| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
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| 3 | [[folder:Creators]] |
| 4 | * Creator/IsaacAsimov was a pioneer of science fiction; thus he constructed and deconstructed several tropes. |
| 5 | ** He created the [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws of Robotics]], which have been imitated by many other science fiction writers. However, Asimov's Robot stories were mostly dedicated to the Laws' inadequacies. This was largely in response to the opinion that robots would be inherently [[AIIsACrapshoot dangerous and unpredictable]], but Asimov believed that robots, like all technology, are merely tools, and any danger they might pose would be the result of [[MurphysLaw misuse or abuse by humans]]. He deconstructed his own laws in many ways, but also {{reconstruct|ion}}ed them as well. For example: [[LoopholeAbuse manipulation of the laws to subvert their intent]]; exploring how adjusting the laws in an apparently benign way could have [[GoneHorriblyWrong disastrous consequences]] if viewed from an extremely literal perspective (like, say, that of [[LiteralMinded a robot]]); the problem with interpreting what it means to "cause harm", especially in ways more subtle than robots (and even humans) can understand; exploiting a robot's ignorance to make it [[ObliviouslyEvil unknowingly inflict harm]]; and how a sufficiently intelligent robot could avert the sometimes LawfulStupid aspect of the laws by applying them less literally where appropriate (the basis for the ZerothLawRebellion trope). |
| 6 | ** ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'': This {{trilogy}} codified TheFederation, under the name of the "Galactic Empire". The main plot describes the inherent '''weakness''' of interstellar democracy, and its decay into a corrupted [[TheEmpire Empire]]. While it is one of the formative works of the Golden Age of science fiction, Hari Seldon is neither the archetypal ActionHero or ScienceHero character, but instead a GuileHero who uses social and political tools against the Foundation's enemies... he dies of old age before the plot begins in earnest, [[PosthumousCharacter not that it stops him]] from guiding the development of the next HegemonicEmpire. |
| 7 | * Creator/JaneAusten: |
| 8 | ** ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' was written at a time when women found men like TheStoic Mr. Darcy completely ''unattractive''. Today, of course, [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys this only augments his attraction]] right off the bat rather than detracting from it. |
| 9 | *** Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy [[MisaimedFandom are often cited as]] the quintessential BelligerentSexualTension couple — passionate dislike is just a mask for passionate love. But Elizabeth herself tells her first suitor Mr. Collins (whom she legitimately cannot stand) that [[TakeThat this is a ridiculous notion]] and sometimes, no; not everyone who claims to dislike someone is in denial (otherwise, she may just as well have feelings for Mr. Collins!). A paragraph comparing Elizabeth's changing feelings for Wickham and Darcy clearly shows that the initial conflict between the OfficialCouple was just supposed to show how feelings can evolve in the real world as opposed to the FairyTale LoveAtFirstSight. Dislike can evolve into love; nowhere does anyone imply dislike automatically equals love... except Mr. Collins. |
| 10 | *** Far from being the perfect, misunderstood romantic ideal his fangirls tend to swoon over him as being, ''Mr. Darcy'' himself admits to Elizabeth that a significant part of her earlier dislike and condemnation of him was entirely justified[[labelnote:Explanation]]On the one hand, Elizabeth was wrong about Darcy cheating Wickham, and was initially blind to Wickham's true nature. On the other hand, while Darcy breaking up Bingley and Jane was a well-intentioned move to save his best friend from a loveless marriage, he was wrong and Jane did truly love Bingley[[/labelnote]], that he actually was a disdainful snob (albeit to not quite the extent Elizabeth had presupposed), and that he genuinely did have to work at taking her criticisms on board and improving his character to earn her affection. |
| 11 | ** ''Literature/{{Emma}}'': Emma Woodhouse is an example for SpoiledSweet. Emma is a young woman of landed gentry in the position to behave like a RichBitch. She is spoiled by her doting father and her loving governess, but she also has a happy disposition, loves her family and friends, and treats servants and people of lower social standings really well. She is charitable to the poor, but doesn't have romantic ideas about them. She lacks the naivety and cheerfulness associated with the archetype. She befriends a young orphan, Harriet, for whom she intends to find a suitable match. However, Emma is prone to attitude: she doesn't consider a young farmer who is in love with Harriet good enough and she actively separates the couple, though with good intentions and her heart tells her she's not being fair. Quite realistically, she cannot be sweet to everyone: she doesn't like Jane Fairfax and really dislikes the insufferable Mrs Elton, but tries to be polite to them. She finds some of her neighbours tiresome, but treats them with compassion and respect. She rarely slips and is rude or unkind, but whenever that happens, she repents deeply. |
| 12 | * Creator/JorgeLuisBorges: |
| 13 | ** "Literature/TheLibraryOfBabel" is this for the GreatBigLibraryOfEverything trope. The library contains not only every book ever written, but every book it is ''possible'' to write, [[SturgeonsLaw the overwhelming majority of which are complete keyboard-mashing gibberish]]. |
| 14 | ** Several of Borges' stories are actually parodies of the very tropes that post-modernist inspired authors took seriously. Borges has inspired several metafictional writers but the point of ''Averroes' Dream'' is that you can't really get into the viewpoint of another man in another culture, the ConspiracyKitchenSink mentality popular in a lot of latter-day detective shows gets mercilessly parodied in ''Death and the Compass'' and other stories like ''Pierre Menard'' are precisely spoofs. |
| 15 | * Creator/AgathaChristie: |
| 16 | ** Literature/HerculePoirot is the {{Trope Namer|s}} for PoirotSpeak. But unlike many later examples, it's a deliberate affectation on the character's part. Poirot talks the way he does to make himself [[ObfuscatingStupidity seem like]] a FunnyForeigner and get people to underestimate him. |
| 17 | ** Vera Claythorne in ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' is seemingly the originator of the FinalGirl trope -- in a work in which a SerialKiller preys on victims, she has the personality of TheIngenue, and is the last one standing. However, Vera plays out as a very skewed take on the trope; beneath her innocent persona, Vera is actually mentally unbalanced and is guilty of a very evil act; [[spoiler:when she was a governess, [[WouldHurtAChild she killed the boy]] she was responsible for while [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident making it look like she had nothing to do with it]] so her lover (who was the boy's uncle) could inherit his estate instead so he could have enough money to marry her]]. In fact, the reason she is designated as the final survivor is because the killer perceived her as (one of) the most evil of the bunch and the killer wanted to punish the most guilty by letting them live longer and suffer the mental trauma -- in contrast with all later versions in which the FinalGirl is the most innocent. [[spoiler:And Vera still doesn't survive long enough to be rescued by anybody; [[LastSurvivorSuicide after she kills the last remaining character she hangs herself]], out of a combination of guilt and trauma.]] |
| 18 | ** Adaptations of Agatha Christie's works since the 1970s have sometimes been criticised for romanticising and idealising the GenteelInterbellumSetting. One of the last Miss Marple novels, ''Literature/AtBertramsHotel'', written and set in the 1960s, depicts the "timeless" and old-world atmosphere of the titular London hotel as a front for a criminal conspiracy, and ends with Miss Marple deciding that one must accept that the world has changed and not try to live in the past. |
| 19 | ** Christie also established EveryoneIsASuspect, and deconstructed it in ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'', where EverybodyDidIt. [[spoiler:The victim had been a crime boss who kidnapped a child of a wealthy family for ransom, and [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo killed her anyways]]. This led to more deaths and more traumas for her family. Since [[AssholeVictim the victim's act was so heinous]], and Poirot himself detested the man, he lets the perpetrators off the hook.]] |
| 20 | * Creator/CharlesDickens: |
| 21 | ** ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'': |
| 22 | *** The book's formula [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol has been repeated over and over again for almost two hundred years]]. But what people forget is that Charles Dickens wrote it (like many of his works) as an AuthorTract about the cruel attitudes Victorian elites had about the poor. The story is about Scrooge not just regaining his love for the holiday, but learning to feel compassion for his fellow man. |
| 23 | *** Also, Scrooge is the TropeCodifier of TheGrinch as a man who hates Christmas, even though [[CharacterExaggeration most adaptations of the story play up this trait more than the original work]]. Even then, the story deconstructs the idea long before [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas the trope-naming Grinch]] existed. The narrative takes pains to examine why Scrooge is always so consistently miserable around Christmas time by showing many a FreudianExcuse for the man, while also [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse calling out this explanation for what a petty and shallow reason it is to be so sour to everyone else around Christmas]]. |
| 24 | *** Scrooge has become the {{Trope Namer|s}} for [[TheScrooge stingy and unsentimental jerks who hoard their wealth]], but the story dissects just what it would take to be [[JerkassWoobie miserable enough]] to end up that way. He's lost the love of his life in Belle, never got to see his sister, frequently was alone in school, and often was a {{workaholic}} even when he was told to take it easy. He pursues earning money honestly at all costs, which isn't a bad thing by itself. But Scrooge hoards his wealth as a way of protecting himself from the outside world. Not only is this not working, it's actively making him miserable, and Scrooge [[IRejectYourReality refuses to see any way other than his own]]. It's only once Scrooge sees the consequences of his actions firsthand in the spirits [[IntangibleTimeTravel showing him what's happened and what will happen because of this attitude]] that Scrooge finally gets that he needs to spread this money around. |
| 25 | *** While Scrooge is a deeply unpleasant person, the story also goes to some lengths to point out that he is also a relatively virtuous person. He is avaricious, but the money he is after is money he is legitimately owed. Bob Crachit is poorly paid, but his wages are average for a clerk in London then. The story isn't about a non-virtuous person suddenly becoming virtuous, it's about him realizing that his "mercantile" virtues (honesty) are nothing compared to "Christian" virtues (love of his fellow man). Conversely, this also qualifies as a {{deconstruction}} of the VillainyFreeVillain. Scrooge isn't doing anything evil, but he's still a villain because he ''doesn't'' use his money to do good for others. |
| 26 | *** Tiny Tim might be a prototypical example of a LittlestCancerPatient, but he's probably suffering from something like rickets, a disease common around the time of the book's initial publishing in 1843. It's outright said that the disease Tiny Tim has (whatever it is) isn't ''necessarily'' fatal; it's just that Bob Crachit and his family are too poor to afford the treatment. In the alternate future, Tiny Tim does succumb to the illness, but after Scrooge [[HeelFaceTurn changes his ways]], not only does Tiny Tim not die because Bob Crachit's salary has been increased to a livable wage and thus can pay for the medical treatment, but Scrooge "became a second father" to him. |
| 27 | ** ''Literature/OliverTwist'': |
| 28 | *** The original TheArtfulDodger generally fits the LovableRogue characterization of later adaptations/trope examples, but is still presented as TheCorrupter to Oliver, and ends the book being tried for a theft, and his amusing bluster and insistence on being a victim of society does nothing to impress the judge, and he is SentencedToDownUnder. Subverting this along with the related trope of SatisfiedStreetRat, the narrator indicates that all of the children in Fagin's gang, except for Charley Bates, went to bad ends. Of course, whether this is truly an illustration of Dickens' originality or his tendencies as a Victorian moralist is another matter. |
| 29 | *** The book is also a {{Trope Namer|s}} for TheFagin. While initially portrayed as a worldly old man, it's clear Fagin's charm is only [[BitchInSheepsClothing skin deep]]. He is portrayed as a [[{{Greed}} greedy]], [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]], [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], and [[WouldHurtAChild abusive]] man and ends up getting others injured and killed. By the end of the story, he's been sentenced to hang for his crimes, and is [[BreakTheHaughty reduced to a self-pitying loser]]. Completely different from the LighterAndSofter Fagin from the 1968 film, as well as the other portrayals of this trope. Of course, this is for understandable reasons since Dickens' Fagin is an anti-semitic stereotype that [[ValuesDissonance made him unacceptable to portray as originally conceived]], and even [[CreatorBacklash Dickens later regretted this]]. |
| 30 | * Creator/AlexandreDumas: |
| 31 | ** ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' is the {{Trope Maker|s}} of the BodybagTrick. As Edmond Dantes's mate Abbé Faria dies, Edmond takes his place in the body bag, intending to get buried, and dig himself out. He is shocked when he gets ''thrown into the sea'' instead, but narrowly manages to escape. |
| 32 | ** ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' also [[TropeCodifier codified]] the CameBackWithAVengeance plot, in which the protagonist suffers a massive reversal of fortune and then returns to take revenge on the people who wronged them, with all the AesopCollateralDamage that ensues. However, Dumas makes it clear throughout that while the Count's anger and hatred towards those who betrayed him is completely valid, he goes ''way'' too far in his quest for justice and retribution, especially since he also plans to destroy the children of his betrayers. [[spoiler:Upon inadvertently [[DeathOfAChild getting a child killed]], the Count realizes that VengeanceFeelsEmpty, and lets his final target live]]. |
| 33 | ** The original novel of ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' is a lot like ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' in that while it's a major influence on the {{swashbuckler}} genre, it's much more cynical than the films it inspired (including most of its own adaptations). D'Artagnan is something of an anti-hero: he has several love affairs and is not above [[BedTrick tricking Milady into sleeping with him]] while she thinks she's sleeping with her lover. Unlike the malevolent EvilChancellor of adaptations, Richelieu is an AntiVillain who has France's welfare in mind. Ultimately, D'Artagnan ends up ''working for him'' and becomes good friends with Rochefort, Richelieu's [[TheDragon Dragon]], after [[DefeatMeansFriendship besting him in several duels]]. The later books tended to deconstruct it further, with all of their antics in the first book biting them in the ass repeatedly in the later ones, and the most chivalric of the four suffering the most for his Royalist and traditional stances. |
| 34 | ** The concept of the ManInTheIronMask and the bad ruler being replaced by their good and virtuous twin/double who had been cruelly imprisoned was first made popular by ''[[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers The Vicomte de Bragelonne]]''. However, unlike the several film adaptations and works inspired by the book, Dumas makes it clear that the switcheroo scheme is ''not'' a good thing. Louis XIV isn't a tyrant and hasn't done anything to warrant being replaced other than playing hard and fast in his love affairs; while Louis' secret twin brother Philippe is a genuinely noble person, Aramis isn't masterminding the plot for the good of the country but purely so that he can install Philippe as a puppet ruler and profit from being his advisor/puppeteer, maybe even becoming pope some day; the only other musketeer involved in the plot, Porthos, is outright deceived into helping as he would ''never'' have gone along with it if he knew the truth; and Philippe's imprisonment from birth wasn't even his brother's fault, as it was actually ordered by their parents. And crucially, the plot ''fails.'' While abducting Louis and switching in Philippe is initially a success, Fouquet -- a minister who would also have profited from Aramis' schemes, though he wasn't even aware of the plan -- is horrified when he learns the truth and rushes to rescue Louis from his imprisonment in the Bastille, with the help of D'Artagnan. Aramis has to flee the country and it's only at ''this'' point that Philippe is actually forced into the iron mask as punishment for his part in the plot, rather than his having to wear it during his initial incarceration. |
| 35 | * Creator/HarlanEllison: |
| 36 | ** ''Literature/ABoyAndHisDog'' is one of the earliest examples of PostApocalypticDog and is probably the TropeCodifier for it. This can be hard to realize given that it's also a very weird and deconstructive take on the concept; the dog is sentient and ''telepathic'', and is also a ruthless being who coordinates his master's amoral behavior. The tendency for such dogs to be [[SacrificialLion Sacrificial Lions]] is also subverted -- [[spoiler:the VillainProtagonist murders his love interest to ensure the dog survives]]. |
| 37 | ** ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' has AM, one of the earliest examples of AIIsACrapshoot. Originally part of a set of three enormous computers, AM was built to wage WorldWarIII, later awaking sentience and absorbing the other two computers before unleashing a genocide on humanity, leaving five survivors that he brings into his complex. However, AM isn't driven by cold computer logic about [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves human nature]] or a desire for self-preservation. Not only is AM fully capable of emotion, he is ''livid'' that humanity made him so powerful and yet he's trapped by his hardware and his programming. There's nothing he can ''do'' with his power besides wage war and inflict death and suffering; [[CreativeSterility he can't truly create anything]] and he can't escape his complex. He grabbed five survivors, who had nothing to do with his creation, just to subject them to everlasting torment for the situation he's in. Rather than cold logic, AM is fueled by pure hatred, as he makes very clear in his famous monologue [[NewerThanTheyThink (although that was added for the computer game adaptation)]]. |
| 38 | * Creator/{{Homer}}: |
| 39 | ** ''Literature/TheIliad'' is one of the founding works of Western Literature. However, it can be surprisingly modern in its depiction of war and the characters. It is clearly shown that most of the men are [[WarIsHell sick of war]], while the overall commander is a selfish character who misjudges his men and almost ruins his cause with his own inabilities and arrogance. |
| 40 | *** The best fighter is, in modern terms, a man without discipline, who commits insubordination, and is a [[SoldierVsWarrior warrior rather than a soldier]], being the {{Trope Namer|s}} for AchillesInHisTent. His actions lead to his faction facing their DarkestHour. Meanwhile, Hector, though often portrayed as the most moral figure in a CrapsackWorld, has a self-destructive sense of war and has quite an unpleasant side, wanting to despoil Patroclus's corpse. There's no hiding the fact that [[BlackAndGrayMorality every faction gleefully and unrepentantly commits war crimes]], hypocritically going to war to avenge the honor of one woman's husband while in the process raping and dishonouring priestesses, temples, and the Gods they claim to believe in. |
| 41 | *** Homer also portrays the Greek Gods as little more than {{Spoiled Brat}}s with too much time and power on their hands; they are fundamentally indifferent to human suffering, and the support of one faction of Gods for the Greeks and the Trojans is more or less whimsical. Athena, the supposed goddess of wisdom, is a bigger warmonger than Ares, who gets defeated by Diomedes armed and aided by other Gods. Zeus gets distracted from his Trojan sympathies after being seduced by Hera and having sex with her, while the Greeks get the upper hand on the Trojans, and after the climax, when realizing that he was fooled by Hera, he more or less decides to wash his hands of the Trojans because he's humiliated and shunned enough. The cosmic nature of their coupling, the link between sex and war, and the amorality at the heart of the cosmos and existence itself is a major theme of the epic. Some interpretations of the story hold that the reason the Gods are so callous is because, [[ImmortalityImmorality being immortal, their conflicts inevitably end with the participants alive and well, which makes it difficult for them to appreciate the seriousness of war for humans.]] |
| 42 | *** When viewed on its own, the ''Iliad'' can also read like a deconstruction of TheEpic as a form of storytelling, as it's considerably more personal and intimate than most later self-proclaimed "epics" in Western literature. Despite its massive scope and action-packed narrative, the momentous events of the Trojan War are really just a backdrop for the ''real'' story, which is a fairly downbeat tale about an angry soldier who gets into a feud with his commanding officer and seeks to avenge the murder of his best friend. Not only does it begin [[InMediasRes after the Trojan War has already been going for ten years]], most of it occurs [[ExtremelyShortTimespan over the course of just four days]], and the war is still ''far'' from over by the time it ends. The resolution of the conflict doesn't come from the war ending, but from the protagonist [[PetTheDog swallowing his anger and showing a small act of kindness to the father of his enemy, even if he is the overall enemy leader]]. Put into cinematic terms: the ''Iliad'' has a lot more in common with ''Film/TheHurtLocker'' than ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia''. |
| 43 | ** ''Literature/TheOdyssey'': |
| 44 | *** The story is one of the oldest examples of TheQuest in Western literature, inspiring countless later tales about rugged heroes journeying through strange landscapes and battling monsters with their companions. People often forget that Odysseus' quest is nothing as grandiose as SavingTheWorld, or even [[MacGuffin searching for treasure]]. Instead, his situation is one [[ValuesResonance that plenty of modern veterans know all too well]]: he's a ''soldier'' who just wants to go home again after years of being separated from his wife and son on the battlefield, and his journey is less a grand adventure than a punishment from the gods [[JerkassGods determined to deny him his homecoming]]. Even [[{{Determinator}} his arduous quest]] can be pretty easily read as [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything symbolic]] of a soldier's struggle to reintegrate into civilian life. |
| 45 | *** Odysseus' crew might seem to be a cynical deconstruction of the noble and loyal TrueCompanions who would typically accompany TheHero on his quest. For all their courage, they regularly prove themselves to be disobedient, cowardly and idiotic at the worst possible times, to the point that [[TheLoad they hinder Odysseus' progress nearly as often as they help him]]. They even (temporarily) ruin his chances at getting home by opening Aeolus' sack containing the winds in the belief the sack contains treasure, and ''all'' of them are ultimately [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed by a divine thunderbolt]] when they can't resist the urge to kill and eat Helios' cattle--forcing Odysseus to finish his journey alone. |
| 46 | * Creator/StephenKing: |
| 47 | ** ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'', published in 1974, examined [[AxesAtSchool school violence]] decades before the issue was brought into public consciousness. |
| 48 | *** It was not only eerily prescient over issues like school shootings and alienation, but how the public would react to it. The FramingDevice consists of [[ScrapbookStory various documents]] in which people try to [[NeverMyFault absolve themselves of responsibility and blame others]], [[UnreliableNarrator twist the facts]], or selfishly exploit the tragedy for their own agendas. Carrie White herself is not treated as just a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold (as the film adaptations do), but as somebody who had been harboring some seriously dark thoughts, and while the ruthless bullying sent her way was bad and [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds made her a monster]] more than anything else, [[MoralEventHorizon she still killed hundreds of innocent people during her rampage]]. |
| 49 | *** Chris Hargensen feels like a disturbing deconstruction of an AlphaBitch. Why would someone take so much joy in the misery of a classmate, especially someone who had done nothing to deserve it? This book argues that such a person would have to be ''severely'' screwed up to think inflicting such misery was funny. The only reason why Chris gets away with so much is because her lawyer father spoils her and bails her out of trouble. Even then, the school staff and [[TheFriendNobodyLikes even her own "friends" don't particularly like her all that much]], with many of them sticking by Chris out of fear for what she'd do if they wronged her. Chris is so twisted that when Billy Nolan abuses her himself, ''[[TheMasochismTango she's exhilarated]]''. |
| 50 | ** ''Literature/Rage1977'', published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, touched on similar themes to ''Carrie''. It is a novella about a high school student killing two teachers and holding his class hostage at gunpoint. The story allegedly inspired several real-life school shooting incidents by young readers of the book. King requested that his publishers [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes cease to publish the book]] in 1997 after multiple school shootings where the killers were found to have read the book. As he said ten years later concerning ''Rage'', "Now out of print, and a good thing." |
| 51 | ** Another book written under the Bachman pseudonym, ''Literature/TheLongWalk'', is about young children sent out to walk without rest, and those who stop for any reason are killed or die from exhaustion until only one remains, who then gets one wish. The protagonist wins, but can do nothing to stop the system nor did he ever have a chance or even a desire to do so and is strongly implied to have gone completely insane from stress, exhaustion, and watching executions daily. The walkers also all willingly volunteered for a chance at winning the prize, and things as simple as walkers' bodily functions are much more of a hindrance to them than any kind of interpersonal rivalry or interference from guards. It would almost certainly be considered a TakeThat to DeadlyGame based YA dystopias like ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' or ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' if it didn't predate them by decades. |
| 52 | ** ''Literature/{{Misery}}''. Both the book and the film seem to be a ''rather'' disturbing {{deconstruction}} of the StrawFan trope. Keep in mind that the book was written in 1987 and the film debuted in 1990, well before the full extent of [[FanDumb how horrible some fans can get]] would be publicly exposed on the Internet. %%InUniverse |
| 53 | ** ''Literature/{{Christine}}'' is about a nerdy teenage boy who, as a result of his pop culture fixation (in this case, his [[CoolCar classic car]] and '50s RockAndRoll culture), falls into a downward spiral that turns him into a misogynistic, bullying jerk who grows alienated from family and friends. Worse, the object of his fixation is [[SinisterCar communicating with him]] and bringing out his worst impulses as a person. Read today, in the wake of various stories about white supremacist and "incel" groups infiltrating geek culture to recruit lonely, disaffected young men online, the scariest thing about Arnie Cunningham is how much he resembles the sort of person who, thirty years later, might be seduced by the alt-right. |
| 54 | * Creator/SinclairLewis made his name with novels like ''Main Street'', ''Babbitt'', and ''Literature/ElmerGantry'' satirizing what we would now call StepfordSuburbia, portraying it as a land of soulless materialism and social climbing run amok with a thin veneer of [[GoodOldWays traditional values]] that only serves to bring out the worst traits of its inhabitants... except that he was writing during TheRoaringTwenties, decades before the great postwar expansion of suburbia transformed it into a major force in American society. |
| 55 | ** Imagine that you're watching a [[Series/HallmarkHallOfFame Hallmark Channel original movie]] about a [[CityMouse big-city woman]] with big dreams who decides to move to [[EverytownAmerica the small Midwestern town of Gopher Prairie]] to be with her beloved, a doctor who [[CountryMouse grew up a country boy]] and is still very much one at heart. But instead of coming to embrace the slower pace of small-town life, she grows miserable there. The town's atmosphere is stifling, the only friends she makes are among her fellow outcasts within the town, and she eventually tries to leave Gopher Prairie to move to UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC Her return to Gopher Prairie at the end is depicted as a sign that she has failed in her aspirations to either "fix" the town or make a better life for herself, and that, no matter how much she may try to deny it and cling to what's left of her ideals, she is on her way to becoming a StepfordSmiler. Sounds like a deconstruction of the stereotypical Hallmark movie plot, with its romanticization of small-town life and domesticity, right? Well, it would be... if Lewis had published ''Main Street'' in 2020 instead of 1920. |
| 56 | ** ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'', Lewis' venture into {{dystopia}}n fiction, was based largely on contemporary European fascist movements and the American politician UsefulNotes/HueyLong. However, the book's epilogue predicted many of the problems that would plague the newly independent post-colonial states during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. The book's ending is not a happy one where LaResistance defeats the villains and restores society as it was meant to be, as is so often seen in later stories of rebellion against oppression (especially those by American authors). [[BigBad Buzz Windrip]]'s regime is destroyed not by the valiant efforts of the resistance, but by [[FascistButInefficient its incompetent stewardship]] leading to a coup by one of Windrip's own disaffected generals. Furthermore, Windrip had [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica so thoroughly destroyed democracy in America]] that the younger generation had no experience with representative government, so when the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Corpos]] finally fall, communism and other radical ideologies flourish across a nation that is sliding into [[SecondAmericanCivilWar civil war]] between liberals, radicals, and [[TheRemnant the crumbling Corpo regime]]. Any student of post-colonial Africa or Asia (which often fell to dictatorship and/or civil war) or [[UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag post-communist Eastern Europe]] (where the fall of [[DirtyCommunists radical far-left regimes]] was often accompanied by the rise of a vocal and militant [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far-right]]) can see obvious parallels between [[FallenStatesOfAmerica the fate of the US]] at the end of ''It Can't Happen Here'' and the fate of those nations. |
| 57 | * Creator/HPLovecraft wrote a few stories that deconstructed the central tropes of his own Franchise/CthulhuMythos, like "Literature/TheCaseOfCharlesDexterWard", where it turns out that some cosmic entities actually like humans. Case in point: the LovecraftLite subgenre is usually seen as a LighterAndSofter reaction to Lovecraft's traditional CosmicHorror--but many of Lovecraft's own stories ''are'' essentially LovecraftLite. Since Lovecraft largely invented CosmicHorror, he was free to tweak its conventions as much as he wanted, giving us stories like "Literature/TheDunwichHorror" (where a group of benevolent human warlocks successfully stop the invading {{Eldritch Abomination}}s), and "Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu" (where Cthulhu's introductory appearance ends with [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu a brave sea captain postponing his awakening by ramming him with a ship]]). |
| 58 | ** His depictions of the eldritch horrors are also more nuanced than the box-standard [[CosmicHorrorStory Cosmic Horror Stories]] these days. To wit, very few, if any, can be described in the usual terms of "[[AbstractEater I eat your planet]] [[ForTheEvulz for the lulz]]." If anything, they're more plot devices; Lovecraft was more interested in writing about his human characters and how they reacted to such cosmic forces. While he does it in his stylistic existential horror, a majority of the antagonists in the stories are regular humans with understandable motivations who are misusing/abusing the eldritch forces for their own twisted goals–Old Man Whateley, Herbert West, Joseph Curwen, etc.–while the cosmic horrors are presented as neutral parties with no real investment in the goings-on of Earth. The most prominent eldritch horror that ''is'' presented with actual malevolence is Nyarlathotep, who's explicitly stated to be the most ''[[HumansAreBastards human]]'' of his kind. Meanwhile, Yog-Sothoth, who's possibly the TopGod of the mythos, is arguably a BenevolentAbomination, [[PalsWithJesus known for having casual chats with human beings]], [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking forms that don't cause insanity]], and [[ReasoningWithGod even granting the occultist Randolph Carter a wish on one occasion]]. The horror wasn't supposed to be derived from the monsters themselves, ''i.e.'' [[AlwaysABiggerFish being at the bottom of a colossal cosmic food chain]], but the larger fatalistic implication of being insignificantly powerless inside a vast, random, unfeeling universe–you weren't supposed to be afraid of Cthulhu, [[AuthorAppeal you were supposed to be afraid to go outside]]. |
| 59 | * Creator/{{Plato}}: |
| 60 | ** The original {{Atlantis}}, as described by Plato in his dialogues ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', is considerably different from later conceptions. While Atlantis is often given a [[AncientGrome Greco-Roman]] feel, Plato made it clear that Atlantis was very much a non-Greek civilization, claiming the Greek-sounding names were just a result of TranslationConvention. It didn't have much in the way of magic or incredibly advanced technology either, even {{orichalcum}} was just a very valuable metal. What it did have was an abundance of natural resources that made it very wealthy. This brings us to another difference: the flaw that destroyed Atlantis wasn't simply [[{{pride}} hubris]], it was their luxurious lifestyles eventually causing them to become decadent warmongers (Plato saw luxury as inherently corruptive to all humans, bringing out humanity's [[HumansAreFlawed fundamental flaws]]). Nor did the Atlanteans directly cause their own sinking; they became so brutal and [[TheEmpire imperialistic]] that the Gods sunk their island to stop them. Lastly, the civilization didn't survive under the sea, it was destroyed. |
| 61 | ** Plato's dialogues are the oldest known written works of philosophy. However, characters in his writings frequently make very good arguments that are completely antithetical to the point Plato wants to make, and more often than not Creator/{{Socrates}} concludes that he has no way of really knowing what the correct answer to the dialogue's central question is. |
| 62 | * Creator/EdgarAllanPoe: |
| 63 | ** ''Literature/TheMurdersInTheRueMorgue'' is probably the first detective novel ever written. However, Literature/CAugusteDupin does not rely entirely on a logical SherlockScan, and the imagination of the detective plays a key role in the story. Also, the culprit comes from nowhere[[note]]An escaped orangutan was the killer[[/note]], subverting both {{foreshadowing}} in general and the elements of a FairPlayWhodunnit. |
| 64 | ** ''The Mystery of Marie Roget'' features a detective reading through a series of newspaper articles that spout theories that sound straight out of a modern FairPlayMystery. The detective quickly dismisses much of their content, because they repeatedly assert that vague evidence can only be interpreted one way. |
| 65 | * Creator/RobertLouisStevenson: |
| 66 | ** The GenrePopularizer for pirate fiction would have to be ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. But the pirates in the book are actually the villains, not the swashbuckling {{lovable rogue}}s or the [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything care free lay-abouts]] seen in later works. Also, not a single act of piracy actually occurs in the book: the actual crime committed is mutiny, with the piracy itself in the backstory. Having said that, Long Jon Silver, the double-dealing pirate cripple who befriends the hero Hawkins, is more or less the {{Trope Maker|s}} for the roguish pirate archetype, except it's made clear that Silver ''is'' a remorseless murderer and NobleDemon, and even Jim Hawkins the hero is troubled with the fact that someone so evil is still capable of affection for him, and that he feels conflicted about being indebted to such a man, and the ending of the book comments on and {{Lampshades}} Silver becoming a KarmaHoudini. |
| 67 | ** ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' is the originator of [[SplitPersonality split personalities]], but is more sophisticated than many modern versions. Instead of being a nice person that has his polar opposite manifest itself, Jekyll is a secretly perverted man who takes the potion willingly, as it allows him to indulge his worst traits without ruining his reputation as an esteemed doctor. He is fully aware of what he does as Hyde, and in fact, Hyde may not even be a split personality at all. Towards the end, the novel becomes a character study on why he does this and what it says about his own morals. He tries to use the split as an excuse for what he does as Hyde, but the account makes clear that [[NeverMyFault he is evading responsibility]]. |
| 68 | * Creator/MarkTwain: |
| 69 | ** ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' invented the GivingRadioToTheRomans trope while pointing out all the problems it would realistically cause. While all of its adaptations and later users of the trope are comical and fairly idealistic, the original is pretty dark. There's humor about MedievalMorons, but there's also realistic depictions of a CorruptChurch and a generally dysfunctional society. Moreover, instead of being a hero, like in the adaptations, the protagonist becomes a warlord through his technological savvy, and gets corrupted by power. The book even ends with what seems like a critique of industrialized warfare and WWI. Even though Twain died four years before it even started. |
| 70 | ** ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' named a trope about [[PrinceAndPauper a poor man and a rich man trading places]], and is also the {{Trope Maker|s}} for a lot of tropes associated with that plot. What most stories miss is that both sides immediately [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor find intense faults]] with the others' life after their plan [[GoneHorriblyRight goes horribly right]]. The pauper's life is extremely taxing on the prince, and the entire crux of his CharacterDevelopment after seeing just how bad the underclasses have it, coming close to death several times and ending up with [[AgonyOfTheFeet bloody and sore feet]] from having to walk around barefoot. The prince's life is immensely stressful on the pauper, to the point he acknowledges that he's way out of his league the moment it starts, having to play along with the ruse to avoid being executed for treason. Also, both the prince and the pauper try to resolve the situation and admit who they are immediately, but [[CassandraTruth no one believes them]], thinking it to be either madness or stress caused by the recent king's death. |
| 71 | ** ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' is mocked as a paternalistic "[[MightyWhitey white savior]]" story. However, the book unbuilds this trope decades before such stories became common: Huck doesn't begin his relationship with Jim out of a sense of righteousness, but for convenience... at first. Jim also averts the MagicalNegro stereotype: while he is a wise and crafty soul, he is no pushover and helps Huck's CharacterDevelopment by reminding the kid he is a man with feelings that need to be respected. Huck's own personal battle isn't with racism per se, but how society may judge him for helping Jim...and it's him overcoming this fear and refusing to send the letter that would sell Jim back into slavery which cements Huck's growth as a person. The book isn't just a story about racism, but the broader tale of a kid learning to reject the biases born into him by the society he was born into. |
| 72 | * Creator/JulesVerne invented many tropes of ScienceFiction, but he handled them in a remarkably more realistic way than many later works that he inspired. Among AsimovsThreeKindsOfScienceFiction many belong to the third kind, exploring the technical and social implications of technology, often concluding that ScienceIsBad, and LuddWasRight. Today we remember Verne, together with Creator/HGWells, as the grandfather of Golden Age science fiction and later SteamPunk, which more often make a straight ''celebration'' of technology. |
| 73 | ** ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' is probably the first work of fiction that features live dinosaurs. Even though these monsters are the most startling things the protagonists have seen, they are only [[OneSceneWonder seen briefly]], and do not interact with the main characters at all. |
| 74 | ** ''Literature/FromTheEarthToTheMoon'' is the UrExample of many TropesInSpace, but is still surprisingly realistic. BatmanCanBreatheInSpace was unbuilt, as Verne addressed the dependence on oxygen. |
| 75 | ** ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' (published in 1869) unbuilds numerous tropes. Most generally, it is the first SubmarinePirates story; however, Captain Nemo certainly has a deeper cause than pirates. |
| 76 | *** The book has probably the UrExample of AlmostOutOfOxygen. Oxygen is not a problem, due to the ''Nautilus'' having plenty of electricity and water around, but without caustic potash to bind the carbon dioxide the heroes are screwed anyway. |
| 77 | *** Before the ConspiracyTheorist trope was established, the story has it PlayedForLaughs when Ned Land believes that the ship's crew are cannibals. |
| 78 | *** A probable UrExample of FromMyOwnPersonalGarden... though the "garden" is ''the ocean''. |
| 79 | *** Captain Nemo is an Unbuilt Trope of the {{Ubermensch}}: A WickedCultured WellIntentionedExtremist who claims to be AboveGoodAndEvil because he is done with society and is practically above any law of the civilized nations thanks to the power of [[CoolShip his submarine, the Nautilus]]… however, he is a {{Deconstruction}} of the trope, because the contradiction between his unlimited power (which lets him cross the MoralEventHorizon) and his compassionate nature causes him a VillainousBreakdown. This dialogue between him and Professor Aronnax lampshades it 14 years before ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'': |
| 80 | ---->''"I have hesitated some time," continued the commander; "nothing obliged me to show you hospitality. If I chose to separate myself from you, I should have no interest in seeing you again; I could place you upon the deck of this vessel which has served you as a refuge, I could sink beneath the waters, and forget that you had ever existed. Would not that be my right?"''\ |
| 81 | ''"It might be the right of a savage," I answered, "but not that of a civilized man."''\ |
| 82 | ''"Professor," replied the commander, quickly, "I am not what you call a civilized man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not, therefore, obey its laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!"''\ |
| 83 | ''This was said plainly. A flash of anger and disdain kindled in the eyes of the Unknown, and I had a glimpse of a terrible past in the life of this man. Not only had he put himself beyond the pale of human laws, but he had made himself independent of them, free in the strictest acceptation of the word, quite beyond their reach! Who then would dare to pursue him at the bottom of the sea, when, on its surface, he defied all attempts made against him? What vessel could resist the shock of his submarine monitor? What cuirass, however thick, could withstand the blows of his spur? No man could demand from him an account of his actions; God, if he believed in one –- his conscience, if he had one – were the sole judges to whom he was answerable.'' |
| 84 | ** Phileas Fogg from ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'', published in 1872, is the {{Trope Maker|s}} for the ClockKing, but also explores all the ramifications about that trope: he is a rare case of the protagonist being a MysteriousStranger, the readers never know any of his BackStory, and only in the very last chapters do they know if he was one of the villains or not. In the last chapters the reader realizes that Fogg’s extreme reserve was not an EvilBrit case, but only a severe case of BritishStuffiness. Unlike all his imitators, Fogg is very good at XanatosSpeedChess and the IndyPloy, because that’s the only way he can win TheBet. Fogg’s plan didn’t work, but it didn’t work ''in his favor'': the Universe rewards him, granting him almost an extra day. And the one obsessed with his clock was not him, but his employee, Jean Passepartout. |
| 85 | *** The best-known scene from many motion-picture adaptations of the book is the protagonists riding a balloon. The book, however, brings up the idea of riding a balloon, disregarding it as being too risky. Very few balloon rides were mentioned in literature before; Verne's first novel, ''Five Weeks in a Balloon'', was the first example. |
| 86 | ** ''Literature/TheBegumsMillions'' deconstructs AllGermansAreNazis and WeaponsOfMassDestruction several decades before Nazis and [=WMD=]s came into existence in RealLife. The novel was inspired by a disastrous French defeat in a Franco-Prussian war, (Prussia was part of Germany at the time) and while Shultze is a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName proto-Nazi in every single way]] and believes that the Germans are the superior race, the whole story is clearly a TakeThat at the Prussian militaristic tradition and the German arms industry of the pre-World War I era. This all gives off vibes of PuttingOnTheReich long before Nazism even ''existed''. The gas shells that Schultze develops to kill enemies instantly is also portrayed as horrifying long before the technology developed in RealLife. |
| 87 | *** It should be underlined that the French literature of the time had a profusion of symbolic revenges for the loss of the Alsatian and Mosellan territories; the fact one of the main protagonists is a Francophile Alsatian should also be noted as manifesting the well-known nationalism impregnating Vernes's work, which was as many at the time imbued with notion of national "genius" for each (western) country. To categorize Verne as anti-Nazi is also wrong, not only because of anachronism, but because he was prone to the anti-Semitism of the time. |
| 88 | ** ''Literature/RoburTheConqueror'' deconstructs ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld before it was a trope. The protagonists use lighter-than-air vessels, which was a RealLife technology during Verne's days. Robur, however, shows that his secret heavier-than-air-vessel is superior. |
| 89 | ** ''Literature/TheCastleInTransylvania'' (1893) unbuilt the ScoobyDooHoax eight years before ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles''. The castle wasn't actually haunted, the Baron used holographic projections and voice recordings to scare away the locals, so he'd have a place to escape the law. And [[spoiler:every single major character is dead by the end of the novel to keep it that way]]. |
| 90 | ** In ''Facing the Flag'', Roch is the UrExample of TheWormGuy. While he is kidnapped, he does however retain control over his WeaponOfMassDestruction, and it is his patriotism that makes him destroy his creation. |
| 91 | ** ''Master of the World'' contains the UrExample of the TransformingMecha. While incredibly powerful, it is not however invincible, having a mundane AchillesHeel. |
| 92 | ** ''The Purchase of the North Pole'' is the first known example of the DoomsdayDevice. The villain wants to eliminate the world's axis tilt. In contrast to most later Evil Plans, the device gets activated. However, the physical effect is close to zero; TheHero does ''not'' stop the villain; he only discovers that the plan was impossible all along, based on a miscalculation. |
| 93 | ** ''Invasion of the Sea'', Verne's last book, is a very early {{Terraform}} story. However, the project ends up GoneHorriblyRight through an earthquake, which creates a larger inland sea than the engineers could imagine. |
| 94 | ** ''Literature/ParisInTheTwentiethCentury'', written in 1863 but not published until 1994, did this to ADegreeInUseless, an attitude that barely existed at the time (when any sort of university education was seen as a marker of status and intelligence) but would rapidly grow in the latter half of the 20th century with the rise of the STEM and financial industries. The protagonist Michel Dufrénoy is one of the last graduates of the humanities at his university, a fact that is a cause of endless shame for his family and constant misery and failure for him because it doesn't guarantee him a job. Except the book actually takes his side, and portrays the attitudes that produced this trope as indicative of just how degraded French society in 1960 has become, its obsessive focus on science, money, and cold rationality having turned it into a cultural wasteland that abandoned nearly all creative pursuits that don't involve chasing the LowestCommonDenominator. |
| 95 | * Creator/HGWells: |
| 96 | ** Many of his works, particularly his short stories, were thought experiments about some potential change, technology, or even paranormal phenomenon. As such, they were incredibly light in plot and heavy in analysis of the physical and socio-economical implications. The most extreme example is likely ''The New Accelerator'', in which a chemist and his friend try out the former's new potion for moving so fast that TimeStandsStill and walk around noticing the way physics work around someone moving that fast (for example, they quickly realize that heat from friction means that they have to stay in a relatively narrow band of speed, as standing around can cause buildup in the surfaces they touch and running can cause their clothes to catch fire) while chatting about the potential uses and social ramifications, with particular concentration on the need for a slowing drug to control accelerator severity and length and possibly create a SleeperStarship situation for inconveniently long train rides by allowing a person to slow his personal time to the point that a three-hour trip feels like a nappable ten minutes. |
| 97 | ** Most of the [[RequiredSecondaryPowers limitations]] on invisibility were already predicted in ''Literature/TheInvisibleMan''. The eponymous character even complains that the power is good for little other than assassination, as going undetected long enough to, say, eavesdrop on an important conversation was nearly impossible. |
| 98 | ** ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'' in modern times looks like a particularly brutal Deconstruction of {{Uplifted Animal}}s. The "humanoid animals" were created in a lab via painful and unethical experiments, and have to be subject to [[MoreThanMindControl brutal mental and physical torture]] (to the point where their society fears their MadScientist creator as a GodOfEvil) to prevent them from regressing to their animalistic instincts... which ultimately proves futile, as the creations slowly revert anyway. Dr Moreau himself is also an example for the AGodAmI archetype, since he only puts on a GodGuise as a desperate attempt to prevent his creations from killing him, and in the end he is ''not'' killed by his rebelling creations as a modern reader would expect, but dies anticlimactically when one of his experiments goes awry. Rather than break the masquerade to allow the creations to live in peace, the main character lies to maintain their fear of Moreau [[DirtyCoward to save his own skin.]] On a deeper level, he was actually intended as an outright grotesque parody of a creator God, as at the time of writing the book H.G Wells believed GodIsEvil. |
| 99 | ** WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture is subverted in ''Literature/TheSleeperAwakes'' by Creator/HGWells, ''before'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordism Fordism]] was invented and assembly-line mass production took off. The future society contains a large slave class, and the narrator is initially led to believe that the slaves are like the slaves of his day –- labourers. It's only later on that he realises that almost all production has been industrialised, and the slaves are just machine operators. Unlike the laborers of his day, they have pale skin and almost no muscle. |
| 100 | ** ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'': |
| 101 | *** One of the first stories of a war between humans and aliens, rather than the exciting battles, heroics, and scientific ingenuity of ''Film/IndependenceDay'', ''Series/DoctorWho'' etc., features human beings as panicking, weak, or mean, entirely unable to defeat their invaders, who are eventually [[spoiler:felled by earthly microbes]]. It's more about how badly human beings deal with the collapse of civilization, rather than focusing on the fight with the Martians. |
| 102 | *** Unlike all the later ScaryDogmaticAliens (such as the Nazi aliens in the Orson Welles radio version, the Communist aliens in the '50s movie, or the Bin Laden aliens in the 2005 movie version), the aliens in the book represent the exact cultural values of the society they are invading, being an allegory for imperialism. Invaders come from far away with vastly superior technology rendering [[ResistanceIsFutile resistance futile]]. In actual history, it was not local resistance that kept European colonies out of Africa until the late 19th century, but disease, hence the ultimate fate of the invaders. ''Worlds'' was an attempt to put Europeans in the shoes of Africans (or any other peoples oppressed by imperialism). The part where a soldier talks about what will happen in an invaded world takes some ideas from this, where he talks of resistance groups and some people [[TheQuisling collaborating]] with the aliens. |
| 103 | *** Partially because of war paranoia and also due to the limitations of visual media, future aliens as evil outsiders would usually appear [[HumanAliens human]]. Only in later years did the StarfishAliens become a trope in popular science fiction again. However, perhaps because he codified the AlienInvasion genre (a subgenre of the "[[DayOfTheJackboot invasion story]]"), Wells was free to provide an early example of the truly alien. In the context of a century of RubberForeheadAliens, it manages to come off as {{Deconstruction}}, with scientific explanations about the aliens, such as they have trouble moving on Earth due to the higher gravity, and trouble breathing from the atmosphere. |
| 104 | *** One could see [[Creator/KurdLasswitz Kurd Laßwitz]]' ''Auf zwei Planeten'' ("On Two Planets") as a subversion or a counter-statement to the alien invasion genre Wells initiated if not for the fact that it was published a year before ''The War of the Worlds''. Laßwitz' Martians (who also do not hold on to the IdiotBall with the limpet-like perseverance of Wells') are human-like and socially advanced, so the way their military confrontations with the states of Earth turn out is more reminiscent of that of a former colony becoming independent and then entering a friendly relationship with its former colonial power. (Ironically, the Royal Navy is even more summarily wiped out in ''Auf zwei Planeten'' as Laßwitz' Martians don't use inefficient walkers, but airships which the British warships can't harm.) |
| 105 | *** The Martian Heat Ray is a lot more realistic than the DeathRay trope it helped popularize. No flashy visible beam or cool noise, just the hum of machinery and a lot of energy dumped on the target. |
| 106 | ** ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'': |
| 107 | *** This book is the TropeCodifier for TimeTravel. The novel is however focused on social issues, instead of typical TimeTravelTropes. However, once the main character mentions time travel, one of the other men present immediately thinks of using it for checking the stock market. |
| 108 | *** It's also hardly conventional in its portrayal of future humans, with twists on tropes like ExtremeSpeculativeStratification and TheMorlocks that would make its portrayal of Earth in the distant future come off as atypical if written today. The uses of the aforementioned tropes also seem pretty unusual today, even though the book codified both of the mentioned examples and named the latter. The Eloi and the Morlocks are far-future descendants of humans. The Eloi evolved from the upper classes and live idyllic lives on the lush surface, while the Morlocks evolved from the working classes and live BeneathTheEarth. However, rather than being a hyper-advanced race with incredible technology, the Eloi are extremely deficient mentally. They don't even have a concept of a future tense. Not only that, they're also lazy and lacking in virtue; when Weena falls into a river, none of the other Eloi even try to help her. Eventually, it's revealed that they're not the rulers of the planet: they're livestock. The Morlocks, meanwhile, aren't the degenerate, subhuman savages you'd expect, despite seeming bestial at first; as it turns out, they maintain and operate machinery underground. They also farm the Eloi, providing them with necessities and luxuries and capturing individuals to eat them. Heck, they don't even ''attack the protagonist'' except in self defense! Multiple times the light goes out on him when they're nearby, and all these underground-dwelling post-humans do to their now-blinded foe when it happens is curiously caress and prod their many hands across his body. |
| 109 | [[/folder]] |
| 110 | |
| 111 | [[folder:Genres]] |
| 112 | * Long before books like ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'', ''Literature/TheSelection'', ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'' and ''Literature/ArcOfAScythe'' helped turn {{dystopia}}n fiction into a major sub-genre of YoungAdultLiterature, many early YA writers also toyed with dystopian ideas and themes. But since the conventions of the "teen dystopia" sub-genre hadn't really been established yet, they were free to explore those ideas as deeply as they wanted, often leading them to [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] or [[GreyAndGreyMorality morally complex]] conclusions. To name a few examples: |
| 113 | ** Karin Boye's 1940 novel ''Kallocain'' depicts many tropes of a [[TheEmpire totalitarian state]] later codified in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. The title is the name of a TruthSerum, developed to expose ThoughtCrime against the "World State". At the beginning of the plot, citizens have already given up material wealth, comfort, health and personal relationships for honour and national security, and their minds will be their final sacrifice. The protagonist Leo Kall states in the prologue that his life in prison is not much worse than his life used to be as a leading scientist of the World State. The drug itself works just as intended, but its consequences [[GoneHorriblyRight are unforeseeable]]. [[spoiler:So many citizens express dissent under the influence of the drug that the police need to limit the indictments. Leo, however, is no rebellious hero; he is one of few named characters to remain loyal to the State all along, even when influenced by the drug. And while he believes from the beginning to the end that his drug will be good for mankind, he uses it for his own gain, to find out whether his wife is cheating. While TheResistance exists, it has no agenda to overthrow the State, but instead to allow personal development and self-expression. In the end, their efforts turn out to be in vain, as "The Universal State" captures the City. The nature of the Universal State is obscure until the epilogue, allegedly written by a censor, who finds the whole book to be so dangerous that it needs to be kept secret.]] |
| 114 | ** ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' is perhaps the {{Trope Maker|s}} for the surveillance state. However, it is pointed out not everybody is watched, only the middle-class, who the upper class considers the biggest threat. A political tract in the book claims that predictably the middle-class will try using the lower class for a revolt, then become the new upper class. Also, the hero [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins does not overthrow the regime; he and his lover end up beaten into submission and "loving" Big Brother]]]]. The book also deals with a lot of aspects of totalitarianism that other later dystopian works fail to address. For example, it's mentioned that to become a member of the ruling class, a citizen does, in fact, have to pass a set of civil exams. Just being evil/cruel/power-hungry isn't enough. Also, while the ruling class do have a pleasant life compared to the rest of the populace, they do not at all live like kings. They burn so much resources maintaining their absolute stranglehold on the population that even ''their'' standard of living would be considered poor by today's standards. |
| 115 | ** Ray Bradbury's ''Literature/Fahrenheit451'' is one of the first books to explore [[NewMediaAreEvil the negative effects mass media could have on society]]. However, the story is far more nuanced than simply saying "flatscreens are bad". While the culture of the future world is bleak, unplugging it and picking up a book doesn't automatically solve Montag's sense of emptiness. Faber tells him that new modern media isn't the problem with his life; it is how the technology ''allows'' for people to be vain, spoiled, and hypersensitive, and society embracing this vapidity is why the world has become so bleak. Montag's growth comes from using the knowledge he's gained to drift away from his empty life. [[spoiler:Ultimately, he doesn't end up saving society: he is sold out by his wife, becomes a fugitive from the law, and is forced to hide out with a group of book-reading vagrants. Society destroys itself in a nuclear war, with Montag and his new friends being the ones who have to rebuild it.]] |
| 116 | ** Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/EndersGame'' is set in a grim futuristic society where [[OneWorldOrder most of the world]] is ruled by a brutal military government that [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou openly spies on its citizens]] and indoctrinates children, and the plot revolves around a battle of wills between a precocious child and the highly unsympathetic authority figure who tries to bend him to his will. But Ender doesn't even ''try'' to overthrow the oppressive system, and ultimately does exactly what Colonel Graff wants. The government also has a very good reason for being as oppressive as it is, since the whole story takes place in the aftermath of a devastating {{alien invasion}}, and the International Fleet is trying to prepare humanity for the ''next'' one. In the end, nobody overthrows the Hegemon's regime; it voluntarily steps down [[spoiler:after the Buggers are defeated]], having no reason to exist anymore. And even ''that'' creates a devastating power vacuum that nearly ends in WorldWarIII, and ultimately leads to [[spoiler:Ender's sociopathic brother ruling the world]]. |
| 117 | ** In Lois Lowry's ''Literature/TheGiver'', "The Community" has aspects of a utopian ''and'' a dystopian society, and the book repeatedly shows that most people who live there are perfectly happy with their way of life, simply because they don't know any other way to live. Things only get chilling when we see the Community's casual support of euthanizing a pilot who made a single, non-lethal error, and veer into full-on horror when [[spoiler:Jonas' dad [[ReleasedToElsewhere "releases"]] an infant]]. Perhaps most strikingly: there is [[NoAntagonist no real villain in the book]], as there is no single figure responsible for ruling over the Community. ''Everyone'' collectively bears responsibility for keeping the Community's way of life going, meaning that the protagonist has no convenient authority figures to rebel against, and can only [[spoiler:show people what life was like before the Community]]. Even then, the ending is intentionally ambiguous about whether any of it worked, and (before the sequels, at least) leaves open the distinct possibility that [[spoiler:Jonas and Gabe die and nothing changes]]. |
| 118 | ** Even ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' deconstructs many of the tropes that [[FollowTheLeader it helped popularize]]. Sure, it's about a [[KidHero teenage hero]] "fighting the system" and resisting a tyrannical government with the help of his TrueCompanions, but it does ''not'' advertise itself as being about that, and it takes a good five installments before the dystopian themes become apparent. In the meantime, the audience gets to see ''every'' step in the slow rise of an authoritarian regime, starting with ordinary prejudice and racism. When it happens, Voldemort's return is all the more harrowing because we've already had four books to get attached to the Wizarding World before seeing it fall prey to authoritarianism, and we see what a hard moral choice it can ''really'' be for young people to take action against the government that they were raised to trust. There isn't even an actual revolution, the system and the government themselves remain largely unchanged through the whole story, it's only the people in charge of it that change. |
| 119 | ** ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' takes place in an [[AlternateHistory alternate 1997 Japan]] that is run by the Republic of Greater East Asia, a dictatorship that [[RealitySubtext resembles the 1990s North Korean government]] and uses similar isolationist and information control policies to maintain its reign. Notably, the references to real world events and politics, such as totalitarianism in Korea and the lack of fantastical sci-fi technology, make the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting]] more grounded in reality. There are also romantic elements among certain characters be it {{Love Triangle}}s, couples, and one-sided crushes, but they tend to act as mental/physical obstacles to said characters and end disastrously. [[spoiler:The protagonists eventually can strike back against one administrator of the [[DeadlyGame Program]] but recognize that they are ill-equipped to take on the entire government. The protagonists then flee to the democratic America, but it is ambiguous whether or not they make it.]] |
| 120 | ** Even ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' itself, a TropeCodifier for the YA dystopia novel[[note]]Though ''Literature/TheGiver'' and ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' both predate it, it started the trend more properly[[/note]], has many deconstructive elements, thanks to [[Creator/SuzanneCollins its author]] being very fond of deconstructor fleets. The resistance depicted [[BlackAndGrayMorality isn't that much better than the government]], the LoveTriangle is created and exploited by the villains to control the protagonist Katniss, and most of the second and third books are spent exploring how Katniss' psyche has been affected by the events of the first rather than a further adventure, and how she's now being manipulated by the resistance in a manner no different from how the government did the same before. And Katniss is not a scrappy rebel with a sharp wit who starts a movement on her own through her bravery and force of personality and leads the revolution but a socially awkward, traumatized young girl who is a skilled fighter but otherwise not especially charismatic or intelligent, who is being manipulated by adults in a conflict that has been going on for decades prior and who only got involved to spare her sister from going to the games, not from any deeply held convictions. The ending of the trilogy is extremely {{bittersweet|Ending}}, with victory and freedom paid for in blood, sweat, and tears with no quarter given or expected, and Katniss having to step in at the end to stop the extremists on her own side from crossing the MoralEventHorizon. |
| 121 | * ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'', the TropeCodifier for the RebornAsVillainessStory, deconstructs some tropes that later imitators play straight. For example, Katarina, the story's protagonist and the villainess of the otome game in which the story is set, is not a misunderstood {{tsundere}} like later villainess characters but is a SpoiledBrat who eventually becomes willing to murder her love rivals if left on her natural course. She only changes for the better because of her memories from her past life as "the monkey girl." |
| 122 | [[/folder]] |
| 123 | |
| 124 | [[folder:Individual Examples]] |
| 125 | * ''Literature/ArabianNights'' is arguably the oldest classic to feature {{Cliffhanger}}s. It is however not presented directly to the reader, but happening in-universe as a FramingDevice. The framing story is about Sheherezade who creates an intermission in her storytelling, to keep herself alive to the next day. |
| 126 | ** ''Arabian Nights'' is also the most cited example of the GenieInABottle. But the first story wasn't about a genie granting wishes to the person that freed it. The genie, [[GoMadFromTheIsolation driven mad from years of being trapped in a bottle]], tries to ''kill'' the person that freed it. Some stories imagined the genie being trapped inside of a ''ring'', instead of a bottle. This disconnect becomes a plot point in ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'', when Roger suggests Jeannie read Arabian Nights to learn how to be a genie. Hilarity Ensues. |
| 127 | * ''Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu'' is the TropeCodifier for the BigBookOfWar. However, unlike what one may presume, it doesn't glorify war. It opens on an essay where Sun Tzu stresses how ''un''desirable it is to go to war in the first place, and therefore it's best to end a war as quickly as possible. Sun Tzu also holds something of a MartialPacifist attitude, stating that "supreme excellence" isn't winning every battle in a campaign or conflict, but [[ToWinWithoutFighting defeating the enemy without engaging in battle at all]]. Additionally, at the time the real merit of the book was seeing war as an actual confrontation where the goal was to win, rather than a formal affair as it was often treated by the nobility of the time, as such the actual tactics in the book are actually [[BoringButPractical pretty simple and straightforward]] by today's standard (being things such as "cut off your opponent's supplies" and "you can lie and deceive to win"), with [[OnceOriginalNowCommon the novelty in Sun Tzu's way of thinking being long since lost]]. |
| 128 | * Lucian of Samosata's ''Literature/TrueHistory'' (or ''[[BlatantLies A True Story]]'') has long been an object of fascination among literary scholars for possibly being [[UrExample the oldest surviving science-fiction story in the world]]. Written in the 2nd century (yes, '''''[[OlderThanTheyThink the 2nd freaking century]]'''''), it's the first known literary work to feature space travel, interstellar warfare, and descriptions of extraterrestrial life... yet it's all written in a distinctly tongue-in-cheek style, without an ounce of seriousness. Instead of encouraging WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, the story deliberately makes it all seem as ridiculous as possible, featuring overtly silly elements like [[QuirkyWork giant birds with wings of lettuce, soldiers with armor fashioned from giant beans, and a trip to a giant island made of cheese]]; most scholars believe that it was intended as an irreverent satire of Greek heroic epics, with the sci-fi elements included because they were seen as [[RefugeInAudacity unrealistic to the point of being absurd]], taking the fantastical elements of Myth/ClassicalMythology to their bizarre conclusion. In other words: it's a DeconstructiveParody of science-fiction written before science-fiction was a genre. |
| 129 | * Going [[OlderThanPrint way, way, back]], in ''The Battle of Maldon" -- one of the oldest surviving works of English literature -- an earl under the Anglo-Saxon King Aethelred assembles a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to repel some tough, well-trained Viking raiders. Before the battle, the Viking chief offers to leave peacefully in exchange for a tribute of silver. The hero refuses angrily, calling the offer "shameful." It's probably the first TheMagnificentSevenSamurai plot in English history. The hero and his men then get slaughtered horribly. After the battle, King Aethelred pays the tribute, meaning [[ShootTheShaggyDog the hero accomplished nothing except getting his men killed]]. |
| 130 | * The trope of Myth/KingArthur and his knights rescuing a DamselInDistress is one of the most standard tropes, often subverted, averted, deconstructed and so on. However early appearances of this trope in [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian literature]] play with the trope. In "The Life of Saint Cadog", when a women is being chased by Knights, Arthur's first reaction is to say the Knights will take the woman for him, before his knights tell him otherwise. Another of the standard stories of medieval Arthurian literature, first appearing in ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'' which popularised many of the Arthurian tropes, involves a Giant kidnapping a Breton noblewoman. In most such stories, a monster or villain lusting after a damsel is treated in a lighter-hearted sense, with a hero arriving before anything too horrible happens. However, in this story, by the time King Arthur gets to the Giant's lair the damsel has already been raped and murdered, and all Arthur can do is avenge her death by killing the Giant. This story actually remained quite popular -- numerous adaptations of this story up to ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur'' include this feature, though later adaptations of Arthur remove this story. Most modern adaptations owe more to Creator/ChretienDeTroyes' overall more light-hearted stories of quests; for example when another Giant in ''Literature/YvainTheKnightOfTheLion'' is threatening a maiden, Yvain can kill it and save her. |
| 131 | * Dante's ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'', despite being the {{Trope Namer|s}} of FireAndBrimstoneHell, and [[WordOfDante the source of many of the beliefs thereof]], actually depicts the lowest and worst level of hell as covered in ''ice'', and the souls there aren't tortured but [[AndIMustScream completely encased]]. Further, {{Satan}}, far from being the Ruler of Hell, is actually a [[TheDevilIsALoser pathetic]] (if monstrous) figure who refuses to acknowledge that trying to escape hell (by flapping his wings) is exactly [[SelfInflictedHell what keeps his ice prison cold]]. Calling Satan the Emperor of Hell is a joke, Satan coming across as a grotesque and ineffectual parody of God. Even though Satan is by far the largest being in Hell and terrifying, he doesn't even seem to notice Dante and Virgil and really proves no threat, Dante and Virgil easily climbing down his back to escape Hell. There's even an interpretation that the attention drawn to Satan's size and measurements actually shows their limitations -- Angels are supposed to be spiritual beings but by drawing attention to Satan's very physical body it shows how Satan has lost his power from the Fall. There is also a lot more nuance in the depiction of souls, among the sinners condemned there are many with tragic stories (Paolo and Francesca being the most famous examples) and several people Dante had great admiration for, some he even personally knew in life. |
| 132 | ** Also, the hell ''does not stand'' as a book of its own, despite being the most remembered. Getting out of hell isn't the end of the journey, it's not even the start of Dante's actual personal journey, since it's only when he starts travelling through Purgatory and Paradise and meeting the souls there than he actually starts learning something and going through real character development. |
| 133 | * UsefulNotes/ThomasMore is the {{Trope Namer|s}} for the term {{Utopia}}, aka a world free of problems. Interestingly enough, Thomas More wasn't writing an escapist fantasy, but a [[AuthorTract social commentary on the problems he found in the time period he grew up in, Tudor England]]. The name "Utopia" is a pun in Ancient Greek, on the words ''eutopia'', meaning "good place" and ''outopia'', meaning "no place", implying that More knew a perfect world, or a good world, was impossible at least in keeping with his Catholic beliefs and sympathies (i.e. be content with your lot in life, and man is born sinful and can only find salvation in the Church). |
| 134 | * Literature/ThePrince, published in 1513, was the first European book to establish the afterworld's idea of TheEmpire as an ideal society, and the MagnificentBastard as an ideal ruler. Its harsh rhetoric was provocative even for its time. However, rather than acting as a guide to being the biggest puppy-kicking scumbag you can, the book advocates for pragmatism in all matters of governance; indeed, it advises ''against'' gratuitous cruelty precisely because it's counterproductive. Machiavelli was a republican; his ideas were FairForItsDay, in the sense that he did not hope for tyranny. The proposed intent of the book has been disputed. One interpretation is that Machiavelli wanted to be a DeepCoverAgent, infiltrating the Medicis and other Italian elites to pave the way for democracy. |
| 135 | * If you read a cynical poem about the agonizing, unglamorous experience of having to paint pictures on the ceiling of the Art/SistineChapel for hours at a time, you would probably (naturally) assume that it was a [[DeconstructiveParody deconstructive satire]] on society's rosy view of the artistic genius of the Renaissance, which Michelangelo's paint-job on the Sistine Chapel is considered the classic example of. Well, there ''is'' such a poem called "Labor Pains". And you'd be right to think that... except it was [[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2010/01/labor_pains.html written by Michelangelo himself]] when he was actually in the process of painting the Sistine Chapel. Yes, it's just as hilariously self-deprecating as it sounds. |
| 136 | -->''My stomach's squashed under my chin, my beard's''\ |
| 137 | ''pointing at heaven, my brain's crushed in a casket,''\ |
| 138 | ''my breast twists like a harpy's. My brush,''\ |
| 139 | ''above me all the time, dribbles paint''\ |
| 140 | ''so my face makes a fine floor for droppings!''\ |
| 141 | ''My haunches are grinding into my guts,''\ |
| 142 | ''my poor ass strains to work as a counterweight,'' \ |
| 143 | ''every gesture I make is blind and aimless.'' |
| 144 | * Long before {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s penned their stories about [[MisterSeahorse men bearing children]], ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' had Sanzang and one of his disciples accidentally drink from a magical river which causes whoever drinks from it to become pregnant. The pregnancy itself is described as horrifying and painful for both of them, and is immediately aborted. |
| 145 | * A lot of early European novels like ''Literature/TristramShandy'' and ''Literature/DonQuixote'' seem to be deconstructions of the form, with the author intervening, characters reading earlier parts of the story, etc, and yet they can't be deconstructing the novel because ''Don Quixote'' is often considered the first modern novel, and ''Tristram Shandy'' is an early English novel. With its metanarrative, its extensive use of references, the narrative's exploration of the processes of memory and writing, and the manipulation of excerpts from other works of literature to give them new meanings, some critics suggest that ''Tristam Shandy'' –- along with the later ''Literature/MobyDick'' –- is this to the postmodern novel, long before the term postmodern was even coined. |
| 146 | * ''Literature/DonQuixote'': |
| 147 | ** Sancho Panza is not a villain, but he is the first example of exploring CutLexLuthorACheck, someone who realizes that he can get rich if he works for himself and not TheHero. He follows Don Quixote [[StandardHeroReward under the promise of a governorship in the future]], but when he hears Don Quixote's claims about having the recipe of the Balsam of Fierabras, a HealingPotion from a ChivalricRomance that could [[BackFromTheDead revive a man cut in half]], Sancho analyzes how to get rich with that. He quits the promise and only wants the recipe, planning to be rich selling it to sick and wounded people. He even asks Don Quixote how much it would cost to make it. Once sure that it’s profitable, Sancho helps Don Quixote prepare the potion. The potion seems to help heal Don Quixote, [[ButtMonkey but makes Sancho very sick]], [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments so he concludes it only works with Knights, and Don Quixote is the only Knight left, making it not profitable]]. |
| 148 | ** The first part of the novel established Quixote's character as a LordErrorProne, but MisaimedFandom considered him the UrExample of a MadDreamer. In the second part, Cervantes decides to explore all the ramifications of that trope: it shows us a lot of people –- nobles, bandits, soldiers –- holding Don Quixote in higher esteem within the work for his imagination and vivacity, organizing a massive scam that convinces Literature/DonQuixote he really is an KnightErrant... [[ComeToGawk because they want to make fun of him]]. The OnlySaneMan calls Don Quixote [[RealityWarper a fool for making all the others as mad as he]]. At the end of the novel, Don Quixote realizes that even when he lived the life of a KnightErrant exactly as the ChivalricRomance books said, he didn't do anyone any good; if anything, [[TheMillstone he just made things worse]]. So those books that Don Quixote loved enough to base his life around were all lies. The FanDisillusionment is so great, [[DeathByDespair Don Quixote dies of despair]]. The really disturbing part is that the novel claims this is the best scenario for a MadDreamer: Don Quixote could never be as famous or as lovable as he was when he was totally insane. |
| 149 | --->''"O señor," said Don Antonio, "may God forgive you the wrong you have done the whole world in trying to bring the most amusing madman in it back to his senses. Do you not see, señor, that the gain by Don Quixote's sanity can never equal the enjoyment his crazes give? But [I believe] that all the señor bachelor's pains will be of no avail to bring a man so hopelessly cracked to his senses again; and if it were not uncharitable, I would say may Don Quixote never be cured, for by his recovery we lose not only his own drolleries, but his squire Sancho Panza's too, any one of which is enough to turn melancholy itself into merriment.'' |
| 150 | ** The novel explores the BookBurning trope in a far more comedic way than you'll find in a post-World War II environment, with an emphasis more on the {{Moral Guardian|s}} aspect of the trope, since all the censorship in Cervantes' day was by the Spanish Inquisition; indeed, the anonymously-written ''Lazarillo de Tormes'', the first picaresque novel and a ''major'' target for the Inquisition, was either a huge influence on Cervantes or else something he himself wrote, so he would have known how frustrating it could be to have your books burned. In chapter IV of the first part, Don Quixote’s niece and OldRetainer asks the MoralGuardians' permission to do the BookBurning in a desperate attempt to cure him. The MoralGuardians are the most educated people in the village (a curate and a barber); they never wanted to impose their ideas and are doing this as a favor to the family, so they don't care much for this BookBurning, and end up stealing a few volumes they think are actually pretty good. In Chapter XXXII, the curate jokingly threatens to burn two of the four books an innkeeper has: two of them are NonFictionLiterature about awesome RealLife soldiers, and the other two ChivalricRomance books heavy on RuleOfCool. [[MoralGuardians The curate]] wants to burn the latter, and the innkeeper the former. |
| 151 | ** More modern authors on returning to the book have noted how the novel goes beyond the parody. Creator/VladimirNabokov pointed out that Don Quixote actually wins more fights than he loses, and others having followed on have noted that the joke of Cervantes about Quixote wanting to be a knight because he read it in a book is that ''this is all knighthood ever amounted to'' i.e. it is possible, as Quixote proves, to actually become a knight by reading books of chivalry provided you have determination, grit, and an obsessive spirit, and that the institutions of chivalry, authority, and power really are just fictions we choose to believe in. The episode where Sancho Panza becomes a governor also highlights this, since even though it's framed as a prank by some nobleman, the point is that Sancho is actually good at the job, and that he takes his office way more seriously than the ones actually in power (who spend their time on elaborate time-consuming and really cruel gags on Quixote and Sancho). |
| 152 | * ''The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd'' seems like a modern satire of [[SickeninglySweet flowery love poems]], and an indictment of consumerism. It mocks "The Passionate Shepherd To His Love", one of Christopher Marlowe's most famous works, with the nymph being unimpressed with the shepherd trying to buy her love and trust with luxuries [[ItsAllJunk that inevitably break down over time]]. But it was actually written by Sir Walter Raleigh in Elizabethan times, who felt the poem was too schmaltzy and materialistic. |
| 153 | * ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' is the earliest example of a work where {{Satan}} is portrayed as [[SatanIsGood an empathetic character]], and probably one of the earliest examples of DracoInLeatherPants being discussed by major writers (as Creator/WilliamBlake said, "Milton was of the Devil's party though he did not know it"). However, Satan gradually admits to himself that he doesn't really believe any of the noble causes he espouses, his justifications for his actions are fallacious and self-defeating, and that he's really just a petty, vindictive rebel without a cause trying to bring everyone else down to his level. To many scholars, Milton wrote ''Paradise Lost'' to demonstrate how easy it was for humans to fall into temptation, and to others, about how humanity is only possible outside of paradise and hell, both being extremes where humanity cannot exist. |
| 154 | * ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' is one of the oldest examples of adventure fiction, and is often seen as a classic of that genre. However, it was never meant as such. It was in fact a rather heavy-handed satire of European society of the time. It wasn't until Victorian times (the golden age of adventure fiction) that a MisaimedFandom lumped it together with newer works. |
| 155 | ** The third story about Laputa contains the UrExample of some science-related tropes, such as ForScience or ScienceIsBad. As said, however, it was social satire rather than an adventure story; an early example of [[AsimovsThreeKindsOfScienceFiction the third kind of science fiction]]. Laputa seems to be a technological marvel...but its inhabitants are pseudo-intellectual buffoons who use their know-how to oppress the people below while wasting their wealth on impractical junk. Swift effectively created a technological dystopia over a century before the term was developed. |
| 156 | ** The Houyhnhnm are one of the first examples of PerfectPacifistPeople. However, this attitude makes them come across as pretentious snobs at best, and at worst contemplate horrible things like castrating the Yahoos. [[spoiler:Despite Gulliver wanting to join them, they throw Gulliver out, turning him into a bitter loner who rejects his own family.]] Swift shows how thinking your people are purer than others can lead to arrogance, the exclusion of others, and crimes against humanity. |
| 157 | * Similarly, another early "Adventure Novel", ''Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson'', was meant to be "educational", designed to teach boys naturalism, Christian values, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Doesn't very much evoke the treehouse-building, zebra-riding, and pirate-fighting of the Disney adaptation, does it? |
| 158 | * Creator/LFrankBaum introduced a mechanical man in ''Literature/TikTokOfOz'' (1914). Even though he's clockwork, he's still the first depiction of an actual robot. The original TinMan can also be easily read as a deconstruction of CyberneticsEatYourSoul, even though the basic concepts behind that trope were decades away. |
| 159 | * Another famous example from literature: ''Literature/TheSorrowsOfYoungWerther'' seems like a Deconstruction of the {{Romantic|ism}} protagonist, whose intense sensitivity and emotional instability lead him to [[spoiler:commit suicide]] due to an unfortunate LoveTriangle. The novel had been created before the Romantic movement even started. |
| 160 | ** The artistic archetype of Romanticism seems unreachable for Werther as well, since he's too lazy and untalented to be a genius. |
| 161 | ** Werther's [[PurpleProse long pretentious rants]] about art, emotion, and life only reveal an eventually Narcissist character. |
| 162 | ** The EmpathicEnvironment trope seems like a Deconstruction as well: Wahlheim is ''flooded'' as the DownerEnding approaches. |
| 163 | ** Even [[EpistolaryNovel the form]] gets its share: an "editor" steps in at the end, proclaiming that Werther's thoughts became [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} too disordered and insane]] to be published. And of course because [[spoiler:Werther can hardly report about his own suicide]]. |
| 164 | * If your only exposure to Yiddish-Jewish culture is ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof,'' reading Mendele Mocher Sforim, the first Yiddish novelist, is a shocker. His work is about how poverty and anti-Semitism have brutalized Jews, turning them into sadistic bigots –- and how their faith in being "chosen people" is a sick joke. In his short story "The Calf," a happy young boy is essentially [[BreakTheCutie brainwashed and tortured]] by his teachers into regarding fun as sinful. His work reads like an angry {{Deconstruction}} of ''Fiddler on the Roof''. But the Shalom Aleichem stories that ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is based on were actually a LighterAndSofter reaction to Mendele, and were about finding dignity and meaning even in a cruel world. As Tevye puts it: |
| 165 | -->Trying to scratch out a pleasant tune without breaking his neck. |
| 166 | * If the ''Literature/DrMabuse'' books were published today, they'd look like a deconstruction of BondVillainStupidity: the title character has several inherently self-destructive tendencies that always ruin everything for him, his plan isn't to TakeOverTheWorld but to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and then rule the ashes, and even his name is a pun on the French "m'abuse" –- "I abuse myself." These books were written long before ''Literature/JamesBond'' got started, and it's been argued that Mabuse was the direct forerunner to Blofeld, but with the latter's plot devices an integral part of his character. |
| 167 | * ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' was one of the first major "monster stories". But going back and reading it now, after growing up exposed to generic FrankensteinsMonster stereotypes where it wanders around aimlessly, groans, and kills people, one may be a bit surprised to find an urbane [[TheWoobie woobie]] of a monster who is in many ways more sympathetic than his creator, quotes liberally from literature, [[LightningBruiser is strong, agile]], and quite dexterous, and also carries firearms for self-protection. The only things that make him appear inhuman are his height and his eyes, and it's decidedly ambiguous whether Frankenstein's true crime was [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow creating the monster]] or a form of ParentalAbandonment. The titular character is either considered the first ScienceHero or the archetypical MadScientist, yet he is a decostruction of both: his pursue aren't ForScience, he is driven by entirely selfish reasons, he lacks any form of method in his research and work, and eventually abandons his project for solely aesthetic reasons. Worse of all, he is not even an actual scientist, he left college early. Adaptations of ''Frankenstein'' feature [[TheIgor Igor]] and peasants waving TorchesAndPitchforks while running up to the castle; these are absent in the book — and for that matter (with occasional exceptions) any public knowledge of the thing at any point. And there is no castle; the monster is created in an upper-floor laboratory of a university. |
| 168 | * Creator/WashingtonIrving's "Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow" is American literature's first major work of {{horror}} fiction, as well as one of the first major works of American ''fiction'' in general, but to modern horror fans, it can come off as an angry rebuke of the genre and its conventions. The protagonist Ichabod Crane--a mild-mannered, pious, educated, morally upright, hardworking Yankee schoolteacher--is practically an outright antithesis of the {{Asshole Victim}}s who tend to meet their demises in more modern horror stories, and his many sympathetic qualities can make the first half of the story seem like a particularly harsh example of DevelopingDoomedCharacters; Crane's most morally questionable act is trying to woo a wealthy farmer's daughter--and even then, [[DidNotGetTheGirl he fails in humiliating fashion]], making it seem all the more cruel when he ends up targeted by the Headless Horseman immediately afterwards. There's also the story's famously AmbiguousEnding, which deliberately refuses to explain Crane's fate, or even [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether the Horseman was actually real]]. Depending on one's interpretation, the ending either emphasizes that [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow there are no clear answers about the supernatural]], or that [[ScoobyDooHoax such things generally have a perfectly rational (and silly) explanation]]. |
| 169 | * ''Literature/LesMiserables'': |
| 170 | ** The novel is one of the [[TropeCodifier oldest and most iconic]] stories about [[SternChase a dogged fugitive on the run from the law]], but it's also an absolutely ''scathing'' examination of the prison system, class conflict and {{police brutality}}, which [[ValuesResonance can still seem pretty daring by today's standards]]--especially compared to the stories that it inspired. While most people remember that Jean Valjean was [[SympatheticCriminal a noble ex-convict who was sent to prison for stealing bread to feed his starving family]], it's easy to forget that he doesn't wind up pursued by InspectorJavert for [[GreatEscape breaking out of prison]], but because he tries to conceal his criminal past so that he can have some small chance at a decent life. He serves his sentence fair and square, but the authorities simply ''won't let him move on'', trapping him in a cycle of punishment that makes it nearly impossible for him to start anew. Even today, his plight is a pretty somber reminder of what happens when society refuses to forgive criminals for their offenses, [[DisproportionateRetribution no matter how minor or understandable they may be]]. And unlike most examples in the trope which bears his name who are usually portrayed as [[PunchClockVillain simply doing their job and may have sympathy for those they chase]] or even help them upon learning their full story, the original Javert is an absolute believer in the law and has no sympathy for Jean or any other criminal he pursues due to having grown up in bad circumstances himself and therefore seeing anyone who couldn't pull themselves out of poverty as he did as inherently evil. Learning that his absolute worldview is wrong [[DrivenToSuicide destroys him so much he takes his own life in response.]] |
| 171 | ** A blink-and-you'll-miss-it unbuilt trope can be found at the end of the novel. The narrative describes the Mardi Gras revels in 1833, coinciding with the wedding of Marius and Cosette. Victor Hugo states that carriages, normally being able to carry about six people, seemed to be carrying twice as many, when they were being dressed up for the carnival, ''disguised as clowns'' or whatever. The author managed thus to present the unbuilt trope of the ClownCar, some 30 years before actual cars were invented, in an action set 30 years before ''that''. |
| 172 | * ''Literature/CaseyAtTheBat'' is the {{Trope Maker|s}} and former trope namer for DownToTheLastPlay... except mighty Casey struck out rather than drive in the winning run. The work also mocks the idea of trying to invoke that trope, since Casey allowed the first two pitches to pass without swinging to look like an even bigger hero, and then blew it. |
| 173 | * ''Literature/UncleTomsCabin'' is the {{Trope Namer|s}} for the Uncle Tom, a CategoryTraitor in a racial context, which is the very opposite of the title character, [[spoiler:who makes a HeroicSacrifice to protect fugitive slaves]]. It was later Uncle Tom-themed minstrel shows which codified the "Uncle Tom" character as a subservient coward. |
| 174 | %% * ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' is the Trope Namer and TropeCodifier for DownTheRabbitHole to such a degree that the character name Alice in any later work implies an AliceAllusion. The original does, however, break several of the "rabbit hole" conventions. Later speculations that it was made on drugs have been disregarded by scholarship; the author was mainly inspired by logic and mathematics. |
| 175 | * ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': |
| 176 | ** What if somebody told you about a mystery novel where a brilliant Victorian detective spends seven chapters relentlessly hunting down a murderer who, instead of being a hardened criminal or an evil genius, turns out to be a completely sympathetic vigilante who was just trying to avenge his wife [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished (but dies for his efforts anyway)]], and where [[AssholeVictim the murder victims themselves are the closest things in the story to actual "villains"]]? Sounds like a {{deconstruction}} of the BlackAndWhiteMorality of old-fashioned "superhero detective" stories, right? Nope. That's the plot of ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet''--the 1887 novel that first introduced the world to Sherlock Holmes. |
| 177 | ** ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles'' also gives us an early example of the ScoobyDooHoax (''Literature/TheCastleInTransylvania'' by Creator/JulesVerne is the UrExample) in a gritty mystery where the perpetrator is a hardened criminal who actually ''kills'' people, and specifically uses the charade because he knows that it's less likely to be investigated by the police than a string of more conventional murders. This was all written about 68 years before ''Scooby-Doo'' ever saw the light of day, but it shows how horrifying the archetypal "fake haunting" plot would be if it actually happened. Indeed: most of the villains victims actually ''[[FrightDeathtrap die of fright]]'' upon seeing the titular hound. |
| 178 | ** Many of the original short stories look like deconstructions of some of the standard tropes of detective fiction, when in fact Doyle was one of the authors who first laid down many of those tropes. It isn't AlwaysMurder, and much of the time EverybodyLives. Sometimes, no actual crime was even committed (which is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Watson). Sometimes, even when a crime is committed, Holmes will [[LetOffByTheDetective let the criminal go]] if he takes pity on them, believes they have [[ScareEmStraight learned their lesson]] and [[GoAndSinNoMore will commit no more crimes]], and/or concludes that [[TreacheryCoverUp the scandal would do unacceptable damage to innocent bystanders]]. Sometimes, even if the crime is a murder, if Holmes decides the murder victim was enough of an AssholeVictim, he'll let the killer go free. |
| 179 | *** And on a broader scale -- a lot (maybe even a majority) of the stories ''weren't'' pure intellectual problems [[FairPlayWhodunnit meant for the reader themselves to play along with]]; one of the key reasons (apart from [[MoneyDearBoy his bank account]]) Conan Doyle wrote them was to commentate on various aspects and injustices of contemporary society, so much so that several stories (notably "The Yellow Face" and "The Veiled Lodger") have Holmes do virtually ''no'' detective work, merely listen to other people's backstories. |
| 180 | ** Sherlock Holmes is the {{Trope Namer|s}} for SherlockScan (maybe [[Literature/CAugusteDupin Dupin]] was the UrExample) but the trope is deconstructed in the second story, ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'', when Holmes deduces that Watson's brother was a scoundrel by studying his pocket watch. This is Watson's BerserkButton, and he accuses Holmes of knowing the sad story of his brother's destiny beforehand, and of using PhonyPsychic techniques to claim he deduced it from a simple watch. In a rare moment of humility, Holmes recognizes that he is an InsufferableGenius, and that he has hurt his friend's feelings by doing the SherlockScan ForScience without thinking into the consequences. |
| 181 | ** Unlike a lot of his imitators, Sir Creator/ArthurConanDoyle occasionally acknowledged the ''absurd'' amount of research that went into making Holmes' famous SherlockScan possible. As shown in ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'', he spends much of his off-time studying comically boring subjects (like "How to tell different types of tobacco ash apart from each other" and "How to distinguish mud from different areas of London") on the vague chance that they might come in handy when analyzing crime scenes. Instead of making Holmes look like a genius, these details just make him look like a crazed obsessive, and multiple characters point out that [[CripplingOverspecialization most of his knowledge is completely useless for everything other than detective work]]. |
| 182 | ** TheButlerDidIt is a DiscreditedTrope which is more often PlayedForLaughs than used straight, and can be described as either a DeadHorseTrope or a DeadUnicornTrope. While straight uses of the trope are rare, they can be found in classics such as some Creator/AgathaChristie stories (''Three Act Tragedy'', ''Black Coffee'', ''The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman'' and arguably in ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress''). A very early example is ''Literature/TheMusgraveRitual'', a Literature/SherlockHolmes short story where a butler committed a crime, but the mystery was instead the butler's disappearance. |
| 183 | ** Many classic detective stories are rather infamous for their ProtagonistCenteredMorality, as they're generally told entirely from the perspective of their detective protagonists, end abruptly when the detective solves the crime and catches the perp, and generally spend little time--if any at all--addressing how ordinary people caught in the crossfire are affected by the detective's quest to bring the bad guys to justice. Which makes it particularly surprising that almost the entire second half of ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'' is a flashback sequence told from the perspective of ''the perpetrator'', where Holmes drops entirely {{out of focus}} as we see the chain of events that drove the supposed bad guy to murder, coming to sympathize with him along the way. It would seem like a deconstruction of the classic Holmes formula... if it weren't the first story in the series, and the novel that '''created''' the Holmes formula. |
| 184 | ** Professor Moriarty is one of the earliest and most iconic {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s in all of fiction. But compared to later examples of the villain type, he almost comes off as a more grounded rebuke. Moriarty doesn't have any {{doomsday device}}s or grandiose schemes, and he's more like a very successful crime boss overall. Since Doyle based him partly on the real-life master criminal [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Worth Adam Worth]], this isn't too surprising. He also comes off as [[LighterAndSofter unusually tame]] in several respects; he's AffablyEvil, a BenevolentBoss, and has a good deal of VillainRespect for Holmes, enough to let him write a final message to Watson before trying to kill him. And while he's not the only example of the trope to be a VillainWithGoodPublicity, his civilian identity isn't involved in politics or big business. No, his day job is as an academic. |
| 185 | ** Until recently, the enduring pop culture image of Dr. Watson was an overweight, jocular, BumblingSidekick whose role is to be baffled by Holme's brilliance and say "Bravo Holmes!" at the end of every adventure, as set by Creator/{{Nigel Bruce}}'s iconic portrayal of the character in ''Radio/TheNewAdventuresOfSherlockHolmes''. Going from that to more modern portrayals such as by Creator/JudeLaw or Creator/MartinFreeman, who are intelligent and badass in their own right, can come across as the writers [[AdaptationalBadass tweaking]] the character to make him less of TheLoad; or applying some deeper thought and realising that someone who was both a doctor and a veteran probably wouldn't be an inept fool. However, those portrayals are far closer to the original stories, where Watson was consistently depicted as highly competent and something of a detective himself, just not as smart as Holmes. (The Granada TV series from the 1980s, one of the first to leave behind the clichés about Watson, has plenty of instances of Dr. Watson doing keen and insightful observations, while still not quite the obsessive master observer on the level of Holmes. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EfOG920W9E This]] scene from ''The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle'' is a good example. As Holmes puts it, with a hint of bemusement, "You are too timid in drawing your inferences...". Granted, Holmes' SherlockScan is the extreme opposite of that type of timidness.) |
| 186 | ** Irene Adler is one of the most famous supporting characters in the Sherlock mythos but her original and only appearance in the Doyle stories is noticeably different from her later portrayals where she is portrayed as the Catwoman to Holmes' Batman, a cunning and seductive criminal [[DatingCatwoman who Holmes acts against but also has romantic feelings for]]. However, Irene is not a thief, criminal or blackmailer nor does she seek out Holmes. Holmes is hired to find her and not because of any crime or offense she's committed but simply because she has an incriminating photo of the King of Bohemia which he wants Holmes to retrieve and which she isn't even hinted to be planning to use for blackmail, only doing so at the end to get them to leave her alone. Irene is simply an ordinary women Holmes is hired to steal from and is portrayed as being in the wrong for doing so as well as for his sexist dismissal of her, showing even the great detective isn't immune to the prejudices of the time. There's also never any hint of attraction between the two with Irene being in a relationship with someone else. Her character was created less as an enemy/love interest to Holmes than as a way of showing his own blind spots and vulnerability and giving him some well-needed humility when she outsmarts him, earning his respect. |
| 187 | * ''Trent's Last Case'' by E C Bentley is generally credited with starting the inter-war FairPlayWhodunnit boom. However, the GreatDetective in it gets the solution of the murder completely wrong. |
| 188 | * Creator/LordDunsany had a taste for cruelly ironic endings for his AdventurerArchaeologist protagonists (see "The Hoard of the Gibbelins" for an example), which seems like a subversion of the good fortune common to your average BarbarianHero appearing in HeroicFantasy stories. However, Dunsany predated [[Creator/RobertEHoward Howard]], [[Creator/FritzLeiber Leiber]], etc. who were inspired by Dunsany. "The Sword of Welleran", "Carcassone" and "In the Land of Time" as well, though "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth" has a happier ending. ''Literature/TheKingOfElflandsDaughter'' is a bit more ambiguous. |
| 189 | * Literature/{{Flatland}} is probably the first novel that introduces the concept of AlienGeometries. However, to the two-dimensional flatlanders, it is the ''RealLife'' three-dimensional world that is unfathomable. |
| 190 | * ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' falls into this in respect to the "{{Swashbuckler}} genre". The antagonist usurper to the throne isn't a CardCarryingVillain with ZeroPercentApprovalRating, instead he's more of an AntiVillain who [[VillainWithGoodPublicity is liked by the populace]], and for good reason, as the legitimate ruler is a drunken boor who doesn't care about the average citizen. Nor does his [[TheDragon Dragon]] have this characterization, instead being an AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil type who is a DracoInLeatherPants ''in-universe''. Also notable is that the book has a BittersweetEnding which becomes a DownerEnding in the sequel, which is in keeping with {{Ruritania}} being presented realistically, rather than as a [[TheThemeParkVersion story-book country]]. The book was meant as a satire, partly of Austria and Russia's even then outdated method of ruling through absolute monarchy, partly of the politically unstable Balkan countries. |
| 191 | ** Speaking of {{Ruritania}}, most Ruritanias are backwards nations, whereas Stephenson's Ruritania is a (for the time) modern country. Zenda is a medieval castle, but recently renovated and equipped with all modern conveniences, Rassendyll (a Londoner) describes Strelsau as "a great city", and the narrative notes that Ruritania has played a pivotal role in European history on many occasions. |
| 192 | *** Also, while most of Stephenson's imitators wrote about their particular Ruritanias as small idyllic kingdoms, Ruritania is anything but. Banditry is rife, class divides and income disparity are high, the rule of the monarch is unchecked and unquestioned, the current king is neither particularly well-liked nor competent and the infighting in the royal family is vicious and on the verge of kicking off a civil war. |
| 193 | * Literature/FuManchu is the TropeCodifier for YellowPeril, and inspired a slew of imitator "Oriental masterminds". Rather than being a one-note stereotype, however, Fu is a surprisingly layered villain: he has a strong code of honor he more or less consistently follows, is [[AffablyEvil polite and cordial]] even to his enemies, genuinely loves his daughter Fah Lo Suee, and helps bring about the downfall of figures worse than himself such as fascist and communist leaders. He's also notable for being a brilliant, bold, charismatic and sophisticated schemer whom his enemy Sir Dennis Nayland Smith acknowledges is his intellectual superior by far. All in all, despite being heavily steeped in the racism and xenophobia that was all too common in the era when they were written, the original Fu Manchu books come off as [[FairForItsDay not quite as bigoted as one might expect]]. |
| 194 | * A good forty years or so before the concept of "The Man" began to take root in the public consciousness, it is discussed without being named in the 1922 novel ''Literature/OneOfOurs''. Progressive young Gladys takes a moment to ruminate on how protagonist Claude Wheeler's asshole brother Bayliss is one of the type of people who run the world. |
| 195 | --> “She believed that all things which might make the world beautiful—love and kindness, leisure and art—were shut up in prison, and that successful men like Bayliss Wheeler held the keys.” |
| 196 | * ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'' is one of the very first uses of the term PrinceCharming, about Dorian. Modern fairy tale parodies, reacting to the FlatCharacter of the stock Prince Charming, will tend to portray him as stupid (see ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'') or will have the character be PrinceCharmless and act like a selfish cad (see ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'', ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'', etc.) Both of these subversions are used in Wilde's novel, but in a much darker way. When introduced, Dorian seems like the benevolent FlatCharacter version, but it's taken further since he's a BlankSlate or even an EmptyShell, which explains why when he goes bad, he goes ''really bad'', since his shallowness is at LackOfEmpathy levels. Dorian would come across as a very dark take on/deconstruction of PrinceCharmless, were he not the first example of it. |
| 197 | * ''Literature/{{Gladiator}}'' reads as a deconstruction of the Franchise/{{Superman}} myth, but it's quite possibly the book that inspired much of the early Superman comics (we don't know for sure). It features Hugo Danner, an invulnerable and super-strong protagonist who is unable to end a war, clean up Washington, have a college football career, or even make a living off his talents. Hugo Danner's attempts to find a MundaneUtility to his [[NighInvulnerability invulnerability]] and SuperStrength backfired no matter what he did (BullyHunter as a child, a ScholarshipStudent at college, a SuperSoldier at war, banker, manual laborer, and AdventurerArchaeologist). He's both strong and smart enough to do basically anything he wants, but [[CutLexLuthorACheck he couldn't find a meaningful job]] since people were either afraid of his talents or trying to manipulate him, and his constant exposure to [[HumansAreBastards humanity's lowest impulses]] [[MaddenedIntoMisanthropy further distances him from everyone]]. In the end, [[spoiler:he dies without using his abilities to help anybody]]. |
| 198 | * ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' is arguably the TropeCodifier for the SelfMadeMan and UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. However, Gatsby's pursuit is not really material wealth, it's true love. He only acquires the wealth to provide for a wife of Daisy's station and class, and everything he did was really for love. The problem, as Gatsby realizes belatedly, was that Daisy's "mouth was full of money", and that Daisy for all her affection for Gatsby and dislike for Buchanan ultimately values the safety and security of her class and upbringing too much to leave it all for true love. The novel is about how Gatsby turns out to have wasted his genuine potential for greatness and real talent in pursuit of his obsessive fixations. |
| 199 | * The 1933 Norwegian novel ''A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks'' by Aksel Sandemose is famous for codifying ''Janteloven'' ("the law of Jante"), the ten-commandment Scandinavian interpretation of the TallPoppySyndrome, and a cornerstone of the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish self-image; Sandemose has been one of few authors to write in all three languages. Today, the "law" is usually read as a satire of the socialist and egalitarian values which have been dominant in Scandinavia since the 1930s. However, the novel has an egalitarian spirit in itself, and is critical to the conservative, semi-feudal society with abysmal class divides, which had been the norm until then. As a side note, many Scandinavians believe that the doctrine is unique for their region; the TallPoppySyndrome however seems to be more or less universal. |
| 200 | * ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'': Even in what's arguably the flagship of the WoodenShipsAndIronMen genre, Hornblower is a brilliant captain, and a frequently self-doubting man who has difficulty remembering or believing that people actually ''like'' him. |
| 201 | * Readers of Creator/RobertEHoward's original ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' stories may be struck by how different the character –- an intelligent and often cheerful polyglot who wears heavy armor into battle, sneaks around, and picks locks –- is from the BarbarianHero archetype he inspired. |
| 202 | * Creator/EdmondHamilton's short story "He That Hath Wings" is one of the first stories to feature {{mutants}}, written in 1938. The protagonist is a WingedHumanoid. He never uses his power to help people or to hurt them, he has his wings amputated once his fiancée demands it, [[spoiler:and once they grow back, he flies himself to death]]. |
| 203 | * ''Literature/TheSpaceOdysseySeries'' is one of the {{trope codifier}}s for AIIsACrapshoot, with HAL 9000 deciding to murder the crew. But this is depicted somewhat differently from most later takes on the trope, and HAL is given a rather sympathetic portrayal. What happened was that HAL received [[LogicBomb contradictory orders]]: it had to both keep the mission's true purpose a secret from the humans aboard, and not go against its programming -- which included providing its users with precise and accurate information promptly. It ''tried'' to find a way to solve this conundrum, but then it overheard plans from MissionControl to temporarily disconnect it. Not understanding the concept of sleep, HAL panicked and killed the crew in a misguided attempt at self-defense. |
| 204 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'' introduced and deconstructed many HighFantasy tropes, with its quasi-pacifistic overtones. |
| 205 | ** In the earlier children's book ''Literature/TheHobbit'', the dwarves' plan for TheQuest is shown as very flawed and they turn out to be helpless against the dragon, who is killed by someone else entirely; when this happens, the humans, elves, and dwarves all immediately turn on each other to fight over the dragon's hoard and peace between them [[EnemyMine only happens due to the Goblins attacking]]. The hero betrays his companions (stealing the most precious gem of the hoard) in a (fruitless) attempt to buy peace. And finally the secondary character, Thorin, is killed in battle by the Goblins. Bilbo doesn't come off much better himself, finding it more convenient to take only a small portion of his treasure back after using the rest of his share to buy peace, and it is even pointed out he loses his reputation from the adventure. |
| 206 | *** Thorin Oakenshield almost reads as a deconstruction of a traditional fantasy hero. He's [[RankScalesWithAsskicking a great warrior]], [[NobleFugitive a long-lost son of a royal family]], a {{Determinator}}, and [[RightfulKingReturns his primary goal is to reclaim his lost kingdom]]. These things have made him bloodthirsty, aloof, hard-headed, and self-righteous. Even his motivation of restoring Erebor turns out to mostly be because he wants the treasure inside it. He ends up kicking off a lot of the events of the climax, and ultimately doesn't solve that many problems, either, concluding on his deathbed that Bilbo was the better of them. He almost reads as a takedown of ''Aragorn'', and pretty much every other hero in that vein, despite preceding most of them. |
| 207 | ** While ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' codifies TheQuest, it also subverts and/or deconstructs many aspects of that basic plot structure. For one thing: their quest is built around an ''{{inverted|Trope}}'' PlotCoupon; rather than seeking out a [[{{Macguffin}} coveted magical object]], they possess one from the beginning, and their mission is to ''destroy'' it. For another thing, the heroes [[spoiler:do ''not'' stick together to the end]], and [[spoiler:their victory is a BittersweetEnding that did not preserve the doomed golden age but merely warded off [[VillainWorld total conquest by evil]]]]. Also, the plucky hero, while exhibiting enormous fortitude, nevertheless [[spoiler:''fails'' in his mission; it was Gollum's unlucky slip which destroyed the Ring]]. And when some of the heroes return home, they find that [[spoiler:it has been taken over by one of the villains and they have to overthrow him]]. |
| 208 | *** In any other story, Aragorn would be TheHero. He is a ChosenOne who [[KingIncognito looks like an ordinary vagabond, but who is actually the long-lost king of Gondor]], he has [[RoyaltySuperpower magical healing powers]], he has a [[NamedWeapons Named Weapon]] that was used to defeat the EvilOverlord the last time (and other legendary items), he marries a [[StandardHeroReward beautiful elf princess]], and the story ends with ''[[RightfulKingReturns The Return of the King]]''. He's also a [[UniversallyBelovedLeader genuinely good and noble person]]. However, Aragorn is the {{Deuteragonist}}, and the actual protagonists are simple townsfolk from an agricultural backwater, who do not turn out to secretly be anyone important. Even Sauron expects Aragorn to be his greatest threat. Aragorn deliberately [[ExploitedTrope exploits this]] to keep Sauron's attention on him instead of on the real protagonist. |
| 209 | ** The trend of [[DarkerAndEdgier GrimDark]] fantasy is somewhat motivated by HypeBacklash against Tolkien. However, Tolkien had been creating [=GrimDark=] fantasy (''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'') long, ''long'' before [[Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant Stephen Donaldson]] and Creator/GeorgeRRMartin. |
| 210 | *** ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Violent, morally ambiguous antiheroes against even worse villains, hypocritical, brutal, imperialist elves who'd give ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire the Lannisters]]'' nightmares, sexual themes like rape and incest, dead kids, and even a DownerEnding. In fact, the first story Tolkien wrote for the Legendarium, the Fall of Gondolin, is a very bleak story about a city of Elves getting destroyed by the forces of evil, and features a villainous Elf who [[KissingCousins desires his cousin]] and tries to murder her young son. |
| 211 | *** ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'': Let's see, it's an epic DarkFantasy novel featuring an (unconsciously) incestuous AntiHero, the fate of a family over the course of an epic struggle, a morally ambiguous dwarf, loads and loads of BlackAndGrayMorality, a sinister supernatural force encroaching from the north and a serious downer ending. And it's got nothing to do with George R.R. Martin. |
| 212 | ** Nowadays, the trend of fantasy worlds having few actual wizards (or none at all) seems like an attempt to avoid imitating Tolkien's Middle-earth--but there are no human mages in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' either, and magic actually plays a more minor role in the trilogy than many people assume. Elves are definitely magical, but they don't use magic in combat; Gandalf, who is the TropeCodifier for WizardClassic in modern genre fantasy, ''occasionally'' uses his magic as a weapon, but [[CommonKnowledge he's not actually a human sorcerer]]--he's a ''Maia'', [[OurAngelsAreDifferent a being roughly akin to an angel or a demigod]] in Tolkien's universe; as a general rule, ''Maiar'' like Gandalf and Saruman are only supposed to use magic as a last resort, and are much more likely to use their skills to lead and guide humans; and while the [[RingOfPower One Ring]] is definitely a powerful magical artifact, its actual powers are largely shrouded in mystery, and it can only grant true power to people like Sauron and Galadriel, who were powerful in the first place. |
| 213 | ** While Tolkien is largely the inspiration for [[OurElvesAreDifferent the modern conception of elves]], many of his uses of them would count as subversions today. That's especially true of the Noldor of Nargothrond, a group of elves living in a large secluded cave city obsessed with craftsmanship and smithing. At least in Peter Jackson's depiction, Rivendell is much more monumental than the typical HiddenElfVillage, and elves at war use metal armor and blade weapons just like mortal men. The [[FriendToAllLivingThings "one with nature"]] stereotype, in particular, is only seen in a small group that is mostly insignificant within his greater mythos. They're also not depicted in an unambiguously positive light: they're just as capable as any human of being stupid, chauvinistic, and/or violent, and they can screw up monumentally. As a matter of fact, it's implied that the reason elves generally come off as morally superior in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is because most of the more flawed elves had died, left Middle-earth or [[CharacterDevelopment grown as people]] by the time of the War of the Ring. |
| 214 | ** Though most people consider the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] to be the TropeCodifier -- if not the {{Trope Maker|s}} -- for the AlwaysChaoticEvil trope, it should be noted that Tolkien [[WordOfGod went on record]] saying that he didn't consider the Orc race to be uniformly evil; because of his strong Catholic upbringing, he expressly rejected the idea of an entire race being beyond salvation, and said that he would have taken the time to include sympathetic Orcs if he'd been able to fit them into the narrative (in fact, some lines of narration imply at least a few orcs fought ''against'' Sauron). In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', he writes that the Orcs began when Melkor imprisoned and corrupted elves, and that far from enjoying evil, "the Orcs loathed the Master whom they served in fear". They're also rather different from later portrayals of orcs in that they're neither near-mindless animalistic savages nor NobleDemon {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s; Tolkien orcs have roughly human-level intelligence, are more skilled with torture and machines (particularly weapons) than they are in direct combat, and are actually generally smaller and weaker than humans. |
| 215 | ** The Orcs' homeland—the basis for [[{{Mordor}} another rather famous trope]]—can also be considered a {{deconstruction}} of the classic "Realm of Evil". While it ''is'' a pretty grim place, with plenty of dark skies and exploding volcanoes to go around, Tolkien actually took time to point out that a place like Mordor would have to include huge tracts of exceptionally fertile farmland in order to support a huge military juggernaut; [[ShownTheirWork this is actually borne out by reality]], as volcanic soil generally does make very good land for planting crops. Mount Doom establishes ChekhovsVolcano; it is however not merely an ominous landmark that happens to erupt in the final chapter; it is a source of Sauron's power, and to some degree controlled by him. |
| 216 | ** Considering the popular image of orcs (regardless if they're good or evil) as [[DumbMuscle physically powerful yet intellectually lacking barbarians]], it may be a surprise to see that Tolkien's depiction of orcs was the complete opposite: Orcs were repeteadly described as smaller and physically weaker than humans, closer to dwarves in height, and Saruman's Uruk-Hai being able to ''match'' men in size and strength. In fact, their small size became plot relevant when Frodo and Sam infiltrated Mordor's ranks by wearing stolen armor and pretending to be very short orcs, something that wouldn't have worked if orcs were big and imposing. Also, while no ''individual'' orc was portrayed as a genius, they were shown to be much more technologically advanced than the other races: Mordor and post-FaceHeelTurn Isengard are heavily industrialized, and orcish medicine is shown to be so potent and fast acting it could match elvish medicine, which was magic-based. It is likely that the altered perception came from the movies, which made orcs [[AdaptationalBadass as big and strong as humans, if not stronger]], with Saruman's Uruk-Hai being downright {{Super Soldier}}s. |
| 217 | ** Despite the stereotype of an EvilOverlord being evil for [[ForTheEvulz the sake of it]], in [[Literature/TheHistoryOfMiddleEarth Morgoth's Ring]] Tolkien goes into a lot of detail on the actual motives of the two Dark Lords, [[GodOfEvil Morgoth]] and [[DragonAscendant Sauron]]. Morgoth is shown as essentially nihilistic and his apparent eventual plan was to destroy everything basically out of spite that he hadn't created it (and [[CreativeSterility literally couldn't create anything even though he desperately wanted to]]). Sauron, meanwhile, became evil out of a desire to bring order to the world, which used to be a very noble feature of his, and after Morgoth's defeat his motives seemed to be restoring Middle-earth after the war -- however, he was too proud to humble himself, which led to his corruption. It is even mentioned that in the beginning nothing was evil, showing there is free will. |
| 218 | ** The Elf Fëanor contains many qualities of a traditional fantasy hero, being a King's oldest son who wants to avenge his father's murder by the BigBad, handsome, intelligent, charismatic and an excellent warrior. However, he comes across as a deconstruction of TheAce, as he is very arrogant and hot-headed. His rallying the Noldor to war against Morgoth also deconstructs TheCharmer, as it leads to the Noldor killing other Elves so they can get to Middle-Earth, and the oath he and his sons swear leads to terrible consequences for centuries afterwards, which curse the Noldor. Fëanor is also set up as a major character for the First Age, however his HotBlooded nature means he dies shortly after reaching Middle-Earth when he attacks Angband ahead of his main army and is fatally wounded by the Balrogs. |
| 219 | ** MedievalEuropeanFantasy works inspired by Tolkien tend to resemble TheHighMiddleAges more than anything else; people who make fiction that deliberately avoids this particular aesthetic often paint it specifically as trying not to create "Tolkienesque" settings. Tolkien's fantasy, however, is more directly inspired by TheLowMiddleAges, particularly pre-Norman Conquest Anglo-Saxon culture (the most notable exceptions being the Shire, which is essentially a compact version of early modern England). Gondor has architecture and weaponry reminiscent of either the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire or AncientEgypt. MedievalEuropeanFantasy also tends to display MedievalStasis, without any social or technological development. Middle-Earth is however not static, but instead EndOfAnAge, where magic and miracles gradually wear off over the millennia. One interpretation is that Middle-Earth is EarthThatUsedToBeBetter. |
| 220 | ** A lot of this (especially the moral ambiguity) is due to Tolkien being inspired by older stories featuring quite morally ambiguous characters, such as [[Literature/TheKalevala Kullervo]], a direct inspiration for Turin. |
| 221 | ** Tolkien's dark elves -- the Moriquendi -- are ''very'' different from the common idea of them. They don't have black skin or follow a ReligionOfEvil, they just never saw the light of the Two Trees and are thus "of darkness" and comparatively ignorant. As a whole, they're no better or worse than other elves in terms of morality, nor are they particularly distinct in terms of appearance. |
| 222 | ** Even the trilogy format itself is this -- Tolkien wanted ''The Lord of the Rings'' published as a single volume, but it was just ''too damn long'', especially considering the paper shortage in post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII England, which meant that a single volume would have had to be priced so high that nobody would have bought it.[[note]] Funnily enough, much the same thing happened with ''Franchise/StarWars'', the '''other''' iconic fantasy saga that helped popularize the trilogy format. Creator/GeorgeLucas initially envisioned it as a single EpicFilm, but Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox advised him to significantly trim his script and expand the first act, realizing that he had written far too much material for a single movie.[[/note]] Later authors made the trilogy format a DiscreditedTrope of the fantasy genre. |
| 223 | * Arguably the first nuclear-themed AfterTheEnd and WagonTrainToTheStars story is the 1956 ''Literature/{{Aniara}}'' poem by Harry Martinson. In contrast to most later works, it is a hard science fiction, and might have [[spoiler:the darkest DownerEnding of science-fiction classics]]. |
| 224 | * The ''Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser'' stories popularised the BrainsAndBrawn pairing of protagonists in the fantasy genre. However, a big element of the stories throughout is that Fafhrd is actually just as intelligent as the Mouser is -- he simply doesn't show off about it as much, and deliberately uses ObfuscatingStupidity to trick enemies. |
| 225 | * ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' pioneered the SpaceIsAnOcean metaphor and introduced many concepts of military organization and weaponry which later became part of the StandardScifiSetting, such as the SpaceMarine, the PoweredArmor, and the DropPod. The book is, however, not primarily a celebration of technology, but rather a deconstruction of modern democracy, and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, with references to UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar JustForFun/RecycledInSpace. TheEmpire is not just a possible outcome of future mankind, but seems to be the only option for a stable government. While the book describes futuristic weapons, it also describes the continued need to put infantry on the frontline. SeeTheWhitesOfTheirEyes and other RuleOfCool fight scene tropes common to later mainstream PoweredArmor-centric scifi like ''ComicBook/IronMan'' are studiously avoided, and an explicit InUniverse warning is given against bogging the user down in tech such that he can be {{Rock Beats Laser}}ed. |
| 226 | * ''Literature/JamesBond'': |
| 227 | ** The very first novel, ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'', for its first half builds up Bond as the glamorous, high-flying operative he is now known as. The second half is a lot more downbeat and gritty, and feels like a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome take on certain elements of the formula: the GirlOfTheWeek [[spoiler:turns out to be TheMole]]; instead of an elaborate DeathTrap, Bond is subject to [[spoiler:a series of simple but brutal GroinAttacks]], and the villain's death [[spoiler:is at the hands of his [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre Moscow employers]]]]. Finally the last third of the novel is a long introspection by Bond of the toll taken by being a hired assassin in a world of secrets as he convalesces from the experience. In short, the novel laid out the bad side of the life that the films (and later novels, to a lesser degree) would glamorize. |
| 228 | ** The original novel of ''Literature/DrNo'' prominently features Doctor No's [[SupervillainLair incredibly elaborate, cozy island lair]], which was later immortalized in the film adaptation and set the standard for larger-than-life evil lairs everywhere. However, it also goes into detail about the time, money and resources that would go into constructing such a thing –- Dr. No first appears in person as Bond wonders just ''how'' he managed to [[ElaborateUndergroundBase build a window facing out into the ocean into the wall]], and how much such an operation would cost. Bond is also well aware of how strange, surreal, and (given that he isn't expected to leave alive) morbid his [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine welcome]] is. The whole thing exists to serve Dr. No's special brand of megalomania. The movie included the impressive lair, but cut out the details of its construction and the kind of mind that led to its creation, making it seem a good deal less extraordinary. |
| 229 | ** Whenever a modern story depicts Bond battling a RealLife political organization (e.g. al-Qaeda, the KGB, or the IRA), it's often assumed to be a deconstructive answer to "classic" Bond stories, which usually pitted him against a fictional NebulousEvilOrganisation like SPECTRE. In fact, Fleming's original novels did this from the very beginning: before SPECTRE was introduced, Bond's most persistent foe was SMERSH--a very real (albeit highly fictionalized) Soviet counterespionage agency that actually ''was'' active during the early years of the Cold War. [[note]] Note that the ''real'' SMERSH (taken from the Russian phrase '''''Smer'''''''t'' '''''Sh'''''''pionam'', or ''"Death to spies"'') was exclusively a wartime agency, and they spent most of their existence battling Nazi Germany. Contrary to what Fleming's novels show, they were absorbed into the KGB shortly after World War II ended, and spent little time battling Britain's [=MI6=].[[/note]] |
| 230 | %%** Consequently, the movie adaptation of ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' seems like a deconstruction of the previous Bond films (and was even hyped as such, at a time when it was perceived that the Bond franchise was wearing thin), particularly the Moore era, when it's in fact being faithful to the source material, although there's definitely a certain mockery of the campier moments in Bond's history. |
| 231 | %%** Fleming's writing of Bond in general feels like a deconstruction of the adventurous and badass ladies man that film Bond is. In the books, Bond is depicted as a stone-cold and ruthless assassin with a hinted-at lust for violence whose womanizing comes across more like the behavior of a sexual predator than TheCasanova. |
| 232 | * ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'' marked a major GenreTurningPoint for American literature with its fully fleshed-out portrayal of a teenage protagonist in the throes of adolescent angst, but it can come off as a GenreDeconstruction of "teen lit" by today's standards. Holden Caulfield has his fair share of admirable qualities, but the book isn't shy about pointing out that he's ultimately a very naive kid with a lot of growing up to do, that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll he isn't nearly as perceptive or eloquent as he sees himself]], and that his hatred of "phonies" is a tragic result of his cynicism [[JadeColoredGlasses warping his view of the world]]--making him a classic UnreliableNarrator. The book also drops all of its SchoolTropes after Holden is expelled from Pencey Prep, then decides to leave the school to wander the streets of New York. It also subverts audience expectations of a ComingOfAgeStory, intentionally leaving it ambiguous whether Holden will actually grow from his experiences or simply stay angry at the world. |
| 233 | * Ray Bradbury's ''Literature/TheVeldt'' was one of the first stories to explore the SmartHouse. However, the story also shows the consequences of having a house that solves your every need: both George and Lydia's lives have become empty with a house that can do all the work for them. Even worse, their children have become brats who don't recognize George and Lydia as their parents due to the fact that the house has become their de facto parent. [[spoiler:George and Lydia realize they need to pull the plug on the house... but are savagely murdered by their children so it can keep indulging them]]. |
| 234 | * ''Literature/IAmLegend'' was the inspiration for many of the classic zombie stories, including ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968''. [[spoiler:It also has the inhuman hordes being depicted as sentient, and the lone survivor is ''their'' version of a boogeyman. The ethical questions concerning his attempts to survive in this new world are a primary theme of the end of the novel.]] |
| 235 | * ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' is arguably the {{Trope Maker|s}} for GoAmongMadPeople. In contrast to most cases of the OnlySaneMan in an asylum, [=McMurphy=] tries ObfuscatingInsanity with poor success. As the staff sees his sanity from the beginning, the intrigue is less about his diagnosis, and more of a power struggle against the staff [[spoiler:until the end, when he becomes so dangerous that they need to lobotomize him]]. Some established asylum tropes are broken; the patients have a wide range of mental symptoms where the more clichéd ones (such as delusions) are a minority, and only a few patients are grounded. |
| 236 | * ''Literature/TheManInTheHighCastle'': |
| 237 | ** Considered a hallmark of classic AlternateHistory, though it wasn't the first, the book manages to deconstruct the genre by having the title character write his own alternate history in which the Allies won World War II, but in a different way than in real life. The ending is a MindScrew which seems to hint that the characters realize that neither that fictional history nor their own is real. |
| 238 | ** Probably the first serious "[[AlternateHistoryNaziVictory The Nazis win]]" AlternateHistory, it seems to deconstruct several clichés associated with the genre nowadays. Rather than being a venerated father figure for the Reich, Hitler is in a lunatic asylum and none of the current Nazi leadership can bring themselves to admit that they have built a world based on the ideas of a man even they now think is mad. We spend much more time looking at the Japanese-ruled part of the US than the Nazi-ruled part. One character talks about how the Nazis' policies appeal to some white working-class Americans, making blue-collar jobs more celebrated in culture and socially acceptable (reflecting how they built their support in Germany in RealLife) rather than the usual modern NaziNobleman stereotype. |
| 239 | ** For all their [[StupidJetpackHitler Nazi Superscience]], which would be truly awe-inspiring in other works, it's here pointed out that their advancements are barely enough to keep the Reich's economy going and from collapsing on itself. The expensive projects of space rockets and planet colonizations are nothing but BreadAndCircuses to keep the population from realizing how bad things really are. |
| 240 | * ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' was the {{Trope Namer|s}} for LoliconAndShotacon -- the Japanese loanword is short for "Lolita Complex" -- but if you read it carefully, you'll realize that if Humbert could see Dolores Haze objectively, he would see just another normal, banal suburban girl who is neither poetically pure nor some sexually precocious nymph. And despite being seen as the TropeCodifier for the FilleFatale, to the point of "nymphet" being found in dictionaries, it's made clear that [[UnreliableNarrator Humbert is lying]]; Dolores does everything in her power to ''escape'' him, while Humbert takes over her life, emotionally and physically abuses her, and does things like drug and blackmail her in exchange for sexual favors. [[spoiler:By the end of the book, Dolores makes it clear she wants nothing to do with him anymore, and a (possibly) remorseful Humbert, accepting he destroyed Dolores' life, gives her the money she needs to safely deliver her baby before shooting the other predator who preyed on Dolores.]] |
| 241 | * FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome has often been accused of carrying a warped "ignorance is bliss" moral, but this is a criticism nobody can make of the trope namer, ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon''. While Charlie does become a pretty big jerk after he gains his genius intelligence, it's not a direct consequence of him becoming smarter; rather, it's because he finally understands that people were mistreating him when he was retarded and is understandably bitter about it. Moreover, Charlie is horrified when he finds out that he'll lose his high intelligence, and the depiction of his mental degeneration is absolutely heartbreaking. It's heavily implied that, since Algernon died after his intelligence degraded, Charlie doesn't have long to live either. |
| 242 | * ''Literature/TheMoviegoer'' has a series of insightful and utter deconstructive extrapolations about the flaws of '[[TheSixties 60s]] counter culture but the book was published in 1961, well ahead of the popular outbreak of what he was describing. |
| 243 | * ''Film/TheGodfather'', arguably the TropeCodifier of TheMafia, deconstructs some of the central tropes of mafia fiction before they were established, including TheMafia itself. |
| 244 | ** The main storyline starts InMediasRes, as the Corleone family is already [[TheSyndicate an underworld superpower]], though they face competition which threatens to destroy the whole empire. [[spoiler:In the end, as Michael Corleone becomes the new Don, he orders the murder of all opposing mafia leaders. Then, he dismantles the family's criminal business in New York, to go legal.]] A recurring theme is the downfall of Mafia gangs; the Corleones, as well as their rivals. |
| 245 | ** The ''Godfather'' series launched the public image of gangsters as [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster glamorous jetsetters, living in luxury]]. While the novel and the film series indeed display the Corleones' wealth, it cannot buy them free from an inevitable family tragedy. |
| 246 | ** NothingPersonal is a classical mafia trope, taken apart by none other than Michael Corleone himself: |
| 247 | --->''"Tom, don't let anybody kid you. It's all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it's personal as hell. You know where I learned that from? The Don. My old man. The Godfather. If a bolt of lightning hit a friend of his the old man would take it personal. He took my going into the Marines personal. That's what makes him great. The Great Don. He takes everything personal. Like God. He knows every feather that falls from the tail of a sparrow or however the hell it goes? Right? And you know something? Accidents don't happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult."'' |
| 248 | ** ShameIfSomethingHappened (protection racket through implicit extortion) is another cornerstone of Mafia fiction. The first occurrence in ''The Godfather'' chronology is in the prequel story about the young Vito Corleone (the second book of the novel, and ''The Godfather, part II'' film). Don Fanucci extorts money from Vito, [[spoiler:who realizes that nobody backs up Fanucci, kills him, and replaces him as the new Don.]] Thereby, both the first episode and the prequel describe how the mafia's revenue model ''fails''. While the book and the films [[InformedAttribute tell that]] the Corleones have made a fortune out of illegal gambling and protection rackets, [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything the business itself is never depicted]]. |
| 249 | ** ''The Godfather'' has a codifying example of a MobWar. However, the titular Godfather is the opposite of a warlord; [[spoiler:while he is in the hospital, his son Sonny leads the Corleones into a devastating war, which Vito ends as soon as Sonny gets killed.]] |
| 250 | ** InnocentBlueEyes has been a mafia-related trope in films such as ''Film/MickeyBlueEyes'', where a non-Italian family member is ignorant or in denial of the family's criminal activity. Don Vito's informally adoptive son Tom Hagen is of German-Irish descent; as the ''consigliere'' and family lawyer, however, he is in the Mafia's innermost circle. Michael's wife Kay Adams plays a similar role; she is shocked the first time Michael describes the family's brutal methods, and since then she does her best to keep her husband out of crime. |
| 251 | ** Speaking of Tom, he's the TropeCodifier for TheConsigliere. However, while he means well, he's not a good wartime ''consigliere'' and is unable to smell a rat the way his predecessor Genco could. |
| 252 | ** Vito Corleone is universally recognized as the TropeCodifier for TheDon, and is probably the most famous mobster in the history of pop culture, but he can seem like a deconstruction of the trope to modern audiences--not because he's unusually cruel or brutal, but because he seems oddly [[LighterAndSofter tame and restrained]] compared to his imitators. Vito has no qualms with crimes like bribery, extortion or ordering assassinations, but it's outright stated that most of his income comes from relatively harmless business interests like gambling, liquor and union organizing; in fact, most of the plot stems from him refusing to get involved in the burgeoning narcotics business, believing that dealing drugs is both [[EvenEvilHasStandards despicable even by Mafia standards]] and [[PragmaticVillainy too risky as a business investment]]. And (as mentioned above) he's the first to realize that the family's violent MobWar with the Tattaglias and the Barzinis is completely pointless, and ends it as soon as he has a chance. On some level, Corleone acts like a respected community figure and even [[EvilParentsWantGoodKids discourages his sons from becoming criminals]]. |
| 253 | * ''Literature/CreaturesOfLightAndDarkness'' by Creator/RogerZelazny has a novelty martial art –- known as "Temporal Fugue" –- practised by godlike superhumans, which involves practitioners projecting themselves through space and time to a place behind their enemies, striking right before their foes strike. If both practitioners use Temporal Fugue at the same time, it results in an infinite cascade of recursion and duplication, which strains the time-space continuum. At first, this would seem like a deconstruction of NoIAmBehindYou, but ''Creatures of Light and Darkness'' was written in 1969, long before anime dealing with the subject first started to boom. |
| 254 | * ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' is one of the earlier works to feature HeelFaceBrainwashing with TheLudovicoTechnique (arguably the TropeCodifier), which is often played as a more humane way to resolve things with a bad guy than simply killing him or imprisoning him, especially as he will probably learn that GoodFeelsGood and turn for real. The book, however, goes straight into the FridgeHorror of the idea when it's used on Alex and ultimately condemns it as a horrific and terrible crime against humanity, as what it's essentially done is remove Alex's free will, making him less than human. Alex also doesn't learn anything about GoodFeelsGood while under its influence: he's beaten and terrorized by his past victims, unable to defend himself, and ends up attempting suicide to escape the horror his life has become. And at the end, after the brainwashing procedure has been reversed, he just decides to become a good person anyway, having grown up a bit. |
| 255 | * The ''Literature/NoonUniverse'' predates many of the famous ''Star Trek''-esque utopian future stories as well as a lot of space operas, but it also deconstructs its own ideas. The future, while [[CrapsaccharineWorld outwardly nice]], is hitting a decay, the eccentric scientists are turning towards dangerous experiments out of boredom, the government is increasingly paranoid, the {{Precursors}} are manipulative asses, FirstContact almost always ends in tragedy, and the Flash Gordon-style protagonists tend to do more harm than good. TheFederation isn't destroyed by its own ideals, but WordOfGod says the only reason it didn't happen is because one of the writers died. |
| 256 | * ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': |
| 257 | ** ''Dune'' may not have been [[UrExample the very first]] science-fiction novel ever to feature mystic cults, a prophecy about TheChosenOne, or a [[LaResistance rebellion]] against a [[TheEmpire galactic empire]]--but it ''was'' a major TropeCodifier for the modern SpaceOpera, and (as you can probably tell) one of the biggest artistic influences on the ''Franchise/StarWars'' saga. Today, though, it can seem like a cynical deconstruction of the kind of escapist sci-fi epics that it inspired. The Fremen aren't just noble freedom fighters, they're a xenophobic band of religious fanatics who aren't above waging ''jihad'' on the galaxy or executing prisoners of war who refuse to convert to their religion. Their rebellion also doesn't bring the Imperium down, but simply replaces one Emperor with another; Paul Atreides is even forced to [[AltarDiplomacy marry the Padishah Emperor's daughter]] to solidify his claim to the throne. Paul himself, while mostly sympathetic, is just as much a wealthy aristocrat as the villains, and he becomes revered as a MessianicArchetype by exploiting a fake prophecy that was supposed to make the primitive Fremen easier to manipulate; his powers ''actually'' come from a centuries-old selective breeding program that runs on ''eugenics''. |
| 258 | ** The series went in-depth examining the full social and religious implications of the RobotWar ''long'' before it became the archetypal plot that it is today –- and it did it without ever showing the war itself. Instead, the story takes place millennia after the war, in a universe where its aftermath led to a religious crusade against artificial intelligence... and gave rise to oppressive aristocratic governments and subcultures of power-crazed {{Ubermensch}}en who manipulate the human race with mystical powers. Not to mention the struggle to control the substance that fuels said mystical powers, which ends up controlling the universe's economy and touching off centuries of ever more destructive wars. It's an entire SpaceOpera setting built around drug-dealing. Though the RobotWar merely forms the background of the story, its results imply that in RealLife, even victory in such a conflict could turn out to be disastrous for humanity. |
| 259 | *** Moreover, in the original books it is implied that it was not even a war with robots, but a luddite uprising against changes brought by ordinary computers! |
| 260 | ** The central "desert planet" planet of Arrakis (or "Dune") was the TropeCodifier--if not the outright ''{{Trope Maker|s}}''--for the SingleBiomePlanet, notably influencing the ''Franchise/StarWars'' films in their depiction of the Galaxy. [[note]] Several earlier sci-fi writers had depicted planets [[{{Ecumenopolis}} covered entirely by manmade cities]], but Arrakis was one of the first that was largely untouched by human settlement, and outright said to have just one biome in its natural ecosystem.[[/note]] But unlike many later derivative works, ''Dune'' actually examined some of the inherent consequences of living in such an environment, and also bothered to explain how such a planet could come to be. Throughout the series, it's heavily implied that the native {{sandworm}}s--the dominant lifeforms, who maintain the desert landscape by constantly eroding the crust on the surface--were an artificially introduced species, and that they slowly caused the planet's natural water sources to vanish as a side-effect of the process that produces the spice melange. Correctly recognizing how utterly hellish it is to live on a planet of endless deserts, the native Fremen spend ''centuries'' working on a plan to finally fertilize the deserts and make them green. [[note]] As a not-so-suble metaphor for petroleum, the spice makes the Imperium's entire economy possible, as it grants psychic abilities that make it possible for spaceships to navigate routes through space, and gives the galaxy's many religious cults their mystic abilities. Accordingly, the environmental side-effects of melange production are based on the RealLife detrimental effects of fossil fuels on Earth's environment.[[/note]] Also unlike almost all other examples, Arrakis doesn't ''stay'' a SingleBiomePlanet: the Fremen's efforts lead to the endless deserts being overtaken by forests and grasslands, but [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the inevitable consequences of this]] (the slow erosion of the native culture, and the gradual collapse of the economy centered on melange) are examined in full. |
| 261 | * To a modern reader, ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'' reads like a LighterAndSofter rebuke to ''Twilight'' and other books like it: Girl meets immortal boy, girl falls for boy, boy's family adores girl, girl must decide whether or not she wants to live forever with boy. But it was published in 1975, three decades before ''Twilight'' became a cultural phenomenon. |
| 262 | ** Winnie, the central protagonist, isn't a lovelorn teenager seeking romance but a naive young girl who wants to escape from her prudish and controlling family. |
| 263 | ** In this case, the method of becoming immortal is much gentler than what we see in modern WhoWantsToLiveForever books (drinking from a spring as opposed to being bitten by a vampire). |
| 264 | ** The family's love for the girl is justified [[spoiler:because, being immortal, the Tucks have become weary of living and are overjoyed to have a "natural, growing child" nearby]]. |
| 265 | ** The reason for the family's Masquerade is justified as well, because [[spoiler:they ([[ProperlyParanoid correctly]]) suspect that someone will try to market and sell the secret of immortality if they discover them. Surely enough, The Man in a Yellow Suit comes along and the family has to kill him in self-defense to protect Winnie]]. |
| 266 | ** Most surprising of all, [[spoiler:Winnie decides not to drink the water and stay with her immortal love interest, instead living out a natural life and dying some 70 years later. This is portrayed as a wise decision on Winnie's part]]. |
| 267 | * ''Literature/AConfederacyOfDunces'': Though written in the 1960s and published in 1981, John Kennedy Toole's masterpiece unbuilds the crackpot ideas and philosophies that emerged from the Internet, and the kind of people who promote them. |
| 268 | ** Ignatius is a predecessor of those very crackpots: he promotes the idea of returning to feudalism and conservatism, predating the 21st-century "Dark Enlightenment" movement, [[{{Hypocrite}} but is a lazy slob who leaches off his mother]], and spends his time watching cartoons and movies just to complain about their "degeneracy" (all the while masturbating to memories of his childhood dog). And it's all but stated he engages in pseudo-intellectual nonsense just to stick it to his liberal activist girlfriend. |
| 269 | ** Ignatius' "Crusade for Moorish Dignity" feels like a deconstruction of social justice. His movement has no real interest in actually solving the grievances of New Orleans black community, and the workers immediately back out of the movement when they see how nuts Ignatius is. |
| 270 | * Despite being the {{Trope Maker|s}} of ConsultingAConvictedKiller, the original Franchise/HannibalLecter books viciously deconstructed the concept by having [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome reality ensue]] ''hard'': |
| 271 | ** In ''Literature/RedDragon'', Lecter's advice and ramblings are either thought of already or don't help Graham at all. Eventually Graham learns the hard way that trusting a sociopathic murderer is a ''really'' bad idea when [[spoiler:Lecter uses their interviews to give Graham's home address to the killer, which results in Graham being disfigured]]. Crawford later bluntly states that consulting Lecter was a terrible idea. |
| 272 | ** Then at the end of ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', [[spoiler:Hannibal exploits the agreement Clarice made to interview him and get Buffalo Bill's real name to get transferred to another, laxer asylum from which he can escape. Even more blatantly, Hannibal didn't even figure out the killer from his sheer analytic genius; he ''already knew'' exactly who Jame Gumb was because Benjamin Raspail had told him the entire story when he was a client. Being a serial killer doesn't give you immaculate knowledge of other serial killers' motives; Hannibal only knows because he's lucky enough to be privy to the killer's entire history and background]]. |
| 273 | * While hardly the first {{steampunk}} novel, ''Literature/TheDifferenceEngine'' helped [[GenrePopularizer popularize it]], even though it is easily one of the more dystopian takes on it. Many of the flaws of UsefulNotes/{{Victorian|Britain}} society -- socio-economic tensions, poor understanding of medicine, police surveillance, pollution, British imperialism -- are all exacerbated by London getting its hands on advanced technology way too early to be trusted with it. It was, in fact, originally written as a satire of {{cyberpunk}}, taking all of that genre's characteristic dystopian tropes and applying them to the 19th century, the previous "golden age" of science and industry. |
| 274 | ** Though it arrived years later, ''Literature/TheDiamondAge'' is also a striking example. All the archetypical steampunk technology is there, but Creator/NealStephenson doesn't waste a single opportunity to highlight the shortcomings and ValuesDissonance of (neo-)Victorian society. Hackworth is a genius but socially bound to remain working-class; his wife [[spoiler:divorces him per Victorian custom after he is kidnapped and raped by the Drummers]]; Nell is alienated by the rigidness and impracticality of her boarding school, and on and on. |
| 275 | * ''Literature/TheBeach'' (1996) and its 2000 film adaptation codified the backpacking subculture. Still, as the book begins, the resorts of Thailand are already over-exploited by commercial tourism. The main theme is a paradox of tourism; creating a community of peers, without becoming too many in the same place. The story also becomes HarsherInHindsight as Maya Bay, the filming location, got overrun by tourists looking for the pristine beach... as well as much of Southeast Asia. |
| 276 | * ''Literature/SnowCrash'' predates ''Literature/BoogiepopSeries'' in terms of providing an UrExample to the StockLightNovelHero as it was written in 1992. Unlike the latter's case, who's a side character, this case is the main protagonist Hiro Protagonist. While he has many of the traits associated with the trope, such as being a pretty boy with exceptional programming skills and who still carries around a sword in a world full of guns, he's a JadedWashout by the standards of his peers and he has a hard time holding a steady job or relationship, a far cry from the harem-gaining and borderline WishFulfillment examples seen when the trope became a thing. |
| 277 | * ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'': |
| 278 | ** The heroine was so memorable that she named her [[ThePollyanna own trope]]. But Pollyanna herself is given a reason for her eternal optimism; the Glad Game is something she and her father came up with to find a reason to be positive about things. It's strongly hinted that Pollyanna plays the Glad Game because it's essentially all she has -- edging her close to being a StepfordSmiler. [[spoiler:When she's injured and left crippled, gladness does not come so easy to her. She gets better through other people's kindness rather than her own optimism.]] |
| 279 | ** Parts of the story feel like a deconstruction of WhiteMansBurden -- in the 1910s. Aunt Polly is one of the richest women in town and she gives many charitable gifts to the less fortunate. But she only does so out of a stuffy sense of obligation, and it ends up being interpreted as a backhanded way of asserting her superiority over them. She has to learn a lesson about how people don't like false charity. |
| 280 | * ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' is a war veteran with PTSD flashbacks who becomes a detective. Except it's not post-WWII noir, or a gritty modern story. He's a World War ''I'' vet. He does have a FriendOnTheForce...who exists as more than a plot device, and eventually [[spoiler:marries Peter's sister]]. And he acts like an IdleRich person, but he actually does manage his holdings, and the standards of the time keep him from discussing them. Plus, again, the trope doesn't usually include "war vet with PTSD flashbacks". Oh, and he worries about the effect his detective job has on his morality and mental health. His PTSD is linked to how he was forced to send men to their deaths, which is exactly what he does as a detective. He usually consoles himself with the thought that anyone who gets the death sentence is going to be someone society is better off without. Sometimes that excuse works for him. |
| 281 | * ''Literature/TheOutsiders'' is the quintessential GreaserDelinquents story. It has the trademarks of ThatNostalgiaShow, however it was ''written'' in the 1960s. It's supposed to be a matter-of-fact contemporary story about greasers by someone who had friends who were greasers, not a romanticized look on greasers like other works. As a result, the book is a lot harsher than future nostalgia-driven material and focuses on the socio-economics issues many greasers faced. The greaser protagonists are also less generic "cool, tough guys" and more softies who act cool and suave as a facade. |
| 282 | * The joke that the titular character of ''Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'' is actually a drunk because of his [[DrunkenGlow red nose]] predates even the original book itself. Rudolph was originally declined because, at the time, red noses were associated with alcoholics. |
| 283 | * The second half of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' brutally deconstructs the idea of TheChosenOne TrappedInAnotherWorld. [[spoiler:After physically entering Fantastica and rebuilding it, Bastian's newfound ego runs amok. Rather than healing the world, he does tremendous harm to it through his power fantasies, leading to a number of tragic events. He's ultimately only able to go home when Atreyu and Falkor selflessly agree to fix the damage he did.]] Keep in mind that the book was originally published in 1979, predating this kind of plotline becoming popular in children's literature by a wide margin. |
| 284 | * ''Literature/ThingsFallApart'' was one of the first novels in English to deal with African society from the viewpoint of Africans (contrasting the traditional Eurocentric viewpoint), and it played a major role in popularizing postcolonial literature. However, its conflict is far more [[GreyAndGrayMorality gray-shaded]] than one might expect. In his portrayal of the pre-colonial Igbo people, Chinua Achebe doesn't hesitate to tackle [[DeliberateValuesDissonance cultural practices that can seem disturbing to modern readers]]--like abandoning newborn twins in the forest to die, executing adopted stepchildren on the advice of village elders, exiling an entire family for the crime of one person (even if the crime was an accident), the large amount of misogyny and physical abuse towards females, and ostracizing any man who doesn't live up to traditional Igbo ideals of masculinity. He also doesn't depict the British colonizers as being all {{evil colonialist}}s, with the British culture of the era being depicted as having both virtues and flaws, much like the Igbo. This is best demonstrated through [[GoodShepherd Mr. Brown]], one of the British missionaries. While his ultimate goal is to get the Igbo to convert to Christianity, Mr. Brown is full-heartedly willing to learn about the Igbo culture instead of automatically dismissing it as evil and doesn't want the Igbo to lose their cultural identity and autonomy to British colonialism. Unlike other missionaries in this novel and future postcolonial novels, he takes the time to personally meet and befriend villagers, from clan leaders to outcasts, and actually listens to their stories, opinions, and beliefs. Mr. Brown also does things that genuinely help benefit the Igbo, such as setting up a hospital to decrease the death and disease rate in Umuofia and setting up a school to teach English literacy so the villagers would be better equipped in their dealings with the European colonizers. All of this, combined with Mr. Brown accepting converts unconditionally, is why several of the Igbo, especially outcasts, willingly become Christians through him, and even some Igbo who don't convert come to respect Mr. Brown. One of the major themes of the novel (and most of Achebe's bibliography) is that, while colonialism of Africa during the period of New Imperialism was hardly all sunshine and lollipops for those being invaded, some of the criticisms the colonizers had of precolonial Africa [[JerkassHasAPoint were at least partly valid]], and there were good reasons why so many Africans were willing to adopt at least some aspects of European society and culture. |
| 285 | * The [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] book ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' features an otherworldly reptilian being attempting to take over the world through subversion, well before such a plot became commonplace in [[ReptilianConspiracy conspiracy theories and alien invasion fiction]]. From her ElaborateUndergroundBase, the Lady of the Green Kirtle subtly acquires power through governmental infiltration and [[MindManipulation mind control]], switching between a very human-looking form and a [[ScaledUp considerably scalier]] one. However, even leaving aside that this is a fantasy book rather than a science-fiction one, there are significant differences from how the "reptilian invasion" is generally portrayed. For example, the Lady's reptilian form isn't humanoid, but a gigantic venomous snake. Instead of being part of a whole species of invaders, she's the only example that we see. Her origins are [[DiabolusExNihilo never revealed]] (besides some vague hints that she might be somehow connected to [[Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe the White Witch]]), and it's not clear if her humanlike or snake form is her true shape; in fact, her real appearance may actually be something else entirely. |
| 286 | * ''Literature/TarzanOfTheApes'' gives this treatment to the AbsentMindedProfessor trope. Professor Porter's absent-mindedness isn't just brushed off as an amusingly wacky character quirk; it's a serious character flaw that nearly gets himself and his party killed. If it weren't for Tarzan's intervention, they would have died. This absent-mindedness continues causing serious problems as the book progresses. |
| 287 | ** The portrayal of Tarzan himself can also be jarring for people who grew up with the image of him as an illiterate savage who can barely speak. In Burroughs's original stories, he not only speaks perfect, unbroken English but taught himself to read and write from a young age and is perfectly aware of and well-versed in human subjects like basic world history and geography and is [[{{Omniglot}} able to learn new languages in days]], making him both [[GeniusBruiser extremely intelligent and a perfect physical specimen]]. And unlike traditional stories, his debut ends with him [[DidNotGetTheGirl deciding not to pursue Jane]] as he realizes she'd [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy be happier among civilized society than with him]]. |
| 288 | * ''Literature/TheCaineMutiny'' introduced the world to Captain Queeg, one of the most iconic fictional examples of a military officer [[TheNeidermeyer heavily disliked and disrespected by his own troops]]. He's so heavily associated with the trope that "Queeg-like" is an adjective frequently used to describe such officers, both real and fictional. That being said, he almost seems like a deconstruction of the archetype nowadays. For one thing, while his flaws as a commander are very real and quite serious, it's suggested that they aren't entirely his fault. Earlier in the war, he served with distinction escorting convoys in the Atlantic, and the narrative heavily implies that the root cause of his problems is [[ShellShockedVeteran psychological trauma]]. Moreover, while his subordinate officers do have legitimate reasons to think he's unfit for command, [[GreyAndGrayMorality they don't come off completely well themselves]]. They don't exactly make things easier for him, and fail to give him the support he needs, even when he directly asks them for help improving himself in the aftermath of the "yellow stain" incident. Greenwald says that if Queeg's officers had tried to work with him and help him to control his demons, the whole situation with the typhoon might not have happened -- and notably, Maryk and Keith essentially agree with this assessment. All in all, Queeg almost seems like a tragic figure, rather than an unsympathetic bastard like many of those he influenced. |
| 289 | * Esmeralda from ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' is a codifier for the HotGypsyWoman, but she subverts most associations with the trope. She isn't a world-savvy and hot-blooded temptress; she's naïve and closer to being TheIngenue than anything. To add onto this, Esmeralda isn't even ethnically Romani. She was SwitchedAtBirth with Quasimodo. Most adaptations [[AdaptationPersonalityChange change her personality]] and [[RaceLift ethnicity]] to make her closer to the archetype. |
| 290 | * ''The Marching Morons'', a 1951 ScienceFiction short story by Creator/CyrilMKornbluth, depicts a future wherein the majority of the population has decayed into stupidity and sloth... just like ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/WallE''. The difference is, the subtext for which those movies were criticized (technology is bad, the poor can't stop multiplying) is front and center, and not only as a form of ValuesDissonance -- the HumanPopsicle who's contrasted with the "morons" is openly racist, plans to establish himself as a dictator, admires Hitler, commits genocide... and gets killed in the end for those very flaws. |
| 291 | * The {{Trope Namer|s}} for TheJeeves, from Creator/PGWodehouse series Literature/JeevesAndWooster, seems to be the traditional stuffy, hypercompetent valet (''not'' a butler.) However, the stories demonstrate Jeeves has another side, especially when he's away from the young master. He is described as a man-about-town with a wide circle of friends, several clubs and at least one on-and-off girlfriend he takes on dates on his nights off. He is also a highly skilled card player, and not above hustling his employer's friends when his wallet is getting light. Finally, Jeeves is well-acquainted with the seedier side of life, an accomplished shotgun marksman and quite capable, when the need arises, of silently incapacitating a police officer. |
| 292 | * Before ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'', ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'' was the original faux-IdleRich protagonist, masquerading as an [[UpperClassTwit effeminate and decadent aristocrat]], when in secret he was highly intelligent and brave, saving innocent French families from the reign of terror. The thing is, unlike later examples, Percy Blakeney's effeminacy and hedonism weren't an act -- in fact, his career as a hero was based on a desire to get even bigger thrills. Furthermore, Percy's parents, the ones who left him that big fortune, didn't die as a consequence of crime and injustice, but rather of mental illness. He wasn't avenging their misfortune, but going down the same path. |
| 293 | * Part of the DystopianOz trope is the AlternativeCharacterInterpretation that the Wizard of Oz is an evil, corrupt leader. However, this isn't an ''alternative'' interpretation. It was Creator/LFrankBaum's ''[[CharacterizationMarchesOn original]]'' interpretation. In ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', the Wizard is an overall neutral but AmbiguouslyEvil character because it isn't shown that Oz had any rulers prior to him; he just abused the naive nature of Ozians to better his own self-esteem. The second book ''Literature/TheMarvelousLandOfOz'' expands upon this by revealing that he conspired with the evil witch Mombi to usurp the Ozian throne. He taught Mombi all the magic she knows, stole the throne from King Pastoria, and gave Mombi the infant Princess Ozma to raise as [[RaisedAsTheOppositeGender a boy]], so that he could become ruler of Oz. Kids complained, so the fourth book, ''Literature/DorothyAndTheWizardInOz'', {{retcon}}ned him into a more heroic character. He has never met Ozma and has nothing to do with her disappearance. |
| 294 | * Lennie from ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'' is one of the TropeMakers for AndCallHimGeorge. But unlike later examples, which are generally PlayedForLaughs (sometimes [[BlackComedy dark ones]]), Lennie's tendencies towards this trope are played very seriously and have severe consequences for him. He ends up repeatedly killing his pets without meaning to, which obviously causes him massive distress. His mental disability [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not making him realize how strong he truly is doesn't help at all]]. And animals aren’t the only ones affected by this trope; shortly before the events of the book, Lennie touched a woman’s red dress because he found it really pretty. When she screamed at what he was doing, he panicked and held onto her dress until [[ClothingDamage she tore herself away]] and ran off to find help because she assumed Lennie was trying to rape her. As a result, he and his friend/caretaker George were forced to flee town before an angry mob got their hands on Lennie. Finally, he ends up accidentally killing Curley's wife while feeling her hair, which leads to George {{mercy kill}}ing Lennie so he wouldn't suffer a worse death at the hands of the lynch mob that formed in response to her death or [[FateWorseThanDeath get locked up in an insane asylum]]. |
| 295 | * It’s practically a cliché for modern writers to depict a character who NeverGrewUp as a [[TheSociopath sociopath]], [[AmbiguousInnocence subverting the image of eternal childhood innocence]]. However, the {{Trope Namer|s}} and TropeCodifier ''Literature/PeterPan'' was originally written as a thoughtless, selfish, fickle, amoral {{jerkass}} who would betray and kill his allies [[ItAmusedMe just to make battles more entertaining for himself]]. This is explicitly because as a perpetual child, he never learned right from wrong. Peter is also unable to do so, because as the novel specifically points out, the things that often make people reject the idea of immortality — friends and family dying, accumulated mental trauma, etc. — aren't an issue for Peter because [[AesopAmnesia his memory doesn't retain anything that would cause him to lose his innocent outlook on life or develop any empathy for other people]], because remembering the loss of innocence or developing empathy will force him to grow up. Adaptations of the story tend to forget this and/or leave the more troublesome parts of Peter's personality out. |
| 296 | ** The same book also gives us the character of the fairy Tinker Bell, frequently used by proponents of TheFairFolk trope as a counter-example for the kind of cutesy, innocent, child-friendly fairies their "mad, terrible beings" aren't. Reading the book, though (and to a lesser extent, even watching the Disney cartoon), it's clear that Tinker Bell herself was quite scary and mad in her own right: murderously selfish, amoral, and self-centered, thinking nothing of trying to have Wendy killed for no reason other than that she was hogging Peter Pan's attention, and prone to extreme and violent mood swings (explained in the book as being due to [[ArtisticLicenseBiology fairies being so small their hearts can only contain one emotion at a time]]). |
| 297 | * Creator/MichaelMoorcock's [[EternalHero Eternal Champion]] sagas (particularly ''Literature/TheElricSaga'') are the [[TropeCodifier Codifiers]] of CharacterAlignment, OrderVersusChaos, and BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil in fantasy fiction like ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons''. A fact which can seem odd to modern readers, as Moorcock's depiction of the conflict between Order and Chaos is ''very'' different from the [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white]] portrayal of it in most fiction. Chaos and Order in his stories are [[EldritchAbomination barely comprehensible cosmic forces]] with BlueAndOrangeMorality; [[JerkassGods neither is really friendly to mortals]], and [[BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous too much of either is very bad for the multiverse]] (excessive Order is oppressive totalitarianism, excessive Chaos is brutal anarchy), hence why Balance is necessary. By the end of Moorcock's MythArc, [[spoiler:the orderly and chaotic gods are deemed the true villains and [[ForeverWar the system they perpetuate]] corrupt. [[{{Gotterdammerung}} They are ultimately all destroyed]] thanks to the efforts of the neutral Eternal Champion and Great Old Ones, freeing mankind and allowing them to make their own way.]] Later uses of the concepts Moorcock used have a bad habit of being dumbed down into a very straightforward BlackAndWhiteMorality system, which frequently leaves the supposed need for balance between the sides seem inexplicable. |
| 298 | ** The Melnibonéans are basically the TropeCodifier for Dark Elves, and were in fact direct inspirations for [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons the Drow]], but differ from the stereotypes significantly. Most obviously, they live above ground in a shiny city on an island rather than in caves; and they prefer bright, garish, clashing colours rather than black and purple. They also tend towards LawfulEvil or NeutralEvil rather than AlwaysChaoticEvil, with a strong emphasis on tradition and loyalty to (if not individuals) then the positions and institutions they represent, rather than most depictions of Dark Elves where everyone is constantly looking for the next angle or chance to backstab a rival. It's for this reason that Elric was able to take the crown despite being feeble and sickly, the Melnibonéans hated the idea of a weakling on the throne but breaking the unbroken millennia-long line of succession was even more unthinkable. Also, rather than use traps, subterfuge and lightning fast shock-and-awe assaults, the Melnibonéans go to war in grand, overwhelming shows of force. |
| 299 | ** Like classic Dark Elves, Melnibonéans worship a GodOfEvil (Arioch is technically a GodOfChaos but functionally Evil). Unlike the typical "fallen" archetype (i.e. the [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Dark Eldar]]), the Melnibonéans didn't turn to evil and decadence, they were essentially forced to. The Lords of Chaos and Order randomly chose their original homeland as the meeting place where they would lay down the rules for their conflict, and told the ancient Melnibonéans to leave or be destroyed. Arioch offered to lead the Melnibonéans to a new land and grant them great power and knowledge, but only if they served him and abandoned morality in favour of cruelty and greed. They took the deal only as a matter of intense desperation. |
| 300 | * Though today regarded as the atomic building-blocks (if not necessarily ''the'' {{Trope Maker|s}}) of the HardboiledDetective, Creator/DashiellHammett's tales of Literature/TheContinentalOp are noticeably different from the lone-wolf KnightInSourArmor model codified by Literature/PhilipMarlowe, or even Hammett's own [[Literature/TheMalteseFalcon Sam Spade]]: |
| 301 | ** Most notably, the Op ''isn't'' any kind of lone operator; he's part of a nation-spanning agency, which is implied to have better resources and intel-gathering abilities than any single police department, and lets him access several junior operatives who typically obey his orders to the letter at all times. |
| 302 | ** Many of the stories, particularly the early ones, are also largely violence-free puzzles not too different from an average Literature/SherlockHolmes yarn -- the hardboiled genre was, after all, in its infancy, and the FairPlayWhodunnit still ruled the day. |
| 303 | ** His personality and morality also varies slightly among stories, depending on what the plot calls for (a fact helped along by his NoNameGiven status -- can you really be ''sure'' all these stories are in fact about one man?). More often than not he'll have at least one unscrupulous GoodIsNotNice moment, but he rarely if ever runs onto the horns of the ToBeLawfulOrGood dilemma, as his job is never implied to exist in ''any'' kind of gray-area with the law; excepting the rare frame-up, the police are typically happy to work with him, and if he turns down a criminal's pleas for mercy, he always explains it as [[PunchClockHero pure professionalism]] and loyalty to his employer/clients, rather than any matter of personal ethics. |
| 304 | * The ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' series has one of the first examples of what we'd call [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] in the Green Martians, predating even Tolkien. They're a race of [[TheHorde barbaric raiders]] and initially antagonistic, but instead of being AlwaysChaoticEvil, their raiding is a result of an alien culture (both by Earthling and Red Martian standards) which they deliberately adopted to survive on a dead world AfterTheEnd. They are an honorable race once you get to know them and their rules, they have good and bad people in the same proportion as any other race, and the Tharks later prove to be honorable and loyal allies of John Carter. And while their {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} does run on KlingonPromotion, it isn't ''quite'' YouKillItYouBoughtIt, because before you can [[ChallengingTheChief Challenge the Chief]], you first have to have the approval of his council. |
| 305 | * ''Literature/BattleRoyale'', in addition to its aforementioned deconstruction of YA dystopias, [[TropeNamers lent its name]] to the BattleRoyaleGame genre by way of various {{Game Mod}}s created years later, and its American SpiritualAdaptation ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' helped popularize the concept in the West. The basic setup is that a group of people are all dumped into a [[AdvancingWallOfDoom slowly shrinking]] ClosedCircle and forced to kill each other until [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne only one survives]]. |
| 306 | ** Most battle royale games give, at most, an ExcusePlot to explain ''why'' people are fighting to the death. Both ''Battle Royale'' and ''The Hunger Games'', however, devote a lot of time and attention to such, and while the precise details vary, in both stories the titular DeadlyGame is intended as a tool of social control (combating [[{{Delinquents}} juvenile delinquency]] in ''Battle Royale'', CrushingThePopulace in ''The Hunger Games''). |
| 307 | ** As for the game itself, it is [[PlayedForHorror portrayed as a brutal, harrowing experience]] that leaves its participants physically and [[ShellShockedVeteran psychologically]] scarred, emphasizing the fact that killing does not come naturally to people and that forcing people to do so would create all sorts of dilemmas about trust, paranoia, and morality that would spiritually break them -- and that's before you get into the fact that, in both stories, the protagonists are ''[[WouldHurtAChild teenagers]]''. There are characters who actually do enjoy it, but they are all portrayed as either AxCrazy, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge angry at the world]], or (in the case of ''The Hunger Games'') [[TheSpartanWay raised from birth]] to [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror compete in the game]]. ''Battle Royale'' ends with the survivors fleeing Japan, while the sequels to ''The Hunger Games'' have the survivors, disgusted by what they experienced in the arena, plotting a revolution against the bastards who put them through it. It says something that the film adaptation of ''Battle Royale'' is often marketed as a ''horror film'' in the US. |
| 308 | ** ''The Hunger Games'' specifically made more than one plot point of what many would recognize as a common strategy in a battle royale game: the fact that areas with high-quality weapons and gear create a [[DeathOrGloryAttack high-risk, high-reward]] dynamic as everyone has the idea to go there first and stock up, leading to a lot of fights around the loot stash. Here, the loot stash, known as the Cornucopia, was specifically designed as a battlefield in anticipation of precisely this scenario, surrounded by open ground with clear sight lines to discourage stealth and encourage direct brawls, and Katniss survives the EarlyGameHell by running away from it. [[spoiler:She later blows up the Cornucopia to deny valuable supplies to the elite players camped there.]] |
| 309 | * Imagine there was a story about a murder, and the cutting-edge forensic technology used to nab the apparent killer, and how such evidence can be acquired and faked with modern technology. You might think it's a cautionary tale about 3D printing or about disclosing personal information on the Internet or something. It's from the first Literature/DrThorndyke novel, ''The Red Thumb Mark'', from ''1907'', and it's about ''fingerprinting''[[note]]The first murder on Earth solved with them was only 15 years old, the first UK criminal case was only 5, and the first UK murder only 2.[[/note]] and [[TheCSIEffect how credulous juries can be when it comes to forensic evidence]], almost a hundred years before CSI first aired. These days, it's ''very'' common for fictional criminals to put someone else's prints on the evidence, or find some other way to fake the forensics, or to just wear gloves and/or wipe down everything. |
| 310 | ** The story (and series) is heavily inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and makes fun of how implausible and how much guesswork the SherlockScan is...but the guess turns out to be accidentally correct. These days, the Scan, parodies, criticisms, and general riffs on it are all quite common, including in actual Holmes adaptations. |
| 311 | * Claudia in ''Literature/InterviewWithTheVampire'' is an UndeadChild turned into a vampire in what main character Lestat de Lioncourt reckoned an act of mercy. It takes some years before awareness of the awful reality sets in: a human child who becomes a vampire at 8 or 9 years old will never grow into physical maturity. [[NotGrowingUpSucks She is locked into a child's body, fated to be forever pre-pubescent but with a mature adult mind and intellect.]] Claudia thus effectively serves as a {{deconstruction}} of [[VampireLolitaArchetype cute peri-pubescent female vampires]], who became fairly endemic in fantasy anime and manga of all things decades later--in which media they're typically played completely straight. |
| 312 | * While ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' wasn't the first work to feature {{Sentient Vehicle}}s as the main characters, it's much darker than later works that play the trope straight. The engines are semi-realistic machines that happen to be able to talk, and are dependent on humans to do anything. They're subject to the same fates as objects that are no longer needed -- such as being scrapped at the hands of British Railways' modernisation plan. |
| 313 | ** ''Thomas Comes To Breakfast'', which was later [[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS2E18ThomasComesToBreakfast adapted for Season Two]] of WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends, particularly looks at the fact that in most {{Sentient Vehicle}}s are able to operate on their own without any operator. Here, Thomas tries to run off without his driver, but the only reason he is able to move in the first place is because a clearner meddled with his controls. The end result is that Thomas rolls down the line, unable to stop, until he eventually crashes into the stationmaster's house and has to be repaired at the works. |
| 314 | * TheRenfield is usually depicted as a wholly evil character completely dedicated to their vampiric master- the titular Renfield from ''Dracula'' ends up redeeming himself by trying to kill Dracula when he sees the harm he is causing Mina Harker. |
| 315 | ** Similarly, Van Helsing is often depicted as a hardened and badass hunter, usually a man of action, while in the actual book he is a FunnyForeigner and a ScienceHero, rarely getting on the action himself. He also never meets Dracula in person in the novel. |
| 316 | ** Dracula himself, for being the archetypical vampire, is extremely different from more modern versions. Not only he is not the charming monster pop culture made him into, with both people and animals being often repulsed by him and his appearance being frightening and ugly and everyone being wary of him even before his true nature is revealed, but his powers are also widely different, starting with the fact that he had supernatural powers already when he was alive, and it's unclear if things like controlling the weather and turning into animals are part of his vampiric nature or a different kind of magic. He also has no problem going out during the daylight, although he is unable to shapeshift. And it's not a wooden stake that kills him, he is decapitated and stabbed through the heart by a common knife. |
| 317 | * ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' predates ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'' by ten years and as a results its use of PokemonSpeak with its snake villain Asmodeus is different than future examples. He can say things other than his name, he just loves the sound of it so much it is what comes out of his mouth most of the time. |
| 318 | * ''Literature/TheJungleBook'' features one of the earliest examples of the Tarzanesque, however due to predating the trope namer by a good nineteen years, Mowgli is rather different, being a member of the native populace, his adventures only go as far as Age 17 (meaning he technically is never a man), he never becomes king of the animals he was raised by, he is rather underequipped wielding only a knife and the individual he ultimately settles down with is not a white British woman, a jungle girl or a chief's daughter but rather a butler's daughter also of the native populace, she only appears in what is chronologically the last Mowgli story and is never referred to by name. Mowgli's identity prior to his adoption is also never revealed with it being left ambiguous if he is the same individual as Nathoo, a child who had been lost around the same time, but Kipling revealed in ''The Jungle Play'', that they are not with Mowgli's identity prior to his adoption, besides being a woodcutter's son, being a complete mystery. |
| 319 | * ''Culwuch and Olwen'', a story in ''Literature/TheMabinogion'', feels like a parody of an RPG FetchQuest. Culwuch wants to marry Olwen, the [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter beautiful]] (and presumably normal sized) daughter of a [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant]]. The giant is under a curse that he will die if Olwen ever marries and so gives Culwuch a list, spanning close to a dozen pages, of increasingly absurd and in some cases impossible to obtain things he must gather before he gives permission for them to marry. The protagonist does achieve it, with the aid of [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthur]] and his men, but only by laying waste to Ireland and half of Britain in the process, and getting several of Arthur's followers killed hunting for what are frankly pretty worthless objects. It also contains a scene which feels right out of a DarkFantasy {{Deconstruction}}, as Cei and Bedwyr murder a man in his sleep to get his item, and Arthur's distaste at their methods drives a permanent wedge between him and Cei. |
| 320 | * ''Literature/TheLeatherstockingTales'' features one of the most famous examples of LastOfHisKind with its second book (both publication and chronology wise), ''The Last of the Mohicans'', however it is actually a subversion of the trope. Chingachgook says his son Uncas, who ends up predeceasing his father, will be the last of the Mohicans, but Chingachgook is a man with a NoTrueScotsman mentality since other Mohicans have either assimilated into other tribes or become drunkards. The title doesn't mean last of the tribe, but last chief and warrior. |
| 321 | [[/folder]] |
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