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{{trope}}
▲''{{quote box|[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]]: ["|http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=207 The Lost Episodes"}}]''
{{quote|"''Sometimes I think you enjoy breaking these little geniuses.''"
"''There is an art to it, and I'm very, very good at it. But enjoy? Well, maybe. When they put back the pieces afterward, and it makes them better.''"|''[[Ender's Game]]'' on
"Deconstruction" literally means "to take something apart." As one might expect, this is a very broad term, with a number of different definitions in literary criticism, theoretical physics, and even plain-old demolitions. Some of these are explained in more detail on the [[Deconstruction/Analysis|analysis tab]].
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When applied to tropes, or other aspects of fiction, deconstruction means to take apart a trope so as to better understand its meaning and relevance to us in [[Real Life]]. This often means pursuing a trope's inherent contradictions and the difference between how the trope appears in this one work and how it compares to other relevant tropes or ideas both in fiction and [[Real Life]].
The simplest and most common method of applying
This doesn't mean magic and other fantastic or futuristic elements, or any other tropes must be removed or attacked for failing to match up with their own
For example, in ''[[Dungeons
Note that while deconstructions ''often'' end up [[Darker and Edgier|darker, edgier,]] [[Sadness Tropes|sadder]] [[Cynicism Tropes|and more cynical]] than the normal version, with the deconstructive process often [[Played for Drama|producing catharsis]] or [[Played for Laughs|seeming satirical]] by revealing the [[Fridge Horror]] inside a given instance of Trope, '''there is no reason they have to be.''' Deconstructions can exist anywhere on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]. Expanding on the ''[[Dungeons
The reason fictive deconstructions often turn out as they do is that fiction by its definition virtually ignores anything that isn't specifically included, while hiding anything that is included but not spelled out. Thus, for instance, a work in which gender, or sexuality, poverty, race, or politics etc. ''should'' have been important but were never dealt with adequately is ripe for a deconstruction in which the fact that nobody talks about these topics indicates that something is amiss. Contrariwise, a work that attempts to pre-emptively avert being deconstructed in this way by stating, perhaps frequently, that certain topics aren't dealt with because they are ''specifically irrelevant'' to the story/setting (especially if there's no good reason they ''should'' be irrelevant), is ripe for an ironic deconstruction in which the supposed insignificance of these topics doesn't stop characters from regurgitating contemporary [[Real Life]] attitudes about them. The Deconstruction process thus often reveals things we weren't thinking about for a reason, perhaps revealing a trope or a staple of fiction as false/unrealistic/[[Fridge Horror|horrifying]], which is why it ''tends'' to be depressing. (If a Deconstruction reveals a trope as beautiful truth it will probably be uplifting.)
Also note that '''[[Darker and Edgier]], [[Rule of Drama]] and [[Cynicism Tropes]] ''do not'' turn works into Deconstructions'''. There are plenty of dark, edgy and dramatic tropes that are used without ever exploring the meaning behind them, or their realistic implications. While some of the most acclaimed works in their respective genres are deconstructions, and many deconstructions do utilize dark, cynical and dramatic tropes in the setting, [[Tropes Are Tools|it is the careful use and analysis of them that makes them acclaimed, not because they just have those tropes in them]]. See '''[[All The Tropes:Not a Deconstruction|Not a Deconstruction]]'''.
[[Reconstruction]] is when the trope is then put back together, usually in a way that strengthens the trope. Think of it as Deconstruction taking apart your broken car engine, and Reconstruction puts it back together so it runs again. Deconstruction and reconstruction can become [[Cyclic Trope
We have many subtropes; most examples of [[Deconstruction]] will fit in one of those.▼
See also [[Reality Ensues]] for when this happens temporarily, usually for humor rather then deconstruction, and [[Fridge Horror]], which is what people often think of deconstruction: revealing how really terrifying and dark something is by thoroughly thinking about it.
----
* [[Deconstruction Crossover]]▼
▲* [[Unbuilt Trope]] (for when the Trope was [[Deconstructed]] [[Trope Maker|at the time it was made]])
----
'''Please note: This page has been edited for clarity's sake. Please do not add any more examples. Add them to [[Genre Deconstruction]] or [[Deconstructed Trope]] or the appropriate subtrope. Where possible please move examples to these subtrope pages. This page is about
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* Originally, ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' was meant to be a [[Deconstructive Parody]] of shows like ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. While it veered off that course eventually and played a fair number of tropes completely straight (never mind [[Macross Missile Massacre|inventing]] a few along the way), every major entry into the franchise has featured at least one major, often scathing, deconstructions of the science fiction, adventure and anime genres.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' had a few instances of Deconstructing tropes from previous ''Gundam'' series, including ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', examples of which would be showing the corpse of {{spoiler|Neil Dylandy}} to show everyone that he is indeed ''very dead'', a ''very'' realistic portrayal of just how hopeless [[Rebellious Princess]]'s Marina's situation is (her nation is now gone and her country never gotten better beforehand), and (arguably) [[Smug Snake|Wang]] [[Ojou|Liu Mei]] being a deconstruction of [[Pollyanna|Lacus]] [[Idol Singer|Clyne]].
** [[The Movie]] unfortunately, destroys this by ending with a [[Happily Ever After]] and World Peace for everyone through [[Instrumentality]], including the [[Easily Forgiven|aliens who killed countless human soldiers]]. It preaches that war is the product of misunderstandings and everyone would get along as long as we didn't miscommunicate. No previous Gundam series ended ''that'' unrealistically optimistic.
* The crew of Naehl Argama in ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'' might be seen as a deconstrucion of Bright Noa's Ra Cailum crew in ''[[Chars Counterattack]]''.
* ''Mobile Suit Gundam: [[Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in
* The first generation of ''[[Gundam AGE]]'' presents itself as a deconstruction of a warrior [[The Messiah|Messiah]].
* ''[[Now and Then, Here
* ''[[Strange Dawn]]''. The people of the other world are cute [[Super
* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' starts out as a light-hearted [[True Companions]] / [[Gotta Catch Em All]] adventure story with some darkness around the edges and interesting sexual subtext. One-third of the way through, everything you thought you knew turns inside out and the most light-hearted elements become harbingers of the ugliest secrets. From there on out, the series proceeds to do everything it can to make your mind boggle, including introducing major unexpected [[Squick]] into what had once been [[CLAMP]]'s most popular and innocent pairing.
* The "Perfect GT-R" arc of ''[[Wangan Midnight]]'' has a beautiful deconstruction of street racing. Jun Kitami, who at this point has been portrayed as a reckless, heartless daredevil tuner, says point-blank that there are no winners or losers and that Koichi did exactly the right thing in giving up this senseless hobby so he could return to his wife. Given that ''the whole manga'' is about street racing, plainly admitting a truth like this took guts. Even better, this happens in the very first arc after the Devil Z and Blackbird are introduced.
* ''[[Fate/stay
{{quote|
** [[Fate
* ''[[Halo Legends]]'' is a deconstruction of the whole ''[[Halo]]'' series. In ''The Babysitter'', it's showed that not all UNSC personnel are fond of the
** Is it really a Deconstruction if the other EU brings this up all the time? (and in some cases, like the Forerunners in-game).
* ''[[Toradora
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' brutally deconstructs many of the most beloved [[Magical Girl]] tropes. Namely: the mascot, the henshin item, and the "perks".
** On the contrary, ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' takes tropes from older Magical Girl titles such as ''[[Magical Princess Minky Momo]]'' and ''[[Shamanic Princess]]'', and plays them straight. It only looks like a deconstruction to younger (under 30) viewers because it builds on what were previously [[Unbuilt Trope]]s... which makes it a [[Reconstruction]].
* ''[[
* ''[[
* [[Digimon Tamers]] and [[
* [[
* ''Secret Plot'' and [[Meaningful Name|"Secret Plot Deep"]] initially/ostensibly comes off as another [[Hot for Teacher]] / [[Hot for Student]] H-manga series about [[Hot Teacher|hot teachers]] and the various boys they seduce, specifically [[Biggus Dickus|Masaki]] ''then'' it sets in how much of a [[Crapsack World]] they live in:
* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' is widely regarded as the first deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre, at the same time it deconstructs various fairy tale archetypes including the prince, the princess, and the witch.
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Watchmen (
* A story from the comics series ''[[
* ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'' asked the question: "What sort of a man would dress up in a bat outfit and fight crime." The answer: "A man who isn't very pleasant or sane."
* ''[[Comickbook/Kick-Ass|Kick-Ass]]'' shows us what it would be like if a teenager without super powers ever became a superhero (like Spider-Man). The main character gets beaten to within an inch of his life in every encounter, and said life becomes even ''worse'' after he dons the mask; his only super power is that he has a metal plate in his head.
** and then the film based on the comic is a [[Reconstruction]] of that same superhero type.
* [[Mad Magazine]] often does this, such as contrasting a movie cowboy ([[Awesome McCoolname|Lance Sterling]]) with a real cowboy (John Smurd). Whereas the handsome Lance defeats the villain after a shootout and fist fight, getting a girl and a hero's celebration, the plain-looking John gets knocked out and beaten up, then kills the villain by taking him by surprise, only to be greeted with a fairly homely woman and lynched for murder.
* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20131017101941/http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MsKyle08/news/?a=47664 this webcomic,] it deconstructs the usage of cleavage revealing costumes of Wonder Woman and Power Girl.
* [[Word of God]] said that the [[Series Finale]] for the [[Tintin]] comics was the album ''Tin Tin at the Tibet''. The next three albums (''The Castafiore Emerald'', ''Flight 714'', and ''Tintin and the Picaros'') are deconstructions of the Tin Tin series in general.
== Film ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Mighty Joe Young]]'' (at least the 1998 version) deconstructs ''[[King Kong]]'', which is rather ironic because it originally inspired King Kong. The ape isn't an island-dwelling monster, but an otherwise normal African gorilla with extreme giantism. The female lead has more in common with Dian Fossey then the screaming damsel in distress of ''Kong''. And when Joe finally does go on his "rampage" it's because he's confronted with the poacher that killed his mother.
* ''[[Scanners]]'' sets up a fairly standard [[
* The 1991 film ''[[The Dark Backward]]'' contains an animated sequence that deconstructs the ''[[
* A scene from ''[[The Mirror Has Two Faces]]'' shows Streisand's character deconstructing "[[Cinderella (
* The 2008 movie ''[[JCVD]]'' is a deconstruction of Jean-Claude Van Damme himself, as an out-of-luck delusional actor as opposed to the real-life moderately successful actor. [
* The Milla Jovovich version of ''[[Joan of Arc]]'' plays out the way the true story went until she is captured by the English, at which point it deconstructs the entire mythology surrounding Joan of Arc. In prison, she meets {{spoiler|(or better said, ''hallucinates'')}} a character (played by Dustin Hoffman) whose only function seems to be to question her calling from God.
* ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' harshly deconstructs America's hedonistic take on life in [[The Seventies]]. Sure, there were beautiful clothes, music, and lots of dancing, but there was a dark side to the life led by people like Tony and his friends. For example, Tony, who turns to hedonism as a way to cope with his own life as a low-class Brooklyn guy with a ''really'' [[Dysfunctional Family]], has no thought for the future (and the culture as a whole didn't either), and his friends are involved with [[Sex, Drugs and Rock
* ''[[The Babysitter: Killer Queen]]'' is a comedy-horror that deconstructs many well-known slasher movie Tropes:
** [[Black Dude Dies First]]: John is the only black dude, he’s one of the bad guys, and he is killed ''last'', {{spoiler|unless you count Bee}}.
** [[There Are No Therapists]]: Cole ''is'' actually seeing one, he just doesn't believe Cole's - admittedly far-fetched- story.
** [[Let's Split Up, Gang!]] : Cole really does ''not'' think this is a good idea, warning Phoebe more than once they have to stay together to survive. The bad guys, however, do split up, and it doesn’t end well.
** [[Final Girl]]: Both the male and female lead survive, but Cole seems to get first billing. And he survives by ''losing'' his virginity.
** [[For the Evulz]]: While every member of the cult has obviously passed the [[Moral Event Horizon]], some do have admirable traits. Sonya kills the thug trying to rape Phoebe before going after her and Cole, Max actually compliments Cole more than once for standing up for himself (even though Max is the one he’s standing up to), Sonya, Max, and maybe John don’t seem to think it’s necessary to ''kill'' Cole. Sonya even goes so far as to bring cookies when they’re planning to sacrifice him - whether she actually intends to share them with Cole isn’t specified, but then, seeing as they plan to drain his blood…
** [[Genre Blind]]: Not a chance. Cole and Phoebe survive because they are too [[Genre Savvy]] to fall into the typical Slasher Movie traps, while the bad guys act pretty stupidly. The worst display of this comes when Mary even suggests gang-raping Cole, despite their ritual specifically needing him to be a virgin.
== Literature ==
* ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'' by Bernard Cornwell does a combination of this and [[Demythtification]] in regards to the [[King Arthur]] legends.
* Arguably, Boris Strugatsky's ''[[
** ''[[
* With ''A Companion to Wolves'', [[Elizabeth Bear]] and [[Sarah Monette]] do this to all [[Bond Creatures|bonded companion animal]] stories, especially [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]''.
* A lot of John Tynes and/or Greg Stolze works features this. ''[[
* The ''[[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]]'' [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''The Crooked World'' by [[Steve Lyons]] is a deconstruction of ''[[Looney Tunes]]''-esque cartoons as the Doctor lands in a cartoon world and begins to influence its inhabitants' behaviors towards naturalism.
** And the [[Past Doctor Adventures]] novel ''The Indestructible Man'' by Simon Messingham is a deconstruction of all Gerry Anderson's work, asking ''why'' Jeff Tracy founded the [[Thunderbirds]], what [[UFO|SHADO]] personnel would ''really'' be like (yes ''[[UFO]]'' was [[Darker and Edgier]] to begin with, but Messingham takes it further), and how the ordinary people of the Supermarionation world might feel about so much money being channeled into [[Awesome but Impractical]] vehicles. Most notably, the titular Indestructible Man is a [[Captain Ersatz]] [[Captain Scarlet]] who feels [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|detached from humanity]] and [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|wishes he was able to die]].
* [
* ''Ring For Jeeves'' could be considered [[
** And then there's ''Greaves, This is Serious'', by William Mingin, another Wodehouse deconstruction. Bertie begins to grow dissatisfied with his carefree life of idle frivolities, and begins questioning his butler Greaves to see if they ever do anything... productive. The answer is quite [[Ironic Hell|chilling]].
* ''Goshawk Squadron'' by Derek Robinson attacks the popular view of [[World War
* ''[[A Connecticut Yankee in King
* ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' by F. Scott Fitzgerald could be the earliest deconstruction of the American dream lifestyle. It shows the rich and happy as people who are [[Stepford Smiler|empty on the inside]] and the fight between new rich and old rich lifestyles, particularly with the titular character Jay Gatsby.
* The ''[[Second Apocalypse]]'' series by R. Scott Bakker was an attempted deconstruction of what Bakker considers the crux of
* ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]''. To many, the famous opening line ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...") seems [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|cliche]], but one needs to look at it in the context of the [[French Revolution]]. In the years following it, revisionists on both sides relied heavily on propaganda, romanticizing their own side as undeniably good, and demonizing the other side as undeniably bad. ''A Tale of Two Cities'' makes the assumption that each side was absolutely right and runs with it, and so both the aristocrats and the revolutionaries have, among their ranks, noble, honorable people fighting for what they believe is right, and sadists who just want some bloodshed.
* Agnes Nutter from ''[[
* ''[[
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]'' ended up deconstructing [[Sailor Moon|its own source material]] in increasingly surprising ways as it diverged from the original story, until, by the end, {{spoiler|Sailor Moon herself has become the [[Omnicidal Maniac]] villain; the senshi's power source, the Silver Crystal, turns out to have really been an [[Artifact of Doom]]; and erstwhile villain Queen Beryl is revealed to have actually been trying to save the world (albeit only so she could rule it).}} The deconstruction arises here as a result of the audience's own [[Magical Girl|genre expectations]] about the senshi's [[Power of Friendship]] and the motivation of the [[Card
* ''[[
* ''The Ten Commandments'' miniseries shows the many hard choices that Moses had to make in following God: abandoning his family, alienating his adoptive mother, causing his blood brother to do a [[Face Heel Turn]], killing his most loyal comrade to enforce God's authority.
* In a very unique example, as the vast majority of deconstructions are very cynical in nature, ''[[The West Wing]]'' (a highly idealistic show) could be seen as a deconstruction of the popular conventions of what constitutes political immorality: the Press Secretary spins information not to cover up the government's guilt, but to protect the jobs of heads of state and militaries from the influence of political whims; politicians make unsavory deals with amoral lobbyists and scheming congressmen not for personal gain, but to rescue legislation that would help out thousands of people; the President's speeches and public appearances are carefully scripted not to make him look good, but to prevent confusion and possible panic from people who don't have Masters' in public policy; etc, etc.
* While it's easy to mistake it for another run-of-the-mill teen melodrama, ''[[Glee]]'' could very well be called "Deconstruction: The Show." A lot of the criticism of the show arises from people thinking the tropes are being played straight.
** For example, musicals themselves are deconstructed. Most of the musical numbers in the show take place either as a stage performance or in somebody's imagination. When characters actually do decide to randomly burst into song? It never goes too well.
* The B plot of ''[[
* ''[[Ultraman Nexus]]'' is a deconstruction of the usual Kaiju and ''[[Ultraman]]'' shows. It shows what will happen if giant alien and monsters actually appear in real life and no, it isn't pleasant. This is why Nexus is considered [[Darker and Edgier]] than most Tokusatsu.
* Since its reboot in 2005, ''[[
* [[Kamen Rider Ryuki]], add some aspect of [[Mon]] to [[Kamen Rider]]. But the monsters have no loyalty to their masters and will eat them, should the contact card is destroyed. The same thing would occur if the monsters aren't well-fed, meaning you must continue fighting to feed your mons, even if you want to quit - and more mons you have, it's just harder to feed them all. Oh, there's another way to get around this, the mons also [[I'm a Humanitarian|eat humans]]. At least one rider is more than happy to lets his mon eat random people, it help cover his murder anyway.
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== Theater ==
* ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' did not deconstruct any genre in particular, but it did deconstruct gender roles, physical relationships, and the American system of social classes in a rather harsh way.
* [[
* ''[[M. Butterfly]]'' is a no-holds-barred deconstruction of the "[[Me Love You Long Time|Oriental woman submissive to her white man]]" trope that ''[[Madame Butterfly]]'' codified, with {{spoiler|a male Chinese spy disguised as a woman deliberately invoking this trope to get a French diplomat to fall in love with him}} and pointing out that Asian women are generally no more modest or demure than other women in real life.
* The Norwegian playwright [[Henrik Ibsen]] became famous (and controversal) for not bending over to the standards of drama back then. Instead, he made people take a good hard look at them and asked, "Is this what you really want?" One major example is ''[[A
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== Video Games ==
* For one of Gamespot's April Fool's Day jokes, they have announced that Capcom has recently announced a new game called ''[[Mega Man (
* Most of the villainism of ''[[No More Heroes]]'''s [[Villain Protagonist]] comes from what would happen if a stereotypical videogame/anime geek retained their combat ability in the real world and lived life like they play games.
* A lighter example of Deconstruction would belong to ''[[SWAT 4]]'', an FPS whose objective is not shooting bad guys. Just plain shooting bad guys like in another FPS, in ''SWAT 4'', does not net you a point. This game expects you to be a police officer, not an FPS character. To earn points (which are needed to advance in harder difficulties), you must deal with the bad guys with non-lethal methods, and arresting them.
* ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' deconstructs not just many of the implications of a [[Crap Saccharine World]] in the series that are hinted at through the Pokédex entries, but also deconstructs the idea that everyone in the world of Pokémon thinks that it's a good idea to send kids and teenagers out into the wild to capture pokemon, with Bianca's father feeling immensely concerned for her. Another part of it is the idea that no one bats an eyelash at Pokémon battles or no one thinks it's too violent with Team Plasma and N. It also provides a [[Take That|fairly brutal]] deconstruction of the concept of [[Moral Guardians]] in the form of Team Plasma's claims to be concerned for the welfare of Pokémon.
* ''[[Phantom Brave]]'' viciously deconstructs [[All of the Other Reindeer]]. The power of a Chroma (which is what Marona is) is, for all intents and purposes, necromancy, and as such it is widely regarded as a dark, unholy power, and people react accordingly to her. This isn't simply general disdain or mocking of her, this is real, genuine fear and hatred. Listen to that woman who scolds her son for wanting to be friends with Marona in the opening chapter. You can feel the pure, unbridled barely contained ''rage'' she has at the mere ''mention'' of her name.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: [[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories|Chain of Memories]]'' deals with a [[Canon Sue|Canon]] [[Relationship Sue]], while ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
* The Fable series does this to fantasy and magic. While the first game was more of an affectionate parody of medieval fantasy, the sequel takes this to its logical conclusion: with no real threat facing Albion, the Guild of Heroes became egocentric power bullies, and with the advent of the firearm, the Muggle commonfolk struck back and wiped out the Guild. When the Fable 2 hero comes around, it's only natural that the public would view someone as powerful as you to be worthy of becoming king/queen.
* [[
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' is one of its own series. Rather than show a glamorized portrayal of criminal life like the previous games did, it portrays it realistically, with most of the characters being poor, sociopathic, psychotic, greedy, or otherwise unlikable. Even [[Player Character|Niko]] himself is a hypocrite.
* [[New Game
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls V
* ''[[Red Alert 3 Paradox]]'' is a [[Game Mod]] building a world around the scarce information of its source material, ''[[Command
== Web Comics ==
* The [[Pixel Art Comic]] ''[[Kid Radd]]'', while largely light in tone, presents a "video game characters living in videoland" scenario where it's a very real problem that many inhabitants are innately armed and know nothing but killing. They know why they were created, and they don't like it. The player character Radd goes from slacker to [[Determinator]] because he always had the latter's mindset, but started his days in a game under the player's control, so he had to learn initiative completely from the ground up. Upon being freed, Radd needed instructions to walk independently.
* ''[[
* ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky]]'' could arguably be seen as a deconstruction of the goofy 1980s cartoons creator David Willis is a fan of (mostly ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' and ''[[Transformers]]''). Sure it features a unique special forces group, SEMME (who were initially based on GI Joe) with an eccentric line up of operatives, who routinely foil the insane schemes of a [[Harmless Villain]], but the eccentric operatives are soon revealed to be a bunch of dysfunctional screw-ups, and the Villain is in fact a [[Not
* ''[http://www.mighthavebeen.net/ My Name Is Might Have Been]'' deconstructs ''[[Rock Band]]''. Yeah, [[What Do You Mean
* ''[[VG Cats]]'' deconstructs the cartoon violence of ''[[
* ''Misfile'' deconstructs every [[Gender Bender]] trope.
* ''[[
* ''[[Tales of the Questor|Quentin Quinn Space Ranger]]'', an offshoot of ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', is Deconstructing ''[[
* The entire premise behind ''[[
* In the Chapter 26 of the Spanish webcomic ''[http://jesulink.com/ 5 Elementos]'', the author show the effects of a civil war in a world habited by lots and lots of people with superpowers.
* ''[[MS Paint Adventures]]'' is [[Andrew Hussie]]'s deconstructive love letter to a [[Trope Overdosed|multitude of series, genres, concepts and tropes]], including ''deconstruction itself''.
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== Web Original ==
* [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/necron/necron.htm This website] deconstructs the [[Cthulhu Mythos]], specifically the Necronomicon. In essence it asks "what if it was a real book?" and builds from there, by looking for parallels between Judeo-Christian tradition and the [[Cthuhlu Mythos]] (The Old Ones = The Giants from Genesis), it creates the content of the book, it then asks "what kind of person would write about such things in 730 AD?" Thus Abdul Alhazred is what the Koran calls a "Sabian" and what Western biblical scholars call a "Gnostic"
* Stardestroyer.net, as mentioned above in [[Fanfic]], deconstructs the seemingly Utopian ''[[
* ''[[Sailor Nothing]]'' loves showing just how jarringly, horrifically, nightmarishly different the characters' lives are from [[Magical Girl]] anime. Several of them even watch an exaggerated, stereotypical version of such shows; the main character actually watches it to escape her life.
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=JpBGRA6HHtY Mario: Game Over]. A remarkable deconstruction of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''
* ''[[
* The [[
* [[Furry Fandom]] works frequently portray a world as furry. [http://www.sofurry.com/page/16447?contentlevel=all I Wish I Was Furry!] (NSFW!) shows what would happen if we woke up one day and the world actually was furry. The main character is even a human furry fan, like is typical for transformation stories. {{spoiler|[[Squick|And a plushophile.]] (It's exactly what it sounds like.)}} A furryized world, as it happens, is dark and brutal.
* ''[http://everything2.com/user/t3h_poker/writeups/Sonny+gets+Mad+Scienced Sonny Gets Mad Scienced]'' is [[Deconstructive Parody|the "humourous" type of deconstruction]]. It revolves around two central ideas; telling a [[Mad Scientist]] story from the perspective of one of the nameless subjects experimented on, and {{spoiler|being [[Genre Savvy]] doesn't always help.}}
* The [[YouTube]] video ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAeu5Aot8kw Percy]'' is a deconstruction of infomercials.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100314110839/http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ultra_realistic_modern_warfare This video] from ''[[The Onion]]'' sends up the idea of video games becoming progressively more realistic by taking it to a logically deconstructive extreme with an "ultra realistic ''[[Call of Duty]]: [[Modern Warfare]] 3''". [[War Is Hell|It mostly involves sitting around and waiting, when you're not going on pointless, tedious missions, suffering from homesickness or getting randomly killed.]]
* For the superhero scene, there's ''[[Dr.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDX1m0Y2Vkg This video] is a deconstruction of ''Pokémon''. Yes, ''Pokémon''. It is mostly played for laughs but there is a point about half-way through where Pikachu is bleeding as he's strangled by a Bulbasaur ... And oh my God it is disturbing. If you've ever been mildly bothered by the cockfighting similarities, you will be really distressed by this video.
** Then again you could see the same thing [[Pokémon Special]], where {{spoiler|an Arbok get its head cut!}} That's right stuff like that happens in the manga.
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== Western Animation ==
* There can be a very good case made for ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' being a deconstruction of ''[[Jonny Quest]] and ''[[Doc Savage]]''-style [[Two
* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' director Chuck Jones often used deconstruction on his cartoons. The best known example is ''[[Duck Amuck]]'': First the scenery changes, forcing Daffy to adapt. Then Daffy himself is erased and redrawn. Then the soundtrack fails, then the film frame, and so on until Daffy is psychologically picked clean. Another example is ''[[What's Opera, Doc
* ''[[Family Guy]]'' does a [[Crosses the Line Twice|particularly nasty]] deconstruction of ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and its [[Amusing Injuries]], wherein Elmer Fudd is out "hunting wabbits", shoots Bugs Bunny four times in the stomach, snaps his neck amidst cries of pain, and then drags him off leaving behind a trail of blood. In another episode where Peter and friends became [[
** The second [[Christmas Episode]] deconstructs [[Santa Claus]] in a similarly horrific fashion.
* The famous ''[[The Simpsons (
** At one point, Homer is about to drink a beaker of sulfuric acid when Grimes stops him. Grimes reacts ''exactly'' as we would expect a normal person to
* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode "1+ 1=Ed" is a deconstruction of how cartoons work, similar to [[Duck Amuck]].
** The climax of [[The Movie]] gives us a pretty disturbing deconstruction of [[Amusing Injuries]].
* ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]]'' offers an interesting take on the teenage superhero genre in the fact the hero really couldn't care any less about school or fitting in, claiming it's a waste of time and instead stating that his work as a hero is more important. He then proceeds to cheat on his tests and homework in order to pass, since him being a hero gives him the latitude to do so, and high school is meaningless and doesn't matter once you graduate.
* "Epilogue" of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' can be taken as a deconstruction of the superhero genre, by having a woman deliberately make Terry McGinnis a superhero by killing his parents and replacing his dad's DNA with the DNA of Bruce Wayne, all in response to Batman growing older. It fits both invoked and deconstructed, because it shows the horrible consequences of making a superhero, as well as the kind of monster you would have to be to do it (killing innocent people to do something that might achieve a goal).
** Speaking of the DCAU, ''[[Batman Beyond|Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]'' gives the Joker an opportunity to deconstruct Batman in a flashback where he {{spoiler|tortures Robin until he learns all of Batman's secrets}}:
{{quote|
* ''[[
* The episode of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' about them moving to "Citysville" deals with what would happen if their brand of heroics was applied to a real life city.
* ''[[South Park]]'', as well as deconstructing everything else on the planet, has a fine line in deconstructing itself. In "Kenny Dies", the [[Running Gag]] character they had [[They Killed Kenny|killed over seventy times already]] gets a terminal disease and slowly expires while Stan and Kyle react with utterly realistic grief and despair.
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* In ''[[Undergrads]]'', college dorm life is deconstructed to counter its inspiration ''[[Animal House]]''; Rocko's [[Wacky Fratboy Hijinx|Fratboy behavior]] is looked down on heavily by his frat brothers, who view him as a source of grief. Nitz' everyman status really puts only a grade above [[This Loser Is You|Gimpy]], the resident [[Hikikomori]] of the four of them.
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' is a deconstruction of the whole Autobot-Decepticon War. Things ain't so [[Black and White Morality|black and white]] as before, in fact the Autobots' leadership is flawed and somewhat corrupt, with one higly racist, incompetent, cowardly jerkass general on it, who only is amongst the High Command because he blames his mistakes on Optimus Prime, whose status as [[The Messiah]] makes him somewhat of a push-over, and its leader is ready to commit dirty tricks to defeat the Decepticons. The Decepticons however, are as much the monsters they were in G1, and though this time Megatron's pragmatic enough to blast [[The Starscream|Starscream]]'s ass any time he tries to overthrow him. Starscream only survives thanks to the Allspark piece on his head. [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|Without it he would have died right from the start]]. Then comes the [[Darker and Edgier|season]] [[Anyone Can Die|three]]...
* ''"[[Hey Good Lookin']]"'' by [[Ralph Bakshi]] (who else) is one big Deconstruction and [[Take That]] against anyone who believes that the 1950s were really just like ''[[Grease]]'' or ''[[Happy Days]]''. The main character is ostensibly as cool as The Fonz but actually a [[Dirty Coward]] who can't back up his bragging, the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] is actually a racist sociopath, their gang aren't really [[True Companions]] despite looking like one, the supposed [[Big Bad]] never [[Mind Screw|explictly]] does anything really bad and the ending's [[Broken Aesop]] is intentional about the [[Shallow Love Interest|"Romance"]] between the main character and Rozzie.
* The ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
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