Mood Whiplash/Literature: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[The Hunger Games]]'' trilogy is loaded with these moments- they'll take you from heartwarming happiness, or seeing the characters laugh for the first time in weeks directly to horrific death and much despair.

* ''[[The Kalevala]]'' is Finland's national epic, compiled in the mid-19th century from oral traditions that in turn date all over the previous centuries/millennia. At one point, it features the Eternal Sage, in search of words of power, descending into the Netherworld until he stands before its black river and meets the daughter of Death itself. She's short and fat, and washing clothes in Finnish!Styx. Yeah, that's right. At least to a modern audience, the prehistoric sagas subvert themselves when they start getting too serious.

** An [[Epileptic Tree]]: this was the inspiration for the ''[[~~Discworld (Literature)|~~Discworld]]'' character of Ysabell, Death's adoptive daughter, who, yes, is short and fat.

** An [[Epileptic Tree]]: this was the inspiration for the ''[[Discworld]]'' character of Ysabell, Death's adoptive daughter, who, yes, is short and fat.

* Done deliberately in the novel ''Nuklear Age'' by Brian Clevinger of ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|8-bit Theater]]''. In a nod to [[Cerebus Syndrome]], the enemies Nuklear Man fights suddenly go from the usual comedic supervillains that never accomplish anything to one who gets some seriously horrible moments, including [[Dead Serious|killing off major characters]] and firmly establishes that [[Knight of Cerebus|things aren't funny any more]].

* Many of the short stories of Sholom Aleichem have a weird combination of humor and depressing reality. For example, in the short story ''Two Dead Men'', we leave two of the main characters, one of which is so drunk he can't even remember the holiday it is, clumsily trying to get themselves out of the mud and look at his wife, who is worried her alcoholic husband's going to be found dead in a ditch.

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* T. H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King]]'' started as a light hearted parody of [[King Arthur|Arthurian Legends]], with anachronism, Merlin as a bumbling magician, Arthur turned into various animals, and Pellinore's ineffectual quest for the Questing Beast. Slowly each following chapter got less and less humor and got darker and darker, until the tragic last chapter that ended just before King Arthur's fight against his son Mordred as he reminisces the good old days.

* [[Mark Twain]]'s works often suffer from this, the most notable example occurring in ''[[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' where we are treated to a humorous drunk, a cold blooded murder, an attempted lynching, and then a circus, all literally in the same chapter.

** [[A Connecticut Yankee in King ~~Arthurs~~ Court]] is particularly egregious, since the mood whiplash effect arguably results in an [[Out-of-Genre Experience]]. The book goes from a scene where Sandy actually thinks a pig farmer is really a bunch of 12 foot tall ogres and the pigs are captive princesses (which is a laugh out loud hilarious scene) to a gut wrenching description of slavery. It feels like going from a ''[[Discworld]]'' type absurdist satire to high drama.

** [[A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court]] is particularly egregious, since the mood whiplash effect arguably results in an [[Out-of-Genre Experience]]. The book goes from a scene where Sandy actually thinks a pig farmer is really a bunch of 12 foot tall ogres and the pigs are captive princesses (which is a laugh out loud hilarious scene) to a gut wrenching description of slavery. It feels like going from a ''[[Discworld]]'' type absurdist satire to high drama.

* One of [[Jim Butcher]]'s [[Dresden Files|signature]] [[Codex Alera|tropes.]]

** In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', this is usually because of [[Sad Clown|Harry's sense of humor]]. Once, the [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] Nicodemus had him in a totally inescapable position, giving him the opportunity to join him-- and if he refuses, Nick will just cut his throat after he finishes his breakfast. Harry promptly cracks a [[Spider-Man]] joke, and when Nicodemus is a bit nonplussed, says, "Must be a [[DC Comics]] fan."

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** Pretty much the exact same thing in A Taste of Blackberries.

* ''[[Catch-22]]'' practically runs of this trope. The author seems to have taken a particular liking to ending chapters by revealing critical bits of information that cause the reader to re-evaluate the events of the chapter, which had up till then been [[Played for Laughs]], in a much more sinister light.

* Book five of Virgil's ''[[The Aeneid ~~(Literature)~~|Aeneid]]''. The first half describes the funeral games for Anchises, in a generally light-hearted and sometimes humourous manner, ending with a running race in which the contestants start tripping each other up and get into an argument about who really won, which Aeneas cheerfully settles by bringing out extra prizes for those who feel cheated. He then gets the news the Trojan woman have become so disillusioned and tired of the constant travelling that they have set fire to his fleet, leading to his emotional low point - even his own people have now turned against him - and the realisation that he must now descend into the world of the dead.

* Book five of Virgil's ''[[The Aeneid|Aeneid]]''. The first half describes the funeral games for Anchises, in a generally light-hearted and sometimes humourous manner, ending with a running race in which the contestants start tripping each other up and get into an argument about who really won, which Aeneas cheerfully settles by bringing out extra prizes for those who feel cheated. He then gets the news the Trojan woman have become so disillusioned and tired of the constant travelling that they have set fire to his fleet, leading to his emotional low point - even his own people have now turned against him - and the realisation that he must now descend into the world of the dead.

* Kids' novel ''Jennifer the Jerk is Missing''. Starts out very suspenseful, with an 8 year old boy who has a reputation for telling tall tales and being a brat, trying his best to convince his 13 year old babysitter that he did in fact witness the kidnapping of his 8 year old classmate, bratty Jennifer "the Jerk". Played totally for suspense for the first half of the story, but things start to get silly when Jennifer is encountered. Bound to a chair and gagged, she actually lets out a muffled bratty "ha ha" under her gag when her rescuers mess up, and things just mostly get sillier from there. One of the kidnappers even merely pretends to have a gun by pointing his finger through his pocket (and Jennifer can even tell). Totally shoots the suspense in the first half of the book to pieces. (Then later, it starts taking itself seriously again)

* ''Yoda: [[Dark Rendezvous]]'' alternates a much [[Alternate Character Interpretation|sillier-than-standard]] Master Yoda with reminders that a war is going on. A set of undercover Jedi suffering through transit on a ship belonging to a Kut-Rate Kruise line, having to deal with things like an overexcited fire alarm system and a mazelike ship structure, turns [[Tear Jerker|heart-breakingly tragic]] when Asajj Ventress comes in and starts trying to kill the main cast. And anyone between her and them.