History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / AnimatedFilms

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'': Whether or not it was intentional, Tai Lung is one for the traditional Kung-Fu Hero that is exiled or imprisoned by his enemies and returns to claim what is his. While Tai Lung was imprisoned by his father figure, it was for a good reason as Tai Lung would do anything to get the Dragon Scroll and attacked his mentor/father figure without mercy and showed he would go to [[ItsAllAboutMe extreme lengths to get what he wants.]] Tai Lung believed he was the chosen one due to his guardian raising him into becoming the best student from the temple. While in most Kung-Fu stories, he would be the chosen one, the [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong nature of the Dragon Scroll]] renders that belief meaningless and indeed, anathema to the purpose of Kung-Fu. Being raised to crave outside validation for accomplishments was detrimental to Tai Lung's personal growth, who instead needed to look to himself rather than others. While Tai Lung was very much TheAce and a prodigy, learning 1,000 scrolls worth of techniques, he only looked to the physical and technical aspects of Kung-Fu and never focused on spiritual enlightenment or peace within himself. Lastly, while Tai Lung was let down by Shifu for not supporting Tai Lung in the ways that mattered most, and for leaving him to rot in prison for 20 years without trying to reach out to his son or helping him in a way that could have given Tai Lung a chance at redemption, Tai Lung had become so bitter and selfish that even when Shifu admits his faults and apologizes, Tai Lung still ignores him and not only attacks Shifu but is also harming innocent people. [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse While Shifu was at fault for some of the wrongs that resulted]], Tai Lung became a cold and brutal beast willing to destroy anyone and anything to get what he wanted.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManSpiderVerse''
** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man is one of the KidHeroAllGrownUp. One of the key tenets of Spider-Man is that no matter how many times they are knocked down, they always get back up. As the oldest Spider-Man, one would assume Peter B. Parker has mastered that lesson. However, after a series of injuries, financial misfortunes, and growing marital tension, Peter B is hit hard by two emotional tragedies that knock him to the ground; the death of his Aunt May and his divorce from Mary Jane when she wanted kids. He is unable to get back up from these blows and descends into a jaded mindset, a burnt-out work ethic, and a pizza-fueled potbelly. Peter B. assigned himself the role Spider-Man while he was in high school at the ripe old age of 15, Peter has been doing this job for 22 years and it's clearly taken an effect on his morale and his outlook on life. After the death of Aunt May and separation from Mary Jane, he's just been struggling with loneliness because everyone likely sees him as a commodity and his role as Spider-Man has affected his ability to form close relationships. As a result, Peter B is miserable, lost his passion for the role of a hero, and is completely disillusioned. He even develops a tone of voice that sounds less optimistic about helping others and sounds more resentful about being dragged into another mess that he has to clean up. That being said, having Miles around with his enthusiasm about being a spider and seeing his potential executed [[Main/{{Reconstruction}} starts warming him up to get back up one more time]]. To take his own wisdom and take a leap of faith with MJ again.
** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse''
*** [[Characters/SpiderManSpiderVerseMilesMorales Miles Morales]] is one of TheUnchosenOne. Despite being bitten by a spider like his world's Spider-Man, Miles struggles with feelings of inadequacy because he feels like he didn't really earn the right to become the next Spider-Man, and it takes him most of the first film in order to learn to trust himself and grow more confident about his position as Spider-Man. ''Across'' further deconstructs by revealing that [[spoiler:he really was never ''meant'' to become Spider-Man; the spider that bit him came from Earth-42, meaning that said earth ''lost'' the chance to gain a Spider-Man and descended into crime and chaos as a result. Not only that, but Miles' unique situation causes him to become a target of the Spider-Society, an alliance of multiple Spider-Man from all over the multiverse, who deem him an anomaly who threatens the stability of the multiverse the longer he exists.]]
*** [[Characters/SpiderManSpiderVerseTheSpot The Spot]] is this to the IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Despite having abilities that are, on paper, ''ridiculously'' powerful--being able to create portals with his body--no one takes The Spot seriously, due to his petty crimes, jokey personality, and [[AtrociousAlias lousy villain name]]. He claims Miles is his nemesis and they're each other's origin stories, but Miles has no idea who he is, and dismissively calls him a "Villain of the Week," a sentiment all the Spider-People share. And this ''pisses him the hell off'', starting him on a quest to change that. [[spoiler:Turns out, his gripes with Miles are ''true''; his actions did lead to Miles becoming Spider-Man, and Miles' actions in turn did lead to him becoming a HumanoidAbomination and his life being turned upside down. Understandably, being treated as a joke does ''not'' please him, and the fact that no one takes him seriously enables him to run rampant through the multiverse and figure out the full extent of his powers and become ''much'' stronger than he was before. And now, he's no longer content with killing just Miles; he wants to destroy Miles' life the way Miles (unintentionally and unknowingly) destroyed his, by targeting his loved ones... and possibly destroying his world.]] Lesson: if you don't take your bad guys seriously, they just might give you a reason to.
*** [[Characters/SpiderManSpiderVerseMiguelOHara Miguel O'Hara]] is one of TheFatalist. [[spoiler: Miguel genuinely believes that things happen for a reason and everything must fall into place in a certain way and at a certain time. Miguel started believing in his Canon Event Theory because he tried to replace a dead Spider-Man in a foreign dimension and he believes that the destruction of that universe was because he went against the grand plan. So Miguel is terrified of Miles because Miles is a living glitch in the algorithm, he was never meant to be Spider-Man, he was supposed to be Prowler's successor but he was bitten by a spider and the original Peter from his universe was killed by Kingpin. Because of his past, Miguel believes he's able to predict the future, ultimately making a decision on behalf of Miles's dimension under the belief that he knows what's best for it, not understanding that he can't predict the future or guarantee that removing Miles from the equation will automatically make it better for everyone else. At his core, Miguel is just a deeply troubled man who's overwhelmed with guilt and lashing out over the senselessness of his hardships. His idea of fate is just a way for him to justify what he went through and make sense of things that were beyond his control, ultimately trying to tell himself that there was a reason why he suffered so much when it was all just a case of life being full of unpredictable events that he couldn't control.]]

** To contrast Wolf's own Deconstruction, [[spoiler:Diane]] is a deconstruction of the ReformedCriminal. [[spoiler:Her HeelFaceTurn was very genuine, and she truly has become a repetant virtuous person committed to doing good for the world, if to a fault, having gained a sense of piousness and antipathy towards other criminals [[{{Hypocrite}} despite her own past]]. Also rather than actually seeking forgiveness, Diane straight up [[KarmaHoudini never confessed or took responsibility for any of her crimes]], and has lingering shades of EvilFeelsGood, particularly in tacitally gloating what a better criminal she was than the Bad Guys, essentially making her a SmugSnake HeroAntagonist in the early points of the film. As a result, while Diane ''does'' become a PositiveFriendInfluence, she has to defrost a second time round first, and by the end of the film is clearly humbled and thankful towards the Bad Guys for influencing her in turn and being the first true support she had since her reformation, particularly in taking the fuller road to redemption she skipped to cover for her.]]

** The Ethical Bug is a deconstruction of TheConscience. The Ethical Bug tries to convince Horner to reflect on his actions and reform. While admirable, he fails to realize that Horner is BeyondRedemption until the latter commits a truly irredeemable act, after which [[spoiler:he eventually contributes directly to Horner's death, realizing that the man ''needs'' to be taken down]].
** [[Characters/PussInBootsTheWolf The Wolf]] is a deconstruction of the KnightOfCerebus. Make no mistake; being [[spoiler:the literal embodiment of ''Death'' itself in the ''Shrek'' franchise]], the Wolf is a genuinely chilling antagonist that instils pure fear into even ''[[ShowyInvincibleHero Puss in Boots]]'' himself, a quality fully PlayedForDrama. However it's this very element that drives Puss' CharacterDevelopment and to drop his arrogance to face him. Realizing this, the Wolf drops the act and even briefly throws a comical tantrum. It's implied afterwards by that sudden show of normality that he’s in fact [[PunchClockVillain a snarky amicable guy just doing his job]], but making it personal with Puss and going full-on with the scary and sadistic villain act actually ''ruined'' his opportunity to take his final life rather than empowering him in any way.

** Megamind and Metro Man are both deconstructions of the nigh-invincible superhero and persistent supervillain deal. In addition to his powers, Metro Man grew up with every luxury imaginable, leaving him doubly unable to empathize with the populous he's meant to be protecting because he's that far above them in every category, leaving him with an ultimately fake and uncaring attitude. On Megamind's end, he was ostracized as a child, at first because of his appearance and eventually for a few glitchy gadgets of his that were taken as being done out of malice, leading to a ThenLetMeBeEvil realization. Being totally invulnerable, Metro Man becomes bored and burned out on their little game, while Megamind remains overly invested in it because it's the only sense of purpose he is ever likely to have. Megamind's dependency on the status quo is ultimately what drives the main plot, as when he finally wins, he has no idea what to do next. In response to how the humans initially treated each of them, it also can't be ignored that the favored alien, Metro Man, is a superficially pretty HumanAlien while Megamind seems to be an amalgamation of TheGreys and the Na'vi.

** Megamind and Metro Man are both deconstructions of the nigh-invincible superhero and persistent supervillain deal. In addition to his powers, Metro Man grew up with every luxury imaginable, leaving him doubly unable to empathize with the populous he's meant to be protecting because he's that far above them in every category, leaving him with an ultimately fake and uncaring attitude. On Megamind's end, he was ostracized as a child, at first because of his appearance and eventually for a few glitchy gadgets of his that were taken as being done out of malice, leading to a ThenLetMeBeEvil realization. Being totally invulnerable, Metro Man becomes bored and burned out on their little game, while Megamind remains overly invested in it because it's the only sense of purpose he is ever likely to have. Megamind's dependency on the status quo is ultimately what drives the main plot. In response to how the humans initially treated each of them, it also can't be ignored that the favored alien, Metro Man, is a superficially pretty HumanAlien while Megamind seems to be an amalgamation of TheGreys and the Na'vi.

** The HopelessSuitor. Even without Belle meeting the Beast, Gaston still wouldn't have had a chance with Belle because of his personality repelling her. Even after she makes it very clear that she doesn't like him, he refuses to respect her wishes and attempts any other means to get her to marry him, which includes trying to send her father Maurice to an Asylum and eventually trying to [[MurderTheHypotenuse murder the Beast]].

** [[Characters/PussInBootsTheWolf The Wolf]] is a deconstruction of the KnightOfCerebus. Make no mistake; being the literal embodiment of ''Death'' itself in the ''Shrek'' franchise, the Wolf is a genuinely chilling antagonist that instils pure fear into even ''[[ShowyInvincibleHero Puss in Boots]]'' himself, a quality fully PlayedForDrama. However it's this very element that drives Puss' CharacterDevelopment and to drop his arrogance to face Death himself. Realizing this, the Wolf drops the act and even briefly throws a comical tantrum. It's implied afterwards by that sudden show of normality that he’s in fact [[PunchClockVillain a snarky amicable guy just doing his job]], but making it personal with Puss and going full-on with the scary and sadistic villain act actually ''ruined'' his rightful opportunity to take his final life rather than empowering him in any way.

** Ming is a deconstruction of MyBelovedSmother. Ming is a perfectionist and she forces this trait to her own daughter Mei, expecting Mei to be the person she wants her to be. While Ming has good intentions for Mei, her being a helicopter parent turns her into a paranoid ControlFreak who over-reacts to any perceived threat to her daughter. This causes Mei to become sneaky and do things like lie to her mother and hide her personal interests and hobbies from her mom. [[spoiler:Mei eventually gets fed up and calls Ming out for smothering her so much.]]
** Ming is also a deconstruction of MamaBear. Repeatedly throughout the movie, she aggressively acts to protect or defend her beloved Mei-Mei, but in every case Mei was never actually in danger, and Ming's actions make things worse for her daughter instead of better.

** Mei herself is a deconstruction of WellDoneDaughterGirl. She's trying so hard to be Ming's "perfect little Mei-Mei" that she has major issues with setting boundaries with her mother. She has to constantly lie to her mother, sneak around and do things behind Ming's back. It comes to a head when Mei willingly throws her friends under the bus when Ming accuses her friends of doing the things that were actually Mei's idea. [[spoiler:This does eventually get reconstructed when Mei gets fed up and stands up to her mother later in the film.]]

** Mei herself is a deconstruction of WellDoneDaughterGirl. Since she's trying so hard to be Ming's "perfect little Mei-Mei", this causes her to have issues with setting boundaries with her mother. She has to constantly lie to her mother and sneak and do things behind her back. It even came to a head when Mei willingly threw her friends under the bus when Ming accuses her friends of doing the things that were actually Mei's idea. [[spoiler:This does eventually get reconstructed when Mei gets fed up and stands up to her mother later in the film.]]

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man is one of the KidHeroAllGrownUp. One of the key tenets of Spider-Man is that no matter how many times they are knocked down, they always get back up. As the oldest Spider-Man, one would assume Peter B. Parker has mastered that lesson. However, after a series of injuries, financial misfortunes, and growing marital tension, Peter B is hit hard by two emotional tragedies that knock him to the ground; the death of his Aunt May and his divorce from Mary Jane when she wanted kids. He is unable to get back up from these blows and descends into a jaded mindset, a burnt-out work ethic, and a pizza-fueled potbelly. Peter B. assigned himself the role Spider-Man while he was in high school at the ripe old age of 15, Peter has been doing this job for 22 years and it's clearly taken an effect on his morale and his outlook on life. After the death of Aunt May and separation from Mary Jane, he's just been struggling with loneliness because everyone likely sees him as a commodity and his role as Spider-Man has affected his ability to form close relationships. As a result, Peter B is miserable, lost his passion for the role of a hero, and is completely disillusioned. He even develops a tone of voice that sounds less optimistic about helping others and sounds more resentful about being dragged into another mess that he has to clean up.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Gaston serves as a deconstruction of the HopelessSuitor. Even without Belle meeting the Beast, Gaston still wouldn't have had a chance with Belle because of his personality repelling her. Even after she makes it very clear that she doesn't like him, he refuses to respect her wishes and attempts any other means to get her to marry him, which includes trying to send her father Maurice to an Asylum and eventually trying to [[MurderTheHypotenuse murder the Beast]].

*** Miles Morales/Spider-Man II is one of TheUnchosenOne. Despite being bitten by a spider like his world's Spider-Man, Miles struggles with feelings of inadequacy because he feels like he didn't really earn the right to become the next Spider-Man, and it takes him most of the first film in order to learn to trust himself and grow more confident about his position as Spider-Man. ''Across'' further deconstructs by revealing that [[spoiler:he really was never ''meant'' to become Spider-Man; the spider that bit him came from Earth-42, meaning that said earth ''lost'' the chance to gain a Spider-Man and descended into crime and chaos as a result. Not only that, but Miles' unique situation causes him to become a target of the Spider-Society, an alliance of multiple Spider-Man from all over the multiverse, who deem him an anomaly who threatens the stability of the multiverse the longer he exists.]]

*** Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 is one of TheFatalist. [[spoiler: Miguel genuinely believes that things happen for a reason and everything must fall into place in a certain way and at a certain time. Miguel started believing in his Canon Event Theory because he tried to replace a dead Spider-Man in a foreign dimension and he believes that the destruction of that universe was because he went against the grand plan. So Miguel is terrified of Miles because Miles is a living glitch in the algorithm, he was never meant to be Spider-Man, he was supposed to be Prowler's successor but he was bitten by a spider and the original Peter from his universe was killed by Kingpin. Because of his past, Miguel believes he's able to predict the future, ultimately making a decision on behalf of Miles's dimension under the belief that he knows what's best for it, not understanding that he can't predict the future or guarantee that removing Miles from the equation will automatically make it better for everyone else. At his core, Miguel is just a deeply troubled man who's overwhelmed with guilt and lashing out over the senselessness of his hardships. His idea of fate is just a way for him to justify what he went through and make sense of things that were beyond his control, ultimately trying to tell himself that there was a reason why he suffered so much when it was all just a case of life being full of unpredictable events that he couldn't control.]]

*** The Spot is this to the IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Despite having abilities that are, on paper, ''ridiculously'' powerful--being able to create portals with his body--no one takes The Spot seriously, due to his petty crimes, jokey personality, and [[AtrociousAlias lousy villain name]]. He claims Miles is his nemesis and they're each other's origin stories, but Miles has no idea who he is, and dismissively calls him a "Villain of the Week," a sentiment all the Spider-People share. And this ''pisses him the hell off'', starting him on a quest to change that. [[spoiler:Turns out, his gripes with Miles are ''true''; his actions did lead to Miles becoming Spider-Man, and Miles' actions in turn did lead to him becoming a HumanoidAbomination and his life being turned upside down. Understandably, being treated as a joke does ''not'' please him, and the fact that no one takes him seriously enables him to run rampant through the multiverse and figure out the full extent of his powers and become ''much'' stronger than he was before. And now, he's no longer content with killing just Miles; he wants to destroy Miles' life the way Miles (unintentionally and unknowingly) destroyed his, by targeting his loved ones... and possibly destroying his world.]] Lesson: if you don't take your bad guys seriously, they just might give you a reason to.

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'': The Spot is this to the IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Despite having abilities that are, on paper, ''ridiculously'' powerful--being able to create portals with his body--no one takes The Spot seriously, due to his petty crimes, jokey personality, and [[AtrociousAlias lousy villain name]]. He claims Miles is his nemesis and they're each other's origin stories, but Miles has no idea who he is, and dismissively calls him a "Villain of the Week," a sentiment all the Spider-People share. And this ''pisses him the hell off'', starting him on a quest to change that. [[spoiler:Turns out, his gripes with Miles are ''true''; his actions did lead to Miles becoming Spider-Man, and Miles' actions in turn did lead to him becoming a HumanoidAbomination and his life being turned upside down. Understandably, being treated as a joke does ''not'' please him, and the fact that no one takes him seriously enables him to run rampant through the multiverse and figure out the full extent of his powers and become ''much'' stronger than he was before. And now, he's no longer content with killing just Miles; he wants to destroy Miles' life the way Miles (unintentionally and unknowingly) destroyed his, by targeting his loved ones... and possibly destroying his world.]] Lesson: if you don't take your bad guys seriously, they just might give you a reason to.

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man is one of the KidHeroAllGrownUp. One of the key tenets of Spider-Man is that no matter how many times they are knocked down, they always get back up. As the oldest Spider-Man, one would assume Peter B. Parker has mastered that lesson. However, after a series of injuries, financial misfortunes, and growing marital tension, Peter B is hit hard by two emotional tragedies that knock him to the ground; the death of his Aunt May and his divorce from Mary Jane when she wanted kids. He is unable to get back up from these blows and descends into a jaded mindset, a burnt-out work ethic, and a pizza-fueled potbelly. Peter B. assigned himself the role Spider-Man while he was in high school at the ripe old age of 15 - 17. Peter has been doing this job for 20 years, it's clearly taken an effect on his morale and his outlook on life. After the death of Aunt May and separation from Mary Jane, he's just been struggling with loneliness because everyone likely sees him as a commodity and his role as Spider-Man has affected his ability to form close relationships. Peter no longer enjoys what he's doing, even developing a tone of voice that sounds less optimistic about helping others and sounds more resentful about being dragged into another mess that he has to clean up.

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man is one of the KidHeroAllGrownUp. One of the key tenets of Spider-Man is that no matter how many times they are knocked down, they always get back up. As the oldest Spider-Man, one would assume Peter B. Parker has mastered that lesson. However, after a series of injuries, financial misfortunes, and growing marital tension, Peter B is hit hard by two emotional tragedies that knock him to the ground; the death of his Aunt May and his divorce from Mary Jane when she wanted kids. He is unable to get back up from these blows and descends into a jaded mindset, a burnt-out work ethic, and a pizza-fueled potbelly. Peter B. assigned himself the role Spider-Man while he was in high school and he's been doing it for 20 years, it's clearly taken an effect on his morale. Peter is just burnt out and jaded, even developing a tone of voice that sounds less optimistic about helping others and sounds more resentful about being dragged into another mess that he has to clean up.

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'': The Spot is this to the IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Despite having abilities that are, on paper, ''ridiculously'' powerful, being able to create portals with his body, no one takes The Spot seriously, due to his petty crimes, jokey personality, and [[AtrociousAlias lousy villain name]]. He claims Miles is his nemesis and they're each other origin stories, but Miles has no idea who he is, and dismissively calls him a "Villain of the Week," a sentiment all the Spider-People share. And this ''pisses him the hell off'', starting him on a quest to change that. [[spoiler:Turns out his gripes with Miles are ''true''; his actions did lead to Miles becoming Spider-Man, and Miles' actions in turn did lead to him becoming a HumanoidAbomination and his life being turned upside down. Understandably, being treated as a joke does ''not'' please him, and the fact that no one takes him seriously means he's able to go off and run rampant through multiple universes, figuring out the full extent of his powers and growing much, ''much'' stronger than he was before. And now he's no longer content with killing Miles; now, he wants to wreck Miles' life the way Miles (unintentionally and unknowingly) wrecked his, by targeting his loved ones... and possibly destroying his world.]] Lesson: if you don't take your bad guys seriously, they just might start giving you a reason to do so.

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'': Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man is one of the OldSoldier. One of the key tenets of Spider-Man is that no matter how many times they are knocked down, they always get back up. As the oldest Spider-Man, one would assume Peter B. Parker has mastered that lesson. However, after a series of injuries, financial misfortunes, and growing marital tension, Peter B is hit hard by two emotional tragedies that knock him to the ground; the death of his Aunt May and his divorce from Mary Jane when she wanted kids. He is unable to get back up from these blows and descends into a jaded mindset, a burnt-out work ethic, and a pizza-fueled potbelly. Peter B. assigned himself the role Spider-Man while he was in high school and he's been doing it for 20 years, it's clearly taken an effect on his morale. Peter is just burnt out and jaded, even developing a tone of voice that sounds less optimistic about helping others and sounds more resentful about being dragged into another mess that he has to clean up.