History Main / SelfDeprecation

* While the persona Yahtzee of ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' assumes in his videos is that of a quite pompous, sarcastic, caustic critic, he often takes pot-shots at himself, especially his awkward [[HaveIMentionedThatIAmHeterosexualToday relationship with]] [[{{Asexuality}} sexuality]], and [[HypocrisyNod fully admits]] to often falling prey to some of the same shortcomings that he frequently criticizes developers for in his own games and writing.

'''Waldorf:''' Yeah, that's what ''we're'' for!\\

->''"He had the kind of face only a mother could love if that mother was blind in one eye and had that sort of milky film over the other one, you know? You know what I mean? But still, he ''was'' my identical twin."''

-->'''Mack:''' Hey... they're just using the same actor over and over! What kind of cut-rate production is this?!?

Sure, we all have egos to some degree, save for severe psychological problems; but sometimes you just may not feel like being self-centered or egocentric. Sometimes you may just feel like cracking a joke that says, "Ha! TakeThat, Me[=/=]Us!" This is the essence of [[TitleDrop self-deprecation]]. And there are blondes who tell {{Dumb Blonde Joke}}s, lawyers who tell {{Evil Lawyer Joke}}s and Unitarian Universalists who tell doctrineless-UU jokes.

* Creator/EddieIzzard will sometimes criticize himself, especially during his lapses when he forgets where he was going with a joke.

Sure, we all have egos to some degree, save for severe psychological problems; but sometimes you just may not feel like being self-centered or egocentric. Sometimes you may just feel like cracking a joke that says, "Ha! TakeThat, Me[=/=]Us!" This is the essence of [[TitleDrop self-deprecation]].

A SuperTrope to OurProductSucks. Compare AdamWesting, BitingTheHandHumor, SelfParody, WhoWritesThisCrap, WhoWouldWantToWatchUs, TakeThatAudience, OffendingTheCreatorsOwn, CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation (including WritersSuck) and BitingTheHandHumor (which often involves this trope, seeing as authors usually have someone who greenlights or approves of such works). Contrast TheseTropesLoveToBrag.

* The "What is a Role-Playing Game?" section of ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' RPG (2010) opens "Welcome to the hottest and fastest-growing hobby of, er, 1977".

Sure, we all have egos to some degree, save for severe psychological problems; but sometimes you just may not feel like being self-centered or egocentric. Sometimes you may just feel like cracking a joke that says, "Ha! TakeThat, Me[=/=]Us!" This is the essence of self-deprecation.

A SuperTrope to OurProductSucks. Often overlaps with BitingTheHandHumor, seeing as authors usually have someone who greenlights or approves of such works.

Compare AdamWesting, BitingTheHandHumor, SelfParody, WhoWritesThisCrap, WhoWouldWantToWatchUs, TakeThatAudience, OffendingTheCreatorsOwn, and CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation (including WritersSuck). Contrast TheseTropesLoveToBrag.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', when Chief Bogo [[WhatTheHellHero chews out Judy for disobeying orders and causing a ruckus in Little Rodentia trying to catch a petty criminal]], he also takes the time to poke fun at Disney's reputation for sentimental, idealistic musicals (with a ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}}'' reference, to boot).

-->'''Rapunzel''': Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big strong ''man'' showed up?
-->'''Vanellope''': Yeah! What's up with that?

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', when Zazu is asked by Scar to sing a more upbeat song while imprisoned, Zazu sings the first few words of "It's A Small World", to which Scar vehemently shouts, "No! No! Anything but that!" In the Broadway stage version, Zazu instead sings [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast "Be Our Guest"]], and gets the same reaction from Scar. This doubles as a MythologyGag, since ''Beauty and the Beast,'' was the first Disney animated film that became a musical and paved the way for the Broadway version of ''Lion King''. When ''Beauty and the Beast'' closed, it got replaced with [[Film/MaryPoppins "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"]], and at least one performance has him sing "[[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}} Let It Go]]." [[InsistentTerminology Cast Members]] at Ride/DisneyThemeParks also love taking potshots at "It's A Small World" in general.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', [[spoiler:as Elsa is walking through her past memories during "Show Yourself", she cringes in embarrassment and eye-rolls when she sees herself doing her SexyWalk in "Let It Go"]].

* In-Universe in [[http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=2004&addr=041119 this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip: A TV show's host loves hosting it because it means not having to ''watch'' it. Garfield wished to be the host.

->''"He had the kind of face only a mother could love, if that mother was blind in one eye and had that sort of milky film over the other one, you know? You know what I mean? But still, he ''was'' my identical twin."''
-->-- '''Colin Mochrie''' talking about '''Ryan Stiles''', during [[https://youtu.be/XmnZ9HZTHjw?t=9m43s a game of "Narrate"]] on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''

* Creator/StewartLee is very fond of this, mostly about his weight. One of his routines is about when he reappeared on TV after a couple of years' hiatus; people who didn't even know who he is were still taking pot shots at how he looks.

* The Scottish comedian Arnold Brown tells his audiences that he likes to do self-deprecating humour, even though he's not very good at it.

** Pastis has many [[AuthorGuestSpot cameos]], where he's either portrayed as a pathetic loser, a SmallNameBigEgo or both (one strip even had Rat beat him up with a baseball bat after Pastis had made a blatant plug of one of his strip compilations).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', when Zazu is asked by Scar to sing a more upbeat song while imprisoned, Zazu sings the first few words of "It's A Small World", to which Scar vehemently shouts, "No! No! Anything but that!" In the Broadway stage version, Zazu instead sings [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast "Be Our Guest"]], and gets the same reaction from Scar. This doubles as a MythologyGag, since ''Beauty and the Beast'' was the first Disney animated film that became a musical and paved the way for the Broadway version of ''Lion King''. When ''Beauty and the Beast'' closed, it got replaced with [[Film/MaryPoppins "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"]], and at least one performance has him sing "[[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}} Let It Go]]." [[InsistentTerminology Cast Members]] at Ride/DisneyThemeParks also love taking pot shots at "It's A Small World" in general.

* It also backfired on Wrestling/JayLethal at ''Supercard Of Honor X'' when he claimed ROH giving that year's top prospect a title shot against him proved ROH were out of ideas ([[RealLifeWritesThePlot they were as far as sticking to what they had been advertising]], [[TemptingFate but they were not out of challengers for Lethal]])

* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' often engaged in this. For example in one ''Veterinatian's Hospital'' sketch, when discussing the things that might happen to herald the end of the world, such as "Dr. Bob actually curing a patient", Nurse Piggy suggests "One honest laugh". And then there's JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf.

* It's tradition in game rulebooks to include a page or so showing how the game is played. In the "Obligatory Example of Play" (yep, that's what they called it) in [[TabletopGame/HeroSystem "Lucha Libre Hero"]], one of the players, "Steve", is clearly not getting the point of the game. His character, ''El Heraldo de Justicia'', is described as a "dark-clad avenger of the night", and "Steve" spends most of his actions trying to get his hands on a gun despite the fact that a ''luchador'' can do more damage in this game with his wrestling moves. Steve Long, part-owner of Hero Games, and incidentally the guy who edited "Lucha Libre Hero", got his start as a game designer with the book "Dark Champions", which focused on gritty Punisher-style vigilante action. The flagship character for "Dark Champions" and Steve's very own player character is the Harbinger of Justice. (The section wraps up with "Editor's Note: I do ''so'' have a gun.")

* ''TabletopGame/HoL - Human Occupied Landfill'' is, in general, a parody of hack-and-slash powergaming. In the "Obligatory Example of Play" section, the example game quickly degenerates into the {{Jerkass}} players insulting and then beating the crap out of each other.

* When the 3rd Edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' substantially upgraded dragons' statistics and capabilities, a ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine article was used to preview these alterations. The article took the form of a footnoted discourse between a party of young adventurers planning to confront their first dragon, and some seasoned experts who heaped scorn on their many misconceptions about draconic weaknesses, i.e. all the mostly-unintended liabilities that ''used'' to be true about dragons in 2nd Edition, and that the new rules took pains to correct.

* In the "Back to Neverland" film that used to be shown at The Magic of Disney Animation, when turned into a cartoon character, Creator/RobinWilliams shape shifts into [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs the seven dwarfs]], culminating into transforming into Mickey Mouse, saying, "Hey, everybody! I'm a corporate symbol!"

** ''Dual Destinies'' seems to enjoy making fun of the ability to present random pieces of evidence to people. Doing it to Apollo in Case 3, when playing as Athena, will have him tell her to keep doing it even if it is completely irrelevant, annoying or embarrassing because it is the mark of a true defence attorney. Phoenix will tell Athena to not do it [[HypocriticalHumour with Athena noting the irony.]] In Case 5, presenting random evidence to Edgeworth will have him accuse you of doing it just to get a reaction out of people.

--->'''Strong Sad:''' Strong Bad phones this one in with Strong Bad Email 179. Despite a strong showing from fan favorite Strong Sad, the email ultimately fizzles due to a heavy reliance on what can only be called "Internet pizza jokes".

* ''WebAnimation/TheGrosseryGang'' webseries features Arak Attack, a character portrayed as [[TheBogan a boisterous Aussie villain]] that loads so much slang into his dialogue that he can be near incomprehensible at times. Moose Toys, the parent company of the franchise, is an Australian company.

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** In Chapter 6 of the same game, [[TheProtagonist Hajime]] comes across the freezers in Hope's Peak Academy's Bio Lab where, in the first game, the bodies of the murder victims were being stored... and promptly dismisses storing corpses in a high school biology lab as "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a ridiculous idea that should have been scrapped in development."]]

** In Chapter 6 of the same game, [[TheProtagonist Hajime]] comes across the freezers in Hope's Peak Academy's Bio Lab where it turned out the bodies of the murder victims were being stored... and promptly dismisses storing corpses in a high school biology lab as "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a ridiculous idea that should have been scrapped in development."]]

** In Chapter 6 of the same game, [[TheProtagonist Hajime]] comes across the freezers in Hope's Peak Academy'sBio Lab where it turned out the bodies of the murder victims were being stored... and promptly dismisses storing corpses in a high school biology lab as "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a ridiculous idea that should have been scrapped in development."]]

** In Chapter 6 of the same game, [[TheProtagonist Hajime]] comes across the freezers in Hope's Peak Academy Bio Lab where it turned out the bodies of the murder victims were being stored... and promptly dismisses storing corpses in a high school biology lab as "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a ridiculous idea that should have been scrapped in development."]]

** In Chapter 6 of the same game, [[TheProtagonist Hajime]] comes across the freezers in Hope's Peak Academy Bio Lab where it turned out the bodies of the murder victims were being stored... and promptly dismisses storing corpses in a high school biology lab as "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a ridiculous idea that should have been scrapped in development."