History UnbuiltTrope / Literature

*** Far from being the perfect, misunderstood romantic ideal his fangirls tend to swoon over him as being, ''Mr. Darcy'' himself admits to Elizabeth that a significant part of her earlier dislike and condemnation of him was entirely justified[[labelnote:Explanation]]On the one hand, Elizabeth was wrong about Darcy cheating Wickham, and was initially blind to Wickham's true nature. On the other hand, while Darcy breaking up Bingley and Jane was a well-intentioned move to save his best friend from a loveless marriage, he was wrong and Jane did truly love Bingley[[/labelnote]], that he actually was a disdainful snob (albeit to not quite the extent Elizabeth had presupposed), and that he genuinely did have to work at taking her criticisms on board and improving his character to earn her affection.

''This was said plainly. A flash of anger and disdain kindled in the eyes of the Unknown, and I had a glimpse of a terrible past in the life of this man. Not only had he put himself beyond the pale of human laws, but he had made himself independent of them, free in the strictest acceptation of the word, quite beyond their reach! Who then would dare to pursue him at the bottom of the sea, when, on its surface, he defied all attempts made against him? What vessel could resist the shock of his submarine monitor? What cuirass, however thick, could withstand the blows of his spur? No man could demand from him an account of his actions; God, if he believed in one –- his conscience, if he had one – were the sole judges to whom he was answerable.''

** Considering the popular image of orcs (regardless if they're good or evil) as [[DumbMuscle physically powerful yet intellectually lacking barbarians]], it may be a surprise to see that Tolkien's depiction of orcs was the complete opposite: Orcs were repeteadly described as smaller and physically weaker than humans, closer to dwarves in height, and Saruman's Uruk-Hai being able to ''match'' men in size and strength. In fact, their small size became plot relevant when Frodo and Sam infiltrated Mordor's ranks by wearing stolen armor and pretending to be very short orcs, something that wouldn't have worked if orcs were big and imposing. Also, while no ''individual'' orc was portrayed as a genius, they were shown to be much more technologically advanced than the other races: Mordor and post-FaceHeelTurn Isengard are heavily industrialized, and orcish medicine is shown to be so potent and fast acting it could match elvish medicine, which was magic-based. It is likely that the altered perception came from the movies, which made orcs [[AdaptationalBadass as big and strong as humans, if not stronger]], with Saruman's Uruk-Hai being downright {{Super Soldier}}s.

** MedievalEuropeanFantasy works inspired by Tolkien tend to resemble TheHighMiddleAges more than anything else; people who make fiction that deliberately avoids this particular aesthetic often paint it specifically as trying not to create "Tolkienesque" settings. Tolkien's fantasy, however, is more directly inspired by TheLowMiddleAges, particularly pre-Norman Conquest Anglo-Saxon culture (the most notable exceptions being the Shire, which is essentially a compact version of early modern England). Gondor has architecture and weaponry reminiscent of either the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire or AncientEgypt. MedievalEuropeanFantasy also tends to display MedievalStasis, without any social or technological development. Middle-Earth is however not static, but instead EndOfAnAge, where magic and miracles gradually wear off over the millennia. One interpretation is that Middle-Earth is EarthThatUsedToBeBetter.

** Even ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' itself, a TropeCodifier for the YA dystopia novel[[note]]Though ''Literature/TheGiver'' and ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' both predate it, it started the trend more properly[[/note]], has many deconstructive elements, thanks to [[Creator/SuzanneCollins its author]] being very fond of deconstructor fleets. The resistance depicted [[BlackAndGrayMorality isn't that much better than the government]], the LoveTriangle is created and exploited by the villains to control the protagonist Katniss, and most of the second and third books are spent exploring how Katniss' psyche has been affected by the events of the first rather than a further adventure, and how she's now being manipulated by the resistance in a manner no different from how the government did the same before. And Katniss is not a scrappy rebel who starts a movement on her own and leading the revolution but a socially awkward, traumatized young girl who is a skilled fighter but otherwise not especially charismatic or intelligent, who is being manipulated by adults in a conflict that has been going on for decades prior and who only got involved to spare her sister from going to the games, not from any deeply held convictions. The ending of the trilogy is extremely {{bittersweet|Ending}}, with victory and freedom paid for in blood, sweat, and tears with no quarter given or expected, and Katniss having to step in at the end to stop the extremists on her own side from crossing the MoralEventHorizon.

*** In any other story, Aragorn would be TheHero. He is a ChosenOne who [[KingIncognito looks like an ordinary vagabond, but who is actually the long-lost king of Gondor]], he has [[RoyaltySuperpower magical healing powers]], he has a [[NamedWeapons Named Weapon]] that was used to defeat the EvilOverlord the last time (and other legendary items), he marries a [[StandardHeroReward beautiful elf princess]], and the story ends with ''[[TheRightfulKingReturns The Return of the King]]''. He's also a [[UniversallyBelovedLeader genuinely good and noble person]]. However, Aragorn is the deuteragonist, and the actual protagonists are simple townsfolk from an agricultural backwater, who do not turn out to secretly be anyone important. Even Sauron expects Aragorn to be his greatest threat. Aragorn deliberately [[ExploitedTrope exploits this]] to keep Sauron's attention on him instead of on the real protagonist.

** Even ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' itself, a TropeCodifier for the YA dystopia novel[[note]]Though ''Literature/TheGiver'' and ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' both predate it, it started the trend more properly[[/note]], has many deconstructive elements, thanks to [[Creator/SuzanneCollins its author]] being very fond of deconstructor fleets. The resistance depicted [[BlackAndGrayMorality isn't that much better than the government]], the LoveTriangle is created and exploited by the villains to control the protagonist Katniss, and most of the second and third books are spent exploring how Katniss' psyche has been affected by the events of the first rather than a further adventure, and how she's now being manipulated by the resistance in a manner no different from how the government did the same before. The ending of the trilogy is extremely {{bittersweet|Ending}}, with victory and freedom paid for in blood, sweat, and tears with no quarter given or expected, and Katniss having to step in at the end to stop the extremists on her own side from crossing the MoralEventHorizon.

* ''Culwuch and Olwen'', a story in ''Literature/TheMabinogion'', feels like a parody of an RPG FetchQuest. Culwuch wants to marry Olwen, the [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter beautiful]] (and presumably normal sized) daughter of a [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant]]. The giant is under a curse that he will die if Olwen ever marries and so gives Culwuch a list, spanning close to a dozen pages, of increasingly absurd and in some cases impossible to obtain things he must gather before he gives permission for them to marry. The protagonist does achieve it, with the aid of [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthur]] and his men, but only by laying waste to Ireland and half of Britain in the process. It also contains a scene which feels right out of a DarkFantasy {{Deconstruction}}, as Cei and Bedwyr murder a man in his sleep to get his item, and Arthur's distaste at their methods drives a permanent wedge between him and Cei.

** Until recently, the enduring pop culture image of Dr. Watson was an overweight, jocular, BumblingSidekick who exists to say "Bravo Holmes!" at the end of every adventure, as set by Creator/{{Nigel Bruce}}'s iconic portrayal of the character in ''Radio/TheNewAdventuresOfSherlockHolmes''. Going from that to more modern portrayals such as by Creator/JudeLaw or Creator/MartinFreeman, who are intelligent and badass in their own right, can come across as the writers [[AdaptationalBadass tweaking]] the character to make him less of TheLoad; or applying some deeper thought and realising that someone who was both a doctor and a veteran probably wouldn't be an inept fool. However, those portrayals are far closer to the original stories, where Watson was consistently depicted as highly competent and something of a detective himself, just not as smart as Holmes. (The Granada TV series from the 1980s, one of the first to leave behind the clichés about Watson, has plenty of instances of Dr. Watson doing keen and insightful observations, while still not quite the obsessive master observer on the level of Holmes. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EfOG920W9E This]] scene from ''The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle'' is a good example. As Holmes puts it, with a hint of bemusement, "You are too timid in drawing your inferences...". Granted, Holmes' SherlockScan is the extreme opposite of that type of timidness.)

** Parts of the story feel like a deconstruction of WhiteMansBurden -- in the 1910s. Aunt Polly is one of the richest women in town and she gives many charitable gifts to the less fortunate. But she only does so out of a stuffy sense of obligation, and it ends up being interpreted as a backhanded way of asserting her superiority over them. She has to learn AnAesop that people don't like false charity.

** ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' also [[TropeCodifier codified]] the CameBackWithAVengeance plot, in which the protagonist suffers a massive reversal of fortune and then returns to take revenge, with all the AesopCollateralDamage it ensues; Dumas makes it clear throughout that while the Count's anger and hatred towards those who betrayed him is completely valid, he goes ''way'' too far in his quest for justice and retribution. [[spoiler:Upon inadvertently [[DeathOfAChild getting a child killed]], the Count realizes that VengeanceFeelsEmpty, and lets his final target live]].

* ''{{Literature/Redwall}} predates ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'' by ten years and as a results its use of PokemonSpeak with its snake villain Asmodeus is different than future examples. He can say things other than his name, he just loves the sound of it so much it is what comes out of his mouth most of the time.

* ''Literature/TheMabinogion'' contains a story which feels like a parody of an RPG FetchQuest. The protagonist wants to marry a [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant's]] [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter beautiful]] (and presumably normal sized) daughter. The giant doesn't want to let him and gives him a list, spanning close to a dozen pages, of increasingly absurd and in some cases impossible to obtain things he must gather before he gives permission. The protagonist does achieve it, with the aid of [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthur]] and his men, but only by laying waste to Ireland and half of Britain in the process. It also contains a scene which feels right out of a DarkFantasy {{Deconstruction}}, as Cei and Bedwyr murder a man in his sleep to get his item, and Arthur's distaste at their methods drives a permanent wedge between him and Cei.

* ''Literature/TheMabinogion'' contains a story which feels like a parody of an RPG FetchQuest. The protagonist wants to marry a [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant's]] [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter beautiful]] (and presumably normal sized) daughter. The giant doesn't want to let him and gives him a list, spanning close to a dozen pages, of increasingly absurd and in some cases impossible to obtain things he must gather before he gives permission. The protagonist does achieve it, with the aid of [[Mythology/ArthurianMyth Arthur]] and his men, but only by laying waste to Ireland and half of Britain in the process. It also contains a scene which feels right out of a DarkFantasy {{Deconstruction}}, as Cei and Bedwyr murder a man in his sleep to get his item, and Arthur's distaste at their methods drives a permanent wedge between him and Cei.