The act of taking a single (often minor) action of a character or event within a work and exaggerating it more and more until it's huge and cartoonish and almost entirely consumes the character or work in question. Sitcoms and Sitcom characters are particularly susceptible to this, as are peripheral characters in shows with [[LongRunners long runs]].

This can become very annoying if the character's aspects were originally unique and subtle, only to become more stereotypical as the story progresses, to fit the requirements of more cliche plots. Especially dangerous if [[ExecutiveMeddling executives]] [[ViewersAreMorons think doing this will appeal with their demographic better]] and boost ratings.

However, [[TropesAreNotBad Flanderization is not necessarily a bad thing]]. In some cases, viewers may find the over the top version of a character more entertaining than their original, subtler version.

Named for one of the examples in ''TheSimpsons'', Ned Flanders, who was originally just a clean and quiet-living, somewhat religious fellow ([[AlwaysSomeoneBetter contrast to Homer]]), in other words, the archetypical example of the American family-man who went to Church on Sundays, before becoming the meek super-religious guy most people know him as.

See also NeverLiveItDown for when the character is more associated with something than the character actually changing, and FatMonica, when realistic quirks (usually weight) are mishandled by the writers. When this happens through adaptation, it's CharacterExaggeration.

Contrast HiddenDepths. For examples specifically involving comedic aspects developing within once-serious villainous characters, see VillainDecay and GoldfishPoopGang. If it's more of a flanderization of lifestyle than personality, it may be CorruptTheCutie. When this makes early behavior seem odd in retrospect, that is CharacterizationMarchesOn.

See also TookALevelInDumbass, TropeDecay, FlanderizedTropes. Not to be confused with StupidSexyFlanders.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''AzumangaDaioh'' has a veritable boatload of flanderization in the manga. The [[{{Anime}} anime]] versions of the characters are the end result.
** Kaorin's crush on Sakaki, though the series is arguably too short and Kaorin's crush simply less-discussed in the early stages for it to be a classic case, but it's still plenty discussed enough to get a shade creepy.
** Osaka starts out as a somewhat [[TheIdiotFromOsaka slow-witted and eccentric]], yet generally still well-adjusted girl, but becomes [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} weirder]] and [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant creepier]] as the episode count goes up. Most people agree this is an improvement.
** Mr. Kimura the Classical Japanese teacher, in the ''manga'', started out as being regularly drawn, but his trademark shocked expression was used so much, that by the time the manga grew, and the anime was made, this became his default expression!
* Yuuna's jealousy in ''{{Maburaho}}'' got Flanderized to the point that, though she was originally very bland, she actually became an entertaining character.
* Shuichi's [[{{Keet}} hyperness]] and Tohma's obsession with Eiri (which starts out as merely protective and gets creepier over time) in the ''{{Gravitation}}'' manga. The anime has more stable characterizations, though skipping over most of the character development in the later volumes.
* Pretty much everyone in ''TenchiMuyo'', especially Aeka and Mihoshi. ItGotWorse with each [[AlternateContinuity new series]].
* Takamura's not-so-sudden (de-)evolution from a skilled and respectable boxer into a {{Jerkass}} in ''HajimeNoIppo.'' He's ''always'' been portrayed as a Jerkass outside of the ring, but there's a limit...
* Makoto in ''SchoolDays'' transforms from a merely sex-curious teenager into an uncaring, womanizing bastard. Furthermore, the two main female love interests get reduced to only being known for their obsession with Makoto.
* Maybe to a small degree with Mikuru in ''[[HaruhiChan Haruhi-chan]]'', when comparing her appearance in the regular ''TheMelancholyOfHaruhiSuzumiya''. In the original plot arc, even though Mikuru is portrayed as a shy MoeMoe, she still ends up showing rather blatant interest in both Kyon AND Itsuki. She has sexual interests, just doesn't like getting [[RapeAsComedy Cosraped]] By Haruhi. But in the Haruhi-chan shorts? Mikuru now seems so terrified of anything sensual that she breaks down into tears when Kyon/Itsuki burst into the room dressed like Host Club guys.
**Debatable. Mikuru's personality really changes in accordance with the skit introduced. In one episode she was cosplaying in an attempt to outdo Nagato in sexuality.
** While on the subject of Haruhi vs. Haruhi-chan, Itsuki Koizumi has a case of this himself, turning from a handsome bishounen with some underplayed sexual tension with Kyon into a flaming homosexual in Haruhi-chan.
**Kyon blowing up at Harihi's or Itsuki's behaviour, silly happenings, Haruhi seeing his as cheap labour, and really everything.
**Also the fact that the Haruhi-chan shorts are just gags, so the exaggeration is almost certainly intentional.
* Kawachi from ''[[YakitateJapan Yakitate!! Japan]]''. He started out as a talented baker with "real person" problems and a tendency to need to have the hero's eccentricities explained to him (and thus the reader). Over the course of the volumes this degenerated into him becoming a total ButtMonkey, suffering any indignation or humiliation that the other characters were apparently too cool to have happen to them, and a tendency to shout disbelief at any tiny thing, causing others to mock and ridicule him. It finally culminated in even his beloved mother and younger siblings being dismissive of his abilities, and as the series went on he became the equivalent of Krillin hanging out with Goku and Vegeta... only without the abiding affection and/or small amount of respect those two gave Krillin, as Kawachi's "friends" took to using him to literally waste the opposing team's time.
* Minako from the ''SailorMoon'' anime went from being a bubbly and cheerful but otherwise more mature version of Usagi to being a hyperactive GenkiGirl with a loose (at best) grasp on reality and silly schemes. Likely this was done to [[ExPy make her more distinct]] from Usagi, but by the end of the series they seemed to be on the same development path, just in different directions.
** This was ironically the reverse of the original manga, where Minako started out incredibly ditzy and goofy in the ''Codename Sailor V'' manga. Since that manga took place before ''SailorMoon'' and in fact had been running first, Minako was basically the proto-Usagi. The events of the last chapter of the ''SailorV'' manga show her maturing drastically into the more balanced and responsible character she became for the ''SailorMoon'' series.
*** Interestingly, the live action version of the story emphasizes Minako's early (and subsequently lonely) career, portraying her with a heroic but distant personality. CharacterDerailment or not, it might have been done to avoid the traditional overlap.
* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'': Kasumi went from a normal YamatoNadeshiko to an [[{{Pollyanna}} unfazeable]] near-parody. Considering how [[TheGenericGuy comparatively dull]] she was before, it could be considered an improvement.
** Similarly done to both Nabiki's love of money (elevated from merely opportunistic and mercenary to an easy rival for David Xanatos) and Shampoo's role as TheDitz.
*** In Nabiki's case, she started out materialistic and shallow, but smart and [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]]. Some would say, she was unique in that she was a ''normal person'' among all the loons. She'd amuse herself by selling risque, but inoffensive, pictures of her sister and Ranma to Kuno, and then abusing the latter's generosity. As the manga went on, she became so interested with self-gain she's now perfectly willing to physically sell ''her sister and Ranma themselves'' (or her family's property) to pay for her own debts, happily sells nude pictures of Ranma to the entire school (and, indeed, briefly mentions international sales,) dates guys for the explicit purpose of fleecing them for all they're worth (and blackmailing them when she becomes bored of them) and would rather [[FaceHeelTurn hightail it]] than face Kasumi and apologize to her.
*** Shampoo isn't played as the ditz, she's always crafty cheerful and barbaric, just kept more busy with her work, and Nabiki starts off very bad from the beginning. She simply turns better and more amusing about it.
** The first time Akane's cooking made the scene, it was merely ''bad'', and she realized why immediately after tasting it (packing the vinegar instead of white wine in her supplies, an honest enough mistake.) She knew she had screwed up and was contrite over it, even if she was mad at Ranma for running away. For that matter, Ranma and Genma simply ran off after the first bite and berated ''each other'' for bringing her along, but neither of them insulted ''Akane'' over it. Later on, Ranma even forced himself to eat it to prove he liked it as much as [[TheRival Ryouga]] did. Fast forward a few chapters, and her cooking has become [[LethalChef all but poisonous]], [[CordonBleughChef she doesn't care what she throws into it]], she refuses to taste it or to acknowledge that it tastes bad, and everyone else treats it like toxic waste (even to her face) and runs away at its mere mention. Then the fandom went overboard with the concept...
* LadyOfWar Kan'u Unchou (Guan Yu) from ''IkkiTousen'' is originally one of the more interesting characters, which gets fueled by her passion for her schoolmate and reincarnation of her leader in her past life, [[{{Meganekko}} Ryuubi Gentoku]] (Liu Bei), whom she has vowed to protect. In the first episodes of the third anime season, her [[BodyguardCrush feelings for Ryuubi]] transform into a full-blown lesbian crush; while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it ''does'' dangerously eclipse ''other'' traits of her personality, so she comes dangerously close to PsychoLesbian territory.
** Thankfully, that full-blown crush immediately stops after the 4th episode. Afterwards, their relationship more or less went back to normal like the previous season.
* ''{{Pokemon}},'' and how. By season seven several characters (I'm looking at you, Takeshi/Brock) are little more than walking collections of running gags.
** [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] (Yes, '''that''' Team Rocket) certainly falls under this. They went from somewhat goofy, yet very competent and dangerous criminals to [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain joke villains who are more pathetic than threatening.]]
*** Their first appearance had wanted posters! Since then it has been a slippery slope of fail.
**** A non-in anime flanderization may just be the fact that in the flashback "Training Daze" episode( mostly the Japanese version), they were very different.
* A surprising example from ''{{Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei}}''. In an anime where all the girls are made out of stereotypes, Kitsu Chiri starts out as a girl obsessed with everything being perfectly divided and distributed. She seeks to set things straight, often by rather violent methods. However, somewhere in the "story", the focus on perfection dulls a bit while her violence is upped to such a degree that she is often shown as a sadistic murderer.
* ''PaniPoniDash'': Just about everyone ends up having one of their traits exaggerated to extremes; three obvious examples are Mesousa's uselessness, Himeko's [[GenkiGirl super-high level of hyperactivity]] (maho), and Kurumi's plain-ness.
* Lina Inverse of ''TheSlayers'' has suffered this ''severely'', especially with regards to her greed. She started out as a bad-tempered BlackMagicianGirl who enjoyed going out and mercilessly destroying bandit camps for their treasure, but by the latest season (''Slayers Revolution'') has become something of an inhuman monster, going so far as to rescue a fishwoman, then immediately seek out a chef to sell her to him ''despite pleas not to''! In the past, while Lina was definitely shown to be a mercenary, almost invariably refusing to help somebody unless they paid her for it, she never came across as so evil that she would sell a person whom she had just rescued.
* Jakken, Sesshomaru's henchman from ''{{InuYasha}}'', started out as a sadistic and very competent evil sidekick who was an okay fighter and later on became a goofy weak klutz who often messed up his master's plans.
* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' has Tsukuyomi. Her first appearance saw her treating Setsuna with [[SempaiKohai a decent amount of respect]], and she was more of PunchClockVillain than anything else. Then a bunch of chapters later, she shows up again, in total StalkerWithACrush PsychoLesbian mode with a [[FoeYay psychotic obsession with Setsuna]], essentially moving from a somewhat ditzy minor minion to the ''only character in the series who is obviously and undeniably evil''. She's also creepy as hell.
* It can be hard to believe, but Sanji from ''OnePiece'' wasn't always quite such a loser when it comes to romance and women. Early on, he was actually a ChickMagnet (20 at once one time, in fact), his attention to the main females more often seemed kind of sweet, and he didn't quite come off as a dorky pervert like he does now. However, Oda gradually turning him into a full blown ChivalrousPervert (coupled with epic ButtMonkey tendencies) was actually a [[TropesAreNotBad really positive change.]] In retrospect, there was a period of time where he seemed a little too perfect compared to other main characters, and was in need of a serious personality flaw in the same vein as Luffy's flakiness and stupidity, Zoro's lack of sense of direction, Usopp's cowardliness, and Nami's greed.
* ''[[HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Higurashi]]'' makes rather entertaining use of this. When the show takes a break from all the drama and horror, more comedic and lighthearted moments often make characters act in a hilariously different way from their usual selves. Keiichi, usually a positive, optimistic charismatic boy who cares about his friends, becomes either Keiichi the Overreacting Prank Magnet or Keiichi the Brainless Perv. Dutiful, level-headed Mion becomes Mion the Tomboyish Leader. Rena, who is affectionate and friendly if a little... dangerous, gets all obsessed with things she considers cute (and taking them home). Satoko becomes a [[NoblewomansLaugh hyena-like]] [[BrattyHalfPint prankster]] and Rika is just [[{{Moe}} cute]] and helpful.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Comic Books]]

* Most mainstays of the Giffen-era JusticeLeague International suffered heavy Flanderization; that was sort of the whole point of the books.
* In a strange case of [[ArtEvolution graphical]] {{Flanderization}}, Kingdok from ''{{Bone}}'' gets more monstrous each issue (compare [[http://ameque.cool.ne.jp/independent/bone/jpg/kingdok.jpg his first appearance in ''The Great Cow Race'']] with [[http://www.geocities.com/mrsfonebonehead/Kingdok.jpg his look in ''The Eyes of the Storm'']]).
** Not precisely Flanderization, but funny. In ''{{Bone}}'', the Great Red Dragon has a distinctly pointy, somewhat equine face. In "Rose," a ''Bone'' spinoff written by Jeff Smith and drawn by someone else entirely, the Great Red Dragon's chin gets longer with each appearance until he looks not unlike Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness after being sucked into one of the false Necronomicons.
*** More monstrous? He looks WAY scarier the first time we see him. His look became softer and kinder though at least the beast didn't character wise.
* Johnny Storm of the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' started off as a somewhat-conceited daredevil hero of the team. In the past five or ten years, though, he's become increasingly more stupid and narcissistic, to the point where he now appears to be a [[TheDitz ditzy]], AmbiguouslyGay metrosexual completely in love with himself.
** His sister Sue, however, went [[CharacterDevelopment the other way]]; starting off as just another weak DamselInDistress, she gradually evolved into a confident, capable ActionMom who is widely recognised as the most powerful member of the team.
* Northstar of Marvel's ''AlphaFlight'' (later the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'') started off as an arrogant former athlete with an interest in politics and a devotion to his mentally ill sister. While John Byrne wasn't allowed to write Northstar as explicitly gay, he managed to work in a few hints. When Marvel finally got the bright idea to "out" Northstar... well, suddenly, it seemed like all that mature characterization vanished, and suddenly he was gay. Gay, gay, gay. ''So'' gay. Did he tell you how gay he is? Mind you, being handled by Chuck Austen probably didn't help matters...
* [[{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] was originally depicted as merely [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob Comfortably Well-Off]]. Now, he's one of the two richest men in TheDCU. Of course, that's hardly the only example of Bat-Flanderization:
** Poison Ivy went from a gimmicky plant-themed villain to [[GreenThumb having full-blown control over wildlife and an unkillable immune system]] after getting in touch with "The Green". This arguably made her character more interesting.
** Killer Croc was originally a somewhat intelligent gangster with a medical condition (a ''very severe'' medical condition), whose misanthropy was the result of being tormented by everyone (family included) for his freakish appearance. This was eventually downplayed, with Croc becoming more beastial and less intelligent as time went on (this was typically explained that his condition was worsening, further separating him from humanity). By the time of ''Hush'', Croc could probably pass for a bulkier version of [[SpiderMan Marvel Comic's Lizard]] (explained away by Hush infecting him with a virus that further increased his mutation).
* [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Wolverine]] is a case study. During the [[TheEighties '80s]] considerable CharacterDevelopment evolved the character from a one-note JerkAss prone to UnstoppableRage to a wise, intelligent, multitalented, and skilled warrior/mentor (with just enough issues to avoid CanonSue status). Then he [[WolverinePublicity got popular]] and the [[LowestCommonDenominator lowest common denominator]] of Captain Fuzzity [=McStabStab=] won out with all the guest-shots even as they ramped his HealingFactor to BeyondTheImpossible levels, making him pretty much the definition of a CanonSue. [[EnsembleDarkhorse And he's still the most popular character of the whole franchise]]. Because being BadAss is the ''only'' thing he seems to need.
** The "Enemy of the State" and "Wolverine: Origin" (Along with the following "Wolverine: Origins" book) stories elevated Wolverine's character to new heights, making him much more interesting again.
* Both Cable and {{Deadpool}} have gone through fluctuations of Flanderization. Both were originally very simple characters (Cable=Old soldier, Deadpool=Merc sent to kill the hero). Then they were both given overly complicated back stories (Why Liefeld, WHY?!). Then they devolved back to cliches. Then they became interesting again, and so on.
** Deadpool has both progressed and fallen at the same time in different books. While in his own series (Formerly shared with Cable. At the time it served a a "Team-Up" style book) he was becoming a hero, he was playing the ruthless morally ambiguous merc in "Wolverine: Origins." Of course, like everything else involving Deadpool, much of his Flanderization was for comedic effect.
* [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk's]] raw power has been exaggerated to the point that he might as well just be a [[DragonBallZ super saiyan.]]
* Hey, has Dr. Light told you how much he likes [[MoralEventHorizon rape]] [[http://livingbetweenwednesdays.blogspot.com/2006/11/can-we-talk-about-something-else.html lately]]? It's like it's his power now. It finally got to the point where [[EvenEvilHasStandards other villains refused to work with him]] and the Spectre turned him into a candle and lit him on fire -- as he was about to do some nasty things to hookers ''dressed as the TeenTitans''.
* Magica [=DeSpell=]'s obession with Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s NumberOneDime. Earlier stories usually had Magica simply wanting to become rich, and would often have her working on schemes completely unrelated to the dime. Nowadays, she's completely psychotic about that coin, and you rarely, if ever, see a Magica story without it as her prime goal anymore. In her first story, she was just looking for coins touched by rich men to use in a spell; when she accidentally gets Scrooge's NumberOneDime, she realizes it would be the best coin for the spell and refuses to give it back. Barks didn't use her that much specifically because he didn't want Magica's obsession with the dime be her only shtick. Other authors had no such qualms, to the point where Magica's spell now specifically requires the first coin earned by the richest man in the world to work. The flanderization was addressed in one story where Magica remembers that she technically doesn't need Scrooge's dime for the spell to work, and completes it without the dime, becoming the richest person in the world. However she's been hunting the dime for so long she's become obsessed with it, and is unable to enjoy her riches. She ends up giving up her money in order to continue pursuing the dime.
** The dime itself went through a sort of Flanderization. In the original story with Magica the dime had no initial magic powers, rather Scrooge's success and massive wealth ''gave it magic powers'' (according to Magica anyway). Later writers seem to have [[CompletelyMissingThePoint missed this point]], as there have been numerous instances where Scrooge has lost the dime due to things like theft, and his financial stability and cunning were negatively affected to the point that it couldn't have entirely been attributed to the dime having a psychological effect on Scrooge. DonRosa [[TakeThat mocks this]] in the GrandFinale of ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', where the flanderization [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall extends to rumors in-universe]], and Scrooge finds the rumor that he owes his entire fortune to a lucky charm (which he had for ''twenty years'' before he even started to make his fortune!) incredibly insulting.
* SquirrelGirl begun as an [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]] in training, but nowadays her single most defining trait is her victories over Marvel's who's-who of the most powerful super villains.
* BoosterGold started as a well-meaning hero whose love of money often got him in over his head. Over the course of the '80s and '90s, writers forgot about the "well-meaning" part and turned him into a money-grubbing jerk. Thankfully, over the course of ''Infinite Crisis'' and ''[[FiftyTwo 52]]'' in the mid-'00s, DC built Booster back up, and now he's a genuine hero again--though the lure of fame and fortune still ''occasionally'' tempt him.
* Comic strip example: While most of the ''FoxTrot'' characters had their personas taken to the extreme at times, Andy was quite literally Flanderized, going from a simple caring and concerned mother to the GranolaGirl MoralGuardian of the strip who serves her family earth-friendly fare like "wheatmeal" and braised zucchini every meal, keeps the thermostat so low that ''it flash-freezes the steam from a cup of coffee'', and throws a fit if she catches the boys playing a violent video game. Unfortunately, since the series became Sunday-only, there's little chance of her changing.
* Alan Moore's Top 10 has [[ShockAndAwe Shock Headed Peter]] who comes off at first as simply a prejudiced working class cop who actually has some character depth to a 2-D [[StrawmanPolitical Straw]] [[FantasticRacism Robo-Racist]] when a Robot character gets introduced to Precinct 10.
*[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog Archie's ''Sonic the Hedgehog comic'']]: Sonic's attitude has been cranked UpToEleven, to the point where he's making wisecracks during a battle with Enerjak, a being with seemingly limitless energy (though this may have been more for ComicRelief than anything, it was a tad excessive). [[TropesAreNotBad To be fair]], though, it seems to have slightly boosted his {{Badass}}-ness--at the cost of emotion (again, though, to be fair, he never really showed much emotion anyway).
**The part about emotion is slowly being subverted as of #200; ever since Sonic's apparently driven Robotnik totally, droolingly insane, he seems to actually regret having broken down the guy so completely.
* Dupond et Dupont (the Thompsons in English IIRC) in Tintin start as fairly tough cops. For instance, in Le Sceptre d'Ottokar they are unafraid in tight situations and quick to use their pistols, even though they are clumsy and prone to draw bad conclusions. (They are skinny, too.) Whereas in later albums, they become cowards; see for instance the Skeleton Sequence in Objectif Lune. (And chubby.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:FanWorks]]
* Most parody and [[{{Trollfic}} trollfics]] usually have more deliberate misspellings as the chapter number increases.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Captain Jack Sparrow in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. For the first movie he was written to be a cliche serious and tough bad-ass pirate dude, but Johnny Depp took that dialogue and played it in a very comic way. The second movie took this to the extreme, going so far as to feature a scene where Jack becomes a pirate/fruit kabob with a posed reaction shot.
** The third film manages to go further, flanderizing Jack's loopy ObfuscatingStupidity to the point that he even seems to be working it on himself... literally, in the scenes in Davy Jones' locker.
** Jack was a late addition in the story and was always supposed to be a classic trickster, (read a certain amount of compulsary weirdness). The screenwriters who created him, Elliot and Rossio, described Depp's portrayal as being everything they'd intended but nothing like they'd anticipated. So technically, Captain Jack was ''realized'', not flanderized.
* Happened to PeterSellers' Inspector Clouseau in the ''PinkPanther'' series. His French accent was originally straightforward, though ''A Shot in the Dark'' introduced odd accent-based pronunciation quirks ("beump" for ''bump'', for example). When he revived the character in the mid-1970s, the accent was significantly thicker and the mispronunciations were more frequent ("minkey", "rheum", "leu"), etc. Other ''Shot in the Dark'' elements also became {{Running Gag}}s: he donned more bizarre disguises with each film, and Kato's attacks grew increasingly destructive, as did the slapstick in general for the whole run of films. However, this went over like gangbusters with audiences and it didn't violate Clouseau's [[TheFool basic character]], making it one of the less destructive examples of Flanderization on this list.
** And then there's ''Son of the PinkPanther'', in which Clousseau's son (written to be [[IdenticalGrandson exactly the same as his father]], so it may still count) talks that way not from an accent, but because he actually thinks that's the way those words are supposed to be pronounced.
*** And don't even mention the SteveMartin movies.... Especially regarding hamburgers.
** It's also important to note that, in the very first movie, Clouseau was a fairly competent, intelligent detective who did successfully solve the mystery (though nobody believed him at the time). It's only with each subsequent sequel that he gradually becomes an outrageously accented walking disaster zone... though he's [[RuleOfFunny admittedly funnier]] that way.
*** Actually, the villain of the first movie, The Phantom, was intended to be the main character, but everyone loved Peter Sellers more, so he got the sequels.
* In the first two films in the ''ANightmareOnElmStreet'' series, Freddy Krueger was a fairly serious, scary character. By the third movie, the dream deaths had become more..."creative" and Freddy started to make some wisecracks and puns. By ''Freddy's Dead'', the character was so cartoonish that it was hard to believe that he actually used to be scary.
** Reversed in ''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' and ''Freddy VS Jason'', in which Freddy returns to form, becoming the dark, sinister, freakishly scary monster from the original film. (And even WORSE in the former...THAT Freddy is truly terrifying.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''{{Discworld}}'', the characterisation of Rincewind shifted from sensible fear of the unknown to full-fledged cowardice, and finally to having an entire philosophy based on the principle of running away from things. However, this is arguably CharacterDevelopment since it's suggested Rincewind, who is somewhat GenreSavvy, [[ProperlyParanoid really is correct]] about [[TheChewToy an inordinate number of things wanting to cause him trouble and harm]].
** Yeah. Remember that a significant amount of time passes for him over the course of those books, and it's strongly implied that for almost all that time, things are running around trying to kill him. That would be enough to make a devoted coward out of many people.
** Plus he's been to Unseen University where, despite his being ragingly incompetent at both the theory and practice of magic, he may well have learned a little -- just enough -- about the narrative nature of life on the Discworld. That's enough to fuel an entirely justified paranoia.
** Every character in the series mutates over time, although most of it is more CharacterizationMarchesOn.
* The ''{{Xanth}}'' series got this way with puns. The first couple of books featured some puns in the book, but was mostly unique. For instance, the tangle tree was never a pun, just a common plant. Now, the author's note features 4-5 pages of reader suggested puns. The placement of the puns is getting forced too. In book 27, characters being forced to walk through a "petrified forest" filled with puns, and needing to correctly identify the pun to move on.
* While she was originally just an aversion of the Model Minority stereotype, Claudia Kishi from the ''BabysittersClub'', despite [[ComicBookTime being in eighth grade for about ten years]], eventually gets to the point where she can't even spell her [[strike:freinds]] friends' names (or her own!) Despite being able to spell them ''perfectly'' well in seventh grade, mind. Most of the other girls' quirks (Kristy's bossiness, Dawn's environmentalist soapboxing, Mallory's geekishness, and Jessi's anxiety about her race and dancing skills) suffered this to some degree, as well.
* This is how self-will destroys the damned in ''TheGreatDivorce''. If one embraces a sin and never lets it go, it overwrites the rest of one's character, and sometimes the rest of one's self.
* [[SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] was originally just a very intelligent and cultured man, whose expertise in his chosen field of psychiatry made him a particularly dangerous (and somewhat ironic) insane killer. By the (book) sequel, ''Hannibal'', he's apparently a world-class genius in pretty much any field he sets his mind to, from Renaissance art to particle physics.
* Zoey Redbird in ''TheHouseOfNight'' series went from a somewhat more advanced vampyre who happened to have a boyfriend in the first book to TheChosenOne with an UnwantedHarem by the third book.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''{{Saved by the Bell}}:'' Screech was originally a quirky genius, but his growing stupidity was epitomized when he became an assistant principal in ''Saved by the Bell: The New Class''.
* ''{{Friends}}:'' Monica Geller's shrillness, competitiveness, obsessive-compulsive disorder and in the {{flashback}}s, her attachment to food. Remember when she was the smartest and most mature of the gang?
** Joey's stupidity. He started out simply shallow and vacuous but still had witty lines ("Yeah, keep rubbing your head. That'll turn back time."), and in the episode where the radiator in Monica's apartment was stuck at "tropical" due to a broken knob, was the only one smart enough to turn it off from underneath. By the end of the series he can't do simple math, takes several seconds longer than anyone else to react to sudden surprises, and can't even imitate sounds when trying to learn French, something that an infant can do.
** Chandler's effeminacy. In the first season, he likes sports, beer, pizza and ''{{Baywatch}}'' as much as the other guys but had to fight the popular misconception that he was gay (because he had a "quality"). By the end, he has two copies of the ''Annie'' soundtrack, can identify the film ''MissCongeniality'' through a wall and has had it revealed that he made out with a guy in college.
** Phoebe's quirkiness, which later manifested [[BewareTheNiceOnes as an extreme dark side]] that turned her from a happy-go-lucky, spacy girl into a vicious, pushy woman with extreme sexual fetishes.
** Ross' nerdiness, failure with women and [[TheWoobie general failure at life]]. Seriously, for a [=PhD=] graduate and successful college professor (he gains tenure in one of the last seasons) an ''awful'' lot of [[ButtMonkey bad and horrible things happen to him]], most of them not even his fault.
* ''[[MarriedWithChildren Married... with Children]]'': Kelly Bundy's [[TheBrainlessBeauty stupidity]] (she was originally merely BookDumb), along with Bud's [[HollywoodGeek geekiness]]. The latter ended up being a blessing in disguise when it led to ''actual intelligence'', making him one of the few successful Bundys.
** This arguably applies to all the characters in general. However, their exaggerated, cartoony personalities are generally seen by many of the show's fans as more entertaining than their subtler, more down-to-earth versions.
* [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Cliff Clavin's]] eccentricity on ''{{Cheers}}''.
* Stuart Bondek's sleaziness on ''SpinCity''.
* Agent Seeley Booth from ''{{Bones}}''. Booth went from merely being more intuitive and emotional than Dr. Temperance Brennan to becoming functionally retarded, merely to highlight how different he is from Brennan. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in at least one episode when someone suggests that Booth acts this way on purpose, so that Brennan can comfortably "be the brain".
** While "functionally retarded" might be taking it a bit far, "socially retarded" might not be taking it far enough in Brennan's case. You'd think she spent the first fifteen years of her life being raised in a closet instead of in a relatively normal home in normal America. She's consistently portrayed as so completely out of touch with basic human manners, emotions, and common culture (she doesn't know who the Grinch is, just for starters) and so obsessed with pure rationality and exacting reality that it eventually seems practically impossible that she could have written a fiction novel, let alone the steamy thriller her book is said to be. A more subtle wrinkle of this is that on the one hand she's supposedly an enthusiastic student of global cultures yet on the other hand she's presented as demonstrating exceedingly little respect and courtesy for the cultures of the people directly around her (particularly monogamy and anything hinting of the supernatural).
* Karen's shrillness and addictions, and Jack's shrillness and idiocy on ''WillAndGrace''.
* Chloe from ''{{Smallville}}'' went from someone who was okay with computers to being able to [[ReversePolarity trace a bug's point of origin]], discover [[MagicalDatabase anything about anyone]], and she even had a shot at decoding a Kryptonian virus on her PC... when all the power on Earth had been shut off. Basically she filled in any {{Plot Hole}}s where the writers couldn't think of a way to get Clark to the place he needed to be, but she was far from the only person to be Flanderized. This might be considered a ''more'' realistic example of the trope in action; people do, after all, get better at skills they use a lot in real life, and have been known to get a ''lot'' better ''very'' quickly if under sufficient pressure.
** Of course, there is a point when Brainiac downloads its intellect into her, pretty much super-Flanderizing her computer skills.
* Corporal Walter "[[HypercompetentSidekick Radar]]" O'Reilly in ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' grew more and more infantile as the series progressed (while, ironically, actor Gary Burghoff's hair grew thinner and thinner). In the early seasons, Radar, while certainly young and inexperienced, wasn't a total innocent; he drank, played poker with the guys, helped himself to Colonel Blake's cigars, and was clearly a sly and knowing individual. In later seasons he became so childlike that he drank nothing but grape soda and couldn't say words like "nudity" without stammering. Additionally, his literal telepathy -- demonstrated in more than one early episode -- eventually degraded to simply an ability to detect incoming helicopters before anyone else, a feat which Hawkeye was able to duplicate during his TemporaryBlindness.
** Subverted with Corporal (later Sergeant) Max Klinger, who slowly stops his attempts to get out of the army as a crossdresser. He comes up with some pretty creative alternatives, however, including attempting to eat a jeep, threatening to set himself on fire, and pretending that he's seeing the camp as Toledo, Ohio ([[ActorAllusion Jamie Farr's hometown]]).
** Also on ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'', Frank Burns started out as a sanctimonious, hypocritical Bible-basher who spouted off on the sanctity of marriage while engaged in an adulterous relationship with Margaret Hoolihan. He went from that sober, unremarkable (BORING!) character to a manic paranoid hebephrenic moron within just a few episodes.
* Missy on ''NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' was originally just TheLibby who happened to have a crush on the protagonist, who escalated into a persistent StalkerWithACrush, and then escalated even ''more'' into a dangerously obsessive ClingyJealousGirl.
* Ann Veal, a RecurringCharacter first appearing in the first season finale of ''ArrestedDevelopment'', was Flanderized in record time: in "Afternoon Delight", six episodes after her first appearance, her family was shown having a religious Christmas party (with three hours of silent prayer). The very next episode, "Switch Hitter", was the final appearance she would make ''without'' a subplot involving religion.
** Tobias Funke also was to some degree Flanderized. He began the show as a satire of "sensitive new-age dad" types and his seemingly obvious closeted homosexuality was only part of his character; over time, it became the crux of his personality.
*** Gob Bluth begins the series as a magician with no stage presence and unexceptional magic skills. But as the series progresses, his ability to do simple magic tricks diminishes more and more ("Yes, but where did the lighter fluid come from?"). Insecurity and need of his father and brother's acceptance also became ever more pronounced as the show progressed.
* Who remembers when J.D. on ''{{Scrubs}}'' was just a little emotionally needy due to him wanting a father figure to replace his own dysfunctional family? Fast forward to season three where J.D. is a appletini (light on the tini)-swilling "sensey" (that's "sensitive person") who can't hold on to his "man cards" (which would be taken away from him if he did something girly) for a full day, and it only got worse from there on.
** Other characters don't have it much better. A recent episode exaggerated Carla's pride in her heritage (despite initially being perfectly willing to refer to her 'homeland', something she later would not tolerate jokes about, as Chicago), to the point that she's scared if she doesn't dream in Spanish (rather than the content of the dream, which would be more worrying to anyone else).
** Look at how the Janitor starts as being an honest bad guy / HeroicSociopath for whatever reason. Then, his insanity is played up, to the point where half of his jokes draw on it, instead of being ThePesci like he used to be.
** Same goes for Kelso's goofiness, Ted's sad existence, The Todd's frat-boy antics...
** You could also say Elliot gets more neurotic with each season, as stories of her upbringing grow still more disturbing.
** This problem is exasperated by the fact that every character in ''{{Scrubs}}'' has a very bad case of AesopAmnesia. Combined with this, it results in little to no meaningful CharacterDevelopment.
* Dr. Lisa Cuddy from ''{{House}}'' underwent this kind of treatment. In season Two, she was taking fertility meds to get a baby. As seasons progressed, her baby obsession became worse and worse, until she turned into a weepy wannabe mom whose biggest ambition in life was to bring up a kid.
** But in "Mirror, Mirror," in Season 4, isn't she taking birth control pills? To get back at House in one of their ego battles, she switches his Vicodin with laxatives-- or attempts to-- and in return he implies that he's switched her birth control pills with an unknown substance.
** Thirteen suffered a similar fate. She was a fairly well-rounded, moderately deep character on her introduction, just right for a little CharacterDevelopment. What she got, however, was having her entire personality and character changed into "I'M DYING OF HUNTINGTON'S" as soon as it was confirmed. Perhaps TruthInTelevision and a JustifiedTrope, and it was expanded on surprisingly well, but it took over her character remarkably quickly.
* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'': Colonel O'Neill starts out as the kind of guy who is definitely not unintelligent, but isn't interested in the {{technobabble}} of how some AppliedPhlebotinum works so long as it does, or the details of some [[HumanAliens Human Alien]] culture so long as Daniel can speak their dialect of Ancient Egyptian. In season two, he becomes TheWatson... but the things being explained to him for the audience's benefit stop being so complicated as time goes on (possibly as a result of ViewersAreMorons at work) so he starts to look a little dull. By season three, he has devolved into having all the knowledge ''and'' maturity of a mentally challenged four-year-old. Afterward, he'll go back and forth: you have episodes like "The Warrior," where he's as awesome as ever, and episodes like "Birthright," where ''every'' line is a childish joke and the others have to pick up the slack.
** ''[=SG-1=]'''s also got the VillainDecay of the Goa'uld: their factionalized status with Ra having bitten the dust in TheMovie starts out as simply the writers' way of keeping the full might of TheEmpire from descending upon poor little Earth before we've got enough ImportedAlienPhlebotinum to cope. However, from the fifth season onward (after the second-biggest Goa'uld, Apophis, was KilledOffForReal), Goa'uld politics becomes the point of all their appearances, and instances of a Goa'uld and/or his minions being a direct, showing-up-in-today's-AdventureTown-to-do-bad-stuff threat become vanishingly rare.
** Ronon Dex seems to have become O'Neill's {{Stargate Atlantis}} counterpart, to the point of it being {{Lampshaded}} by another character:
-->'''Todd:''' [explaining his plan to destroy Michael's facility] I was going to write an elaborate program designed to slowly create a fatal error in the primary capacitor, but I doubt there'll be time for that now.
-->'''Ronon:''' I was just gonna blow it up.
-->'''Todd:''' [exasperated] Naturally.
* ''MyNameIsEarl'''s Randy Hickey has gone from "[[TheFool simple-minded but occasionally quite deep]]" to "[[RalphWiggum repeatedly attempting to stick extremities into a bug zapper]]".
* Odd reality-TV example: Parthenon on the second season of ''WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' began as StraightGay. By the time he left the show he had turned into a foremost example of CampGay.
* Lester from ''BeakmansWorld'' was originally a down-on-his-luck actor forced to don a rat suit and be the...ahem...[[TheLabRat Lab Rat]] for most of the experiments. By the end, he was a [[BigEater big eating]] obnoxious farting {{Jerkass}} who gets everything ridiculously wrong.
* Fonzie on ''HappyDays'' gradually evolves from a mysterious and vaguely threatening hood with a skill for mechanics to an [[TheAce almost superhuman paragon of coolness]] who can do literally ''anything''...even [[JumpingTheShark jump over a shark]]!
** In the first couple of seasons, Potsie and Ralph were actually somewhat sharper and more worldly than Richie. They soon devolved into a [[TheUrkel huge nerd]] and a compulsive [[PungeonMaster lame jokester]], respectively.
*** And soon after that, they devolved into [[BrotherChuck clones of Chuck]].
* Jack Bauer on ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'' is an interesting case. In season one he was a somewhat cocky, "normal" federal agent with some elements of CowboyCop and a few badass scenes (the "towel torture threat" being the most famous). Then [[spoiler:his wife is killed]] in the season one finale. In season two Jack, is reasonably hardened and antisocial and his badass quotient goes up. CharacterDevelopment gets him into a better place, but he doesn't stop being badass. In the first season his badassery was more subtle, but in the later seasons he becomes {{Badass}} Incarnate, with [[BeyondTheImpossible writers trying to top each badass feat with the next badass one]]. It's almost gotten to the point where the show is less about intriguing thriller and more about "What Badass thing can Jack do next?" The reason it's interesting is because, unlike the other Flanderization examples, [[MemeticBadass you won't find many complaints about this one]].
* In ''LifeOnMars'', DC Chris Skelton goes from being a well-meaning if slightly naive officer in the first series to [[TheDitz a complete and utter twonk]] that leaves you wondering how he ever made detective in the second.
** By ''AshesToAshes'', either Chris has improved drastically, or most of the characters have flanderised to reach his level. Take your pick.
* The title character from ''LeaveItToBeaver'' went from an innocent, naive kid in earlier seasons to a borderline idiot toward the end of the show's run. Possible side effect of [[NotAllowedToGrowUp Not Being Allowed To Grow Up]].
* In ''{{Supernatural}}'', Dean went from flirt-happy to being so slutty that he couldn't believe anyone would remain a virgin by choice. As Dean is an admittedly [[{{Bishonen}} very attractive male]], some might not think of this as a bad thing. The {{Flanderization}} has gotten so bad even the actor {{Jensen Ackles}} teases that Dean might act like a hooker to pay the bills.
** Another one from ''{{Supernatural}}'': Dean's eating. Originally started with Dean eating a couple of cocktail franks at a funeral, it has now evolved into Dean becoming a compulsive member of the Clean Plate Society, including eating a ham he recently "cooked" with an electrified joy buzzer.
* David Platt on ''CoronationStreet'' went from cheeky schoolboy to teenage tearaway to deranged, violent criminal who attempted to kill his mother, smashed up half the titular Street and went to prison. He was then released, settled with a girlfriend, and had become somewhat calmer... for a while, until he reverted back, lost his girlfriend and added [[StalkerWithACrush stalker ex-boyfriend]] to the mix in the process.
* Chelsea on ''ThatsSoRaven'' went from a an occasional (but still likable) ditz to a RalphWiggum who irritates even her best friends.
* ''BoyMeetsWorld's'' Eric Matthews went from a merely shallow, girl-crazy airhead to an AdultChild.
** Of course, then he became [[BatmanBeyond Batman]], so it's ok.
*** ''CharlesInCharge's'' Buddy Limbeck was an earlier example of this by the same producer (Michael Jacobs). Buddy and Eric both started out as girl-crazy guys who had no interest in academics but weren't stupid at all. As their respective series progressed, they both became progressively more stupid and eventually insane.
** There might be an in-show explanation for this: when Eric began studying for the SATs in an early episode called "Home," there were... consequences. And the rest is history:
--->'''Eric''': It's like I'm in S.A.T. Zone. All my other senses are completely shut down.
--->'''Jason''': Eric?
--->'''Eric''': Wha?
--->'''Jason''': You just spilled soup on your lap.
* The title character of ''{{MacGyver}}'' originally started out as a reasonably intelligent, inventive field agent who lives a fairly clean, active lifestyle and was generally a nice guy all around. As the series progressed, his inventiveness started warping reality to facilitate it (although, due to the series also phasing the improvisational inventions out at the same time, this probably started happening because they needed to make sure that one aspect ''counts'' each time it gets used), his clean living became almost pseudo-hippie, and him being a nice guy somehow mutated into being the only refuge of sanity who has to deliver {{Anvilicious}} {{Aesop}}s by the truckload. By the last two seasons, he was pretty much just a shell for which the writers could insert their [[AuthorFilibuster filibusters]].
* Robert Hewitt Wolfe's original plan for Seamus Harper on ''{{Andromeda}}'' was for him to mature and get over the constant sexual innuendos. After Wolfe was booted, the character became all about childishness and innuendos.
* ''[[MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'''s Professor Bobo, introduced in the eighth season, started as a slightly dim but basically competent ''PlanetOfTheApes'' spoof who chastises his colleagues for their simian behavior, but over his run became progressively more idiotic and bestial until by the end of the series he's literally flinging his poo and wearing a dog tag.
** Bobo was actually flinging his poo and getting tick baths as early as mid-season eight (the first season in which he appeared). The flanderization seems to have happened to emphasize the contrast between him and Observer.
*** The contrast between Bobo and Observer stayed mostly constant, as Observer was Flanderized at roughly the same rate and in roughly the same direction as Bobo. When first introduced, the Observers are kind-of-omnipotent, maybe-not-really-superior beings; within a few episodes, Brain Guy is just a super-powerful bozo.
* Arnold Spivak on ''MurderOne'' was a very competent and mature lawyer in season one, with the worst you could say about him being that he was somewhat socially awkward, but in a mostly endearing way, and would occasionally get a bit petulant over not being given more responsibility in the firm. In season two he became a complete {{Butt Monkey}}, existing only for a running gag about never being assigned second chair on a case.
* ''JudgeJudy'' used to play it straight, only occasionally losing her temper with the most thick-headed litigants. The popularity of her scathing wit turned her into a prejudicial [[HangingJudge psycho-bitch]].
* [[PerkyGoth Merton Dingle]] from ''BigWolfOnCampus'' went from someone who considers himself relatively handsome and talented (both academically and in the various entertainment arts) to someone with an ego the size of Texas.
** [[BadAssNormal Lori Baxter,]] [[SeasonalRot third season,]] ring a bell? In fairness, she does get better.
* In the early seasons of ''30 Minute Meals'', host Rachael Ray was quite calm, comparatively quiet, and did not use many acronyms in her speech. There were only a few hints to her underlying quirkiness. Over the run of the show, she transformed into a hyperactive, noisy, acronym-using parody of what she once was.
* ''TheBigBangTheory'' has a case of good Flanderization. Sheldon started as a less assertive/more arrogant version of Leonard who was nervous around Penny and competed for her attention. A couple of episodes in and he had evolved into the asexual narcissist whom we all love to hate. Penny on the other hand went through a reverse Flanderization. The first episode establishes her as a ditz with low intelligence (she's a vegetarian who eats steak), but those elements faded as the show focused on her being a more normal person around the geeks.
** Although Penny's apparent change in personality can also be attributed to her being a bit uncomfortable around the others at first and trying to be nice and make a good impression on them nonetheless.
* ''[=~Two Pints of Lager & A Packet of Crisps~=]'' has multiple examples, such as:
** Donna goes from a snarky, somewhat sardonic individual to one who is incredibly bossy and sometimes violently angry in later seasons. This was pushed to increasingly high levels in the seventh season, to the point where she was almost a caricature of her former self.
** Then there's Louise, who started the series as a naive, narcissistic, somewhat manipulative, not particularly intelligent girly-girl, with a touch of quirkiness about her. By the seventh season, she is incredibly manipulative, sometimes very spiteful and bitchy, very snobby, and ''incredibly'' self-centered - to the point where she names her newborn child "Louise Louise" (after spending an episode not wanting the child because of her fears that it would be "prettier" than her). She also goes from not minding Jonny at all (and not showing a hint of disgust when he kisses her in the episode 'Lard', and stating that she actually likes him "in a way"), to outright despising him for the most trivial of reasons (she even gets him shot by the police, after she gets a job at the Office for National Statistics and changes his profile to that of a serious criminal).
** Jonny's "feminine side" being exaggerated in later seasons is another example.
* Happened to virtually the entire cast of the French Canadian show ''{{Le Coeur a Ses Raisons}}'' as the show moved further away from being a parody of American soaps and more toward comedic absurdity: Ashley started out as a slightly ditzy nurse, and later became a few steps away from mentally retarded. Criquette began as spoiled and melodramatic and became downright hysterical about the slightest things later on ("You left the toilet seat up! This proves you have a mistress!"). Characters introduced in later seasons came along already flanderized.
* Dan Fielding of ''NightCourt'' started out as a relatively straitlaced prosecutor, but quickly turned into the narcissistic, [[HandsomeLech skirt-chasing]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold faux-jerk]] we know and love.
* Eric, Kelso, Donna and Fez on ''That70sShow'': from a relatively normal teenager, Eric turned into an absolute nerd; Kelso went from awkward and indecisive to plain stupid; Donna became so aggressive that she was a borderline StrawFeminist; and Fez, formerly a classic desperate virgin, turned into a pervert. Also, Red was a somewhat stern, but no-nonsense parent in the first season, but as seasons went on, he became a constantly angry introvert that borderline terrorised and bullied Eric.
* Pretty much everyone on ''TheOffice'', but Michael is the most prominent example, going from being an obnoxious boss who really did mean well to being a total spaz who couldn't handle being shown up.
** Jan went from being the StraightMan and voice of reason to Michael to a mean spirited loser in record time after they officially began a relationship.
* ''TheDailyShow'' has been almost entirely focused on riffing on National Political stories, whereas ''TheColbertReport'' has picked up covering the quirkier science and entertainment news that was once the former's purview. Arguably, this has been to both shows' advantage.
* Somewhat averted by the character of 'Sidney Balmoral James' in ''HancocksHalfHour''. In the radio show, he was a {{CMOT Dibbler}} whose dodgy schemes generally had the luckless Tony Hancock as their victim. In the TV show, his criminal tendencies were played down and he became more of a {{Deadpan Snarker}} deflating Hancock's ego.
* ''{{Seinfeld}}'''s main cast Flanderizes greatly over the course of the show, as do many of the minor characters. Kramer is perhaps the most noticeable, going from a quirky but ordinary fellow into an eccentric mastermind who regularly breaks the law, social expectations, and maybe even the rules of physics. Elaine goes from a forward-thinking woman into a short-tempered, neurotic, extremist-feminist. George goes from being a relatively unsuccessful but otherwise mature individual into a bastion of failure who explodes at the smallest lack of success; of the three, only George's Flanderization is lampshaded or mentioned in-universe. Jerry is perhaps the only main character who stays unchanged, although his finicky tendencies toward cleanliness and girlfriend-perfectionism surface pretty regularly.
* The build team on ''{{Mythbusters}}'' was Flanderized over time. Nowadays, Tory is the one who always gets hurt or abused, Grant is the one obsessed with robots, and Kari is reduced to ditzy token female who rarely ever actually contributes to anything. The cast members suggested that the [[ExecutiveMeddling producers request this]] by popular demand, mentioning that they requested that Tory do something reckless in one episode.
* Likewise, the presenters on ''TopGear'' have self-Flanderized into Clarkson (aggressive loud boor who likes power and shiny things), Hammond (small hyperactive hamster who wants to go really really fast) and May (slow, cerebral pedant who can't be bothered with any of that).
* See ''FamilyMatters'', where Urkel went from a standard-issue nerd to [[TheUrkel THE Urkel]].
* Bob from ''Teachers'' started off as a stern boss in the first series before turning into a more easy-going, if awkward character. This later was Flanderized into him being the ButtMonkey, with his wife leaving him in the third series and reaching [[SeasonalRot its peak]] in the fourth, with his new Thai bride (who refuses to have sex with him but does so with his replacement as head of English) and his wearing of an ill-fitting toupee.
* Most of the characters from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' were Flanderized over time. Originally Buffy wasn't much stronger than a vampire, and particularly old or strong vampires generally gave her a lot of trouble. By Season 5, she could effortlessly wield a hammer that Spike, a master vampire who had killed two slayers (and fought Buffy to a draw in Season 2), couldn't even lift. Willow was already extremely smart in the early seasons, but there were other students at Sunnydale High who were smarter (her science project came in second every year). As late as Season 4, her magic use was still endearingly incompetent much of the time. By Season 6, she was the strongest magic user in the Western Hemisphere, and it was heavily implied that she was the strongest on earth by the end of Season 7. These examples might be due to the fact that Willow and Buffy simply got smarter or stronger over time, but that fails to explain why Giles, a middle-aged man who has already spent most of his life training to fight vampires, went from being a trainer who himself could do little in combat to slaughtering vampires en masse by Season 5. Xander went in the opposite direction. Originally he was a semicompetent fighter whose academic problems were primarily caused by laziness, but by Season 4, he had been rejected even by the low-ranked University of California at Sunnydale, and his "slap fight" with Harmony was played for comedic effect.
** In Giles' case it could be argued that he wasn't permitted to fight by the Watcher's Council and only started fighting after his firing. Also, his torture at the hands of Angelus might have spurred him to take a more active role.
* Almost all of the characters in ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' were Flanderized after the first season. Charlie was simply slow-witted in the first season, and now he's an illiterate idiot-savant. However, since [[TropesAreNotBad tropes aren't necessarily bad]], this has worked to the show's favor. Most people would agree that the "current" characters are [[GrowingTheBeard a hell of a lot funnier than they were starting out]].
* {{Roseanne}}'s characters suffered from this. The worst victims were Mark (who went from being a troubled teen with a hidden good streak and some hints of under-education from dropping out, to a complete idiot who actually burned his hand repeatedly in one episode because he was bored) and Jackie (who started out as a bit neurotic and insecure but generally a competent single female to a complete nutcase who would erupt in to nervous, annoying laughter at the drop of a hat. By the final seasons, it was no small wonder that she somehow managed to hold down a job, keep her house and not have child services take her kid away).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology]]
*Gods originally portrayed as ChaoticNeutral or even mostly good are frequently reinterpreted as evil by competing sects/religions historically. Modern media does the same and removes the character flaws of "good" gods in retellings of mythology [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade in order to simplify them]], making them fit modern good/evil dichotomies better.
**Virtually every mythology in modern day media is subject to the latter. Hades and Set are victims of the former: the Greek god of the Underworld is frequently interpreted as the villain of the Greek pantheon, while the Egyptian god of chaos and some aspects of death apparently became evil rather than a scary enforcer for good due to Egyptian religious political wars.
** Some Chaotic Neutral mythological entities such as Loki even get upgraded to Chaotic Good by people that are Neo-Ásatrúar.
* In the old polytheistic days, gods weren't characters in anthologies, they were everyday gods that you'd pray to when you needed something, or just as part of your daily ritual. So when you'd hear "Zeus," your first thought would be "king of gods, god of hospitality, law, civilization," not "DepravedBisexual who'll do AnythingThatMoves in [[PowerPerversionPotential Whatever Shape He Likes.]]" Similarly, "Hera" would inspire "goddess and protectress of women, the home, family, and domestic life" not "[[ClingyJealousGirl Clingy Jealous Goddess]] BitchInSheepsClothing." However, because [[AdaptationDistillation now all that we have left]] [[AdaptationDisplacement of these gods]] [[AdaptationDecay are the stories]] they left behind (and ''what'' [[ClassicalMythology stories]]!), we tend to picture pretty much ''all'' gods as caricatures of their original, er, selves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
*This is how [[WellIntentionedExtremist extremism]] comes to be. Errors come in pairs, but with most people, circumstances and the association of ideas cause them to be more off-put by one error than the other. If left unremedied, this imbalance expands until they embrace the opposite error.
* Alzheimer's disease, at some stage, may also bring some traits out of its victims and exaggerate them to the extreme.
* Remember when the Internet was this nice idea to allow serious research to be done between colleges? The undergrads created the modern Internet.
** Actually, AOL users created the modern internet. Sad, isn't it?
* Political strategy in general tries to Flanderize politicians to more easily accomplish shifts in popularity. All it takes is just a few incidents, repeatedly referenced, to put a politician into the desired "frame". Choose your own example.
* The ItJustBugsMe page. At first, it was mainly for questions concerning FridgeLogic, but has now turned into a place where you complain about shows you don't like. [[TropesAreNotBad Albeit, tropers tend to prefer this]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* The [[{{Warhammer40000}} Imperium of Man]] got hit with this hard. The [[EarthShatteringKaboom exterminatus]] was once used only if there was no other choice. A [[BadBoss Commissar's]] job wasn't to shoot their solders, it was to keep morale and discipline up; the Tech Priests knew what they were doing, their prayers were really just standard maintenance; and the ObstructiveBureaucrat was due to the sheer size of the Imperium, while the Bureaucrats at subsector levels were pretty quick. ItGotWorse... as the naming of GrimDark shows...
*The DungeonsAndDragons Alignments have undergone alot of Flanderization. People and [[AdapationDecay Fourth edition]] basically simplified Lawful and Chaotic into most good and least good respectively. Under this definition LawfulGood is most good, ChaoticGood is least good, and ChaoticEvil is most evil rather then NeutralEvil.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Many secondary characters in ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' suffer horribly from this trope: Amy Rose started out with a perfectly normal crush on the titular character, only to quickly turn into a [[ClingyJealousGirl psycho stalker with a Piko-Piko hammer]]; Tails started out with a small affinity for mechanics before becoming the good version of Dr. Eggman; Knuckles' devotion to the Master Emerald and minor naivete when distinguishing between friend and foe eventually mutated into [[WhatWereYouThinking obsessive gullibility]], etc.
** Even Sonic's not immune to this, his [[MascotWithAttitude 'tude]] starting out small before inflating into a superego (perhaps because this aspect of his personality was what differentiated him the most from Nintendo's mascot, the blander Mario).
*** It should be noted that [[AllThereInTheManual according to the Japanese supplementery material]] [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros published well before Sonic Adventure came out]], Tails was ''always'' a GadgeteerGenius and Eggman ''always'' "acted like a child regardless of his IQ".
* The same goes double for the once ingenious and menacing Dr. Wily of the ''MegaMan'' franchise, who returned with the exact same plan for world domination (eight robots who were weak to each others' weapons, thematically appropriate stages, fortress, fight) about five times too many.
** This was averted in the ''Battle Network'' series and the [[MegamanZero Zero series]]. In Battle Network, he's got a (semi) justifiable reason for being such a homicidal maniac, but his plans vary enough that he avoids the trope. In Zero, Weil is just a [[CompleteMonster Complete Monster]] with absolutely no redeeming qualities, eventually unifying himself with his [[ColonoyDrop Super Weapon]] in 4 to kill Zero, even though he'd die in the process.
* Johnny Cage from ''MortalKombat'' became so diluted he became a parody of what he strove ''not'' to be. In the beginning he was more serious (but no less [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant]]) and a very competent fighter, but devolved into a PluckyComicRelief character as the series went on. This was likely a TakeThat directed at Daniel Pesina, the actor who originally played Johnny Cage, after he was fired by Midway for posing in character as Cage to promote another company's fighting game (''Blood Storm'').
* In ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Larry Butz went from a [[BeleagueredChildhoodFriend loser with terrible luck in love]] into a lecherous, shallow pervert who thinks nothing of [[{{Lolicon}} hitting on a nine-year-old girl]]. He also slid from a 'best friend' who often annoyed Phoenix, into someone Phoenix 'wouldn't call a close friend'.
** The Judge also. In the first game he is still rather dim, but this is mostly an excuse to have the lawyers explain the facts of the case in great detail so the player can keep up. On the whole, the Judge in the first game is fairly level and keeps a stern voice of authority within the courtroom. As the series progressed, the Judge's stupidity and short attention spand was played up more and more. By the fourth game, he is almost [[AdultChild child-like]] in his naivete, often brings up personal issues or problems during the trials, and lets blatant lies slide right by him, whereas before he might have noticed.
*** Considering his age and the progression of time throughout the series, he seems to be getting progressively more senile and out-of touch with the world.
**The ''AceAttorney'' franchise has also been flanderized. In the first game, the reactions were simple: [[spoiler: foaming at the mouth, people cringing, eye twitching, Breaking a smoke pipe, and banging your head against the wall.]] By Ace Attorney Investigations, we've already seen [[spoiler: people getting beaten up by bubbles, people summoning lightning, people tearing their faces off, An excorsism, someone going [[DragonBall Super Sayin]], someone's hair flying off, and someone's hair spazzing out.]]
* Lara Croft started as a modest, down to earth woman in ''TombRaider''. In ''Tomb Raider 2'' she became more witty and slightly more threatening and bloodthirsty. Later on she was heavily Flanderized into a Hollywood-style tough girl for ''TombRaider: The Last Revelation'', and by ''Angel of Darkness'' this had become exaggerated to {{Jerkass}} levels.
** Interestingly, this was taken from one extreme to another in the next game in the series, ''TombRaider: Legend'', in which Lara became a slave to her emotions, which may be considered an improvement, because at least she now had more depth than a teaspoon.
** Lara's emotions got even more influential to her actions in ''Tomb Raider: Anniversary'' in which Lara takes just one human life, after which follows a lengthy emotional moment in which she practically turns into LadyMacBeth and [[{{Wangst}} constantly looks at her hands]] for the rest of the game.
** However, it is important to note that the Lara Croft of ''TombRaider: Legend'' onwards is basically a different character to that of the previous games in the series, as Crystal Dynamics completely rebooted the franchise, and changed Lara's backstory and personality along with it.
** There are also Lara's [[{{MostCommonSuperPower}} funbags]]. In the first game, they were noticeable, but still realistic, though the publicity material for the game made them enormous. They kept progressing in size to the point that the only way they could possibly be realistic is if Lara decided to break the world record for most silicone in one rack. The reboot dropped her cup size back again, though they're starting to get bigger again as of ''Underworld''...
* Axel Almer in ''SuperRobotWars OriginalGeneration'' suffered from this in the GBA incarnation of ''OG 2''. He is turned from a loyal, cold subordinate of the Shadow Mirrors with some slight dislike for [[ArtificialHuman Artificial Humans]], into an overly headstrong man who is obsessed on beating his rival Beowulf (and that even surpasses his loyalty to Shadow Mirror; he even has to struggle about following superior orders if his rival is in front of his eyes), and being [[FantasticRacism thoroughly disgusted when one of the dolls risks her life to save his own]]. In the remake, the writers and producers fixed Axel's personality for better, resulting in a more refined, respectable villain [[spoiler:who later performs a HeelFaceTurn]].
* Master Vrook of ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. In the first game, he is just distrustful of you at first but will come around if you do good deeds. But in the sequel, he seems to hate your character with an absolute passion and never misses a chance to criticise you, even when you do something right.
** Um...this is because you play two different characters in the two different games. In the first game, he once admired your character, later grew to despise you for your evil deeds, and later grudgingly respects you for saving the galaxy. In the second game, he already has a history with your character, who thoroughly disliked him from the first time you met; the fact that the arc involving him basically consists of your character revealing his presence to his enemies and then ruining his carefully laid plans doesn't help either.
** And worse still, his unpleasantness seems contagious: when you meet Masters Kavarr and Zez-Kai-El on the planets that they're hiding on, they are welcoming and friendly, and both of them show regret for what they did to your character in the backstory. But in the Light Side path, when they arrive on Dantoiine and team up with Vrook, they automatically see you as a threat and [[spoiler: try to cut you off from the Force]] without even giving you a chance to defend yourself.
** Also a good example of [[ExecutiveMeddling Executive Meddling]], as the designers were forced to cut a huge amount of story off the end of the game.
* In ''[[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords]]'', one could potentially argue that HK-47 was somewhat Flanderized. In the original, he was calmer and tended to display his [[KillerRobot sociopathic tendencies]] only in isolated situations, like during certain "aggressive negotiations". Outside of combat and negotiations, he was a perfect gentleman, though he spoke with a disturbing flippancy/eagerness about death and destruction. In the sequel, he became a straightforward KillerRobot, speaking boldly and constantly about slaughtering all meatbags. This, however, worked in his favor, as without it, the now-famous line, [[CrowningMomentofAwesomeVideoGames "Definition: Love is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometres away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope,"]] would never exist.
** Also done with his unusual speech pattern. In the first game the "Definition:" or "Statement:" or "Query:" before his dialogue was relatively simple, there weren't that many of them (maybe five or six at most) and they served to logically categorize the things he said. In [=KotOR=] 2, the prefixes start becoming increasingly specific. The HK-50s take it to the next level by adding descriptive adjectives to the mix, to the point that they often serve to ironically undermine the following statement completely, a la StephenColbert's "The WORD" (i.e. "Hasty Retraction:", "Condescending Explanation:" or even "Fabrication:".)
* The whole ''CommandAndConquer: Red Alert'' has undergone this. While some people complained that ''RedAlert 3'' was ridiculously over the top compared to the previous games, it had already drifted dramatically starting with ''RedAlert 2''. ''RedAlert'' had time travel, an ActionGirl, and some over-the-top technology and characters, but it was about as serious as the Tiberium Series. ''Red Alert 2'' expanded on this with much more over the top stuff (Giant mind controlled squid?) and much more cartoonish units and scenarios. ''Red Alert 3'' is par for the course after this.
* ''MegaManX'': As ExecutiveMeddling forced the series to go beyond the creator's planned ending, X5, some of the main characters had certain aspects of their personality stretched out to artificially create conflict for the next few games. While Zero always stayed friendly to X, he became rather gruffer and more stereotypically badass as the series went on, especially when [[ReplacementScrappy Axl]] was introduced. Sigma [[VillainDecay degenerated]] just as badly as Dr. Wily, if not worse, as he went from very nearly destroying the world and being a truly MagnificentBastard...to a shivering pile of zombie-animated debris ''in just one game'', and by the next game [[MotiveRant explained his]] [[HijackedByGanon final boss status]] as simply [[MotiveDecay "because I'll never stop until you're dead!"]] It was X that [[UnpleasableFanbase the fans complained about]] the most, though: while he had always been more pacifistic and less violence-inclined than Zero, this was expanded into ''the'' defining aspect of his personality, so that rather than being a reluctant cop, he was a stereotypically annoying whiner who kept advocating non-violence even when the situation had clearly gone south. This led to him [[TenMinuteRetirement abandoning active duty]] at the beginning of X7, so we [[ReplacementScrappy started off playing a Megaman X game not playing as Megaman X.]] [[HesBack He does return, though.]]
** Speaking of the X series, even words can undergo Flanderization. The term ''Maverick'' initially referred to a Reploid who attacked and killed humans [[spoiler:as a result of Wily's Maverick virus]], but starting with X4 the meaning started to become warped as a political tool, usually with the purpose of sending the Maverick Hunters after the designated targets. The distortion of its meaning remains long into the Zero series, where the Resistance are (mostly) law-abiding Reploids just trying to keep themselves operational amidst an energy crisis. [[spoiler:Most of the damage has been reversed in the ZX series, but with Albert dead and Mikhail (likely) soon to join him, it's only a matter of time before Thomas makes history repeat itself.]]
* There's still some debate to this, but Kratos of ''GodOfWar'' could be considered to fall into this. In the first game, his bloodlust is a facet of his deeper personality - he channeled the memories of what he had done into his rage to become more brutally efficient. In the second game, Kratos lost that, and became simply bloodlust and badassery in human form.
* In ''{{Pikmin}}'', the pikmin were inmmune to their respective elements. Now, in SuperSmashBros Brawl, they ''have'' elemental powers.
** However, this was done to keep them from being totally useless in battle.
* Sodom from ''{{Final Fight}}'' was originally a samurai-themed underground wrestler with a somewhat misguided fascination with Japanese culture. In the ''{{Street Fighter}} Alpha'' series (especially in the Japanese versions of the games), this fascination became more of an obsession, with Sodom usually speaking in mangled Japanese, writing his gang's name in kanji, and going as far as to travel to Japan to recruit sumo wrestlers for his gang.
* When Mai Shiranui was first introduced in ''[[FatalFury Fatal Fury 2]]'', she was simply a female Ninjutsu master whose relation with Andy Bogard (being the granddaughter of his sensei, Hanzo Shiranui) was barely mentioned in her back-story. In later games (especially in the anime adaptations), she became so fully obsessed with Andy to the point that she yells his name whenever she gets K.O.ed in ''{{The King of Fighters}}'' games and most of her endings revolve around her trying to get Andy to commit to her.
* Captain Qwark from the ''RatchetAndClank'' series has become an increasingly unintelligent character in recent games. In the first game, he wasn't portrayed as being particularly stupid, but was shown as being cowardly and rather incompetent. In the second game, Qwark successfully takes control of the {{Megacorp}} corporation and executes a XanatosGambit that only fails when he puts the batteries of the Helix-O-Morph in backwards (it's a long story). In the third game, Qwark goes completely bananas (literally) when he for some reason is acting as the chief of a monkey tribe on a tropical planet. After his subsequent HeelFaceTurn, he has been portayed as exceedingly vain and in ''Size Matters'' and ''Tools of Destruction'' he borders on RalphWiggum territory.
* Achmed Khan from ''BackyardSports'' was originally a great athlete who simply listened to rock music (although he had his headphones on everywhere). This quirk was run into the ground by later games, making him a guitar-wielding crazed fan, down to the fact that he could not focus due to loving music.
* The ''ArTonelico'' series features an in-universe example. Any part of a Reyvateil's problems, desires, or what-have-you get blown to spectacular proportions in their Cosmospheres. Outside of the Cosmospheres, however, the changes in character after you go in to their Cosmospheres are much more subtle.
* All the ''HarvestMoon 64'' characters were flanderized for ''Back To Nature''. They, well [[GenerationXerox their]] [[IdenticalGrandson descendants]], were flanderized even more, along with the ''Wonderful Life'' series decedents. But that's justified due to them not being the same person and having more boring lives.
* Arguably, this has happened with {{Team Fortress 2}} as a whole (not just one character - the entire game all at once) and its recent addition of character hats: all the updates in the last two months have been either adding more hats or allegedly tweaking the system through which they are obtained (but no amount of tweaking will ever improve the setup because it is [[RandomlyDrops broken by its very nature]]). The addition of character weapons and upkeep of balance in the old ones, as well as fixing bugs in existing maps (several of which are [[GameBreakingBug game-breaking if exploited]]), have apparently taken a backseat position, despite being, you know, '''what the actual gameplay revolves around.''' At least as many people spend all day idling in the hopes of getting hats as actually play the game proper anymore.
** To clarify how this fits this trope: The game started out being about the actual multiplayer FPS action it was intended to be based upon, but has in recent times very quickly shifted to be MUCH more about collecting the hat items via random drops and seeing who can get the most or the "best." Perception of the change is quite subjective, but a large number of people feel that the game has Flanderized the hats quite a bit.
** There have been some back-end additions and modifications done in the past month or so, mostly at the request of mappers, and some of the more major map bugs have been fixed. Still, these have been done with absolutely no fanfare whereas anything regarding the hats will be extravagantly played up upon its unveiling...
** Now you have to pre-order ''Left 4 Dead 2'' in order to get one of the hats (and a rather plain/ugly one too). That's right - you have to ''pay $50 for an additional game just to get an aesthetic item in this one.'' Pretty sad for a game that previously prided itself on its major game updates that provided free added content that would cost a pretty penny for an equivalent amount of added content in many other online games.
** Let's not forget the character known as Saxton Hale: originally just a joke character appearing in a small logo in the lower corner of a faux magazine page in a promotional bit for the Sniper/Spy Update, he now has more of an established personal history story than any of the characters in the game, despite never appearing in the game itself or even having his existence acknowledged in-game. The [[http://www.teamfortress.com/ TF2 Blog]] now uses him in pretty much every blog post, cramming them all full of the same "manliness" jokes and bizarre speech/writing patterns that stopped being funny a month ago.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* The title character of ''HomestarRunner'' was Flanderized from TheFool into TheDitz. This was arguably for the better.
* In Kirbopher's ''[=~Super Freakin' Parody Rangers~=]'' series, the Rangers themselves are basic Flanderized versions of the original Mighty Morphin' PowerRangers: Meat, the [[TheHero Red Ranger]], is an extreme sports nut who continually flexes his muscles (and is surprisingly also GenreSavvy); Willy, the [[TheSmartGuy Blue Ranger]], is a short and stereotypical nerd; Pinky, the Pink Ranger, is definitely TheChick; and in reference to the original Black and Yellow Rangers, Mace the Black Ranger and Chan the Yellow Ranger are, well, an African-American and a Chinese girl, respectively.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Hannelore from ''QuestionableContent'', shortly after her first appearance, mentioned that she had severe OCD. Over time, she developed more and more quirks and phobias to the point of being essentially a female [[{{Monk}} Adrian Monk]]. It wasn't long before they had to HandWave the fact that she even has piercings, and the circumstances of her first appearance -- loitering in a public restroom, nonchalantly talking to a ''man'' peeing in the sink -- have become absolutely inconceivable.
** This was finally dealt with in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1046 Comic 1046]], where Hannelore [[spoiler: reveals she's always had these problems; it just varies by the drugs she takes.]]
*** Considering the things she's freaked out at, that should tell you something about just how hopped up she was.
** Also from ''QC'' is Raven. At first, she was a little bit of a GenkiGirl with rare flashes of wisdom and occasional casual sex. As of her [[BrotherChuck most recent appearance]] on QC, she was a flat out bizarre {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (Even by the standards of Cloudcuckoolanders), and has probably [[ReallyGetsAround gone around the block]] an innumerable number of times.
* Fighter from ''[[EightBitTheater 8-Bit Theater]]'' was just a bit dim and gullible in the first few pages of the comic, but quickly got stupider and stupider as the comic progressed. It probably didn't help that Black Mage kept stabbing him in the head. He currently hovers somewhere between {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and RalphWiggum.
** Likewise, Black Mage was just an insensitive asshole with a slight sadistic streak at first, but is now so [[CrossesTheLineTwice over-the-top]] ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice evil]]'' that [[RefugeInAudacity he'd be appalling if he wasn't so funny]].
** Also, while his overall intelligence has declined, Fighter's moments of intelligence seem to have become more and more frequent.
** Thief's skills in intrigue and his general competence have grown by leaps and bounds since his first appearance.
** Pretty much EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in 8-Bit Theater has been Flanderized ridiculously.
*** You're kidding, right? Black Mage was murdering old men and orphans by page 30, and Fighter was saying "I Like Swords" before that. The characters never change. That's the point.
* Ethan in ''[[CtrlAltDel Ctrl-Alt-Del]]'' began as TheDitz, but moved on to the RalphWiggum. More recently, he has surpassed this, and some fans are starting to suspect he is in fact clinically insane. (And he ''was'' recently put in a mental institution in the animated version...)
* Szark Sturtz from ''DominicDeegan'' was originally a master swordsman and a sadist. Following his HeelFaceTurn and admittance to having a crush on the title character, he eventually became "Szark ([[PetHomosexual who is gay]])", according to one forum that follows the comic.
* Richard from ''LookingForGroup'' was always intended to be an AlwaysChaoticEvil insensitive dick and main comic relief, but his antics as of late have done nothing but break the pace of the story.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Most of the characters in ''{{Red vs Blue}}'' suffer from this, and this is a good example of TropesAreNotBad. Donut starts as mildly effeminate and becomes very obviously gay, Caboose's childish incompetence becomes insanity, Simmons changes from occasionally kissing ass to displaying extremely sycophantic behavior ("You're not only a wonderful leader but also a handsome man, sir!"), Sarge's dislike of Grif progressed to actually trying to kill Grif on a fairly regular basis, and Tucker, who talked about "picking up chicks" in the first few episodes, became a literal font of innuendo by the series' end. Church, however, remained roughly as grouchy and cynical throughout, perhaps actually becoming more complex as time passed.
** Caboose's is the only one of those justified by in-story events: he began to suffer a mental breakdown following the destruction of Sheila, his only friend, which was compounded when Church, Tex and O'Malley got into his mind and started blowing things up, after which he became noticeably more unbalanced.
** Grif's apathy in regards to the conflict could also be considered Flanderization. Compare him early on in his argument with Sarge over the Warthog, where he effectively disproves Sarge's argument using plain logic, to the later episodes where he's so apathetic that he messes with his gun just so he doesn't have to fight.
* ''OpenBlue'''s Espartano unit went from [[AllThereInTheManual ostensibly]] unisex TykeBomb training program to AmazonBrigade factory. Has a bit of NeverLiveItDown due to the main contributor just happening to prefer [[LittleMissBadass badass lolitas]], thus inadvertantly bringing the other players assume the factuality of said {{flanderization}}. They in turn started making Espartano characters using said assumption, resulting in the concept's flanderization.
* A lot of people probably don't realize that the original "Caturday" pictures (now known as {{LOLcats}}) were captioned in proper English. They were still funny, because the photos were inherently bizarre, like photos you might see in magazine caption contests. [[MemeticMutation Now it's escalated to the point]] where any photo of a cat combined with bad enough English is supposedly hilarious.
* Team Monkeywrench, Josh Palmer's go-to characters for OCBTs, have Flanderized rather quickly, also crossing over with TookALevelInDumbass. In their original incarnations, Shrike was maybe not the sharpest spoon in the drawer but he could at least think his way out of a problem, Mini-Mel was a childish mechanic savant, and BB was, in fact, rather dim but there was a certain coherence to his thought processes. Now all three are out-and-out retarded and basically interchangeable-they're less distinct personalities and more one personality at different energy levels, BB relaxed, Shrike manic, and Mel even more childish than ever.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''TheSimpsons'', being the series which spawned this trope's very name, of course has this almost across the board. The series over the many years has in many ways become a symbol of this trope in its purest form. Some more noteworthy examples within the series:
**Homer Simpson's stupidity, but his [[JerkAss callousness even more so]] (though the latter was toned down later on).
***Homer's stupidity might have been [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the writers in a 'Simpsons Spinoff Episode', where a supposed fan 'asks' "I think Homer gets stupider every year.", after which [[YouMightRememberMeFrom Troy McClure]] says that isn't a question, but they'll let the viewers decide for themselves, and a bunch of clips of Homer's idiocy show up. They do something similar with Smithers, a fan asking "What's the real deal with Smithers? ''You'' know what I'm talking about.", naturally showing many clips of HoYay after, made even funnier when afterwards, Troy declares: [[CaptainObvious "As you can see, Smithers is Mr. Burns' assistant! He's in his late 40s, unmarried, and currently resides in Springfield!"]]
** On the subject of Smithers...he merely started out as an employee who had ''too'' much [[SingleTargetSexuality admiration for his boss]]. Now he's out-and-out gay.
*** Hell, even the writers have admitted (albeit subtley) that they've Flanderized Smithers from a sycophant to a flamboyant gay. They said in the commentary for 'Homer the Smithers' that, if Burns was a woman, Smithers would be straight. He loves Burns. [[SingleTargetSexuality He's Burnsexual]].
** And, [[CaptainObvious of course]], [[TropeNamer Ned Flanders]]. Originally all around decent guy next door, nowadays watches TV just to find un-Christian things to complain about.
** RalphWiggum was originally just another generic classmate of Lisa's before becoming the unbelievably dense collection of non-sequiturs we all know and [[TropeNamer name tropes after]].
** Other examples include Lisa's activism sporting more radical tendencies and her intelligence being more in line with a haggard old woman, Chief Wiggum's incompetence fluctuating from merely inept to Homer-like mental deficiency, the greater emphasis on Burns' elderly frailty and an increasingly ineffectual role, Barney's role as Homer's best friend being forgotten in favor of Lenny and Carl, Moe's tendency towards [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempts]], and Dr. Hibberts' increasing incompetency to name a few.
** Speaking of Lisa Simpson, more examples of her Flanderization lay with her increasingly obvious IQ and being quite grounded about what is going on around her. This also has brought a new characteristic of an almost TedBaxter-like quality, only more justified. She also seems to have left all childhood things and any trace of childlike naivete behind.
* Various characters of ''FamilyGuy'', due to the writers usually taking one joke that was successful before and building on it in future episodes; the most prominent being Lois, who went from a meek, caring housewife who appreciated a healthy sexual relationship in her marriage to #2 on ''Maxim'' magazine's list of TV's Best Nymphos, although this could explain [[NoAccountingForTaste why she can stand Peter]]...
** Peter himself has always been a {{Jerkass}}, but in the earlier seasons he was shown with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold genuine good side]] and actually cared a whit about his kids, even Meg. And [[ButtMonkey let's not even go into what happened to]] ''[[ButtMonkey her]]''... Meg has "developed" from an ordinary, level-headed teenage girl with teen problems into an outrageously hated and despised punching bag whose desperation for happiness and love often makes her insane. At one point she even snaps and beats up a passing car driver who is picking on her, and stalks Brian when he goes to the prom with her out of pity.
*** Not to mention Peter's transition from idiot to legally retarded.
** There's also Brian's attraction to Lois and {{Author Avatar}}ness.
** Stewie's change from sexually confused to all-out homosexual.
*** And when's the last time he tried to kill Lois where it wasn't [[spoiler: just a simulation]]?
**The Supporting cast has fallen into this trope as well. Joe Swanson went from just a handicapped character to everything involving him leading to a "Get it? Because he's a cripple" joke with rage tendencies. Quagmire went from merely being sex-crazy to a potential rapist. Cleveland lost his quiet, boring personality to become the butt for black jokes.
** In earlier episodes, Brian was cast as the intelligent, witty one in the family. In more recent episodes, he has been reduced to a canine protest singer.
** [[http://www.starwarfigure.com/Family_Guy_Then_and_Now All nicely summed up here]].
* While the jokes at the beginning of the series focused on his machismo and subsequent inability to attract women, Johnny's stupidity and immaturity were greatly exaggerated in seasons two and three of ''JohnnyBravo''.
** This Flanderization was, however, reversed when creator Van Partible returned to helm the series again...
* Numbuh Three (Kuki Sanban)'s ditziness and obsession with Rainbow Monkey dolls in ''CodenameKidsNextDoor.''
* In ''{{The Fairly OddParents}}'', much to the chagrin of longtime fans, Timmy's callousness and {{Jerkass}} tendencies, Cosmo's stupidity, and Wanda's nagginess have all been outlandishly Flanderized for the sake of redundant gags, and that's just the main characters. Vicky the babysitter went from manipulative and bossy to a sadistic sociopath who lives to not only order around kids, but make them suffer.
** Don't forget [[SadistTeacher Mr. Crocker]] who went from being a VERY competent and intelligent fairy-hunting villain, to a clumsy fairy-obsessed idiot. Not only that, but his obsession with [[CatchPhrase FAIRY GODPARENTS!!!]] has been exaggerated to the point where he cannot even say complete sentences without adding the word "fairy" in there somewhere.
** Trixie Tang had episodes in the first and second season that suggested she might be more than [[TheLibby The Libby]], especially in ''A Wish Too Far!" and "The Boy Who Would Be Queen". Then her snobbish tendencies were intensified and made the only focus of her character, when it looked like she could actually become more than that.
** Veronica Star gradually went from being a somewhat less popular and presumably nicer version of Trixie to a psychotic ButtMonkey.
** Actually, pretty much every character on this show has gone through some form of Flanderization: [[StalkerWithACrush Tootie]], [[AbusiveParents Timmy's parents]], Moma Cosma's hatred of Wanda and HP's status as a CardCarryingVillain both cause [[MotiveDecay the same effect]]. This show pretty much ran on this later on.
** It should be noted that the amount of Flanderization for some characters in any given episode depends largely on [[DependingOnTheWriter what's needed for the plot]]. Still, episodes with these flanderizations didn't start cropping up until midway through the show's run, and everytime they're used, they get worse.
* On ''EdEddNEddy'', Ed went from a somewhat dim oaf with a love of comic books and horror movies to a non-sequitur-spouting RalphWiggum who seems unable to differentiate fantasy from reality, Edd went from a somewhat obsessively organized boy who was the voice of reason protesting Eddy's crazier schemes to a borderline hypochondriac goody-two-shoes, and Eddy lost most of the "loveable" part of his LoveableRogue personality and became more violent, manic, and surly. Again, that just covers the main characters.
** Even worse, the episode ''All Eds Are Off!'' had the Eds, Kevin, Rolf and Jonny give up their "habits". This trope was used to each of them as shown here:
*** '''Ed''': Used to say "gravy" for no reason in the earlier episodes, along with having a tub of gravy. The former was dropped pretty fast. In this episode, he is '''obsessed''' with it, having it almost '''everywhere''' in him.
*** '''Edd''': Probably the worst. He used to say "complex" words once in a while, again in the first episodes, but here... ''every other word'' is "complicated".
*** '''Eddy''': '''HE GOT A PRETTY [[LargeHam LARGE HAM]] OUT OF NO WHERE'''!
*** '''Kevin''': Calls the Eds "dorks" before, yet this was toned up here, where nearly every dorking other dorking work is dork.
*** '''Rolf''': Had his meat brought up from time to time, he eats it '''all''' the time in this episode.
*** '''Jonny''': Was able to stop listening to Plank back then, in here he can't.
* In the {{Pilot}} movie for ''FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', Bloo was only slightly mischievous. As the series has progressed, some fans have complained that Bloo has become progressively more anarchic, selfish, and obnoxious, reaching {{Jerkass}} levels in recent seasons.
** As well as Wilt being changed from an overly polite but perfectly sane and approachable nice guy to a [[TheWoobie total neurotic who's about five seconds away from a nervous breakdown,]] and Eduardo going from a mere scaredy-cat who can still stand up for himself at times to an all-out [[FlamboyantGay gay wad]] (somewhat justified in that we find out later that he was created by a little girl, who needed a playmate) and Herriman changing from the usual "Uptight British Butler" to a friggin' ''sadist!'' And that's not even getting into his [[GRatedDrug carrot addiction...]]
* The ''entire cast'' of ''DrawnTogether'', especially Princess Clara. One could argue that this was [[InvokedTrope on purpose]].
* Grimlock from ''{{Transformers Generation 1}}'' went from being a canny, if brutish, brawler in the first two seasons to being a mentally challenged but powerful child for TheMovie and season 3.
* In ''{{Transformers}}: BeastWars'', Silverbolt began as an idealistic, over-the-top [[KnightInShiningArmor Paladin-type who followed chivalry and loyalty]] to often comedic extremes. His relationship with Blackarachnia nearly took over his character by the third season, though it was written with some level of competency. More egregious is Blackarachnia's overnight transformation from DarkActionGirl who, oh, had a boyfriend into a romantic who would stop at nothing, including disloyalty and [[WhatWereYouThinking downright foolishness]] to get her lover back in ''Beast Machines''. For that matter ''everybody'' in ''Beast Machines'' underwent some Flanderization as compared to ''Beast Wars''.
* In ''TheLandBeforeTime'', Petrie was cowardly and could be a bit of a jerk from time to time. As the series progressed however, his cowardice has been increased to the point of full blown superstition. In the TV series he refuses to fly over a volcano based on the theory that it would make said volcano angry and cause it to erupt.
** [[{{Discontinuity}} What's this "series" you are talking about? I know there was one very good film back in the '80s, but I don't think there was ever a sequal.]]
* Many characters on ''SpongebobSquarepants''. For example, Spongebob himself in the first three seasons was a smart but naive and responsible type of guy who generally cared for his friends and neighbors and would do anything to help others and from season four and onwards, his disregard for background characters, love for his job, naiveness and stupidity, and horrible boating skills have been flanderized to death.
** ...In season 3, it's implied Spongebob's boating has ''given Mrs. Puff a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder''. It is impossible to be worse than ''that'', short of Hiroshima-level destruction.
** Patrick went from being a generally nice character, if a bit ditzy at times to being a cross between a JerkAss and a RalphWiggum. Compare earlier episodes where he had moments of cluelessness, but generally meant well to more recent episodes where he couldn't even figure out how to open a can of food.
** [[OhMyGods Oh Neptune]] Mr. Krabs. Early episodes had him just as a businessman worried about making a profit; a recent episode featured him going insane with jealousy because ''Spongebob found a penny on the ground'' [[spoiler:except not really]]. ThisTroper expects an episode where he sells Pearl into sexual slavery any day now.
* Saranoia in ''YinYangYo''. Initially, she loathed Yang and men and loved Yin because she was TheUnfavorite compared to her brother Mark, and incorrectly projected that situation onto the siblings, even calling Yang "Mark". Over the course of the series... this backstory started to fade and her already over-the-top idolization of Yin and hatred of Yang was flanderized to the point that she started to come across more like a [[PsychoLesbian creepy pedophiliac lesbian]] StalkerWithACrush, peaking in one episode where she posed as a popular girl to become "Sweat Sisters" with Yin -- everyone ''in the show'' even commented on how creepy that was. Since that episode, though, she's essentially reverted to her original characterization, in an unusual reversal of a Flanderization.
* Panini from ''{{Chowder}}'' -- yeah, you wouldn't think it judging from the short run, but... compare her actions towards Chowder in "Chowder's Girlfriend", where she was just simply clingy and overeager about her love, to the 2nd season episode "Panini for President", where she practically goes ''insane'' and flatout admits that she wanted to be president so she can pass laws making Chowder "her property."
* Hank Hill of ''KingOfTheHill'' is known for preferring traditional things over trendy new ones. This starts to get overdone in the later seasons; case in point, "Get Your Freak Off". In this episode, Hank is more Amish than the Amish; he's [[HonorBeforeReason almost medieval]].
** In early episodes, Hank was often cast as a voice of reason, although often too uptight and conservative; newer episodes portray him as an naive loser who often gets into trouble because of his own whims.
** Similarly, in early seasons Peggy seemed to have reasonable Spanish skills, but then they decide to play up her incompetence and overconfidence for laughs.
** In the series pilot, Hank was short tempered (to the point that his other CatchPhrase was "I'm gonna kick your ass!"), yet still polite. Over time, his short temper was dropped and he slowly became a near pushover.
** In the beginning, Bobby was a late bloomer, but an otherwise ordinary kid: he was immature and impressionable, but in some ways wiser than his straitlaced family. Bobby's immaturity eventually became the entirety of his character, to the point it's difficult to believe he was ever showing any sort of character development at all.
** Luanne's shift from dim bulb to ditzy hillbilly can be blamed almost entirely on TheScrappy, Lucky. She's always been rather dim-witted and immature, but as of late she's been nothing more or less than Lucky's wife.
* While there were a few characters in ''{{Daria}}'' who had this happen, the two most notable were probably Jake Morgendorffer and Tiffany Blum-Deckler. Jake went from being an ineffectual, easily-confused father with clear family issues to being an obsessive, infantile rageaholic and the show's ButtMonkey. Tiffany, conversely, was initially portrayed as being a somewhat narcissistic yes-woman to either Sandi or Quinn, depending on which one she was speaking to at the time. By the time the third season came around, though, her self-absorbed nature and incredibly slow speech patterns has developed to the point where it's a miracle that she's even made it to junior year of high school without having to repeat a few grades.
** Also somewhat subverted by the arc of Stacy Rowe, where her insecurity and panicky nature was ''initially'' Flanderized, but then over the course of the fifth season and series finale gained enough self-confidence that she became capable of standing up for herself and making her own decisions.
* Philip J. Fry from ''{{Futurama}}'' started out as just an ordinary, kinda dumb 20th-century everyman. After accidentally [[HumanPopsicle getting cryogenically frozen for a thousand years]], he was just your average modern college dropout trying to adjust to an unrecognizable sci-fi future where everyone he ever loved was long-dead, but within a few episodes of the pilot, his below-average intelligence started getting more pronounced until he was nearly TooDumbToLive, even by modern standards. WordOfGod says Fry was intended to be a normal guy the audience could relate to, and humor would be derived from his inability to cope with his strange new surroundings... but he ended up adapting far faster than the writers had planned, so they made him into an IdiotHero to keep the comedy flowing.
** Amy's ditziness and shallowness was played up as the series progressed (few remember that she was originally an engineering student working with the professor), along with Leela's love of violence.
* On ''TotalDramaIsland'', Trent was originally a cool, laid-back guy who was probably more normal than anyone else in the cast. In the sequel series ''Total Drama Action'' however, he became a borderline psychotic creep who was obsessed with Gwen and ...the number nine. This eventually led to [[spoiler: them breaking up and her convincing the Grips to vote him out.]] Did I mention it all happened over the course of two episodes?
** To be honest, his obsession with the number 9, which was assumed to come from the addition of the numbers in Gwen and Trent's names by Duncan, comes from the fact that 9 is his lucky number, having it been the numbers of wheels on a toy train he had after the uncle who gave it to him died. Also, in the recent Aftermath episode, Trent's been deflanderized (if only by a little), and that's proven by his reaction to a fan of the show (on webcam) who is OBSESSED with Trent, to the point of making a life-size doll of him:
--> Did she kiss that doll ''nine times''?
** Then there's Geoff: in ''Total Drama Island'', he was a calm, laid back guy who loved to party and make new friends; in ''Total Drama Action'', he's a total {{jerkass}} who's obsessed with ratings and his fame and cares very little for his friends going as far as attempting to kill DJ and Gwen.
*** To be fair, [[WhatTheHellHero he's called out on this a lot]], and it's later explained as him trying to live up to what he thinks his producers and fans want him to be, not the way he actually is.
**...Poor Bridgette.
* Pete in {{Disney}}'s cartoons: from the mere pursuer of a typical cartoon pursuer-pursue relationship with Mickey to a criminal mastermind.
** This is very noticeable in ''KingdomHearts 2'' when he time traveled and met his former self.
** Daffy Duck in ''LooneyTunes'': from an eccentric bird-version of Bugs Bunny to WarnerBrothers' answer to DonaldDuck.
*** Chuck Jones started casting Daffy as a frustrated buffoon trying to play straight heroic roles, and a luckless patsy for the smarter Bugs, and the latter role was picked up nearly exclusively by the other directors toward the end of the classic LooneyTunes. The 1960s De Patie-Freleng era pushed it further, making him a humorless foil to SpeedyGonzales.
* Fred of ''ScoobyDoo'' used to be somewhat intelligent (though not as much as Velma) and serious about the mysteries. However, beginning with ''APupNamedScoobyDoo'', Fred was "dumbed down", and thus began to constantly use the "Let's split up gang!" catchphrase, believe in wild crazy theories about aliens and monsters, and blame the neighborhood bully Red Herring at the end of each mystery for being the monster (99% of the time, it wasn't Red.) This also carried over to ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'', when in addition to his trademark ascot, his seriousness and intelligence had also disappeared, and was now in ''love'' with the Mystery Machine, and was somewhat not very cool anymore (any attempts to impress the others usually failed miserably). Daphne wasn't immune to this either; she changed from the sexy "danger-prone" eye candy she originally was into a rich valley girl that was paranoid about messing up her hair and clothes, and would often be the one to get the gang out of trouble when Fred would fail to do so.
* [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Drakken]] from ''KimPossible'' was introduced in the first season as a super villain underdog who, despite some quirks, was threatening to the world and Kim. From Season 2 and onwards, the creators took his quirks and made him a full-blown GeneralFailure.
* ''{{Batman the Animated Series}}'': Somewhere between the early seasons and the later "new look" seasons, Batman went from a caring and compassionate man with some anger issues to the mostly cold grim vigilante most people recognize. It works mostly but its a bit odd when you're rewatching the series. Some of the villains go from conflicted neurotics who seemed like they could be saved to simpler hardened criminals although this is usually justified as them giving up on a normal life after failed attempts at reform.
* In ''{{South Park}}'', Stan's father Randy started out as one of the smartest characters on the show, but he ''did'' have a bit of a wild side. In the later episodes, he became a hyperactive, extremely paranoid, and idiotic {{ManChild}}.
**How has Cartman not been mentioned? Early on, he was a jerk with a ''slight'' anti-Semetic streak (which really was nothing more than making fun of Kyle not celebrating Christmas). In more recent episodes he's close to a CompleteMonster who tries to instigate his own Holocaust.
* The characters in ''AnAmericanTail'' don't get ''too'' flanderized in the movies, except maybe for Tiger becoming a dim-witted coward throughout the sequels, but this may be forgiven because he wasn't given much screentime to develop in the first movie. However in the TV series ''Fievel's American Tails'', flanderization affects nearly all of the characters. Fievel's fascination with the wild west becomes a complete obsession that nearly defines his entire character, Tiger becomes cowardly and a [[TooDumbToLive complete imbecile]] (amped up much further than in any of the movies), Cat R. Waul goes from being AffablyEvil to the IneffectualSympatheticVillain, the list goes on.
** [[{{Discontinuity}} As with ''TheLandBeforeTime'', not quite sure what you're talking about with "sequels" and "TV series". Sure, there was one sequel set in the Old West, but nothing really happened after that]].
* In the original ''LiloAndStitch'' movie, after seeing Stitch build a model of San Francisco out of bits and bobs from Lilo's room and then proceeding to wreck it, she tells him she's never going to give him any more caffeine. The later animated series amplifies this side note into "give Stitch coffee, and he goes completely beserk".
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