Misused: Grotesque Gallery

jandn2014 Very Spooky from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding

Very Spooky

#1: May 21st 2020 at 11:35:35 AM

Grotesque Gallery is a confusing trope as how it currently is. The description states that the trope is about characters who are supposed to be Ugly Cute, but end up leaning too far into the "ugly" side and end up becoming Accidental Nightmare Fuel.

However, the trope's name isn't clear about what the trope is, and thus the trope has often been used to describe characters who are intentionally ugly, bizarre, and/or grotesque. There's also the fact that this trope is an Audience Reaction, but it isn't a YMMV trope for some reason. Further confusion comes from the fact that the description states that this can be done intentionally sometimes, but I'm not sure when this applies- the only scenario I can think of is when characters In-Universe find something meant to be Ugly Cute just ugly.

For my Grotesque Gallery Wick Check, I checked 50 different wicks:

A) Characters meant to be Ugly Cute that end up leaning too far into the "ugly" side and end up becoming Accidental Nightmare Fuel. This is the correct usage under the current definition.

All Dogs Go to Heaven: Most of the character designs hover along the Ugly Cute border, but King Gator's character design is... a bit much. As well as a pink horse. Seems to be correct usage.
YMMV.Mac And Me: The people who designed the puppets for Mac and his family were probably going for Ugly Cute. They failed. Badly. They're positively Nightmare Fuel at some points. Seems like correct usage.

B) Characters who are intentionally ugly, bizarre, and/or grotesque.

Creepy Twins: Zorn and Thorn from Final Fantasy IX are extremely annoying examples of this trope, as they are nearly identical in appearance (with the exception of their colors) and constantly repeat what the other twin says (only in reverse with the case of Thorn). It turns out though that they aren't twins at all, but are really one grotesque and horrific monster that somehow poses as Creepy Twins. Pothole; used in the context of a grotesque and horrifying thing.
Deranged Animation: The Real Ghostbusters sometimes used this, especially as far as the design of the ghosts is concerned. "Knock, Knock" in particular uses this like nobody's business. What's more, the accompanying toys were just as shockingly weird as the series' moments! Pothole; I looked at some of the ghosts, and from the way they look, this seems to be using this trope to refer to characters who are just grotesque.
Grossout Show: Uncle Grandpa, with the pilot episodes featuring fart jokes, toilet humor (somewhat literally), a pimply, morbidly obese teenager sweating through his man boobs, and slightly cruder character designs. The show proper averts this for the most part, though, as it instead relies on a lot of Surreal Humor and in general just how weird things can get, plus the artstyle isn't as crude as it used to be. Most of the grossout humor instead got used in the above mentioned Secret Mountain Fort Awesome (which UG's first pilot lead to the creation of), and it was probably because of that show's failure which would be why Uncle Grandpa instead became the surrealist comedy it is now.
- Ironically subverted with Secret Mountain Fort Awesome. While the designs are indeed extremely grotesque, the show relies mostly on Surreal Humour instead. Pothole in second bullet; seems to refer to intentionally grotesque things.
Head-Turning Beauty: The Crimson Rose and Silessa, the Snake Mistress in Ravenloft are two exotic dancing beauties in the Carnival that stand out among its less-fortunate looking members. The latter is an asp snake turned into an impossibly gorgeous elf babe with many admirers In-Universe and whose character description in The Carnival rulebook drips with Male Gaze. The former can actually magically enthrance any men who watches her dance, although, she is also cursed into flying in murderous rage if they make a move on her. Pothole; the use of “less-fortunate looking” makes me assume this is being used to describe many ugly and grotesque-looking characters.
Looks Like Orlok: The chief librarian of the monastery in The Name of the Rose looks like Orlok. It's set in The Dung Ages, so all the ugliest monks seem to wield high influence. Pothole; used to refer to just ugly characters.
Write Who You Know: Rocko's Modern Life, with the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bighead creating a cartoon called "The Fatheads", based on his parents. Later in that episode, a grotesque, dimwitted beaver version of Rocko, named "Rollo", is added to said cartoon. Pothole; seemingly used to describe an ugly character.
AttackOnTitan.Tropes G To L: Titans are a seriously freaky-looking bunch. Being used used to describe just ugly and grotesque-looking things.
BadassBookworm.Video Games: Isaac Clarke from Dead Space. He is the one and only to survive the events of the game. His weapons are MINING TOOLS, he is just a space engineer, and still manages to cut down an army of space zombies. Pothole; considering how zombies usually are, and that they appear to be the enemy here, this seems to be using the trope for characters who are intentionally grotesque.
Characters.Adventure Time Secondary: Has a bit of this, most strongly after his Face–Heel Turn. To wit, he calls Lemonhope, by far the least mal formed lemon, ugly, and while his melodious harp music was physically painful and ultimately deadly to Lemongrab, the cacophony Lemonhope created on Finn's flute sent both him and his brother into a blissed out trance. Pothole; being used in the context of just “grotesque”.
Characters.Looking For Group: They are nothing less than what you'd expect from a court full of demons. With the way it’s used here, this seems to be just referring to ugly characters.
Characters.Mulholland Drive: The "man behind Winkies" isn't exactly someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley. Or anywhere else for that matter. The way this is written makes me think that this character is grotesque-looking.
Characters.The League Of Gentlemen: Even by Royston Vasey standards, Mickey isn't easy on the eye. '''Pothole; used to describe an ugly-looking character.
David Lynch: He's very fond of deformed or unusual looking characters, such as the baby and the Woman in the Radiator in Eraserhead, Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man, the pustulent Baron Harkonnen in Dune, and the inhabitants of the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks. Just being used for “grotesque characters”
Harmony Korine: Not for no reason has he been compared to Fellini, Jodorowsky and Lynch. ZCE, but considering the usage on Creator/David Lynch, this is likely being used for “grotesque characters” as well.
Hieronymus Bosch: Consider his painting of Christ Carrying The Cross. Looking at the painting linked, this is seemingly being used to describe ugly and grotesque characters.
ExecutiveMeddling.Western Animation: During his tenure as head writer on The Real Ghostbusters, J. Michael Straczynski constantly battled with ABC execs. Some production members have noted having a happier time with the syndication episodes, which were subjected to far less scrutiny and it shows. (The H. P. Lovecraft-inspired, "The Collect Call of Cthulhu," is just one of the episodes people have noted the network wouldn't have cared for.) After Season 2, ABC hired a consulting firm, Q5, to "fix" the cartoon, despite it doing incredibly well in both ratings and merchandise sales. According to JMS, Q5 never did any research or viewer questionnaires but only demanded changes based upon what they themselves believed would make a successful show.
- Especially contentious was the ongoing debate over the Ghostbusters' secretary, Janine Melnitz. Q5 claimed the character was too cynical and abrasive. Her personality should be more supportive and "feminine", instead. The consultants also expressed concerns that her sharp, angular glasses might scare children — and yet, all the grotesque ghosts and monsters running around were a-ok. JMS acquiesced to one of ABC's demands, making Janine a Ghostbuster for an episode. The execs had felt young girls needed a positive female role model and saw this as an opportunity to do so. Pothole in second bullet; being used in the context of just grotesque-looking characters.
Kids: Some of the actors appear to be cast on how ugly and repulsive they could look and act. Used for just “ugly characters”.
Trash Humpers: Just in case you thought Korine had gone soft with Mister Lonely, the Squick, Grotesque Gallery and Crapsack World traits that Korine's films are known for coming roaring back with a vengeance. Considering how this is listed alongside Squick and Crapsack World, this seems to be another example of this trope being used to describe ugliness.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Every picture in the series counts, but "The Haunted House" and "The Dream" especially. This was a series infamous for its disturbing illustrations, so this seems to be used in the context of just “grotesque”.
Simon's Book: The two pens and the ink bottle that suddenly come to life and the monster (who looks like a large warthog) that chases Simon and his friends throughout the book. Judging from how the characters described look on the book's cover, this seems to be used to describe bizarre and grotesque characters.
Bone Machine: "Goin' Out West":
My friends think I'm ugly
I've got a masculine face Used in the context of just ugliness.
NauseaFuel.Western Animation:The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
- The scene where all the citizens of Storm-A-Long turn into hideous beings straight out of an H. P. Lovecraft novel due to Flapjack's pet rat giving them the Black Plague. Also the episode "Fancy Pants": it ends in about the same way as Mr. Creosote in The Meaning of Life (as in he explodes, spraying body parts and fluids everywhere). Pothole in second bullet; used to describe the ugly and grotesque.
NightmareFuel.Art: Almost every painting◊ by Hieronymus Bosch belongs on this page. His visions of Hell were really disturbing.
- Christ Carrying the Cross◊: The Grotesque Gallery to end all grotesque galleries! I already discussed this painting up on Hieronymus Bosch.
NightmareFuel.Granny: If you don't find the game to be nightmare-inducing, then try and turn on the appropriately-titled Nightmare option. The house looks like it has been flooded with gallons and liters of blood, the ambience amps up the horror, Granny takes on a rotten zombie appearance, and the bear traps look organic for once, screech, and are implied to be alive. "Psycho" Strings play when Granny is chasing you and you are thrown in a Scare Chord when she hits you. Pothole; used to describe just grotesque/horrifying things.
NightmareFuel.Spider Man The Animated Series: Dr. Connors visibly mutating into The Lizard in the first episode. Pothole; seemingly used to describe a horrifying and grotesque event.
NightmareFuel.Spongebob Squarepants: The episode "SquidBob TentaclePants" features Squidward and SpongeBob becoming biologically fused due to one of Sandy's inventions. It's not so bad at first, but once everything seems to be resolved, Squidward wanted to be fused again, just so he could be a star... It ends with all the characters becoming trapped in an AKIRA-esque hideous flesh-colored blob with random moaning heads sticking out of it. It's probably one of the most crowning Nightmare Fuel moments in the show: in fact, it was so bad that some countries removed the scene entirely, thus leaving the episode with No Ending. Pothole; used in the context of just a thing that is grotesque.
NightmareFuel.Who Framed Roger Rabbit: The Acme Factory itself is creepy in general. While the outside looks like an average warehouse, the interior features various toon props that are both hyper-realistic and very exaggerated in design simultaneously. These include a pink elephant being held up by a net, a large Napoleon Bonaparte bust, assortments of large, eerie human heads, cardboard cutouts of ghosts, skeletons and insensitive depictions of the Chinese amongst other oddities. Pothole; considering this is a Nightmare Fuel page, this seems to be just be used on the context of something bizarre and grotesque.
This is Wonderland: Rosemary Davis. Ewwww. Little context here, but the "ewwww" makes me presume this is talking about something ugly and grotesque.
SmallReferencePools.Live Action Films: Federico Fellini: La Dolce Vita for the general public, 8½ for film critics. Associated with Grotesque Gallery and catchy music. Not enough context here, but on Federico Fellini's page, there is an entry for this trope saying "Many people in his movies were cast because of how eccentric or bizarre they looked. Fellini himself was a cartoonist, so that might explain it a bit", so this is seemingly being used in the context of bizarre and grotesque things.
Baroque: The Meta-Beings, and most of the main characters. ZCE by itself, but another examples mentions the “Meta-Beings” as being an example of Body Horror, so this seems to be just used to describe “grotesque and ugly characters”.
Yume Nikki: You'll find a lot of ugly stuff in Madotsuki's dreamscape... Just used in the context of “ugly things”.
Doc Rat: When Ben called in an auditor to clean up after Charmaine's sacking, a couple sets of bones were found on her desk. While Ben, Mary, and Gizelle were horrified, the auditor was impressed that she "worked through her lunch breaks". Seems to be used to describe a grotesque thing.
Mega Babies: The monsters are very creatively wretched-looking. To some, every character could count as this due to the strange art style. Just being used to describe ugly characters.
Rock and Rule: In this gloriously insane animated film from Canada (the first English language one entirely produced within that country, done by Nelvana), a dark magician and aging rock star's wicked plan to summon a grotesque demon are thwarted by Beast Men who sing early 80's rock music about The Power of Love. Used to describe a thing that is just "grotesque."
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Virtually everyone that isn't the three main leads are this. This example is paired up with Gonk, so despite the lack of context, this seems to be used to describe just ugly and bizarre characters.
YMMV.Bill And Teds Bogus Journey: While the first movie is a lighthearted, family-friendly Totally Radical comedy with only one dramatic moment (when Bill appears to be killed), the sequel adds scary scenes (including the heroes being banished to hell, a nightmarish depiction of Hell and three Ironic Hell scenarios involving a unnaturally human like Easter Bunny and a warped parody of a grandmother), gross-out humor, a Disney Death that sticks for the majority of the film done in cold blooded murder, alcohol, more profanity, and more sexual dialogue and incest references. As a result, the target audience of the sequel skews older than the first. Perhaps the filmmakers anticipated that fans of the original film would have aged two years since the previous film came out. Pothole; seems to be used in the context of bizarre and grotesque things.

C) Zero-context examples.

Pablo Picasso: Most of his images. Not enough context.
Garbage Pail Kids Just a trope name-only ZCE.
Three Worlds Collide: Including a Grotesque Gallery. Could be considered a Deconstruction considering just exactly how different the aliens are. Lacking in context.
The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Program: Just a trope name-only ZCE on there.
The Mighty Boosh: "Mutants". Just a hidden ZCE.
Spoilsbury Toast Boy: Another trope name-only ZCE.
Yellow Submarine Yet another trope name-only ZCE.

D) Other/unclear usage.

Beauty Is Bad: Most children's shows where the main characters are a Grotesque Gallery. Although this example is broad (which is not allowed), from the way it’s describing shows like this, this seems like it’s using this trope to refer to Ugly Cute characters.
The Dark Crystal: A fascinating case, since the entire world is composed of Muppets and environments that are either deliberately alien or designed off of nature's less cute critters, making the whole thing one dark fairy tale based on look alone. Interestingly enough, this is paired up with Ugly Cute (with the example beginning with Grotesque Gallery / Ugly Cute), so this may be valid usage or just confusion with regular Ugly Cute.
Klutz: The Klutz family themselves have wobbly limbs and colorfully striped noses. Also, most of the other characters in this book either have wobbly limbs like the Klutz family or have realistic newspaper clippings pasted on their heads. Looking at the page image, the characters come off as quite unsettling to me, but I’m not sure if they were supposed to be seen as Ugly Cute in the first place. This seems like it might be another “ugly characters” usage.
Brooktown High: Unquestionably the single greatest source of rejection for this title. The conceptual artwork looks nothing like the end product, leaving unresolved questions as to why things looked this bad and no one said anything during development. Unsure about this one; assuming the top image on the page's pic is what the game looks like, this could be valid usage.
Meet the Fatheads: The characters are either this or Ugly Cute. Unsure about this usage; this could be either correct usage or usage in the context of just ugly things.

The results are:

Category A: 2/50

Category B: 36/50

Category C: 7/50

Category D: 5/50

So yeah, this trope is really misused as how it currently is. If we want to fix it and keep its current definition, we could rename it to something more clear, and also make it YMMV due to it being an Audience Reaction trope, with deliberate examples applying to only when characters find a character to fall under this trope In-Universe.

Edited by jandn2014 on Jun 6th 2020 at 1:37:53 PM

back lol

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu

#2: Jun 9th 2020 at 8:24:43 AM

Opening.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

jandn2014 Very Spooky from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding

Very Spooky

#3: Jun 11th 2020 at 5:10:38 PM

Giving this a bump since it quickly got buried.

back lol

naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

#4: Jun 11th 2020 at 8:18:52 PM

In this case I would actually want to redefine to conform to the misuse. "Intentionally creepy/gross character design" is a tropeworthy concept that I think we actually don't have. The current definition is mostly covered by Accidental Nightmare Fuel.

Edited by naturalironist on Jun 11th 2020 at 11:19:23 AM

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"

ADrago Since: Dec, 2015

#5: Jun 11th 2020 at 9:09:32 PM

I vote to redefine Grotesque Gallery to conform to the "group of characters or creatures meant to look ugly or gross" misuse as the current definition is already covered by Accidental Nightmare Fuel.

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015

#6: Jun 11th 2020 at 9:12:18 PM

Maybe we could split this?

8BrickMario Since: May, 2013

#7: Jun 11th 2020 at 9:25:56 PM

"Unintentionally ugly when trying for Ugly Cute" might be broadened, since I can think of a lot of things that may aim for cuteness without aiming for ugliness...that still garner "that's ugly" opinions. Kids' toys and dolls reach this a lot even when not considered scary, like the Cabbage Patch Kids. It could be like a sister trope to Uncanny Valley, where it's acknowledged to be accidentally unappealing, but not to an unnerving/scary effect. Maybe it’s not different enough, though. The name is really unindicative, regardless.

Deliberately ugly character design is often covered by Gonk, no?

Edited by 8BrickMario on Jun 11th 2020 at 9:27:07 AM

ImperialMajestyXO Since: Nov, 2015

#8: Jun 11th 2020 at 10:46:14 PM

I believe gonk refers to an ugly character with a Non-Standard Character Design.

naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

#9: Jun 11th 2020 at 11:05:17 PM

, Yes, we don't actually have a trope for when all or group of characters look like that. Gonk is an exception to the main art style.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#10: Jul 9th 2020 at 11:27:14 PM

Bump. Don't have anything to add but I don't want this to get forgotten.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu

#11: Jul 11th 2020 at 1:17:22 AM

We also have a trope for The Grotesque, although I do see the merit of a separate trope for an entire group/race of malformed/ugly beings as an inverse to the Inhumanly Beautiful Race or something.

jandn2014 Very Spooky from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding

Very Spooky

#12: Jul 11th 2020 at 8:05:15 AM

FYI, The Grotesque is for characters whose ugliness is intended to invoke pity in the viewer.

back lol

Tabs Since: Jan, 2001

#13: Jul 11th 2020 at 8:48:48 AM

I vote to redefine Grotesque Gallery to conform to misuse. The current name also doesn't suggest Ugly Cute Accidental Nightmare Fuel. Or ask in trope finder if we have "intentionally ugly characters "?

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu

#14: Jul 11th 2020 at 6:46:27 PM

Huh. If it's meant to invoke certain audience reaction, shouldn't it be in YMMV?

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#15: Jul 11th 2020 at 6:49:34 PM

No. Hate Sink is meant to evoke hatred and is an objective trope.

It matters not how the audience actually reacts, just how the creator designed the character.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu

#16: Jul 12th 2020 at 6:31:13 AM

Ah, alright. In any case, it seems like the only logical course of action is to transplant the trope and redefine it to fit its current usage ("Characters who are intentionally ugly, bizarre, and/or grotesque"). Although the current name does imply that this should be for an entire group/species instead of just a singular character, and I think that's more tropeworthy than simply having "this character is ugly" kind of deal.

naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

#17: Jul 12th 2020 at 9:36:45 AM

Yeah I think it should be for an entire works art style or at least groups of characters. Single characters are covered by gonk.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#18: Jul 14th 2020 at 8:33:57 PM

Agree.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

mightymewtron Angry babby from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!

Angry babby

#19: Jul 14th 2020 at 8:41:22 PM

Another thing is that this reads like an audience reaction (since it's a combination of two audience reactions) but is listed as an objective trope.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#20: Jul 14th 2020 at 9:08:19 PM

But it's the creators intentionally going for Ugly Cute, right? Which would make it an Intended Audience Reaction?

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

jandn2014 Very Spooky from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding

Very Spooky

#21: Jul 14th 2020 at 9:22:57 PM

The audience reaction part is thinking a character intended to be Ugly Cute to accidentally be creepy due to leaning too hard towards the “ugly” side.

back lol

naturalironist from The Information Superhighway Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life

#22: Jul 22nd 2020 at 11:07:55 PM

The current definition does sound like an audience reaction.

The proposed redefinition wouldn't be. Ugly character design includes a lot of objective things like sharp angles, unusual body proportions, bulging eyes, emphasis on gross body features like hair and warts, etc.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"

8BrickMario Since: May, 2013

#23: Jul 23rd 2020 at 9:56:30 AM

I'm still in favor of some kind of split into "intentional ugly character design" for a trope and "cute comes off as ugly without trying to be" as an audience reaction.

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu

#24: Jul 23rd 2020 at 8:47:59 PM

"cute comes off as ugly without trying to be" is already covered by Accidental Nightmare Fuel.

Edited by Adept on Jul 23rd 2020 at 11:47:54 PM

WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)

Big Catch, Sparkle Edition

#25: Jul 23rd 2020 at 8:49:24 PM

^ Not really? Ugly =/= Nightmare Fuel... it just means ugly.

A closer example would be Uncanny Valley.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jul 23rd 2020 at 8:49:23 AM

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