History DarthWiki / FallenCreator

* Former Creator/{{Disney}} [=CEO=] Michael Eisner was brought in by Roy E. Disney after the first "Save Disney" campaign in 1984. Eisner took Disney to the major market force that exists today -- returning it to higher-budget films, creating the Touchstone division for adult-oriented material, and pushing for the much-lauded Disney Renaissance that revived animated films after the false start of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron''. He believed in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' and brought new interest to the golden age of animation, while getting Disney into television animation (resulting in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'', ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', etc.). But when Disney's president Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash just before the release of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' in 1994, long-time studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg expected to be promoted to fill Wells's position. When Eisner refused and forced Katzenberg to resign, he left the studio to found Creator/{{Dreamworks}}, whose [[Creator/DreamworksAnimation animation arm]] became a major competitor to Disney's. The promotion of Eisner's friend Michael Ovitz to the position was a disaster that upset most of the shareholders. Disney's new films, shows, and theme parks began to tank one after another in the late '90s and early 2000s -- accused of becoming formulaic, obsessed with TheMerch, and in the case of the parks outright lazy and cheap, while the ''old'' animated films were hit hard by DirectToVideo {{Sequelitis}}. Eisner was also famous for being a control freak. He rejected the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' franchise, hated ''Series/{{Lost}}'' and ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' which were immense hits for Creator/{{ABC}}, all while pushing his own project which was basically "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne as a sitcom. Eisner burned enough bridges that even ''Creator/{{Pixar}}'' was ready to end their long partnership. In the wake of this, Roy E. Disney resigned from the board of directors and started a second "Save Disney" campaign to get rid of Eisner, who resigned under extreme pressure in 2005. Bob Iger, rebuilt the bridges with Pixar, among other things, and while his reign as CEO did face several criticisms (most notably the start of Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes), the company as a whole became more financially successful than they had ever been. Eisner's guest-hosting stint on ''Series/TheCharlieRoseShow'' not long after his ouster led to him getting a regular talk-show on CNBC; he continues to expand into Internet production and he bought the Topps baseball company.

* Creator/MichaelCimino went from ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', the Best Picture Oscar winner of 1978, to ''Film/HeavensGate'' just two years later. Its failure was so catastrophic that, as noted at GenreTurningPoint, it ruined United Artists as a stand-alone studio and turned Hollywood off the Western for a decade or more. A while later, Paramount signed Cimino to direct ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', but when filming was to have started he demanded more time and money from the producers, who fired him. He only made a handful of further films before his death in 2016.

Compare NeverLiveItDown, in which a creator is ''only'' identified with the worst thing they ever did; they may have done successful work before and since, but they never had the prestige and adoration that makes a Fallen Creator. Can also overlap with CondemnedByHistory. Sort of the opposite of SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct, when someone despised proves they can do well.

* Artist Joe Madureira was once considered the golden boy of American comic artists. He had an acclaimed run on ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'', brought the Japanese manga style into mainstream American comics, and later went on to create ''ComicBook/BattleChasers'' for Creator/ImageComics' Cliffhanger imprint. He never finished ''Battle Chasers'', tried his hand at creating video games with catastrophic results (''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'' is the only game he designed that didn't become vaporware or a total flop) and now works comics once in a blue moon to lukewarm critical reception (especially ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates The Ultimates 3]]'', hoooo boy). He's bundled with other early-mid '90s comic book artists that are now considered past their prime at best and industry jokes at worst.
* Like Miller, Creator/JephLoeb came to fame off of his work on ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''; along with Tim Sales, he produced a series of ''Batman'' Halloween specials and the critically acclaimed ''The Long Halloween'' series. Unfortunately, when he took over as writing ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' (and later, the team-up book "Superman/Batman"), Loeb's writing began to slip as he began losing confidence in his ability to let his writing speak for itself. He began recruiting big name artists to draw his work (which led to massive delays in the case of ''ComicBook/{{Hulk|2008}}'''s run) and tailoring his scripts to match what his artists wanted to draw. Further complicating things was his son's death from cancer, which caused Loeb's writing to [[CreatorBreakdown take a depressing tone]] (''Ultimatium, Fallen Son, Ultimates 3'') with [[TrueArtIsAngsty death and grief as a major element of his writing]].\\
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The exact moment when Loeb became a Fallen Creator isn't clear cut but here are the popular ones:
** ''Superman V2 #166'', which infamously attempted to retcon Post-Crisis version of Krypton back to the Silver Age version, was the first crack in the wall. Loeb (and Joe Kelly) promoted the issue and the retcon as their attempt to bring back the "real" Superman of the Silver Age, while avoiding being blacklisted like Mark Waid and Mark Millar when they attempted to outright restore the Silver Age Superman status quo. Jeph even outright stated that if he could get away with it, that he would bring back the infamous "Love Triangle" and abolish the Superman marriage, pissing off fans in the process.
** ''Hush'': Loeb scored success with ''The Long Halloween'' and ''Dark Victory'', but his third attempt at a "run the gauntlet" Batman story flopped horribly as far as critical response went. Was it trading Tim Sales in for Jim Lee? The fact that Hush was a lame-ass villain people only cared for, for the single issue in which Clayface posed as Jason Todd, while in the "Hush" uniform? Or was it the fact that Loeb didn't seem to even try to write a good storyline, opting to instead coast off of the huge sales boost that his storyline would get by way of having Jim Lee draw Batman for the first time?\\
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Giving credence to ''Hush'' being the tipping point, most positive critical praise for ''Hush'' is usually limited to people gushing over Jim Lee's artwork. Talk about the actual story and you'll find that even people who liked the plot were turned off by how incredibly lame Hush's motivations were and that Hush as a character wouldn't be properly acknowledged as a "proper" Batman villain until Paul Dini got his hands on him. This story would be the point in which Loeb discovered that he could phone in his writing and have it sell huge numbers, so long as his subpar scripts were drawn by a big name artist who fans love.
** ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'': After building up Lex Luthor as the [[PresidentEvil evil President]] and him successfully forcing the ''Daily Planet'' to fire Clark when Lois and Clark discovered proof of Lex's evil misuse of office, Loeb abandoned everything for a contrived storyline involving Lex trying to frame Superman for a meteor about to hit Earth and exposing [[{{Cyborg}} Metallo]] as the murderer of Batman's parents.
** His ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' arc had a "subrace" of mutants that [[ArtisticLicenseBiology evolved from wolves]] (which featured Sasquatch, for some reason, who got his powers from the native gods of the North), an immortal overlord of said race who went by the name of "Romulus," and revealed the reason Wolverine and Sabertooth were eternally at each other's throats was because there was a "genetic prophecy" about the eternal fight between a fair-haired wolf mutant and a dark-haired wolf mutant. Oh, and Wolverine killed Sabertooth with a magic sword.
** ''Ultimates 3'' and ''Ultimatium'': Wiping out a good chunk of the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Universe angered a lot of people, especially as Loeb didn't care about what Bendis and other writers had been doing with the Ultimate Marvel characters. Loeb's run on Ultimates {{flanderized}} the already flanderized versions that Creator/MarkMillar had used in ''Ultimates 1'' and ''Ultimates 2'', making them barely one-dimensional.
** The final straw would be his ''ComicBook/{{Hulk|2008}}'' run, which came off the critically acclaimed Greg Pak run and dismantled all of the major work Pak had done to set up a new status quo for the Hulk and his standing in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse via ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' and ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk''. Adding to the mix was that Hulk revolved almost completely around Loeb's [[VillainSue Villain Stu]] the Red Hulk and the never-ending mystery of who he was.
* Creator/ChrisClaremont suffers this, as much of his writing style (TalkingIsAFreeAction, [[KudzuPlot overly-complex storylines that go on and on and on]], and plots that routinely revolve around [[AuthorAppeal mind control and BDSM]]) haven't aged well at all since the 1980s. Granted, most of this is also due to the fact that Claremont's writing style has been [[FollowTheLeader aped and homaged upon by so many writers]] since his first run on the ''X-Men''.
* Artist Creator/RobLiefeld revived the struggling ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' comic, which transferred into the top selling ''ComicBook/XForce'' when Liefeld was given full creative control over the book in 1991. But royalty issues led to him abandoning the book after nearly a year and he went on to found Creator/ImageComics. There he launched the equally popular creator-owned series, ''ComicBook/{{Youngblood}}'', and inspired a slew of copycats as artists began aping his insanely popular style.\\
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But it all quickly evaporated for Rob; the HypeBacklash against him began with several high profile cases of [[ScheduleSlip books he was drawing shipping late]]. He alienated his fellow Image colleagues and split from the company and formed Awesome Comics, which folded after a couple of years of publication. Also, it became clear that he didn't have many ''more'' ideas than what was done with ''New Mutants,'' and many of his characters were ripoffs of other characters or rehashes of his own, and his art work left something to be desired, to the point that "Liefeldian" has become a term comic fans use when artwork when it stinks to ''high heaven.'' Many of his popular characters are considered to have [[GrowingTheBeard grown the beard]] once in other hands.\\
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He has since rejoined Image Comics and returned home to Creator/MarvelComics, much to the disdain of fans of his characters such as ComicBook/{{Cable}} and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, who have thrived under other writers who fleshed them out and made them into popular characters in spite of being Liefeld creations. And even then, his further involvement with said characters is treated with revulsion from fans, who [[MyRealDaddy prefer the way post-Liefeld writers have handled his Marvel creations.]] A major example of this was the backlash against him over the character Shatterstar. The character was later revealed to be bisexual and had a RelationshipUpgrade with a male character, and Liefeld vowed to "undo" this {{character development}} (which largely [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap kept Shatterstar from being a forgotten footnote]] in ''X-Men'' lore) first chance he got.
* Creator/JohnByrne was a famous artist whose work alongside Chris Claremont on the ''ComicBook/XMen'' made it what it is today. When he left ''X-Men'' due to creative differences in 1981, he took over ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' as writer and artist, producing what is considered to be the second most definitive run on the book, second only to the original Creator/StanLee[=/=]Creator/JackKirby run. When he jumped ship to Creator/DCComics, things started great, with his ContinuityReboot of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' effectively modernizing the character and his supporting cast for a new generation of fans.\\
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Then it all kind of went downhill after that. After working on ''Superman'' for a little over two years, Byrne went back to Creator/MarvelComics and later back to DC, where he began "improving" characters in ways that actually left them radioactive and damaged beyond all repair. He irreversibly destroyed the marriage of Vision and Scarlet Witch, with Vision and the couple's children suffering horrific [[FateWorseThanDeath Fates Worse Than Death]]. He stole Donna Troy from the pages of ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' (where she was involved in an insanely popular romance with Kyle Raynor) and invalidated her entire existence, reducing her to being a "magic reflection brought to life" and not only mindwiped her, but forced her to live out thousands of horrific lives before being "rescued". And that's not getting into his ''Spider-Man'' and ''Doom Patrol'' work, his egomaniacal belief that [[ArmedWithCanon only he knows how certain characters should be written]], or his threat during his run on ''X-Men The Hidden Years'' to erase from canon Magneto's status as a Holocaust survivor just to [[TakeThat spite former collaborator Chris Claremont]]!\\
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Having burnt his bridges at both of the Big Two comic companies, he's now reduced to doing license work at IDW, drawing ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' comics. His reputation has gotten so bad that his caricature was, until some time later, the poster image of this wiki's SmallNameBigEgo page; for a sampling of ''why'', see his Wikiquote [[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Byrne entry]].

* Joe Casey was another rising star in the late '90s, with a popular run on Cable and a popular fan choice for taking over as writer of the main ''X-Men'' books. But just as Casey was about to begin the much anticipated "Cable Vs Apocalypse" storyline that [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] had been building towards since 1996, Casey was forced to quit the book after Bob Harras, to the horror of ''X-Men'' fans everywhere, gave the book to Rob Liefeld to draw and effectively told Casey that Liefeld would be the de facto "writer" and that his job would be to simply produce dialogue/plots for Rob's drawings.\\
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Casey fled to DC, where he became one of the major writers on ''Superman'', but was lured back to [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] in 2001 when newly hired editor-in-chief Creator/JoeQuesada gave him ''Uncanny X-Men'' to write. Unfortunately, Quesada also hired Grant Morrison to write the other ''X-Men'' book. Realizing Morrison was going to revamp the entire franchise, Casey decided to emulate Grant's legendary drug usage for inspiration and slagged his fanbase, over the fact that many ''X-Men'' fans were expecting Casey's ''X-Men'' book to be a more mainstream/familiar take on the X-Men while Morrison reinvented the wheel. Casey's ''X-Men'' run was a complete flop and by the time he was giving fans normal ''X-Men'' stories, such as ''X-Men vs. Freedom Force'', [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] lost faith in him and forced him off the book to replace him with Chuck Austen.\\
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Casey went back to DC and continued with ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'', but never had much say in the main plot lines for that franchise. He ultimately pissed off DC Comics years later when he was invited back to do a sequel to ''Superman: Our Worlds At War'' as part of a retooling of ''Superman/Batman'' (where the book would tell "lost tales" set during big event story lines), but produced a storyline with ''no'' connection to the CrisisCrossover, completely fucked up the retool and resulted in him being fired from the book and his scripts for the second half of the storyline dumped and replaced with another writer's script.\\
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While Casey still has fans with [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] for his retro-''Avengers'' mini-series and his mini-series work on ''ComicBook/IronMan'', as well as for his creator owned/Wildstorm Comic work, he's largely considered a burnt-out druggy who could have been the next big thing had he not screwed up. On the other hand, he co-created the popular cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', which means that he can probably live on merchandise royalties alone for another two centuries.
* Creator/MarkMillar was a young writer who got work in American comics thanks to the patronage of Creator/GrantMorrison and Creator/WarrenEllis. Taking over ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' just as the book began receiving mainstream buzz, he became one of the top writers in the US and his censorship fights with DC Comics over his run made him a ''cause celebre'' amongst comic fans. But the fame quickly went to his head, and before you can say "SmallNameBigEgo", Millar became a complete and total douchebag, spewing self-promoting lies and showing complete and total contempt for anyone who didn't worship him as the next big thing. Further hurting was Millar taking a massive jump off the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism.\\
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Nowadays, he produces bloody works such as ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'', ''ComicBook/KickAss'', ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', and ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', that featured SociopathicHero characters and StrawmanPolitical arguments. Others see this more of a combination of heavy SatireParodyPastiche of [[{{Gorn}} corrupt elements within]] [[HorribleHollywood western popular culture]], and "[[MisaimedFandom Well, since this is the type of stuff that sells, and the Eagleland xenophobes just cream themselves from any]] "[[StealthParody Do you think that this A on my forehead stands for France?]]" I put in there, I might as well get rich on their expense, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold and use the money to help my brother's work for disabled children]]." Also, ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' featured massive CharacterDerailment, especially of ComicBook/IronMan. (Some consider the character ''forever'' ruined, but that probably is going too far -- by this point, fans are used to writers prioritizing their tug-o-wars over telling a story, and know that soon Iron Man will be in better hands; it's not Tony's "fault.")
** And on the "censorship" issue; Millar fell in the eyes of a lot of his fans when he shamelessly took Bill Jemas's side in firing Mark Waid from the ''Fantastic Four'', when Waid refused to make the Fantastic Four more of a sitcom-type book for Jemas.
** It got to the point that film versions of ''Film/{{Wanted}}'' and ''Film/KickAss'' (one co-written by him, the other produced and co-financed by him) had to be heavily rewritten to get rid of the unlikability and strawman views. While the ''Wanted'' adaptation got a mixed reception due to this, the ''Kick-Ass'' adaptation fared much better among critics and audiences. The later has led Millar to retool the property of ''Kick-Ass'' to make it more like the movie, complete with pushing Hit-Girl (the only remotely likable character from the first comic and the only character who wasn't changed for the movie) to the forefront of the sequel series.
** He also seems to have permanently burned bridges with his former mentor Grant Morrison, especially since Millar's work seems to wallow in the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age tropes]] that Morrison despises. In an interview with Morrison, when Millar was brought up, Morrison stated that if he ever met Mark Millar again, he hoped that he would be going 100 MPH in the opposite direction Millar would be going to.
* Creator/KenPenders was once (for what it's worth) considered one of the best writers on ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' series. In particular, his ''Knuckles the Echidna'' series is still regarded as potentially better than the Sonic comics produced during that time. When you mention him now, though, thoughts will inevitably drift to the... less than stellar works from the end of his time on the comic, especially the infamous "Titan Tails" fiasco. Even after he left the comic and Archie, he managed to make things worse by trying to sue for the rights to his original characters from the Knuckles series, even though everyone in the comic is owned by Sega. Praising any of his works, even his good ones, tends not to go well on many Sonic forums.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* Scott Adams, creator of ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', after a screed he posted against the "men's rights" movement in March 2011 went viral, in which he essentially said that he agreed with them on every point, but they should "man up" and stop complaining, because women get special treatment for the same reason as the mentally disabled. It didn't help him when he deleted it, or when he was exposed for defending himself with sock puppets, and it ''really'' didn't help when he posted an article a few months later saying that a number of "men behaving badly" stories in the news was due to society suppressing male nature - including the ''rape'' allegations against Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Julian Assange. He fairly clearly condemns rape, but the juxtaposition was enough for some, as well as his assertion that female urges were "encouraged."

[[folder:Film]]
* Creator/GeorgeLucas wasn't ''always'' the divisive figure he is today. When he started out his career, ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' earned him critical success and several Oscar nominations for making such a groundbreaking film. Then, of course came ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', which revitalized the science fiction genre and turned into a landmark film and [[Franchise/StarWars franchise]] that, to this day, remains very near and dear to the hearts of many, as well as Oscar nominations for him personally and the movie. Despite a few missteps in the '80s that briefly rendered him under this trope, he made his mark again with ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', another series of critical and fan darlings that still endure.\\
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However, much of his success during this period was the result of him getting a number of friends (including future critically-acclaimed filmmakers Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, Creator/BrianDePalma, and Creator/StevenSpielberg) to read them and offer advice concerning which ideas worked and which didn't. It's also been said that in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, especially ''Film/ANewHope'', bad lines were ad-libbed over by the actors (Creator/HarrisonFord is on record saying to Lucas while filming ''A New Hope'' that he "could type this shit... but you sure as hell can't say it"). As time went on, he stopped asking his friends for help (it didn't help that some of them became Fallen Creators themselves, while Spielberg was insanely busy in his own right), his works were [[ProtectionFromEditors rarely vetted by anyone other than himself]], and seemed to borrow more from his own previously rejected ideas.\\
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The results of having nobody to cover up his weaknesses were predictable. Starting in TheNineties, his prestige as a fandom idol began to take swift hits due to multiple different ''Star Wars'' {{recut}}s with some [[AdaptationalSelfDefense controversial changes]], the mixed-reception to the ''Star Wars'' prequels that swiftly [[BrokenBase divided]] a once relatively united fanbase, and his [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull long-delayed return]] to ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' receiving a lukewarm response at best (it was actually [[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull widely acclaimed by critics]], though [[CriticalDissonance the fan base is much more divided]]).\\
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Today, Lucas is just as likely to be reviled as he is to be praised. He still has no trouble finding an audience to see his movies (even the new ''Indy'' was a commercial success), but a sign of his decline is the usually negative reaction a ''Star Wars'' spin-off receives whenever his involvement is revealed and the likelihood that a review is going to start calling out the usual flaws in his work.
* Ivan Reitman used to be a well-respected Hollywood director that first broke out into fame by directing ''Film/{{Meatballs}}'' and is best known for being the man behind ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'', as well as several successful comedies like ''Film/{{Stripes}}'', ''{{Film/Twins|1988}},'' ''Film/KindergartenCop'', and ''{{Film/Dave}}''. However, after many huge flops following the release of ''Dave'', his cred dropped considerably, to the point where even the critics began to openly dread his screen credit. ''Film/MySuperExGirlfriend'', for instance, had a critic in ''Newsday'' asking "... why was it made? ... And, most important, why is there 10 bucks missing from my pocket?" He did claw some respectability back in 2011 with ''Film/NoStringsAttached'', which got decent reviews and topped the box office in its first weekend. At least his legacy lives on with his son Jason, who may possibly have a stronger career than his father. Jason now holds four Oscar nominations for his work on ''Film/UpInTheAir'' and ''Film/{{Juno}}''.
* Between the three of them, the trio of "Zucker Abrahams Zucker" (affectionately nicknamed "ZAZ") did ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'', ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', ''Series/PoliceSquad'', and ''Film/TheNakedGun''. They started splitting up after the first ''[[Film/TheNakedGun Naked Gun]]'' film and separately, all three of them have declined into this trope. Jerry Zucker's last film was the critically panned and mostly forgotten ''Film/RatRace'', after which he appears to have retired entirely, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker are stuck with ''Film/ScaryMovie4'', and David Zucker had the high-profile flop ''Film/AnAmericanCarol'' (an {{Anvilicious}} parody whose protagonist was a StrawmanPolitical Creator/MichaelMoore {{expy}}). That last one notably tried to play up his earlier success from ''Airplane!'', which caused the few critics that actually saw it (it [[NotScreenedForCritics wasn't screened for critics]]) to remark on how terrible it was in comparison to his earlier movies and how unfunny he has been since.
* Creator/KevinCostner fell victim to this. His Academy Award for ''Film/DancesWithWolves'' earned him immense critical acclaim for his directing and acting, and ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', ''Film/TheUntouchables,'' and ''Film/TheBodyguard'' were big hits if not critical faves. However, a series of flops (or at least expensive underperformers), most famously ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' and ''Film/ThePostman'', led to him not even receiving promotional billing on his films out of fear that just mentioning his involvement could doom a project. He has since recovered somewhat by focusing on more careful, lower-key projects such as ''Film/TheGuardian2006'' and the superb ''Film/MrBrooks''.
* Creator/MNightShyamalan may be the fastest example of this happening in the history of film. After his exceedingly awesome debut, ''Film/TheSixthSense'', his movies continued to rely on a thin pattern of [[MandatoryTwistEnding obligatory but telegraphed twist endings]] and characters awkwardly bonding in forced situations. This might have not even done him in if not for his huge ego that constantly riled at his critics, and increasingly more important SelfInsert[=/=]MarySue parts for himself in each of his films. Once regarded as "the next Creator/AlfredHitchcock", he's become a joke about twist endings and ''The Sixth Sense'' is generally regarded as a lucky fluke. While his works did not decline in quality immediately, as he later directed ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', which had good critical reviews, and ''Film/{{Signs}}'', which had lukewarm critical reviews but good box office numbers, he suffered one flop after another, leading to the self-indulgent mess of ''Film/LadyInTheWater'' and the widely loathed [[TheFilmOfTheSeries Film of the Series]] ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. Shyamalan showed good promise years later with ''Film/TheVisit'' and ''Film/{{Split}}'', but his 2019 film, ''Film/{{Glass}}'', was released to poor reception.
* Creator/JohnLandis, the director of ''Film/AnimalHouse'', ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'', ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'', ''Film/TradingPlaces'' and the video for Music/MichaelJackson's "Thriller", suffered one of the grislier disgraces on this list. While he was filming a segment for the ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie'' anthology movie, a special effect went wrong, and a crashing helicopter [[FatalMethodActing killed actor Vic Morrow and two illegally employed child actors]]. Landis shook off criminal charges in a highly publicized court case, but the accident was a serious blow to Landis's career.\\
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In spite of this, he still made fairly successful movies for most of the '80s, and had a major hit with ''Film/ComingToAmerica''. What really derailed his career totally was the over-budget, out of control production of ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopIII'', and the subsequent flop of ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'' confirmed the kill. He then retreated to documentaries, a field in which he hasn't declined yet (he won an Emmy in 2008 for ''Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project''), and is only now getting back into making feature films.\\
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What really makes the ''Twilight Zone'' part bad, though, is that it was entirely his fault. He ignored the advice of stunt men and actors alike, demanding the helicopter get closer in each shot so it'd look better. Morrow, in contrast, earned a DyingMomentofAwesome by pushing some of the child actors out of harm's way at the cost of his own life.
* Another writer-director who took a fall was Creator/BlakeEdwards. He established himself in the late 1950s/early '60s with ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses'', ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' series, etc. He hit rough waters later (the biggest flop of his being ''Film/DarlingLili''), but the Pink Panther series revival in 1975 brought him back around, and his non-Panther films (especially ''[[Film/Ten1979 10]]'' and ''Film/VictorVictoria'') were well-received too. He even managed to write and direct a [[RomanAClef thinly fictionalized]] TakeThat to Hollywood (''Film/{{SOB}}'') for his earlier treatment during this period. Then Creator/PeterSellers, who played Inspector Clouseau in the Panthers, died -- and Edwards made ''Trail of...'' using [[ClipShow outtakes and flashbacks of Sellers]], and ''Curse of...'' using a ReplacementScrappy. Critics were appalled, Edwards and United Artists were sued by Sellers' widow over ''Trail'', and both were box-office underachievers. Edwards made a lot of movies over the next ten years, but to diminishing returns, to the point that ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' once made a joke where a "brainwashing" machine says "Creator/BlakeEdwards makes a really good film..." He did receive an Honorary Oscar in 2004, though.

* Rob Reiner was a force to be reckoned with as a director in the 1980s-'90s: ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'', ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', ''Film/StandByMe'', ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'', ''Film/{{Misery}}'', ''Film/AFewGoodMen''... and then he made ''Film/{{North}}'' in 1994, and its box-office and especially critical failure saw his reputation crater, with only 1995's ''Film/TheAmericanPresident'' and 2007's ''Film/TheBucketList'' being a comparable success since.
* The "UsefulNotes/NewHollywood" era is littered with the corpses of great directors. First, a quick history lesson: New Hollywood was an era that started in the mid-1960s with the release of edgy films (''Film/BonnieAndClyde'', ''Film/TheGraduate'') made by young film school directors who shook up the Hollywood studio system (and [[UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem killed off what was left of it]] in the process) and earned massive amounts of money and critical acclaim. As TheSixties and TheSeventies went on, directors were [[ProtectionFromEditors given carte blanche]] for their projects and/or struck out into independent production companies to gain more creative control. Eventually, though, success got to these directors' heads, their films started going from masterpieces to self-indulgent messes, and they fell hard and fast from their lofty perches. Among the most notorious examples:
** Creator/FrancisFordCoppola. He brought the world ''Film/TheGodfather'' saga and ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' in the 1970s. Then the disaster ''One from the Heart'' came along, and since then his filmography has largely been a big string of commercial and/or critical disappointments (one of the few bright spots is ''Film/BramStokersDracula''). He has admitted that he did ''Jack'' and several other of his later films simply to avoid bankruptcy. His daughter Creator/{{Sofia|Coppola}} has taken a cue from him however and become a director, making films such as ''Literature/TheVirginSuicides'', ''Film/LostInTranslation'' and ''Film/MarieAntoinette2006''.
** Creator/MichaelCimino went from ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', the Best Picture Oscar winner of 1978, to ''Film/HeavensGate'' just two years later. Its failure was so catastrophic that, as noted at GenreTurningPoint, it ruined United Artists as a stand-alone studio and turned Hollywood off the Western for a decade or more. A while later, Paramount signed Cimino to direct ''Film/{{Footloose}}'', but when filming was to have started he demanded more time and money from the producers, who fired him. He only made a handful of further films before his death in 2016.
** The career of Creator/WilliamFriedkin, director of ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' and ''Film/TheExorcist'', never really recovered after ''Film/{{Sorcerer}}'', in spite of its positive reception from critics, flopped at the box office on release in 1977. (It didn't help that it was completely overshadowed by [[Film/ANewHope a little film which came out right around the same time...]]). Add his reputation as a BadBoss PrimaDonnaDirector...
** Creator/HalAshby, after creating classics such as ''Film/HaroldAndMaude'', ''Film/ComingHome'', ''Film/{{Shampoo}}'', and ''Film/BeingThere'', made a string of critical and commercial failures in the '80s, ruining his reputation, until he couldn't find work anymore. He was dogged by rumors that he'd become an unreliably eccentric drug casualty, but a biography (''Being Hal Ashby'' by Nick Dawson) suggests that this was mostly malicious gossip spread in retaliation for his fighting back against ExecutiveMeddling. Ashby smoked epic amounts of weed and loved his booze, but it was his workaholic and perfectionist tendencies and unwillingness to compromise that really hurt his reputation in Hollywood. He died from cancer in 1988 just as he was starting to make a comeback.
** Creator/RobertAltman began the 1970s with the success of ''Film/{{Mash}}'' in 1970 and ''Film/{{Nashville}}'' in 1975, two films which epitomised New Hollywood, and had influence far beyond their box office take. He then spent the rest of his directorial career falling and rising and falling again in twenty-year cycles. His work in the rest of the 1970s left the box office cold, and eventually turned off the critics; several of his films from the late 1970s and early 1980s remain unavailable on DVD. He began the '80s with a disastrous musical version of ''Film/{{Popeye}}'' starring Creator/RobinWilliams, and was forced to work in television for a while, until ''Film/ThePlayer'' and ''Short Cuts'' in 1992 and 1993 rehabilitated him; he threw it away with 1994's ''Pret-a-Porter'', but seemed to be coming back into fashion when he died in 2006.
** Creator/PeterBogdanovich was compared to Creator/OrsonWelles with ''Film/TheLastPictureShow'', and succeeded it with the successful comedy ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'' and the equally acclaimed ''Film/PaperMoon''. It all went downhill from there, with the negative reception of ''Film/DaisyMiller'' and ''Film/{{Nickelodeon}}'' being the decisive points (1985's ''Film/{{Mask|1985}}'' being his sole bright spot afterwards).
* Writer/director Creator/JohnHughes was the man who practically defined 1980s pop cinema. He hit it big right out of the gate with his teen-oriented smash-hits like ''Film/SixteenCandles'', ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'', and ''Film/PrettyInPink''. He hit a plateau with ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles'' and began a slow slide downward with mediocre but more dramatic films like ''Film/SomeKindOfWonderful''. He had his last major success with ''Film/HomeAlone'' and its sequel, before bombing with a string of lowbrow flops in the '90s, including ''Film/CurlySue'', ''Film/BabysDayOut'', the SoOkayItsAverage ''Home Alone 3'', and a major holiday flop with his ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' remake; his biggest hits were the live-action ''Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' and ''Film/{{Flubber}}'', the remake of classic Disney film ''Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor''. ''Flubber'' was a critical disaster, but still financially successful. After 2001, he wrote scripts for the direct-to-video ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'' sequels and a couple minor hits (''Film/MaidInManhattan'' and ''Film/DrillbitTaylor'') under the pseudonym of "Edmond Dantes" until his death in 2009.
* Creator/KevinSmith is almost permanently in danger of heading this way since the mid-2000s in spite of his rather rabid fanbase. After a mostly succesful ten-year career making indie comedies, his attempts to make movies outside of Film/TheViewAskewniverse have usually been met with mixed-to-negative reactions. ''Film/JerseyGirl'' was loathed even by his die-hard fans (his statements that the film [[NotScreenedForCritics wasn't for critics]] didn't help either). Then ''Film/ClerksII'', another View Askew work, made the fans happy again for a while. And despite the again-lackluster box office returns, ''Film/ZackAndMiriMakeAPorno'' was critically well-received. However, ''Film/CopOut'', the first film which he directed but did not write, was critically panned and is only remembered for the documented HostilityOnTheSet with Creator/BruceWillis. ''Film/RedState'', a religious horror film outside of Smith's usual forte, was once again well-received, especially because of Michael Parks' performance as [[SinisterMinister Pastor Abin Cooper]]. His subsequent films, ''Film/{{Tusk}}'' and ''Film/YogaHosers'' have again been met with either disinterest or derision. He's also attracted some negative attention due to his poor handling of an incident with Southwest Airlines and a bizarre self-adulating stunt over the distribution rights to ''Red State''. His occasional comic book writing for both DC and Marvel has also generated criticism for his controversial handling of several different characters ([[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] editors have since admitted that they didn't rein in Smith like they would've for other writers) and ScheduleSlip.
* Stephen Herek established himself as a big name director during the 80's and early 90's. Among his big hits were ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'', ''Film/TheMightyDucks'', and ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993''. That all changed in 2005, however, when he directed ''Man Of The House''. Slammed by critics and audiences alike, Herek has since been stuck to directing DirectToVideo movies, such as the sequels to ''Into The Blue'' and ''The Cutting Edge''.
* Creator/WoodyAllen is a multi-talented actor, director, writer, and musician. (For example, he holds the record for most UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations for Best Screenplay -- fourteen.) First becoming famous as a stand-up comic in the 1960s, he went on to major film successes like ''Film/{{Sleeper}}'', ''Film/{{Bananas}}'', ''Film/AnnieHall'', ''Film/{{Manhattan}}'', and ''Film/HannahAndHerSisters'' (among others) in the '70s and '80s. His films began to decline in prestige and commercial success in the 1990s; in fact audiences favoring his "early, funny" films were already a problem for him in TheEighties. Unfortunately, he also had a massive scandal in his personal life that [[NeverLiveItDown overshadowed]] much of his earlier work -- an affair with his long-time lover Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi. Because he had known the girl since she was seven, it didn't matter very much that she was 22 at the time they married and that she was a legal adult when the relationship is believed to have begun, thus dogging him with jokes about pedophilia ever since. This ended his relationship with Farrow and also estranged him from one of their biological children in the aftermath. It didn't help that the real-life scandal caused audiences and critics to be more judgmental about his [[AuthorAppeal tendency]] to romantically pair his characters in films with ones played by very young actresses, although he's far from the only Hollywood offender there. Allen's films continued to decline, with several massive flops in the late '90s and 2000s, with minor bright spots in 2005's ''Film/MatchPoint'', 2008's ''Film/VickyCristinaBarcelona'' and 2011's ''Film/MidnightInParis''. While he is prolific, with at least one new film each year since 1982, his glory days appear to be well behind him. It doesn't help that Woody Allen came out and supported Creator/RomanPolanski after the famous director was arrested for drugging and raping a thirteen year-old girl.
* While Creator/RomanPolanski is still generally acknowledged as a gifted artist, when he raped a thirteen year old girl and fled the country, a lot of people were appalled. It was, however, an extremely complex situation which also involved allegations of judicial misconduct, and there are many people who are going to reserve judgment until he actually comes back to America and faces the courts, as well as some die-hard fans who don't care. Even before the incident a lot of critics felt that Polanski had betrayed the promise of his earlier films and had been riding on his reputation for a while. While ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'' was universally praised, Polanski only joined the project well into its development. His other early '70s movies (''Macbeth'', ''What?'', ''The Tenant'') were mostly commercial and critical flops.
* Fred Dekker directed two of the most well-known cult classics of the 1980s: ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' and ''Film/NightOfTheCreeps''. In 1991, he took on the job of writing the screenplay for and directing the much-maligned sequel ''Film/RoboCop3'', effectively [[FranchiseKiller killing]] the ''Franchise/RoboCop'' franchise in the U.S. for several years. Dekker stayed out of the limelight, and only stepped out of hiding more than a decade later to help produce the first season of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.
* Creator/LindsayLohan had a decent start to her film career with remakes of ''Film/{{The Parent Trap|1998}}'' and ''Film/FreakyFriday2003'', and seemed poised to transition well to young adult stardom with ''Film/MeanGirls'' and ''Film/APrairieHomeCompanion''. Immediately afterward, her reputation tanked hard thanks to drug addiction and numerous car crashes, plus a publicized letter during the making of ''Film/GeorgiaRule'' about her frequently showing up late to the set thanks to going out partying the night before. After seeming to hit rock bottom with the universally panned ''Film/IKnowWhoKilledMe'', Lohan went through rehab and publicly stated that she let success go to her head and she would try to maintain a better public image from now on. Then came her recurring role on ''Series/UglyBetty'', where she reportedly acted like such a diva on set that the storyline was heavily rewritten just to get rid of her, though there are conflicting reports that say she left the show due to CreativeDifferences over the way her character was handled. In 2012, she appeared on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', and though many watched the episode, critics gave mixed-to-negative reviews, noting that she didn't play a big role in the sketches. Her attempted comeback in the role of Creator/ElizabethTaylor in the Lifetime movie ''Film/LizAndDick'' that year was also poorly received.
* Creator/JoelSchumacher had some acclaimed films in TheEighties and TheNineties, such as ''Film/TheLostBoys'', ''Film/StElmosFire'', and ''Film/FallingDown''. Yet when he's the director chosen by Warner Bros to turn Franchise/{{Batman}} LighterAndSofter... while ''Film/BatmanForever'' made some money while dividing people, the dreadful ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' led him to picking lower budget films, most of which were failures (the critically acclaimed ''Tigerland'' and the critical and commercial hit ''Film/PhoneBooth'' being exceptions). The next big-budget film he directed, ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', met with popular approval, but critics denounced it as overproduced and badly directed. (The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, but not for Best Director or Best Picture.)
* Director Tod Browning had a string of successful silent-film collaborations with Creator/LonChaney, and helmed the seminal talkie vampire film ''Film/{{Dracula 1931}}'', but after the initial disaster of ''Film/{{Freaks}}'', it was all downhill. However, ''Freaks'' has become VindicatedByHistory and is now considered an underrated classic.
* Creator/TheWachowskis have been lurching dangerously towards this status over the last few years. After a modest start with ''Film/{{Bound|1996}}'' (which didn't do all that well at the box office but performed pretty nicely in the VHS market, no doubt due to the volume of lesbianism it featured) they hit it big with ''Film/TheMatrix'', which many acclaimed for "revolutionizing" the action genre. Since then, it's been a gradual downwards slope. ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' did pretty well at the box office, but there was a nagging feeling among viewers that it should have been a '''lot''' better, and later that year ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' was widely slammed as being [[MindScrew nigh-incomprehensible]] as well as being a poor conclusion to the series, and did only moderately well at the box office. ''Film/VForVendetta'' saw a brief return to form (although they didn't direct it), but since then it's been downhill all the way, as they helped to produce a butchered re-edit of ''Film/TheInvasion'', had a major money loser with ''Film/SpeedRacer'', and their following production, ''Film/NinjaAssassin'' sank without a trace at the box office.

* Former Creator/{{Disney}} [=CEO=] Michael Eisner is often remembered now as a talentless, soul-sucking hack that "destroyed" the company built by Walt and Roy O. Disney. [[MisBlamed Few remember]] that the company had nearly been destroyed by Ron Miller's inept leadership in the early '80s, and that Eisner was brought in by Roy E. Disney after the first "Save Disney" campaign in 1984. Eisner took Disney to the major market force that exists today -- returning it to higher-budget films, creating the Touchstone division for adult-oriented material, and pushing for the much-lauded Disney Renaissance that revived animated films after the false start of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron''. He believed in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' and brought new interest to the golden age of animation, while getting Disney into television animation (resulting in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', etc.). But when Disney's president Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash just before the release of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' in 1994, long-time studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg expected to be promoted to fill Wells's position. When Eisner refused and forced Katzenberg to resign, he left the studio to found Creator/{{Dreamworks}}, whose [[Creator/DreamworksAnimation animation arm]] became a major competitor to Disney's. The promotion of Eisner's friend Michael Ovitz to the position was a disaster that upset most of the shareholders. Disney's new films, shows, and theme parks began to tank one after another in the late '90s and early 2000s -- accused of becoming formulaic, obsessed with TheMerch, and in the case of the parks outright lazy and cheap, while the ''old'' animated films were hit hard by DirectToVideo {{Sequelitis}}. Eisner burned enough bridges that even ''Creator/{{Pixar}}'' was ready to end their long partnership. In the wake of this, Roy E. Disney resigned from the board of directors and started a second "Save Disney" campaign to get rid of Eisner, who resigned under extreme pressure in 2005. It wasn't all doom and gloom for ''both'' Disney and Eisner though -- Disney, under Bob Iger, rebuilt the bridges with Pixar, among other things, and while his reign as CEO did face several criticisms (most notably the start of Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes), the company as a whole became more financially successful than they had ever been, while Eisner's guest-hosting stint on ''Series/TheCharlieRoseShow'' not long after his ouster led to him getting a regular talk-show on CNBC; he continues to expand into Internet production and he bought the Topps baseball company. Eisner was also famous for being a control freak. Creator/JerryBruckheimer initially brought the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' franchise to Creator/{{ABC}}[=/=]Disney and Eisner rejected him. Eisner also reportedly hated ''Series/{{Lost}}'' and wanted it canceled despite its success. Reports from the inside even say that Eisner was hard set against both ''Series/{{Lost}}'' and ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', which were ''immense'' hits for Creator/{{ABC}} in 2004... while pushing his own project, which was basically "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne as a sitcom.
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* Creator/RolandJoffe received Best Director Oscar nominations for his first two movies, ''Film/TheKillingFields'' and ''Film/TheMission''. It's all been downhill from there, leading to him directing widely-panned [[{{Gorn}} torture porn]] film ''Captivity'' (with Elisha Cuthbert) in 2007.
* Creator/NicolasRoeg, director and cinematographer, was the guiding force behind sci-fi landmark ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth'', ''Walkabout''), and ''Don't Look Now'' (also on the list and voted the eighteenth best film ever made by ''The Times''). Yes indeed, TheSeventies were an amazing time for him. His films in the eighties were largely overlooked, and in TheNineties he was making movies like the straight-to-cable, soft-core erotic film ''Full Body Massage'' with Creator/MimiRogers and Bryan Brown.
* After ''Film/{{Signs}}'', Creator/MelGibson decided to take a break from acting and focus on directing, eventually making the controversial but successful ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' and ''Film/{{Apocalypto}}''. But then his personal life made him a very hated person, with allegations of anti-Semitism and racism, and arrests for DUI and domestic violence. In 2010, he attempted an acting comeback with ''Film/{{Edge of Darkness|2010}}'', which flopped. And then came the release of a series of recorded phone conversations with his ex-girlfriend, in which his lunatic behavior seems to have been cranked up a notch. It's probably safe to say he'll never fully recover from this; he got kicked out of a cameo in ''Film/TheHangoverPartII'' after Creator/ZachGalifianakis raised holy hell, and ''Film/TheBeaver'' flopped despite being one of the most acclaimed unproduced scripts from the last couple decades. To make it worse, despite a promising trailer, his next movie, the domestic debut of his next movie, ''Film/GetTheGringo'', was not theatrical, but on [=DirecTV=]'s video-on-demand.

* In the late '80s and early '90s, Creator/LucBesson was an internationally acclaimed filmmaker whose movies ''Film/TheBigBlue'', ''Series/LaFemmeNikita'', ''Film/TheProfessional'' and ''Film/TheFifthElement'' continue to be popular with audiences and critics alike. Then he started focusing more on producing and writing increasingly panned French action movies such as the ''Taxi'' franchise, as well as anglophone movies that, while enjoying a certain amount of success overseas, were either ignored or panned by French critics. In later times, in spite of his successes with the adaptations of his own ''Film/ArthurAndTheInvisibles'' trilogy, he is dismissed by most French critics as a once-talented sellout who writes and produces loud, dumb and cliché-ridden action movies.
* Creator/JohnMcTiernan was one of the biggest action directors of the late 1980s and early '90s with films such as ''Film/DieHard'', ''Film/{{Predator}}'', and ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''. It was pretty hit or miss after that with ''Film/MedicineMan'' and ''Film/LastActionHero'' both underperforming and getting mixed reviews. [=McTiernan=] made "good again" by returning to direct the third ''Die Hard'' film in 1995. Unfortunately, this was followed by the massive financial flop that was ''Film/{{The 13th Warrior}}''. The remake of ''Film/{{The Thomas Crown Affair|1999}}'' was [=McTiernan=]'s last "real" hit. What followed was extremely harshly received (not only financially, but critically) remake of ''Film/{{Rollerball}}''. [=McTiernan=]'s next film (and his final film to date), ''Film/{{Basic}}'', despite the presence of Creator/JohnTravolta and Creator/SamuelLJackson also received mostly negative reviews. After that, [=McTiernan=] was in the news more for his criminal conviction in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping scandal than for his movies.
* Creator/MollyRingwald achieved success high school/teen films in the 1980s with ''Film/SixteenCandles'', ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' and ''Film/PrettyInPink''. However, her relationship with writer/director Creator/JohnHughes ended on a sour note when she turned down Creator/LeaThompson's role in ''Film/SomeKindOfWonderful''. Also, by the end of the '80s and start of the 1990s, Ringwald turned down roles that would prove to be {{star making role}}s for Creator/MegRyan (''Film/WhenHarryMetSally''), Creator/JuliaRoberts (''Film/PrettyWoman''), and fellow Creator/{{Brat Pack}}er Creator/DemiMoore (''Film/{{Ghost|1990}}''). For a good share of the '90s, Ringwald spent time in France only resurfacing for the short-lived Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom ''Townies'' (co-starring a pre-''Series/DharmaAndGreg'' Jenna Elfman and pre-''Series/GilmoreGirls'' Lauren Graham). Ringwald however, would poke fun at her iconic high school movie status with a cameo in the 2001 film ''Film/NotAnotherTeenMovie''. Ringwald is perhaps most known these days for her role on the considerably {{Anvilicious}} {{Narm}}fest on Creator/ABCFamily called ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager''.
* Creator/RobertZemeckis fell victim to this in early 2011 with the spectacular failure of ''WesternAnimation/MarsNeedsMoms''. It's too early to tell if it may grind the performance capture movies Zemeckis was a champion of to [[GenreKiller a temporary halt]] (October's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Adventures of Tintin|2011}}'' was a big success critically and commercially), but in the meantime, it has led to [[CreatorKiller the closure of his studio]]. At least, this may prompt him to return to "traditional" movies...
* Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Creator/BurtReynolds was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. However, by the start of the 1990s, he seemed to be more in the news for his personal life (such as his messy divorce from Loni Anderson and having to file for bankruptcy) than for his acting. Around this period, Reynolds transitioned himself into being a television star with the ''B.L. Stryker'' TV movies for Creator/{{ABC}} and the sitcom ''Evening Shade'' for Creator/{{CBS}}. Reynolds would resurface in the critically bashed buddy movie ''Cop & a Half''. It wasn't until Reynolds' Oscar nominated turn in ''Film/BoogieNights'' that Reynolds regained some respectability, but even that didn't last too long, and the remaining films he made before his death in 2018 mostly sank without trace.
* Japanese directors Hideo Nakata and Takashi Shimizu were internationally acclaimed for their forays in the J-horror genre (''Ringu'' for Nakata, ''Ju-on'' for Shimizu). Their acclaim was so good that they came to the United States to remake their own films. Nakata's ''Film/TheRing Two'' made money but was critically panned (mostly for retreading the remake of the first film's events) and Nakata has struggled to gain back his momentum (an attempt at a comeback with ''Chatroom'' was a critical and commercial disaster). Shimizu's first American film ''Film/TheGrudge'' was a hit but its sequel was badly received and became a CreatorKiller for him and its star, Amber Tamblyn. Nearly all of his post-''The Grudge 2'' projects have been complete disasters.
* Vincent Gallo. After making a career as a supporting actor in films like ''Film/TheFuneral'', he made his acclaimed directorial debut ''Film/{{Buffalo 66}}''. Then he made his infamous follow up ''Film/TheBrownBunny'', which led him to an unsuccessful war of words with critic Creator/RogerEbert, who had previously supported his career. Since then, he has mostly been in tabloids for his extremely bizarre behaviour (e.g. trying to put a hex on Ebert), his truly venomous personality (e.g. criticizing Creator/ChristinaRicci for her weight, unprovoked four years after working with her), his own claims of genius, and his vitriolic verbal tirades (e.g. calling Creator/FrancisFordCoppola "a fat pig", Creator/SofiaCoppola "a parasite" and Creator/MartinScorsese "an egomaniac has been, who hasn't made a good film in twenty-five years"). While he still has a sizeable fanbase, even his most ardent supporters have come to accept that he is an unfortunate case of talent undone by ego. Nowadays, he is more likely to be known for inspiring the character of pretentious jerkass Billy Walsh in ''Film/{{Entourage}}''.
* Creator/JohnSingleton started his career out with a bang with ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'', which was a box office hit and got him UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director (he was the youngest to be nominated for the latter). After a number of acclaimed films in the 1990s, the changing box office climate in the 2000s made Singleton a dinosaur and forced him into making for-hire projects such as ''2 Fast 2 Furious''. One of the big reasons for his downfall was that Paramount [[http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/19/john-singleton-sues-hustle-and-flow-paramount-studios-lawsuit/?adid=recentlyupdatedstories apparently screwed him over]] after he made a deal with them for ''Film/HustleAndFlow'', basically they promised him two independent films, but they made it all but impossible for those films to get made. The bottom fell out in 2007 when he was in a car accident that caused him to accidentally kill a man (he was acquitted though), which led him to become a pariah in Hollywood. His first post-accident project was the critically mauled ''Film/{{Abduction}}'', and the other films he made before his death in 2019 similarly failed to re-capture the fame and glory of his early days.
* In film scoring, Music/HansZimmer protege Klaus Badelt was a rising star in film scoring with his work in action films such as ''Film/TheTimeMachine2002'' and ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'', with his high point being the score in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl''. Then a pair of high-profile flops (''Film/{{Catwoman2004}}'' and ''Film/{{Poseidon}}'') combined with the reveal that the majority of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' was really the work of Zimmer (Badelt simply taking credit) irreparably destroyed his career. He's still around but as a lower-tier composer in Zimmer's canon, scoring mostly little-seen indies and straight-to-DVD films.
* Creator/WarrenBeatty was once a renowned actor/director, but that all changed when he made ''Town And Country'' which was both a BoxOfficeBomb and a flop with critics, the behind-the-scenes drama of the film (Beatty insisting on doing re-shoots of almost every scene, causing the film's budget to swell from $40 million to $80 million, quite a large amount for a romantic comedy) didn't help him either. He didn't make another film for a decade and a half, and said film, ''Rules Don't Apply'', was similarly mostly ignored by critics and audiences. Ironically, at the start of the 1990s, Beatty had somewhat of a CareerResurrection with ''Film/DickTracy'' (the most commercially successful film of his career) after the previous biggest flop of his career in 1987's ''Film/{{Ishtar}}''.
* [[Creator/FattyArbuckle Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle]] was one of the top film comedian/director/producers in the beginning of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. After a scandal in 1921 where a woman died of kidney failure at a party Arbuckle held, and (unsubstantiated) rumors kindled by the press formed that Arbuckle raped the girl while she was unconscious, crushing her under his weight, his good-guy image fell hard. Arbuckle, even while acquitted in court, had to resort to working under pseudonyms as a movie director for the rest of his life. Neither he nor his career ever fully recovered from the rumors (tragically, he had reportedly just signed a film contract with Creator/WarnerBros that looked as though it might restore his reputation hours before his death in 1933), and the scandal was reportedly one of the catalysts of the passing of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode.
* Following her breakthrough role in ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'', Creator/MegRyan starred in a string of successful romantic comedies and dramas over the course of the 1990s (perhaps most notably, her three films with Creator/TomHanks, the latter two, ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'' and ''Film/YouveGotMail'' both grossed over $100 million at the domestic box office). However, Ryan's reported affair with her ''Proof of Life'' co-star Creator/RussellCrowe (while Ryan was still married to, albeit separated from, Dennis Quaid) did serious harm to Ryan's "good girl", "America's Sweetheart" image. Ryan gained further negative publicity while appearing on the UK talk show ''Parkinson'' while promoting the erotic thriller (and decidedly against type role) ''In the Cut''. Ryan gave a few one-word answers, and after she acknowledged that she wasn't comfortable with the interview Michael Parkinson asked her what she would do if she were in his position now. She replied that she would "just wrap it up". Parkinson later revealed to the press that he felt her behaviour to his earlier guests, ''What Not to Wear'' co-presenters Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, whom she turned her back on, was "unforgivable". Ryan also commented that Parkinson was a "nut" and said that she was "offended" by him as he was like a "disapproving father" in his tone. Ryan's ill-advised cosmetic procedures (which further diminished her GirlNextDoor appeal) also served as a major blow to her career. Following the 2004 boxing drama ''Against the Ropes'' (which flopped at the box office and was panned by critics for bearing too much of a resemblance to other boxing movies, such as the ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' series), Ryan didn't appear in another movie for three years. Ryan would resurface in the independent movie ''In the Land of Women'' and the direct-to-DVD movies ''The Deal'' and ''Mom's New Boyfriend''. Ryan's next major theatrically released film, 2008's ''The Women'', received significant negative response from critics and holds only a 13% rating on Website/RottenTomatoes. Ryan herself would also be nominated for a Worst Actress Razzie (alongside co-stars Annette Bening, Creator/EvaMendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Creator/DebraMessing).

* Martin Amis. After writing for a while, he struck it big with ''Money'', and continued his success with books such as ''London Fields'' and ''The Information''. Then came ''Yellow Dog'', which despite being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize was reviewed extremely harshly (''The Daily Telegraph'' even compared it to "your favourite uncle being caught in the playground masturbating"). He managed to recover some success with ''House of Meetings'' and ''The Pregnant Widow'', but those also received mixed reviews and average sales. Time will tell if he manages to get his momentum back.
* Transylvanian poet KAF (Kovacs Andras Ferenc) used to be a talented author, with some very good poems. He's still talented but for the past few years, his writing has been influenced by alcohol, and it shows.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' authors Creator/KarenTraviss and Creator/TroyDenning have been hit by this:
** Traviss' works started out with the hit ''Hard Contact'', which is considered one of the best Clone Wars novels written, and then delivered the well received ''Triple Zero''. But following these books, her bias towards Mandalorians and her demonizing of the Jedi left EU readers [[BrokenBase divided]]. Things only got worse with her contributions to ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'', where she managed to kill off two beloved fan favorites in disappointing fashion, and delegating the main plot to the sideline to make way for the [[SpotlightStealingSquad Mandalorians]]. Her abrasive attitude towards people who disagreed with her on ''Franchise/StarWars'' message boards gained her a sizable Hatedom. She has since left writing in the EU due to contractual reasons, but mentioning her is surefire Flamebait for some. Since then, she has moved on to the ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' and ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' universes. Her first book for the latter, ''Literature/HaloGlasslands'' was poorly received by the fandom for its {{demonization}} of Dr. Catherine Halsey. Traviss removed many of Halsey's positive traits, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone such as her guilt over the SPARTAN Program]], and had most of her companions now hate her and constantly talk about how evil she is. In addition, ''Glassland''[='=]s "[[DesignatedHero good]]" characters were actually just as amoral as Halsey, causing severe ProtagonistCenteredMorality as they lectured her and heaped humiliating punishments. Thus the sequel book, ''Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar'', attempted several {{Authors Saving Throw}}s to try to rectify the hypocrisy, and [[WriterRevolt 343 Industries itself]] turned ''Glassland'''s protagonist into a villain.
** Troy Denning made a big hit with the novel ''Star By Star'', a book which defined the Literature/NewJediOrder series. He followed up on this with the Literature/DarkNestTrilogy, on which opinions are all over the place. He has been accused of major CharacterDerailment in ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' and later ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi''. Fans are divided on whether his DarkerAndEdgier approach to ''Star Wars'' is the best for the ExpandedUniverse.
*** Karen Traviss wrote the second-last book of ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' and Troy Denning wrote the last book of ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce''. Karen had Jaina learning new fighting techniques and other things from the Mandalorians in the second-last book. Troy, according to reviewers, did not show Jaina really applying what she had learned from the Mandalorians to her fights with her brother Jacen in the last book. It can be inferred from this that Troy did not like Karen treating the Mandalorians as important over everything else, that he was willing to mess up the story just to give her the finger, and that he considered her a Fallen Creator like everyone else.
*** In addition to Troy Denning, the writings in both Christie Golden's and Aaron Allston's works in the ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'' series indicate that no love was lost between them and Karen after her departure.
* Creator/YukioMishima was one of the most prolific writer of post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Japan, and was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He also became his country's biggest embarrassment when he attempted to stage a coup with the Japan Self Defense Forces, then committed {{seppuku}} when this failed. Even though his writings and other creative works are still considered culturally significant, his death - and the faulty justification behind it[[note]]Wanting to restore power to the emperor, even though Japan had since moved on.[[/note]] - left an ugly mark on his otherwise influential legacy.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* During the hit days of ''Series/TheXFiles'', Creator/ChrisCarter was untouchable. Then, people started accusing him of just [[TheChrisCarterEffect making the show's 'mythology arc' up as he went along]]. Since ''The X-Files'' ended, he hasn't had much in the way of his former success; his last project, the ''X-Files'' movie ''Film/TheXFilesIWantToBelieve'', was widely criticized.
* Creator/BenElton was a leading figure of alternative comedy in the eighties and, among other things, co-wrote ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' and ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' (which he helped [[GrowingTheBeard grow its literal beard]]). Several less popular shows, novels, and West End productions plus a perceived shift in politics later, his name is more or less code for "talentless hack." For many critics and fans, ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'' was the turning point, as on the basis of ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' and ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' many people were expecting it to be a vicious black comedy about police [[BadCopIncompetentCop incompetence, corruption, brutality and racism]]. What they got was a more traditional sitcom in the vein of ''Series/DadsArmy''.
** Elton was at one point doing well as a novelist, ''Popcorn'' and ''Dead Famous'' in particular being both bestsellers and critically well-received; but he hit a low point in 2005 with ''The First Casualty'' which not only did not sell well and was panned in reviews, but also earned him a "Bad Sex Awards" nomination for the worst sex scene in fiction that year. None of his subsequent books have recovered his former success.
** In 2011 Elton wrote and presented a stand-up/sketch comedy variety show in Australia, ''Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth'', which was heavily promoted as something of a comeback and intended to be a flagship for the Creator/NineNetwork, the station it was airing on. Unfortunately for him, viewers and critics largely agreed that it was actually a contender for one of the worst shows of the year; it was widely pilloried as dated, unfunny and hackneyed, and hemorrhaged from 805,000 viewers to 233,000 over the first episode alone. It was eventually cancelled after three episodes, and it looks unlikely that Elton's going to be returning to the screen any time soon.
* Creator/VerityLambert was the producer who helped ''Series/DoctorWho'' get under way, in no small part due to her disregarding the initial instructions given to her by Creator/TheBBC. She enjoyed similar levels of success in her subsequent projects, and in the '70s and '80s was widely considered to be ''the'' top drama producer in the UK. Then, in the early 90s she produced the infamous soap opera flop ''Eldorado'' (you may recognise the name from an episode of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''), which knocked her reputation quite badly. She still amassed a decent list of credits (including ''Series/JonathanCreek'') between then and her death in 2007, but her reputation never really recovered to the phenomenal levels it had reached in the preceding decades.
* ''Series/CrossingJordan'' did well for writer Creator/TimKring, but he garnered tons of notice after he made ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. There were many ''Lost''-like shows then, but ''Heroes'' not only become a popular phenomenon on its own but actually became more popular than ''Lost'' was by that point. It even got a Emmy nomination for Best Drama Series, rare for a sci-fi show. His popularity didn't decline with season 2, because the well-known writers' strike made ''whatever'' plans they'd had impossible, and he apologized for the season's flaws and promised to do better. Then came the [[SeasonalRot universally-derided third season]], leading critics and fans alike to say that the only way the show could improve would be if Tim Kring left, turning him from "the next JJ Abrams!" to a complete laughing stock. With the show's cancellation, fans seem pretty convinced that it was actually Creator/BryanFuller who was responsible for the show's initial greatness, and that Tim Kring is a "nice idea, shame about the execution" kind of writer. Still, considering that Kring's early career was spent writing stuff like ''Film/TeenWolf 2'', he can probably be proud that he gained any sort of reputation to squander in the first place.
** Not helping was an interview where he throws blame around with reckless abandon as to why the ratings were drying up, not saving any of it for himself. He also said that his initial "apology" was taken out of context and he's never felt the need to actually apologize for any part of the series.
** And there was also the infamous "[[TakeThatAudience saps and dipshits]]" comment Kring made at a screenwriting con, when he claimed that DVR was ruining serialized shows like ''Heroes''. Given that these comments came at a time when the suckage of Season 3 was hitting fans full-force, nobody was inclined to read his comments very charitably.
--->"The engine that drove [serialized TV] was you had to be in front of the TV [when it aired]. Now you can watch it when you want, where you want, how you want to watch it, and almost all of those ways are superior to watching it on air. So [watching it] on air is related to the saps and the dipshits who can't figure out how to watch it in a superior way."
* Bruce Kalish went through this so fast among ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' fans it borders on MoodWhiplash. The first season he produced was ''[[Series/PowerRangersSPD SPD]]'', which was received well by fans (though it had quite a few holes that didn't escape notice, while not ruining the show for most). The next that he did was ''[[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force]]'' which... wasn't. After that, he produced ''[[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]'', which is one of the three considered the worst of the show's entire run, alongside [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo ''Turbo'']] and [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce ''Wild Force'']]. ''[[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]'' was a little better, but now most fans consider his entire four-year run of the show an AudienceAlienatingEra for the series, and blame him for its near-cancellation (though ScrewedByTheNetwork actually carries equal responsibility).

* Music/MichaelJackson was big in the 1970s, successfully building a solo career from his initial success with the Jackson 5/Jacksons, and then became huge with 1982's ''Thriller'', especially when the three music videos derived from it ("Beat It", "Thriller", "Billie Jean") [[TropeMaker refined and defined many tropes of the format]]. He was the biggest celebrity in the ''world'' for the remainder of the 1980s, and his next two solo albums were big hits as were most of his side projects; even his Pepsi commercials were events. He had a reputation for eccentricity, plastic surgery, and ego, but also for delivering great entertainment. Then in 1993, he was accused of child molestation and settled out of court. ''Nothing'' was the same for him after this, in part because he had cultivated an image as a friend to children -- he became "freakish" rather than "eccentric". The resultant CreatorBreakdown resulted in 1995's ''[=HIStory=]'', which let many critics and listeners down in the wake of its [[HypeBacklash massive hype]]. Jackson didn't release another album of all-original work (''Invincible'') until 2001, and he was so unhappy with its sales (which weren't ''bad'', but not close to his old numbers) that he accused his label of racially-motivated sabotage in its promotion. Things went FromBadToWorse with a second round of child molestation charges resulting in a trial over 2003-05; he was found not guilty. Nothing of artistic note followed until he announced a series of London farewell concerts over 2009-10. These might have returned him to glory, but he died of an overdose of medication in June 2009 before a single show was performed. The upshot was that [[DeadArtistsAreBetter suddenly there were "King of Pop" tributes everywhere]], with [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead nary a critical word spoken]]. From ''Website/TheOnion''[='=]s point of view, death was the only ''normal'' thing [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/timeline-life-of-a-star,16842/ to happen to a star]] whose abusive childhood paved the way for a deeply disturbed adulthood.
* As a teenage idol, Music/BritneySpears used to be known for her sexy schoolgirl look and sexier music that led her to international superstardom. As an adult, her musical success has been eclipsed by the [[CreatorBreakdown breakdown of her mental health and personal life]] (2004-08). Most notable were her surprise late-night Vegas marriage to a childhood friend, the subsequent annulment 56 hours later, her equally sudden marriage to one of her stage dancers, her ''even more'' sudden decision to divorce said second husband, several failed trips through rehab, shaving her head and attacking nearby paparazzi with her [[ParasolOfPain umbrella]], losing custody of her children over her behavior and her rumored drug abuse, an Creator/{{MTV}} Video Music Awards performance in which she appeared terrified, [[HollywoodPudgy supposedly out of shape]], and unable to perform, and eventually being legally declared a conservatee of the state and placed under the care of her father and her attorney. Yet despite all this, her albums can still sell well. She has since made a successful CareerResurrection. Top selling tours, number one singles, outrageous first day plays, critical acclaim. Just to name a few.

* Not many people like Axl Rose anymore after he split up Music/GunsNRoses, trying to replace them with hired musicians, and building up massive hype for ''Chinese Democracy'' - [[SoOkayItsAverage which proved to be unremarkable]] given the amount of time it spent in DevelopmentHell.
* Roger Waters of Music/PinkFloyd became this after ''Music/TheWall'', and especially during ''The Final Cut'', when he wrote all of the songs for that album, and [[TroubledProduction the recording sessions for the album were so fraught with tension]] that David Gilmour requested to have his name removed from the producer's credits. Waters would quit the band in 1985, calling it "a spent force", and tried to sue his former bandmates to prevent them from using the Pink Floyd name, but he lost, though he did retain exclusive rights to ''The Wall'', save for three songs that were co-written with Gilmour. Despite this image damage and solo albums that made a fraction of the impact of the Gilmour-led Floyd, in the 21st century Waters found success again, with Pink Floyd's reunion concert, solo tours inspired by ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' and ''Music/TheWall'', and the debut of ''Ça Ira'', an opera written by him (!).
* The Music/SpiceGirls were top of the pops after the success of their debut single "Wannabe" in 1996: critical success, shedloads of awards, two platinum-selling albums, a sell-out tour and [[Film/SpiceWorld a movie]] that was a hit at the box office, as well as advertising deals for everything from cameras to lollipops. Then in 1998 Geri Halliwell left the group citing "[[CreativeDifferences differences]]" with the other girls. This fuelled tabloid speculation and led to backlash against the surviving band members (encouraged by similar rumours the previous year when they had fired their manager.) Her departure threw a spanner in the works of their recording and tour plans, forcing them to take a hiatus. Two of the "girls" got pregnant and wanted time off, Victoria became better known for her relationship with David Beckham than as a performer and Melanie C, claimed by some of the more cynical to be the only talented member of the group, became desperate to work as a solo artist. Their next album was a flop and they faded into the distance, although an official split was never announced. In 2007-2008 they had a successful reunion tour, but their new music was again poorly received. Victoria and Mel B, in particular, have begun to get bad reactions for events in their personal lives.
* Music/{{Metallica}} pioneered the sound of HeavyMetal in America, selling out concerts without radio airplay and generally known for their rebel personas (who had special sections in their concerts for bootleggers to come and record the shows). Then they released ''Metallica'' (what we all call "the Black Album"). Not a bad album, but it made some of their old fans disappointed. Produced by Bob (Music/MotleyCrue) Rock, it lacked their traditional complex song structures and depth, and sounded like Metallica-lite. Then they went and dropped ''Load'' (no pun intended) on their fans in 1996, which sounded like some of the heavy grunge bands that had been popular for a couple of years by that point, only a bad version of grunge. Of course the guys in Metallica claimed that they weren't listening to any of that type of music and the album reflected their personal tastes. Not long after that, during the days of Napster, the rebels revealed their DigitalPiracyIsEvil crusade, finally alienating most of their original fans. They followed up ''Load'' with a little album called ''St. Anger'' in 2003, an album widely hated by the fanbase, and [[OldShame one that even the band doesn't care much for]]. But then came ''Death Magnetic'', widely considered a return to form - despite the UnpleasableFanbase not being fully satisfied, and a nasty case of the [[LoudnessWar squish]]. ''Death Magnetic'' was followed by ''Lulu'', a joint project with Music/LouReed consisting of off-the-wall 'avant-garde' rock and noise. If the idea sounds nutty to you, you're not alone. Critical opinion ranged from underwhelming to horrified, with Pitchfork Media giving a rare 1/10 rating, and the fans were far less kind. Lou Reed said in an interview he made the album for fun and not to appeal to anyone, while Lars Ulrich compared the change in style to the band's acoustic turns on the critically acclaimed ''Ride The Lightning'', suggesting that listeners would grow to like it.
* It's hard to believe now, but when The Knack debuted with ''Get The Knack'' in 1979, some people seriously called them "The New Beatles," partially because Capitol Records encouraged this idea with its ''Meet The Beatles''-like packaging of the group. The hype was somewhat justified, as the album was pretty good power-pop. But they followed ''Get The Knack'' up with ''...But The Little Girls Understand'', perhaps the worst second album in rock history. After one more flop album, the band broke up and is now known to most people only as [[OneHitWonder the band that did "My Sharona."]]
* Music/{{Sepultura}}, who once made brilliant albums like ''Beneath The Remains'', have gone a long way from that and developed a BrokenBase with their next material.
* Music/{{Anthrax}} enjoyed massive success in their early years, becoming one of the "Big Four" 1980s thrash metal bands alongside Music/{{Metallica}}, Music/{{Megadeth}}, and Music/{{Slayer}}. Their chunky, mosh-oriented riffs, quirky sense of humor, and two excellent vocalists in the form of Neil Turbin on their first album and the famous Joey Belladonna on their next three, have made their earlier material undisputed metal classics. But then grunge got big, Belladonna was [[TheBandMinusTheFace fired]] in favor of the [[SoOkayItsAverage terminally bland]] John Bush, and Anthrax quit making thrash in favor of tepid '90s wannabe grunge. Fans deserted them in droves. In 2005 Joey Belladonna rejoined the band, Anthrax went on a dynamite world tour, and the fire seemed to be lit again, but relations fell apart in 2007 and Belladonna left. Anthrax went back to their forgettable '90s selves. Belladonna later came back to Anthrax and the band have announced a new album. Time will tell if they can make a comeback on the same level as the excellent new albums from ''Music/{{Megadeth}}'' and ''Music/{{Overkill}}''.

* Common consensus is that the four members of Music/TheBeatles never managed to hit the same heights in their solo careers as that they did in a group. It's generally argued that Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney particularly benefited from the other's strengths offsetting their respective weaknesses. After several years of solo releases of mixed critical and commercial success Lennon eventually retreated from the limelight for five years while [=McCartney=]'s work -- although often commercially successful -- was generally dismissed by the critics. Of the other two, George Harrison had the most successful post-Beatles solo album (''All Things Must Pass'') -- unfortunately, that was his first solo album, and he never really recovered the critical and commercial success in his later albums. And to be generous to Ringo Starr, great things were never really expected of him compared to the other three, so while he had his successes he was never really in the same league.

* Billy Squier was one of the biggest HardRock stars of the early 1980s, selling himself on a "tough guy" persona. The video for "Rock Me Tonite," a SoBadItsGood video featuring Squier dancing in a pink tank top, completely destroyed this image and caused a major blow to his career. He would still have moderate success throughout the rest of the decade, but even he admits that the video killed any chances of being as big as, say, Queen.

* Coolio was one of the most successful rappers in the 1990s (especially in 1995), with hits like "Fantastic Voyage" and especially, "Gangsta's Paradise", which reached number one on the mainstream charts and earned Coolio a Grammy. Coolio even popped up on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} to provide the theme song to ''Series/KenanAndKel''. The start of Coolio's "fall" was his feud with Music/WeirdAlYankovic over Al's spoof song of "Gangsta's Paradise" called "Amish Paradise". However, what really did Coolio in was when his album ''My Soul'' fell just short of the top 50 on the Billboard charts (which caused his record label to drop him). It didn't help that Coolio didn't release another album for about another five years.
* Jermaine Dupri was one of the most notable record producers in the R&B world, helping launch the careers of Music/{{Usher}} and Music/JayZ while also producing many notable albums in the late 1990's and early 2000's and helping Music/MariahCarey have a CareerResurrection. However since 2008 he's been relatively silent with his status having dropped severely since his golden days, with the likely culprit being the TroubledProduction of fellow fallen creator Nelly's ''Brass Knuckles'' (in which all but one of his songs was thrown out before release). The one song also barely charted.
* Music/GaryGlitter. It goes without saying that if you want to maintain your career as a game-changer in the field of rock n' roll, then don't commit a severe sexual offence. From TheSeventies to [[TheNineties the early '90s]], Glitter had spent a combined three and a half years on the chart and was one of the most influential names in rock music. Then, a search of his computer by a PC World repairman turned up thousands of pictures of child pornography. Understandably, he was mauled by the media, saw his music used less commonly at sporting events [[note]]For example, his music was banned by the UsefulNotes/{{NHL}} at hockey games[[/note]] and his appearances cut out of films, and was rejected by the British public. This is prominently reflected in the events surrounding ''On,'' his last album, less than three years after his conviction. It generated controversy simply by existing--the British Phonographic Industry had to release a statement claiming that Glitter was allowed to make it. He had to sell it himself, as no distributors would issue it, or anything else of his. It sold 5,000 copies worldwide before going out of print.
* Rock & roll pioneer Music/ChuckBerry enjoyed one last top 40 hit with 1972's "My Ding-a-Ling". However, Berry didn't help himself by, shortly thereafter, stopping recording and strictly doing the oldies circuit (with a different backing band each night because he didn't want to hire anyone full time and figured everyone knew his songs). Ironically, Peter Tosh's cover of "Johnny B. Good" stormed the charts in 1983, two years prior to the smash success of ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. Unfortunately, Berry himself received negative publicity for being caught filming women using the toilets in his St. Louis eatery. At his death in 2017, he was still remembered mostly for his pivotal contributions to early rock & roll than for anything he had done in the preceding half-century.
* After dropping three consecutive Platinum albums from 1996-1998 and then two more that went Gold, Music/{{Master P}} dropped off the radar. An attempt to rebrand his No Limit record company didn't do much to bring Master P back to relevance. Master P's involvement with Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling and the rise of the more [[GlamRap polished]] Cash Money label put a damper on his sales.

* Wrestling/HulkHogan was once the single most dominant personality in the whole of ProfessionalWrestling, and one of the most financially successful. His AllAmericanFace role model status was permanently tarnished in TheNineties by a steroid scandal and his [[ImplausibleDeniability clumsy attempts at outright denial]]. His attempts to play Superman to the more traditional, heel-oriented WCW audience pegged him as a CreatorsPet until a well-timed FaceHeelTurn. His post-WCW appearances have typically led to one strong nostalgia-based TV or PPV number, and disappointing returns afterwards (and his non-Wrestling/{{WWE}} appearances didn't even have that one strong number). His attempts at branching out into acting went nowhere. Then the personal issues came: his son Nick was involved in a high-profile street racing accident, with a passenger in a vegetative state, Hogan himself was caught on tape claiming it was all a God-given punishment to the passenger, which the TMZ crowd did not like one bit; and a nasty divorce followed, with both sides airing their dirty laundry in public. Hogan's later attempts at a comeback with rival Wrestling/{{TNA}} didn't generate any significant interest, and an attempt at a revival of the Wrestling/MondayNightWars almost cost them their TV slot. The divorce and the legal settlement from the car wreck have left him with a negative net worth, and the damage done to his back by years of bumping, heavy weightlifting, and steroid abuse have more or less finished him as an active wrestler. His following attempts at staying relevant include {{ten minute retirement}}s, protein powder multi-level-marketing schemes, making an ass of himself on Twitter on a regular basis, and lending his name to a midget wrestling TV show.

* In 1998, Wrestling/VinceRusso was one of the best bookers and storyline writers in the Wrestling Industry. After co-masterminding the Attitude Era with Wrestling/VinceMcMahon and with input from several other writers, Russo was an important part of a creative team that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the Wrestling/MondayNightWars. Unfortunately, when his contract expired in 1999, Russo jumped ship to Wrestling/{{WCW}}, where he almost single-handedly killed the entire company. According to ''Literature/TheDeathOfWCW'', during the time Russo worked for the WWF he would bounce ideas off of [[ExecutiveMeddling [=McMahon=], who would decide whether or not to use them]]. In WCW, he was [[ProtectionFromEditors given free reign to do whatever he wanted]], which didn't work out. With Russo's ridiculous storylines used in a company that was famous for being very traditional when it came to wrestling, the massive mismanagement of money by Eric Bischoff, and older stars like Wrestling/HulkHogan, Wrestling/KevinNash, and Wrestling/ScottSteiner outright refusing to put over new talent, Russo's arrival, which was supposed to herald WCW's return to form, instead set about pounding in the final nail in WCW's coffin. Being part of the writing/booking team at Wrestling/{{TNA}} until October 2011, it appears that Russo has yet to learn his lesson.

* There was a time when Wrestling/ChrisBenoit was one of the most famous names in wrestling, thanks in part to his hard-hitting technical style of wrestling as well as his [[HeterosexualLifePartners close friendship]] with Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, among other factors. Alas, his life and fifteen-year wrestling career came to a DownerEnding in mid-2007 when [[PaterFamilicide Benoit killed his wife and seven-year-old son, then killed himself as well]]. Wrestling/{{WWE}}, the last promotion he worked for, came to see his name as being so poisonous that they have gone out of their way to [[UnPerson not mention his name or accomplishments under their banner]] unless they have no choice, and while he is not universally hated, [[OvershadowedByControversy the last day of his life has completely overshadowed everything else about his career among most fans]]. Today, Benoit is mostly remembered both as a reminder of the severe harm concussions can cause (he suffered several over the course of his career) and a cautionary tale about what can happen to performers who don't take care of themselves.
* The Wrestling/UltimateWarrior: The fact that Wrestling/{{WWE}} went as far as to produce a DVD (called ''The Self-Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior'') that totally buried one of their biggest stars of the late '80s-early '90s is enough evidence. Most of the things the DVD makes fun of are actually the things that made the Warrior stand out and become a star in the first place. Warrior's Fallen Creator status more than likely comes from his repeated entrances and exits over the years, his general batshit-craziness, and his homophobic comments in the following years.

* By the later half of the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions (the Charlotte, North Carolina based faction of the National Wrestling Alliance or NWA) was the number two biggest wresting promotion in America behind the WWF. In 1985, JCP landed the coveted Saturday evening spot on TBS (ironically, replacing the WWF). Unlike the more cartoonish, kid-friendly WWF product under Vince [=McMahon=], Jim Crockett Promotions was the more "PG-13" product that was more grounded in athleticism rather than one-sided squash matches from the former. Attempting to keep up with Vince [=McMahon=], Jim Crockett made several key mistakes. Crockett burned out his main booker, Dusty Rhodes, who kept the same talent on top for far too long, protecting them with non-decisive "Dusty Finishes" (in which the babyface is initially thought to have won the match only to have it reversed at the last minute), he flew himself and his superstars across the country in private jets, he booked Starrcade '87 (JCP's version of Wrestling/WrestleMania) and the 1988 Bunkhouse Stampede in areas which had no real history with his product (Chicago and Long Island, New York respectively, where they inevitably bombed at the gate), and he had the company make an expensive move to Dallas, Texas (feeling that the company would have been better represented in a Top Ten media market). The 1987 purchase of the Bill Watts-led UWF led to a very large cash outflow, as the UWF's television outlets were essentially paid programming. His attempts to expand his business into pay-per-view were troubled by the stale television product and counter-programming from the WWF (the first Survivor Series and the first Royal Rumble aired directly against Crockett shows; Crockett struck back with the first ever Clash of the Champions airing on TBS against [=WrestleMania=] IV, but the cable companies put a stop to it happening even further). By the start of 1988, the traditional Carolinas markets were weak, markets outside the Carolinas were effectively dead, and Crockett was taking out one and two million dollar loans every week in order to meet his expenses. Later in the year however, TBS founder, Ted Turner (who always had a fondness in his heart for wrestling, because it was really the first ''big'' TV show on his network dating back to the early '70s) purchased what would become World Championship Wrestling (which was the name of the Saturday night TBS program) for about $9 million. Crockett and Rhodes were very harshly judged by wrestlers and wrestling fans alike for a long time, although the more business-savvy ones are willing to point out that a small regional wrestling company wasn't going to survive the business changes in the early '90s either way.

* Creator/JulieTaymor became famous for her innovative work on ''Theatre/TheLionKing'' musical, winning two Tonys for her stage direction and costume design. From there, she started off what seemed like a strong film career with the critically acclaimed ''Film/{{Titus}}'' and ''Film/{{Frida}}'' (the latter earning six Oscar nods and winning two of them) while maintaining a strong presence in the theatre world with her 2006 production of the opera ''Theatre/{{Grendel}}''. Then ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse2007'' came out, to mixed reviews and weak box office, followed by her critically trashed ''Film/TheTempest2010''. Her theatre career likewise crashed and burned with ''Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark'', whose TroubledProduction status became {{memetic|Mutation}}.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Creator/BlizzardEntertainment was once hailed by the fandom as one of the premiere Western video game developers. Some of their accomplishments include two RealTimeStrategy juggernauts that truly left their marks in the world and media in general: ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'' series[[note]]The former's later story iterations revolutionized on how people viewed the formerly AlwaysChaoticEvil [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orc race]], while the latter ended up becoming [[SeriousBusiness a national sport]] for [[UsefulNotes/SouthKorea a country]] for its time[[/note]], and the dark Western RPG ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series. They also created the biggest and most profitable MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame title ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a game whose status as the most played game in the world was unmatched for decades. Their entry to the TradingCardGame and HeroShooter genres, ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft'' and ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', were greatly praised. Even with several setbacks, they always managed to get back up (such as the ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' launch or several poorly received ''[=WoW=]'' expansions). Unfortunately, by 2018, they started to show a lot of continuous cracks that eventually destroyed the image of the company once referred as 'can do no wrong':
** During Blizzcon 2018, completely ignoring that their player base are mostly Westerners with little interest in mobile, they decided to use that grand event to announce a mobile game based on ''Diablo'': ''Diablo Immortal'', teaming up with Creator/NetEase, while responding to player concerns with mockery such as "Do you not have phones?" This event was so negatively received that fans started fearing that Blizzard has been pandering so much to China (at that point under the rule of UsefulNotes/XiJinping and the CCP) instead of their loyal fans in the West.
** In 2019, during a ''Hearthstone'' tournament, pro-player Blitzchung, a Hong Kong native, made a political statement to support Hong Kong protesters against China's takeover. While it was a breach of the rules, [[DisproportionateRetribution Blizzard went out of its way to punish Blitzchung by banning him from tournaments, taking away his prizes and also banning his casters.]] Many players were disgusted at this and committed a mass deletion of their accounts (and Blizzard even at one point prevented them from being able to delete their accounts). Even Nintendo cancelled their promotion of the ''Overwatch'' port on the Nintendo Switch and offered refunds to those who bought its Switch port. One of its characters, Mei, was turned into an anti-CCP symbol by the fandom. While Blizzard hit the brakes for a bit by lessening Blitzchung's punishment, the damage has been done.
** In 2020, Blizzard launched a remaster of one of their classics, ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III Reforged'', only for the game to be an extreme ObviousBeta, not giving what was promised in the trailers that had been hyped up since the previous year, coming with a lot of controversial terms of service, screwing over original owners of the game (by forcefully replacing the older, more stable version with the buggy version), and when Blizzard was forced to issue a public apology, it was considered 'half-hearted' and not serious. The game went on to be one of the worst rated games ever in the history of the internet and was considered by the older fans as the proof of how disconnected the modern Blizzard was with the beloved classic Blizzard.
** 2021 has been considered the lowest point, as Blizzard got hit with a lawsuit which revealed that they have such an abusive workplace environment based on a FratBro culture that includes in a female worker being harassed repeatedly until she committed suicide because of it. Before they sorted it out, Blizzard got hit with ''another'' lawsuit that condemned them for making light of their workplace environment. [[NotHelpingYourCase It didn't help when they were found out to be shredding evidence.]] At that point, whatever attempts Blizzard made to restore their reputation became hollow, and disgruntled fans and content creators jumped ship from their games into their rival games (chiefly ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''). Even worse, many key figures in the company decided to resign (or were fired to avoid further controversies), resulting in delays on some of their planned magnum opus (''VideoGame/DiabloIV'' and ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} 2'') that they could have used as redeeming points. Their attempt at an AuthorsSavingThrow, ''VideoGame/DiabloII Resurrected'', ended up being OvershadowedByControversy, and many of their e-sports scene sponsors pulled their support from Blizzard to the point [[https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/11/04/why-is-everyone-talking-about-activision-blizzard/ it became one of the lowest revenue-making companies under Activision.]]
** In the end, the once mighty Western Video Game Developer was eventually seen as a husk of its former self with none of the beloved old guard remaining, only filled with greedy people only interested in money and showcasing the problems within the modern AAA game industry. Since 2018, not a single year passed by without a serious controversy involving Blizzard, making them appear to be addicted to controversies that they self-destructed. [[note]]An old statement in regard to how many MMORPG games hyped as ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''-killers usually ending up failing goes like this: "The only thing that could kill ''[=WoW=]'' is Blizzard itself". It proved prophetic.[[/note]] Disgruntled fans now chant one of the phrases Blizzard games used to cite during its climax to describe the fallen company: [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft "At long last, no King rules forever."]]
* One of the more tragic examples -- Creator/GunpeiYokoi was a creative genius at Creator/{{Nintendo}} that was making successes even before Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto became the public face of the company. On top of being the inventor of the D-pad that all gaming controllers use to this day, he created the ''VideoGame/GameAndWatch'' series that broke Nintendo into home video games, and later replicated this with the UsefulNotes/GameBoy. Serving as a producer, he also oversaw the creation of ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'', ''VideoGame/DrMario'', and ''VideoGame/PanelDePon''. Then he made the Virtual Boy. The high-profile disaster of a system was discontinued within a year, by which time he had become ''persona non grata'' at Nintendo. Creator/{{Nintendo}} was notoriously cruel to the poor guy, too. After the Virtual Boy debacle, they made him man the booth at a trade show, which in Japanese corporate culture is considered entry-level work, and thus a severe insult to someone of Yokoi's stature. He eventually resigned and began development on the Japan-only handheld system, the [=WonderSwan=], which did go on to be a reasonable challenger to the Game Boy's domination in Japan. But sadly he didn't live to see it as he died suddenly in a traffic accident in 1997. After his death, Nintendo paid tribute to him and still recognize him to this day as an important figure in the company's history... and are kind enough to his departed soul to just forget the Virtual Boy ever happened.

* American [=McGee=] began as a level designer of the first two ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' installments, and later gave us [[VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice his own grim take]] on a certain Creator/LewisCarroll classic and became an overnight superstar with even talks of movie deals for the property. Since then, he's never been anywhere near as popular, with his subsequent works being mostly ignored (''VideoGame/{{Scrapland}}'' got a [[SoOkayItsAverage lukewarm reception]] from players and critics, and ''VideoGame/BadDayLA'' was a pure trainwreck). ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesGrimm'' got a small amount of press and has done reasonably well on [=GameTap=], but still has yet to achieve the critical or commercial success that ''[[VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice Alice]]'' had, which might explain why he chose to create a sequel, ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'', which has received reviews ranging from fairly positive to lukewarm, although it can hardly be credited as a full return to form.
* Formed in 1982, Creator/LucasArts became a well-regarded and financially dominant PC gaming studio throughout the late '80s and early '90s for their ground-breaking adventure games. Well before they began to truly leverage the [[Franchise/StarWars obvious licenses they had]], they became best known for the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' and ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' franchises, several one-offs such as ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'', turning ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' from an indie comic hit to a household name, and even making ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' games that were [[VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis actually good]]. Sometime around the mid-'90s, however, there was a management shift as ''Star Wars'' games finally started coming out through their studio. Ron Gilbert, David Grossman, and Tim Schafer, along with many other key creative staff, drifted out of the company as they left to start their own projects or were let go. Several big games flopped, numerous other games were canceled, and slowly but surely, [=LucasArts=] converted into a ''Star Wars'' factory... which wouldn't have been a problem since some of these games were still memorable, but these eventually slid in quality and sales as well, with only out-sourced projects like ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' managing to sell. The 2000s were largely defined by a massive series of [=CEO=]s coming in and out of the company, mass layoffs, one attempt to completely convert the studio into nothing more than a ''Star Wars'' licensing house, more layoffs, occasional attempts to market their old properties with remakes and even an attempt to get ''Monkey Island'' going again by licensing it out to some of the original staff that had since gone on to form Creator/TellTaleGames. None of this really helped the company stay solvent and by 2013, with their last release being the terribly received and poorly-selling ''Kinect Star Wars'' and the massive failure of ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', all internal development was (again) shut down by new corporate owner Creator/{{Disney}}. While any of the [=IP=]s could resurface again, 2013 marked proper the end of its thirty-year history.
* Creator/{{Rare}} has gone through this situation twice:
** Back during the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum days, they were known as Ultimate Play The Game (initially Ashby Computer Graphics), and their earlier works were all acknowledged as massive landmarks in gaming -- ''Jetpac'', ''Atic Atac'', ''Sabre Wulf'' (possibly the biggest selling game on the Speccy) and the seminal ''Knight Lore'', which introduced isometric graphics to the machine. Then came Filmation II. ''Nightshade'' and ''Gunfright'' were both toss, and the name was sold to U.S. Gold. Unfortunately. ''Martianoids'' and ''Bubbler'' were Ultimate games in name only, and the company soon disappeared, until the team behind Ultimate rebranded themselves as Creator/{{Rare}}.
** As Rareware, it produced games for various consoles like ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'', various movie-licensed games (like ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' and ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'') and ''R.C. Pro-Am''. Starting with ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' and ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendo, Creator/{{Rare}} had become a successful Creator/{{Nintendo}} developer at its peak in the Nintendo 64 era, creating ''{{VideoGame/GoldenEye|1997}}'', ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' and its sequel ''Banjo-Tooie'', ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'', ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'', ''Donkey Kong 64'', and ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. Enter the UsefulNotes/{{GameCube}} era, and Creator/{{Rare}} created ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'', which is considered the [[OddballInTheSeries black sheep]] of the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' series, if not completely without merit (in their defense, ''Adventures'' was the result of Nintendo doing some ExecutiveMeddling on what was to be ''Dinosaur Planet'' at the time). In the middle of production of ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'', Creator/{{Microsoft|Studios}} acquired Creator/{{Rare}}, moving it from being a successful Creator/{{Nintendo}} developer into a poster child for Microsoft. As a Microsoft developer for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, Creator/{{Rare}} created ''Grabbed by the Ghoulies'', which is known as their biggest flop, and a remake of ''Conker''. It got a little better into the Xbox 360 era, with ''VideoGame/KameoElementsOfPower'' (a game they'd ''started'' working on before their fall) and ''VideoGame/VivaPinata'', and revived ''Banjo-Kazooie'' with ''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts'' (albeit with mixed results, and fairly low sales), but not to their former glory. In the following years, they rebranded themselves as a developer for Kinect games in the style of ''Wii Sports''. This wasn't well received either.

* Another victim of this is Creator/SiliconKnights, who was coincidentally another former Creator/{{Nintendo}} dev[[note]]Though technically, Nintendo still owns some stock in the company[[/note]]. The creators of the first ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' game, the acclaimed UsefulNotes/GameCube SurvivalHorror game ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness: Sanity's Requiem'' and well-done ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' remake ''The Twin Snakes'', their next game, ''VideoGame/TooHuman'', languished in DevelopmentHell. From jumping from [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation three]] [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube different]] [[UsefulNotes/Xbox360 consoles]] to an incredibly bloated budget ($60 million!) to a series of {{Frivolous Lawsuit}}s between Epic Games, the finished product received mediocre reviews and rather bad sales, [[StillbornFranchise which put a damper on that trilogy they planned.]] ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames fared no better with critics]], averaging around 50% on Metacritic [[note]]For the [=PS3=] and Xbox 360 versions, with the Wii and DS averaging around 30%[[/note]]. The reasons for the poor quality of the game have been disputed; [[http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/10/what-went-wrong-with-silicon-knights-x-men-destiny/ comments allegedly from former employees]] claim that the game was mismanaged by President Denis Dyack, who was taking the funding from Activsion and directing it towards work on a sequel to ''Eternal Darkness'' while prolonging Destiny's development for more money, while Dyack [[http://nichegamer.com/2015/05/denis-dyack-interview-part-1-yellow-journalism-and-what-really-happened-with-x-men-destiny/ refutes the allegations]] and lays the blame on [[ExecutiveMeddling a drastic decrease in funding]] due to Disney purchasing Marvel and resulting legal issues with Activision. The nail in Silicon Knights' coffin came when Epic Games won their countersuit and received a court order to recall and destroy ''Too Human'' and ''X-Men Destiny'' along with all games currently under development, ultimately leading to the studio's closure two years later.
* Creator/ShinyEntertainment went from - among other things - the first two ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' games, the ''MDK'' series, ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'' to [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames movie tie-ins]] of ''Film/TheMatrix'' and ''Film/TheGoldenCompass''. Their final fate was to be merged with The Collective (which did ''only'' licensed games up to that point) into Double Helix Games, whose ''VideoGame/SilentHillHomecoming'' and ''VideoGame/FrontMissionEvolved'' are generally considered decent but not great (they did spawn [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames a stinker]] in the form of ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' in bewteen these two though, so it's safe to say that they have yet to fully recover).

* Creator/SonicTeam used to be a worldwide icon and the only real challenge to [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'s domination of {{platform game}}s, with the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis entries still being considered all-timers.\\
However, Sonic Team's reputation became a lot more checkered with Sonic's transition to 3D. Common criticisms of the 3D ''Sonic'' games include [[CameraScrew a bad camera]], broken controls, and bizarre stories. While the two ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Sonic]]'' ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 Adventure]]'' games are well-liked in spite of their fundamental problems, each successive game was more derided than the last, with ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' considered simplistic and cheesy; ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' panned for a perceived corny take on a DarkerAndEdgier tone; and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' considered the rock bottom of Sonic Team's ''Sonic'' output. Another common criticism was that the gameplay became increasingly [[UnexpectedGameplayChange gimmicky and unfocused]]; ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' in particular was heavily criticized for the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar''-cloning Werehog levels.\\
Sonic Team's reputation ''has'' improved starting with the [=2010s=], with games like ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', and ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'' [[WinBackTheCrowd winning back a lot of disillusioned fans]] -- though the occasional underwhelming misfire like ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' or ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' means they have yet to recover their glory from TheNineties. However, some of the more acclaimed ''Sonic'' titles since the [=2010s=] were externally developed; with ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'' being developed by Sumo Digital, and ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' by a collective of {{promoted fanboy}}s. Even then, the series' BrokenBase remains fervent, and even the games generally regarded as good have their share of detractors.
* Creator/YujiNaka, Sonic Team's most famous figurehead, was well-regarded for his active involvement in the Genesis-era ''Sonic'' games, with his departure from Sega often having been considered the series' breaking point. However, in the early [=2020s=], Naka lost a ''lot'' of respect over several stories of prima donna behavior attributed to him, including [[https://www.polygon.com/2017/4/7/15222852/peter-moore-sega-yuji-naka angrily shouting]] at Sega of America then-executive Peter Moore over a focus group presentation; [[https://www.ign.com/articles/geist-force-dreamcast getting a Dreamcast exclusive cancelled]] by trying to poach its developers into Sonic Team; and openly insulting his co-workers on multiple occasions.\\
After spending a decade and a half with a low profile at his studio Prope, Naka tried a CareerResurrection with the Creator/SquareEnix-published ''VideoGame/BalanWonderworld''. Unfortunately, the game was critically mauled for its [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny outdated gameplay]], [[SpecialEffectFailure bizarre graphics]], and leaving most of the story in a [[AllThereInTheManual tie-in book]]. Naka was fired from Square Enix after ''Balan''[='s=] failure, and was subsequently arrested in November 2022 for insider trading regarding a then-upcoming ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' title, making it extremely unlikely he will ever regain the gaming public's respect.
* During UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames, Creator/{{Dimps}}’s games were further praised for making quality Sonic games when the main console games [[AudienceAlienatingEra were declining in quality]]. Then came ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4: Episode I''. Suddenly, they took all of the blame for the game not truly being in the spirit of the original Genesis games, saying that Sonic Team alone should have made the game (cheerfully ignoring that it was the current leader of Sonic Team, Takashi Iizuka, that said he wanted it to be different from the original Genesis games). Afterwards, they somehow went from producing completely original Sonic games to [[ReformulatedGame Reformulated]] versions of the Sonic Team's games, and now Dimps gets a lot of flack for producing some of the worst games in the entire franchise (most notoriously ''[[VideoGame/SonicGenerations Generations]]'' 3DS and ''[[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld Lost World]]'' 3DS), and even their earlier Sonic games like ''Sonic Advance'' and ''Sonic Rush'' now receive bile for being subpar.
* Brad [=McQuaid=], the original lead developer for ''VideoGame/{{Everquest}}'', got most of the credit for the initial success of ''VideoGame/{{Everquest}} 1''. When his company, Creator/VerantInteractive, was absorbed by Creator/{{Sony}}, [=McQuaid=] was dropped. At this point, he had the implicit loyalty of ''VideoGame/{{Everquest}}'' fans. He began ostentatiously working on ''VideoGame/VanguardSagaOfHeroes'', with people waiting anxiously. The end result? A game so high-end that most computers couldn't handle it, almost no high-end content, and all the flaws of the old-school ''[[VideoGame/{{Everquest}} EQ]]'' with few of the good points. His name is now reviled by the same people who once exalted him. And just for kicks? ''[[VideoGame/VanguardSagaOfHeroes Vanguard]]'' was also bought out by Creator/{{Sony}}.
* Creator/GeorgeBroussard was a pioneer of the {{shareware}} model of distribution with Creator/ScottMiller and their company Creator/{{Apogee}} (later Creator/ThreeDRealms); he saw his breakthrough in 1996 with ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', which was an incredible success. The he announced ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever''... and the rest is (sad) history. Given [[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/ how he managed the whole fiasco]], only the most ardent fans still believe in him. Thanks to the efforts of Creator/GearboxSoftware and Creator/RandyPitchford, [[http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30260/InDepth_Pitchford_On_How_Gearbox_Got_To_Own_Duke_Nukem_Franchise.php his dream lived on]], but, alas, it was not to be - ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' hovered in the mid-40 percent range on [=GameRankings=] for the Xbox 360 and, most unfortunately, PC versions. The game was derided as being several years too late, looking and playing dated. The script was described as overly crude and even hypocritical - an early scene in the game has Duke turning down a suit of ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''-style power armour with derision, except he is now only able to carry two weapons and has a regenerating health bar... exactly like ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''.
* Creator/BillRoper was praised as the genius behind ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' and ''Diablo 2''. He quit Creator/BlizzardEntertainment due to what many suspected was a conflict about the direction of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', taking most of the Diablo staff with him. He founded Creator/FlagshipStudios and went to work on ''VideoGame/HellgateLondon'', a game that was expected to be so successful that things like separate executables for single player and multiplayer (to prevent hacking), a comic, a series of statues with a price tag approaching four figures and a whole separate free game (''Mythos'') created ''[[TechDemoGame just to test the network infrastructure]]'' seemed appropriate. The actual game was rushed out the door after a very long development cycle and was a massive flop due to underdeveloped content and an insane amount of bugs. The company later went bankrupt. He then went to work with Creator/CrypticStudios, but the collaboration was amidst a period of serious difficulties for the developer and lasted less than two years. After a period of hiatus, it seems he's going to work with a branch of Disney Interactive that will deal with Creator/MarvelComics' properties.
* Creator/CoreDesign was a respected developer in the first half of the 1990s, especially on the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} (''VideoGame/BubbaNStix'', ''VideoGame/{{Banshee}}'', ''VideoGame/ChuckRock'', ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'', and more); they were also capable with the Sega CD (''VideoGame/{{Soulstar}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Thunderhawk}}''). In 1996, they hit big with ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' and also produced ''VideoGame/FightingForce'' and ''VideoGame/ProjectEden'' in the following years. However, ''Franchise/TombRaider'' had entered the new millennium already under {{Sequelitis}}, until the flop of ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAngelOfDarkness Angel of Darkness]]''. The series was handed over to Creator/CrystalDynamics, the studio sold over to Creator/{{Rebellion}} (but without its brand); it was finally closed in late 2009 after their last game, the abysmal ''VideoGame/RogueWarrior'', making such demise akin to a mercy killing.
* Video game writer Creator/MasatoKato had a hand in a number of beloved classics in the 90s, including the NES ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' trilogy (the series primarily responsible for popularizing {{cutscene}}s and story in action games), ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' (one of the most beloved and highly acclaimed {{RPG}}s of all time), portions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', and ''Chrono Trigger's'' controversial sequels, ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. General consensus is that his projects from the early 2000s onward (including [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI an MMORPG]] and several low-budget DS games) have been almost unilaterally underwhelming and forgettable.
* Creator/MythicEntertainment was once a force in the field of [=MMORPGs=] thanks to ''VideoGame/DarkAgeOfCamelot''; it was even given back its name by Creator/ElectronicArts (who had renamed it [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] Mythic upon purchase in 2006) prior to the release of their supposed next big thing and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''-killer, ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline''. Unfortunately, the good launch of the game couldn't cover its rushed release, and, worse still, new content often added new problems while old ones were never fixed properly; many argue if there ever was a precise direction in the project from the start. The number of players quickly dropped, Mythic's CEO resigned, and the company has been reduced to a division of Creator/{{Bioware}}, with much of WO's staff diverted to ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic The Old Republic]]''. In the end, WO came to an unceremonious end on December 18th, 2013 when Mythic's licence agreement with Creator/GamesWorkshop expired and was not renewed. Mythic has only developed two games since then: ''Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar'', an online free-to-play RPG that shut down barely a year after it launched, and ''Dungeon Keeper'', an app store game that is [[OvershadowedByControversy most remembered for controversies]] involving [[AllegedlyFreeGame an excessive reliance on in-app purchases]] and [[CantTakeCriticism EA filtering user reviews]].
* Creator/HironobuSakaguchi is universally known as the father of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series. As either director or producer of the first ten games in the series, he had a long string of successes behind them...then in 2001, he directed ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin''. The film bombed horribly and cost Creator/Squaresoft over a hundred million dollars, bankrupted "Square Pictures", and sent the parent company into chaos. A couple years later Sakaguchi stepped down as executive vice-president of Creator/{{Square}}, and eventually founded his own gaming company, Mistwalker. While many expected great things from Mistwalker - in particular, a ''Final Fantasy'' killer - the company's initial two offerings were a pair of UsefulNotes/Xbox360 games: ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'', a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' clone with moderate financial success and a tepid critical reaction, and ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'', a traditional turn-based adventure met with slightly weaker sales and the general response of being either a wonderful homage to [=JRPGs=] of the past or "ItsTheSameNowItSucks". Their third offering, ''ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat'' bombed in Japan and failed to find a distributor overseas. ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'' spawned a few portable sequels and was promoted with an anime, but the lack of a console sequel left even the fans that franchise had feeling burned. Mistwalker has continued to see projects cancelled or barely make an impact, let alone the impact that the ''Final Fantasy'' series continues to have, and Sakaguchi blogs a lot, but remained relatively out of the spotlight. After that, Mistwalker and Creator/{{Nintendo}} announced a joint project for the Wii, ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', which many in the press speculated was [[TakeThat a dig]] at Sakaguchi's ''other'' franchise, though Sakaguchi acted perplexed that there was any similarity. The game sold reasonably well for a Wii title in Japan and was announced for a PAL release in 2012 and as such became a centerpiece of the Operation Rainfall campaign to release it in North America.
* [[Creator/RichardGarrot Richard "Lord British" Garriot]], father of the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, fell into this after the last iterations of the series felt short for many of his fans. He then spent eight years developing ''VideoGame/TabulaRasa'' as his personal project, which, after released, lasted a little more than a year online before being shut down. It didn't help that, while the game was failing, he seemed more interested in spending a large chunk of his personal fortune for his space trip in Autumn 2008. Now he is dedicated to doing Poker games for Website/{{Facebook}}.
* Creator/ManfredTrenz was responsible for many beloved UsefulNotes/Commodore64 classics such as the ''VideoGame/{{Turrican}}'' series, ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' and ''VideoGame/{{Katakis}}'', but his success practically died with the system. ''VideoGame/RenderingRanger'', a fine SNES game he worked on, was inexplicably [[NoExportForYou published only in Japan]]. An attempt to revive ''VideoGame/{{Turrican}}'' in 3D failed. He formed his own studio, Creator/DenarisEntertainementSoftware, which then proceeded to make many [[SarcasmMode medium-changing masterpieces]] such as ''VideoGame/CrazyFrogRacers''.
* Creator/{{Atari}} was the top video game manufacturer in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, with the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}} cranking out hits of arcade ports and original games. Then came the disastrous [[VideoGame/ETTheExtraterrestrial E.T. video game]] and the [[PortingDisaster horrid port]] of ''VideoGame/PacMan'', leading up to UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. Atari was never able to recover fully after that--not with the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 5200}}'s wonky controller, the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 7800}} being drowned out by the NES, and the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx falling behind the Game Boy. It was finally the overhyped "64-bit" UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar and its even worse add-on, the Jaguar CD, that sent Atari to bankruptcy. A few years later, the Atari brand was bought by toy giant Hasbro, and currently the name is used by numerous companies and only for marketing: most notably, the current Atari in videogaming is in fact French company Infogrames.
* Creator/DavidCrane was one of the first game developers to become a household name, largely thanks to being the lead developer behind a number of well-loved UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}} games, most notably the smash hit ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}''. After he left Creator/{{Activision}} however, Crane's career suffered its own pitfall. He and other former Activision employees formed Absolute Entertainment but, with few exceptions (most notably ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob''), the company churned out a series of bad and/or licensed games, mostly based on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', along with ''David Crane's Amazing Tennis'' (which most critics agreed was only amazing in how bad it was); he also collaborated to the infamous ''VideoGame/NightTrap''. Absolute collapsed in 1995 and, while he has never left the game industry (he has made a rather successful career out of advergaming), Crane has been under the radar since then.
* This happened with ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' of all things. Creator/HenkRogers, the man originally responsible for exporting ''Tetris'' out from the former Soviet Union, decided sometime around late 2005 to standardize ''Tetris'' games in what originally seemed to be an attempt to avoid DamnYouMuscleMemory in future releases via ExecutiveMeddling. Unfortunately, the resulting revised Tetris Guideline was based entirely on ''Tetris Worlds'', a version that wasn't all that popular (or good) to begin with, and was so overly restrictive that it basically forced future games to be snowclones of ''Worlds''. In addition, The Tetris Company has a tendency to send out cease-and-desist letters for anything unlicensed even vaguely resembling Tetris, even for game elements which ''the US Supreme Court has ruled cannot be covered by copyright'' ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_v._Borland Lotus v. Borland]]), while the Tetris Guideline was a licensing requirement, which meant the only games which dared to defy the Tetris Guideline were {{Fan Remake}}s and frequently hit by C&D's. This quickly resulted in a PortingDisaster of ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster ACE'' because the staff had to rewrite a ton of stuff to match the behavior of ''Tetris Worlds'' (and replacing various staples of the ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster'' series in the process). The Tetris Company and Rogers have been declining on the PR front ever since. It doesn't help that Rogers loves to brag about how rich he's gotten from Tetris basically every time he makes a media appearance, accidentally furthering his own image as a CorruptCorporateExecutive.
* Creator/DataDesignInteractive has had a very, very, '''very''' bad reputation over the course of the years, with crap-tacular shovelware titles like ''VideoGame/NinjaBreadMan'', ''VideoGame/AnubisII'', and ''VideoGame/ActionGirlzRacing''. All of them use the same engine, are plagued with atrocious controls, and are very generic and uncreative. However, what most people don't realize is one of their older titles has a small cult following to it - ''[[Toys/RockRaiders Lego Rock Raiders]]''. It was a real-time strategy game that had you searching through many caverns to find things like ore, energy crystals, and lost rock raiders. Despite looking fairly rushed, the game did reasonably well and even has its own fan-forum. It's amazing to think it was made by the same people who brought us [[SarcasmMode masterpieces]] like the ones mentioned above.
* Creator/{{Sega}} is probably the shining example of the fall of a modern console maker. With the UsefulNotes/MegaDrive (the Genesis in the US), Sega experienced its golden age and proved to be a powerful competitor to Creator/{{Nintendo}}, and the system held up well even against the Super NES. However, the first signs of its fall started with the release of the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn. Due to numerous boneheaded marketing decisions, such as releasing the system four months earlier than scheduled and alienating third party developers and major retailers, the system flopped against the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 and UsefulNotes/PlayStation. Sega's true fall wouldn't come until the release of the Dreamcast, however. While the launch was hugely successful, sales dropped quickly and the release of the UsefulNotes/PS2 killed the Dreamcast (it was discontinued in early 2001, just 18 months after the American launch) and any hopes of anybody taking a Sega console seriously again. Since then Sega has not made a new console system and has been relegated as a third party game developer. It now produces games and franchises that were once Sega exclusives for its former competitors, Creator/{{Sony}} and Creator/{{Nintendo}}. Notably, the Dreamcast and Saturn are fondly remembered despite their failure and Sega has never been known to actively insult their fans like many of the creators here. Gamers are still glad they're around -- they just don't expect anything particularly groundbreaking from them anymore.
* Creator/TripHawkins was the founder and CEO of Creator/ElectronicArts, which would become a giant in the video game industry, and contributed heavily to some of their most successful early games such as ''VideoGame/{{MULE}}'' and the first edition of ''[[VideoGame/MaddenNFL John Madden Football]]''. In 1991, he left Creator/ElectronicArts to form The 3DO Company, which would create the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer console of the same name]]. After the console bombed due to its ridiculous pricing, the company went third party and had some early success with the ''VideoGame/ArmyMen'' series, ''VideoGame/BattleTanx'' and the acquisition of the lucrative ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' [=IP=]. However, 3DO's habit of releasing [[ObviousBeta buggy and unfinished products]] and churning out [[{{Sequelitis}} bad sequels and spin-offs]] at an insanely fast rate long with numerous other bad decisions led them to crash and burn spectacularly, ending with the company filling for bankruptcy in 2003. After that, he founded the CasualVideoGame developer Digital Chocolate and while it is doing decently well, it's still a far cry from [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]]'s dominance, and he owes the Federal Bank more than [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampbarrett/2011/03/25/video-gaming-pioneer-trip-hawkins-is-still-on-the-hook-for-big-taxes/ $20 million]] due to avoiding paying taxes after the fall of 3DO.
* Those of us from the mid-90s DOS gaming scene are likely familiar with ''VideoGame/{{Abuse}}'' as a brilliantly simple and fast platform shooter with a then-innovative control scheme (keyboard+mouse). After that, though, developer Creator/CrackDotCom sat down to produce the sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Golgotha}}'', which was intended to be an [[RealTimeStrategy RTS]] with the ability to jump into vehicles on the fly. Development costs spiraled, dot.com era spending ran rampant, deadlines were missed, and internal tension led to the project and the company collapsing in 1998, just two years after ''VideoGame/{{Abuse}}'' was released.
* Creator/{{THQ}} was once a fairly respectable second tier publisher, with ownership of respected developers like Volition and Relic that gave us hits like ''VideoGame/RedFaction'', ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'', ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'', and more. Creator/{{THQ}} also made a very healthy profit developing licensed children's games. However, in order to emulate publishing giants Creator/{{Activision}} and [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]], Creator/{{THQ}} began buying up huge numbers of licenses and game developers without giving a second thought to how profitable their investments would actually be. Also, several high profile flops like ''VideoGame/RedFactionArmageddon'', ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' (not to be confused with the aforementioned Homeworld), and the ill-advised HD version of the [=uDraw=] tablet device bit into the company's dwindling cash reserves. Creator/{{THQ}} filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 9, 2012, and sold off its remaining properties a month later.
* Creator/{{Konami}} used to be a beloved video game studio and publisher of some of the most respected video game series, including ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', ''VideoGame/MetalGear'', and ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' amongst their titles while also having a very strong arcade presence and inventing the ever famous KonamiCode. At the eighth console generation, everything just went down the drain on this company:
** Signs of problems had been detected in 2012, when they continued to dissuade and restrict the director of the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series, Koji Igarashi, from continuing to develop the {{Metroidvania}} games that had not been profitable since ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin''. In response to this, Igarashi departed from the company after [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia the next game]] and years later went on to create his own studio and make a SpiritualSuccessor of the {{Metroidvania}}-style games, which achieved great success.
** Around the same time, Konami also started making decisions that slowly alienated their fans. These included announcing the cancellation of the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' reboot that was meant to be directed by Creator/HideoKojima, as well as acquiring Hudson Soft (creator of the iconic ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' series) but doing nothing with their titles, letting them rot.
** 2015 exacerbated the issues further with their decision to seriously scale back AAA-Video Game development and focus on Pachinko and Mobile games, alienating gamers and even their own staff. After the release of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', which was mired with development conflicts, Konami fired the franchise's creator Creator/HideoKojima and barred him from receiving the awards that the game won.
** Then news spread that Konami had been absolutely making its video game division's life a complete hell by working with them, with the employers likening it to being sent to prison and made worse when another news spread that the current CEO of Konami admitted to never playing video games before taking the position. The fandom went into justified rage of learning this mistreatment to their video game division.
** As Konami went on, old beloved franchises like ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' were given pachislot titles, the former having very questionable features and marketing strategy (titled ''[='=]Castlevania Erotic Violence[='=]'' with tons of gratuitous fanservice shots) and the latter, after the debacle with Kojima and the video game division staves, went on to become the third most disliked video in all Youtube history.
** By 2016, people have forgotten Konami's influence in early gaming history and it is seen as nothing more than [[MoneyDearBoy a money-grubbing]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive greedy corporation]] that continued to insult video gamers by unapologetically making games that no gamers liked and considered by many to be as one of the worst video game companies ever, matching even Creator/ElectronicArts. [[VideoGame/MetalGearSurvive Any attempts by them to]] WinBackTheCrowd usually backfired. At best, it's a complete laughing stock to western gamers, and at worst, it generates bitter rage amongst all gamers.
* Creator/KeijiInafune got his start at Creator/{{Capcom}} in the 1980s, and quickly made a name for himself as the "father" of the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise.[[note]]Although he has said that his co-worker at the time, Akira Kitamura, deserves credit for actually designing Mega Man.[[/note]] He moved up the ladder to executive producer, and [[Franchise/ResidentEvil many]] [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry classic]] [[VideoGame/{{Onimusha}} franchises]] were created under his watch. By the time of the seventh generation of video games, Inafune grew sick of [[CapcomSequelStagnation Capcom's sequel policies]]; thanks to that, as EP he made sure that games like ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' and ''VideoGame/LostPlanet'' went so over budget that they couldn't be cancelled in favor of more sequels to existing titles. Another thing that got him in thin ice was his hostility towards Japanese game developers for not adapting to HD hardware and the tastes of western gamers; all this caused him to leave Capcom by 2010, triggering the cancellation of the highly-anticipated ''Mega Man Legends 3'' in 2011.\\
As soon as Inafune left Capcom, he founded a new studio called comcept, and raised a staggering 4 million USD in a Kickstarter campaign for his first new major product, ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'', a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Mega Man''. The game was first announced for a late 2014 release, then went through endless delays until it was released in June 2016. By the end of it all, ''Mighty No. 9'' was widely derided as an [[TheMockbuster ugly, uninspired knockoff]] rather than the SpiritualSuccessor it was meant to be.\\
\\
Not helping was Inafune's utter abuse of Kickstarter as a crowdfunding platform: not only did he announce a KS campaign for a CGI cartoon of the character, but also another one for English voice acting ''and'' yet another for the ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends''-esque ''VideoGame/RedAsh''--and that last one meant nothing anyway, as it was already being fully funded by the Chinese studio FUZE Entertainment. All this had the gaming public question if Inafune was genuine in his efforts or a greedy con man.\\
\\
Eventually it was discovered that not only did he personally order the shutdown of Capcom's beloved Creator/CloverStudios, but his harsh statements on Japanese devs not adapting to Western tastes caused development of the [[BrokenBase highly]] [[DarkerAndEdgier controversial]] ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry''. All of the above, along with the failure of ''Mighty No. 9'' and the mediocre reception of ''VideoGame/ReCore'' has given Inafune a reputation as Japan's counterpart to Creator/JohnRomero.

* ''[[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Channel Awesome/That Guy With The Glasses]]'' and to an extent, [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Doug Walker/Nostalgia Critic]]. During its debut and early years, they took the internet by storm, becoming universally beloved icons and pioneering internet review/criticism, with the Nostalgia Critic himself being the only figure that could match WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd in 'reviewing bad media'. In 2018, however, several disgruntled old associates revealed a lot of mismanagement by Channel Awesome CEO Mike Michaud (most infamously their hesitance to internally deal with reports of a now-deceased sexual predator on their staff, then accidentally revealing his identity against the victim's wishes when addressing the allegations in 2018) and [[AccompliceByInaction Doug not raising enough objections against it]] while getting preferential treatment over other contributors. This caught on the internet and it erupted into a wildfire, with hashtags like [=#ChangeTheChannel=] trending, condemning them and they transformed from major idols into major {{Broken Pedestal}}s, and a majority of old contributors leaving the channel to go their own separate paths (only a few like [[WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob Brad Jones]] stayed out of his loyalty as a personal friend with Doug). These days, surprisingly, Channel Awesome manage to still stand and gather many subscribers, but these mostly consist of newer fans; older fans and former associates rejected them, and they're no longer the internet personality juggernaut they used to be.
* Adam Rosner, creator of the Slender Man webseries WebVideo/TribeTwelve was a prolific and well-respected creator that was heavily involved in Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos, alongside the creators of WebVideo/MarbleHornets and WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID, even crossing over with the latter series a few times. Both fans and creators alike respected Rosner’s devotion to the series, on top of writing, producing, and editing it independently (mostly) for over 10 years, in spite of production slowing to a crawl in the later years due to him attending medical school in New York. His reputation completely changed overnight on September 7th, 2020, when several girls and young women (one of which was Heather Faller of WebVideo/DarkHarvest) gave credible evidence that Rosner had attempted to groom and/or rape them as young as 15 years old, on top of having incredibly disgusting sexual kinks, and an inability to feel empathy for anyone but himself. Since then, Rosner has done everything in his power to unperson himself from the internet, and his fellow Slenderverse creators have condemned him for his actions, to the point of being a PersonaNonGrata. With the addition of a recorded phone call Rosner was on with one of his abusers being made public, on top of a damning statement made by fellow online creator and former friend [[WebVideo/NightMind Nick Nocturne]] on the matter on January 9th, 2021, the chances of Rosner ever making a return to form are slim to none.

* Creator/EarlDuvall was one of two directors - the other being Creator/FrizFreleng - that helped get the Creator/WarnerBros cartoon studio back up and running after original directors Creator/HarmanAndIsing defected to MGM. He directed some pretty decent cartoons and was given the honor of directing the studio's first color cartoon. These days however, Freleng is widely regarded as one of the Godfathers of animation, while Duvall's name is just a footnote in animation history books, and the reason for this is that Duvall one day decided it'd be a great idea to get extremely drunk and demand that his pay packet be doubled. Needless to say, it wasn't - Duvall was instantly fired and never worked in the animation industry again.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* Scott Adams, creator of ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', after a screed he posted against the "men's rights" movement in March 2011 went viral, in which he essentially said that he agreed with them on every point, but they should "man up" and stop complaining, because women get special treatment for the same reason as the mentally disabled. It didn't help him when he deleted it, or when he was exposed for defending himself with sock puppets, and it ''really'' didn't help when he posted an article a few months later saying that a number of "men behaving badly" stories in the news was due to society suppressing male nature - including the ''rape'' allegations against Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Julian Assange. He fairly clearly condemns rape, but the juxtaposition was enough for some, as well as his assertion that female urges were "encouraged."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: WesternAnimation]]

* Creator/CoreDesign was a respected developer in the first half of the 1990s, especially on the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} (''VideoGame/BubbaNStix'', ''VideoGame/{{Banshee}}'', ''VideoGame/ChuckRock'', ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'', and more); they were also capable with the Sega CD (''VideoGame/Soulstar'', ''VideoGame/Thunderhawk''). In 1996, they hit big with ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' and also produced ''VideoGame/FightingForce'' and ''VideoGame/ProjectEden'' in the following years. However, ''Franchise/TombRaider'' had entered the new millennium already under {{Sequelitis}}, until the flop of ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAngelOfDarkness Angel of Darkness]]''. The series was handed over to Creator/CrystalDynamics, the studio sold over to Creator/{{Rebellion}} (but without its brand); it was finally closed in late 2009 after their last game, the abysmal ''VideoGame/RogueWarrior'', making such demise akin to a mercy killing.
* Video game writer Creator/MasatoKato had a hand in a number of beloved classics in the 90s, including the NES ''Videogame/NinjaGaiden'' trilogy (the series primarily responsible for popularizing {{cutscene}}s and story in action games), ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' (one of the most beloved and highly acclaimed {{RPG}}s of all time), portions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', and ''Chrono Trigger's'' controversial sequels, ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. General consensus is that his projects from the early 2000s onward (including [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI an MMORPG]] and several low-budget DS games) have been almost unilaterally underwhelming and forgettable.

* Creator/DataDesignInteractive has had a very, very, '''very''' bad reputation over the course of the years, with crap-tacular shovelware titles like ''Videogame/NinjaBreadMan'', ''Videogame/AnubisII'', and ''Videogame/ActionGirlzRacing''. All of them use the same engine, are plagued with atrocious controls, and are very generic and uncreative. However, what most people don't realize is one of their older titles has a small cult following to it - ''[[Toys/RockRaiders Lego Rock Raiders]]''. It was a real-time strategy game that had you searching through many caverns to find things like ore, energy crystals, and lost rock raiders. Despite looking fairly rushed, the game did reasonably well and even has its own fan-forum. It's amazing to think it was made by the same people who brought us [[SarcasmMode masterpieces]] like the ones mentioned above.

* Another writer-director who took a fall was Creator/BlakeEdwards. He established himself in the late 1950s/early '60s with ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses'', ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' series, etc. He hit rough waters later (the biggest flop of his being ''Film/DarlingLili''), but the Pink Panther series revival in 1975 brought him back around, and his non-Panther films (especially ''Film/{{Ten1979}}'' and ''Film/VictorVictoria'') were well-received too. He even managed to write and direct a [[RomanAClef thinly fictionalized]] TakeThat to Hollywood (''Film/{{SOB}}'') for his earlier treatment during this period. Then Creator/PeterSellers, who played Inspector Clouseau in the Panthers, died -- and Edwards made ''Trail of...'' using [[ClipShow outtakes and flashbacks of Sellers]], and ''Curse of...'' using a ReplacementScrappy. Critics were appalled, Edwards and United Artists were sued by Sellers' widow over ''Trail'', and both were box-office underachievers. Edwards made a lot of movies over the next ten years, but to diminishing returns, to the point that ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' once made a joke where a "brainwashing" machine says "Creator/BlakeEdwards makes a really good film..." He did receive an Honorary Oscar in 2004, though.

* Another writer-director who took a fall was Creator/BlakeEdwards. He established himself in the late 1950s/early '60s with ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', ''Film/DaysOfWineAndRoses'', ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' series, etc. He hit rough waters later (the biggest flop of his being ''Film/DarlingLili''), but the Pink Panther series revival in 1975 brought him back around, and his non-Panther films (especially ''Film/{{Ten}}'' and ''Film/VictorVictoria'') were well-received too. He even managed to write and direct a [[RomanAClef thinly fictionalized]] TakeThat to Hollywood (''Film/{{SOB}}'') for his earlier treatment during this period. Then Creator/PeterSellers, who played Inspector Clouseau in the Panthers, died -- and Edwards made ''Trail of...'' using [[ClipShow outtakes and flashbacks of Sellers]], and ''Curse of...'' using a ReplacementScrappy. Critics were appalled, Edwards and United Artists were sued by Sellers' widow over ''Trail'', and both were box-office underachievers. Edwards made a lot of movies over the next ten years, but to diminishing returns, to the point that ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' once made a joke where a "brainwashing" machine says "Creator/BlakeEdwards makes a really good film..." He did receive an Honorary Oscar in 2004, though.

* Creator/KevinCostner fell victim to this. His Academy Award for ''Film/DancesWithWolves'' earned him immense critical acclaim for his directing and acting, and ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', ''Film/TheUntouchables,'' and ''Film/TheBodyguard'' were big hits if not critical faves. However, a series of flops (or at least expensive underperformers), most famously ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' and ''Film/ThePostman'', led to him not even receiving promotional billing on his films out of fear that just mentioning his involvement could doom a project. He has since recovered somewhat by focusing on more careful, lower-key projects such as ''Film/TheGuardian'' and the superb ''Film/MrBrooks''.

Having burnt his bridges at both of the Big Two comic companies, he's now reduced to doing license work at IDW, drawing ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' comics. His reputation has gotten so bad that his caricature was, until some time later, the poster image of this wiki's SmallNameBigEgo page; for a sampling of ''why'', see his WikiQuote [[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Byrne entry]].

[[folder:Radio]]
* For years, favorite targets of Creator/HowardStern's ridicule included the obscenely rich, extreme political activists, famous people coerced by their spouses into promoting their attempts at also being famous, those that remarried people much younger than them, other celebrities he perceived as lazy or undeserving of their fortune and fame, and entertainers that stayed in their chosen profession much longer than they should have. Now Howard is in his late 50s, has completed a 5-year 500 million dollar radio contract (only to be awarded another multi-year multi-hundred million dollar contract), and has a second wife (19 years his junior) who constantly promotes various silly animal charities and seems to be trying very hard to use Howard's fame to become a hostess, actress, or writer. Howard also seems less interested in the radio show and only works in the city of New York 3-4 days a week before running back to his home in the ritzy Hamptons in Long Island. Some of his fans are less than pleased with what he has become.
[[/folder]]

* Creator/{{Konami}} used to be a beloved video game studio and publisher of some of the most respected video game series, including ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', ''Franchise/MetalGear'', and ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' amongst their titles while also having a very strong arcade presence and inventing the ever famous KonamiCode. At the eighth console generation, everything just went down the drain on this company:

** As Konami went on, old beloved franchises like ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' and ''Franchise/MetalGear'' were given pachislot titles, the former having very questionable features and marketing strategy (titled ''[='=]Castlevania Erotic Violence[='=]'' with tons of gratuitous fanservice shots) and the latter, after the debacle with Kojima and the video game division staves, went on to become the third most disliked video in all Youtube history.

* Ivan Reitman used to be a well-respected Hollywood director that first broke out into fame by directing ''Film/{{Meatballs}}'' and is best known for being the man behind ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'', as well as several successful comedies like ''Film/{{Stripes}}'', ''{{Film/Twins|1988}},'' ''Film/KindergartenCop'', and ''{{Film/Dave}}''. However, after many huge flops following the release of ''Dave'', his cred dropped considerably, to the point where even the critics began to openly dread his screen credit. ''Film/MySuperExGirlfriend'', for instance, had a critic in ''Newsday'' asking "... why was it made? ... And, most important, why is there 10 bucks missing from my pocket?" He did claw some respectability back in 2011 with ''Film/NoStringsAttached'', which got decent reviews and topped the box office in its first weekend, but he still faces a lot of work if he's ever going to fully restore his reputation. At least his legacy lives on with his son Jason, who may possibly have a stronger career than his father. Jason now holds four Oscar nominations for his work on ''Film/UpInTheAir'' and ''Film/{{Juno}}''.

* Vincent Gallo. After making a career as a supporting actor in films like ''Film/TheFuneral'', he made his acclaimed directorial debut ''Film/BuffaloSixtySix''. Then he made his infamous follow up ''Film/TheBrownBunny'', which led him to an unsuccessful war of words with critic Creator/RogerEbert, who had previously supported his career. Since then, he has mostly been in tabloids for his extremely bizarre behaviour (e.g. trying to put a hex on Ebert), his truly venomous personality (e.g. criticizing Creator/ChristinaRicci for her weight, unprovoked four years after working with her), his own claims of genius, and his vitriolic verbal tirades (e.g. calling Creator/FrancisFordCoppola "a fat pig", Creator/SofiaCoppola "a parasite" and Creator/MartinScorsese "an egomaniac has been, who hasn't made a good film in twenty-five years"). While he still has a sizeable fanbase, even his most ardent supporters have come to accept that he is an unfortunate case of talent undone by ego. Nowadays, he is more likely to be known for inspiring the character of pretentious jerkass Billy Walsh in ''Film/{{Entourage}}''.

* American [=McGee=] began as a level designer of the first two ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' installments, and later gave us [[VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice his own grim take]] on a certain Creator/LewisCarroll classic and became an overnight superstar with even talks of movie deals for the property. Since then, he's never been anywhere near as popular, with his subsequent works being mostly ignored (''VideoGame/{{Scrapland}}'' got a [[SoOkayItsAverage lukewarm reception]] from players and critics, and ''VideoGame/BadDayLA'' was [[SturgeonsLaw a pure trainwreck]]). ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesGrimm'' got a small amount of press and has done reasonably well on [=GameTap=], but still has yet to achieve the critical or commercial success that ''[[VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice Alice]]'' had, which might explain why he chose to create a sequel, ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'', which has received reviews ranging from fairly positive to lukewarm, although it can hardly be credited as a full return to form.

While Sonic Team has not recovered their glory from TheNineties, their reputation ''has'' improved as of the late [=2010s=], with the releases of ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' [[WinBackTheCrowd winning back a lot of disillusioned fans]]. However, some of the more acclaimed ''Sonic'' titles since the [=2010s=] were externally developed; with ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'' being developed by Sumo Digital, and ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' by a collective of {{promoted fanboy}}s. Even then, the series' BrokenBase remains fervent, and even the games generally regarded as good have their share of detractors.

After spending a decade and a half with a low profile at his studio Prope, Naka tried a CareerResurrection with the Creator/SquareEnix-published ''VideoGame/BalanWonderworld''. Unfortunately, the game was critically mauled for its [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny outdated gameplay]], [[SpecialEffectFailure bizarre graphics]], and leaving most of the story in a [[AllThereInTheManual tie-in book]]. To make matters worse, ''Balan''[='=]s development caused a [[CreativeDifferences bitter falling out]] with Naka's only remaining collaborator, Sonic's original character designer Naoto Oshima, to the point Naka [[https://twitter.com/nakayuji/status/1544235117073166337 blanked Oshima out]] of old development pictures. Naka was fired from Square Enix after ''Balan''[='=]s failure, and it's unlikely he will regain the gaming public's respect due to his abrasive behavior.

* Many years ago, Creator/JohnLasseter was seen as one of the unsung heroes of animation, for helping start up the acclaimed animation studio {{Creator/Pixar}}, directing the critically-praised and influential ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', and introducing the west to the works of Creator/StudioGhibli. It got even better when he was promoted to chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2006, helping push the studio out of its AudienceAlienatingEra, as well as ending the much-maligned DirectToVideo Disney [[{{Sequelitis}} sequels]] that had plagued the market for the past decade. Then in late 2017, he had to take a leave of absence after it was revealed he had been sexually harassing the female staff members at Disney and Pixar, giving them inappropriate hugs, kisses, and gropes against their wishes. Many went from praising Lasseter to boycotting him and demanding Disney get rid of him. In 2018, this wish was granted, and he was finally released from the company in December of that year. However, a month later, it was announced that he was now heading Paramount's Skydance Animation, which drew much ire from the animation community, to the point where Creator/EmmaThompson ended up dropping from one of their projects. It's safe to say that Lasseter will never be able to live down any of this, and will never have the positive reputation he had long ago.

* Music/MichaelJackson was big in the 1970s, successfully building a solo career from his initial success with the Jackson 5/Jacksons, and then became huge with 1982's ''Thriller'', especially when the three music videos derived from it ("Beat It", "Thriller", "Billie Jean") [[TropeMaker refined and defined many tropes of the format]]. He was the biggest celebrity in the ''world'' for the remainder of the 1980s, and his next two solo albums were big hits as were most of his side projects; even his Pepsi commercials were events. He had a reputation for eccentricity, plastic surgery, and ego, but also for delivering great entertainment. Then in 1993, he was accused of child molestation and settled out of court. ''Nothing'' was the same for him after this, in part because he had cultivated an image as a friend to children -- he became "freakish" rather than "eccentric" (not helped by his increasingly UncannyValley appearance). The resultant CreatorBreakdown resulted in 1995's ''[=HIStory=]'', which let many critics and listeners down in the wake of its [[HypeBacklash massive hype]]. Jackson didn't release another album of all-original work (''Invincible'') until 2001, and he was so unhappy with its sales (which weren't ''bad'', but not close to his old numbers) that he accused his label of racially-motivated sabotage in its promotion. Things went FromBadToWorse with a second round of child molestation charges resulting in a trial over 2003-05; he was found not guilty. Nothing of artistic note followed until he announced a series of London farewell concerts over 2009-10. These might have returned him to glory, but he died of an overdose of medication in June 2009 before a single show was performed. The upshot was that [[DeadArtistsAreBetter suddenly there were "King of Pop" tributes everywhere]], with [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead nary a critical word spoken]]. From ''Website/TheOnion''[='=]s point of view, death was the only ''normal'' thing [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/timeline-life-of-a-star,16842/ to happen to a star]] whose abusive childhood paved the way for a deeply disturbed adulthood.

Nowadays, he produces bloody works such as ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'', ''ComicBook/KickAss'', ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', and ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', that featured SociopathicHero characters and StrawmanPolitical arguments. Others see this more of a combination of heavy SatireParodyPastiche of [[{{Gorn}} corrupt elements within]] [[HorribleHollywood western popular culture]], and "[[MisaimedFandom Well, since this is the type of stuff that sells, and the Eagleland xenophobes just cream themselves from any]] "[[StealthParody Do you think that this A on my forehead stands for France?]]" I put in there, I might as well get rich on their expense, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold and use the money to help my brother's work for disabled children]]." Also, ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' featured massive CharacterDerailment, especially of ComicBook/IronMan.. (Some consider the character ''forever'' ruined, but that probably is going too far -- by this point, fans are used to writers prioritizing their tug-o-wars over telling a story, and know that soon Iron Man will be in better hands; it's not Tony's "fault.")

Nowadays, he produces bloody works such as ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'', ''ComicBook/KickAss'', ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', and ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', that featured SociopathicHero characters and StrawmanPolitical arguments. Others see this more of a combination of heavy SatireParodyPastiche of [[{{Gorn}} corrupt elements within]] [[HorribleHollywood western popular culture]], and "[[MisaimedFandom Well, since this is the type of stuff that sells, and the Eagleland xenophobes just cream themselves from any]] "[[StealthParody Do you think that this A on my forehead stands for France?]]" I put in there, I might as well get rich on their expense, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold and use the money to help my brother's work for disabled children]]." Also, ''Comicbook/CivilWar2006'' featured massive CharacterDerailment, especially of ComicBook/IronMan. (Some consider the character ''forever'' ruined, but that probably is going too far -- by this point, fans are used to writers prioritizing their tug-o-wars over telling a story, and know that soon Iron Man will be in better hands; it's not Tony's "fault.")

Nowadays, he produces bloody works such as ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'', ''ComicBook/KickAss'', ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', and ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', that featured SociopathicHero characters and StrawmanPolitical arguments. Others see this more of a combination of heavy SatireParodyPastiche of [[{{Gorn}} corrupt elements within]] [[HorribleHollywood western popular culture]], and "[[MisaimedFandom Well, since this is the type of stuff that sells, and the Eagleland xenophobes just cream themselves from any]] "[[StealthParody Do you think that this A on my forehead stands for France?]]" I put in there, I might as well get rich on their expense, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold and use the money to help my brother's work for disabled children]]." Also, ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' featured massive CharacterDerailment, especially of ComicBook/IronMan. (Some consider the character ''forever'' ruined, but that probably is going too far -- by this point, fans are used to writers prioritizing their tug-o-wars over telling a story, and know that soon Iron Man will be in better hands; it's not Tony's "fault.")

* [[Creator/{{Sega}} Sonic Team]]. Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog used to be a worldwide icon and the only real challenge to [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'s domination of {{platform game}}s. The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis entries in the series are still considered great games. Then Sonic went 3D. For most fans and critics, most of the 3D Sonic games have a [[CameraScrew bad camera]], broken controls, and too many characters, and Sonic Team has lost its old glory to them. It started with the [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure two]] ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Adventure|2}}''s, which were worthy additions to the series despite being plagued by fundamental problems. ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' marked the teetering edge of the abyss, ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' was made on the way down, and ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]'' was the echoing crash of the series finally hitting rock bottom. Since then, the franchise has been making significant progress at climbing back up, but it still struggles with the basics like camera controls, physics, glitches, and fair level design. It also doesn't help that Sonic Team can't seem to resist putting a weird gimmick into gameplay. [[note]]Some reviewers believe that ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' would've been the return to form Sonic needed if it weren't for the Werehog gameplay.[[/note]] ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'', ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' have improved their reputation a bit by now, presenting creative and ambitious game ideas in the series' trademark rough and fractured frame. ''Colors'' [[WinBackTheCrowd won back a sizable portion of the disillusioned fanbase]], ''Generations'' did pretty well for itself as well, and while ''Lost World'' is divisive, it's not terrible any way you cut it. There was also ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]''; while a ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' [[FollowTheLeader clone]] (well, more like ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''VideoGame/OutRun''), the racing gameplay was actually praised by many to be ''better'' than that of ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' and the game was both a commercial and critical success.

* Former Creator/{{Disney}} [=CEO=] Michael Eisner is often remembered now as a talentless, soul-sucking hack that "destroyed" the company built by Walt and Roy O. Disney. [[MisBlamed Few remember]] that the company had nearly been destroyed by Ron Miller's inept leadership in the early '80s, and that Eisner was brought in by Roy E. Disney after the first "Save Disney" campaign in 1984. Eisner took Disney to the major market force that exists today -- returning it to higher-budget films, creating the Touchstone division for adult-oriented material, and pushing for the much-lauded Disney Renaissance that revived animated films after the false start of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron''. He believed in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' and brought new interest to the golden age of animation, while getting Disney into television animation (resulting in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'', ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', etc.). But when Disney's president Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash just before the release of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' in 1994, long-time studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg expected to be promoted to fill Wells's position. When Eisner refused and forced Katzenberg to resign, he left the studio to found Creator/{{Dreamworks}}, whose [[Creator/DreamworksAnimation animation arm]] became a major competitor to Disney's. The promotion of Eisner's friend Michael Ovitz to the position was a disaster that upset most of the shareholders. Disney's new films, shows, and theme parks began to tank one after another in the late '90s and early 2000s -- accused of becoming formulaic, obsessed with TheMerch, and in the case of the parks outright lazy and cheap, while the ''old'' animated films were hit hard by DirectToVideo {{Sequelitis}}. Eisner burned enough bridges that even ''Creator/{{Pixar}}'' was ready to end their long partnership. In the wake of this, Roy E. Disney resigned from the board of directors and started a second "Save Disney" campaign to get rid of Eisner, who resigned under extreme pressure in 2005. It wasn't all doom and gloom for ''both'' Disney and Eisner though -- Disney, under Bob Iger, rebuilt the bridges with Pixar, among other things, and while his reign as CEO did face several criticisms (most notably the start of Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes), the company as a whole became more financially successful than they had ever been, while Eisner's guest-hosting stint on ''Series/TheCharlieRoseShow'' not long after his ouster led to him getting a regular talk-show on CNBC; he continues to expand into Internet production and he bought the Topps baseball company. Eisner was also famous for being a control freak. Creator/JerryBruckheimer initially brought the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' franchise to Creator/{{ABC}}[=/=]Disney and Eisner rejected him. Eisner also reportedly hated ''Series/{{Lost}}'' and wanted it canceled despite its success. Reports from the inside even say that Eisner was hard set against both ''Series/{{Lost}}'' and ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', which were ''immense'' hits for Creator/{{ABC}} in 2004... while pushing his own project, which was basically "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne as a sitcom.

* Like Miller, Creator/JephLoeb came to fame off of his work on ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''; along with Tim Sales, he produced a series of ''Batman'' Halloween specials and the critically acclaimed ''The Long Halloween'' series. Unfortunately, when he took over as writing ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' (and later, the team-up book "Superman/Batman"), Loeb's writing began to slip as he began losing confidence in his ability to let his writing speak for itself. He began recruiting big name artists to draw his work (which led to massive delays in the case of ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]'' run) and tailoring his scripts to match what his artists wanted to draw. Further complicating things was his son's death from cancer, which caused Loeb's writing to [[CreatorBreakdown take a depressing tone]] (''Ultimatium, Fallen Son, Ultimates 3'') with [[TrueArtIsAngsty death and grief as a major element of his writing]].\\

** The final straw would be his ''Hulk'' run, which came off the critically acclaimed Greg Pak run and dismantled all of the major work Pak had done to set up a new status quo for the Hulk and his standing in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse via ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' and ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk''. Adding to the mix was that Hulk revolved almost completely around Loeb's [[VillainSue Villain Stu]] the Red Hulk and the never-ending mystery of who he was.

* After ''Film/{{Signs}}'', Creator/MelGibson decided to take a break from acting and focus on directing, eventually making the controversial but successful ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' and ''Film/{{Apocalypto}}''. But then his personal life made him a very hated person, with allegations of anti-Semitism and racism, and arrests for DUI and domestic violence. In 2010, he attempted an acting comeback with ''Film/{{Edge of Darkness|2010}}'', which flopped. And then came the release of a series of recorded phone conversations with his ex-girlfriend, in which his lunatic behavior seems to have been cranked UpToEleven. It's probably safe to say he'll never fully recover from this; he got kicked out of a cameo in ''Film/TheHangoverPartII'' after Creator/ZachGalifianakis raised holy hell, and ''Film/TheBeaver'' flopped despite being one of the most acclaimed unproduced scripts from the last couple decades. To make it worse, despite a promising trailer, his next movie, the domestic debut of his next movie, ''Film/GetTheGringo'', was not theatrical, but on [=DirecTV=]'s video-on-demand.

* Creator/MollyRingwald achieved success high school/teen films in the 1980s with ''Film/SixteenCandles'', ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' and ''Film/PrettyInPink''. However, her relationship with writer/director Creator/JohnHughes ended on a sour note when she turned down Creator/LeaThompson's role in ''Film/SomeKindOfWonderful''. Also, by the end of the '80s and start of the 1990s, Ringwald turned down roles that would prove to be {{star making role}}s for Creator/MegRyan (''Film/WhenHarryMetSally''), Creator/JuliaRoberts (''Film/PrettyWoman''), and fellow Creator/{{Brat Pack}}er Creator/DemiMoore (''Film/{{Ghost}}''). For a good share of the '90s, Ringwald spent time in France only resurfacing for the short-lived Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom ''Townies'' (co-starring a pre-''Series/DharmaAndGreg'' Jenna Elfman and pre-''Series/GilmoreGirls'' Lauren Graham). Ringwald however, would poke fun at her iconic high school movie status with a cameo in the 2001 film ''Film/NotAnotherTeenMovie''. Ringwald is perhaps most known these days for her role on the considerably {{Anvilicious}} {{Narm}}fest on Creator/ABCFamily called ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager''.

* [[Creator/{{Sega}} Sonic Team]]. Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog used to be a worldwide icon and the only real challenge to [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'s domination of {{platform game}}s. The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis entries in the series are still considered great games. [[PolygonCeiling Then Sonic went 3D]]. For most fans and critics, most of the 3D Sonic games have a [[CameraScrew bad camera]], broken controls, and too many characters, and Sonic Team has lost its old glory to them. It started with the [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure two]] ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Adventure|2}}''s, which were worthy additions to the series despite being plagued by fundamental problems. ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' marked the teetering edge of the abyss, ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' was made on the way down, and ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]'' was the echoing crash of the series finally hitting rock bottom. Since then, the franchise has been making significant progress at climbing back up, but it still struggles with the basics like camera controls, physics, glitches, and fair level design. It also doesn't help that Sonic Team can't seem to resist putting a weird gimmick into gameplay. [[note]]Some reviewers believe that ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' would've been the return to form Sonic needed if it weren't for the Werehog gameplay.[[/note]] ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'', ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' have improved their reputation a bit by now, presenting creative and ambitious game ideas in the series' trademark rough and fractured frame. ''Colors'' [[WinBackTheCrowd won back a sizable portion of the disillusioned fanbase]], ''Generations'' did pretty well for itself as well, and while ''Lost World'' is divisive, it's not terrible any way you cut it. There was also ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]''; while a ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' [[FollowTheLeader clone]] (well, more like ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''VideoGame/OutRun''), the racing gameplay was actually praised by many to be ''better'' than that of ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' and the game was both a commercial and critical success.

* Ivan Reitman used to be a well-respected Hollywood director that first broke out into fame by directing ''Film/{{Meatballs}}'' and is best known for being the man behind ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'', as well as several successful comedies like ''Film/{{Stripes}}'', ''{{Film/Twins}},'' ''Film/KindergartenCop'', and ''{{Film/Dave}}''. However, after many huge flops following the release of ''Dave'', his cred dropped considerably, to the point where even the critics began to openly dread his screen credit. ''Film/MySuperExGirlfriend'', for instance, had a critic in ''Newsday'' asking "... why was it made? ... And, most important, why is there 10 bucks missing from my pocket?" He did claw some respectability back in 2011 with ''Film/NoStringsAttached'', which got decent reviews and topped the box office in its first weekend, but he still faces a lot of work if he's ever going to fully restore his reputation. At least his legacy lives on with his son Jason, who may possibly have a stronger career than his father. Jason now holds four Oscar nominations for his work on ''Film/UpInTheAir'' and ''Film/{{Juno}}''.

* [[Creator/{{Sega}} Sonic Team]]. Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog used to be a worldwide icon and the only real challenge to [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'s domination of {{platform game}}s. The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis entries in the series are still considered great games. [[PolygonCeiling Then Sonic went 3D]]. For most fans and critics, most of the 3D Sonic games have a [[CameraScrew bad camera]], broken controls, and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters too many characters]], and Sonic Team has lost its old glory to them. It started with the [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure two]] ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Adventure|2}}''s, which were worthy additions to the series despite being plagued by fundamental problems. ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' marked the teetering edge of the abyss, ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' was made on the way down, and ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]'' was the echoing crash of the series finally hitting rock bottom. Since then, the franchise has been making significant progress at climbing back up, but it still struggles with the basics like camera controls, physics, glitches, and fair level design. It also doesn't help that Sonic Team can't seem to resist putting a weird gimmick into gameplay. [[note]]Some reviewers believe that ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' would've been the return to form Sonic needed if it weren't for the Werehog gameplay.[[/note]] ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'', ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' have improved their reputation a bit by now, presenting creative and ambitious game ideas in the series' trademark rough and fractured frame. ''Colors'' [[WinBackTheCrowd won back a sizable portion of the disillusioned fanbase]], ''Generations'' did pretty well for itself as well, and while ''Lost World'' is divisive, it's not terrible any way you cut it. There was also ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]''; while a ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' [[FollowTheLeader clone]] (well, more like ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''VideoGame/OutRun''), the racing gameplay was actually praised by many to be ''better'' than that of ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' and the game was both a commercial and critical success.

* Music/MichaelJackson was big in the 1970s, successfully building a solo career from his initial success with the Jackson 5/Jacksons, and then became huge with 1982's ''Thriller'', especially when the three music videos derived from it ("Beat It", "Thriller", "Billie Jean") [[TropeMaker refined and defined many tropes of the format]]. He was the biggest celebrity in the ''world'' for the remainder of the 1980s, and his next two solo albums were big hits as were most of his side projects; even his Pepsi commercials were events. He had a reputation for eccentricity, plastic surgery, and ego, but also for delivering great entertainment. Then in 1993, he was accused of child molestation and settled out of court. ''Nothing'' was the same for him after this, in part because he had [[UnderminedByReality cultivated an image as a friend to children]] -- he became "freakish" rather than "eccentric" (not helped by his increasingly UncannyValley appearance). The resultant CreatorBreakdown resulted in 1995's ''[=HIStory=]'', which let many critics and listeners down in the wake of its [[HypeBacklash massive hype]]. Jackson didn't release another album of all-original work (''Invincible'') until 2001, and he was so unhappy with its sales (which weren't ''bad'', but not close to his old numbers) that he accused his label of racially-motivated sabotage in its promotion. Things went FromBadToWorse with a second round of child molestation charges resulting in a trial over 2003-05; he was found not guilty. Nothing of artistic note followed until he announced a series of London farewell concerts over 2009-10. These might have returned him to glory, but he died of an overdose of medication in June 2009 before a single show was performed. The upshot was that [[DeadArtistsAreBetter suddenly there were "King of Pop" tributes everywhere]], with [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead nary a critical word spoken]]. From ''Website/TheOnion''[='=]s point of view, death was the only ''normal'' thing [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/timeline-life-of-a-star,16842/ to happen to a star]] whose abusive childhood paved the way for a deeply disturbed adulthood.