History Main / FauxAdventureStory

[[AC:Comic Books]]

[[AC:Film: Animation]]

[[AC:Film: Live-Action]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' was a straight-up superhero show about three cute kindergartners who brutally beat up supervillains. The [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness final post-movie seasons]] strayed from that, but it was still very much a superhero cartoon. The [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 2016]] reboot? [[GenreShift Not so much]]. [[FollowTheLeader Taking from]] ''Teen Titans Go'', it is a lighthearted cartoon with very little actual fighting. It focuses on the girls civilian lives rather than their superhero work. When they do fight, rarely are they depicted actually ''hitting'' their opponents (instead they use HardLight attacks or punch but visibily don't actually come into contact with them). This decrease on fighting in exchange for characterization has turned off most fans of the original, and the creator himself.

* ''Film/{{Birdman}}'' employs the aesthetics of a superhero movie, but is actually a BlackComedy[=/=]psychological drama about a former blockbuster actor attempting to start a career in theater.

* ''ComicBook/Watchmen'' could be considered an example of that. While it stars superheroes, there is a minimal amount of actual fighting, and the book mostly consist of people talking, character building flashbacks and protagonists unveiling a conspiracy thriller that doesn't even feature a typical supervillain - while there is a supervillain character, he dies halfway through. Instead, the villain is [[spoiler:another superhero]].

[[AC:Film]]

* Likewise, ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' looks like a ''very'' typical 8-bit RPG with the classical "boy gets lost in the world of monsters" plot... But the thing is, to get the best ending, you have to ''not'' kill monsters and instead befriend them, so monsters and humans eventually make peace. Otherwise, if you play it like a classical RPG and kill all the monsters for points, you get a bad ending where ''you'' become a CompleteMonster.

* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' starts off (and was marketed as) just another gung-ho modern military ThirdPersonShooter in the vein of ''Franchise/CallOfDuty'', but turns out to be a ugly and grim deconstruction of the genre, rife with PTSD, war crimes, and a nihilistic exploration of the hero complex.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' was a straight-up superhero show about three cute kindergartners who brutally beat up supervillains. The [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness final post-movie seasons]] strayed from that, but it was still very much a superhero cartoon. The [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 2016]] remake? [[GenreShift Not so much]]. [[FollowTheLeader Taking from]] ''Teen Titans Go'', it is a lighthearted cartoon with very little actual fighting. It focuses on the girls civilian lives rather than their superhero work. When they do fight, rarely are they depicted actually ''hitting'' their opponents (instead they use HardLight attacks or punch but visibily don't actually come into contact with them). This decrease on fighting in exchange for characterization has turned off most fans of the original, and the creator himself.

[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' starts off (and was marketed as) just another gung-ho modern military ThirdPersonShooter in the vein of ''Franchise/CallOfDuty'', but turns out to be a ugly and grim deconstruction of the genre, rife with PTSD, war crimes, and a nihilistic exploration of the hero complex.

* ''Film/TheLastAdventure'' starts as a lighthearted comedy adventure involving two men and an attractive, young woman on a treasure hunt in The Congo. However, it suddenly takes a very different turn when the girl tragically dies; the rest of the story is about the two other characters mourning her, and one of the remaining two is also killed at the end of the movie.
* ''Film/{{Birdman}}'' employs the aesthetics of a superhero movie, but is actually a black comedy/psychological drama about a former blockbuster actor attempting to start a career in theater.

* ''Literature/DeathOfASuperhero'' by [=Anthony McCarten=] uses the plot about a superhero Miracleman fighting mad doctor The Glove as a framing device for the story of a teenager dying from leukemia.

A work of fiction that attracts the reader/viewer with the entourage of pulp adventures, superhero action, etc. in order to tell an entirely different story, which can be humorous and parodying the genre cliches, or darker and more serious in nature. For example, imagine that an Indiana Jones-style adventurer dies unexpectedly in the first part of the movie, and the rest of the story is about his loved ones coming to terms with his death? Or imagine that [[CityNoir a Gotham-style megalopolis]] and a superhero defending it from organized crime is all in the head of a mental patient?

* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' starts off (and was marketed as) just another gung-ho modern military ThirdPersonShooter in the vein of ''Franchise/CallOfDuty'', but turns out to be a ugly and grim deconstruction of the genre, rife with PTSD, war crimes, and a nihilistic exploration of the hero complex.

* ''Literature/DeathOfASuperhero'' by Anthony McCarten uses the plot about a superhero Miracleman fighting mad doctor The Glove as a framing device for the story of a teenager dying from leukemia.

* ''Film/TheLastAdventure'' starts as a lighthearted comedy adventure involving two male characters and a young attractive female on a treasure hunt in Congo. However, it suddenly takes a very different turn when the female tragically dies; the rest of the story is about the two other characters mourning her, and one of the remaining two is also killed at the end of the movie.

A work of fiction that attracts the reader/viewer with the entourage of pulp adventures, superhero action, etc. in order to tell an entirely different story, which can be humorous and parodying the genre cliches, or darker and more serious in nature. For example, imagine that an Indiana Jones-style adventurer dies unexpectedly in the first part of the movie, and the rest of the story is about his loved ones coming to terms with his death? Or imagine that [[NoirCity a Gotham-style megalopolis]] and a superhero defending it from organized crime is all in the head of a mental patient?

A work of fiction that attracts the reader/viewer with the entourage of pulp adventures, superhero action, etc. in order to tell an entirely different story, which can be humorous and parodying the genre cliches, or darker and more serious in nature. For example, imagine that an Indiana Jones-style adventurer dies unexpectedly in the first part of the movie, and the rest of the story is about his loved ones coming to terms with his death? Or imagine that a Gotham-style megalopolis and a superhero defending it from organized crime is all in the head of a mental patient?