History Main / GenreDeconstruction

* ''Gingema's Daughter'', the first book in Sukhinov's "Emerald City" series (Continuation of TheWizardOfOZ), heavily deconstructs TheQuest and TheHerosJourney. The heroine starts out as a small girl in a Munchkin village who isn't content with simple life and runs away. She finds an [[EvilMentor old Mentor]] (complete with the advice "witchcraft is the hardest profession in the world"), learns something from her, gets a [[CoolPet cool]] ActionPet, starts WalkingTheEarth, helping people who are kind to her and punishing those rude to her, gradually gains new abilities, gets in several dangerous situations which she overcomes thanks to her cleverness (and help from her animal companion), befriends the Woodsman, eventually becomes one of the strongest witches in magic land and finaly becomes [[StandardHeroReward queen of OZ]]. and

* ''DMOfTheRings'' deconstructs TabletopGames, especially of the fantasy variety. TheLordOfTheRings was basically the TropeCodifier for FantasyLiterature, with an epic plot and massive, meticulously crafted backstory. For decades now {{Roleplaying Game}}s have often been based on fantasy stories and set in fantasy worlds... but you know, the actual progression of a roleplaying game doesn't look a thing like a fantasy novel, certainly not a ''good'' one. DMOfTheRings takes several familiar player archetypes and transplants them into LOTR, and it's a disaster. The GM needs to use {{Railroading}} on the players every step of the way. Left to their own devices, they would have killed the elves of Lorien for the loot. They also complain endlessly about the boredom of the story (there's nothing to fight but orcs over and over again and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the balrog, which their characters don't have the slightest chance against) and the way all the battles and side missions are entirely irrelevant to the main plot.

* ''AlienDice'' is a deconstruction of {{Mons}} and especially ''Pokémon''. The eponymous Alien Dice is a DeadlyGame of GottaCatchEmAll. Here, any species, {{Human|Aliens}}oid or animal-like can be turned into a mon and get captured when defeated by players. Also, the "mons", despite their HealingFactor do suffer badly in battle.

* ''{{Erfworld}}'' is a world where Tabletop Strategy rules are literally true, such as citizens popping in fully grown and a defeated team being frozen in time until someone comes to try and kill them. The more the rules become clear, the creepier everything starts to become.

* ''VGCats'' deconstructs the cartoon violence of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=207 this strip]].
* ''{{Goblins}}: Life Through Their Eyes'' takes a good hard look at the UnfortunateImplications of labeling whole races AlwaysChaoticEvil. It portrays the titular goblins not as ''monsters'' but as ''people'' who live and love. It shows us that what {{Player Character}}s see as just an XP haul isn't so fun when ''you're'' the one they're killing to level up.
* ''[[TalesOfTheQuestor Quentin Quinn Space Ranger]]'', an offshoot of ''TalesOfTheQuestor'', is Deconstructing ''Franchise/StarTrek'' right now. So far the design of the starship Enterprise, the habit of using forcefield airlocks without wearing space suits and the ProudWarriorRaceGuy have already been hit. Hard. Up next is engineering.
* The entire premise behind ''DarthsAndDroids'' is that the ''StarWars'' universe is the result of a group of {{Tabletop Game|s}}rs (including a 7 year old girl) making it up as they go along. It lends a whole new perspective to the storyline of the prequel trilogy. The entire mess on Naboo was the result of the Player Characters epically ruining a delicate, carefully constructed plan by going OffTheRails, and engaging in all the sins of TheRealMan, TheMunchkin, and TheLoonie. Palpatine is actually a good guy overthrowing a corrupt regime, and trying to bring a semblance of stability to the republic. Darth Maul was just a ChaoticNeutral [[HiredGuns Hired Gun]] who was only trying to work ''with'' the player characters, before they attacked him. To top it all off, some the most bizarre and unrealistic plot points, such as Naboo being governed by a ''14 year old Queen'' exist because [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Jar Jar Binks]] is being played by a little girl.

* Pretty much anything ever written by AndrewHussie, but ''ProblemSleuth'' and especially ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' stand out in particular in this respect.
* ''{{Misfile}}'' can be considered a broad deconstruction of the GenderBender TransformationComic, showing how much it would actually suck if you were transformed into the opposite gender and didn't have those kind of tendencies to start with (the part frequently ignored by TG comic fans who wish something like that could happen to them.) Ash is depicted like a real transgendered teen would be (literally a boy trapped in a girl's body), with a realistic level of distress to not only the biological and social changes, but to also having the entire foundation of your world and personal identity ripped out from underneath you.

* ''TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'' - deconstructs the backstory of VideoGame/MetalGearSolid enemies, revealing first and foremost that it was never about Solid Snake. It was all Liquid.
* Webcomic/CuantaVida: Deconstruction of VideoGame/TeamFortress2 par none. [[SarcasmMode Because what's funnier]] [[AnyoneCanDie than lovable characters who can die at any time]], [[{{Gorn}} of horrible injuries no less,]] [[ClosedCircle in battlefields miles from their homes]]? As with TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND, the game becomes MUCH less funny afterwards.

* ''DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' is a deconstruction of the classic {{Superhero}} vs. {{Supervillain}} conflict, as follows:

* ''ThePrimeOfMissJeanBrodie'' is another quite brutal one, about the idea of the BlitheSpirit CoolTeacher, who in this case is revealed to have some quite questionable ideas about what's best for her students, and all of them end up having miserable lives due to her influence, which she has no remorse over as long as they bucked the system she imagines she's fighting. Oddly enough, this came out before several of the more famous straight examples of the genre.

* ''Literature/FunnyBusiness'' deconstructs both the trope of [[GooGooGodlike a small child having godlike power]] ''and'' [[EnfantTerrible the most common way of doing so]]. The main character [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler is quickly revealed]] to be a RealityWarper, but she seems nice enough and doesn't appear to abuse her power all that much. It is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:when she was a child, she acted more or less like [[ItsAGoodLife Anthony Fremont]], causing people who annoyed her to disappear. However, this is only because a toddler doesn't have the mental or moral development to act unselfishly, and when she grows older [[note]]we're talking three years old, here[[/note]] she is disgusted with herself for being an EnfantTerrible and comes to believe that she is the scum of the earth.]]

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation Wiki, although beginning as a creepypasta site, has largely evolved into a deconstruction on the UrbanFantasy genre, depicting a shadowy organization entirely devoted to capturing and imprisoning all of those magicians, psychics, and mystic artifacts that populate said settings, to maintain the status quo.

* ''MButterfly'' is a deconstruction of the Western fantasy of [[MeLoveYouLongTime getting with an Asian chick]] in general, and Puccini's opera ''MadameButterfly'' in particular.

*** The Comedian is the UnbuiltTrope of the NinetiesAntiHero. [[SuperheroPackingHeat Big guns]], wisecracks, big muscles, and badass mannerisms abound... as do [[BreadEggsMilkSquick attempted rape, misogyny, murder of innocents, and moral nihilism]]. All these are merely his emotional shields. He has a breakdown when he discovers [[spoiler:Adrian Veidt]]'s plot because it was so horrifying [[EvenEvilHasStandards even to him]] [[spoiler: and CrazyEnoughToWork]]. The Comedian also deconstructs the idea of superheroes like CaptainAmerica who embody patriotic ideals and work for the government -- he's a black-ops agent who does highly unethical things, and as noted, couldn't give a damn about any ideals.

** Does anyone remember what kicked off the Marvel {{Civil War}}? A group of superhero reality TV Stars.
* Moore's earlier work, ''Marvelman'' (''Comicbook/{{Miracleman}}'' in the United States) deconstructs many aspects of the [[{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] mythos and superheroes in general. In one particularly memorable instance, it deconstructed superhero battles by showing just how bloody and devastating they would be in a more realistic setting.
* Deconstruction in comics is even older than that, dating at least back to the BronzeAge. In TheSeventies, DC came out with ''GreenLantern[=/=]GreenArrow'', in which the title characters do superhero stuff while at the same time, arguing about the morality and political implications. As a result, the more lawful GreenLantern and the more chaotic GreenArrow butted heads many, MANY times.
* Hell! You could even argue that it dates back to the SilverAge! When StanLee first pitched the idea of [[{{Spiderman}} a superhero with real life problems]] his editor replied "Don't you know what a superhero is?"
* A 70's storyline in ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' tried to deconstruct the concept of the TokenMinority. TheFalcon is forced into the team in order to fill a diversity quota, which not only leads to friction with {{Hawkeye}}, but causes Falcon to doubt his own worth as a hero. He eventually quits after growing to resent being thought of as the Avengers' token black guy.

* The entire Creator/MarvelComics Siege [[MetaPlot macro-crisis]] was a DeconstructorFleet of the entire Marvel Comics universe, the ReedRichardsIsUseless trope and the idea of the superhero in general.

* The ''EdEddNEddy'' episode "1+ 1=Ed" is a deconstruction of how cartoons work, similar to DuckAmuck.

** This is pretty much HilariousInHindsight when you consider that the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies (which were loosely based on the ride) are centered around the same types of romanticized, swashbuckling Type 2 Pirates that the ride had denounced.

** This is pretty much HilariousInHindsight when you consider that the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies (which were loosely based on the ride) are centered around the romanticized, swashbuckling Type 2 Pirates that the ride had denounced.

** This is pretty much HilariousInHindsight when you consider that the Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean movies (which were loosely based on the ride) are centered around the romanticized, swashbuckling Type 2 Pirates that the ride had denounced.

** This is pretty much HilariousInHindsight when you consider that the Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean movies (which were loosely based on the ride) are featured around the romanticized, swashbuckling Type 2 Pirates that the ride had denounced.

* ''{{Heathers}}'' is a rather bitter deconstruction of the popular John Hughes style teen movies at the time. The bad boy the heroine lusts after is actually a disturbed psycho who lures the heroine into his scheme to murder the popular kids and he even tries to [[spoiler: blow up the school and pass it off as a group suicide]]. She isn't happy to be part of the popular kids and it's actually that which makes her want to murder them. Also the GirlPosse aren't the cookie cutter bad guys with one of them being bulimic and sick of being a butt monkey while another genuinely contemplates suicide.

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' deconstructs the more cerebral, RPGElements-gifted and EmergentGameplay style of FirstPersonShooter games (such as ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' and ''VideoGame/SystemShock'') by showing you exactly how much choice you actually have. [[spoiler:None. During the entire game you are essentially on the leash of MissionControl and the ButThouMust demands it makes of you, and all the choices you can make (ammo types, plasmid loadout, etc) are (with one specific exemption) basically meaningless in terms of the game's plot.]] In addition, [[DeconstructedTrope several other tropes unrelated to the genre are deconstructed as well]], most famously the concept of "Galt's Gulch" from Creator/AynRand's novel ''AtlasShrugged''.

** While the earlier games promised hard decisions with no easy answers, they mostly left [[TakeAThirdOption an easy way out in the major quests.]] But the additional ending in the Extended version manages to deconstruct that. After [[HateDumb fan outcry]] for a way to resist taking a choice from a [[UnreliableExpositor possibly untrustworthy source]] that determines your ending, BioWare put just that in the ending. You can take a fourth option now. [[spoiler: And doing so results in [[KillEmAll all sentient life in the galaxy dying]] [[YouBastard because you're too full of yourself to face a situation with no unambiguously happy results.]]]]

** It first starts with Avengers Disassembled showing what happens when you entrust the world to a set few ultra powerful humans. It then goes into HouseOfM, proving what happens if the super humans took over.

** In some ways, ''Eva'' resembles the early days of the RealRobotGenre. Shinji Ikari has quite a few similarities with [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro Ray]], the most iconic mecha protagonist in anime history. While Amuro's relationship with his father is not nearly as bad as Shinji's, Amuro's father ''does'' go insane while building the RX-78 and due to his injuries in the first episode. Amuro is just as "whiny" as Shinji, but is forced to accept responsibilities in the military hierarchy and grows to maturity through that. Even his reaction to his accidental [[spoiler: killing of Lalah]] resembles Shinji's after [[spoiler: killing Kaworu]].

* The original ''{{Gundam}}'' series (parent of the RealRobotGenre) could count as a deconstruction of the SuperRobotGenre too. To even begin to be able to pilot the Gundam, Amuro already had a strong background with electronics, and the Gundam's manual. His early battles shook him greatly, and Char kicked his ass easily in their early fights, despite being in the less advanced Zaku 2. Of course, in later Real Robot shows, the flavor of the SuperRobotGenre would kick in...

** Also brings up the true implications of the LovableSexManiac / BromanticFoil. Makoto's best friend Taisuke is a spirited yet hopeless romantic, and his perverted antics and subsequent rejections are portrayed as zany comic relief for most of the show. But then after being turned down once again on the day of the school festival, he resorts to actually ''raping a girl'' via taking avantage of her [[HeroicBSOD when she's at her lowest point]]; this not only throws the victim through the DespairEventHorizon, but it shos the character archetype to be much less harmless than commonly assumed.

** And then there's the endings. So you're the OnlySaneMan hero gathered a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to fight against an AncientConspiracy who sweeps in and destroys all organic life for an apparently incomprehensible reason. What happens? [[spoiler: Did you really think over loading the mass relays wasn't going to have horrible consequences, even if you stop the Reavers?]]

*** Adding on to that, [=MGS4=] explores the concept of the BadassGrandpa. Snake's willingness to fight in spite of his advanced physical age isn't solely depicted as being admirable but also as being foolish and suicidal, people who idolized Snake back in the day patronize him and treat him as a burden, and in general Snake's age is the subject of cruel jokes. In fact, Snake's lifebar is changed to ''Old Snake'' to emphasize this.
** If Metal Gear Solid and later games in the series dealt with action and spy movies, then {{Policenauts}} tackled fiction that involved space travel and space colonization such as {{Gundam}}. It is shown, said, or suggested in the game that there are issues with overcrowding, assorted denizens are on medications that are of dubious legality, said denizens need to be careful when it comes to their calcium intake, and that humans born and raised on Beyond Coast are taught to act differently from earth born humans to the point there are accents for both of them. And there's even more than all of that, such as how living in a space colony affects sex working. Ultimately, the {{Big Bad}} basically says in the {{Motive Rant}} that humanity in the universe of Policenauts was not ready to leave Earth, especially seeing as how the Earth's problems still hadn't been properly dealt with, and the player might very well agree with that. As an article on {{Hardcore Gaming 101}} [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/policenauts/policenauts.htm puts it]]:

A subtrope of {{Deconstruction}}; GenreDeconstruction occurs when the author of a work performs {{deconstruction}} on a specific genre.

Whilst deconstructing a genre (and doing it well) will change a genre forever, please note that [[TropesAreNotBad deconstruction of a genre is not a bad thing]] (Your Mileage May Vary on this of course, despite the given facts). Many famous works credited with revolutionizing their media and genres have been [[GenreDeconstruction Genre Deconstructions]]. This is because deconstruction is one of the ways genres can change themselves; flaws are hunted down in the deconstruction and corrected in the following {{reconstruction}}. Deconstruction can also add depth and enhance realism, which in turn assists audiences in suspending their disbelief.

* The Deconstruction entry at the ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' presents a case about the movie being the GenreDeconstruction of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', and the EmotionalTorque entry, in that same page, argues that this GenreDeconstruction saved the franchise.

* GeorgeRRMartin's ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' is generally seen as being a deconstruction on romanticized, medievalesque societies in fantasy. Martin himself made a comment along the lines of "If a real-life stable-boy talked back to the Princess, he was likely to lose a tongue in the process." He's also fond of developing characters that fit many of the archetypes, then showing how difficult it would really be for them under more realistic circumstances. Eddard Stark is a premier example of the "noble lord" type of character, being honorable, just, and sympathetic, a good father and skilled leader in battle, but his positive qualities spell disaster for himself and his family.

* There can be a very good case made for ''TheVentureBrothers'' being a deconstruction of ''JonnyQuest and DocSavage''-style [[TwoFistedTales stories]]. Some say spoof, some say deconstruction, some say [[DeconstructiveParody both]].

** ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' -- a remake of ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', although ''Yojimbo'' was an adaptation of DashiellHammett's ''Literature/RedHarvest''