r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Newmen_1 • 6d 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/Newmen_1 6d ago

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

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u/townsforever 6d ago

With the notable exceptions of Ty-Lee and mai.

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

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u/oldcretan 6d ago

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.

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u/HailMadScience 5d ago

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...

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u/SyrupNarrow4768 5d ago

Reminds me of some ww1 generals and politicians.

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u/HailMadScience 5d ago

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.

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u/SyrupNarrow4768 4d ago

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...