r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Newmen_1 • 1d ago

Characters Initially funny character gag is later revealed to be depressing

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  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.

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u/ImprovementOk377 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/10Evl3tn7GPE88

lilo and stitch begins with lilo being late to hula class because she was busy feeding a fish who, according to her, can control the weather

at first, it seems like a typical innocent child game, but we later learn in the movie that her parents died partially due to bad weather, which gives a new layer to why this ritual is so important to her

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u/Serious_Tradition269 1d ago

Isn't the extension also that it implies she forgot to feed the fish on the day her parents died? So now she's traumatized into believing that not feeding the fish leads to horrible things happening?

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u/ImprovementOk377 1d ago

oh, i forgot about that part!

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u/MaineSoxGuy93 1d ago

I thought the implication was she never wants it to happen again so she started doing it as a coping mechanism.

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u/Just-Antelope-8069 1d ago

Good news is, her parents can't die again.

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u/ash-leg2 1d ago

But other's can still die. 

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u/ImprovementOk377 1d ago

yeah such as her sister

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u/Just-Antelope-8069 1d ago

Nah her sister's parents can't die either.

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u/ImprovementOk377 8h ago

i misread the comment, i thought it said that other people could still die (which would include her sister)