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And sometimes all of it happens at the same time.
Cerebus Rollercoaster is what happens when [[Cerebus Syndrome]] gets [[Zig
This may occur for different reasons. Sometimes creators just plain don't know exactly what tone they want to give their work. Maybe the story went too far into [[Cerebus Syndrome]], and the writer is tired and horrified of the [[Crapsack World]] it has become, but while trying to reverse the process, he finds out that new, [[Darker and Edgier]] settings have a lot of fans, so he desperately tries to balance drama and comedy to keep both fanbases happy. Sometimes the new writer decides to take the series in a new direction, then into another direction and so on, until fans who have grown to be writers themselves [[Running the Asylum|take the series back to its original roots]]. Some people may just [[Follow the Leader]] too much, and when the leader changes, so too does the direction of their story. And sometimes they just don't want to stick to one setting and are forced to discard all story ideas which are too dark or too light for basic settings. [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] - when played right, it may give a series a unique, recognizable style and keep it fresh. If done badly, however, this will pretty much turn the story into a train wreck.
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== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==
* The ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise as a whole goes through this, with series varying from ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
** ''Zeta'' to ''ZZ'' is a miniature example in and of itself. [[Yoshiyuki Tomino|Tomino]] himself [[Word of God|said]] that ''Zeta'' was too dark and depressing, and thus made ''ZZ'' light-hearted because he felt that anime should make people happy. However, this seems to have resulted in over-correction, resulting in ''ZZ'' being very silly at the start before evening out later on, which has lead some fans to apply [[Fanon Discontinuity]] to just the early episodes.
*** Tomino himself has this as applied to his whole body of work; Its been a common observation of his fans that Tomino tends to alternate between [[Lighter and Softer|lighter works]] and [[Darker and Edgier|depressing character dramas]]. ''[[Space Runaway Ideon|Be Invoked]],'' for instance, was directly followed by ''[[Xabungle]],'' which was then followed by ''[[Aura Battler Dunbine]].'' The tonal shift between Zeta and ZZ is pretty much a continuation of Tomino's established pattern, as ZZ was made directly after Zeta.
* ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' plays this trope to the hilt. Beginning at first as bit of a [[Black Comedy]] about a dead teenager hilariously doing anything to come back to life,''anything''. Then he gets ressurrected and has to hunt down criminals like a detective and the whole thing escalates with the Toguro Brothers and Yukina. Then comes the second season which although does have development,mostly is just shonen-style fighting,...then Genkai dies and it just keeps getting darker. It doesn't really stop again until Yusuke proposes a tournament for the the Three Kings.
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' in a way mirrors the rollercoaster ride taken by the entire mecha anime genre through its history. Episodes one to eight are very optimistic and often outright comedic, taking a lot from classic 70's [[Super Robot]] anime like ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' or ''[[Getter Robo]]''. The next episodes contain their share of angst and dark themes, and villains, while still evil, gain some depth. It mirrors the effect ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' varied wildly in tone, influenced by a lot of [[Executive Meddling]] and behind the scenes stuff.
* [[Higurashi no Naku Koro
* ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo]]''. Starts off with the 16-year-old protaganist running into a cute little boy robot, who wants him to help save the world. A few chapters later, we found out, that said robot boy is a [[Sociopathic Hero]] at it's worst. Then more comedy and action scenes, which lead up to the protaganist's best friend [[Ho Yay|being in love with him]], and also being batshit insane. Then all the good guys are killed, and the world blows up. Which leads us right into part 2, with time restarted and everybody fine. They even threw in some more comedy just to reassure us that everybody is A-OK. [[Cerebus Syndrome|Until the end of part two]]. {{spoiler|Two of the original Good Doji masters are dead, and the others are out of commission.}} Part 3, managed to do this in single chapters alone. The only thing you can be sure of with the tone of this series, is that by the end of each part, something bad is going to happen to somebody, if not everybody.
* The fourth season of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''. There are some funny moments in-between, even after {{spoiler|Yugi sacrifices himself in the Pharaoh's place}}. But the humor dramatically lessens when {{spoiler|Jonouchi, the series' [[Plucky Comic Relief]], dies.}}
* Katekyou Hitman Reborn. It started as a comedy manga, but from the Kokuyo Arc onwards it turns into a battle manga, with quite some violent and bloody stuff.
* [[
* [[
* ''[[Gate Keepers]]'' go up and down with this, in both humorous, and dark elements.
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** Sometimes it may happen even without changing the writer, because he (or [[Executive Meddling|somebody else]]) decides that character needs a retool.
* ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]'' started as a black comedy, went serious in its fourth and fifth issue and then jumped back to black comedy.
* This seems to be general rule with ''[[Spider-Man]]'', whose stories constantly grow progressively darker, just for [[Marvel]] to hit the [[Reset Button]] and go back to classic humor. The current example would be [[JMS Spider
* ''[[
== Film ==
* The ''[[
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogies do this. The first trilogy start of as lighthearted in ''[[A New Hope]]'' and dark tones come up in the latter two. In the prequels the first two start lightly, then ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' takes a nosedive into dark.
== Literature ==
* ''[[
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Scrubs]]''. Holy mother of God ''Scrubs''. The show itself is best described as a collision between a medical drama and a slapstick comedy with great big dollops of tragedy, [[Gallows Humor]], surrealism and [[Lemony Narrator]] thrown in for good measure, and it's a complete toss-up as to what each episode will give the viewer. And it's not just across the show or across seasons, it can be across a single episode: one storyline might be a [[Zany Scheme]] filled with sex jokes, pratfalls, and wacky shenanigans, while another storyline might be a gut-wrenching, savagely dark tragedy about the death of patients and the psychological fallout from one or more of the doctors, while the camera merrily [[Whip Pan|Whip Pans]] between the two.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' always has been, and always will be, a franchise nobody can take without a lot of [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. It's campy and [[Crazy Awesome]] in its own way, but the tone of each season varies. Lord Zedd was its [[Knight of Cerebus]] and set a much more epic arc than the original Rita arc. Both ''[[Power Rangers
** The same holds true for ''[[Power Rangers]]''' source material, ''[[Super Sentai]]''. Compare the dark and serious ''[[Chouriki Sentai Ohranger]]'' (which almost got the franchise cancelled) to the frenetic and comical ''[[Gekisou Sentai Carranger]]''. For a specific series example, ''[[
* [[Kamen Rider]] as a franchise also alternates a lot between silly and serious. You have darker series like ''[[Kamen Rider Amazon|Amazon]]'', ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz|Faiz]]'', and ''[[Kamen Rider Blade|Blade]]'', and less serious ones like ''[[Kamen Rider Black RX|Black RX]]'' and ''[[Kamen Rider Den
* ''[[Skins]]'' appears to be falling into a pattern of letting things get lighter with the premiere of each new generation, then taking a turn for the [[Darker and Edgier]] in that generation's second season.
* ''[[Psych]]'' used this to its advantage for a multi season story arc. By keeping the show episodic and lighthearted during most of each season the Ying and Yang episodes they used for the finales seemed much darker in comparison.
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*** As for Series 6? It begins with {{spoiler|The Doctor being [[Killed Off for Real]]}} and [[It Got Worse|only gets worse from there.]] {{spoiler|Though it still manages to play this trope straight as the finale is quite upbeat.}} Other episodes in the season include a madcap pirate romp, a sinister clone saga, a horrifying episode about dolls and a buddy comedy.
* ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', with its dedication to showing both the ugly and delightful sides of life in equal measure, has been a mild version of this trope ever since season 1. Often combined with [[Mood Whiplash]].
* ''[[
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' has this to some extent. Many episodes were quirky and surreal and filled with 60s sci-fi elements, while others were darker, more realistic, and often psychologically unsettling. It became even more noticeable in the last few episodes: the most lighthearted episode of the whole series ("The Girl Who Was Death") came right before the strikingly dark "Once Upon a Time" and the infamously bizarre [[Gainax Ending|"Fall Out"]].
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* The ''[[Diablo]]'' series seems to be riding on this. Despite its immense popularity, ''Diablo II'' was sometimes derided for [[Lighter and Softer|not being as dark and edgy as the first game]]. In the books as well, the mood can range from as dark and edgy as the first game to surprisingly goofy. On the other hand, whatever [[Narm]]-ish moments the series [[Tropes Are Not Bad|can prevent it from getting]] ''[[Tropes Are Not Bad|too]]'' [[Tropes Are Not Bad|dark]].
* [[
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[
** It's not a bug, it's a feature. The comic oscillated between wacky comedy, teen drama and animesque adventure from the start. The wheel turns more and more smoothly, but it more indicates Dan's growing experience with using [[Rotating Arcs]] than possibility of other long-term trends.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* To put it in perspective, the main villain of ''[[
** Although it's definitely gone towards the darker side. And to many, [[Mood Dissonance|the remaining humor elements seem forced and unnatural.]] The creator has picked up on this and the comedic elements now are usually situational or background events to the overarching drama.
** As of Act 6, many of the most pressing conflicts have been dealt with at least for now, and much screentime is spent following the Alpha universe, {{spoiler|an alternate universe in which the kids' ectobiological parents are the new kids, which starts in much the same places as Act 1 did and calls back to the much more light-hearted mood of the early strip.}} Yep, Homestuck is definitely back in lighter territory...for now.
* For a [[Mega Crossover]] [[Fanfic|fan]][[Web Comic|comic]] running mostly on [[Fan Service]] and [[Comedy]] ''[[Roommates 2007
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[
** It's gone from ''[[Silent Hill]]: Dead/Alive'' (one of the most depressing arcs in the series, giving a nightmarish origin to the "Magic Gun") to "Secret Origins Month", where even the ''reviews'' are light-hearted and playful.
** And again - from "The Entity" arc, that worked well to give the series more horrors for another "Secret Origins Month".
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Futurama]]'' is one of the few successful examples of a comedic series trying this. For example, four consecutive episodes of the fourth season involve 1) an elaborate ''[[
* ''[[
** Well you shouldn't expect a series to be all giggles when it kicks off with the [[Death By Origin Story|genocide of an entire race]]. Also, most of the major characters are basically [[Child Soldiers]].
* ''[[Teen Titans (
* ''[[Re Boot]]'' was mostly comical during season 1, but the season ended with a somewhat darker two-part episode. Season two went back to comical for half of the season, but kicked off a plot for the second half that ended with a [[Wham! Episode]]. Season 3 got darker every four episodes, before spending the last ten minutes with a [[Musical Episode]]. Season 4 goes to the point of ''Cyberspace Annihilation'', then swings back into comedy. ''THEN'' a previous villain returns, '''[[The Bad Guy Wins|WINS]]''', and we get a [[Cliff Hanger]]. This series is a freakin mood yoyo.
* As ''[[Re Boot]]'', its "relative", ''[[
* ''[[Scooby
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Season 1 started with Nightmare Moon, who represented the pinnacle of real danger the mane six faced for the entire season; almost all other conflicts were social or moral in nature - dealing with petty jerkasses, learning lessons about friendship, and the like. While occasionally dealing with creatures like dragons, hydras, and cockatrice.
** And now, with the beginning of season 2, we've come full circle - Discord is a ''much'' nastier monster than Nightmare Moon ever was. And notably for a show like this, he ''isn't'' shamed into defeat or forgiven and redeemed - he gets put right back in the [[Fate Worse Than Death]] he crawled out of. Then you're into stories like "Pinkie Pie Babysits", "Rainbow Dash finds out that reading is fun", "Love potions cause [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarity to ensue]]" and "Twilight Sparkle struggles so hard to find [[An Aesop]] [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|that her]] [[Sanity Slippage]] [[Madness Makeover|sinks into]] [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmare-inducing depths]]".
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* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' uses this trope as darker and more serious episodes are interspersed with jarringly comedic ones.
* Good Lord, ''[[Generator Rex]]''. The ongoing story is incredibly dark, and just keeps getting darker ... but the breather episodes are crazy funny.
* ''[[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
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