History Main / GenreAdultery

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16933133800.55342700 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
->'''Music/KurtCobain:''' It's not going to be about food, is it?\\
'''Al:''' No, it's going to be about how no one understands your lyrics.
-->-- '''Music/WeirdAlYankovic''' asking for permission to parody Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

So you've just bought a new novel from your favorite author. You've read every book thus far, and are outright giddy about this new book. You pop onto your couch and open it up, and... hey! This doesn't look like anything before it from this author, or, as you will learn later, after it. You've discovered the outlier; the author has committed Genre Adultery. Perhaps the [[ExtrudedBookProduct sausage machine producer]] of crime novels has shifted from a light-hearted GreatDetective to a hard-boiled DirtyCop or is even experimenting with a completely different genre. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Keep in mind that just because it's different doesn't mean it's bad.]] ([[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Of course, some fans would have you think otherwise.]])

This trope doesn't just exclusively apply to literature, but it's certainly an obvious way to phrase it. Music albums, movie sequels, even TV shows can be a radical departure from the creator's norm. The only thing that matters is that the new genre is never returned to again in such a manner (or is only sporadically revisited), which is what distinguishes it from HeAlsoDid, its Supertrope.

For musicians, it may lead to a BlackSheepHit and may occur when trying for {{New Sound Album}}s, but they never return to that sound. See also: PlayingAgainstType for acting-specific examples, CreatorsOddball for other sorts of one-time stylistic changes, and GenreShift for genre changes within a single work. Compare with GenreRoulette.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/SpecialDutyCombatUnitShinesman'' was quite a departure from Kaimu Tachibana's [[BoysLove usual work]].
* Almost all of Ashika Sakura's works are of the BoysLoveGenre, or at least [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys heavy on the bishounen]]. That is, except ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'', a fanservicey {{Seinen}} harem series.
* Creator/NaokiUrasawa is responsible for ''Manga/{{Monster}}'', ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'', and... ''Manga/YawaraAFashionableJudoGirl''.
* Creator/YuuWatase is largely known for works aimed at a female audience, with most of her works being [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo]] (though ''Manga/SakuraGari'' is a {{josei}} [[YaoiGenre Boy's Love]] series, it's still aimed at a female audience), but ''Manga/ArataTheLegend'' is her first foray into [[ShonenDemographic shonen]].
* The mangaka who did ''Manga/TheElectricTaleOfPikachu'' typically wrote hentai.
* Norihiro Yagi, whose manga debut was the GenreSavvy and humorous story ''Manga/AngelDensetsu'', subsequently wrote the bleak and gory fantasy series ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''. Oddly, the two do have a bit of a connection, as some characters are visual expies of each other.
* Junko, who is known for her YaoiGenre {{doujinshi}}, is also the creator of ''Manga/KissHimNotMe'', a {{shoujo}} ReverseHarem manga somewhat similar to ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''. However, the main character is a YaoiFangirl and there are a lot of references to BL and {{Otaku}} culture, so it isn't as much of a departure as one would think.
* Akitaro Daichi, who is famous for lighthearted adventures and wacky comedies, saw some news reports about the genocide in Rwanda and created the bleak dystopian anime ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''.
* Creator/ArinaTanemura usually writes stories with strong MagicalGirl elements. ''Manga/TheGentlemensAlliance'' is a drama about a former delinquent going to a school for the elite. General fan opinion is that it's... not her best.
* Creator/MohiroKitoh is well-known for his cynical and dark manga, most famously ''Manga/ShadowStar'' and ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}''. ''Noririn'' is a tame, fluffy manga about biking.
* Creator/JunjiIto is famed for his BodyHorror manga, where NightmareFuel is present on nearly every page. He also did ''Manga/JunjiItosCatDiaryYonAndMu'', a semi-autobiographical SliceOfLife manga about his experiences with his fiancee's cats, which also goes into SelfParody since he still uses [[ArtStyleDissonance his usual horror-themed art style]] [[PlayedForLaughs for humor]].
* ''Manga/MermaidSaga'' is a dark and serious work about an [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortal]] DeathSeeker...written by Creator/RumikoTakahashi, the legendary master of romantic comedy. ''The Diet Goddess'' is also her only work to be published in a {{shoujo}} anthology rather than most of her other works which are {{shounen}}.
* Fans of the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' franchise are often surprised to discover that it is very much the outlier among Creator/AkiraToriyama's large body of manga work. Toriyama's first big break was ''Manga/DrSlump'', a zany gag manga series which was seen as his magnum opus until ''Dragon Ball'' came along and usurped it. It's worth noting that ''Dragon Ball'' initially started in much the same vain as ''Dr. Slump'' with its silly and raucous humour, but it steadily evolved into the violent, high-stakes, hyper-masculine action-adventure series it's more popularly known as; [[CreatorBacklash a direction that Toriyama himself came to regret]] and attempted to rectify in the final arc. Since ''Dragon Ball'' concluded, Toriyama has primarily dabbled in limited manga series and one-shots like ''Manga/SandLand'' and ''Manga/{{Kintoki}}'' that instead emphasise comedy and adventure, effectively RevisitingTheRoots. His return to the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise in 2013 saw him apply more of his gag manga affections to the series, which is reflected in the character design sheets and the overall writing.
* Hiroya Oku is a seinen manga artist best known for his sci-fi horror works such as ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'' and ''Manga/{{Inuyashiki}}'', but he started his career with ''Hen'', a romantic comedy manga. There's also a manga he created while working on Gantz, ''Me-teru no Kimochi'', which tells the story of a {{Hikikomori}} that, after the death of his father, falls in love with his step-mother.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Arts]]
* During his formative years, Creator/AlexandreCabanel won two important art awards of the time that were indicative of his preference for BiblicalMotifs. The Prix of Rome with his "Jesus in the Pretorium" and getting his "Christ in the Garden of Olives" admitted to the Salon of Paris. Some art historians speculate that he was playing it safe, what with making his characters' expressions as neutral as possible. However, a young Cabanel yearned to suffuse more emotion into his artworks, so he switched gears to MythicalMotifs and produced his "Orestes", a nude painting of the son of Agamemnon reaching his hand out. He soon returned to Christian themes with his (still very expressive) "Art/TheFallenAngel" and, after a while, to apathetic, idealized paintings. It wasn't until some years later that he returned to Greek mythology and charmed the aristocrats with his Art Pompier frescos.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Creator/EliezerYudkowsky is most well-known for the blog Blog/LessWrong, as well as having written ''Literature/ThreeWorldsCollide'' and the fanfic ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', which are more or less {{Author Tract}}s about his view of rationality. He also wrote ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5731071/1/Peggy_Susie Peggy Susie]]'', which is a parody of ''Film/TheTerminator'' [[FusionFic using Calvin and Hobbes characters]], which contains very little philosophical speculation.
* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1747252/superstarultra superstarultra]] is an author well-known in the ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' fandom for his {{Crack Fic}}s. He is also in the process of writing a horror-story collection. Then again, [[SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror perhaps this is to be expected.]]
* Two of the official ''[[Fanfic/SilentPonyvilleChronicles Silent Ponyville]]'' stories are pure romance, and a third one is straight-up SliceOfLife using the mind-delve spell to show cute scenes from Twilight's childhood.
* ''Fanfic/MissingLinc'' has an InUniverse example. Dirk O'Donnell, a director known for directing mature films, is directing the family-friendly Full House Gang movie. [[spoiler:He turns out to be trying to make the film more like his typical genre, to the displeasure of Bill Buck.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Creator/{{Nelvana}} is a Canadian animation studio best known for children's franchises such as ''Franchise/CareBears'', ''WesternAnimation/LittleBear'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Franklin}}''. So it's quite surprising to find out that their early work includes ''WesternAnimation/RockAndRule'', an ''adult'' animated film.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Creator/BusbyBerkeley, best known for his [[BusbyBerkeleyNumber lavish musical numbers]], directed a crime drama remake called ''Film/TheyMadeMeACriminal'' in 1939. Warner Brothers gave him the oddball project in an attempt to keep him occupied so he wouldn't leave the studio; it didn't work.
* Following bad reviews for ''Film/TheLongKissGoodnight'', Creator/ShaneBlack attempted this doing a RomanticComedy imitating his idol and mentor at the time, Creator/JamesLBrooks. Then when he hit a creative wall, [[SubvertedTrope he just returned to]] his SignatureStyle and the result was ''Film/KissKissBangBang''.
* Creator/MelBrooks produced ''Film/TheElephantMan'', but had his name removed so that nobody would think that it was a comedy. He also produced David Cronenberg's remake of ''Film/TheFly1986''.
* Creator/TimBurton's name is a byword for {{Perky|Goth}} GothicHorror aesthetics and [[UnabashedBMovieFan unapologetic homages to B-movie schlock]], whether he's working in comedy, drama, horror, musicals, or blockbuster action. ''Film/BigEyes'', however, is a grounded biopic about an artist who didn't work in a "spooky" profession (barring the BigAnimeEyes that became her trademark as a painter), with the story's main dramatic thrust concerning her fight to be credited as the creator of her paintings after her husband took the credit for himself.
* In TheNineties, Creator/JamesCameron was known for action and ScienceFiction movies like ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', the first two ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]'' [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay films]], ''Film/TheAbyss'', and ''Film/TrueLies''. And so the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHekzSiZjrY first trailers]] for ''Film/Titanic1997'' heavily played up the action while downplaying the romance between Jack and Rose, even though theirs was the film's central story. Needless to say, Cameron endured a swift backlash from many fans of his, who were puzzled as to why he would make a ChickFlick, though the film's box-office receipts quickly answered that question. [[SubvertedTrope Behind the scenes, however,]] the film was about as pure Cameron as it got, particularly with regards to his love of filmmaking technology. He built a massive set of the ''[[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic]]'' and went out of his way to make sure even the finest details were accurate, and took actual trips in a submersible to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to film the wreck of the ship.
* Creator/JohnCarpenter is known as one of the modern masters of American horror movies, as well as the man behind a number of gritty action thrillers, but early in his career especially, he was more prone to branching out.
** The 1979 MadeForTVMovie ''Elvis'', a biopic of Music/ElvisPresley's life that Carpenter directed shortly after making ''Film/Halloween1978''. It was the first and last biopic he'd make and his last TV movie outside of segments for GenreAnthology series, though it was important in his career in one respect, as it marked his first collaboration with Creator/KurtRussell, the [[TomHanksSyndrome young, fresh-faced Disney star]] who played Elvis.
** After the failure ([[VindicatedByHistory at the time]]) of ''Film/TheThing1982'', Carpenter wanted to prove that he could make more than just violent thrillers, so he made ''Film/{{Starman}}''. While it is a ScienceFiction movie, it's also a romantic drama that's been described as "''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'' for adults" in its portrayal of a relationship between a human woman and an alien trying to return to his home planet.
** ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' was one of only two comedies he ever made, the first being the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness of his first feature film ''Film/DarkStar''. An AffectionateParody of '70s {{martial arts movie}}s, its snarky, self-aware tone has more in common with the later Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse than with the grit and bloodshed characteristic of Carpenter.
** Carpenter ''tried'' to go back to comedy with ''Film/MemoirsOfAnInvisibleMan'', but [[SubvertedTrope was thwarted]] by the film's lead actor Creator/ChevyChase, for whom this was a VanityProject. Chase, who wanted to break out of his [[Film/NationalLampoonsVacation Clark Griswold]] {{typecasting}} and do a serious drama, asked Carpenter to direct after CreativeDifferences caused both original director Creator/IvanReitman and screenwriter Creator/WilliamGoldman to quit. Carpenter has little nice to say about the experience.
* Creator/BobClark directed several notable horror films in the early '70s, including ''Film/ChildrenShouldntPlayWithDeadThings'', ''Film/{{Deathdream}}'', and the groundbreaking ''Film/BlackChristmas1974''. Then he abandoned horror, directed the teen sex comedy ''Film/{{Porkys}}'', and spent the last twenty years of his career making more family-friendly films such as ''Film/AChristmasStory'' and ''Film/BabyGeniuses''.
* Horror director Creator/WesCraven:
** Directed ''Film/MusicOfTheHeart'', a [[BasedOnATrueStory based on a true story drama]] starring Creator/MerylStreep, about a music teacher in a school in Harlem. This film was actually Craven's pet project, and he only directed ''Film/Scream3'', a film that endured such a TroubledProduction that he considered quitting horror movies altogether, so he would be financed and allowed to direct ''Music of the Heart''.
** Directed a segment of ''Film/ParisJeTAime''.
* Creator/PaulFeig is known for comedies like ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'', ''Film/TheHeat'', ''Film/{{Spy}}'', and the ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|2016}}'' reboot... along with the MurderMystery thriller ''Film/ASimpleFavor''. [[DownplayedTrope That said]], the film still contains much of his SignatureStyle, most notably in the emphasis on the story's undertones of BlackComedy and {{camp}} as well as a few straightforwardly comedic bits.
* Creator/StuartGordon and Creator/BrianYuzna, best known for graphic horror movies like ''Film/ReAnimator'', ''Film/FromBeyond'', and ''Film/{{Society}}'', also wrote the Creator/{{Disney}} family comedy ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids''. Gordon was originally slated to direct as well, but had to drop out due to illness.
* Creator/JamesGunn started his career making low-budget HorrorComedy films for the famous BMovie production house Creator/{{Troma}}, and continued working in "edgier" fare after his big break in Hollywood, writing the remake of ''Film/{{Dawn of the Dead|2004}}'' and directing things like the zombie movie ''Film/{{Slither}}'' and the BlackComedy superhero parody ''Film/{{Super}}''.
** He also wrote the 2002 live-action ''[[Film/ScoobyDoo2002 Scooby-Doo]]'' movie and [[Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed its sequel]]. His script for the first film was a raunchier DeconstructiveParody of [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou the show]] that aimed for a PG-13 rating, and some of the more adult jokes from it remain, but the final product was intended squarely as a family comedy. He's expressed some CreatorBacklash towards them due to this ExecutiveMeddling.
** More famously, the biggest hit of his career was ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', a lighthearted action blockbuster in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. While it's rated PG-13 and has a number of darker elements, it, like the rest of the MCU, is aimed at an all-ages audience. Working on the ''Guardians'' films motivated him to tone down his edgy public persona and stop making [[OldShame jokes about AIDS and pedophilia on Twitter]], though his work outside the MCU, like ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' and ''Series/{{Peacemaker|2022}}'', is still very R-rated, and his old tweets [[ContractualPurity became the subject of controversy]] in 2018.
* Film/HammerHorror produced many memorable horror films such as ''Film/TheCurseOfFrankenstein'' and ''Film/HorrorOfDracula''. Yet they also produced the campy 1969 science fiction film and self-proclaimed SpaceWestern ''Film/MoonZeroTwo'', which was as far from Gothic horror as one could get.
* Creator/StanleyKubrick was known for making dark, controversial, and artsy films in his lifetime, but while [[DiedDuringProduction he didn't live to see its completion]], ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' was intended to be this, envisioning it as [[LighterAndSofter a bittersweet, but whimsical and futuristic]] Pinocchio-esque story. Kubrick originally wanted to pass on the project to its eventual director Creator/StevenSpielberg as it was more like [[SignatureStyle his usual style]], but while Spielberg initially convinced Kubrick to hold onto it himself, Kubrick's early death motivated Spielberg to take on the mantle. Because of this rather unique mid-development passing of hands, a lot of people thought that the lighter aspects of the final film were Spielberg defiling a dark Kubrick fable with his signature flim-flam, [[{{Misblamed}} when in reality they were all Kubrick's ideas to begin with]], and made as a conscious ''tribute'' to that sentimentality.
* Creator/SergioLeone, who was most famous for directing westerns, made one movie set in the gangster time period of the 1930s: ''Film/OnceUponATimeInAmerica'', which got bad reviews at the time but has since been VindicatedByHistory as perhaps the best gangster epic since ''Film/TheGodfather''.
* ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' is the only film directed by Creator/GeorgeLucas that isn't science fiction, instead being a coming-of-age comedy set in 1962 California and steeped in classic car culture. Supposedly, it was only made because Creator/FrancisFordCoppola dared Lucas to branch out. Although ''Franchise/StarWars'' saw Lucas return to the realm of sci-fi, its more kid-friendly tone and SpaceOpera scope was just as much of a jarring departure from the surreal and dystopian ''Film/THX1138''.
** See also ''Film/RedTails'', a historical action drama Lucas produced and tacitly co-directed after over two decades of DevelopmentHell. ''Red Tails'' ironically pays tribute to the classic war serials that inspired the X-Wing dogfight scenes in ''Star Wars''.
* Creator/DavidLynch's ''Film/TheStraightStory,'' a Disney-produced, G-rated, uplifting family drama about an old blind man who drives 240 miles on a ride-on lawnmower to see his dying brother. It's ''not'' a MindScrew, nor does it have anything in the way of BodyHorror.
* Sexploitation meister Creator/RussMeyer directed a serious courtroom drama called ''Film/TheSevenMinutes''. He does manage to squeeze in some instances of his brand of {{Fanservice}}, but not nearly to the extent of his other films. The film failed at the box-office and Meyer would later comment that "attaching my name to that film was a bummer. It does a great disservice to everyone concerned."
* Creator/GeorgeMiller. If you grew up in the '80s, you know him as the maker of the ''Film/MadMax'' series of violent action films that [[TropeCodifier wrote the book]] for a great deal of the [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic fiction]] that came after it. If you grew up in the '90s and '00s, you know him as the maker of the classic family films ''Film/{{Babe}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet''. Then he went back to it in 2015 with the explosive, batshit insane and adrenaline-pumping ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''.
* Creator/RobertRodriguez is another filmmaker who made his name with violent, sleazy action and horror films like the "Mexico Trilogy" (''Film/ElMariachi'', ''Film/{{Desperado}}'', and ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'') and ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''.
** So it came as a shock to just about everybody when he made the lighthearted family comedy ''Film/SpyKids1'' in 2001... and then made [[Film/SpyKids two back-to-back sequels]] to it over the next two years. He's since mostly gone back to his more R-rated roots with ''Film/SinCity'', ''Film/PlanetTerror'', and ''Film/{{Machete}}'', though he does this side-by-side with family films like ''Film/{{Shorts}}'' and ''Film/TheAdventuresOfSharkboyAndLavagirl'' that he [[SoMyKidsCanWatch makes for his kids]].
** ''Film/TheFaculty'' is something in between. On one hand, it's an R-rated sci-fi horror movie inspired by ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'', but on the other, it's also a ''teen'' horror film with satirical undertones inspired by ''Film/Scream1996'' and ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''.
** Likewise, ''Film/AlitaBattleAngel'' is him going into pure sci-fi action with a PG-13 rating.
* Creator/EliRoth, a director whose name is synonymous with TorturePorn and SplatterHorror thanks to ''Film/CabinFever'', the ''Film/{{Hostel}}'' films, ''Film/TheGreenInferno'', and ''Film/KnockKnock2015'', also made:
** The action revenge thriller ''Film/DeathWish2018'', a remake of [[Film/DeathWish1974 the 1974 film of the same name]], though this film is [[DownplayedTrope still]] BloodierAndGorier than most.
** ''Film/TheHouseWithAClockInItsWalls'', a film adaptation of [[Literature/TheHouseWithAClockInItsWalls the children's horror novel of the same name]]. While the genre wasn't too far outside his wheelhouse (he envisioned it as a GenreThrowback to the often [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids surprisingly scary]] kids' adventure films of TheEighties), the PG rating most certainly was.
** He is also set to direct ''Borderlands'', a ScienceFiction {{Action|Genre}} {{Comedy}} that also serves as a film adaptation of [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} the video game franchise of the same name]].
* ''Film/TheMightyPekingMan'' (also known as ''Goliathon'') was a [[{{Kaiju}} giant monster movie]] made by the Creator/ShawBrothers, who were known almost entirely for their {{martial arts movie}}s.
* Creator/KevinSmith, who is known mostly for slacker comedies with characters that discuss pop culture, made ''Film/RedState'', which is a dark and violent story about a murderous, homophobic cult. While he has made multiple horror films since then, all have been [[HorrorComedy horror-comedies]] more in line with his sensibilities.
* Ti West, best known for horror films like ''Film/TheHouseOfTheDevil'', ''Film/TheInnkeepers'', and ''Film/TheSacrament'', also wrote and directed the Western ''Film/InAValleyOfViolence''.
* Creator/JoeWright became famous for directing period dramas based off English literature, [[ProductionPosse usually starring]] Creator/KeiraKnightley -- ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'', ''{{Literature/Atonement}}'', ''Literature/AnnaKarenina''. Similarly he did Film/DarkestHour2017, another period drama though this time a biopic of Winston Churchill, Film/TheWomanInTheWindow, another literature adaptation though this time in the psychological thriller genre, and Film/Cyrano, based on the classic story. But separately, he made ''Film/{{Hanna}}'', a action-adventure spy thriller, and ''Film/{{Pan}}'', a PG-rated fantasy tentpole blockbuster. The former was [[SleeperHit well-received]], the latter infamously [[BoxOfficeBomb was not]].
* Music/RobZombie is best known as both a HeavyMetal musician and the maker of extremely violent, gritty, [[ClusterFBomb profane]], and [[BlackComedy darkly comedic]] horror movies, particularly the "Firefly Trilogy" of ''Film/HouseOf1000Corpses'', ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'', and ''Film/ThreeFromHell'' along with [[Film/Halloween2007 his remake]] of ''Film/{{Halloween|1978}}''.
** ''Film/TheLordsOfSalem'', while still an R-rated horror film, strays far from his usual grindhouse-inspired style, instead being a grim ReligiousHorror film about evil witches that emphasizes mood and SurrealHorror instead of graphic violence and whose villains are ''not'' AffablyEvil.
** He also directed a [[Film/TheMunsters film adaptation]] of ''Series/TheMunsters''. While his involvement is understandable given [[PromotedFanboy his lifelong fandom of the show]] (his SignatureSong "Dragula" is named after Grandpa Munster's coffin dragster), what ''was'' a surprise was the fact that it was rated PG and specifically recreated the show's sense of humor, without trying to play it DarkerAndEdgier or as a {{deconstruction}}. The trailer even lampshaded this, opening by listing off some of the violent horror movies Rob had made in the past before jumping right into straightforward comedy.
* Creator/ArmandoIannucci is best known for his cynical, scathing political satire work on both the big and small screen, but he also directed a [[LighterAndSofter whimsical, optimistic, and progressive]] [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]] [[Literature/DavidCopperfield adaptation]], ''Film/ThePersonalHistoryOfDavidCopperfield''.
* An InUniverse example in ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'', when the eponymous HardRock band suddenly changes over to acoustic jazz for the sake of experiment for all of one concert.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheMonkeysPaw'' was the one and only horror story by a fellow who mostly wrote about sailors.
* While it's in the sci-fi genre like most of his stories, ''Good Night, Mr. James'' by Clifford D. Simak has been described by the author himself as unique; it's much darker in tone than most of his work, and has a ShootTheShaggyDog ending.
* Creator/JohnGrisham usually writes legal fiction. Only five aren't of this genre, and one of them is ''Skipping Christmas'' (which was later adapted as ''Film/ChristmasWithTheKranks''). A ChristmasSpecial, of all things. ''A Painted House'', a coming-of-age story in Depression-era Arkansas, is another. He also wrote ''An Innocent Man'' which is legal ''non''fiction and the only nonfiction book he has written so far.
* ''Literature/TheBigU'', a college campus satire novel by none other than Creator/NealStephenson, science-fiction writer and author of ''Literature/SnowCrash''. He does not like the book and discontinued publishing for a while. Then people started paying hundreds of dollars for old copies of it, and he had it republished, saying that "the only thing worse than people reading the book was paying that much to read it." To be fair, it was his first novel.
* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, master of all things gothic and macabre:
** He wrote ''The Gold Bug'', where the main character tries to find Captain Kidd's buried treasure on an island in South Carolina.
** Poe was also the father of detective fiction, with his Literature/CAugusteDupin appearing a full forty years before Literature/SherlockHolmes in three stories prior to 1845, the very first "detective" stories.
** Of course, while Poe is now best known for his gothic fiction, this by no means makes up the majority of his work, which also includes a remarkable amount of satire and of science fiction.
** This was parodied in a HalloweenEpisode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', where Hilda and Zelda invite him over to the house in the hopes of hearing a scary story. He ends up reading poetry full of "rainbows and sparkles".
* Creator/ElmoreLeonard's short novel ''Touch'' seems glaringly out of place as a supernatural thriller compared with the rest of his collection of crime novels.
* Creator/IanFleming's ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' was the only Literature/JamesBond novel written from a woman's point of view. Probably why he didn't like it and put in the film deal that an adaptation of that book should be InNameOnly. Ian Fleming also wrote the children's book ''Literature/ChittyChittyBangBang'' (the film version was scripted by Creator/RoaldDahl), which features his famous love of cars.
* Comic novelist Kingsley Amis (using the pseudonym "Robert Markham") wrote ''Literature/ColonelSun'', the first Literature/JamesBond novel published after Creator/IanFleming's death.
* Creator/RoaldDahl, world famous for his children's novels, also wrote ''Literature/MyUncleOswald'', an erotic softcore satire. Exactly why becomes more clear when one learns that he was [[TheCasanova an inveterate womanizer.]] One of his jobs in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII actually required him to seduce well-connected American women into political compliance.
* Creator/JoannaRuss, one of the angriest feminist science fiction writers ever, wrote a children's book (''Kittatinny'').
* Creator/RogerZelazny is primarily known for writing science fiction and fantasy, but he also co-wrote (with Gerald Hausman) the novel ''Wilderness'', a straightforward story of frontier survival.
* Creator/JamesPatterson is so well known for writing thrillers that when he wrote ''Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas'', a romance novel, the television commercial even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] the trope by saying "By James Patterson. Yes, James Patterson."
* Creator/HPLovecraft wrote a comic short story "Literature/SweetErmengarde", a parody of romantic melodrama.
* Robert W. Chambers, the author of the supremely creepy [[Literature/TheKingInYellow ''The Repairer of Reputations'' and ''The Yellow Sign,'']] mostly wrote light, fluffy romantic comedy stories. A reader looking for more weirdness is likely to be very disappointed.
* Creator/OrsonScottCard, writer of ''Literature/EndersGame'' and other science fiction and fantasy stories, also wrote a series of soap-opera-ish books about women in the Bible. This makes more sense when you remember how much his religion impacts even his better-known stories.
* Stephen Donaldson is famous for writing speculative fiction: ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', ''Mordant's Need'', ''Literature/TheGapCycle''. He is not at all famous for his series of detective novels entitled ''The Man Who [did something].'' (Interestingly, he's in the habit of writing a new detective story after completing a series of fantasy novels: it seems to be how he winds down.)
* Suspense novelist Dean R. Koontz surprised his fan base with an uplifting but dark illustrated children's book called "Oddkins" in 1989. He then followed it with the illustrated kids' Christmas books "Santa's Twin," and its sequel "Robot Santa," though those were much more comedic in tone.
* Po Bronson wrote the novels ''Bombardiers'', about Wall Street greed, and then ''The First 20 Million Is Always the Hardest'' and ''The Nudist on the Late Shift'', a novel and non-fiction books, respectively, about Silicon Valley. Then he wrote ''What Should I Do With My Life?'' and had this to say:
-->My last three books were set in the world of ''business'', and suddenly I'm writing about bodyworkers and high lamas? What's my dad going to think? Will the ''Wall Street Journal'' ever talk to me again?
* Steve Martini started off writing courtroom dramas with twist endings. His series character suddenly found himself thrust into the world of international assassins and intrigue and has stopped a few weapons of mass destruction.
* Creator/RobinMcKinley, who usually writes YA fairy tale retellings, also wrote ''Literature/{{Sunshine}}'', an urban fantasy book for adults.
* Creator/AgathaChristie is mostly known for MysteryFiction. But also wrote tales of occult and supernatural horror (''The Hound of Death'', ''The Fourth Man'', etc), autobiographical novels with tragic elements (''Unfinished Portrait'', ''Absent in the Spring'', etc), religious stories with Christian themes (''Star Over Bethlehem'', ''Promotion in the Highest'', etc), and an autobiographical account of her experiences in the Middle East with her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan.
* Creator/RobertEHoward is mostly known for HeroicFantasy tales. But also wrote several [[TheWestern Westerns]], "spicy tales" (adventures with implied sexual content), and a few comedies.
* ''Literature/NorwegianWood'', a gentle, tragic coming of age tale, is this for Japanese surrealist author Creator/HarukiMurakami. His work is usually compared to [[MindScrew Philip K. Dick]].
* P.D. James, a famous British crime writer, also wrote ''The Children of Men'', a dystopian novel.
* Creator/DavidGemmell, one of the premier writers of HeroicFantasy, wrote a {{Thriller}} named ''White Knight, Black Swan'' under the pseudonym Ross Harding, to avoid leading readers to expect another HeroicFantasy.
* Creator/JeanRacine was primarily a tragedian who wrote one comedy: ''Les Plaideurs''.
* Creator/ChinaMieville is well-known for his SteamPunk, sci-fi, and UrbanFantasy which is why ''Literature/TheCityAndTheCity'' leaves such a strong impression on the reader. [[spoiler: The Reveal, which does in the wizard, is that the whole plot has nothing do to with magic, but was driven by a Mega Corp that used citizens' Selective Obliviousness for their own ends]].
* Creator/StephenKing is perhaps the most prolific and famous horror author of all time, but he has occasionally branched into other genres.
** Two of his most famous departures are ''[[Film/TheShawshankRedemption Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption]]'' and ''Literature/TheGreenMile.'' Interestingly, both stories are heartwarming tearjerkers about men wrongfully convicted of murder, and both were made into movies (by the same director) considered among the best ever made.
** King also committed multiple counts of genre adultery with ''The Colorado Kid'': Though it was part of the initial launch of "Hard Case Books" -- a series in which successful writers depart their usual genres to write hard-bitten noir -- King departed from that as well. The story is a mystery but [[spoiler: there are no noir elements and the mystery remains unsolved at the end.]]
** And then there's his various non-fiction books, like ''On Writing'', a how-to for up-and-coming authors that also serves as a sort of autobiography, and ''Faithful'', about a season in the life of a Boston Red Sox fan that had a far happier ending than anyone could've anticipated when the project began.
** Stephen King commits genre adultery so often one has to wonder when he'll be considered just "general fiction". While there's a dark element to almost all his works, few of them fall squarely in "horror". ''Literature/TheStand'' is post-apocalyptic epic fantasy, ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' is epic fantasy, all the novellas collected in ''Literature/DifferentSeasons'' are straight dramas with no (or few) supernatural elements, ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' is sentimental drama, ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}'' is a semi-sci-fi thriller, ''Literature/DoloresClaiborne'' is about an abused woman, one could go on and on.
* Val [=McDermid=], well-known for her crime novels in which violence, torture, and murder in often described in disturbing detail, has also written a cutesy children's picture book called ''My Granny is a Pirate''.
* Creator/JackLondon is famous for his adventure stories set in the 19th century American West.
** He also wrote ''Literature/TheIronHeel'', which is about the rise of an oligarchic regime in the United States and is often called the earliest of modern {{dystopia}}s.
** He also wrote "The Star Rover", about a man who astral travels into several previous lives.
** ''Might is Right'' is a [[TheSocialDarwinist social Darwinist]] and egoist anarchist tract first published in 1896 that is credited to one "Ragnar Redbeard", a pseudonym for an unknown writer. Most scholars believe that either London or Arthur Desmond wrote it, even though both of them were staunch socialists; if so, it would diverge sharply from both authors' body of work. (London also would've had to be a teenager at the time if he wrote it, though to be fair, large chunks of it do read like the ramblings of an edgy teenage {{Ubermensch}} wannabe.)
* Creator/JaneAusten was known for her "light and bright and sparkling" romantic comedies about wealthy girls marrying wealthier men while dealing with pompous, annoying relatives and rivals during their courtship. ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' is basically a case study in child abuse, depicting how the psychological trauma the heroine has endured courtesy of her [[WickedStepmother wicked aunt]] for eight years has made her grow up into an ExtremeDoormat and ShrinkingViolet who believes she has no right to be happy. Unsurprisingly, whether justly or not, it's her least popular novel.
* ScienceFiction author Creator/StanislawLem also wrote ''Hospital of the Transfiguration'', a semi-autobiographical novel about a Polish doctor trying to survive the Nazi occupation of his (and Lem's) homeland. (This will frequently be found in the "Science Fiction" sections of libraries and bookstores, despite containing no sci-fi elements whatsoever.)
* Creator/JimButcher was quite successful with ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' when all of sudden, he released ''[[Literature/CodexAlera Furies of Calderon]]'', a huge departure from his typical hard-boiled, first-person magic detective stories. The idea came from a bet where he would take two bad ideas and write a successful story about them and was given The Lost Roman Legion and Pokemon. With the series ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'' he has also begun writing SteamPunk.
* After becoming famous for ''Literature/HarryPotter'', [[Creator/JKRowling J. K. Rowling]] hasn't returned to fantasy since, writing first [[Literature/TheCasualVacancy general fiction]] and then [[Literature/TheCuckoosCalling mystery thrillers]].
* ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/StephenBaxter is reasonably hard sf, and while it has humorous moments, it's not a comedy. It might be based on an idea Sir Terry had before he became synonymous with funny fantasy, but it's very different from his usual works. And while his love of Victoriana is visible in later Literature/{{Discworld}} novels, ''Literature/{{Dodger}}'' is unique in that it contains ''no fantastic elements at all''.
* Ian Rankin is known for his PoliceProcedural novels, in particular the Literature/{{Rebus}} series. Early in his career he also wrote the techno-thriller ''Westwind'', which for many years he considered an OldShame though he eventually came around to it.
* The exceptionally British Creator/AlistairMaclean is famous for his hard-bitten World War II and Spy Thrillers. He's also written ''Heartbreak Pass'', a SpaghettiWestern. Amusingly, as the story progresses, you can watch him struggling to keep the narrative from metamorphosing into one of his more typical works... and largely failing, to the point that the abrupt return of Western elements in the ending almost feels like a AssPull.
* [[Creator/EricFrankRussell Eric Frank Russell]] is practically only known for his humoristic SF, but if you look closely into his oeuvre, you find the one or other crime novel.
* ''Literature/LastOfTheBreed'' is a techno-thriller written by Creator/LouisLAmour, who is generally better known for Westerns and other historical fiction.
* Creator/AlanMoore's later career can be neatly summarised as a desperate, clawing escape from the shackles of superhero comic books (including his landmark deconstructivist works) and into literary areas that he finds much more interest in, namely psychogeographical epics, speculative fiction, occult how-to manuals, and the occasional drizzle of shameless pornography. Not only is Moore unconcerned with the prospect of alienating fans of his older work, he actively revels in it -- not out of malice, but because he considers the rise of escapist fantasy to be a dangerous and infantilising blight on mass culture, one that he [[CreatorBacklash regrets his part in causing]].
** As a personal piece of catharsis, his 2022 short story (which is [[NonIndicativeName actually about as long as a novel]]) ''What We Can Know About Thunderman'' is a parodic evisceration of the superhero genre and comic book industry, detailing the damaging, reality-blurring effects they have had on society at large; Moore speculates that the proliferation of escapist fiction is partially to blame for the rise of alt-right movements like [=QAnon=].
* Science fiction writer Creator/ArthurCClarke wrote one non-science-fiction novel, ''Glide Path'', a World War II novel giving a fictionalized account of the development of a radar-based ground-controlled landing system to allow aircraft to land at night or in bad weather. (Clarke had in fact worked on the real-life project his fictional system is closely based on.)
* Creator/KenFollett made his name as a writer of thrillers, but is best known (especially outside his native Britain) as the author of the historical epic ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Creator/TakashiMiike, a famously transgressive, countercultural Japanese filmmaker known for his love of [[{{Gorn}} ultraviolence]] and [[ExploitationFilm shocking imagery]], also created ''Series/IdolXWarriorMiracleTunes'', a MagicIdolSinger series aimed at young girls.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': An InUniverse example in "[[Recap/CastleS7E6TheTimeOfOurLives The Time of Our Lives]]", which ({{maybe|MagicMaybeMundane}}) visits an AlternateTimeline where pulp crime novelist Castle never met Beckett and made her his new literary muse, and instead wrote a SliceOfLife novel that completely flopped and basically ended his career.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/NeilYoung had made his name in the '70s as musician with roots in folk-rock and blues, but when he signed with Geffen Records in 1982, he released ''Trans'' (a synthesizer-based album) followed in the same year by ''Everybody's Rockin''' (a rockabilly album). He was ready to release ''Old Ways'' (a country album) before Geffen actually ''filed a lawsuit against him'' for making music "unrepresentative" of his previous work.
* Music/{{LIGHTS}}, a Canadian SynthPop artist released an acoustic EP with re-workings of some of her previous songs, as well as a brand new song and a light re-imagining of an old punk song.
* ''Music/RemainInLight'' by Music/TalkingHeads traded out the band's typical, uptight & eccentric brand of PostPunk for a highly experimental mix of rock and {{Afrobeat}}.
* ''Music/PetSounds'' by Music/TheBeachBoys, with more complex arrangements and lyrics that mostly dealt with grown-up concerns that had nothing to do with surfing, was viewed as this upon release. ''Music/{{Smile|TheBeachBoys}}'' was viewed as this ''by the band'' itself, with Mike Love allegedly telling Brian Wilson "Don't fuck with the formula!"
* ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'' by Music/{{Weezer}}. Might be a bit premature, as the band hasn't broken up yet.
* Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} album ''Music/TheirSatanicMajestiesRequest''. The title implies that it's harsh and dark, but it was actually their big attempt at PsychedelicRock. It has since become their most polarising release.
* Music/ElvisCostello's ''The Juliet Letters''. This was a collection of songs based on letters written to Juliet (who's considered to be a help to the lovelorn). The album was done as a collaboration with the Brodsky String Quartet who had much more collaboration into the writing process than was usual on an Elvis Costello album.
* The Music/{{Queen}} album ''[[AudienceAlienatingEra Hot Space]]'' is full of disco songs, a departure from their usual rock music. After ''Hot Space'' they never touched disco again.
** Although Freddie Mercury continued to explore the genre in his solo music.
* The Music/{{Melvins}} have had several album-length left turns, but possibly the most surprising is ''The Bootlicker'': while their sound usually involves sludgy walls of feedback, this album features absolutely no guitar distortion. The actual content doesn't get any lighter and softer, but the arrangements bring to mind Music/TomWaits and {{Krautrock}} more than they do grunge or stoner metal. ''Freak Puke'' by Melvins Lite is probably the closest they've come to returning to this sound - that album did prominently distorted guitars; However, with [[Music/MrBungle Trevor Dunn]] sitting in on standup bass and Dale Crover restricted to playing his drums with brushes, it also emphasized the more jazzy and experimental elements of their sound.
* The Music/ButtholeSurfers' ''Weird Revolution'', which is much more electronica-influenced than anything they'd previously done. It may have been an attempt to roll with their popular BlackSheepHit "Pepper", although it was actually preceded by a couple of electronic-based soundtrack contributions, along with the similar but much more experimental ''After The Astronaut'', which got shelved after promo copies got scathing reviews.
* Fabio Lione is primarily known for singing PowerMetal, most notably being the lead singer of Music/RhapsodyOfFire for 21 years. But he's also dabbled in {{Eurobeat}}, with one song even being featured in ''Manga/InitialD''! He also did a Eurobeat cover of "Ave Maria" for Creator/{{Disney}} of all things.
* Music/BrianEno noted that he wanted the first reaction of Music/{{U2}} fans who bought ''Music/AchtungBaby'' to think that either their stereos were broken or that they accidentally purchased the wrong album.
* Music/{{REM}}'s 1994 album ''[[Music/MonsterREMAlbum Monster]]'' was this on purpose, featuring distorted, tremolo-heavy sex-rock songs compared to their usual folky alt-rock (with the exception of "Strange Currencies" and "Tongue"). Though it sold well at the time, many did not like the album [[VindicatedByHistory (at least not at first)]], the band's mainstream presence would rapidly drop off with their next album (which actually was well-received upon release and is still well-regarded today), and to this day it can't be mentioned online without it being brought up how common it is in used CD stores. The unreleased demos included on its 25th Anniversary reissue are far more in the traditional R.E.M. mode, and them being finished might have led to it being better received. At the time though, the group was so against being typecast as a band that played ballads such as "Losing My Religion" and "Everybody Hurts" that they deliberately did an about-face.
* Although it was recorded as a joke, Music/AnalCunt's ''Picnic Of Love'' is a complete inversion of their trademark style: instead of short grindcore songs with BlackComedy lyrics and song titles, it consists of 2-3 minute acoustic ballads sung in falsetto, with titles like "I'd Love To Have Your Daughter's Hand In Marriage".
* Music/{{KISS}} had the disco album ''Dynasty''. Part of the reason for the violent backlash against disco was that this happened with so many artists that it began to appear that disco would engulf everything.
* Music/{{Ween}}'s ''12 Golden Country Greats'' was a country album, which used veteran country session musicians as a backing band. Though they'd had the odd country-influenced song before and since, it was still a pretty unexpected turn from their GenreRoulette-influenced sound, especially because the album generally plays it straight (well, aside from "Piss Up A Rope" and "Mr. Richard Smoker" anyway).
* The vocalist Miko is primarily known for singing ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' arranges with a few non-Touhou {{doujin}} songs here and there, but she also sang the opening to the commercial OtomeGame ''Kaeru Batake De Tsukamaete'' and its fandisc. Stylistically the songs are very similar to her normal output, however.
* "Anniversary" by Music/{{Voltaire}} is a straight love song, with no references to death, goths, evil, or SciFi shows. His later country album may also count. The musical style is different, but the subjects of the songs are his usual fare. There's also his NewWave album, "What are the Oddz?".
* Music/JoyElectric is SynthPop, as the name implies. He dropped the "synth" half on the album ''Unelectric'' and recorded [[UnpluggedVersion acoustic arrangements]] of prior songs. And he dropped the "pop" half for ''The Tick Tock Companion'', which featured completely improvised, ambient synth jamming.
* ''Pete Shelley,'' frontman of the punk group Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, was regarded by fans as having invoked this trope in 1981 with the synthpop album ''Homosapien.''
* Most Music/PatBenatar albums are album-oriented rock and roll... except ''True Love'', which is jump blues.
* Music/AliceInChains' ''Sap'' and ''Jar Of Flies'' [=EPs=]. The albums surrounding them can best be described as grunge metal, but these eps are acoustic alternative rock.
* CountryMusic singer Music/AlanJackson did a very blues-pop oriented album, ''Like Red on a Rose'', in 2006. It was also the only album on which he did not work with producer Keith Stegall, instead choosing bluegrass pioneer Alison Krauss. Also, despite having written maybe 75% of his own songs, his only contribution as a writer on ''Like Red on a Rose'' was "A Woman's Love", a re-recording of a track from his 1999 album ''High Mileage''.
* This is what launched Music/LudwigVanBeethoven's fame, for when got deaf, he moved out of his classical style and shifted music towards the romantic period.
* ''Attention Please'' by Music/{{Boris}} is a dance-rock album that sounds nothing like their usual metal/hardcore/noise oriented albums.
* Composer Kikuo is most known for his dark and often disturbing Music/{{Vocaloid}} music, but he's also done some happy and cute {{moe}} [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denpa_song Denpa songs]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToqeQuZHa3s Would you believe this is the same guy that did "I'm Sorry I'm Sorry"]]? Even within his Vocaloid works there's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2P76nOpeDs Curry of Pure Water Song]]", a happy and upbeat song meant to advertise curry. There's also Infinite Dreamer, which sounds like a very mainstream pop song with none of Kikuo's signature surreal sounds, although the lyrics do have some dark implications.
* Country legend Music/BuckOwens had already displayed a lot of non-country influences in his music by 1969, but that year he released two singles that were much more rock than country: "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass", which featured fuzztone guitar and harpsichord (!) as lead instruments, and a live cover of [[Music/ChuckBerry "Johnny B. Goode"]] that would've put most garage bands to shame. However, he was a big enough star that they still managed to become #1 country hits.
** Owens received some backlash from longtime fans for those two records, plus a bluegrass/gospel cover of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," due to a pledge he signed several years earlier stating he would never record a song he didn't consider a country song. Owens defended his choice of music, noting that he said he would not record in a pop-country vein, not record rockabilly or bluegrass (forms of country music).
** That stated, from about the mid-1970s to early 1980s, in part due to massive grief over the death of his best friend Don Rich in a tragic accident in 1974, an apathetic Owens began recording pop-country. While the music itself isn't bad, it also did not represent Owens at his best, something he later admitted. It wasn't until the late 1980s, when he had a brief comeback with Music/DwightYoakam on "Streets of Bakersfield", that he began to record in his classic styles and made vintage Buck Owens music.
* [[Music/{{Carpenters}} Richard and Karen Carpenter]] were best known for soft rock ballads, but took the occasional unexpected left turn, like putting a furious fuzztone guitar solo in the otherwise sedate "Goodbye to Love", doing a cover of Music/{{Klaatu}}'s ProgressiveRock hit "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft", and releasing the bouncy, slightly-bluegrass-flavored "Sweet, Sweet Smile" ... which became a top 10 hit on the CountryMusic chart in 1978. (Additionally, their 1981 single, "Touch Me When We're Dancing" was covered by Music/{{Alabama}} and became a No. 1 hit for the group in 1986).
* Music/{{WASP|Band}} had ''Kill, Fuck, Die'', their industrial metal album. The song-writing itself wasn't actually that far removed from the band's previous few albums, just a bit angrier, but the production turned it into something totally unlike anything else the band has recorded before or since. Whether or not that's a good thing [[BrokenBase is highly dependent on who you ask]].
* Diary of Dreams is normally DarkWave, but ''The Anatomy of Silence'' is entirely acoustic neoclassical songs.
* An unusual case: country star Charley Pride recording the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLobiH-ENiE disco-flavored]] [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Dallas Cowboys]] theme song in 1979.
* Happy hardcore act Dune released two albums of orchestral ballads; ''Forever'' and ''Forever and Ever''.
* Justified with alt-rockers Music/{{Eels}} with ''[[http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0433b30576/cold-dead-hand-with-jim-carrey Cold Dead Hand]]''. In this instance, they teamed up (as the Clutterbusters) with Creator/JimCarrey (Lonesome Earl) to record a CountryMusic-style satirical piece on gun politics. For good measure, the band members dressed up as UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, Music/JohnLennon, and UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi -- peace advocates who were all shot dead.
* ''Music/InTheLifeOfChrisGaines'', a rock album by Music/GarthBrooks under the fictional identity of Chris Gaines, an Australian rocker. Brooks originally planned to play Gaines in a film, which never materialized, so fans simply thought he'd lost his mind.
* ''In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy'' an album of metal and hard rock covers by family-friendly Music/PatBoone.
* Music/JohnLennon, member of [[Music/TheBeatles the most commercially successful rock band of all time]], started a solo career in 1968. His first three albums were literally everything ''but'' commercial. They are all extreme AvantGardeMusic: ''Music/UnfinishedMusicNo1TwoVirgins'', ''Music/UnfinishedMusicNo2LifeWithTheLions'' and ''Music/WeddingAlbum''. Needless to say, many people across the world were surprised!
* Rocker Music/LouReed's ''Music/MetalMachineMusic'', a double-album of proto-noise music consisting entirely of guitar feedback. It was a long-standing assumption that the album was a TakeThat at his record label to get out of his contract. However, Reed later admitted that he'd been completely serious about the album and also on a lot of drugs.
* Music/FrankZappa's album ''Music/CruisinWithRubenAndTheJets'' was considered an unusual departure in his oeuvre. The album contains no pointed political {{Satire}}, no BawdySong material, no sudden musical experimentations, no clashing of different musical genres, but is just an honest, straight-faced {{Homage}}/{{Pastiche}} to the {{Doowop}} bands he adored. For his fans, this was a huge AudienceAlienatingPremise.
* 99% of Music/{{Santana}}'s songs are Latin-infused rock of some kind with some glimpses of other popular genres... except the song "America" off of ''Music/{{Shaman}}'', which is, of all things, NuMetal, thanks to being performed with and written by P.O.D.
* ''Navigatoria'', Music/AkikoShikata's not-quite-first album was much more pop-rock oriented (and more uncluttered instrumentally) than her later, or even earlier works (''Midori no Mori de Nemuru Tori'' and ''Haikyō to Rakuen'' namely). The songs mostly use electric drums, bass, solo violins, and folk guitars, flutes are absent, and there are even ''saxophones'' in one song (La Corolle). In her other albums, she's rather prone to use traditional percussions, a variety of strings, flutes, and ''a lot'' of [[SelfBackingVocalist multi-tracking.]]
* Music/TechN9ne is known for his [[MotorMouth incredibly fast]], infinitely creative brand of HipHop and all of his output reflects that except one: The ''Therapy EP'', which changes his style to loud and abrasive NuMetal. This is due to it being produced by [[Music/{{KoRn}} Ross Robinson]].
* Music/{{Metallica}} was accused of this once "Fade to Black" was partly acoustic. Then came actual ballads "Nothing Else Matters" and "The Unforgiven", which opened the way for more on that same vein.
** Ditto to the ''Load'' records, which completely abandoned their classic thrash style for a bluesy hard rock style. Then, they experimented with Alternative/Nu Metal with St. Anger. They have, since, returned to said thrash style.
* Music/ChildishGambino (Donald Glover) was a rapper for many mixtapes and his first 2 albums. However, he moved to straight funk and R&B for his 2016 album ''Awaken, My Love''.
* Ronan Harris of the [[{{Industrial}} Futurepop]] group Music/VNVNation collaborated with the GothRock band Mono Inc. for the single "Boatman".
* {{Music/Disturbed}} is most well known for two things; their long and continuous career in metal, and their one-shot orchestral soft rock cover of [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel The Sound of Silence]].
* Music/PaulMcCartney is best known for his pop-rock music (exemplified, of course, by Music/TheBeatles but also in the 1970s with Music/{{Wings}}). However, he's also dabbled in classical music, film scores, and experimental ambient electronica, the last of which is usually credited to "Music/TheFireman".
* The Osmond Brothers, eager to shake up their white bread/bubblegum image, tried their hand at HardRock, of all things. "Crazy Horses" was a top 20 hit in America in 1972 and was their BreakthroughHit in the UK, where it went all the way to #2. It has also attracted a number of semi-tongue-in-cheek/semi-serious [[CoverVersion Cover Versions]] from bands like Music/{{KMFDM}} and Music/ElectricSix.
* The "Electric Dylan" controversy is essentially this, as the fuss was mainly caused by folk music fans being angry, outraged, and betrayed by Music/BobDylan's shift from political folk-rock to electric pop-rock in the mid-1960s, as exemplified by him switching from an acoustic guitar to an electric one midway through several of his gigs.
* Music/SnoopDogg, famous of course for his GangstaRap, raised some eyebrows with 2018's "Bible of Love," a double album of GospelMusic played perfectly straight. Snoop argued that RealMenLoveJesus and audiences seemed to agree, sending it to #1 on the Gospel charts.
* Music/RodStewart is best known for his folk-rock and blues-rock albums. And then he spent much of the 2000s recording jazz and pop standards.
* Music/WillieNelson's roots lie in country music but broke into jazz with his 1978 album ''Stardust'', which consisted entirely of jazz standards. He has had no trouble experimenting with other genres since, including rock and alternative.
* {{Dubstep}} producer Boregore took an abrupt turn to jazz in his 2018 EP ''Adventures in Time''.
* Blue Amazon's remix of Music/{{Placebo}}'s "Nancy Boy" is {{drum n bass}} rather than the former's usual progressive {{trance}}.
* Music/TimBuckley, estranged father of Music/JeffBuckley, started out as a fairly successful folk singer, but his later attempts to dabble in different genres like R&B, soul, jazz, and a burgeoning sub-genre of his own invention called "sex-funk" alienated some of his fans. Of course, genre experimentation is expected of artists nowadays, but back in the '60s and '70s, it was seen as less acceptable for a singer to strafe between lanes.
* Music/{{Joji}} is widely regarded as an artist who successfully transitioned between genres. For many years, he stalled his music career because he feared alienating fans of his popular ''WebVideo/FilthyFrank''/''Pink Guy'' surreal comedy videos and hip-hop albums, his original claim to fame, but he acquired genuine mainstream success with his lo-fi, alt-R&B, and trip-hop tunes (much of which cover downbeat and sombre themes compared to the incredibly VulgarHumor of his older content) and, to his pleasant surprise, was supported every step of the way by the majority of his online fanbase.
* ThrashMetal legends Music/{{Slayer}} made a dip into NuMetal with ''Diabolus in Musica''. It's been called their most hated album.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Creator/AlLowe, the creator of the very adult ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' series, initially started out as an in-house developer of many Disney games for [[Creator/{{Sierra}} Sierra On-Line]], ''VideoGame/TheBlackCauldron'' being his most well-known at the time. Came to a complete circle when he created ''VideoGame/TorinsPassage'', a game that harkened back to his pre-''Larry'' days, which confused many people unfamiliar with Lowe's work prior to ''Leisure Suit Larry''.
** Similarly, Sierra co-founder Roberta Williams crossed this when she created her magnum opus, the gory and violent ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria}}.'' Prior to ''Phantasmagoria'', she was known for creating the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'', ''VideoGame/LauraBow'', and ''VideoGame/MixedUpMotherGoose'' series, all meant for general audiences.
* {{Creator/CAVE}} is most known for their extensive portfolio of BulletHell ShootEmUp games since the mid-90s, alongside the occasional sports game for consoles like ''High Velocity'' (a racing game) or ''Trick'N Snowboarder'' (a snowboarding game). In the mid-2000's, they've also added ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIMAGINE'' (an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMO]]), ''Instant Brain'' (a sci-fi mystery VisualNovel), and ''VisualNovel/PrincessDebut'' (a ''DatingSim'' with RhythmGame elements) to their backlog.
* Croteam, creator of the fast-paced and violent ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' series, also created ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'', a slow-paced puzzle game.
* Creator/TelltaleGames found their niche early on with their episodic, story-driven point-and-click adventure games, often based on popular licenced properties. However, their original output skewed towards comedic and cartoony [=IPs=] like ''Franchise/SamAndMax'', ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'', and ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', all designed to appeal to the same core audience as Creator/LucasArts (which Telltale's developers originally splintered off from). Following a brief transitionary period where they started to adapt some high-profile Hollywood properties like ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' and ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'', they made the leap towards the dark and dramatic with their biggest breakthrough hit, ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead''. From then on, almost every episodic game series they produced blatantly tried to emulate the success of ''The Walking Dead'' (a focus on more mature [=IPs=], inflicting much weightier decisions with often fatal consequences upon the player, and an overall de-emphasis on actual gameplay). Even ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'' felt more like a kid-friendly ''TWD''. This change in direction was largely successful, but their outdated development model and [[SelfPlagiarism predictable, cookie-cutter approach to their game design]] contributed to their fast decline and bankruptcy.
** Indeed, Telltale was originally founded in response to [=LucasArts=]' abandonment of the classic adventure game genre in favour of essentially becoming "the Franchise/StarWars spin-off game company".
* ''VideoGame/BalanWonderworld'' was the first 3D platformer published by legendary JRPG makers Creator/SquareEnix, known for ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', and ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''. Granted, they did not develop Balan Wonderworld, they were only the publishers, but there have been many reports of ExecutiveMeddling from Square Enix, who were keen to massively expand the game's story and lore (including a tie-in novel) similar to typical [=JRPGs=], culminating in the removal of Yuji Naka as director. General consensus is that they interfered too much in the development of a game in a genre they had no experience with, and it shows in the final product.
* Creator/ObsidianEntertainment is synonymous with open-ended Western [=RPGs=]. Assembled from the remnants of Black Isle (and Troika, itself a Black Isle successor studio), Obsidian has created several acclaimed games in the genre (and the occasional AcclaimedFlop). These include ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'', and their best known title, ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas.'' Which is why it was so surprising when they released ''VideoGame/{{Pentiment}}'', a HistoricalFiction AdventureGame.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Luke Lerdwichagul aka Creator/Supermarioglitchy4 is best known for his self-titled, meme-filled, [[RapidFireComedy Rapid-Fire]] GagSeries ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'', as well as its sister show ''WebAnimation/GuardsNRetards''. In recent years, however, he also co-created (with his brother Kevin) ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'', a completely original, all-CG animated series with a conventional story structure, and while it still has its comedic moments, the plot and tone is more mature and complex than Luke’s previous works, with the first season ending on [[spoiler: a TheBadGuyWins scenario]] and the second season ending with the BigBad [[spoiler: getting KilledOffForReal at the hands of an unexpected GreaterScopeVillain]], with plenty of elaborate action setpieces and dramatic character moments happening inbetween.
** Subverted with ''WebAnimation/SunsetParadise''; While bring a direct SpinOff of the main [=SMG4=] series and thus much more comedic than ''Meta Runner'' (though the series does get darker in the second half, but still not to the heights of the drama in ''Meta Runner''), not only is it also an conventional story with an original CG animation style, but the series builds on the major CharacterDevelopment of its main protagonist, Meggy Spletzer, stemming from events during and after of both the DarkerAndEdgier [[WebAnimation/SMG4TheAnimeArc Anime Arc]] and its follow-up movie ''[[WebAnimation/MeggysDestinyAnSMG4Movie Meggy’s Destiny]]''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* David Herbert's ''[[http://www.tnemrot.com/ Tnemrot]]'' is a serious manga story, which seems weird, since ''Living with Insanity'' is all about craziness and T&A.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Parodied by Website/SomethingAwful in their [[http://www.somethingawful.com/series/the-great-authors-series/ "Great Authors" series]], where they imagine classic writers working far outside their regular genres, from Creator/HunterSThompson recapping an episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' to Creator/CormacMcCarthy writing for a parenting blog.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGahoole'', an animated, PG-rated children's fantasy film adapted from the ''Literature/GuardiansOfGahoole'' novels, was directed by Creator/ZackSnyder, who's otherwise known for very dark and gritty action and horror movies. SoMyKidsCanWatch was the main reason he made it.
[[/folder]]
----

* In TheNineties, Creator/JamesCameron was known for action and ScienceFiction movies like ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', the first two ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]'' [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay films]], ''Film/TheAbyss'', and ''Film/TrueLies''. And so the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHekzSiZjrY first trailers]] for ''Film/Titanic1997'' heavily played up the action while downplaying the romance between Jack and Rose, even though theirs was the film's central story. Needless to say, Cameron endured a swift backlash from many fans of his, who were puzzled as to why he would make a ChickFlick, though the film's box-office receipts quickly answered that question. [[SubvertedTrope Behind the scenes, however,]] the film was about as pure Cameron as it got, particularly with regards to his love of filmmaking technology. He built a massive set of the ''[[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic]]'' and [[DoingItForTheArt went out of his way to make sure even the finest details were accurate]], and took actual trips in a submersible to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to film the wreck of the ship.

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1747252/superstarultra superstarultra]] is an author well-known in the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' fandom for his {{Crack Fic}}s. He is also in the process of writing a horror-story collection. Then again, [[SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror perhaps this is to be expected.]]

** Subverted with ''WebAnimation/SunsetParadise''; While bring a direct SpinOff of the main [=SMG4=] series and thus much more comedic than ''Meta Runner'' (though the series does get darker in the second half, but still not to the heights of the drama in ''Meta Runner''), not only is it also an conventional story with an original CG animation style, but the series builds on the major CharacterDevelopment of its main protagonist, Meggy Spletzer, stemming from events during and after of both the DarkerAndEdgier [[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64BloopersTheAnimeArc Anime Arc]] and its follow-up movie ''[[WebAnimation/MeggysDestinyAnSMG4Movie Meggy’s Destiny]]''.

** Carpenter ''tried'' to go back to comedy with ''Film/MemoirsOfAnInvisibleMan'', but [[SubvertedTrope was thwarted]] by the film's lead actor Creator/ChevyChase, for whom this was a VanityProject. Chase, who wanted to break out of his [[Film/NationalLampoonsVacation Clark Griswold]] {{typecasting}} and do a serious drama, asked Carpenter to direct after CreativeDifferences caused both original director Creator/IvanReitman and screenwriter Creator/WilliamGoldman to quit.

* ''Film/{{Starman}}'' was this for Creator/JohnCarpenter, who was coming off the failure ([[VindicatedByHistory at the time]]) of ''Film/TheThing1982'' and wanted to prove that he could make more than just violent thrillers. While it is a ScienceFiction movie, it's also a romantic drama that's been described as "''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'' for adults" in its portrayal of a relationship between a human woman and an alien trying to return to his home planet.

* During his formative years, Creator/AlexandreCabanel won two important art awards of the time that were indicative of his preference for BiblicalMotifs. The Prix of Rome with his "Jesus in the Pretorium" and getting his "Christ in the Guardian of Olives" admitted to the Salon of Paris. Some art historians speculate that he was playing it safe, what with making his characters' expressions as neutral as possible. However, a young Cabanel yearned to suffuse more emotion into his artworks, so he switched gears to MythicalMotifs and produced his "Orestes", a nude painting of the son of Agamemnon reaching his hand out. He soon returned to Christian themes with his (still very expressive) "Art/TheFallenAngel" and, after a while, to apathetic, idealized paintings. It wasn't until some years later that he returned to Greek mythology and charmed the aristocrats with his Art Pompier frescos.

* The exceptionally British Creator/AlistairMaclean is famous for his hard-bitten World War II and Spy Thrillers. He's also written ''Heartbreak Pass, a SpaghettiWestern. Amusingly, as the story progresses, you can watch him struggling to keep the narrative from metamorphosing into one of his more typical works... and largely failing, to the point that the abrupt return of Western elements in the ending almost feels like a AssPull.

* Creator/AlanMoore's later career can be neatly summarised as a desperate, clawing escape from the shackles of superhero comic books (including his landmark deconstructivist works) and into literary areas that he finds much more interest in, namely psychogeographical epics, speculative fiction, occult how-to manuals, and the occasional drizzle of shameless pornography. Not only is Moore unconcerned with the prospect of alienating fans of his older work, he actively revels in it -- not out of malice, but because he considers the rise of escapist fantasy to be an infantilising blight on mass culture, one that [[CreatorBacklash regrets his part in causing]]. As a personal piece of catharsis, his 2022 short story (which is [[NonIndicativeName actually about as long as a novel]]) ''What We Can Know About Thunderman'' is a parodic evisceration of the entire superhero genre and comic book industry.

* Creator/AlanMoore's later career can be neatly summarised as a desperate, clawing escape from the shackles of superhero comic books (including his landmark deconstructivist works) and into literary areas that he finds much more interest in, namely psychogeographical epics, speculative fiction, occult how-to manuals, and the occasional drizzle of borderline pornography. As a personal piece of catharsis, his 2022 short story (which is [[NonIndicativeName actually about as long as a novel]]) ''What We Can Know About Thunderman'' is a parodic evisceration of the entire superhero genre and comic book industry. Unlike in majority of cases of this trope, the prospect of alienating fans is not a concern for him at all; he seems to prefer a quieter prestige as an eccentric local Northampton writer to (as he perceives it) his original reputation as a big-name slave to American media corporations.

* Creator/AlanMoore's later career can be neatly summarised as a desperate, clawing escape attempt from the shackles of superhero comic books (including his landmark deconstructivist works) and into literary areas that he finds much more interest in, namely psychogeographical epics, speculative fiction, occult how-to manuals, and the occasional drizzle of borderline pornography. As a personal piece of catharsis, his 2022 short story (which is [[NonIndicativeName actually about as long as an actual novel]]) ''What We Can Know About Thunderman'' is a parodic evisceration of the entire superhero genre and comic book industry.

** Indeed, one of the whole reasons that Telltale was formed was a response to [=LucasArts=]' abandonment of the classic adventure game genre in favour of essentially becoming "the Franchise/StarWars spin-off game company".

* ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' is the only film directed by Creator/GeorgeLucas that isn't science fiction, instead being a coming-of-age comedy set in 1962 California and steeped in classic car culture. Supposedly, it was only made because Creator/FrancisFordCoppola dared him to. Although ''Franchise/StarWars'' saw Lucas return to the realm of sci-fi, its more kid-friendly tone and SpaceOpera scope was just as much of a jarring departure from the surreal and dystopian ''Film/THX1138''.

* ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' is the only film directed by Creator/GeorgeLucas that isn't science fiction, instead being a coming-of-age comedy set in 1962 California and steeped in classic car culture. See also ''Film/RedTails'', a historical action drama Lucas produced and tacitly co-directed after over two decades of DevelopmentHell.

* Creator/IanFleming's ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' was the only Literature/JamesBond novel written from a woman's point of view. Probably why he didn't like it and put in the film deal that an adaptation of that book should be InNameOnly. Ian Fleming also wrote the children's book ''Literature/ChittyChittyBangBang'' (the film version was scripted by Creator/RoaldDahl), which also features Fleming's love of cars.

* The exceptionally British Creator/AlistairMaclean is famous for his hard-bitten World War II and Spy Thrillers. He's also written a [[Literature/HeartbreakPass Spaghetti Western]]. Amusingly, as the story progresses, you can watch him struggling to keep the narrative from metamorphosing into one of his more typical works... and largely failing, to the point that the abrupt return of Western elements in the ending almost feels like a AssPull.

* Creator/TelltaleGames found their niche early on with their episodic, story-driven point-and-click adventure games, often based on popular licenced properties. However, their original output skewed towards comedic and cartoony [=IPs=] like ''Franchise/SamAndMax'', ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'', and ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', all designed to appeal to the same core audience as Creator/LucasArts (which Telltale's developers originally splintered off from). Following a brief transitionary period where they started to adapt some high-profile Hollywood properties like ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' and ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'', they made the leap towards the dark and dramatic with their biggest breakthrough hit, ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead''. From then on, almost every episodic game series they produced tried to emulate the success of ''The Walking Dead'' (a focus on more mature [=IPs=], giving the player much weightier decisions with often fatal consequences, and an overall de-emphasis on actual gameplay). This change in direction was largely successful, but their outdated development model and [[SelfPlagiarism predictable, cookie-cutter approach to their game design]] contributed to their fast decline and bankruptcy.

* Creator/ArmandoIannucci is best known for his cynical, scathing political satire work on both the big and small screen, but he also directed a whimsical, progressive [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]] [[Literature/DavidCopperfield adaptation]], ''Film/The Personal History of David Copperfield''.

* Creator/ArmandoIannucci is best known for his scathing political satire on both the big and small screen, but he also directed a whimsical, progressive [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]] adaptation, ''[[Literature/DavidCopperfield The Personal History of David Copperfield]]''.

* Creator/IanFleming's ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' was the only Literature/JamesBond novel written from a woman's point of view. Probably why he didn't like it and put in the film deal that an adaptation of that book should be InNameOnly. Ian Fleming also wrote the children's book ''Literature/ChittyChittyBangBang''. (The film version was scripted by Creator/RoaldDahl.)

** Two of his most famous departures are ''[[Literature/TheShawshankRedemption Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption]]'' and ''Literature/TheGreenMile.'' Interestingly, both stories are heartwarming tearjerkers about men wrongfully convicted of murder, and both were made into movies (by the same director) considered among the best ever made.

* Music/{{Joji}} is widely regarded as an artist who successfully transitioned between genres. For many years, he stalled his music career because he feared alienating fans of his popular ''WebOriginal/FilthyFrank''/''Pink Guy'' comedy videos and albums, his original claim to fame, but he acquired genuine mainstream success with his lo-fi, alt-R&B, and trip-hop tunes (much of which cover downbeat and sombre themes compared to the incredibly VulgarHumor of his older content) and, to his pleasant surprise, was supported every step of the way by the majority of his online fanbase.

* Fans of the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' franchise are often surprised to discover that it is very much the outlier among Creator/AkiraToriyama's large body of manga work. Toriyama's first big break was ''Manga/DrSlump'', a zany gag manga series, which was seen as his magnum opus until ''Dragon Ball'' came along and usurped it. It's worth noting that ''Dragon Ball'' initially started in much the same vain as ''Dr. Slump'' with its silly and raucous humour, but it quickly evolved into the violent, high-stakes, hyper-masculine action-adventure series it's more popularly known as, a direction that Toriyama himself came to regret and attempted to rectify in the final arc. Since ''Dragon Ball'' concluded, Toriyama has primarily dabbled in limited manga series and one-shots like ''Manga/SandLand'' and ''Manga/{{Kintoki}}'' that instead emphasise comedy and adventure, effectively RevisitingTheRoots. His return to the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise in 2013 saw him apply more of his gag manga affections to the series, which is reflected in the character design sheets and the overall writing.

* Creator/TimBuckley, father of Creator/JeffBuckley, started out as a fairly successful folk and country singer, but his later attempts to dabble in different genres like R&B, soul, jazz, and a burgeoning sub-genre of his own invention called "sex-funk" alienated some of his fans. Of course, genre experimentation is almost accepted of artists nowadays, but back in the '60s and '70s, it was seen as less acceptable for a singer to strafe between lanes.

* Creator/TelltaleGames found their niche early on with their episodic, story-driven point-and-click adventure games, often based on popular licenced properties. However, their original output skewed towards comedic and cartoony [=IPs=] like ''Franchise/SamAndMax'', ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'', and ''WebOriginal/HomestarRunner'', all designed to appeal to the same audience as Creator/LucasArts (which Telltale's developers originally splintered off from). Following a brief transitionary period where they started to adapt some high-profile Hollywood properties like ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' and ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'', they made the leap towards the dark and dramatic with their biggest breakthrough hit, ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead''. From then on, almost every episodic game series they produced tried to emulate the success of ''The Walking Dead'' (a focus on more mature [=IPs=], giving the player much weightier decisions with often fatal consequences, and an overall de-emphasis on actual gameplay).