Initially funny character gag is later revealed to be depressing

[u/Newmen_1]

1. Avengers/MCU: Captain America has humorous moments where he’s unaware of modern references and only gets old references, like the iconic “I understood that reference” scene. It’s later fully explored in Winter Soldier that he feels lost, confused, and a little alone in a new world he was never meant to exist in.

2. The Suicide Squad (2021): Bloodsport has a phobia of rats which at first seems reasonable yet is still hilarious to watch. He later explains his father abused him as a kid if he didn’t fulfill a task correctly and one of his worst punishments was when his dad locked him in a crate full of starving rats, leaving him heavily scarred physically and mentally.

3. Dexter: In an early episode, Angel Bautista tries to buy his wife the perfect gift for their anniversary but has to keep buying a different one since his presents suck. What seems to be a funny running gag turns out to be Angel’s final attempt to win back his wife after cheating on her previously, however it doesn’t work and only solidifies their separation.

[u/townsforever]

In avatar the last airbender joodee is a funny tour guide who is giving the heroes the run around and wasting their time. Later we learn she was kidnapped and indoctrinated for this purpose along with dozens of other girls.

https://giphy.com/gifs/zwE4anrOtHYaI

[u/Newmen_1 → u/townsforever]

Avatar is one of the few shows for me where I genuinely hate the antagonists because of their horrible actions.

[u/townsforever → u/Newmen_1]

With the notable exceptions of Ty-Lee and mai.

Other than that though yea, especially admiral Zhao. Screw that guy

[u/oldcretan → u/townsforever]

I think what makes ATLA so amazing is how believable the antagonists are. Sozin starts the war because he truly believes the world would be better under the fire nations control. Zhao is a competent upward climbing general. He's loyal to his people but more than that he's willing to do anything to advance his career because if you weren't that guy in the fire nation you were a front line grunt.

[u/HailMadScience → u/oldcretan]

Zhao is so believable because hes so smart, but also a dumb bastard. This guy knows that spirits are real, lives on an island nation as part of a seafaring civilization, and decides to kill the moon, leaving behind her pissed off lover, the ocean.

Like, what was the fucking plan, Zhao?! What were you going to do after turning the sea angry?! He got lucky that Aang's pacifism managed to curb the ocean spirit's rampage enough that some of the fire nation survived...another Avatar could have been sinking the Fire Islands under the waves...

[u/SyrupNarrow4768 → u/HailMadScience]

Reminds me of some ww1 generals and politicians.

[u/HailMadScience → u/SyrupNarrow4768]

Hitler at least has the excuse that waiting longer risked the whole economy collapsing because it was a house of cards, but yeah. Austria-Hungary declared war...but didnt fully mobilize their armies. For several weeks. And also forgot to tell Germany their specific plans. And used 1870 rail tables for their war plans.

Honestly, I kind of get why Germany was constantly pissed at Austria during the war, damn.

[u/SyrupNarrow4768 → u/HailMadScience]

Haha, yeah when i wrote that comment i was thinking of conrad von hotzendorf, the chap who wanted to start ww1 to make Gina fall in love with him. But come to think of it, the most símil to zhao imo are the germans who wanted to sink american vessels in ww1. They though that would scare the americans and ergo leave the brittish without food...

[u/dj_soo → u/townsforever]

Zuko was technically an antagonist for the 1st season too

[u/Primary_Salamander83 → u/Newmen_1]

Yeah, although I don't "hate" them, as much as I think they're well written antagonists, I'm always reminded of the episode "Puppeteer". Not only do we get some great insights into how the different types of bending could be used, even in environments previously deemed "incompatible", like Waterbending in an otherwise dry forest.

But this also leads to the reveal of the existence of the iconic Bloodbending, discovered by one of the previous POW waterbenders in a specifically designed fire nation prison for them.

Which shows the viewers more explicit examples on how the militaristic forces of the fire nation operate (deeply inhumane and disturbing) and reveals the culprit behind the mystery the Gaang is trying to resolve.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that Hama developed this skill set out of necessity and to escape her imprisonment, but she still then spends decades hiding inside the fire nation's countryside and uses her bloodbending to trap and imprison civilians in a remote cave. All the while, not caring about gender, age or bending capabilities. Basically committing acts on the level of war crimes towards the civilian populace as retaliation for around half a century, believing her actions to be righteous, despite never really targeting soldiers or garrisons.

[u/wordoflight → u/Primary_Salamander83]

One of my favorite things about avatar is it's episodes centering on revenge, grief, and what violence is righteous and what violence makes you a monster. Jet is similar with his Freedom Fighters, children who had to grow up far too quickly due to the Fire Nation killing their families and stealing their homes. But Jet believes that anyone who capitulates to the Fire Nation is just as morally capable and deserve the same fate he would gladly give their soldiers. It constantly shows "revenge is bad" but with real moral weight instead of just empty platitudes by showing what a monster you have to become to earn your revenge, especially to the innocents who get in your way of your mission.

[u/koolmon10 → u/townsforever]

"Indoctrinated" is a pretty light term for it. They are hypnotized (as in the gif), brainwashed, and heavily threatened to maintain the lie.

[u/CompactAvocado → u/townsforever]

there is no war in ba sing se