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aka: Reconstructed

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"It strikes me that the only reason to take apart a pocket watch, or a car engine, aside from the simple delight of disassembly, is to find out how it works. To understand it, so you can put it back together again better than before, or build a new one that goes beyond what the old one could do. We've been taking apart the superhero for ten years or more; it's time to put it back together and wind it up, time to take it out on the road and floor it, see what it'll do."
Kurt Busiek, Astro City, on the whole point of Deconstruction

Deconstruction demonstrates what happens when tropes in fiction are played for realism by revealing all of the trope's possible assumptions after analyzing it. Thus, a fantasy about being a princess or a superhero is shown to have consequences, negatives, other facets, etc that are glazed over in fiction. The trope no longer works the same, so it doesn't look the same and ends up losing value.

This is where Reconstruction comes in. A Reconstruction acknowledges the flaws and assumptions of a trope that has undergone Deconstruction, so it either modifies the trope in a way that resembles the original and still work in reality, or finds a solution for the trope to become useful again. Or in other words, if you view a Deconstruction as a critique of a trope, then a Reconstruction is a critique of the Deconstruction. So instead, Princess Classic is not being married into a fairy-tale monarchy, but into a post-Napoleonic 19th- or 20th-century one — a constitutional monarchy in Ruritania, with the scenery and regalia but without the power and corruption (or at least with the Princess taking a meaningful stand against it if it is present), so she won't end up like Marie Antoinette.

In a way, this is a response to Once Original, Now Common; taking something nowadays considered to be "old hat", and making it "new hat" again.

The new age Superhero works the Required Secondary Powers to his advantage to find creative uses for his powers, and carefully balances his mundane and heroic lives, such as working a job that complements his superheroing (or makes it his job by working for a larger group), and dating love interests who are either heroes themselves or able to handle themselves when things get hairy.

Reconstruction can involve deconstructing said Deconstruction if someone has a different idea about "realism" or the previous deconstruction was mixed too heavily with Darker and Edgier. Overall, it could be thought of as a dialectical synthesis of an original and its deconstruction. The philosophical theory which accompanies reconstruction is called reconstructivism.

Please note that this is not an academically recognized term or concept, having grown out of TV Tropes' own style of media analysis. In academia, a reconstruction would simply be a second deconstruction.

Compare the Genre Throwback, which usually involves Reconstruction, and Troperiffic works. See also Decon-Recon Switch, which is a single work which sets up a deconstruction only to reconstruct the same tropes later on.

See also Reimagining the Artifact, a much more localized phenomenon.

Not to Be Confused with the Freeware RPG The Reconstruction, season six of Red vs. Blue, or, for that matter, with the Reconstruction Era after The American Civil War.

Before labeling something as a reconstruction, double check that it lets a trope resume its function despite becoming more realistic.


Example subpages:

Other examples:

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    Meta 
  • The Post Cyber Punk genre is a sometimes literal reconstruction following Cyberpunk's Deconstruction in regards to the futuristic visions of high machinery and advanced technology.
  • Solar Punk is this to Cyberpunk, but on a much more conceptual level, going further in showing how a sustainable future could look like while drawing worldly elements.
  • Remodernism essentially is a Reconstruction of what Postmodernism challenged. The authors of the Remodernist manifesto called Postmodernism "brainless destruction of convention" and argue for a new spirituality in art as opposed to the nature of Postmodernism, which they describe as nihilistic.
  • Metamodernism acts as a middle-ground between Modernism and Post-Modernism that reexamines the latter while reviving ideas from the former. In a sense, it uses the ironic and insincere approaches found in Postmodernism to communicate genuine and serious matters. Wisecrack explains here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dsECbVahBw

    Anime & Manga 
  • One of the joys of Delicious in Dungeon is taking the whole concept of Dungeon Crawling and examining how it could be made to work realistically, from its socioeconomic implications to monster ecology to the simple question of "what separates a 'dungeon' from a regular abandoned mine, fortress, etc." Then it takes that and starts extrapolating how dungeon crawling fits in on a broader geopolitical scale...
  • Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure managed to give us all the Evangelion-esque action without the Evangelion-esque drama and Mind Screw by featuring well-adjusted protagonists and incorporating lots of humor.
  • Fate Series: Whereas Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel horribly deconstruct the concepts of what it means to be a "hero", Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] warmly embraces its viewer and reminds them that yes, the world may be a cold and ugly place, but that does not mean that the honor, kindness, and decency are not worth fighting for. It also happens in The Last Episode ending of the Realta Nua version.
  • Gundam:
  • If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die reconstructs the Idol Singer; the culture that it forms and the fandom that is spawned as a result. Even as obsessed the fans of ChamJam can get (best embodied by The Protagonist, Eripoyo, herself), it comes from a genuine place of true love and devotion from a group that legitimately see the idols as actual people first and throw them their full support no matter what endeavors they get up, even if they don't involve being an idol. The idol members of ChamJam are consistently shown to be happy and touched by such faithful loyalty put into them and this in turn gives them the motivation to succeed at their goals.
  • While initially considered a Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction, Magical Girl Site in further detail does this to the Magical Girl genre once one gets through the gore and brutality. The Magical Girls became such due to misfortune in their lives, never having normal lives they could be content with, making their sudden contact from the Site a blessing for escape. The girls have various reasons for using their wands, with there being as many unscrupulous one as there are selfless, heroic ones. Despite this, the magical girls are able to bound together in camaraderie, even getting friends and closed ones involved in their activities rather than keeping them in the dark, with the common goal of saving the world. And even with the site’s true nature, they are able to completely turn it around in their favor, giving everyone the happy ending they deserve.
  • Maoyu:
    • The relationship between the Hero and the Demon Queen is key to bringing peace and prosperity to their peoples, thus reconstructing Arranged Marriage and Altar Diplomacy.
    • Hero is well aware of his status as a Propaganda Hero, and increasingly he takes control of his own propaganda. Initially, by instinct or by Head Maid's prompt, he grows his reputation as Demon Queen's loyal and fearsome Dark Knight; later on, consciously, praising Demon Queen as a diligent monarch of the demons.
  • My Hero Academia:
    • The manga reconstructs a lot of superhero tropes, but top of the list is The Paragon. The man who would become All Might was born quirkless in a world just a couple steps up from a Crapsack World, with superpowered villains tearing things down, heroes desperately trying to keep everything together, and civilians caught in the middle. All Might resolved to make a world where people didn't have to be afraid any more, and his boundless drive to do so impressed the woman who possessed the most powerful ability to pass it onto him. Decades later, All Might is known as the "Symbol of Peace," largely credited with single-handedly beating back the villains who had been making the world progressively worse for decades. Even though All Might is Secretly Dying at the start of the series, he is still fighting to make sure the world stays safe. When his injuries become public and he is forced to retire, no one blames him, and despite the consequence of losing the world's greatest hero he is still considered the Symbol of Peace.
    • Related, All Might's catchphrase is "Everything is all right—I am here!" What initially appears to be a silly and kind of tone-deaf Pollyanna turns out to be a very calculated Hope Bringer. In a practice rescue, Deku freaks out and says things look bad, only for the judge to berate him for scaring the victims. They need someone telling them everything will be all right.
  • Pokémon: The Series: Despite the Deconstruction present in the first episode, the importance of the trainer's bond with Pokémon is shown, with Ash risking his life to save Pikachu and Pikachu aiding Ash to defeat the Spearow. And the Ho-Oh cameo represents the wonders of finding new Pokémon yet to be discovered.
  • Popotan reconstructs itself. Throughout the series, the characters experience the consequences of Limited Destination Time (whatever friends they make they eventually have to leave behind), but in the end they learn to appreciate each other and the fact that they are still able to at least always remember their friends.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a show that first deconstructs the basic tropes of the magical girl genre, but then proceeds to reconstruct the essence of the magical girl genre, that hope will always win out over despair. This reconstruction is much more important to the series as a whole than the superficial deconstruction. And then it proceeds to deconstruct the reconstruction in Rebellion.
  • RahXephon examined the darker, serious sensibilities of Neon Genesis Evangelion's well-known deconstruction of anime and mixed it with more idealistic Super Robot tropes.
  • Ratman is an interesting variant of reconstruction. It plays up the idea of the ordinary kid who dreams of becoming a hero (who also lives in a world chock full of 'em) realistically: He's duped into becoming a supervillain, but he doesn't let this get in the way of his idealism. At the same time, he's surrounded by very loving and supportive coworkers, and many of the antics he goes through are Played for Laughs. Except when they're not. It also becomes clear that the "evil crime syndicate" isn't as evil as it seems, but really are simply on the Hero Association's bad side.
  • Rebuild of Evangelion implies reconstruction right in the title. It essentially takes the main cast of the original series and shows how the series would play out if they asked themselves "Angst? What Angst?" But it is by no means Lighter and Softer.
  • Rosario + Vampire is this to the Unwanted Harem, as we see that some of the girls that are Hopeless Suitors Tsukune (who has already chosen Moka aka both of them) have more realistic, non-comedic, non-I Want My Beloved to Be Happy reactions to them getting together, rather than a typical use of the trope. Kurumu in particular has had a few heartbreaking scenes, especially when we learn that she (like other heartbroken succubi) can potentially fall victim to Death by Despair. However, everyone in the harem are still True Companions who want to stay together. Even Kurumu realizes she doesn't care only for romantic love anymore and now wants to keep enjoying her life with all of her friends instead of just Tsukune.
  • Samurai Flamenco is this towards the Japanese superhero/Tokusatsu genre, paying tribute to the heroism and ideals that those superheroes strive for, even if limited by the real life mundanity and the hero not being a superpowered being like them.
  • Spellbound! Magical Princess Lil'Pri is one of the very few straightforward, non-ironic Magical Girl shows to come in later times (even if it is The Anime of the Game).
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:
    • The series is a reconstruction of the entire history of mecha, starting with The '70s era of Super Robot anime with Kamina as the voice of the seventies; then came Nia and The '80s "Real Robot" style storyline of The Empire vs. the Rebels and The '90s with the whole Evangelion deconstruction-type era with Rossiu leading the way, before culminating in the post-GaoGaiGar era, re-embracing victory through hot-bloodedness and the Rule of Cool, even if the final conclusion is that it should be used responsibly.
    • Kamina is a reconstruction of the Hot-Blooded All Loving Idiot Hero stereotype. It's made clear that he only acts this way because he's just as afraid as everyone else, but needs to put on a brave face to inspire the others. Also, characters always point out exactly how suicidally stupid his actions are and how they'll get him killed, However, when he actually does get killed in Episode 8, it's the one time they're following a plan, though an unexpected development forces Kamina to deviate from it. However, the Reconstruction comes in that, A) he lives in a universe where Rule of Cool and excessive manliness actually translates into tangible power, and B) the degree to which he inspires the other protagonists, Even years after his death, cannot be overstated. His reasons for doing so are also explored. In Episode 8, he explains how he does all of this not just for the love of the fight, but to ensure a better future for the next generation. Furthermore, he also places a good deal of faith in others, best represented how his belief in Simon brought out the unfathomable amount of potential he had. Where no one else believed in him, not even himself, Kamina believed in Simon and Simon could believe in that, which helped him learn to believe in himself.
  • The anime version of The Three Musketeers is unique in that it's a rare human deconstruction of an entire canon. The original novels deconstructed themselves to begin with, as the later novels inherit the aging of the original heroes; the anime would reconstruct the novels resulting into a rare Lighter but Edgier adaptation where the plot itself seemingly becomes this for the latter part of the novels when the events become darker (yet not so much edgier due to duels becoming outdated).
  • Tiger & Bunny is a curious case: it's a reconstruction of American superhero comic books done as a Japanese animated show! In-universe, despite seemingly being sellouts, the heroes keep their moral ground even when an Anti-Hero and a Smug Snake mock them for it.
  • World Trigger mostly deconstructs shonen tropes, such as the power of friendship and the effects of willpower, but it finds workarounds to more conventional Shōnen tropes, such as team battles, rivalries, and timely power-ups by incorporating them into the wider worldbuilding (such as hosting simulation-based showdowns) and lore of the world, or by weaving it into the wider narrative through foreshadowing. That, or just involve Jin.
  • World's End Harem: Fantasia plays with the Hero's Slave Harem trope that's become increasingly common in Japanese media. Initially the work runs into some potential trouble with Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi: any woman who ingests main protagonist Arc Nargala's blood becomes effectively unable to say "no" to him, since they have to continue consuming his bodily fluids to live. After an incident where he has a Phlebotinum Overdose and rapes his maid Wenna, Arc has a Heel Realization and starts actively making sure any woman he infuses with Macht gives informed consent beforehand.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!:
    • Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V is mostly deconstruction, but it also includes a lot of reconstruction as well in order to make the world seem more realistic (e.g. The Magic Poker Equation is downplayed a lot, as the Duels featured use multiple copies of their best cards and use combos that match gameplay in real life).
    • Another Yu-Gi-Oh series, Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS reconstructs the franchise in general (both the anime and the game). After spin-off after spin-off of introducing new summoning methods and complicating the rules of the game, the new gaming format, Rush Duels, brings the fun back into the game by simplifying the rules and providing more opportunities for players to draw more cards and summon more monsters.

    Literature 

By Author

  • Michael Chabon loves these. He's one of the most respected writers in America, yet many of his books take on subjects usually seen as meaningless pop culture, as if to prove that they can have literary merit if done right.
  • Simona Ahrnstedt:
    • Despite how all her first three novels are about the upper classes and their extravagant parties and their beautiful clothes, Simona loves to deconstruct the idea that material wealth and money will automatically make you happy. Beatrice in "Överenskommelser", Illiana in "Betvingade", and Gabriel in "De skandalösa" all grew up in rich but very abusive households. Seth in "Överenskommelser" and Markus in "Betvingade" have become rich through their own efforts, but that also means that many people will look down on them as irritating upstarts. The story will always end on a happy note though, as the protagonists can move on and become happily married. And yeah, of course they will still be rich!
    • Lily Tremaine in "Överenskommelser" is a reconstruction of the Gold Digger. She's stupid enough to turn down Seth's proposal and ends up in an abusive marriage with a British lord, but she later manages to find happiness with a new man.
    • Seth himself becomes a reconstruction of Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. He has been searching for love so badly, that he eventually gets an wrongful reputation as a Casanova, but he can find true love when he and Beatrice finally work things out in the end.
    • Beatrice and Seth are a reconstruction of Can't Spit It Out and Wrong Assumption. They misunderstand each other completely over and over (she believes that he's a Casanova, he believes that she's a Gold Digger), and it has awful consequences especially for her. But they work things out eventually and have a Happy Ending.
    • Seth also serves as a reconstruction of the Nouveau Riche. Many people think that he's an irritating upstart who spends an insane amount of money on women, the Old Money generally despise him, and it does not help that he can be unnecessarily mean and proud. But it soon becomes clear to the reader that there is more depth to him than that, and in the end, he becomes happily married to Beatrice.
    • As a whole, "Överenskommelser" is a Genre Deconstruction of the Romance Novel. Many of the old clichés are there, but we get good reasons as to why these clichés would happen. Why exactly is it so hard for Beatrice and Seth to admit their feelings for each other? Well, Beatrice is too afraid to tell Seth the truth about her awful situation because her Evil Uncle has threatened her and her friends. And as for Seth, he is too afraid to take chances because Lily Tremaine dumped him and broken his heart in the past. We also have Beatrice's uncle and cousin, who will do anything to destroy their happiness, so it becomes very hard for them to untangle all the misunderstandings. We also see the consequences of this, when Beatrice in particular has to suffer from it. But it becomes a Reconstruction in the end, when Beatrice and Seth can work things out and have a Happy Ending.

By Title

  • Cho Chang in Harry Potter serves to deconstruct the Relationship Sue trope by being Harry's perfect match — with whom he ends up being incompatible. Ginny Weasley on the other hand reconstructs the idea. She realizes Harry will never be interested in her and instead settles for becoming a better friend to him. Because of that, Harry finally starts noticing her and they end up Happily Married with three kids. It goes to show that the Relationship Sue can exist as a person outside of being someone's perfect match and reminds people why ending up with one of these characters would be a good thing.
  • Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park was originally notable for being a modern update on the Living Dinosaurs trope, which was a staple of pulp sci-fi and classic adventure yarns until new discoveries about the extinction of the dinosaurs made it a lot harder to take seriously. Taking advantage of then-recent developments in biotechnology, the novel managed to present a scientifically plausible scenario that could explain the existence of a tropical island populated by dinosaurs: the dinosaurs are clones artificially bred from preserved DNA, and the island is a nature preserve operated by an eccentric billionaire. Partly thanks to its highly successful film adaptation, Crichton's more believable treatment of the material helped kick off a huge resurgence of interest in dinosaurs in the 1990s, to the point that the novel and its attendant franchise are now considerably better-known than the older works that inspired them.
  • The "New Edge" movement (discussed in detail here) is an attempt to do this for Sword and Sorcery. To quote Howard Andrew Jones, who launched the New Edge initiative:
    “We can find inspiration from the old tales without slavishly duplicating every aspect of them. Specifically I mean setting aside the sexism and racism and the suspect politics but embracing the virtues of great pulp storytelling: The color. The pace. The headlong thrill and sense of wonder. The celebration not of the everyday and the petty, but of those who dare to fight on when the odds are against them. We can create new characters. Not homages, or ironic send-ups. We can craft fascinating, living settings rather than faux REH or generic game fiction backdrop number 9. We need to make our own worlds and look past the seemingly unbreakable molds set in place by the big names and gaming manuals. We must restore the sense of fantastic. Once magic is banal or easy, once magic rings can be found at the corner market and wizards are everywhere, sense of wonder goes straight out the window.”
  • Book 7 of Ranger's Apprentice reconstructs the idea of being apprenticed to a Renowned Selective Mentor. On the one hand, Will starts getting incredibly nervous about his graduation and the idea of moving out from under Halt's wing, when the latter seems to always know exactly what to do and say, and is exceptionally Shrouded in Myth even by the standards of the already Shrouded in Myth Ranger Corps. However, he comes to realize throughout the story that, having spent close to five years at his mentor's side, he is skilled enough to handle any challenge... and while he will make mistakes, he also has the maturity and the capability to learn from and grow beyond them.
  • Sunshine by Robin McKinley may be a reconstruction of urban fantasy and vampire books. Instead of accepting a secret world of magic or trying to rationalize it, it's thrown out: vampires and magic have always been around. Enough names are dropped to indicate that history hasn't remained the same, it's a different world than ours, but the protagonist is young and focus-minded enough that the author can get away without describing the details. Magical superpredators of humans (vampires) come across as physically and mentally alien - though they can pass when they need to.
  • Worm is one for the superhero genre, showing how shared social norms could result in a society with many common superhero tropes, including genius inventors who don't share their tech, the consequences of lacking Required Secondary Powers, and why criminals aren't outed while also showing how quickly it could collapse if people started to ignore those norms.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Adam Ruins Everything: The show often takes a giant sledgehammer at the Edutainment Show, with Adam's facts annoying and antagonizing the people he interacts with. Some episodes, however, point out the necessity of showing off uncomfortable truths. In "Adam Ruins Malls," Adam breaks a promise not to ruin something to Emily, in order to point out the dangers of unregulated supplements. While Emily does in turn ruin something for Adam, she does acknowledge it was the right thing to do.
  • Andor: The impact the Empire has on the citizens of the galaxy has often been demonstrated as simple armed responses to the smallest infraction, and opposing the Empire is similarly demonstrated as simply killing stormtroopers. The show goes to great lengths to demonstrate some of the more nuanced cultural oppression between religions factions dwindling in numbers to local police hoping to stay on the Empire's good side by being equally brutal. The show focuses more on smaller acts of disturbances and the first major attack is stealing a sector's payroll. Notably, not a single stormtrooper is seen in the first six episodes. When they do show up it is a sign of worse things coming.
  • Arrowverse:
    • After decades of superheroes becoming "serious" Darker and Edgier Anti Heroes who are full of angst over having powers and are somewhat grounded in reality, the eponymous The Flash (2014) rebuilds the type of superheroes who functions on Good Feels Good basis. He is also a hero despite his tragic backstory, not because of it, lives in a fantastical setting, and isn't afraid to get a little silly along the way. The Silver Age Friendly Enemy relationship with his Rogues Gallery also shows up, mostly with Leonard Snart/Captain Cold, and made more plausible in that The Flash recognizes a lot of them as having redeeming qualities and is trying to protect them from themselves. At the same time, it doesn't shy away from the fact that some of the villains (such as Reverse-Flash and especially Zoom) are brutal monsters who can and do kill dozens of people with no issues.
    • The Earth-2 Alternate Self of Dinah Laurel Lance reconstructs the Backup Twin and Anti-Hero Substitute concepts. She's originally an Evil Doppelgänger who is forced to do a Deadperson Impersonation of her Dead Alternate Counterpart out of necessity. Most of her late doppelgänger's friends detest her and she scoffs at the idea of being turned into a Replacement Goldfish. However, living the life of her late counterpart and interacting with these people helps her regain her diminishing humanity and ultimately makes her a better person without her losing her own identity.
  • The Cape: The series seems to be an attempt at a throwback to more traditional superhero stories (with secret identities! costumes! clear-cut standards of good and evil!) after the deconstruction seen in Heroes. It also bears similarity to old serials like The Shadow and Dick Tracy.
  • The Cosby Show: The show's patriarch Cliff Huxtable was a reconstruction of the Standard '50s Father for The '80s, created in response to what Bill Cosby saw as the awful father figures (especially Black fathers) in the sitcoms and Blaxploitation films of The '70s.
  • Crashing (UK) is about a group of 20-somethings living in a big city — a Roommate Com — and it reconstructs the financial aspects of the trope. It Averts the usual "Friends" Rent Control and instead has its character living in a disused London hospital under a scheme called Property Guardians where tenants pay cheap rent in exchange for watching over uninhabited buildings that might otherwise be occupied by squatters or fall prey to vandalism.
  • Doctor Who:
    • "Remembrance of the Daleks" was the first time the Daleks were reconstructed on the show — however, since it was made at a point where Doctor Who was at a low point with regards to its popularity with low viewing figures, it was decided that the audience would need a refresher course in "Why Daleks Are Actually Scary". Interestingly enough, in the Daleks' first appearances in comics during the '60s, they were already shown flying.
    • After years and years of mockery and criticism of the Daleks, mainly regarding their impractical design and their weapons, the episode "Dalek" addressed these criticisms to return the Daleks back to their previous threat level by taking said criticisms and turning them on their head.
    • After several seasons of gradually deconstructing the Doctor and revealing what a dangerous, threatening presence he could be, and how many of his enemies rise as a result of their sheer terror of him, "The Wedding of River Song" begins a reconstruction of him; upon what looks like the increasing inevitability of the Doctor's death, one of his companions sends out a distress signal to everyone he's ever helped — and everyone he's ever helped basically responds with "we'll do whatever we can to help." For all that he has his dark side, he's still devoted his life to protecting the innocent and those who can't protect themselves, and is rightly loved by them as a result. Afterwards, he resolves to "step back into the shadows", and while this lasts about as well as you'd expect, it does reconstruct the idea of the Doctor as "just a man in a box, traveling, helping out" after previous seasons had him become The Dreaded and an in-universe Memetic Badass.
    • The Nightmare Retardant Mondasian Cybermen with their silly sing-song voices, faces like carnival laughing clowns, overly bulky chest packs, and headunits like handlebars are made to look creepy again in "World Enough and Time" by showing the full horror of the cyberconversion process.
  • After facing criticism for the unhealthy nature of the food on The Galloping Gourmet and facing his wife's heart attack caused by said food, Kerr made The Graham Kerr Show to reconstruct his previous recipes using healthier ingredients and cooking methods.
  • Gen V: While the main series is a Genre Deconstruction of super heroes, Gen V reconstructs this by emphasizing that there are supes who genuinely want to be heroes and manage to hold on to their humanity as opposed to becoming image-obsessed walking time bombs.
  • The Good Place reconstructs Humanity Ensues. At first, Janet is just a basic, generally helpful drone, like a humanoid Siri. After being rebooted over 800 times, she gains emotions, sophistication, and wisdom, describing herself as the most complex Janet there has ever been. Over the course of the show, she learns and grows and suffers and triumphs, even falling in love, just like a person. While this is deconstructed in that it leads to glitches in the Neighborhood and some weird things happening (because Janets aren't supposed to understand heartbreak), it's eventually reconstructed when she learns to grow and improve as a person, with her wisdom and sophistication proving central to helping the heroes succeed several times over. As a direct result, all of humanity is saved because of her abilities.
  • Good Witch reconstructs the idea of love conquering everything. It doesn't, in and of itself—other things can get in the way, and even people who truly love each other, whether family or romantically, can drift away from each other. But over and over again, when characters take the time to talk things out, listen to each other, and understand where the other person is coming from and what they want, it's shown that doing so forges stronger bonds, which can overcome everything else.
  • In a bizarre example of this, the TV movie of Harrison Bergeron reconstructs the viewpoint that the original story was parodying, which would be a case of completely missing the point were it not done so well.
  • Impractical Jokers reconstructs the Candid Camera Prank show. The genre had largely fallen out of favor due to being seen as unkind to the random people who were secretly filmed while pranksters made fools of them. Impractical Jokers preserves the gimmick of covertly filming random people's reactions to pranks, but with the important distinction that the Jokers themselves are the targets, and people's unscripted reactions just confirm that the guys have successfully made fools of themselves.
  • Kamen Rider:
    • While Kamen Rider Gaim is more of a Deconstruction than a reconstruction, it manages to take two tropes that the fanbase hates and gives us a reason why we enjoyed them in the first place. The tropes it reconstructs are Poor Communication Kills, which shows the audience clear reasons why people would effectively shoot communication in the foot, and the Monster of the Week format, in which, while it still sticks to the format somewhat, it doesn't do it in a way that derails the plot and make it feel more like two-part stories than a one-episode story that was forced to drag on to two parts.
    • On the other hand, Kamen Rider Drive reconstructs many concepts of the franchise itself, since the show was going back to the classic nature of the Showa era at the time. It also reconstructs several themes deconstructed by previous shows, especially that of Gaim.
  • Once Upon a Time reconstructs fairytales and their conventions. The villains are not one-dimensional caricatures who do everything For the Evulz, but are actually intelligent people who carry out evil actions to advance their ultimate goals, and are revealed to have Freudian Excuses. The princesses have personal agency, possess talents beyond being pretty and nice and are capable of looking after themselves. Prince Charming is a fully rounded character with an actual personality who sometimes makes bad choices and mistakes; but is still genuinely brave and heroic. The Chosen One is bitter and emotionally distant due to having lead a difficult life and initially refuses to accept her destiny or even that the fantastical things she sees are real, but when push comes to shove she steps up to defend the people she cares about and be the hero that the world needs.
  • Power Rangers RPM's Lampshade Hanging of two recurring elements of Power Rangers that are often mocked also reconstructs them. Why are there explosions behind the rangers after they've morphed? Residual energy runoff to clear the suit's bio-channels during the morph (the explosions are even used to attack several foot soldiers). Why do they scream their morph call? Vocal recognition safety feature.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • It took a hard look at Proud Merchant Race the Ferengi and rebuilt them into a more solid fictional society - without them ever deciding that human or Federation values were innately superior to theirs. For instance, women's lib kicked in as much for practical reasons (more workers, a bigger consumer base) as ethical ones. Also, the Ferengi have never had wars with the scale or the frequency of Earth's, nor have they ever practiced slavery of their own kind (unpaid and dead workers can't buy anything).
    • It also spends a lot of time exploring what the characters of a utopian society like the Federation would really do if they were faced with having to resort to morally ambiguous or even plain deplorable means (e.g. "In the Pale Moonlight") to rescue that society in an all-out war against The Empire. Everyone is portrayed as a shade of gray, until Sisko and the Cardassian war criminal Gul Dukat confront each other in "Waltz" and Dukat realizes that he should have fulfilled his dreams of total genocide on Bajor after all. Even a Gray-and-Gray Morality setting can still have genuinely evil characters.
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds serves as a Reconstruction for the Star Trek franchise in general, deliberately harkening back to the episodic Wagon Train to the Stars format of the Original Series and The Next Generation with modern production values, delivering on the promise of its title to portray some of the most impressive Planet of the Week settings and adventures ever seen in the franchise's television format.
  • Wizards of Waverly Place: The special Alex Vs. Alex reconstructs the Be Yourself moral. Throughout the special everyone wants Alex to change, except Harper who has learned to accept and appreciate Alex the way she is. When Alex decides to just use magic to rid of her negative qualities which creates an evil clone, that an evil wizard named Dominic makes his partner to take over the world. Alex eventually realizes that everyone should be more like Harper and learn to accept and appreciate her the way she is, and after giving up her wizard powers she says is not going to change but her showing gratitude to Harper pays off and Alex gets her powers back, for showing she can be a better person in some ways, showing if you try to force someone to change who they are it wouldn't work out too well, and that people will always have their flaws but it doesn't mean they don't have or can't gain positive qualities.

    Music 
  • The entire point of genre revivals like Post-Punk revival or Garage Rock revival.
  • Post-Punk itself is a reconstruction of more artsy and experimental genres of rock like Progressive Rock, exploring how artsy, experimental music can continue to remain relevant in the wake of Punk Rock (which openly rejected the style of genres like prog) and forming the building blocks for the music of the next two decades.
  • Neoclassicism (think of Benjamin Britten) is a reconstruction of pre-romantic classical music. Its composers didn't follow the daring harmonic approach of Richard Wagner or Arnold Schoenberg and continued to compose "beautiful" music unlike their dissonant or even atonal contemporaries.
  • Composer Igor Stravinsky had a Decon-Recon Switch: His most popular work is the dissonant and initially highly controversial Le Sacre du printemps, while his later work co-founded Neoclassicism.
  • Sufjan Stevens' yearly Songs For Christmas EPs were a personal reconstruction of Christmas Music for Sufjan: his attempt to capture the sublime melancholy of Christmas music at its best, and to come to terms with the Glurge of the holiday season. (Sufjan had previously dismissed Christmas itself as a social construct.)
  • Tenacious D's music seems to be a reconstruction of classic rock. Though they don't take themselves or their lyrics very seriously, they certainly take the music seriously. As they wrote in "The Metal":
    You can't kill The Metal...
    The Metal will live on!
    Punk Rock tried to kill The Metal...
    but they failed, as they were smite to the ground!
    New Wave tried to kill The Metal...
    but they failed, as they were stricken down...to the ground
    Grunge tried to kill The Metal...
    Hahahahaha, THEY FAILED! as they were thrown to the ground!
  • Monster Magnet is another reconstruction of classic rock, as are the Hellacopters, especially on their early albums.
  • The Darkness, with their five-minute guitar solos and soaring falsettos, is either a reconstruction or brilliant parody of Glam Metal.
  • Rappers like 50 Cent, Boyz n da Hood, et al were supposed to be a reconstruction of hardcore hip-hop in the mainstream, but it never really caught on, likely because of the lack of mainstream media support. However, "fiddy" defied this with radio-friendly songs like "In da Club", "Candy Shop" etc.
  • Rap group Dead Prez tried to reconstruct rebellious, hardcore, socio-political rap.
  • The Tel-Aviv City Team (aka: "Tact Family") uses a large portion of their music to perform a deliberate reconstruction of Zionism or Jewish nationalism in response to the deconstructions that came from the left in the '90s and 2000s. They actually have a rap rivalry with the older left-wing group Hadag Nachash over the precise definition of Zionist Hip-hop.
  • Stoner Rock and Sludge Metal are reconstructions of the original style of Heavy Metal that Black Sabbath used to play: a Darker and Edgier turn on Heavy Psych, which was Blues Rock and Psychedelic Rock turned up a notch.
  • Eminem's persona is a reconstruction of the Angry White Man. The original Angry White Man character type was as a heroic character in racist narratives; the Deconstruction of the character pointed out that he was a deeply insecure, entitled bigot. Eminem spoke and wrote songs about his experiences facing discrimination for his skin colour in majority Black cultures and being abused by powerful women in his life, but he's also aware that he's an asshole, and has a hatred of racism in any form which he is outspoken about. He also emphasises his struggle to overcome his impoverished background, something which cuts across race and gender lines, and acknowledges his insecurities and entitlement by writing satirical songs poking fun at Anti-Role Model characters who embody these aspects of him.

    Philosophy 
  • Hegelian dialectic, usually presented in a threefold manner, was often presented as compromising three dialectical stages of development: The thesis is an intellectual proposition. The antithesis is simply the negation of the thesis (the Deconstruction), a reaction to the proposition. The synthesis solves the conflict between the thesis and antithesis by reconciling their common truths and forming a new thesis, starting the process over (the Reconstruction, forming a Cyclical Trope).

    Another version that was used by Hegel is Abstract-Negative-Concrete. The formula, thesis-antithesis-synthesis, does not explain why the thesis requires an Antithesis. However, the formula, abstract-negative-concrete, suggests a flaw, or perhaps an incomplete-ness, in any initial thesis—it is too abstract and lacks the negative of trial, error and experience (an example is the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism Versus Realism. The Ideal is the Abstract, the Negative is how cynics deconstruct the Abstract with Reductio Ad Absurdum and reveal it as unrealistic. Reconstruction occurs when preserving the useful portion of the deconstructed idea, while modifying it to allow it to move beyond its limitations).
  • Existentialism was a direct, deliberate reaction to the "Too Bleak, Stopped Caring" attitute promoted by Nihilism and Moral Relativism.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • In the wake of such incidents as the steroids scandal, numerous sudden deaths of wrestlers under fifty, and the Chris Benoit Murder-Suicide, the WWE started trying to distance itself from the dark and gritty Attitude Era and clean up its image, moving back to the cartoonish and family-friendly programming of The '80s and Early 90s; banning blading, pushing squeaky-clean stars like Rey Mysterio and John Cena, and forbidding moves like chairshots to the head or piledrivers to make wrestling safer. The movement has been pretty controversial among fans, and it's debatable how much success they've had, but they're making a lot of money off it so they're unlikely to stop any time soon.
  • The women of NXT went a long way towards reconstructing women's wrestling in WWE. After years of Chickification and emphasis on Fanservice, the women were allowed to wrestle. The women had the talent and tenacity of the stars of the 80s, combined with the glamour and character of the Divas of the Attitude Era.

    Theatre 
  • Surprisingly, for all of its mockery of religion, The Book of Mormon ultimately reconstructs it, as it comes to the conclusion that the core of religion, to help people in need and give them morals to follow to become better people, can indeed have a positive influence on others.
  • While the 2013 stage musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory presents the character of Willy Wonka - long notorious for his Callousness Towards Emergency, Skewed Priorities, and lack of sympathy for those who disobey his warnings - as an Ambiguously Evil Anti-Hero who may actually be mentally ill, unlike other adaptations it explores why he's devoted his life to making absurd, whimsical sweets and turning a factory into The Wonderland, and the reasons given turn out to be rather beautiful. As well, while the novel and most other versions have him seeking a good, obedient child who won't change the way his factory is run to serve as his heir, this version has him seeking a child who is kind, knows better than to fool with what he shouldn't... and has his own creative ideas and determination to share them even if it means breaking a silly rule or two. The show ends with Mr. Wonka immediately making Charlie the new boss and leaving so that the boy, with the help of his family and the Oompa-Loompas, can continue Mr. Wonka's work in his own unique way.
  • The Ibsen Follies has a sufficiently loose relationship with the fourth wall for the Interactive Narrator to discuss this. She's based on a real-life woman whom Henrik Ibsen fell in love with and then broke up with, and whom he fictionalized as a selfish schemer in his tragedy The Master Builder. At the play's beginning, she watches Ibsen sitting in his chair, and speaks of how they could have lived a romance of dropped handkerchiefs and humorous misunderstandings - but Ibsen did everything he could to destroy that genre, replacing moth-eaten, badly painted backdrops and cheerful endings with despair and misery. Then she declares that it's time for turnabout, and a moth-eaten, badly painted backdrop slides onto the stage as Ibsen moans in despair and exits. The rest of the play is an old-fashioned romantic comedy about the (also real-life) relationship between Ibsen's son and the daughter of his greatest rival.

    Tabletop Games 

    Web Animation 
  • Red vs. Blue. Notable in that the sixth season is actually called Reconstruction. After five seasons of picking apart gaming tropes, they are now being put back together. What was once laughed at by the main characters is now a serious threat. Of course, it never made the audience stop laughing at them.
  • In RWBY, Deceased Parents Are the Best is reconstructed. Compared to Raven who abandoned her family outright and Taiyang who struggled to care for them in the wake of losing two wives, Summer appears to have been the perfect parent for both Ruby and Yang. This is because she disappeared when Ruby and Yang were very young, enabling them to create idealised versions of her in their minds. This is deconstructed in that Ruby died young enough that she remembers Summer less as a person and more as an ideal, namely an ideal that she not only can't live up to, but also darkly twisted in that she very much is frightened that she will have no choice but to do so, being stuck in a deadly role of being The Paragon against an unstoppable opponent forever until she either manages to somehow win, or she dies a miserable failure. This is reconstructed when learning about her mother's flaws in Volume 9; this is a rude awakening for her, but she eventually realizes that Summer was simply human and so is she, and thus allows her to begin to realize that she doesn't have to hold herself up on a pedestal.

    Webcomics 
  • El Goonish Shive reconstructs Always Chaotic Evil with the aberrations, which are people who have given up their humanity in exchange for immortality and power. They need to feed off humans to survive, and in the process of becoming an aberration, they lose all sense of morality and even enjoy the death and pain they cause.
  • The Order of the Stick:
    • The webcomic first deconstructs the Always Chaotic Evil trope by showing that the goblins (and Redcloak and his brother in particular) suffer greatly because of the perception that all goblins are Evil, then reconstructs it by showing that Redcloak is still, in fact, completely evil—but because of the choices he's made, many of which were due to the goblins' circumstances in the world. He's not evil because he's a goblin, he's evil because of how he reacts to how goblins are treated.
    • After deconstructing The Paladin with Miko Miyazaki with disastrous in-story consequences, the author went out of his way to showcase "everything right about the paladin" in O-Chul, demonstrating that the very same tropes that led to Miko's corruption could also be applied practically when in the right hands and create a truly heroic and righteous character. That character, in turn, reconstructs just how much a person would have to survive in order to become a Memetic Badass.

    Web Original 
  • I'm a Marvel... And I'm a DC seems to have gone this way.
    • It started off with heroes discussing their movies, to heroes discussing their movies while socializing, to Lex Luthor attacking the heroes while they're trying to socialize, and has since built up a canon of jokes and joke-threats and threats that used to be jokes, and constantly flipping allegiances. And it's still flipping hilarious.
    • In between the jokes though are serious stories about why idealism and optimism are important in comic books. There's segments on how Superman is still relevant today, why Batman is really revered (hint: it's not about the gadgets), and why Spider-Man could perhaps be one of the most amazing heroes ever for the Heroic Sacrifice he does more than any of the other two mentioned ever would. It's practically a reconstruction of understanding on why we loved these favorite heroes in the first place.
    • The latest season started with Deadpool trying to play internet troll and revitalize the constant arguing the heroes and villains once got up to, but everyone agreed that in light of today's toxic environment surrounding the debate over Marvel Vs. DC, it just wasn't fun anymore. But when reality gets wiped out as Rorschach's old self shoots his newer self and impersonates him in order to Make Wrong What Once Went Right, in order to prevent the toxicity from ever occurring, the entire season explores why Marvel vs. DC was so popular to begin with, and why the interactions at Stan's Place were so important: the characters learned from each other and grew. As it stands, everyone left have all agreed to return time to the way it was, knowing that as toxic as it was, it was the time in which they all made friends among enemies.
  • Imperial Dawn reconstructs the creation of Plato's The Republic, in the sense that it introduces the idea of a philosopher-king in a fairly organic and realistic way.
  • The Speculative Biology worldbuilding project Hamster's Paradise has an interesting Reconstruction on the concept of an Always Chaotic Evil race with its first sapient species, the Harmsters. While generally viewed as unlikely that an entire species of sapient beings would all be inherently evil, Hamster's Paradise justifies it with Bizarre Alien Psychology: the Harmsters are descended from a predator that eats its prey alive, and thus Loves the Sound of Screaming as it subconsiously meant food and survival, and they happen to be an Explosive Breeder that allows them to recoup losses in a few months and explains their lack of valuing the lives of their fellows. They also had this behavior reinforced by the inherent violence in nature fueling their belief that all life exists solely to destroy other life, and thus have no qualms killing and eradicating one another as it's simply "the natural order of things".
  • The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition, maintained on this very site, acknowledges that yes, Pokémon are potentially incredibly dangerous, but just as long as you're not a complete idiot, it is very possible to care for and love them. And you can do so in one piece, to boot.
  • Saga of Soul is a reconstruction of the Magical Girl genre.
  • Shadiversity acknowledges that fantasy barbarians going into battle dressed only in a Loincloth or Chainmail Bikini are a bit silly, but they look AWESOME. This video examines the ways that such characters could be realistic, and how they could be made to work. Wearing a lot of armor doesn't restrict freedom of movement, but it can risk overheating, especially in hot climates. A good shield can replace a lot of body armor. Leg and arm armour will fill in the gaps left by the shield, and barbarians are often drawn with this. In conclusion: go for it!
  • Lindsay Ellis's output since 2016 has all been about creating video essays that are more than just the Shallow Parody nitpicky review style of her days as The Nostalgia Chick. She now produces in-depth content that keeps some comedy elements of her early work, with an equal balance between education and entertainment. Particularly she did reviews of Pocahontas and Hercules as Nostalgia Chick, but later released much longer and more serious reviews on them.
  • Twilight of the Red Tsar: The story is unremitting in its depictions of the horrors of Stalinism. However, those horrors inspire other radical leftists to embrace syndicalism, a more democratic and workers' owned version of socialism.
  • The Whateley Universe is basically a reconstruction of the superhero genre, starting with kids at a Superhero School and an attempt to define realistic powers and the Applied Phlebotinum to make them work. (And Gender Benders galore.)

    Western Animation 
  • Archer does this to a whole lot of Spy Fiction tropes:
  • The entire series of Batman: The Brave and the Bold acts as an Affectionate Parody and reconstruction of the The Silver Age of Comic Books. Funnily enough, it was not only wedged on both sides by Darker and Edgier animated adaptations of the character, but also between the last two films of The Dark Knight Trilogy.
  • Bob's Burgers reconstructs the Dom Com after older animated sitcoms like The Simpsons and Family Guy deconstructed it, by showing the Belchers as deeply flawed and individually dysfunctional people, who nevertheless make up a loving family.
  • According to Word of God, Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls is a reconstruction of the smart kid archetype in kids media. Past ones were Insufferable Genius types who spoke in Technobabble to the point of parody. Dipper is smart, but is also insecure, empathic and more like the child he is rather than a miniadult.
  • An episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series reconstructs the typical action cartoon premise of a bodysnatcher being loose among the main cast. Unlike in most depictions, there is no obvious audio-visual cue to indicate that someone is possessed, i.e. glowing eyes, changed voice, etc., which the audience can see but for some reason the characters can't. Also, the possessing villain can switch bodies instantly, again with no visible cue, and with the former victim unaware that they were previously possessed. Therefore, often the audience is as much in the dark as the cast, making for a very tense episode that is essentially a kid-friendly version of The Thing (1982).
  • Jackie Chan Adventures has been cited as a reconstruction of the Celebrity Toons subgenre. Notably, it manages to avoid most of the pitfalls of similar shows by being more of a tribute to Jackie Chan's movies than an attempt to promote the man himself, and it makes absolutely no pretense about the main character being the real Jackie Chan. Instead, he's a kung fu-trained Adventure Archaeologist who moonlights as a secret agent, and just happens to be named "Jackie Chan". The series has all of the fast-paced action, goofy slapstick, and East Asian-inspired fantasy that one would expect from one of Chan's martial arts comedies, but it also boasts a full supporting cast of colorful original characters, plus an epic original storyline featuring international crime syndicates, mystical talismans, and demon sorcerers—so it never feels like the showrunners are using Chan's star power as a substitute for good writing. There's a good reason the show managed to last five whole seasons, which is extremely unusual for a Celebrity Toon.
  • The Justice League episode "Legends" is both an Affectionate Parody and reconstruction of The Golden Age of Comic Books. In it, a few members of the league travel to an Alternate Universe and meet the Justice Guild of America, ersatz versions of the JSA. The episode points out the racism and sexism prevalent in the Golden Age, and the Flash mocks the Guild's cheesy "let justice prevail!" catchphrase, but at the end of the story the Guild helps defeat the villain, knowing that they'll fade from existence when they do, and when they yell "Let justice prevail!" that time, it's completely awesome. The episode was in dedication to Gardner Fox, a rather influential comic writer, so it wasn't just reconstruction; it was an Homage to the man.
  • Milo Murphy's Law does this for Born Unlucky, by making the title character a Crazy-Prepared Action Survivor who treats his curse of bad luck as a mere inconvenience and does his best to live a life in spite of it. On a more meta level it reconstructs Celebrity Toons by having one of the more self-aware celebrities out there as a star, and very distinctly separating the character from his voice actor.
  • Miraculous Ladybug reconstructs the Magical Girl Warrior shows aimed at girls (Similar to Sailor Moon and Tokyo Mew Mew) being one of the very few series that play completely straight many of the common tropes from the genre in a time where said tropes are often subject to dark deconstructions (Like Puella Magi Madoka Magica) or parodies (Like Star vs. the Forces of Evil). The problems inherent to the genre aren't absent, the fate of the world is at stake, teenagers holding the fate of the world on their shoulders is stressful as all hell, not every person who is trusted with power turns out heroic, and the genre is not without silliness, but the goals and drive to be a hero with magic are as noble as ever.
  • This is most apparent in the second episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • The series is spent picking up the pieces left by the parodic genre deconstruction that the first episode dedicated itself to.
    • There's also Rarity: Told that there would need to be fashion elements, the writers dumped that role on a single stereotypically vain and superficial character - and then made her strong, independent, and capable anyway, with a meaningful artistic career in fashion, while still keeping her quirkiness.
    • Afterwards, the series flip-flops between this trope and its opposite, although not necessarily from one episode to the next.
  • This is the entire purpose to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. The series takes a comically cynical approach to the Scooby-Doo mythos, but it doesn't outright parody or deconstruct the elements. While the kids are, realistically, treated as a nuisance by the law and their parents constantly question why they're obsessed with solving mysteries, the kids still get the job done and solve mysteries because they love it and love hanging around with each other.
    • Case in point, at the end of Episode 11, the gang breaks up under the weight of the group's relationship issues. A straight deconstruction would probably end there - Mystery Inc. is a group of teenagers in high school investigating crimes in their home town, so eventually they have to grow up and find real jobs. However, Mystery Inc. gets back together by the end of the next episode, realizing that solving these mysteries really is what they were meant to do, and the team begins repairing their bonds - the reconstruction is that the Scooby Gang would have personality clashes, just like any group of friends, but acknowledging these clashes and finding ways to cope with them strengthens the group. (A straight parody, on the other hand, probably wouldn't even bring up these issues in the first place.)
  • Samurai Jack The final season of the show reconstructs the series. At the beginning of the season and primarily towards the end, many of the elements deconstructed are slowly put back together. While things have overall seemed lost and Jack had lost himself to despair and rage, it is shown that one man can make a difference and that many small actions over time can produce huge results.
    • While Jack became horrified that he had to kill, he still killed in self defense. Moreover, he gave his attackers plenty of warning and the chance to walk away with their lives. Regardless of the Daughters of Aku's circumstance and how much choice they had in their actions, Jack was justified in his actions and conducted himself as a hero showing concern for his foes and only used lethal force as a last resort. Even Ashi, a former Daughter of Aku turned ally to Jack, acknowledges that while Jack may have killed her sisters, he bears no fault or blame for the act (that falls squarely on their terrible mother).
    • It turns out that going around helping people all of the time in spite of (or because of) the world being a terrible place does make a difference: people will be grateful for the little bit of hope that you've given them. Do it enough and word starts to spread a about a man dressed in white saving people from the forces of evil incarnate. A man who can't be stopped or beaten. A man who (so far as the general population knows) can't be broken. You're not just a guy going around helping people and fighting Aku's forces anymore. You've become a folk hero: a legend to inspire everyone who dreams of being free from Aku.
  • The Spectacular Spider-Man reconstructs the Secret Identity. While Peter’s double life as Spider-Man puts strains on his relationships with the people he cares about, as Captain Stacy has noted, keeping his identity secret is only way he can keep them safe from the supervillains and other criminals his fights.
  • Superman: The Animated Series as a whole is a reconstruction for the modern version of Superman from the Post-Crisis comics. While there are many deconstructed elements within the series and a lot of things where surprisingly realistic outcomes that were previously hand-waved during the silver age of comic books then being deconstructed during the bronze to dark age of comic books, the series overall is firmly on the ideal side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism with Superman being more down to earth and normal yet still being the Big Good everyone expects him to be. In spite of the darker moments in some of the episodes, there is always an underlying theme of optimism, idealism, and hope.
  • The Venture Bros., after the first two and a half or so seasons, has slowly evolved from being a Deconstructor Fleet to gradually reconstructing several of the tropes it has taken great pain to tear down.
    • Much of the second and third seasons were spent lampshading the utter ludicrousness of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the Office of Strategic Intelligence's secret costumed battle for supremacy, showing them both to be hidebound, ossified, and frankly quite ineffectual. Eventually, certain members of OSI saw through this and decided enough was enough, dug out some old equipment, and thus SPHINX was (re)born, as a more dynamic alternative focused on actually eliminating threats (costumed and otherwise) and not maintaining a BS status quo.
    • The status quo itself is deconstructed. When Jonas Jr. tries to kill The Monarch while the latter is attacking him, it's quickly pointed out that killing a supervillain leads to escalation from the Guild. On the other hand, it's revealed that keeping to the status quo keeps supervillains placated and not committing real crimes. So while the OSI is pretty ineffectual at dealing with the Guild, it keeps an army of supervillains from wreaking havoc.
    • Colonel Gathers returns as head of the OSI because he complains about how thing are going. It's basically revealed the Secret Peace between heroes and villains is really just a front to the even more Secret War between heroes and villains; which is far, far stranger and more multi-leveled than any other kind of politics.
    • In some ways, The Monarch is slowly becoming a reconstruction of the supervillain, as, through a combination of Genre Savviness, Not-So-Harmless Villain, and Dark Mistress, he's climbed the ranks from lame nemesis to a truly dangerous foe.
    • The former Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain and Mauve Shirt Henchman 21 Took a Level in Badass, turning into The Dragon and Hypercompetent Sidekick Two-Ton Twenty-One, an utterly devoted badass both in personal performance and boosting the morale of the rest of the Monarch's troops.
    • The Monarch's obsession with opposing Rusty Venture for reasons neither man properly remembers is treated as ridiculous and self defeating at first, but as the series goes on, it turns out that The Monarch being one of the few villains in the game out of genuine hatred instead of playing politics makes him much more capable, determined and threatening than those who initally pushed him aside.
    • The brothers themselves started out as savage parodies of kid adventurers. They were useless in the real world, their very sheltered upbringing leaving them socially awkward and ignorant of how real kids behaved. They were mostly useless in the adventurer world as well, being physically weak and kind of dumb, not to mention death-prone. However, a combination of events keeps them away from adventure and forces them to confront how much their lives suck, and their attempts to normalize themselves make them actual heroes, able to save the day.
    • In one episode, Red Death reconstructs supervillain death traps like chaining people to railways. Turns out, getting kidnapped, tied up, and left near something dangerous that's getting progressively closer is actually pretty goddamn terrifying and deadly for anybody who isn't a badass superhero who's Seen It All.
    • On a larger scale, the series has gradually reconstructed the entire concept of superheroes and villains. Is it silly and bizarre for a bunch of grown men and women to dress up in costumes and battle each other for the fate of the world? Yes. Does that change the fact that these are unhinged, superpowered psychopaths who could potentially destroy the planet if not stopped by equally powerful heroes? No. And for every Fake Ultimate Hero or Harmless Villain out there embarrassing themselves, there are just as many real heroes and villains who genuinely believe in what they're doing.
  • Villainous: Black Hat reconstructes both Invincible Villain and Supervillainy: he's invincible and omnipotent Large Ham but he's not ignorant or overconfident about his powers and abilities so he's a No-Nonsense Nemesis who use every opportunity to win and also he actually learns as time goes. For example, he's a Modernized God and Gadgeteer Genius. But he's funny at the same time mostly because he's Chewing the Scenery and Crosses the Line Twice. So he's a Cartoonish Supervillain who always wins.

    Other 

Alternative Title(s): Reconstructed Trope, Reconstruct, Reconstructed

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