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
Since no one objected, I removed the Fan Myopia examples (or at least I think they are) and hid the unsure ones from both YMMV.The Legend Of Heroes Trails Into Reverie and DRAMAtical Murder.
She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/AEthnic Cleansing has this:
- Harsher in Hindsight: Antisemitism was far more of a fringe phenomenon in the early 2000s, but more recently (especially since Donald Trump became president) it has migrated further into the mainstream. Also, mass shootings against Jews and other minorities weren’t entirely unheard of when the game was made, but they too have become more common (or at least more widely reported on) since then.
- A more specific example: the game was an early example of media featuring the “Happy Merchant”, an antisemitic cartoon by “A. Wyatt Mann”. At the time it wouldn’t have been well-known outside of hardcore Nazi circles, but this cartoon and others by the same artist has since been widely shared and recycled into memes on imageboards and social media. One version was even posted on Twitter by former presidential candidate Ron Paul.
- “Mann” has since been revealed as a pseudonym of Nick Bougas, a prominent figure in LaVeyan Satanism. Anton LaVey, ironically, was of Jewish descent himself. There were quite a few LaVeyans who dabbled in Nazism, but they seem to have done so “for the lulz” (or the inherent transgressive shock value) rather than because they sincerely subscribed to its tenets. Some branches of Satanism view social disruption or chaos as a desirable end in itself, and extremist ideologies like Nazism or Islamic radicalism are viewed as merely a means to that end. David Myatt
is a particularly well-known (non-LaVeyan) example of someone with this philosophy.
- “Mann” has since been revealed as a pseudonym of Nick Bougas, a prominent figure in LaVeyan Satanism. Anton LaVey, ironically, was of Jewish descent himself. There were quite a few LaVeyans who dabbled in Nazism, but they seem to have done so “for the lulz” (or the inherent transgressive shock value) rather than because they sincerely subscribed to its tenets. Some branches of Satanism view social disruption or chaos as a desirable end in itself, and extremist ideologies like Nazism or Islamic radicalism are viewed as merely a means to that end. David Myatt
- A more specific example: the game was an early example of media featuring the “Happy Merchant”, an antisemitic cartoon by “A. Wyatt Mann”. At the time it wouldn’t have been well-known outside of hardcore Nazi circles, but this cartoon and others by the same artist has since been widely shared and recycled into memes on imageboards and social media. One version was even posted on Twitter by former presidential candidate Ron Paul.
I feel like this is a Trump shoehorn since antisemitism and hate crimes were considered bad for many many years (the entire reason this game is so infamous and hated in the first place is because of antisemitic it is). The Lavey stuff really has nothing to do with the game. Lastly, I don't think the merchant counts since he was already an antisemitic caricature in his debut, he was harsh to begin with.
From Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns:
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Bug Pokémon being the ones to deal the most damage to Team Rocket's base becomes this after Generation V when the type took a level in badass.
In this film, the villains set up a base on an island and start damaging the environment. The local Bug-type Pokémon fight back and help the heroes repel the villains. The entry states that the scene became more amusing because Bugs, which have historically been one of the weakest types of Pokémon, got some stronger members in later generations. I don't think this counts as an example for two reasons:
- A Pokémon's usability in the games shouldn't be a factor to be taken into consideration when analyzing their effectiveness in the anime. Weak Pokémon are frequently given ridiculous power boosts in the anime for the sake of establishing an interesting story (the most obvious example being Pikachu himself).
- The Bug Pokémon that show up in the film are Ledian, Kakuna, Butterfree and Beedrill, all of whom are considered utterly useless even today.
What do you think?
If the Bug Pokémon who helped save the day got a massive Balance Buff in later games to the point that their appearance in the film almost felt like foreshadowing, then maybe it would fit. Since it's "the Bug type in general", it probably doesn't fit.
Also, I've seen at least two Hindsight examples where the work was released on the same day as an event that coincides with what happened in the work:
- Harsher in Hindsight: In this strip
, two bankers use cyber security as an excuse for deleting email from their foreign head office. It was published on 12th May 2017. Later that day there was a major international ransomware attack. (from YMMV.Alex)
- Heartwarming in Hindsight: Ted's rant about the gays being treated differently is this, considering the fact that the movie came out the same day that same-sex marriage was legalized in all 50 states. (from YMMV.Ted 2)
I removed this example from this page
:
- The film was released shortly before the premiere of Touch (2012), which also featured an ambiguously autistic boy who lost a parent in the September 11th attacks, although the 9/11 connection wasn't mentioned as prominently there.
Since this example was added under Hilarious In Hindsight, when most people would reasonably put it under Harsher in Hindsight (assuming it was an example and not a stretch), do you think I should PM the troper who added it?
YMMV.Persona Q 2 New Cinema Labyrinth
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- The Phantom Thieves' battle theme is called "Invitation to Freedom". A week after PQ2's Japanese release, Joker got an invitation (or rather stole one) for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- The next movie that Joker appears in would actually be one in real life.
I fail to see any connection in the first one and I believe the second one is just being featured (among every other property) near Sega's logo title.
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel
The connection for the first one is that when Joker was announced to be in Smash, it was through a cinematic of him getting an invitation letter. I do think it's a pretty weak connection, though.
From YMMV.Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure Steel Ball Run:
franchise.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Hot Pants is named after an album/song by James Brown, but if you're a Bob's Burgers fan, you might connect it instead with the Disco parody song "Hot Pants Rain Dance"
that appears in one episode of the show and came out the year the Part ended.
- Gyro Zeppeli's main form of combat up until he gains a Stand involves tossing spinning metal balls at his opponents. The fourth generation Pokemon games introduced a move called Gyro Ball, a Steel-type attack that has the user spinning rapidly and ramming into their foe at high speed.
- After the death of his brother, a paraplegic goes on a journey of self-discovery, being able to temporarily walk at times due to outside methods, and gains new power through Pieces of God...sound familiar?
- Hot Pants is named after an album/song by James Brown, but if you're a Bob's Burgers fan, you might connect it instead with the Disco parody song "Hot Pants Rain Dance"
All of these just look like "something in this story vaguely reminds me of something in a later work."
Yep, I'd agree
Escape from Planet Earth has this:
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Ratchet & Clank had a Shout-Out where Ratchet's name is in graffiti. Three years later, Rainmaker would make Ratchet & Clank (2016).
Since the Rachet movie was officially announced in 2013, they likely put his name in as an intentional easter egg, making this not hindsight.
YMMV.The Year Of Luigi has this:
- Harsher in Hindsight: The event was very heartwarming for the most part, but some things that happened during the year ended up making the decision to do it rather uncomfortable in hindsight:
- Nintendo reported a 46.4 billion yen ($456 million) operating loss during that fiscal year, making The Year of Luigi one of only three years in Nintendo's entire history as a gaming company where it lost money. That's not a good look, Luigi.
- Danny Wells, the first man to give Luigi his voice outside of the video games (being his live-action actor for The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and his voice actor for the animated parts of said show), passed away on November 28th, 2013, during the year devoted to the character he played on TV.
- The irony of rereleasing Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga not long after the Year of Luigi finished. It wouldn't be too bad if a), Luigi didn't get as many Butt-Monkey moments, b), the instruction manual wasn't lampshading it, and c), if there was less irony coming from the Butt-Monkey moments due to another Mario and Luigi game, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, which was all about the green plumber himself.
Since it lasted a year, some of these events seem contemporaneous.
Suggestion for the Hilarious in Hindsight section of YMMV.Strong Bad Email:
- In #150 "alternate universe," Strong Bad asks if "the geniuses behind She-Hulk" wrote the underwhelming Strong Badman comic he winds up in. In the commentary, the Brothers Chaps admit that they wrote that line without reading any She-Hulk comics themselves, or learning of their acclaim. However, if one took the scene out of context now, it could sound like a jab against the coldly-received She-Hulk: Attorney at Law TV show.
Edited by dsneybuf on Jul 14th 2023 at 1:32:26 PM
If the show is objectively poorly-received (I'm unsure if it is or if it's just a Vocal Minority) and there wasn't another She-Hulk property that was disliked as much before, I guess it could still count, especially if people used it as a meme.
As for the Year of Luigi examples, all three of those seem foggy. The financial loss could be valid if it associates a cute marketing campaign with a rare financial L (so to speak) for the company. Danny Wells passing away during the Year of Luigi is a valid enough coincidence to count beyond actor mortality, but it happened during the year so I don't know if it's hindsight, though it did happen after the year was announced. And the last one I'm most confident in cutting as it's just complaining that Luigi is a Butt-Monkey, which is just a character trait he's always had and part of the joke of Year of Luigi.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
The loud complaining of that sort is absolutely a vocal minority. TBH I don't even know what the actual reception of the show is because the people who are in the biggest hurry to talk about it here have all been very blatantly the same brigade of Gamergate/"anti-woke"/Trumpist/"keep people who aren't like me out of fiction" yahoos who have been cancerizing nerd spaces for close to a decade now.
So this might be eerie.
The person who made the black and blue dress illusion was charged with attempted murder of his wife
and also abused his wife for years.
The Salvation Army used the meme dress to addressed domestic abuse against women
.
Would this count as Harsher in Hindsight?
Edited by WhirlRX on Jul 15th 2023 at 12:18:29 PM
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Nathan Fillion plays Green Lantern Hal Jordan across multiple films. He would later be cast to play a live action Green Lantern in the DC Universe Relaunch under DC Studios, but, to fans' surprise, not the Hal Jordan Green Lantern — he was instead cast as Guy Gardner.
The above entry looks like what this thread calls "actor garbage", but this time there appears to be more of a substantial connection between the works. Keep or cut?
Sounds more like a Casting Gag if anything.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.

I think the Frank Reynolds' Little Beauties example is probably Hilarious in Hindsight because the reaction seems to be "it's absolutely baffling that someone would do this" and mocking her whether they believe she groomed fans or not. IDK if it's a ROCEJ example but I've only seen people clowning on the decision.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.