The Hindsight tropes, Hilarious in Hindsight, Harsher in Hindsight, and Heartwarming in Hindsight, are among the most misused Audience Reaction tropes on this site. Many people don't understand that the tropes require more than just "This happened, so that happened", and end up adding examples which either lack connection or the substance that makes them funny/serious/not-so-funny/heartwarming. Some of them may be suited better for other tropes (ex: Life Imitates Art), while some may not belong on TV Tropes at all (such as ones involving politicians, due to Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment).
Please report any Hindsight example that you feel are questionable, and we'll analyze them to see if they are actually examples or not.
Remember that the Hindsight tropes are Audience Reactions. That means if an example under review discusses significant fan response pointing out the hindsight, the example can't be cut solely for being too tenuous for this thread.
- Creator's character/portrayal dies in work and then creator dies in real life, unless their fictional death is closely similar to their real one (such as Billy Bob Joe portraying a character who dies from pancreatic cancer, then Billy Bob dies from pancreatic cancer himself)
- Mundane word related to something terrible (such as "corona" or "Epstein") unless there's more to the connection (such as someone named "Corona" having the flu)
- Creator appears in work then becomes more controversial later on.
- A common event (such as a typical natural disaster) happens in work, then happens in real life (unless they are closely similar, such as the event happening to the same area in both reality and fiction around the same time) For once, not everything related to disease has to do with COVID-19, not everything related to racism and Police Brutality has to do with George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, and not everything related to sexual abuse has to do with #MeToo.
- A common/generic concept was used in this work and then later reused in that work (too loose for a connection, unless the concept is so unique it's identified with the work)
- Two actors appear together then do so in another work
- Hindsight examples involving recent events, due to them often being shoehorns. Specifically:
- COVID-19 examples, before 75% of the population has returned to normal
- George Floyd/2020 Black Lives Matter examples, before protests have declined
- Examples which fall guilty of Older Than They Think, such as "Make X Great Again" slogans. Aside from violating the ROCEJ, this slogan has been in use since the 1940s.
- Characters using slurs which are treated as annoying at worst in the work, but is now harsher due to how severe the slur is made now. Discrimination has always existed with that slur. (May qualify for Values Dissonance if work is at least 20 years old.)
Note: As of January 2022, "Funny Aneurysm" Moment is no longer separate from Harsher in Hindsight.
- The former redirects to the latter and all wicks to the former (with the exception of ones on archive pages and the YMMV Redirects index) must either be moved to the latter (if they're valid) or removed (if they're invalid).
- The subpages for the former are still accessible from this page
. After a subpage for "Funny Aneurysm" Moment has been completely cleaned up, turn it into a redirect to the Harsher in Hindsight subpage for the same medium to preserve inbounds.
Edited by Tabs on Jun 21st 2023 at 11:51:25 AM
Wick checker for hire
Have you seen my post from last page? It's not a voice actor, it's a character whose design is allegedly the basis for Eggman's.
The best character is always the one-shot disguise.
If Eggman’s design was an intentional homage, then it doesn’t seem like it would apply, as the hindsight tropes seem to be for unintentional examples.
Edited by costanton11 on Sep 24th 2021 at 12:22:04 PM
Hilarious in Hindsight example added to Jurassic World:
- Chris Pratt playing a character who can handle dinosaurs becomes this when it was announced at Nintendo Direct 2021 that he will be voicing Mario in Illumination's Super Mario animated movie.
I don't get it. Is the troper comparing the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park to freaking Yoshi?
I mean, Yoshi is a dinosaur, and he looks like a velociraptor in the 1993 film
Edited by magnumtropus on Sep 25th 2021 at 6:56:36 PM
Its still a Mario Fan Myopia shoehorn.
Feed it to some hungry raptors.
No longer active.
Admittedly I did see a number of memes after the Mario casting announcement referencing Chris Pratt's role in Jurassic World, so I can see why the point was added. Still, I'd also say cut it; that's like claiming that Charles Martinet being in the JoJo OVA dub is Hilarious in Hindsight because a minor character in Vento Aureo vaguely resembles Mario (or vice-versa; IDK which came first, but you get the idea).
Edited by bowserbros on Sep 25th 2021 at 11:19:41 AM
Be kind.
While it's true that it is a legit audience reaction and not just the actions of stray tropers, I'd argue that dinosaurs are ubiquitous enough and the similarities nondescript enough that it's closer to Memetic Mutation. If Owen actually rode a velociraptor like a horse or did other recognizable Yoshi-like activities with them then it'd count.
❀ Mint, Nuts, and Waffle ❀
I found these on YMMV.Loli Rock note
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- In "Princess Brenda", Iris turns back time to the beginning of the first part of the two-parter and uses knowledge from the Bad Future to make things better. Sound familiar? Fan Myopia, and probably has been done before The Flash
- In "Xeris", Mephisto mistakes Izira's name for Ezra. Come Season 2, where a new character named Ezra is introduced. Keep
- Season 1 isn't the only Season Finale to have the main heroes temporarily stripped of their powers while a giant monster is sent to Earth, not to mention the combined power of the full team being able to defeat it. Uncertain
No longer active.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Yeah, I'm in the same boat on that one, which is why I said that I also thought it should be removed from Hilarious in Hindsight. On Memes.Super Mario Bros, there's already a point about fans making similar jokes about Jack Black's Bowser, so this would better fit in there.
Edited by bowserbros on Sep 25th 2021 at 2:15:28 AM
Be kind.
that third one is also Fan Myopia, and that plot sounds like it's been done plenty of times before Power Rangers.
Logic Girl
YMMV.Mork And Mindy has a lot of Harsher in Hindsight examples and I wanted to check them.
- Perhaps the ultimate example of this trope comes from the episode "Mork Meets Robin Williams." Mork wants to find out what it's like to be famous and winds up meeting Robin himself (through the magic of post-production editing) backstage before a show. When he makes his final report to Orson at the end, he has a new perspective on fame, namely how harmful it can be to one's own health, and lists several celebrities who died before their time, such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and John Lennon (who had only died two months before). Just over a year later, Williams would be one of the last people to see John Belushi alive in bungalow 3 of the Chateau Marmont, where he would die of an overdose mere hours later. Making an allusion to celebrities dying, only for another celebrity to die probably wouldn't qualify on its own, but maybe it counts because Williams met Belushi?
- Doubly horrific after Robin himself would join that list as the result of his suicide in 2014. That's just "character mentions death, actor dies".
Mork: He looks like he does his hair with a Cuisinart! Man, he's got a road map for eyes! You could pack a family in that nose, man! I mean, look at that mouth, "Duuurrr...". They had to airbrush his entire face, are you kidding? I mean, I'm bright and cheery and this guy's got big problems!
- Doubly horrific after Robin himself would join that list as the result of his suicide in 2014. That's just "character mentions death, actor dies".
- In one of his appearances, Exidor goes on a long spiel extolling the virtues of O. J. Simpson. ZCE
- In "Mork vs. the Necrotons", it's off-handily mentioned by Captain Nirvana that the Necrotons could torture information out of Mork by wrapping a rope around his neck, among other means. Robin Williams died by suicide from hanging. That sounds like it does qualify.
- At the end of "Mork in Wonderland: Part 2," Mork had only one wish upon reuniting with Mindy after her microworld counterpart, Mandy, died in his arms: for he himself to die before Mindy so he doesn't have to lose her twice. In a manner of speaking, Mork got his wish with Robin Williams dying in 2014 with Pam Dawber still around in good health. That's just "character mentions death, actor dies" again.
- In "Mork's Mixed Emotions", Disgusted Mork overacts to a lack of food at a restaurant by trying to cut his wrist with a blunt knife. One of Williams' failed suicide attempts involved slit wrists. I think that counts.
- In "Old Fears", Mork ages himself so he can be a companion to Mindy's grandmother, joking that he stopped at "two years 'til senility". At the end of his life, Robin Williams suffered from the effects of Lewy body dementia, which drove him to suicide. Not sure if this counts or not.
- Perhaps the ultimate example of this trope comes from the episode "Mork Meets Robin Williams." Mork wants to find out what it's like to be famous and winds up meeting Robin himself (through the magic of post-production editing) backstage before a show. When he makes his final report to Orson at the end, he has a new perspective on fame, namely how harmful it can be to one's own health, and lists several celebrities who died before their time, such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and John Lennon (who had only died two months before). Just over a year later, Williams would be one of the last people to see John Belushi alive in bungalow 3 of the Chateau Marmont, where he would die of an overdose mere hours later. Making an allusion to celebrities dying, only for another celebrity to die probably wouldn't qualify on its own, but maybe it counts because Williams met Belushi?
What do you think?
For every low there is a high.
I think the first example is a shoehorn. The entry is about how the episode makes people think because of how young some celebrities are when they die. So, the fact that this happens again a year later to another celebrity isn't really changing the message. I think the "real life" Robin Williams connection is being used as a shoehorn, rather than it being a genuine link. Given that the episode already focusses on real life celebrities who really have died young — and points out that Lennon is mentioned, and it's only two months after his death, I think the point's already made during its first outing.
I think the dementia example will count, but there doesn't need to be three entries about the subject of how he died and what led up to it. The hanging and wrist cutting are shoehorns as stand-alone entries, but I think the dementia one is valid. That said, I would prefer to see other thoughts on it. It feels uncomfortable to be so clinical about it.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Sep 25th 2021 at 1:56:56 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Lots of coffee
I think having Mork comment on how Williams has problems could be valid. The characters he played being a stark contrast to his depression is a big talking point of his suicide. The Wham Line pothole might be misuse though.
Edited by mightymewtron on Sep 25th 2021 at 9:04:16 AM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Written in that way would probably make it a valid example. I'm commenting on how they're written as current. That doesn't mean a salvageable example cannot be created out of it. I probably should have made that clearer in my post.
I agree the Wham Line is a sinkhole.
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
- Tiger King's contender intro line in the Wii version translates from hindi to "I am Tiger King".
Unless Tiger King is about boxing or Indian people, I think this is Fan Myopia. Cut?
Edit: Actually, I think this entire example is wrong. The character in the game is not called Tiger King, but Great Tiger. I'm cutting it, if there are no objections.
Edited by TantaMonty on Sep 26th 2021 at 12:57:36 PM
Logic Girl
OK, I'll get rid of the first one and remove the Wham Line pothole, but are the hanging and wrist-slitting actually shoehorns? They were actually the ones that seemed fine to me.
Lots of coffee
I agree with you. It isn't actor mortality if it is directly connected to how the actor died (or tried to die).
How sweet it is
The lone entry on YMMV.Pokemon S 5 E 36 Will The Real Oak Please Stand Up looks like a shoehorn.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: At the end of the episode, Brock describes Professor Oak as, "often imitated, never duplicated. " That phrase, though common, was arguably made famous by Aladdin, in which the Genie (voiced by Robin Williams) uses that to describe himself upon being freed from his lamp. Later on, Williams was told by Nintendo that he was their one and only choice to play Oak himself in a live-action Pokemon movie—though, in overlapping with Harsher in Hindsight, he sadly never got the chance.
Edited by Berrenta on Sep 26th 2021 at 3:12:32 AM
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
After glancing through Mr. Williams's filmography and being more than a little put-off by how much suicide is in there, I definitely think there are some things that are too similar to real life to being shoehorns. That noose around the neck thing is eerie. Here's what I think works and what doesn't.
Acceptable:
- In Patch Adams he contemplates suicide.
- In What Dreams May Come he commits suicide and ends up in the strange afterlife.
- In Father's Day a phone call interrupts his attempted suicide.
- In Secret Agent he plays a suicide bomber.
- In Bicentennial Man he chooses to have his life-support shut off, as he won't consider himself a full human until he can die.
- In Death To Smoochie he becomes suicidal when his TV career is ended.
Unacceptable:
- In Jakob the Liar he is shot dead.
- In Mrs. Doubtfire he says "I need my kids like I need air".
- In Hook he says "to die would be a great adventure".
- In Aladdin his character is sad.
- In Dead Poet's Society the film has the word "dead" in the title.
I exaggerate a little, of course, but this isn't too far off from some of the things I've seen around.
Sometimes... sometimes I think some pages on the site (Tear Jerker and Nightmare Fuel, especially), are magnets for people who just have something they need to get off their chest but they don't have anywhere to go so they dress their troubles up like an entry. That's the impression I get sometimes.
Found this entry on Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, am I missing something or is it very myopic?
- Hilarious in Hindsight: As AVGN shows, when the game crashes on Windows 7 and beyond, the error message says "CarZ.exe has stopped working". The War Znote must have been hinted at for years!
- It was even made by the same person! (well, one of them)
Ok? So both include the letter Z somwhere... So?
Unless the these infestation stories include some racing on trucks, I think it is indeed Fan Myopia, and should be cut.
Edited by ElBuenCuate on Sep 27th 2021 at 1:22:12 AM
The Robin Williams / Pokémon example is just misuse. The whole page can be shredded. Cut the Big Rigs one as necessary
This is on House of Mouse under Harsher in Hindsight:
- In "House of Crime", one of the clues to find the culprit behind the kidnappings at the club is "someone who was here since the beginning", and later, everyone thinks it was Mickey. This can be harder to watch for those who know that Walt Disney has been making cartoons long before Mickey was even conceivednote . Oswald fans may have the hardest time hearing this since a crucial part of Oswald's character in Epic Mickey is how Mickey replaced and overshadowed him.
kiby :]
I'm pretty sure a simple misconception wouldn't be considered Hi H.
(Don't) take me home.
Looking at the cast list for Castle in the Sky, I don’t see any of Eggman’s VAs.