Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism/Web Original


 * It can be hard, a lot of the time, to figure out just where Survival of the Fittest is on the overall scale, but it appears to be more towards the cynical side due to the Downer Ending nature of the endings for the most part and the fact that fate itself seems to crack down on optimistic characters. Hero types usually get themselves killed, and even if they don't die right away they usually see all their friends die first. All escape attempts are brutally crushed, and even doesn't work until it's too late for anything to be done. By v2, all damage has been fixed, and the systems have been changed so they're literally impenetrable.
 * In a strange bout of irony, the same virus comes back to bite the terrorists in the arse in V3 purely by accident, even worse than before.
 * As quoted above, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog shows us why, exactly, it's called the Sliding Scale of Idealism Vs. Cynicism by going back and forth between the two with reckless abandon. The most pronounced example may be the song "My Eyes" (also known as "On The Rise"), which is practically a duet between idealism and cynicism. (And yes, that is Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day with Nathan Fillion sitting in the background.)
 * The SCP Foundation sits so far on the cynical side that it probably shares a spot with Warhammer 40,000.
 * Urban Fantasy series Broken Saints eventually ends up on the Idealistic side, but it covers a lot of ground getting there.
 * Encyclopedia Dramatica is what happens when the cynical side of the internet's Troll population creates a wiki.
 * Sailor Nothing occupies an odd place -- it's far grimmer than its inspiration Sailor Moon, but ultimately has a core of idealism. The Power of Friendship plays an important role in keeping the heroine together, and.
 * Chaos Fighters is extremely idealistic that everyone fighting at the good side is invincible heroes, having love interests and their mission is guaranteed a success no matter how hard it is. They can even.
 * There Will Be Brawl takes the normally-idealistic universe of Nintendo franchises and slams it headlong into the cynical side. And then keeps going. So cynical that the most idealistic character, for heavens sake!
 * Red vs. Blue has a tendency to be rather cynical, considering how virtually everyone in Blood Gulch dislikes one another.
 * Revelation ends on a surprisingly idealistic note.
 * Season 9, on the other hand, is much more cynical than Revelation.


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