History Main / DeconstructorFleet

%%** ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' and ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' both deconstruct massive numbers of superhero tropes, the superhero genre in general, as well as other tropes and genres that don't necessarily fall under superhero comics' purview. ''Animal Man'' gets all {{metafiction}}al with its deconstruction, while ''Doom Patrol'' turns more toward UsefulNotes/{{Dada}} (though it doesn't necessarily qualify as DadaComics, at least not as currently described).

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' is a deconstruction of the comics that preceded it. It examines the implications of superheroes existing in a real setting -- specifically, what just one person with superpowers might mean for the world, and what it really takes to be a masked vigilante with no powers capable of making a difference. It was one of the comic books that brought in UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. It also uses superheroes as a vehicle to deconstruct American culture and Cold War international politics.

** The specific story ''Last Stand of the Owl House'' becomes on for the concept of FixFic stories. [[VideoGame/Battlefield2142 1st Platoon]] spend the entire story thinking that simply knowing how Owl House ends and how the characters think, they can save the Boiling Isles with minimal pain. [[Spoiler: They don't.]]

* If there is a trope from any stories in ''FanFic/TheConversionBureau'' sub-genre that has pissed you off and/or confused you, ''FanFic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' and its various canon side-stories have probably skewered through it. Newfoals as defined by [[MisanthropeSupreme Chatoyance]]? They're played up as perpetually smiling {{Extreme Doormat}}s. The xenocidal tendencies of the TCB ponies being played as a good thing? Here, they're [[ANaziByAnyOtherName portrayed almost like Nazis]]. The global effects of Equestria appearing in the ocean? Not actually present in the story, but given a long, ''incredibly'' {{Troperiffic}} monologue about the scientific impossibilities, faithfully reproduced on the fanfic's page and the NoEndorHolocaust page. Why are the Equestrians, including Celestia, so misanthropic? [[spoiler:They've been corrupted by an ArtifactOfDoom that seeks to enslave every living being under its maker's will, and is targeting the humans first because [[DisproportionateRetribution one single human]] defeated said creator in the distant past]]. How would the presence of the Barrier affect food production and standards of living in the world due to the massive displacement of refugees? Most cities on earth, or at least Rio de Janeiro, turn into {{Wretched Hive}}s where food has become so hard to come by that [[spoiler:some [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty have resorted to eating newfoals]]]]. How was a successful version of the potion created? That's difficult to explain without ruining the WhamEpisode, but it's really, really messed up.

* As well as StupidJetpackHitler, ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' deconstructs the common superhero comic depiction of abstract "courage", "will", or "righteousness" as outweighing SuperWeight. Go up against a SuperSoldier who outclasses you, and you ''will'' be rapidly smeared across the landscape.

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', with its observational humor, intersecting plot-lines, non sympathetic protagonists, and the famous RealTime Chinese Restaurant episode kicked off a revolution. Every SitCom that came afterwards owes something to it (to the point that the original now sadly seems [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny clichéd]]).

-->--'''Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe'''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', more so than any other Creator/AdultSwim show and perhaps more than any other example on this page. It has to be -- it's a parody of shows with goody-goody adventuring teens and infallible superheroes. For example, one of the main characters, a parody of WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest, is depicted as a paranoid drug addict as a direct response to being a boy adventurer and hauled off to dangerous countries and nearly killed countless times. The Franchise/ScoobyDoo gang are overexaggerated and their characters combined with well-known real killers -- Shaggy is a useless, psychotic hippie who may or may not be hallucinating Scooby's voice telling him to do evil things, Fred is a dumb, thuggish jock who kidnapped Daphne and keeps her locked up, Daphne is genuinely, completely useless, and Velma is a man-hating, militant feminist lesbian. Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan is depicted as a slave to his job, as his government pay is very low, compared to his debt.

* This fanfic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9043421/1/The-Attempted-Confrontation The Attempted Confrontation]] analyzes an pokes fun at pretty much everything in ''Franchise/LesMiserables'' from plot holes from the musical ([[{{Flanderization}} Javert doing nothing but hunting Valjean]] then [[EpicFail failing to recognize him as Mayor Madeline]], Javert calling Valjean [[YouAreNumberSix "24601"]] even after he would have gotten a new prison number like [[MythologyGag 9340 or something]], etc.), and character flaws of Javert and Valjean that started from the book itself (Valjean blaming himself for things he wasn't directly at fault for, Javert's {{Lawful Stupid}}ity, etc), and turns the whole thing into an epic SnarkToSnarkCombat.

%%** Literally, everything. There's probably more deconstruction happening in a couple given pages of ''The Invisibles'' than in most entire comic book series. It touches on action movie tropes, science fiction tropes, it blends together references to a plethora of literature and film, and a single trade volume alone features stories about voodoo, Aztec mythology, and [[spoiler: an entire issue about the life of a throwaway henchman who gets shot in the first trade]]. By the end of the series it even gets around to deconstructing itself (at least, [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible that's probably what it gets around to]]).

* ''Comicbook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' deconstructs a lot of assumptions about Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Especially assumptions made by Peter Parker. Epitomises the 'near universally hated' part of this trope.
** The Franchise/SpiderMan franchise has always dabbled in this, mostly through the contrast between TheCape and a ClassicalAntihero, but also by considering how superhero tropes would affect someone trying to get through school. It's just gotten more and more pronounced over the years. As one editor summarized it, "Peter Parker's life was [miserable], which every teenager could relate to; once he became Spider-Man, Peter's life got even worse."

** "The Entity" storyline deconstructs CosmicHorror of all things. The titular entity came into existence for reasons unspecified, and proceeded to embody its fundamental trait by assimilating everything into itself. Linkara succeeds in stopping it in its tracks by frankly pointing out that, as a sentient Outer God, if it succeeds at its goal of assimilating all of existence, ''[[AndThenWhat what will it do afterwards]] since [[ArmorPiercingQuestion there will literally be nothing left for it to do afterwards?]]'' This question causes so much inner turmoil for the Entity that it ends up being easy to manipulate it into ''killing itself'' in order to pique its curiosity about what happens if a God dies.

* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' deconstructs a CosmicHorrorStory of all things with "The Entity" storyline. A later storyline deconstructs the idea of the character host and various personality traits that are accepted in comedy because they're PlayedForLaughs, but demonstrates that when not done so, a person like that is horrifying, and even the idea of SeriousBusiness [[spoiler: with the villainous Holokara being willing to outright commit murder to put a stop to the things he doesn't want in the ComicBook industry.]]

** After Santa's health takes a turn for the worse, [[Characters/FamilyGuyStewieGriffin Stewie Griffin]] and [[Characters/FamilyGuyStewieGriffin Stewie Griffin]] agree to deliver presents for him, and this episode takes the typical "Santa slides down the chimney to leave presents for families" trope and kicks in its teeth, turning it into what it really is: a home invasion, in this case mixed with [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown an assault (and possibly even a murder or two) just to keep the witnesses from ratting them out to the police]].

** Finn is flawed and emotionally complex for a kid, and endures severe forms of guilt and helplessness as the series progresses. Whereas most cartoon shows express a child-hero as emotionally invulnerable and better by the next show (given s/he has endured some form of emotional trauma), Adventure Time gives us a more realistic portrait of what happens to a child who quite frequently has the pressure of saving another person's life or even the world for that matter.
** Princess Bubblegum starts off as a classic DamselInDistress, but is slowly revealed to perform questionable deeds, mostly involving her shady experiments. Her attitude towards Finn, while benevolent, leans toward demeaning and borderline ungrateful. By delving deeper into her character, we find out that the love interest is not always perfect, and that the hero doesn't always get the girl.
** Ice King is a major deconstruction of antagonists. Initially, he is supposed to be a run-of-the-mill bad guy. As his layers unfold, however, the show brings to light an antagonist's own inner conflicts, past experiences, and even brings up the question of evil vs crazy, in which the "bad guy" is not necessarily "bad," but... well, screwed up.

** The main character, [=BoJack=] Horseman, isn't an easily likable person. He's {{narcissist}}ic, [[BigEgoHiddenDepths self]]-[[InferioritySuperiorityComplex loathing]], a perpetual [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]], [[WithFriendsLikeThese treats his supposed friends like shit]] yet [[PleaseDontLeaveMe still keeps them out of a sense of loneliness]] and [[TheCynic is quite a depressive]] influence around everybody. Normally, the series would give us a sense of how in spite of that, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he can a be good person underneath]]; while it ''does'' show that, it becomes clearer that the good and bad parts of [=BoJack=] are not different, but may actually come from the same attributes; there's no easy goodness, just a screwed-up [[DynamicCharacter complex character]] who increasingly starts to reveal [[FreudianExcuse some dark explanations]] about why he has become his way and how [[TheAtoner that]] ''still'' [[TragicHero won't excuse him from screwing his, and others', lives up]].

** Adora deconstructs TheChosenOne and ChronicHeroSyndrome. Sure, being She-Ra gives her nice ComboPlatterPowers and makes her what amounts to a demigoddess, but it also plays into her already existing issues from an abusive childhood to make her one ''hell'' of a MartyrWithoutACause. By season 5, she's asked what she wants for herself, and the only thing she can think of is "what's best for Etheria". When she [[spoiler:tries to perform a HeroicSacrifice]], it's framed as an unambiguously bad thing, and the final lesson she has to learn from her SpiritAdvisor is that the world does not rest on her shoulders, and she deserves to have what she wants too.
** Glimmer deconstructs YouAreInCommandNow. After [[spoiler:queen Angella dies at the end of season 3, Glimmer becomes the sole commander of the Princess Alliance]]. Unfortunately, being in command does not magically give her the experience or wisdom needed for such a decision, not to mention the manner in which she was promoted being intensely traumatizing on its own. Throughout season 4, she becomes more and more brutal in her decision, culminating in her ignoring her best friends' advice and ordering them to let her do something ''momentously'' stupid.
** Shadow Weaver deconstructs the HeelFaceTurn. Throughout seasons 3, 4 and 5, she goes through every point on the redemption list; She leaves the bad guys and joins the good guys, becomes a MentorArchetype to one of the heroes, provides them with knowledge and powers that they need to save the day, and ultimately [[spoiler:performs a HeroicSacrifice to save Catra and Adora, her surrogate daughters.]] The thing is, however, that without actual character development, these acts mean nothing; By the time she makes her [[spoiler:sacrifice]], she's still the exact same cruel, manipulative and power-hungry woman she was at the beginning, and one gets the feeling that she intentionally went through this arc to get a redemption without actually caring about putting in the effort of actually being redeemed.
** Catra deconstructs the ArchEnemy. Throughout the show, her villainy is focused solely on spiting Adora, either trying to hurt her or proving that she is better of without her. This is proven to be a very unhealthy attitude that brings her nothing but pain, to the point where she repeatedly gives up chances at success or happiness for the chance at getting back at Adora. By the end of season 4, this has left her at her lowest possible point, completely miserable and [[DeathSeeker happy to let Glimmer kill her]].
** Hordak deconstructs the BigBad. Sure, he's trying to conquer Etheria, but for what purpose? He seems much happier being an EmperorScientist than actually leading his Horde. The happiest we ever see him is when working with Entrapta, who's just as ForScience-inclined as he is. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:he's doing it all for the approval of GreaterScopeVillain Horde Prime, his creator and "Big brother". Thing is, Horde Prime is a [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] [[CompleteMonster monster]] who wants all the universe to consist of a HiveMind of his clones, with him at the top. Nothing Hordak does will ever please Prime, because Hordak's "failure" was existing with independence in the first place.]]

** After Santa's health takes a turn for the worse, Brian and Stewie agree to deliver presents for him, and this episode takes the typical "Santa slides down the chimney to leave presents for families" trope and kicks in its teeth, turning it into what it really is: a home invasion, in this case mixed with [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown an assault (and possibly even a murder or two) just to keep the witnesses from ratting them out to the police]].

!!Some of the [[JustForPun dramatic vehicles]] that make up the Deconstructor Fleet:

** Previous ''Batman'' works have the villains express their insanity in traditional, troperrific ways. The Joker is a walking example of InsaneEqualsViolent, while other villains like Two-Face or Scarecrow have exaggerated mental illnesses (i.e schizophrenia and sadistic personality disorder) as their "gimmicks". In this film, those who suffer from mental illnesses are treated a lot more realistically. In particular, [[spoiler:the Riddler's traditional narcissism transforms him into a vigilante. Instead of lording over others with his intelligence and making comical schemes, Nashton becomes completely obsessed with [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity his war on crime]] to the point of being unable to understand or care about the damage he's causing. The Riddler only ends up losing because his ego causes him to be unable to see the obvious connections between Bruce and the Batman, too convinced in Bruce's supposed arrogance]].

* ''WebOriginal/ThousandWeekReich'' decontructs most of the aspects of AlternateHistoryNaziVictory. With the United Kingdom signing an armistice with Nazi Germany after the failed evacuation of Dunkirk, it allowed the Nazis to narrowly defeat France and the Soviet Union. This leads to the the United States to never declares war on Germany, only in Imperial Japan. The Nazi regime turns out to be a fascist but ineffective struggle to control territory while spreading the Generalplan Ost across Europe. After Hitler's death, his successor led the Reich until he was overthrown in a civil war supported by USA. Outside of Germany, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom united in the Atlantic Union, starting a decade-long Cold War with the Third Reich; Chiang Kai-Shek and the Republic of China still lead the continental China, due to the failure of the Communist Party for the lack of Soviet support.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' is about an ogre who becomes a reluctant KnightInShiningArmor. The structure is that of a typical save-the-princess fairy tale, but with comedy and dramatic reversal added.

** The main character, [=BoJack=] Horseman, isn't an easily likable person. He's {{narcissist}}ic, [[BigEgoHiddenDepths self]]-[[InferioritySuperiorityComplex loathing]], a perpetual [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]], [[WithFriendsLikeThese treats his supposed friends like shit]] yet [[PleaseDontLeaveMe still keeps them out of a sense of loneliness]] and [[TheCynic is quite a depressive]] influence around everybody. Normally, the series would give us a sense of how in spite of that, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he can a be good person underneath]]; while it ''does'' show that, it becomes clearer that the good and bad parts of [=BoJack=] are not different, but may actually come from the same attributes; there's no easy goodness, just a screwed-up [[DynamicCharacter complex character]] who increasingly starts to reveal some dark explanations about why he has become his way and how [[TheAtoner that]] ''still'' [[TragicHero won't excuse him from screwing his, and others', lives up]].

** The side story, ''Calm Before the Storm'', does not shy away from showing just how Equestria would really be ill-equipped to support a massive influx of new residents, topped off with a heaping dose of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome. To put it simply, there are severe food shortages, no adequate infrastructure to support the newfoals coming in, the economy is in shambles, and the prolonged war has slowly unraveled the fabric of society, so much so that only terror, propaganda and the slave exploitation of newfoals are the only things keeping the Solar Empire afloat, and even ''that'' is failing.

* ''Literature/TheTenantOfWildfellHall'' [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome realistically]] and painfully deconstructs AllGirlsWantBadBoys and related tropes that feature prominently in works such as ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' and ''Literature/JaneEyre'', written by the author's sisters.

* The reality series ''Series/CanadasWorstDriver'' is this trope on wheels. Literally. The series slaps on a healthy amount of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome by tackling all the excuses and reasons for bad driving by showing how dangerous it is to be a dangerous driver.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is a deconstruction of both superhero tropes (for example, much of the story is kicked off and motivated by a severe lapsing of [[HeroInsurance Hero Insurance]]), and mid-20th-century family sitcom tropes.

** Fred's knack for trap building is rooted in a subconcious desire to keep others from running away from him, like he believes his mother did.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13600419/1/Rewrite-FateGrand-Order-New-Order Fate Grand Order New Order]]'' Deconstructs many concepts of [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry Potter]] more specifically the ChosenOne, the TricksterMentor and the VigilanteMilitia trope by showing the negative traits with the OC Charles Potter being a SpoiledBrat Dumbledore being a ManipulativeBastard who tries to used Chaldea for his own ends. And most of the Order Of The Phoenix acting very Jerkish and callous towards Harry/Ritsuka.
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