contra Rebirth'' we have a helicopter which can fly in space.]] (totally silly)
324* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' is an interesting example, in that, through the majority of the game, it's incredibly silly, but starting with the Spooky chapter, it gets [[CerebusSyndrome progressively darker and more serious]], with some silly moments throughout. By the game's end, however, it heads towards the silly side of the scale when [[spoiler:the game locks up,]] but then goes back to the serious side for a surprising DownerEnding.
325* The main plot for ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' is that the peaceful world of the herbivorous ungulates is being threatened be the return of The Predators, who have found a way to escape from their prison and are coming back to Fœnum. And if that's not enough, [[BreakingTheFellowship most of the species have broken off from eachother for years.]] If a Champion is not chosen, the world's inhabitants face being eaten. Out of context, the game almost sounds like the basis for a MatureAnimalStory, but the game can get very tongue-and-cheek every now and then. Situations are mostly light-hearted with a usually comedic tone to the game's world. The accessories can also get pretty silly, with loads of {{shout out}}s for their descriptions or the items themselves.
326* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' goes into both camps like a roller coaster where some parts can be silly and then it's followed up by something a bit more serious. [[spoiler:But the end of the game dives right into a more serious side. If you're going for the Genocide run, then the entire game is nothing but serious business.]]
327* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' started out as something a bit serious in the grand scheme of things (robbing banks, breaking into the FBI offices, using a variety of weapons, etc), but after several updates and DLC releases later, the game shifted more towards the silly side with things like stealing goats, using over the top weapons (rocket launchers, katanas, etc), and trailers that don't take themselves seriously. This in stark contrast with the [[VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist previous game]] where the heists and the weapons used looked something out of a Hollywood action thriller that took said action seriously. However, the final few major updates to ''PAYDAY 2'' throws the game square in the serious side where [[spoiler:[[MissionControl Bain]] gets kidnapped and the crew have to pull a series of heists to find him, only to discover that he's slowly dying from a man made virus.]]
328* ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden'' specializes in taking ridiculous scenarios and playing them dead straight (which more often then not makes them even funnier). The intro shows us a "postcyberpocaliptic" world where basketball has been outlawed and many players dying in a purge because Charles Barkley performed a dunk that accidentally caused a FantasticNuke (because b-ball energy gives basketball players superhuman powers). But his grief over these events is clearly shown.
329* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' is kind of all over the place, with goofy green FunSize aliens piloting rockets slapped together with parts that were "found on the side of the road" or made by a questionable company, yet the physics and orbital mechanics is more realistic and unforgiving than in almost any other game. The silly stuff is mainly ComicRelief, to distract from the game's [[NintendoHard difficulty]] and entice non-science-nerds to try it. [[GameMod Realism Overhaul]] aims to make the game as realistic as possible, but it keeps the Kerbal astronauts, making them feel [[MoodDissonance somewhat out of place]].
330* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' is all over the place, having a very serious story and presentation while also [[TheComicallySerious letting you kill targets in the most absurd and cartoonish ways possible.]]
331* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' hews primarily towards the serious end of the scale, as one might expect from a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] [[CrapsackWorld wasteland]] described at one point as "a war-ravaged quagmire of violence and despair". [[VideoGame/Fallout1 The first game]] and [[VideoGame/Fallout3 the third]] both present a grim, broken-down world where the inhabitants struggle just to eke out a living, with humour and levity generally being an exception to an overall tragic atmosphere. [[VideoGame/Fallout2 The second game]], on the other hand, not only shows us a [[LighterAndSofter world that's pulling itself back from the brink]], but is also [[DenserAndWackier much more light-hearted and full of jokes]], frequently breaking the fourth wall and referencing popular culture.
332** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' distinguishes itself with [[SillinessSwitch the "Wild Wasteland" trait]], which enables/disables a number of goofy pop-culture references. [[WordOfGod It's been explicitly described]] as a compromise by the makers between the serious post-apocalypse of Fallout 1 and the joking around of Fallout 2.
333* On the surface, ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' seems to be deadly serious, being about space ninjas taking on a genocidal army of degenerating clones, a highly immoral mega corp, and a plague that transforms those it infects into twisted abominations, and a lot of the time it lives up to that reputation. However, it's far from unwilling to descend into silliness from time to time. Examples of said silliness include everything with Clem, Ordis's more sociopathic outbursts, and [[spoiler:a lot of what the worm queen says in Kuva missions]].
334* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
335** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has some seriousness in the first half of the game, but it's mostly filled with more silly scenes like Kefka's famous "There's sand on my boots!" scene and pretty much any scene involving Ultros, the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere out of nowhere octopus with a chip on his shoulder.]] In the later half of the game where [[spoiler:Kefka destroys the world]], almost all the laughs are gone as the tone is set in the deadly serious.
336** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' seems to have an equal balance of silly and seriousness. For the humorous side, we get scenes like Zidane touching Dagger's ass, every scene involving Steiner making an ass of himself, Eiko trying to flirt with Zidane, and other scenes. For the serious scenes, there's the destruction of several nations, mass genocide abound, and [[spoiler:the total destruction of another world.]]
337** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has silly and seriousness almost completely segregated from each other. The main story quests do have a few silly moments here and there, but the entire story is played completely seriously. The silly scenes are reserved for the Hildibrand side quests where the player has to help out a bumbling detective whose antics look like they come straight out of an anime.
338* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' is all over the place in the silliness and seriousness scale. For the storyline, the story is mostly a mix of silliness and seriousness up until the Camelot chapter where the storyline is taken more seriously. On the other hand, there are various events that shift more towards the silly end (especially the Gudaguda events, where it's an AffectionateParody of the ''Fate'' franchise and [[SelfDeprecation even the game itself]]), and some seasonal versions of popular servants have Noble Phantasms and attack animations that can crack some laughs and chuckles to the player.
339* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
340** Most storylines in the ''Fire Emblem'' games shift more towards the serious side. Many of the recurring themes involve villains who are [[JerkAss either irredeemably evil]], tyrants that KickTheDog a lot, or a TragicVillain and AntiVillain with [[HonorBeforeReason a code of honor]] at best. Many of the protagonists have to deal with betrayal, death of their beloved ones, FantasticRacism, and an EvilEmpire that threatens the peace and stability of their own kingdom. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' is not only the darkest of the series, but the most serious of them, [[spoiler:as the storyline involves having the main character, Sigurd, being branded as a traitor and have him and his friends executed on the spot. It gets worse when it also explores an evil cult that performs HumanSacrifice on ''[[WouldHurtAChild children]]'' and explores [[AbusiveParents parental and domestic abuse]] (with Tine's suffering from her adaptive mother is considered to be the ''most'' depressing storyline writing in ''Fire Emblem'' history)]]. On the other hand, some support conversations and several gameplay features in the later games tend to shift more towards the silly end.
341** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', on the other hand, is a strong mix of both. The storyline is LighterAndSofter when compared to other Fire Emblem games, as it can go into the serious end at times (especially after Book III that features an undead kingdom killing everyone in Askr). On the other hand, it also has a lot of silliness as well, particularly when the player bonds with the characters and ''especially'' during seasonal events.
342* The ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series' most memorable trait is that it's able to constantly bounce between being serious and silly. The main storyline plays out like a serious crime drama, covering the struggles of the main characters as they caught in-between ruthless criminal and their tangled mess of schemes. Everything outside of the main story is largely silly, with substories featuring humorous and ridiculous characters and situations, and [[SidetrackedByTheGoldenSaucer tons of minigames]] full of MundaneMadeAwesome moments. Even the [[LimitBreak Heat moves]] can be seriously or comedically brutal, from forcibly dislocating a man's shoulders to force-feeding them ''scalding'' hot oden skewers.
343* The ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' series happily sticks to the silly end of the scale for the most part. It gets even more silly in the many spinoffs. Though, some games still have some serious moments, namely mk2, VII and Sisters vs Sisters.
344* In spite of the name, ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' is silly as can be, with a ClouCuckoolander DeadpanSnarker protagonist mowing down vast hordes of demons while taking things not at all seriously.
345[[/folder]]
346
347[[folder:Web Animation]]
348* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' was born out of the idea of using the standard 'bottom rung employees bitching about work' theme and applying it to the military of the future. While ''The Blood Gulch Chronicles'' are all out silly, the two miniseries are played completely seriously. The following series ''Reconstruction'' splits the difference. In general, it seems that the simulation troopers are silly, and the Freelancers and AIs are (mostly) serious. Those involved with both shift on the scale depending on who they're interacting with.
349* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' quite often pits two characters from opposite sides of this scale in a fight to the death: one funny, light-hearted character, and a Darker and Edgier counterpart. As was the case with "ComicBook/{{Batman}} (serious) vs. ComicBook/SpiderMan (silly)", ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (silly) vs. ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} (serious)", "[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]] (silly) vs. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockhart]] (serious)", "Franchise/{{Kirby}} (silly) vs. [[Anime/DragonBallZ Majin Buu]] (serious)", "[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rainbow Dash]] (silly) vs. [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Starscream]] (serious)", "ComicBook/{{Raven}} (serious) vs. [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] (silly)", "[[Franchise/ResidentEvil Leon S. Kennedy]] (serious) vs. [[VideoGame/DeadRising Frank West]] (silly)", "ComicBook/GhostRider (serious) vs. ComicBook/{{Lobo}} (silly)", "[[Franchise/MortalKombat Goro]] (serious) vs. [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Machamp]] (silly)", "ComicBook/{{Cable}} (serious) vs. ComicBook/BoosterGold (silly)", "ComicBook/IronFist (serious) vs. [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda Po]] (silly)", "[[Webcomic/OnePunchMan Saitama]] (serious) vs. Franchise/{{Popeye}} (silly)", "[[Myth/ClassicalMythology Hercules]] (serious) vs. [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong]] (silly)", and "[[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Stitch]] (silly) vs ComicBook/RocketRaccoon" (serious). [[spoiler:With the exceptions of "Raven vs Twilight Sparkle", "Leon S. Kennedy vs Frank West", and "Ghost Rider vs Lobo" the silly character won in all those examples just listed. Never once have BewareTheNiceOnes and BewareTheSillyOnes been so relevant.]] Directly acknowledged in the aftermath of "Cable vs Booster Gold" where Boomstick [[spoiler:expresses disdain and disbelief that a grizzled soldier of a BadFuture like Cable lost to the much goofier Booster Gold]], but Wiz takes the time to note that reputations of "silly vs. serious" only matter in the context of their stories, while ''Death Battle'' is meant to take an objective look at what those characters can do when they clash head-to-head and who would more likely win based on abilities, not reputations.
350** And when two silly characters faced each other in the form of Deadpool (serious/silly) vs. Pinkie Pie (pure silly), ''they tied'' because they [[BreakingTheFourthWall broke the fourth wall]], ran out of the actual fight, complained at the creators of the series, and had a party.
351** "[[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick Sanchez]] vs. [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]]" zigzags this. While ''Rick and Morty'' is a BlackComedy and Rick's arsenal is quite outlandish, in the battle, he's the serious combatant with a more intense demeanor. Similarly, ''Doctor Who'' is a straight-up ScienceFiction that takes itself more seriously and The Doctor has more straightforward tools and powers, yet The Doctor is the silly combatant, making jokes and not actively trying to kill Rick. So it's a case of a serious combatant from a silly work vs. a silly combatant from a serious work. [[spoiler:And the silly combatant wins, due to Rick hitting himself with the killing blow thanks to The Doctor redirecting the attack using Rick's own portal gun.]]
352[[/folder]]
353
354[[folder:Webcomics]]
355* The ''Webcomic/CiemWebcomicSeries'' tries very hard to be all serious and that. [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption But...]]]it's made with ''VideoGame/TheSims'', so a little {{narm}} is inevitable.
356* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}: Life Through Their Eyes'' started as a light-hearted parody poking at ''D&D'' rules. Then [[CerebusSyndrome all hell broke loose]].
357* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': A mostly serious story-telling comic, but with entire chapters with non-stop funny, like Chapter 24.
358* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': The webcomic is on both ends of the scale so frequently and rapidly, it must have broken it by now. Can overlap with MoodWhiplash at times.
359* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is generally quite silly ''(e.g.,'' one of the main characters is a Muppet-like furry monster spontaneously generated from a jar of peanut butter), but that doesn't stop the characters from having emotional depth and experiencing some quite moving moments of pain, love, regret, and redemption amidst all the absurdity of the storylines.
360* The ''Webcomic/{{Insecticomics}}'' has never really taken itself seriously, to the point where the fourth wall has a hinge on it, but there have been a few dramatic storylines to add an element of seriousness to the business--the current Unicron-related one being the most dramatic yet.
361* Despite being known for a solid and serious storyline, ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' hits the silliness switch every second we step out of canon (even ''inside'' canon, sometimes). Case in point: the Ferretina arc.
362* To quote the ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' main page: "Narbonic skates over some surprisingly serious territory, but with such a light touch you will probably be too busy laughing to notice."
363** Possibly best exemplified by the mad scientist [[NobleDemon protagonists]] themselves, who act the classic CardCarryingVillain MadScientist... because of a [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder certified, inheritable mental disorder]], which may or may not have turned them into a HumanoidAbomination. The work is arguably a RomanticComedy.
364* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' began on the silly side, slid slowly but surely towards the serious side, reached some major extremes during the Azure City battles and the split party arc, and has slid back noticeably since that story wrapped up, going back to self-aware joke-a-day strips, though still remaining within the story.
365* In ''Webcomic/{{Rascals}}'', it is ususally towards the silly end, but some chapters have been known to be extermely serious in drama and real life situations.
366* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', despite being one of the more [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] works out there, is quite silly, looking mostly like a normal gag a day strip at first glance.
367* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' is on the silly end of the spectrum roughly 95% of the time, but every so often something like "[[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020114 Fire And Rain]]'' comes along and the series dives head first into seriousness. This seriousness is usually [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020224 mocked]] later on. And yet, one of the reasons why Ian [=McDonald's=] guest Saturdays gained some hatedom seems to have been that he went over some invisible line in making the Dimension of Pain a bit more silly than usual.
368[[/folder]]
369
370[[folder:Web Original]]
371* Website/ChannelAwesome is way, ''way'' on the silly side of things. RuleOfFunny is God, and RuleOfFun, RuleOfCool and [[{{Fanservice}} Rule Of Fanservice]] abound. If you ever see things start to edge up the scale towards serious, expect immediate MoodWhiplash back to silliness. And if it ''does'' get and stay serious, like the end of WebVideo/SuburbanKnights, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's commercial special, or [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] broken after losing a big fight, expect to [[TearJerker cry]].
372* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' doesn't so much slide on this scale as run a shuttle race, often going from absolutely funny to dead serious within a single scene and occasionally ''within a single song''. MoodWhiplash doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it. (It still works, thanks to heavy invoking of both RuleOfCool and RuleOfFunny, with maybe just a dash of RefugeInAudacity.)
373-->It's Dr. Horrible's turn\
374You people all have to learn\
375This world is going to burn!\
376Burn!\
377(Yeah it's two Rs, H-O-R-R, right...)\
378Burn!
379* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': This vastly depends on the time period and the perspective you're watching.
380** In terms of time periods, Season 1 is mostly more silly with a serious undercurrent, whereas in Season 2, it leans towards the serious end due to CerebusSyndrome, albeit [[{{Bathos}} with the occasional silly moment interspersed in between]] -- one of the most serious arcs, Tommy's Exile arc, takes place in Season 2 and contains some of the [[WouldHurtAChild heaviest]] [[DrivenToSuicide lore]] in the entire history of the roleplay. As lore slows down in Season 3, it becomes more light-hearted, but there remain dedicated lore streams which are definitely on the serious side, most prominently Quackity's "Las Nevadas" series, the culmination of a seasons-long TraumaCongaLine.
381** In terms of perspectives, even during Season 2 and onward, Technoblade's perspective as a reputation for being more silly, even during events like [[NukeEm the Doomsday War]] where he's [[MoodWhiplash constantly cracking jokes]] at L'Manburg's behest. On the other hand, the perspectives from people like Tommy tend to be more serious, while Quackity's perspective made a drastic switch from silly to halfway-inbetween (silly with a serious undercurrent and occasional serious scenes) starting from the Manburg arc, to mostly dead-serious in the "Las Nevadas" series.
382* Creator/FreddieWong's videos are also often very silly. Who knew firefights and mowing down mooks could be so hilarious?
383* ''WebVideo/NewLifeSMP'': It depends on the perspective: most of the characters tend to be on the silly side and don't take things very seriously, but Owen's perspective as Sparrow is particularly lore-heavy -- he's one of the few characters who have a pre-series backstory from the get-go, covering a researcher with an IJustWantToBeSpecial mentality, who [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor eventually finds out just how much being a hybrid sucks]].
384* ''Roleplay/ShadowhunterPeril'' likes to sled back and forth between the two extremes, sometimes to the point of mild MoodWhiplash.
385* ''WebVideo/StupidMarioBrothers'' starts off silly and then serious and swaps around a bit.
386* The [[Website/TFWikiDotNet Transformers Wiki]] usually has the facts you need to know, but it does so with a sense of humor. It has to be so, really: it's a big cross-linked, meticulously collated encyclopaedia covering the details of a universe that doesn't exist and was created to [[MerchandiseDriven sell toys]] and entertain kids. Being [[SeriousBusiness too serious about their work]] would be fairly ridiculous. Tropers might see something a little familiar there. (This clearly occurred to editor David Willis: in his webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}!'' one of the characters gets into Administrivia/{{Edit War}}s with him on the TF Wiki.)
387* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' is usually nearer the Silly Side, but it really varies by author. The Phase novels are Serious Side but funny too. The Jade stories are likely to be hysterically funny and silly, with occasional ventures into brutal seriousness (which don't stick long for this protagonist). The Chaka stories are on the silly side, with a character who never angsts (and seldom looks before leaping into trouble). The Carmilla stories are definitely serious, and set in LovecraftCountry with a protagonist who is a CosmicHorror.
388* The Tone of the Wikis, from serious to silly. Website/{{Wikipedia}}, Conservapedia, Website/SCPFoundation, Rational Wiki, Website/TVTropes, Encyclopedia Dramatica, Website/{{Uncyclopedia}}. The SCP Wiki takes itself very seriously with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s [[CosmicHorrorStory abound]], but it also contains [[CloudCuckoolander Dr. Jack Bright]], as well as [[TalkingAnimal Dr. Crow]]. It's often rather dark humor though. The Joke [=SCPs=] are ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
389[[/folder]]
390
391[[folder:Western Animation]]
392* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is already such a silly show in itself, with lampshades being hung all over the place, and deliberate [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief violations of disbelief]] being made in favor of [[RuleOfCool coolness]], [[RuleOfFunny funniness]]; etc. When [[FunPersonified characters like Pinkie Pie]] enter the scene, however, the show drops any sense of seriousness and shoots off the silly end of the scale. Earlier in the show, even the "serious" moments are still done in tongue-in-cheek and propped up by gags and silliness by the characters themselves to keep things from getting too heavy and dramatic, including [[BewareTheSillyOnes Discord]]. This slowly shifted as the show went on, with season opener and finale villains more often than not being treated completely straight as vile monsters or tragic and misguided, and gags in such episodes more often being relegated to between the serious moments instead of during them. Most of the slice of life episodes still held a significant level of silliness, but there were some situations and characters that were treated fully seriously, unlike earlier in the show.
393* Contrast to ''WesternAnimation/ToddMcFarlanesSpawn'', which ran from 1997 to 1999. [[TearJerker It remains dark and gritty throughout, everything is taken seriously]], and about the only thing one might find laughable is some of the random nudity in the first season as well as the [[ClusterFBomb barrage of profanity]] constantly spewed from everyone's mouths.
394* The Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse takes itself seriously, especially whenever [[GalacticConqueror Darkseid]] shows up, but when the spotlight is on Franchise/TheFlash then it usually crosses over to the silly side. It's the same in the comics and their respective influences on mood are used very deliberately by authors. [[http://www.the-isb.com/?p=919 Santa delivering coal to Darkseid]]? Hysterical. Horrific things happening to the various Flashes (HeroicSacrifice, children murdered, wife murdered)? Utterly tragic.
395* Two Batman shows spanning the scale: ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' falls squarely in the middle, and has a seesaw between light-hearted and deadly serious too. The episode where Batman finally tracks down Joe Chill - the man who killed his parents, springs to mind. He's every bit as dark and terrifying as his ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' counterpart was, even edging close to ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' territory. Another example is a shockingly dark BatmanColdOpen involving the Spectre, who's entire gimmick is dealing out poetic justice, in this case turning an obcure Batman villain into cheese, only for him to ''be eaten by rats.''
396* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fluctuates wildly between the two sides of the scale depending on the episode. The extent to which each side of the scale is travelled is equally extreme; the silly moments are incredibly silly (for example, a [[LargeHam hammy]] play [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs based on the characters' exploits]]) and the serious moments are incredibly serious (for example, revealing that Zuko obtained his scar from ''[[WellDoneSonGuy his own father]]'' who ''shot him in the face'').
397* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' LIVES on this trope. The show will often poke fun at the TV and film industry with incredibly silly visual puns and extra wacky storylines, then suddenly start focusing on topics like suicide, drug addiction, depression and AbusiveParents, and play these moments completely straight. Often, the show will hit both ends of the scale within the same episode, sometimes within the same SCENE. Somehow, the drama never feels forced.
398* There have been four ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' cartoon series so far and they each represent different takes on the material. The first, made in 1987, was everything the original comics were not - hammy, TotallyRadical, entirely light hearted and harmless, family friendly fun with an eye on selling TheMerch. The second one, made in 2003, took the serious plots of the comic (often literally), and replaced its somewhat dry characterizations with the more realized turtles from the previous show and live action films to deliver something very comparable to Avatar: The Last Airbender. There were campy superhero stories, and alternate universe tales where everyone dies. There was even an episode that was a straight-up Creator/HPLovecraft send-up. When Executive Meddling retooled the show, it become a lot more like the first cartoon and stayed that way until the ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'' crossover movie, which plays up the differences between the two shows for laughs. The 2007 CGI movie was in line with the 2003 series' tone. The [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 2012 series]] so far has been fairly balanced, and many episodes have both serious ''and'' silly moments. It helps that it's pretty self-aware of its roots in both shows and the original comic.
399* Much like ''Avatar'' above, ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is all over this scale. It goes from various degrees of complete silliness (the Box Ghost in general, Danny being split into two stereotypical and wacky {{Flanderization}}s of his personality) to incredibly serious (anything involving Danny's [[AxCrazy alternate]] [[BadFuture future]] [[PsychoForHire self]] for a start, Vlad's cloning, Danny becoming Public Enemy Number One). Many times, the scale fluctuates repeatedly in a single episode, where humor will be placed into an extremely serious episode.
400* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has really serious and dark episodes like Slade's scary MindRape with a few episodes away from a funny ExtremeOmnivore episode. Silly {{Bizarro Episode}}s always aired RIGHT BEFORE the DarkerAndEdgier {{Season Finale}}s. In the later seasons, the opening theme song being done in Japanese instead of English was an indication that the episode would be on the ''very'' silly side.
401** ''Head Injury Theater'' even [[http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article12e.htm notes]] that seasons tend to go up and down the scale correspondingly. For example, Season 1 was relatively low on plot, and the episodes tended to mostly stay in the middle. Season 4 was heavy on a dark and apocalyptic plot, but the episodes not having to do with that plot were about [[TrappedInTVLand Control Freak leading them through TV shows]], Cyborg going back in time to fight with barbarians, the other members dressing like Robin while he trains with animals, tofu aliens, a redneck who can duplicate himself, and a bizarre re-enactment of Hansel and Gretal.
402** Dr. Light was an interesting case, as he was a complete doofus but he seemed to have been written with a [[ParentalBonus wink and a nod]] toward the darker stories the modern DC comics have written about him, as evidenced with Raven [[MindRape mind-raping]] him and him kipnapping a teenage girl (Dr. Light of the comics was revamped as a rapist and mindwiped by the heroes in the Identity Crisis mini series).
403** Its spin-off ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', however, shows almost no sense of seriousness whatsoever but a lot of silliness to go around instead, due to being a DenserAndWackier SliceOfLife spinoff with NegativeContinuity and BlackComedy all around. It occasionally performs [[TakeThatCritics a few jabs]] here and there at the criticism it gets whenever it can, usually on it lacking a lot of seriousness. It varies from short moments to full-on episodes, [[Recap/TeenTitansGoS2E32LetsGetSerious more]] [[Recap/TeenTitansGoS2E50TheReturnOfSlade often]] [[Recap/TeenTitansGoS3E9TheFourthWall than]] [[Recap/TeenTitansGoS3E33WallyT you]] [[Recap/TeenTitansGoS5E52TeenTitansRoar think]]. The closest thing we're going to get with the Titans acting serious that isn't a cheap riffing on it are on The Night Begins to Shine specials, and where they actually to try and save the world from Slade in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies''.
404* By contrast, ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' is almost uniformly serious, with most of the comic relief coming from snark rather than sillyness.
405* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is an interesting case, basically being about ridiculously silly characters in a total CrapsackWorld. Episodes tend to lean on the side of silly, but it varies; often they mix the two, which can result in bizarre aspects of a very dark plot (such as in "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy," where [[VillainProtagonist Zim]] uses the titular toys to mercilessly maim and [[MoralEventHorizon almost murder]] [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] as a small child).
406* During most of the first three seasons, ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' was firmly silly. Starting with the season three finale, the Daria/Tom/Jane LoveTriangle brought the show closer to serious territory, although most elements not related to it remained silly.
407* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' could jump genres as easily as it jumped degrees of silly: moving from a slapstick ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' parody in one episode to outright undead horror in others. Because the StatusQuoIsGod, most episodes are basically sealed in a hermetic bubble, and absurd fluffy episodes have exactly as much impact on the series as existentialist ones. Season Five, which ''isn't'' purely episodic and has an overall arc, bears much more heavily down on the serious end of the scale, but still has some light scenes.
408* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' is another "Silly yet Cynical" work. For example, "The Passion of Uncle Ruckus" is about a man with re-vitiligo [[note]]The opposite of what Music/MichaelJackson had.[[/note]] who hates black people founding the "Church of White Jesus," who believe, among other things, that smacking black people is good for both the slapper and "slappee." He demonstrates this on people who ''come up to the altar.'' Meanwhile, Huey tries to break an innocent black man out of prison. Said innocent man had a ton of evidence that said he did not commit the murder, up to and including the gun license that had the ''full name and other identification'' of the real culprit, as well as a confession letter '''signed by the culprit himself.'''
409* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' in general lies on the silly end of the scale even later in the series after CerebusSyndrome kicked in and gave it a more serious nature. However it can go all over the scale, sometimes shifting within an episode. It can be unbelievably silly (like "Slumber Party Panic") or go VERY serious (eg "I Remember You"), and ANYWHERE in between. You would expect a series like this to stick to the silly side exclusively due to its art style alone.
410* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' goes to both ends of the scale, often within the same episode. The more light-hearted episodes serve to balance out the more serious and emotional ones, like "[[ChristmasEpisode Arnold's Christmas]]" and "[[ThanksgivingEpisode Arnold's Thanksgiving]]". Special mention to the episode "[[ParentalAbandonment The Journal]]", which starts off pretty sad, has a mix of action and comedy in the middle, and then suddenly takes a turn to the depressing at the end.
411* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' and ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' are on opposite ends of the scale from each other. ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' is sort of a strange middle ground, being more serious than ''Adventures of'' but not as dramatic as ''[=SatAM=]''.
412* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' is best described as a comedy-action series. It has a cartoony art style (courtesy of Creator/JhonenVasquez) and while its BigBad and MythArc are treated pretty seriously, most of that is secondary to the goofy bromance between the titular protagonist and his best friend Howard. The [[TwoShorts two 11-minute shorts]] format also drifts the show more towards comedy.
413* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' is about as far towards the silly side as you can get. Its precursor, ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' was fairly serious for a kid's show, but compared to Ultimate Spider-Man, it is almost as serious as ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.
414* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''’s plot lines are far, '''far''' on the silly side, while the emotions are surprisingly serious and tender.
415* ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'' and ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' were both announced on the same day, and are pretty much yin and yang in tone: the former is largely PlayedForLaughs and is heavily reliant on SurrealHumour and RuleOfFun, whereas the latter (whilst it can get quite goofy at times) is more laid-back and character-driven, frequently dealing with mature or sensitive topics which are rightfully PlayedForDrama.
416* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', specially after its CerebusSyndrome, could just as much as take advantage of its QuirkyWork status for various silliness moment, and at the same time have themes of betrayal, NightmareFuel, and the moral ambiguity in the KidsVersusAdults conflict that forms the show's concept.
417[[/folder]]
418----
419->Right, stop that! That's silly! [-And a bit suspect, I think...-]

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