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Genre Deconstruction: Difference between revisions
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* The original ''[[Gundam]]'' series (parent of the [[Real Robot Genre]]) could count as a deconstruction of the [[Super Robot Genre]] too. To even begin to be able to pilot the Gundam, Amuro already had a strong background with electronics, and the Gundam's manual. His early battles shook him greatly, and Char kicked his ass easily in their early fights, despite being in the less advanced Zaku 2. Of course, in later Real Robot shows, the flavor of the [[Super Robot Genre]] would kick in...
** And that [[Super Robot Genre]] flavor that kicked in the later episodes of the show is itself a bitter deconstruction of the "loser mechs", as ''[[Gundam Sousei]]'' would point out.
* ''[[Now and Then Here
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' deconstructs the [[Gaming and Sports Anime And Manga]] genre, taking the absurdity of elevating a ([[My Little Panzer|dangerous]]) children's card game to an international spectator sport and the method of deciding the fate of the universe [[Up to Eleven]] and past, not to mention the realistic effects this would have on the psyche of a kid.
* ''[[Hibiki no Mahou]]'' deconstructs the 'magic academy' setting. You can be a powerful mage, but using magic always comes with a price of some kind. It can be physical pain, such as healing someone at the cost of your own eyesight, or mental, such as losing your memories. The more you use magic, the more severe the sacrifice.
* The first arc of ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'' takes a look at the typical [[Trapped in Another World]] [[Changeling Fantasy]], rolls its eyes, and then goes to show what would ''really'' happen if you tossed an insecure [[Ordinary High School Student]] into a hostile fantasy country with the expectation of saving and eventually ruling it: a complete nervous breakdown.
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** Premise: a bunch of arbitrary rules and gods. Decon: a bunch of the main characters eventually wonder about the rules, doubt the gods, and try to ask the gods for rules clarifications. Storming the Heavens isn't a practical option, so they don't.
** Premise: fantasy monarchy is wonderful! Decon: except when it isn't. A filtering system gets rid of the worst cases, leaving the best ones as immortal enlightened despots, avoiding the succession problem. A kirin with contact with modern Japan snarks about possible democratic alternatives anyway.
* The anime version of ''[[
** Also showed what kind of girls would be in an [[Unwanted Harem]]. At best [[Clingy Jealous Girl|needy]], at worst [[Yandere|psychotic.]] Kotonoha and Sekai particularly deconstruct [[Shallow Love Interest]]: they both lose what's left of their personalities to chase after Makoto... but this is done deliberately to show the terrible consequences.
** Also brings up the true implications of the [[Lovable Sex Maniac]] / [[Bromantic Foil]]. Makoto's best friend Taisuke is a spirited yet hopeless romantic, and his perverted antics and subsequent rejections are portrayed as zany comic relief for most of the show. But then after being turned down once again on the day of the school festival, he resorts to actually ''raping a girl'' via taking avantage of her [[Heroic BSOD|when she's at her lowest point]]; this not only throws the victim through the [[Despair Event Horizon]], but it shos the character archetype to be much less harmless than commonly assumed.
* ''[[Patlabor]]'' may be the ultimate deconstruction of the Mecha-genre: It has no superheroes nor supervillains and the mechas are plain and simply tools; the majority of them are used at construction sites and storages. They're anything but cool and if there's something even uncooler, that would be being a member of the Patlabor unit.
* ''[[
* Arguably, ''[[School Rumble]]'' seems to have started out as a deconstruction of a shonen love comedy by replacing the ditzy female protagonist we so often see with a badass male delinquent. The first two chapters make it pretty obvious. Another good example of this is when Eri walks in on Harima in the nude; usually its the other way around.
* ''[[Gantz]]'', at least for most of the first couple dozen chapters, was a deconstruction of [[First-Person Shooter]]-style video games. It showed just how bizarre and frightening it would be for someone actually ''in it'', including being teleported into an unknown area, and being forced to fight dangerous creatures [[Possession Implies Mastery|with weapons you've just picked up and have no practice with.]]
* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' deconstructs the [[Shojo]] genre to the point of [[Mind Screw]]. The original hero became a Machiavellian and the newer heroes are just petty school children. Really. See also [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory]].
** In particular, it deconstructs the fairy tale archetypes of [[The White Prince|the Prince]], [[Princess Classic|the Princess]], and the [[Wicked Witch]]. [http://etrangere.livejournal.com/318410.html?nc=17 this essay] goes into more detail on the subject.
* ''[[
* ''[[Bokurano]]'' (written by [[Mohiro Kitoh|the same person]] who made ''[[
** Furthermore, the show deconstructs the "[[Inevitable Tournament|magical tournament]]/[[There Can Be Only One]]" type of anime as well: {{spoiler|It's later revealed that the creatures the kids have been fighting are actually human pilots from parallel universes, specifically the battles are contests to determine which of the selected universes would be erased from existence. (Who is doing this and why has yet to be explained.) So the pilots have to choose between either winning the battles and dying or losing the battles and dooming their universes}}.
*** The author manages to one-up himself by explaining that {{spoiler|even if the characters manages to make it through the requisite 14 battles and earn their universe's right to live (killing all of said characters in the process), It's not really over: the "system" that picks universes to fight might wrap around and choose the protagonists' again.}}
* ''[[Berserk]]'' is essentially a deconstruction of the whole [[Shonen]] genre, starting with the fact that ''Berserk'' ain't even a shonen, but a [[Seinen]]. Another example would include protagonist Guts himself, who is the complete opposite of the usual shonen titular hero: he's a gruff, [[Heroic Build|built]], [[Younger Than They Look|twenty-something year old]], who is on [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|the more serious level of anti-heroes]], who, by all means, is one of the few manga characters who is [[Impossibly Cool Weapon|actually physically capable of wielding]] [[BFS|a huge weapon.]] Fighting is also heavily deconstructed and played for laughs at times, since Guts doesn't take the time to analyze his enemies' attack: if Guts sees a window of opportunity, [[Combat Pragmatist|he'll just take it.]] Hell - [[The Berserker|he might not even wait for that.]] Also, [[Explaining Your Power to
** The whole series is a [[Perspective Flip]] on [[The Messiah]] and [[The Antichrist]], and shows us just exactly how the dynamic between the two would work, as well as showing that both are not what they initially appear to be.
* 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), pretty much every major entry into the franchise has featured at least one major, often scathing, deconstructions of the science fiction, adventure and anime genres.
* ''[[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| ''' {{spoiler|Archer}}:''' There is nothing at the end of saving people.}}
* ''[[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 Spartans -- some are actually jealous of them for their awesomeness, and they use it as an excuse to treat the Spartans as freaks, which has a bad effect on their cooperation. In the end, even a [[Super Soldier]] is a human being who can die just like that. ''The Duel'' reveals that not all the Covenant believe in the "Great Journey"; some are to afraid to admit to it, some rebel against it and others just use the religion as a means for their own selfish needs. ''Origins'' is a story about the Forerunners and their war against Flood. The Message: no matter how powerful your empire is, it will sooner or later fall, especially if you fight against an enemy you don't have a single clue about. [[The Stoic]] character is deconstructed in ''Prototype''. In this episode, the other marines believes that the main character's stoic personality is evidence that he's literally emotionless and that he doesn't give a damn about his fellow men, but contrary to their belief, he has as many emotions as they have, the stoicism just a facade to hide the pain that came from seeing his entire company being wiped out and having his last recruit bleed to death in his arms.<ref>These themes are all present in the canon of the games, to a lesser extent, and the other supplemental material, to a greater extent.</ref>
* ''[[Toradora
* ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' deconstructs a number of things that were barely or not touched upon in the ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' canon, such as [[Adults Are Useless|the involvement of adults]], how the government would react to programs emerging into the real world as monsters, how those programs came about in the first place, what a world governed only by the doctrine of "survival of the fittest" would be like (namely, harsh and unforgiving), how frustrating it is to be the [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]], and [[Break the Cutie|what would happen to a Tamer]] if {{spoiler|their partner Digimon died.}} Later, the first arc of ''[[Digimon Savers]]'' could be seen as a deconstruction of part of the ending of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'', specifically the part where everyone in the world got a partner Digimon - it deals with the idea of those of dishonest intent using their Digimon for crimes, something ''Adventure 02'' never even considered.
* ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka]]'' deconstructs the [[Save Our Students]] genre, especially the belief that students and teachers are natural enemies.
* [[
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' is, for the majority of the series, a pretty thorough deconstruction of the [[Magical Girl]] genre. The premise starts simple. Young [[Naive Everygirl]] Madoka and her [[Wide
== Comic Books ==
* [[Superhero]] comics had a huge wave of [[Deconstruction]] in the '80s and '90s, caused chiefly by two examples:
** Frank Miller's ''[[Batman
*** Its sequel, ''[[The Dark Knight Strikes Again]]'', tries to deconstruct the [[Author On Board]] Political superheroes by turning [[Green Arrow]] into a Marxist, and [[The Question]] into a hardcore libertarian who believes that "Ayn Rand didn't go far enough".
* ''[[Watchmen]]'' deconstructs the entire [[Silver Age]] [[Superhero]] genre. The premise of the comic is exactly like any other [[Superhero]] comic; some people put on strange costumes in order [[They Fight Crime|to fight crime]]. However, it didn't start with [[Superman|an alien child coming to earth]], but rather, with a bunch of off-duty cops wearing masks to counter mask-wearing criminals. Along the way, every trope associated with [[Superhero]] comics of the time is [[Deconstructed]]: [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]] turn out to be <s> extremely</s> fatally impractical, [[American Political System|politicians]] get involved and deputize and weaponize superheroes, these superheroes end up changing the course of history, and the main cast of [[Superhero]] characters are all rather screwed up. Specifically...
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** The Comedian is the [[Unbuilt Trope]] of the [[Nineties Anti-Hero]]. Big guns, wisecracks, big muscles, [[Badass]] mannerisms and... [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|attempted rape, misogyny, murder of innocents and moral nihilism]] abound. All these are merely his emotional shields. He has a breakdown when he discovers {{spoiler|Adrian Veidt}}'s plot because it was so horrifying [[Even Evil Has Standards|even to him]] {{spoiler|and [[Crazy Enough to Work]]}}. The Comedian also deconstructs the idea of superheroes like [[Captain America]] who embody patriotic ideals and work for the government -- he's a black-ops agent who does highly unethical things, and as noted, couldn't give a damn about any ideals.
** Doctor Manhattan, a true superhuman with control over matter, the ability to teleport, see the future, see subatomic particles, and is so detached from the human condition that he is indifferent to human life, out and out saying "A dead body and a living body have the same number of particles, there's no difference".
** Ozymandias, the "smartest man alive," and a Marvel-style ([[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards]], [[X
** Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II, the most healthy individuals in the team, are driven not by moral ideals but by, respectively, [[Ascended Fanboy|fanboyism]] and [["Well Done, Son" Guy|a desire to follow in one's mother's footsteps]].
** And the rest of the superheroes are shown to have great flaws and the common prejudices of their time, many being racist, sexist, homophobic (and [[Armoured Closet Gay|hypocritical homosexuals]] themselves) and equally riddled with issues and neuroses.
** It also showed that there would be far less 'costumed criminals' since they would either be in jail, killed, or even found redemption. Many criminals would go into more profitable and yet less showy pursuits, like drug trafficking.
** The idea of the [[Nebulous Evil Organisation]] was also targeted for deconstruction. Who has the resources to kill The Comedian, engineer Dr. Manhattan's exile, frame Rorschach for murder and {{spoiler|engineer the destruction of several major cities}} than {{spoiler|Ozymandias, the world's smartest man?}}
* Moore's earlier work, ''Marvelman'' (''[[
* Deconstruction in comics is even older than that, dating at least back to the [[Bronze Age]]. In [[The Seventies]], DC came out with ''[[Green Lantern]]/[[Green Arrow]]'', in which the title characters do superhero stuff while at the same time, arguing about the morality and political implications. As a result, the more lawful [[Green Lantern]] and the more chaotic [[Green Arrow]] butted heads many, MANY times.
* Hell! You could even argue that it dates back to the [[Silver Age]]! When [[Stan Lee]] first pitched the idea of [[Spider
* While ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' was part of the mid-90's wave of [[Reconstruction|Reconstructionist]] comics (made in response to the above-mentioned wave of deconstruction), its reconstruction of the [[Silver Age]] was accomplished by deconstructing the [[Dark Age]], bringing it to its most extreme conclusion: the [[Nineties Anti-Hero|Nineties Anti Heroes]], having killed all the villains, have become crazed [[Knights Templar]] and pretty much taken over the world.
* The entire [[Marvel Comics]] Siege [[Metaplot|macro-crisis]] was a [[Deconstructor Fleet]] of the entire Marvel Comics universe, the [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] trope and the idea of the superhero in general. It first starts with Avengers Dissembled showing what happens when you entrust the world to a set few ultra powerful humans. It then goes into House of M, proving what happens if the super humans took over. [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]] addressed the stupidity of having the government let walking A-bombs blow themselves up in New York everyday while simultaneously showing how said government control plans would fail. This is shown in the ''deliberate'' [[Flanderization]] of Captain America and Iron Man showing how both sides are pretty stupid. This was also exposited in the what if story arc when both sides find a balance and thus achieve peace. Dark Reign then deconstructed the entire "Lone Cop saves the world and get promoted" genre by showing exactly what would happen if said psychopaths were really appointed to such positions of power. Thor, Reed Richards and Iron Man's tenures as God, Guardian and Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in each of their individual story arcs show how each quest to "fix" the world leads to disaster. Then, the New Captain America saga had a deconstruction of the Sidekick. The idea of power and potential is again brought up in The Hood's recent story showing what happens if all the d-listers in the universe eventually got together and actually ''applied'' their powers, while the Current Mighty Avengers show how these super teams affect the political climate. The Illuminati is in itself a deconstruction of large hero collaborations (and how they lead to failure i.e. the [[Secret Invasion]]) and its counterpart "The Cabal" showed just how incapable a society of villains would be at functioning. All this is paralleled by the Annihilation series depicting exactly what kind of galaxy is filled with empires that invade and blow up planets on a daily basis and exactly how disillusioned it makes characters. Seeing {{spoiler|Black Bolt}} turn to insanity was just further reconfirmation of what a world Cosmic Marvel is. The Nova Corps pretty much deconstructed all Space Cop tropes with its nigh-omnipotent run band of non sanctioned super soldiers and exactly how that would affect any political situation. The Decimation arcs in X-Men show exactly how humans would react to mutants if the odds were evened. And The Secret arcs show how exactly what being a ''real'' spy means and all the details it entails. And finally, Siege shows the reconstruction reveling that after all this Heroes are still heroes no matter what.
* ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' starts out with slightly-darker takes on Victorian heroes, but the second volume shows them sinking really low under pressure (and the ugly sides of Victorian culture that they each represent). The third volume reconstructs them during its own deconstruction of 20th century heroes.
* Another interesting example by [[
** That series was pretty much the epitome of a [[Decon Recon Switch]].
* Marvel comics ''[[Marvels]]'' and its [[Evil Twin]] ''[[Ruins]]'' similarly focus on the impact of superheroes on an "average" person.
* [[DC Comics]]' ''[[Jonah Hex]]'': Sounds like old fashioned Cowboys and Indians hijinx on the wild frontier, right? Riiight.
* The [[Valiant Comics]] flagship title, Harbinger, featured a groups of super powered teens ''on the run for their lives'' from an seemingly unbeatable business man who, at least at first, seems to be an [[Expy]] of [[X
** Most of [[Valiant Comics|Valiant's]] titles were [[Deconstruction|Deconstructive]] in nature. For another example, Shadow Man. The classic comic book plot "Heroes travel to the future to fight evil" is deconstructed in the Unity [[Crisis Crossover]], where Shadow Man learns he's going to die in 1999. Shadow Man's book takes this and runs with it, showing him growing gradually more reckless and angsty as 1999 grows closer. In 1995 he even {{spoiler|tries to kill himself, thinking that this at least will let him choose his own destiny.}} Sadly, the line was discontinued before 1999, so we never learn how this story arc ends.
* ''[[Astro City]]'' is a deconstruction ''and'' a reconstruction. Like Marvels, it focuses on the impact of superheroes on regular people, but also on the inner thoughts of heroes and villains.
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* [[Warren Ellis]] did a "thematic trilogy" for [[Avatar Press]] in which he deconstructs the superhero genre. ([[Author Appeal|Yes, again]].) The first part, ''[[Black Summer]]'' shows us what would happen if superheroes were too human. The second part, ''[[No Hero]]'' shows what would happen if they put themselves above human laws. The third part, ''[[Supergod]]'' shows would happen if superheroes weren't even remotely human.
* [[Kick-Ass]] in regards to superheroes in their teens. Sure, the main character {{spoiler|doesn't die}} but his life becomes even ''worse'' after donning the mask, his only super power is that he has a metal plate in his head, gets beaten to a bloody pulp after every battle and would actually be far more responsible if he quit vigilantism altogether.
* After all these superhero deconstructions, one might expect a super''villain'' deconsstruction. ''[[Wanted]]'' (the comic book, not the movie) is about an [[Unlucky Everydude]] who gets invited to join a society of supervillains known as "The Fraternity." It's a world filled with eccentric, costumed renegades who spend their days doing just as they please, with nothing to fear from law enforcement - and what they please is [[Moral Event Horizon|decidedly unpleasant]]. [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] with a [[Dark and Troubled Past]] comes under fire as the [[Villain Protagonist]] goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against all the people who ever wronged him... including [[Kick the Dog|guys who made fun of him back in high school]], and culminating in {{spoiler|killing his own father}}. And looming over it all is the [[Red Right Hand|death's-head visage]] of [[Complete Monster]] Mister Rictus, who makes sure that we never forget the [[Exactly What It Says
* A story from the comics series ''[[
* While a few elements are questionable, ''[[
* [[Tintin
** ''The Castafiore Emerald'' is a intentional [[Random Events Plot]] in which Tintin and Haddock stay at Marlinspike Hall. It is full of anticlimaxes, such as Haddock's attempted escape to Italy being foiled by an accident, the Roma community's plight is immediately solved by Haddock’s generosity, Haddock never has the chance to make [[An Aesop]] about tolerance because of various distractions, the emerald’s thief turned to be a magpie, and said emerald is lost again by Thomson & Thompson, found again by Snowy, and then dismissed as a mere [[McGuffin]].
** ''Flight 714'' has Tintin and Haddock swept into a plot to blackmail a millionaire by a [[Contrived Coincidence]]. The recurring villains Rastapopoulus and Allan suffer intentional [[Villain Decay]], ultimately coming off as ridiculous and stupid. And all of the characters would have died in an eruption without the bizarre, out-of-the-blue intervention of [[Deus Ex Machina|aliens]]. Only Snowy remembers how they were rescued, making the whole thing something of a [[Shaggy Dog Story]].
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== Film ==
* Though it portrays Jesus in a favorable light, ''[[Monty
* [[Jidai Geki]] films underwent an increasingly cynical Deconstructionist phase during the 1960s that arguably led to the genre going out of vogue for a good deal of the 1970s:
** ''[[Yojimbo]]''
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** ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' -- a remake of ''[[Yojimbo]]'', although ''Yojimbo'' was an adaptation of [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s ''[[Red Harvest]]''
** ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]''
** According to [[Word of God]], ''[[The Good, the Bad
*** [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|"If you're gonna shoot, shoot.]] [[Talking Is a Free Action|Don't talk."]]
** ''Hang 'Em High''
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** ''[[El Topo]]''
** ''Django''
** Worthwhile deconstructions later on include [[Robert Altman]]'s ''[[McCabe and Mrs. Miller]]'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''[[
** ''[[Rustlers Rhapsody]]'' is a parody and deconstruction of the singing cowboy westerns such as those with Roy Rogers.
** ''[[Unforgiven]]'' is a particularly sharp deconstruction westerns and even the [[Spaghetti Western|spaghetti westerns]] that Clint Eastwood himself starred in. The main character shows how an [[The Ace|ace gunfighter]] might have lived out his later years. His character progression also goes in reverse, unraveling into his former state to undo the character development he's acquired. Many standard conventions of westerns are subverted, including the quickdraw contest, the hooker with the heart of gold, and the triumphant ride into the sunset. The scenes with the dime novel author dedicated to exposing the falsehoods of the wild west mythos.
* ''[[
* ''[[Law Abiding Citizen]]'' is basically a movie about a [[Super Villain]], including {{spoiler|his [[Evil Plan]] failing because of what, in most comics, would be an entirely mundane detail, probably not even mentioned.}}
* ''[[Funny Games]]'' is intended as a [[Post Modernism|Post Modernist]] deconstruction of [[Gorn]] and horror films by presenting it in the most bare-bones and [[Squick|disturbing]] way possible. The whole film forces the viewer to examine ''why'' they are watching the film and being entertained by it. A number of scenes play with audience expectations, flatly telling the audience what they want to see and either giving it to them or denying it to them based on the whim of the author. One particularly taunting scene features {{spoiler|the female victim managing to gun down one of the attackers, only for this triumphantly cathartic moment to be snatched away as the other attacker ''rewinds'' the film and undoes it.}}
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* ''[[The Element of Crime]]'' deconstructs [[Film Noir]] (a genre already quite dark and cynical) by pushing some of the tropes to their limits, and by turning the others on their head (thus, the [[Private Eye Monologue]] becomes a dialogue between the detective and his therapist, and the [[Deliberately Monochrome]] is achieved by lighting all the sets with only street lamps), and yet ''still'' manages to be a [[Homage]] rather than a [[Parody]].
** ''[[Night Moves]]'' (1975) is another noir deconstruction. Gene Hackman plays Harry Moseby, a pro football player-turned-private investigator. He asks a lot of questions, but rarely gets straight or complete answers. He sees a lot of things, but they're usually obscured by distance or obstacles (such as windows or screen doors) or seen only on an incomplete filmstrip. He both literally and figuratively spins in circles during the movie, and ends (as does the audience) knowing who the bad guys were but not why any of it happened. On another level the film is a deconstruction of the entire idea of American masculinity in the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam era; Harry's glory days are behind him, and he does what he does not because he's any good at it, or because he particularly enjoys it, but because he simply doesn't know what else to do.
* [[M. Night Shyamalan]] presented a deconstruction of [[Superhero]] stories with ''[[Unbreakable]]''. The main character [[How Do I Shot Web?|has no idea about the nature of his powers or about how he should use them]].
* To a certain extent, the 2006 [[James Bond (
** His [[Cowboy Cop]] attitude is scrutinized more ruthlessly and his interactions with his allies sometimes prove fatal for them.
** Bond movies have always had a tension in the character of Bond, between "flashy guy with clever lines, cool toys, and beautiful women", and "he's an assassin." ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[The Wrestler]]'' is a deconstruction of sports movies in which the fallen and ailing sporting hero's [[Redemption Quest]] is to triumph against physical adversity and win a big bout against an old rival, which thus asolves his current problems and allows him to move on with their lives with renewed success and appreciation from the fans. Here, what would be the subject of such a quest in such movies -- a big reunion bout with his main rival in the past -- in fact isn't; Randy's ''real'' [[Redemption Quest]] is to build a new life for himself outside of the ring by fixing things with his estranged daughter and find love with Cassidy, the stripper with whom he has fallen in love. {{spoiler|He ultimately fails at both, and the fact that he enters the big bout is in fact a symbol of his failure in this; although he wins the bout, it's strongly implied that his heart problems means that the effort killed him in the process. In addition, his victory was inevitable, as all wrestling duels are shown to be [[Kayfabe|scripted]], and Randy is a still-beloved [[All-American Face]] who just can't lose.}}
* ''[[Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind]]'' deconstructs Romance movies by having nearly the entire movie take place after the honeymoon period of a new relationship when things start to fall apart. In fact, the thesis of the movie is effectively "romance can be so horrible that you will want to have your memory erased {{spoiler|but when you add it all up, they're probably worth the angst}}".
* Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance" trilogy, which includes ''[[Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance]]'', ''[[
* ''[[Pleasantville]]'' deconstructs the stereotypical 1950s ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]'' style sitcom, and with it the whole phenomenon of 1950s nostalgia; it starts off as a typically wholesome, innocent and carefree place (especially when contrasted to the 1990s, a lengthy opening montage reeling out all the social problems seemingly endemic since the 1950s), but the introduction of colour into the black-and-white environment gradually peels things back to reveal the stifling and repressed attitudes towards race, gender and sexuality seething under the surface, and the social problems of the decade that such nostalgia frequently overlooks.
** The movement to stop the spread of color in Pleasantville is analogous to Mc Carthyism.
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* The film ''[[Shin Kamen Rider Prologue]]'' is arguably one for the ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' series, showing a much more realistic and gruesome look at the themes of forced genetic engineering, [[Phlebotinum Rebel|Phlebotinum Rebellion]], and giant bug people that were present through the franchise's Showa era.
* Whereas ''[[Unforgiven]]'' was [[Clint Eastwood]]'s deconstruction of westerns, ''[[Gran Torino]]'', which came out about a decade and a half later, is his deconstruction of his other big genre, the [[Vigilante Man|urban vigilante film]].
* ''[[
** The "Society" game is a very sickening take on [[Rule 34]] and ''[[Second Life]]'' due to the above reason.
* ''[[The Final]]'', a 2010 indie horror film, kills two birds with one stone by deconstructing both the "nerds get revenge on the bullies" plot and the "psycho classmate" plot. The outcasts don't want the simple comical revenge that so many such teen movie protagonists desire -- they actually want the bullies to suffer ([[Cold-Blooded Torture|through torture]]) [[Pay Evil Unto Evil|the way they've been made to suffer throughout their school years]]. The "psycho classmates" are not simple outcasts with your average [[Freudian Excuse]] -- it's implied they were generally good people whose crappy home lives, coupled with years of abuse from the bullies, turned them into the dark characters they are in the film. Indeed, they try to make sure that Kurtis, a friend who was nice to them, doesn't go their "[[Nasty Party|party]]," and they don't torture people who didn't actively abuse them. The film then takes another deconstruction of the bullies themselves -- Bridget, the [[Alpha Bitch]]'s best friend, tries to reach out to one of the outcasts, and gets offered a chance to save herself if she tortures one of her classmates. {{spoiler|The stereotypical Libby would've gladly taken up the offer, but she refuses and is punished for it.}} The film cleverly shows that [[Black and Gray Morality|neither the bullies nor the outcasts are all that good]].
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* ''[[Film/The Asphalt Jungle|The Asphalt Jungle]]'' (1950) deconstructs [[The Caper]]. In a normal heist movie, the thieves combine good luck with great skill, have no difficulty working together, and escape from the police to spend their stolen wealth without too much trouble. In the Asphalt Jungle, on the other hand, the thieves aren't quite skilled enough to avoid alerting the cops during the heist, have a run of bad luck starting even before they're done planning the heist, squeal on each other, and eventually every single participant is either dead or in prison, brought down by a combination of their own flaws and misfortunes. Plus, the [[Da Chief|police chief]] (normally a corrupt or unlikeable person in films where he appears at all) gives a nice speech about the importance of good law enforcement towards the end of the film.
* ''[[Mighty Joe Young]]'' (at least the 1998 version) deconstructs ''[[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 Hero's Journey|Hero's Journey]], as [[The Hero|Cameron Vale]], blessed with [[Psychic Powers]], is sent by wise old [[Mentor|Dr. Paul Ruth]] to defeat Ruth's former pupil, [[Big Bad|Darryl Revok]], who also has [[Psychic Powers]]. Vale befriends a [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]], Kim Obrist, who can help him infiltrate Revok's organization. Not unsurprisingly, it is revealed that both Cameron and Darryl are the two sons of Paul. With us so far? And then Darryl [[Lampshade Hanging|points out]] what kind of father would abandon his sons like that, and weaponize one against the other, and, indeed, [[Guinea Pig Family|would test a potentially dangerous new drug on his pregnant wife]], thus making Cameron and Darryl psychic in the first place. "[[Calling the Old Man Out|That was Daddy.]]" Also, the psychic stuff is [[Blessed
* The 1991 film ''[[The Dark Backward]]'' contains an animated sequence that deconstructs the ''[[
* 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. [[wikipedia:JCVD|Read the synopsis here.]]
* One could argue that the first live action ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' movie deconstructed the gang's main quirks. In the cartoon, Daphne often became the [[Designated Victim]], but took it in stride, even cracking a quip about it occasionally. In the movie, however, she openly despises the fact that she's "always the damsel in distress", and this combined with the fact that she blames it on the "incompetence" of the others makes her the most bitter and reluctant to get the gang back together. Velma was always [[The Smart Guy|the smart girl]], but the movie portrays her as an under-appreciated [[Insufferable Genius]]. Fred was the de facto leader of Mystery Inc, and as such was often the voice of reason. The movie shows him as a literal [[Only Sane Man]] who struggles to keep the conflicting personalities of the team from getting out of hand. Surprisingly, Shaggy and Scooby are actually almost identical to their cartoon incarnations but in the second movie, they become deconstructed as well; Their cowardly and clumsy behaviour causes the team to see them as a burden, and when they found it out, they try their hardest to improve themselves. Of course, it ends up bad and when the team is exiled from their hometown, Shaggy's self-esteem is at rockbottom.
* 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.
* ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' harshly deconstruct 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 such people 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
* ''[[Scream (
* Before [[
* The 2003 adaption of ''[[Daredevil (
* ''[[
* ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' deconstructed the samurai mythos. Samurai aren't allowed to change occupations so they sell their services or (like the bandits) resort to crime.
* ''[[Snow White:
== Literature ==
* Gustave Flaubert deconstructed his early romantic works with ''[[
* ''[[Interview
* ''Galaxies'' by Barry N. Malzberg is written both in praise and condemnation of the possibilities and limits of science-fiction. In fact, the book presents itself at the opening as a set of notes for a novel that can't be written because of those limits. Throughout, the Narrator talks about how background can be integrated, scenes set, and how the right ending is among the most important elements while at the same time, paradoxically enough, actually "telling" the story.
* [[George
* ''[[The First Law]] Trilogy'' by Joe Abercrombie deconstructs heroic fantasy and a few of its common character archetypes, such as the "Wise Old Mentor", the Arthurian Aragorn-like figure, and the quest to save the world. {{spoiler|As it turns out, the "Wise Old Mentor", is a ruthless, egomaniacal asshole, the arthurian figure is an arrogant prick who grows a sense of compassion and nobility only to be put in his place. The "Epic Conflict" is nothing more than a feud between Bayaz and his rival from when they were apprentice wizards that has gone on for centuries.}} According to the [http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/27121-last-argument-of-kings-spoiler-thread/page__view__findpost__p__1286030 author], Logen Ninefingers is supposed to be a deconstruction of violent characters with [[Dark and Troubled Past|Dark And Troubled Pasts]], as well as the glamorization of killing, the idea that people would [[Draco in Leather Pants|overlook]] a killer's unsavoryness just because they [[Pet the Dog|showed a soft side]], and the idea that a man can be vicious killer and still be a good person.
* Throughout ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' Mark Twain mocks Romanticism, an English writing style that was still popular in the U.S., even though its popularity had faded in England by then. Adventure books were a popular subject for Romanticism, for which Tom Sawyer was often used to parody. Twain mainly deconstructs Romanticism as a means to Reconstruct into Realism, which had developed in the U.S. during the mid nineteenth century.
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* ''[[Blood Meridian]]'' completely deconstructs many of the tropes associated with the Old West, showing what a sick, depraved, and violent place it truly is. It tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy whom we know only as "the Kid" and his journey across the American frontier. Along the way, he joins up with a group of scalp hunters led by a man known only amongst the men as "the Judge." Within this group, we are borne witness to the grotesque, fucked-up world that was the American Old West. In addition to deconstructing our notions of the American Frontier, Cormac McCarthy also deconstructs many views on morality, showing that while the scalp hunters are evil, so were many of the Indians whom they sought after. So, in the end, no one is truly moral [[Crapsack World|in this world.]]
* ''[[Novel/Superpowers|Superpowers]]'' by David J. Schwartz completely tears up the super-hero genre. There are no super-villains or over-arching plots to destroy the world, but it's okay, because by the end of the book, the group has {{spoiler|been inadvertently responsible for several woundings and deaths}}, Charlie, the group's mind reader {{spoiler|goes partially insane from all the dread immediately after 9/11, goes into a mental asylum for a year, and is presumably kidnapped by the government immediately after}}, Jack, the group's speedster {{spoiler|dies from old age as a result of accelerated aging related to his super speed}} Mary Beth, who has super strength {{spoiler|accidentally kills an innocent islamic man, and willingly goes to jail for it}}, Caroline, the group's flier {{spoiler|experiences her mother dying in 9/11}} and {{spoiler|goes into exile with Harriet (the team's invisible woman) and her father.}}
* The novel ''[[
** A huge amount of ''[[
** ''Orlando Furioso'' was, itself, a deconstruction of the [[Knight in Shining Armour]]'s obsessive love for his lady. After Orlando finds out that Angelica has no interest in him and doesn't hold up to his impossibly high standards (i.e. she had premarital sex with a shepherd, and eventually gets married to a likable Arab guy), he basically [[Love Makes You Evil|turns into]] [[The Incredible Hulk]] and runs around killing innocent people.
* The novel ''[[Great Expectations]]'' by [[
** While we're on the topic of Dickens, There's also ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''. During Victorian times it was common to idealize "self made men" (capitalists) in the context of Social Darwinism. Dickens gave the world Ebenezer Scrooge, a "self made man" who got where he was through a combination of ruthlessness and greed, and whose wealth comes at the expense of his friends, family, and ultimately his own happiness, and is thus bitter, miserable, and on the verge of dying alone and unmissed. However the book also [[Zig
* ''[[Soon I Will Be Invincible]]'' is a Superhero ''novel'', revolving around Doctor Impossible breaking out of jail to try and take over the world (again)... all the while wondering if he's done the [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|smartest things he could do with his life and vast intellect]]. Most of the other characters are [[Captain Ersatz|Captain Ersatzes]] of other popular comic book archetype characters, with realistic human flaws added.
** Interestingly, the deconstruction for the most part comes only through the narration of the main characters, and the things that would happen off screen in comic books. When the characters actually speak, they still seem to speak in a classic way, spewing puns and unnecessarily narrating what they are doing out loud to basically no-one.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''Banewreaker'' by [[Jacqueline Carey]] and its sequel ''Godslayer'' deconstruct [[Heroic Fantasy]] in the most painful manner possible. It's hard to think of a fantasy trope not used, up to and including a more benign version of [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]], but [[Always Chaotic Evil]] is subverted, [[Sympathetic POV]] is averted, and the [[Designated Villain|Designated Villains]] are made to be [[Dark Is Not Evil|ultimately on the side of what's right]] ''despite [[I Did What I Had to Do|committing horrible deeds out of necessity]]''. It's enough to make your jaw drop, almost qualifying as [[Detournement]].
* ''A Princess Worth Dying For'' by Sergei Lukyanenko presents a fairly standard [[Space Opera]] world with a few innovative technologies thrown in. The sequel, ''Planet that Doesn't Exist" proceeds to deconstruct the entire setting, revealing that {{spoiler|it was actually a result of a [[Gambit Roulette]] orchestrated by time-traveling humans from the future, who wanted to create thousands of planets worth of allies in a fight against an alien race that kept humanity from expanding out into space.}}
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* Balzac's ''Illusions Perdues'' is a particularly depressing deconstruction of the ''[[Coming of Age Story|Bildungsroman]]''.
* ''Incognita'' is a deconstruction of the courtly romances of the early 18th century, as it exposes just how shallow and stupid all the characters would have to be and how reliant the plot is on [[Contrived Coincidence]].
* ''[[Coraline (
* [[Brandon Sanderson]] has said that he intended the background of the ''[[Mistborn]]'' trilogy as a deconstruction of [[High Fantasy]], in which [[The Hero]] fails his quest, and a thousand years later, the immortal [[Dark Lord]] rules the crumbling, devastated world as a god. After the first book, it also becomes a deconstruction of {{spoiler|what happens after the unlikely heroes defeat the [[Dark Lord]], and the difficulty of introducing freedom and establishing peace}}.
** As part of that, Sanderson also has a disturbing deconstruction of the use of prophecy in fantasy, which is almost always represented as being either good, or at least neutral. One of the characters fulfills an ancient prophecy, {{spoiler|only to find out that the prophecy was a lie propagated by a nihilistic god of destruction to enable its release. }}
* ''[[
* Sleeping Helena is a deconstruction of Sleeping Beauty. She is granted the gifts of music and dance and grace and beauty and so on and so forth, but these instead turn into obligations rather than gifts, each gift requiring her attention a bit each day. She also becomes a monster, torturing animals and willing to hurt and manipulate other people. "Why did no one think to grant her kindness?"
** {{spoiler|In addition, the curse of death was deconstructed as well, since the gift was not actually intended to kill her.}}
* Done with the trip-to-fairyland thing in [[Catherynne M. Valente
* ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'' by Bernard Cornwell arguably does this in regards to the [[King Arthur]] mythos.
* Arguably, Boris Strugatsky's ''The Powerless Ones of This World'' is a deconstruction of much of his own and his late brother's earlier works. Perhaps most prominently, "the Sensei", who is a [[The Obi-Wan|wise old mentor]] (a fairly typical character for many Strugatsky novels), turns out to have been not only a [[Trickster Mentor]], but also {{spoiler|the initiator of [[The Plan]] that dictated much of the plot and was aimed at [[Die or Fly|forcing the main character to unlock his full abilities]]}}. It succeeded, but not before making said main character a nervous wreck, inducing quite a [[Bittersweet Ending]] and causing much remorse to the mentor himself. Additionally, the topic of [[wikipedia:Progressor|the Progressors]] is briefly brought up; one of the characters muses that the Sensei might be acting as one on Earth, and that he had, despite some occasional successes, failed miserably.
** ''Hard to Play God'' deconstructs medieval chivalry, fantasy settings, the supposed glamour of royalty and nobility, and well-intentioned meddling by developed countries (in this case, civilizations: an idealist Commies [[In Space]] benevolent space-faring nation ideologically similar to ''[[
* 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]]'' 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 Indestructable 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 being with, but Messingham takes it further), and how the ordinary people of the Supermarionation world might feel about so much money being channelled into [[Awesome but Impractical]] vehicles. Most notably, the titular Indestructable 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]].
* [http://www.nicolagriffith.com/troll.html "A Troll Story"] by Nicola Griffith, in which a Viking warrior faces off against a troll. He wins, all right, but the story abruptly takes a deconstructionist turn: he {{spoiler|[[Go Mad From the Revelation|goes insane]] from the troll's final curse, which renders him able to understand that [[Not So Different|there's no essential moral difference]] between the troll's slaughter of Vikings and his own slaughter of innocents in the towns he's raided.}}
* ''Ring For Jeeves'' could be considered [[
* ''Goshawk Squadron'' by Derek Robinson attacks the popular view of [[World War One]] air combat which, rather than dueling "Knights of the Air", actually involved undertrained pilots diving out of the sun and machine-gunning their opponent in the back before he had a chance to defend himself.
* ''[[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 fantasy -- a ''meaningful'' universe with metaphysical purpose. One of the premises of the series is "What if you had a fantasy world where Old Testament-style morality, with all of its arbitrary taboos and cruelties (like damnation), was as true in the same way that gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared?". Whether he successfully accomplishes this is [[Love It or Hate It|heavily debated]].
* ''[[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, romantising their own side as undeniably good, and demonising the other side as undeniably bad. ''A Tale of Two Cities'' makes the assumption that both side was absolutly right and runs with it, and so both the aristocrats and the revolutionaries have, among their ranks, noble, honorable people fighting for what they belive is right, and total sadists who just want some bloodshed.
* The Death and the Compass, by [[Jorge Luis Borges]], is a short story that deconstructs the tropes of [[Mystery Fiction]] and [[Detective Drama]]: In the first lines, the [[Great Detective]] Eric Lonroth is implied to have a [[Rogues Gallery]] and an [[Arch Enemy]] in [[Diabolical Mastermind]] Red Scharlach. Then there is a murder. [[Inspector Lestrade]] Treviranus was [[Stating the Simple Solution]] that a thief must have killed him. Lonroth lapmshades that this ''"solution"'' heavily implies a [[Random Events Plot]] and prefers to study the victim’s books, he was a rabbi expert at [[Kabbalah|Judaism investigating the name of God, and there is a piece of paper that states that:]] ''"the first letter of the name has been articulated"''. Deeming those as an [[Magical Incantation]], [[Deliberate Values Dissonance|Treviranus, a Christian policeman, doesn’t want to investigate those superstitions]] and give the books to Lonroth. Later, an [[Intrepid Reporter]] misinterprets Lonroth’s declarations and publishes that Lonroth wants to [[Linked-List Clue Methodology|find the letters of God to find the name of the murderer]]. One month after the murder, there is another murder with a note, ''"The Second letter of the name has been articulated"''. Treviranus discovers that the victim was a crook who worked for Red Scharlach and states that [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|HeHasOutlivedHisUsefulness]], Lonroth suspects [[Never One Murder]]. The second month after the first crime, Treviranus gets a call that offers to explain the strange murders, but it’s [[Disconnected
* [[When You Reach Me]] provides an interesting deconstruction of the [[Time Travel]] ideas, mostly from being told not as a person who is doing the time traveling. The time traveler himself is seen as generally crazy to everyone, and the only way he can have someone believe he's from the future is by sending notes carried in his mouth, because he can't bring anything to the past.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[My So-Called Life]]'' is essentially a deconstruction of teen comedies, although the creators never declared it as such. Tropes like [[Playing Cyrano]] and [[A Simple Plan]] are played seriously, showing how unpleasant they would be in real life. And the parents, instead of being [[Adults Are Useless|cartoonishly clueless]], are clueless in a [[Parents
* Good luck watching another [[Cop Show|crime drama]], even [[Police Procedural|a relatively realistic one]], after watching ''[[The Wire]]'''s deconstruction of the genre.
** The earlier ''[[Homicide: Life On the Street]]'' started the process.
* ''[[The Gruen Transfer]]'' analyzes and deconstructs advertising.
** Similarly, the "Ad Road Test" segment in ''[[The
* Though ''[[Soap Opera|telenovelas]]'' are rarely prone to deconstruct the genre, a Colombian one named "''La mujer en el espejo''" ("Woman in the mirror") deconstructed the hell out of the archetypal plot of "Former [[Pollyanna]] is [[Woman Scorned|betrayed by her love interest]] and gets into a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] via <s>[[Unnecessary Makeover]]</s> [[Paper-Thin Disguise|becoming fashionable]] and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|ruthless]]". According to this one, the only real way one no one could recognize you is having a [[Deal
* ''[[Firefly]]'''s primary ''raison d'etre'' is to deconstruct the [[Space Opera]] genre. For example, the series opens with an epic battle in which <s>[[The Empire]]</s> The Alliance soundly defeats the <s>[[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]</s> Independent Worlds; [[The Captain]]'s epic romance never even gets off the ground due to the personality clashes between him and his love interest, and the [[Raygun Gothic]] setting is rendered completely moot by the fact that the protagonists are too broke to afford any of the cool technology, and most of that stuff is unreliable anyway.
** And our heroes survive in this world by stealing, running away and generally being [[Combat Pragmatist|combat pragmatists]]. One of the early defining moments of the series was when they're about to let a captured enemy go and he gives them a "[[The Last Thing You Ever See]]" speech. So they kick him into a jet intake.
*** It also deconstructs the [[Action Girl]], [[Waif Fu]], and [[Super Soldier]] concepts with River, showing just how utterly and completely insane, emotionally-damaged, and traumatized a girl with those capabilities would be.
* ''[[Malcolm in
** But Malcom was only following in the footsteps of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[Married...
*** Making this more a case of [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny]], as Malcom definitely took it further.
* A dark deconstruction of a typical [[Dom Com]] can be found in ''[[Titus]]'' in which it shows how a dysfunctional family can be messed up in the real world. It also plays around with several other tropes. For example; Titus' and friends' antics lead to bad publicity for their garage, leading to their biggest client demanding his money back, leading to the garage in financial trouble, leading to him drinking to drive Erin away, and so on. In most sitcoms, the guys would just make idiots of themselves publicly, learn A Lesson, then it would be forgotten by the next episode.
* The new ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' massively deconstructed the old one, by showing how it "really" would look like if the last people were fleeing from a genocide. By proxy, the show also deconstructed "light" sci-fi like ''[[Star Wars]]''.
** Arguments have been made that the show is much less of a deconstruction, than it is simply a [[Darker and Edgier]] re-imagining; since it fails to address many of the problems of the original. This may be reinforced by the fact that the Cylons have been changed from an irreconcilable alien ''other'', to an ''Anvilicious'' screed about [[Humans Are Bastards|mankind being destroyed by their own sins]]; interspersed with plenty of [[Fan Service]] and [[Fetish Fuel]] (two words: "dungeon ship"). Further reinforced by the fact that most of the major characters devote epic amounts of time to their personal dysfunctionalities; and seem to be only tangentially concerned with the fact that their entire race has been almost completely wiped out.
** It also does away with the [[Snap Back]] that fans of ''[[
** The show also deconstructs [[The Ace|the Ace pilot]] [[Jerk
** It could also be argued that BSG deconstructs ''[[Star Trek: Voyager
* ''[[wikipedia:Bodies (TV series)|Bodies]]'' is basically a deconstruction of hospital dramas.
* ''[[The Sopranos]]'' takes [[Damn, It Feels Good to Be
* Many people believe that ''[[Glee]]'' is a [[Deconstruction]] of traditional musicals. Unlike other musicals, in ''Glee'' most of the musical numbers take place either during a performance or in the character's imaginations, and sometimes both. When a character does try singing their feelings in real life to help their problems, it doesn't work out so well. Other people see ''Glee'' as a [[Deconstruction]] of ''[[High School Musical]]''. Whereas ''[[High School Musical]]'', being a [[Disney Channel]] program for young children, doesn't show many real life high school problems, ''Glee'' deals with teen sex, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, homophobia, and drug use. This, however, is unintentional, as the creator of the show, Ryan Murphy, has stated that he's never seen ''[[High School Musical]]''.
** It's for these reasons that ''Glee'' is sometimes called "the most depressing show on television, [[Crap Saccharine World|presented as the happiest show on television]]."
* ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]'' ends up deconstructing [[Sailor Moon|its own source material]] in increasingly surprising ways as it diverges 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-Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villains]], and how naive and dangerous it'd actually be for the heroines to make such assumptions.
* ''[[
* ''The Ten Commandments'' miniseries shows the many hard choices (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)) Moses had to make in following God.
* 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.
* The B plot of ''[[
* ''[[
* You could say [[Law and Order]] deconstructs both cop shows and courtroom dramas. It doesn't end when the suspect is caught. It's just the beginning of a long litigation process and there's no guarantee the suspect will be found guilty or even that the right person is prosecuted.
* Though [[Crap Saccharine World|on the surface it looks like business as usual]], ''[[
* ''[[
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== Theater ==
* [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s ''[[Into the Woods]]'' spends its first act as simply a retelling of the stories of "[[Jack and
* ''[[Hamlet]]'' has been read as a massive deconstruction of Elizabethan revenge dramas (although most of them end in tears for everyone). ''Measure for Measure'' might do the same for comedies. The whole thing is a source of much debate.
** ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' can be read as a deconstruction of the idea that "[[Love At First Sight]]" can exist, since Romeo and Juliet's attraction is implied to be purely superficial, more to do with lust than love, and brings nothing but tragedy to everyone around them (and, of course, themselves). Again, [[Take It to
* ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' plays much like any of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s other operas, except the [[Deus Ex Machina]] never shows up, so everybody gets married to the wrong person.
* ''[[M. Butterfly]]'' is a deconstruction of the Western fantasy of [[Me Love You Long Time|getting with an Asian chick]] in general, and Puccini's opera ''[[Madame Butterfly]]'' in particular.
* ''[[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.
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: [[Euripides]]' ''Trojan Women'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed [[The Trojan War]] as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Homeric tradition. In general, his tragedies are regarded as more "modern" than those of his predecessors because of their morally ambiguous protagonists, pervasive sense of [[Wangst|anxiety and despair]], religious skepticism and overall portrayal of mythologycal subjects and characters as real people.
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== Video Games ==
* [[
* While the first two ''[[Metal Gear]]'' games played everything fairly straight, the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series is intended as a deconstruction of action movies (and, to a lesser extent, video games), twisting tropes common to them around in extremely horrible ways to establish how damaged everything and everyone would have to be for an action movie scenario to work in the real world. By the second game it's way out into the nastiest parts of the [[Deconstructor Fleet]] territory, shamelessly attacking fandom, the video game industry, the expectations of fans and even its own prequel and characters. Some would argue it goes a bit too far, to the point where it feels very painful to play a game which clearly hates you so much.
** The setup of the first ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' is simple; a terrorist attack on a government nuclear warhead disposal facility occurs and a legendary mercenary is brought back to stop it. However, all the characters are unbelievably screwed up, ''precisely by the character traits that they'd plausibly need in order to do what they do'', and the plot gets very complicated very quickly. Unfortunately, [[Misaimed Fandom|not all members of the fandom saw the deconstruction; they instead thought the game was the ultimate action film and wanted to be Solid Snake.]]
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** ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' applied the same approach (if much less viciously than in MGS2) to [[Spy Fiction|spy]] films such as [[James Bond]] and (to a lesser extent) action films like ''[[Rambo]]''. Most of the usual tropes are there -- beautiful [[Bond Girl]] {{spoiler|[[Double Agent|who is actually a spy for the enemy]]}}, the [[Fake Defector]], the Soviet scientist defecting to the U.S. and so on. Most are unexpected plot twists, all are horribly tragic, and all combine to make the protagonist into the biggest villain in the series.
*** It should be noted that, except for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', the series was somewhat affectionate in its dismantling of said tropes. At the end of the day, the heroes find a reason to justify their personal suffering and the battles they just fought.
** Finally, ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots]]'' raises the question of what exactly happens to [[Action Hero|action heroes]] after the action movie ends. The choices that are presented are dying in a blaze of glory, suicide, or falling into obscurity.
*** Adding on to that, MGS4 explores the concept of the [[Badass Grandpa]]. Snake's willingness to fight in spite of his advanced physical age isn't solely depicted as being admirable but also as being foolish and suicidal, people who idolized Snake back in the day patronize him and treat him as a burden, and in general Snake's age is the subject of cruel jokes. In fact, Snake's lifebar is changed to ''Old Snake'' to emphasize this.
* It is quite plausible to read ''[[Half Life]]'' as a deconstruction of the [[Trope Codifier|archetypal]] [[First-Person Shooter]] ''[[Doom]]''. The basic premise is essentially the same; an experiment into teleportation technology [[Gone Horribly Wrong|goes horribly wrong]] and creates a dimensional rift through which monstrosities invade our world. Additionally, there is very little plot exposition (just like the original ''Doom''!). But whereas ''Doom'' played this incident as [[I Just Want to Be Badass|a wonderful way to demonstrate one's masculine virility by filling demons full of lead]], ''[[Half Life]]'' shows you exactly how frightening this kind of situation would be in the real world. You must scramble to stay alive, think and ''not'' act like a stereotypical [[Space Marine]] in order to remain breathing. Additionally, while ''Doom'' had almost no plot exposition whatsoever, ''[[Half Life]]'' frustrates the player with its ''lack'' of explicit exposition, demonstrating just how terrifying it would be to be stuck in a life-threatening situation with absolutely no information about it.
* ''[[
** [[Word of God]] is that they weren't trying to deconstruct Objectivism ''per se'', more that they where trying to deconstruct the idea of Utopian fiction (showing that human nature always gets in the way of any so-called "perfect society") as well as the idea of the [[Ubermensch]] with the antagonists Andrew Ryan and Sofia Lamb (who runs a collectivist society in ''Bioshock 2'').
* ''[[Portal (
* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Knights of the Old Republic|Knights of the Old Republic 2]]'' has all of the standard RPG conventions; you recruit party members who follow you forevermore, an [[The Obi-Wan|Obi-Wan]] equivalent who explains everything, and you gain XP, levels and new abilities through combat. {{spoiler|And then several important characters ''call you out on all of this,'' saying, "Have you ever stopped to ''think'' about how you get stronger by killing everything? Don't you ''wonder'' why these people follow you without question? Has it ''occurred'' to you that your [[The Obi-Wan|Obi-Wan]] only knows so much about both us and the villains because she's ''worked for both?''" It turns out that these standard RPG conventions aren't [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]] at all, but rather, things that actually happen in the plot, caused by the plot's [[Awful Truth]]. The standard aspects of the genre we as the player take for granted are seen by the people involved not because [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|they can see through the fourth wall,]] but because any sane person would look at this behavior and realize that it's not the way reality should work, even the reality of [[Star Wars]].}} Light or darksided, it says something about the Exile that s/he doesn't even notice it.
** Not to mention the way it subverts the [[Karma Meter]], by making what seems like the right thing to do end up being exactly the wrong thing to do, as is often the case in real life. For example giving to a beggar could lead to a worse outcome than if you had left him alone, as it makes him a target for armed robbery, and thus getting him killed.
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* [http://www.cracked.com/article_15660_ultimate-war-simulation-game.html This article] from ''[[Cracked]]'' proposes an ultra-realistic war game. That is, you spend two hours pushing across a map to destroy a nuke silo only to find out later it was an orphanage, complete with celebrities decrying the attack. Public Support rises and falls depending on entirely arbitrary factors, mission objectives change frequently and without warning, the cool superweapons kill 100 of ''your'' soldiers because the contractors cut corners, etc.
* Even though ''[[Half Minute Hero]]'' role-playing-game parts mostly ridicule many cliches found in role-playing games, it deconstructs RPG game concept as a whole. Makes you wonder why almost all other role-playing games include hours of [[Forced Level Grinding]] and other tedious activities.
* The ''[[
** One event in particular even plays out just like a Pokémon fight -- the two combatants face each other, their Mons in between them, verbal orders and all... and then one Mon is beaten, and its "Demon Tamer" is ''graphically murdered'' by the other's demon, by order of that very tamer. [[Nightmare Fuel|Yes, kids, this is how most of the situations Ash finds himself in would]] ''[[Nightmare Fuel|really]]'' [[Nightmare Fuel|end.]]
* ''[[
** ''[[
* The [[Expanded Universe]] of ''[[Eve Online]]'' tends to do this to [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]]. It thoroughly explores the consequences of [[A God Am I|law-unto-themselves immortal demigods]] waging perpetual war both between themselves and with the [[NPC|other, less gifted denizens of the universe]]. The mere existence of the player capsuleers ups the average daily death rate in New Eden by many thousands, and contributes in large part to the [[Crapsack World]] New Eden now is.
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
** {{spoiler|The OPENING SEQUENCE of the second game states quite clearly "No Dine, no Knox, [[Clueless Mystery|no Fair]]. In other words it is not mystery. But it happens, all it happens, let it happens." The author actually goes out of the way to inform us that he's not following Van Dine or Knox's rules of "fair" detective fiction and that... well, it's not a mystery that can be solved by us.}}
** At the end of the series, the answer becomes clear: {{spoiler|the mysteries that Meta-Beatrice purposely set up (the first four arcs) are quite solvable, and for the most part follow Fair Play. The reason that the author said that he didn't want to give a straight answer is because we are never told what ''[[The Un-Reveal|really happened]]'' on Rokkenjima. Most people thought that the whole 'not giving a straight answer' referred to the games themselves, which are just [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|stories within the story]], but it referred to the real events on the island}}. [[Mind Screw|Confused yet]]?
** Umineko also has a brilliant deconstruction of the [[Tsundere]] Moe in the third arc.
* ''[[
** The fact that Zero is the cause of {{spoiler|both the Maverick and Elf Wars}} can be seen as a deconstruction of [[Joker Immunity]] and [[Thou Shall Not Kill]]. If Dr. Wily was executed when he was arrested in ''[[
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' is a deconstruction of RPGs. Characters in the gameworld comment on how adventurers are unwelcome in Sigil and how bad the main character looks and smells. It features a dungeon that deconstructs and ridicules the concept of dungeon hacking, the side-quests are... unusual to say the least. (Tired of these "Romeo and Juliet" quests that have you uniting annoying lovers? ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' has a quest where you have to ''destroy'' a relationship.) [[Protagonist Without a Past]] is heavily subverted because NPCs remember your character while you don't (because he has '' {{spoiler|several past lives' worth of}}'' amnesia). Experience is gained by remembering and regaining skills you already had, but forgot. The main quest is mainly about people ''you'' gave quests in the past, rats are powerful enemies, there are none of the typical ''D&D'' races, and an [[Light Is Not Good|ANGEL is one of the antagonists!]] Oh, and there are only two swords in the whole game. (Your character can only use one.)
* ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' takes a deconstructor chainsaw to every fantasy story revolving around destiny, [[Screw Destiny|screwing it]] and everything else that falls into the "[[The Chosen One|Chosen One Fantasy]]" genre. Turns out that everyone in the world is assigned some role by a prophecy, but the "Chosen One" is actually [[Cloning Blues|a clone of the real one]]. This event threw the entire world's fate off-course, starting out with subtle alterations (like the Chosen One not dying like he was supposed to) and eventually winding up with most of the known world sunk beneath a poisonous miasma ''and'' a good portion of the world's population killed off and replicated. Even though the [[Big Bad]] says that "deviations are as nothing" in the eyes of this prophecy, [[Blatant Lies|we know better]]. Heck, towards the end of the game, the party actually winds up ''intentionally'' fulfilling part of the prophecy because they realise that there's no other way to save the world, but not long after the whole planet goes to hell. Basically, ''don't mess with fate''.
* The [[Visual Novel]] ''[[
* [[SWAT 4]], an FPS which discourages killing enemies. However you are given a number of non-lethal equipment loadout to deal with the bad guys.
* [[Fallout: New Vegas]] features Caesar's Legion as one of the two main powers in the Mojave Wasteland. As the name suggests, they are essentially the Romans [[Recycled in Space|placed into]] a post-apocalyptic setting. As the progenitor of modern Western civilization, the glory of Rome is often seen through an intense [[Nostalgia Filter]]. You get to see some of Roman culture up close in this game, and it is [[Deliberate Values Dissonance|ugly]]. There are probably no more [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]] in the Legion than most other factions, but the slavery, misogyny, and sheer brutality of the Caesar's Legion makes it the [[Black and Grey Morality|black to the NCR's grey]].
* ''[[No More Heroes]]'', especially the second game, seems to be a deconstruction of the ultra-violent type of game. Travis' rant toward the end of the sequel is basically summed up as "Even if the person is fictional, it's still a death, and you're kind of a bastard for forcing the killings to happen." It was even seemingly aimed at both Sylvia, and [[Leaning
** Meanwhile, most of the villainism of the series' [[Villain Protagonist]], especially in the first game, 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.
* For one of Gamespot's April Fool's Day jokes, they have announced that Capcom has recently announced a new game called ''[[Mega Man (
* ''[[
* A lighter example of Deconstruction would belong to ''[[SWAT 4]]'', an FPS which 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 needed to advance in harder difficulties), you must deal with the bad guys with non-lethal methods, and arresting them.
* ''[[
* [[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. Hell, listen to that woman who scolds her son for wanting to be friends with Marona in the opening chapter. You can literally feel the pure, unbridled barely contained ''rage'' she has at the mere ''mention'' of her name.
* ''[[Air Pressure]]'' deconstructs the "do everything you can to build/improve your relationship with a cute girl" [[Romance Game]] plot. The protagonist actually starts out disillusioned about how much he depends on his girlfriend Leigh and wondering if he should break up with her, and having him ignore his doubts in favor of appeasing Leigh results in a deliberately [[Esoteric Happy Ending]] where {{spoiler|it's all but outright stated that Leigh is actually a metaphor for drug addiction or abusive relationships in general and that the protagonist's decision that he can't live without her is ''not'' in any way romantic or healthy}}. Not only that, but the game's happiest ending is actually the one in which {{spoiler|the protagonist breaks up with Leigh and feels genuinely happy about being independent from her}}.
* The ''[[
* ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' deconstructs its own series. Rather than glamourizing crime and criminals like its predecessors, most characters you meet in the game are broke, greedy and psychopathic and the toll it takes on people. In addition, the [[Downer Ending|end of the game]] where {{spoiler|your cousin or your love interest is murdered, you get revenge but it feels hollow, and you spend the rest of the game alone and driving around.}}
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** The side story ''Magical Girl Mina'' can be considered a deconstruction (or possibly reconstruction) of the magical girl genre. Mina is far from stereotypical proto-MG and does not adhere to any of the expected cliches, tropes and quirks (despite Tsunami being explicitly instructed to scout those traits) but is smart and fit and very inquisitive about how magic works and can be used. On the other hand Mina never reacts to the weirdness "normally" (such as fleeing or avoiding the situation) but accepts it with cautious curiosity.
* ''[[Alien Dice]]'' is a deconstruction of [[Mons]] and especially ''Pokémon''. The eponymous Alien Dice is a [[Deadly Game]] of [[Gotta Catch Em All]]. Here, any species, [[Human Aliens|Humanoid]] or animal-like can be turned into a mon and get captured when defeated by players. Also, the "mons", despite their [[Healing Factor]] do suffer badly in battle.
* ''[[Ow
* ''[[Erfworld]]'' is a world where Tabletop Strategy rules are literally true, such as citizens popping in fully grown and a defeated team being frozen in time until someone comes to try and kill them. The more the rules become clear, the creepier everything starts to become.
** It also deconstructs the typical Strategist with Parson's reaction to the aftermath of the Battle For Gobwin Knob. {{spoiler|Instead of being proud and/or relieved that he won the battle against impossible odds, he is ''horrified'' by the death and destruction he has caused, so much that he steps down as Chief Warlord in favor of Ansom.}}
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* ''[[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-So-Harmless Villain]].
* ''[http://www.mighthavebeen.net/ My Name Is Might Have Been]'' deconstructs ''[[Rock Band]]''. Yeah, [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|the video game]].
* ''[[VG Cats]]'' deconstructs the cartoon violence of ''[[
* ''[[Goblins]]: Life Through Their Eyes'' takes a good hard look at the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of labeling whole races [[Always Chaotic Evil]]. It portrays the titular goblins not as ''monsters'' but as ''people'' who live and love. It shows us that what [[Player Character|Player Characters]] see as just an XP haul isn't so fun when ''you're'' the one they're killing to level up.
* ''[[Tales of the Questor|Quentin Quinn Space Ranger]]'', an offshoot of ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', is Deconstructing ''[[
* The entire premise behind ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' is that the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe is the result of a group of [[Tabletop Games|Tabletop Gamers]] (including a 7 year old girl) making it up as they go along. It lends a whole new perspective to the storyline of the prequel trilogy. The entire mess on Naboo was the result of the Player Characters epically ruining a delicate, carefully constructed plan by going [[Off the Rails]], and engaging in all the sins of [[The Real Man]], [[The Munchkin]], and [[The Loonie]]. Palpatine is actually a good guy overthrowing a corrupt regime, and trying to bring a semblance of stability to the republic. Darth Maul was just a [[Chaotic Neutral]] [[Hired Guns|Hired Gun]] who was only trying to work ''with'' the player characters, before they attacked him. To top it all off, some the most bizarre and unrealistic plot points, such as Naboo being governed by a ''14 year old Queen'' exist because [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap|Jar Jar Binks]] is being played by a little girl.
* 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.
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** The villain finds that his victory: the hero defeated, entry into the Evil League of Evil secured by {{spoiler|his [[Love Interest]]'s murder}}, comes at the [[Pyrrhic Villainy|price of his humanity]].
* [http://www.digital-brilliance.com/necron/necron.htm This website] deconstructs the [[Cthulhu Mythos]], specifically the Necronomicon. In essense it asks "what if it was a real book?" and builds from there, by looking for paralels between Judeo-Christian tradition and the [[Cthulhu 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" a person with religous veiws related too, but radically different from mainstream Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It then builds a comprehesive history of how it got from the middle east and into the hands of western Occultists, and finally makes the assumption that while, yes Lovecraft wrote about it, he got only the name and the the author correct, having never read the book itself.
* 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.
* Who could forget [http://youtube.com/watch?v=JpBGRA6HHtY this] remarkable deconstruction of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''?
* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]: The Blood Gulch Chronicles'' takes many first person shooter tropes and twists them. Everything from capture the flag, to why there are two bases in the middle of a box canyon with no strategic value, and [[Death Is a Slap
* The [[
* [[Furry Fandom]] works frequently portray an entire world as furry. [http://www.sofurry.com/page/16447?contentlevel=all I Wish I Was Furry!] 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.}}
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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-Fisted Tales|stories]]. Some say spoof, some say deconstruction, some say [[Deconstructive Parody|both]].
* ''[[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]] to [[Nightmare Fuel]] levels.
* The famous ''[[The Simpsons|Simpsons]]'' episode "Homer's Enemy" is a deconstruction of the general weirdness and insanity of its setting, based around the premise of ''What if a real-life, normal person had to enter Homer's universe and deal with him?'' Frank Grimes, a relatively humorless but hard-working man who is still forced to live cheaply despite working almost his entire life, encounters Homer on the job at the nuclear power. You can imagine what happens next - the result is funny, but also disturbing and very dark upon further reflection (one of the darkest ''Simpsons'' episodes ever made).
** 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 react -- he's visibly freaked out, and when Homer blows off the danger with laughter, he shouts, " ''Stop laughing,'' you imbecile! Do you realize how close you just came to killing yourself?!" A series of such incidents ultimately drives Frank Grimes into insanity {{spoiler|and death}}.
*** The episode eventually winds up in [[Crosses the Line Twice]] territory when, {{spoiler|at Frank's funeral, the "mourners" do not cry but rather laugh when Homer dozes off and mumbles some idiotic gibberish. Even the minister.}}
* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode "1+ 1=Ed" is a deconstruction of how cartoons work, similar to [[Duck Amuck]].
* ''[[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, especially since he's already a)rich, and b)a genius inventor.
* "Epilogue" of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' can be taken as a deconstruction of the superhero genre by having a Amanda Waller deliberately try to engineer [[Batman Beyond|another Batman]] in response to the original 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).
** It also deconstructs the classic Batman origin: Waller plans to kill Terry's parents when he's a boy, but when the assassin she hires ([[Continuity Nod|Andrea Beaumont]], [[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm|the Phantasm]]) refuses to go through with it, Waller realizes that whatever her goals, it wasn't worth it, and she's pleased that Terry has become a much more sane and stable superhero because he had a chance for a normal childhood.
* ''[[Moral Orel]]'' deconstructs [[The Moral Substitute]] but presenting a culture where ALL MEDIA are Christian fundamentalist propaganda, and showing just how messed up and [[Nightmare Fuel|disturbing]] said culture would be.
* 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.
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* ''[[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 it, 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.
* In the normal episodes of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Applejack handled the same situation in a much more straightforward [[Frothy Mugs of Water|manner]].
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