History Main / DoubleSubversion

** A first season episode double-subverts PossessionImpliesMastery -- Zhao notices the swords on the wall of Zuko's cabin and comments that he didn't know Zuko could do swordwork. Zuko contends that he can't, [[OrnamentalWeapon they're just decoration]]. It's later revealed that he ''can'' do swordwork, [[MasterSwordsman and damn well, too]], but was lying in order to [[spoiler:throw off Zhao's suspicions that he's the Blue Spirit]].

* The Oracion Seis arc of ''Manga/FairyTail'' looked like it was subverting AuthorityEqualsAsskicking by [[spoiler:having the leader of the villains, Brain, be defeated easily and the actual strongest member be his son Midnight. Then Midnight went down, and it turned out to be the last key needed to wake up Zero, Brain's SuperpoweredEvilSide...]].

* ''Literature/UnderThePendulumSun'' has this treatment of the trope AlienGeometries in the Faelands.

* At first glance, Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/SnowCrash'' looks like your standard subversion of your typical [[MarySuetopia Randian/Objectivist free market paradise]], but if you really think about it, it's not ''that'' much more dysfunctional than real life and, despite its problems, everything does work out in the end.

* ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFilesNirvanaInitiative'' has one of TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat in the climax. [[spoiler: Tearer set up several things in the event of his death to make sure the Nirvana Initiative went off without a hitch, including some videos to play at the stadium. In it, he predicts several of the heroes' tactics and explains the countermeasures taken to fight them. It is only at the end where he has a tape talking about how he freed humanity after the rocked is destroyed, for the initial subversion. After the final video, Tokiko glitches in to say "Plan... Success..." to further add to this subversion. However, Tokiko's addition isn't talking about the Nirvana Initiative. She planned for it to fail so she could give the player the means to access the GainaxEnding where she escapes the reality of the game to achieve Moksha. While Tearer's plan wasn't a success, ''her plan'' was ultimately successful.]]

* Wiki/TVTropes:

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has [[spoiler:Isshin training Ichigo in the precipice world, letting him learn a DangerousForbiddenTechnique. They could only do this because Aizen destroyed the cleaner that goes through the precipice world. Seems to be NiceJobFixingItVillain, but Aizen said that [[MagnificentBastard he planned that so that Ichigo could become stronger.]] Ichigo [[UpToEleven went even further]], [[PhysicalGod ascending to another state of being]], making his reiatsu undetectable by normal Shinigami and letting him shrug off attacks that would have decimated Isshin or Urahara. NiceJobFixingItVillain indeed.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Neji tells Naruto that he should give up on becoming Hokage because the past Hokage were [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destined to be Hokage]] and Naruto, being a nobody, will never be one [[HardWorkHardlyWorks no matter how hard he tries]]. After Naruto beats him, it seemed like Naruto was [[ScrewDestiny defying fate]] until its revealed that [[spoiler:Naruto is the son of the 4th Hokage and the previous Nine Tails Jinchuriki. [[UpToEleven Taken to the extreme]] when we learn that he is a reincarnation of Ashura, the son of the Sage of Six Paths and his successor. In the epilogue, we see Naruto as the 7th Hokage, and its no surprise that he succeeded. Neji was right after all.]]
* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', [[spoiler:Shuro]] double subverts ScrewThisImOuttaHere. He appears to abandon the party early on, only to come back later and [[spoiler:attempt to rescue Falin]]. When this [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly]] [[CameBackWrong wrong]], he really does leave for good.
* In ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'', it looks like the FemmeFatale Carol is giving Akira MarshmallowHell, but due to her wearing PoweredArmor, his face is just being ground against metal, so Carol lets go. Just when Akira thinks he’s safe, Carol unzips her suit and shoves his head between her bare breasts.

* ''Literature/{{Another}}'': Initially, Kouichi thinks that Misaki is just a normal girl. But after some heavy miscommunication, it appears that Misaki is actually [[spoiler:the girl who died in his hospital ward the week he was in there with a lung ailment, and is haunting the school.]] Except, no. No she isn't. But she does have one thing that sets her apart; [[spoiler: her glass eye can see the color of death.]]

* The Oracion Seis arc of ''Manga/FairyTail'' looked like it was subverting AuthorityEqualsAsskicking by [[spoiler: having the leader of the villains, Brain, be defeated easily and the actual strongest member be his son Midnight. Then Midnight went down, and it turned out to be the last key needed to wake up Zero, Brain's SuperpoweredEvilSide...]].
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': Misa Amane initially subverted the {{wangst}}y, [[NietzscheWannabe nihilistic]] [[LonersAreFreaks Loner]] {{Goth}} stereotype by turning out to actually be a [[PerkyFemaleMinion cheerful]], [[GenkiGirl enthusiastic]] PerkyGoth with a successful career as an actress/model. It's only later that we learn what a [[{{Yandere}} complete]] [[AxCrazy and total]] [[PsychoForHire nutjob]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil she really is]].

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has [[spoiler: Isshin training Ichigo in the precipice world, letting him learn a DangerousForbiddenTechnique. They could only do this because Aizen destroyed the cleaner that goes through the precipice world. Seems to be NiceJobFixingItVillain, but Aizen said that [[MagnificentBastard he planned that so that Ichigo could become stronger.]] Ichigo [[UpToEleven went even further]], [[PhysicalGod ascending to another state of being]], making his reiatsu undetectable by normal Shinigami and letting him shrug off attacks that would have decimated Isshin or Urahara. NiceJobFixingItVillain indeed.]]

** The most notable double-subversion: the protagonist Oz Vessalius is set up as a [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]] and MessianicArchetype prophesied to save the world like his [[{{Reincarnation}} previous incarnation Jack Vessalius,]] [[spoiler: only for it to be revealed later that he's actually [[AntiChrist the key to ending it]]. Then it's doubly subverted when he ends up sacrificing his life to stop TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt anyways.]]
** The character Gilbert's UndyingLoyalty to Oz, which initially was set up to be from his childhood friendship with him, [[spoiler: only to be subverted when Gilbert remembers his old life, realizes he's been brainwashed into loyalty to whoever he calls 'master' and that Oz is actually technically his enemy, and then shoots Oz in the chest. Then it's doubly subverted when Gilbert calms down from his FreakOut, reconciles this fact with himself, and decides to still be loyal to Oz anyways.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Neji tells Naruto that he should give up on becoming Hokage because the past Hokage were [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destined to be Hokage]] and Naruto, being a nobody, will never be one [[HardWorkHardlyWorks no matter how hard he tries]]. After Naruto beats him, it seemed like Naruto was [[ScrewDestiny defying fate]] until its revealed that [[spoiler: Naruto is the son of the 4th Hokage and the previous Nine Tails Jinchuriki. [[UpToEleven Taken to the extreme]] when we learn that he is a reincarnation of Ashura, the son of the Sage of Six Paths and his successor. In the epilogue, we see Naruto as the 7th Hokage, and its no surprise that he succeeded. Neji was right after all.]]

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles The Incredibles]]'' does this with [[spoiler: AIIsACrapshoot. Bob is hired to take out a KillerRobot called the Omnidroid which was highly intelligent and could adapt to and defeat tactics used against it. He was told that the robot had gotten "smart enough that it wondered why it had to take orders". However, it was a lie. The Omnidroid was under the control of the villain Syndrome the whole time, and the whole point of the venture was to either kill Bob or get information from Bob's defeat of the Omnidroid to improve the next version, in preparation for an ultimate version which would be part of Syndrome's plan to set himself up as a hero. The plan was that the Omnidroid would serve as a villain, and Syndrome would show up and defeat it using a remote control. However, [[DidntThinkThisThrough Syndrome neglected to consider the implications]] of the Omnidroid's extremely thorough combat programming. The Omnidroid figured out that Syndrome was using a remote control to fight it, and acted to defeat that tactic and beat Syndrome.]]

* The LiveActionAdaptation of ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' had one with [[ItWasHisSled Racer X's identity.]] [[spoiler: Those familiar with the original show will remember that he's Rex Racer, Speed's older brother. However, the [[TheReveal dramatic unmasking at the end]] shows that Racer X looks completely different from the Rex seen earlier in the [[Film/SpeedRacer film]]. ''But'' it's later revealed that it really IS Rex after all, and he had cosmetic surgery to hide his identity after faking his death, in order to protect his family.]]

* ''Film/{{Thor}}'' does this to TheBigDamnKiss when Thor and Jane lean forward to kiss, only for Thor to pull away and [[IKissYourHand kiss Jane's hand]]. But Jane un-subverts it when [[spoiler: she pulls him into the kiss anyways.]]

* ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' demonstrates a Double Subversion of GasLeakCoverUp. A cop tries to claim the destruction at Kowalski's apartment is the result of a gas leak, only for all the witnesses to berate him and point out the lack of gas's scent. One man steps up to say that they all saw a magical beast cause the destruction, but before he can, Newt casts a spell over all of the witnesses and they suddenly agree that it was a gas leak that caused everything.

** Jerin saves the life of a princess. One might expect him to get a StandardHeroReward, but that's subverted; royals don't marry commoners. [[spoiler: But then, it turns out that Jerin's grandfather was a prince, which makes him a possible option for the princesses. He does not only marry the one he saved, but also the one who saved him, and the whole rest of them (there are ten), but technically, it is still "hero marries princess after saving her".]]

* The novel ''The Dragons of Babel'' subverts the [[RightfulKingReturns the long-lost heir trope]] by having a con man successfully pose as the heir to the throne. [[spoiler: And then the one completely infallible test proves that he really ''is'' the heir to the throne.]]

* ''Literature/{{Nation}}'' double-subverts the ChekhovsGun - or, in this case, axe. Mau is taking part in a tribal RiteOfPassage that involves an axe left in a tree by the last person to do it. He takes the axe, does the ritual, leaves it in the branch for the next guy - and then his island gets hit by a massive storm that kills everyone but him. In the immediate aftermath, the tree drifts by with the axe still stuck in it. He tries to free it again, but fails, and even feels vaguely cheated. [[spoiler: Naturally, he finds it again during his showdown with the villain.]]

* In the first-season ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Bone to Be Wild," an odd alien woman named M'Lee asks Moya's crew to protect her from a hideous monster. Subversion #1: [[spoiler:the monster is a well-spoken scientist named Br'Nee who wanted to warn Moya's crew about M'Lee, who murders people and eats their bones.]] Subversion #2: [[spoiler: Br'Nee is responsible for starving M'Lee's people to death (and kidnapping one of Crichton's friends), and M'Lee was only motivated by extreme hunger]].

* In ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Jack has a heart attack and is rushed to a hospital. When the doctor comes out to speak to Liz, Jack's mother, and Jack's fiance, he's covered in blood. He was at a costume party, and [[spoiler: he was attacked by the host's dog. So he had to stab it.]]

-->'''Future!Ted''': So they watched it again. And again. And again. They watched it over and over that night, until finally... ''[[OneThingLedToAnother [shot of them making out on the couch] ]]'' they stopped watching.

-->'''Guinan:''' If you are going to use this person...
-->'''Picard:''' [[SuddenlyShouting It's not a person, dammit, it's a]] ''[[SuddenlyShouting Borg]]''!
-->'''Guinan:''' If you're going to use this '''[[InsistentTerminology person]]''' to destroy his entire species, you should at least look him in the eye. Otherwise, you might find that decision much harder to live with than you realize.

* ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' double subverts IHaveYourWife. [[GodIsEvil Bhunivelze]] holds Lightning's sister, Serah's, soul hostage so that Lightning will follow his orders to prepare humanity for the end of the world [[spoiler: and become the new Goddess of Death]]. Lightning eventually discovers that he doesn't have Serah at all and decides to kill him for lying to her; however, it's later revealed that Bhunivelze ''does'' have [[spoiler:[[ImpliedLoveInterest Hope's]]]] soul, which forces Lightning to continue doing God's bidding. [[spoiler:At least until she can kill him and save Hope.]]

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' doubly subverts SpoilerTitle in its fourth chapter: "The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood". The premise invoves Guybrush being put on trial, so judging by the title you'd expect the trial goes badly and TheHeroDies. [[spoiler: Except Guybrush is cleared of all charges thanks to a BigDamnHeroes moment from former villain Le'Chuck. Who ''then'' [[WhamEpisode proceeds to kill Guybrush for real at the end of the chapter]], making the SpoilerTitle RightForTheWrongReasons.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheTuringTest'' has audio logs where the rest of the crew accuses TOM, the AI of the mission, of mind controlling them via their implants. Sure enough, Ava, the protagonist, soon enters an area where "YOU ARE BEING CONTROLLED", "DRONE", and "TOM'S SLAVE" is written all over the place. As Ava progresses through this area, the player increasingly loses control over her, drawn along a certain path, their vision glitching out as Ava approaches a Faraday cage which the crew promises will free Ava of TOM's mind control. Typical mind control plot, right? [[spoiler: Wrong! When Ava finally enters the cage, the player's vision cuts out entirely, to be replaced by an overhead camera view of Ava in the cage. TOM wasn't taking control over her - he was *losing* control over her. The player is not playing the game from the point of view of Ava, they're playing the game from the point of view of TOM, the malevolent AI, and have been mind controlling Ava for the entire game up to that point.]]

--> [[spoiler:''"And then I'd suck my own ''[[BigWordShout DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!]]"'']]

-->'''Roger:''' You're going to go to jail, and they're going to take your cherry. Jell-O. Away. In the lunch line. After you're raped.

--> '''Stan:''' Steve, I'm going to motivate you the same way the CIA motivates its assassins. You know, when they have trouble asking out a girl. *clamps an electronic collar around Steve's neck* There. If you don't ask Debbie out in 24 hours, the collar will sense your stress levels and blow up.

** The show later double-subverts a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler: Zuko, after being set up for a turning face since the introduction of his character, fails to complete it in the final episode of the second season by helping his sister Azula capture Aang. Halfway through the third season, Zuko finally turns face by [[CallingTheOldManOut telling off his father]] and vowing to help the Avatar.]]

--> '''Peter:''' Well, they were talking about AIDS.

-->'''Adegast:''' Hmm... I have a quest—
-->'''Luz:''' [excited] A quest?!
-->'''Adegast:''' You didn't let me finish. I have a ''question.''
-->'''Luz:''' Oh...
-->'''Adegast:''' Would you like to go on a quest?
-->'''Luz:''' YES!

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': In the episode "Guys Night 2" the park workers and Thomas get involved in a car chase as they try to help him [[spoiler: hide from the KGB]]. Rigby starts gasping as it looks like the car is approaching two construction workers carrying a giant pane of glass, but they drive past the workers and the camera cuts back to Rigby looking at a text from Eileen. The workers then dropped and broke the glass by accident as they were watching the chase.

--->'''Rick''': You know, if somebody drops the soap, it's going to land on our heads and crush our spines, Morty. You know, it'll be real easy to rape us after that.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' has one in the Season 6 mid-season break episode. The audience expects that a DyingCandle from opening the door to the Saul & Kim apartment will be Lalo, a cartel boss who is currently gunning for Gus Fring as part of some cartel business. It turns out to be Howard, who was just humiliated by Saul & Kim in a totally unrelated RevengeRevealStory. Shortly after a second DyingCandle shot happens and this time it ''is Lalo''. Who walks in, says a few words before executing Howard with a BoomHeadshot.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' has one in the Season 6 mid-season break episode. The audience expects that a DyingCandle from opening the door to the Saul & Kim apartment will be Lalo, a cartel boss who is currently gunning for Gus Fring as part of some cartel business. It turns out to be Howard, who was just humiliated by Saul & Kim in a totally unrelated RevengePlot. Shortly after a second DyingCandle shot happens and this time it ''is Lalo''. Who walks in, says a few words before executing Howard with a BoomHeadshot.

** Alternately, we are first introduced to her as TheDitz. But then, she proves herself to Light, having even the power he doesn't and finding him out by just staying in a hidden place, which would make even Light applaud and making us think we'll have a third {{Chessmaster}} in the show. The twist? She's still TheDitz, [[WhatAnIdiot directly going to his house and having lengthily talks about the Death Note in a non-secure environment]], [[TooDumbToLive telling him the secrets she promised not to which would have kept her alive and less of a tool much longer]], and what not.

* ''Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit 2'' has the Bandit attempt to leave a shipping yard, but Justice blocks his path and holds him at gunpoint. The Bandit then invokes ItWorksBetterWithBullets by tricking him into using up the rest of his bullets. But Justice sees it coming and asks Junior for his gun, subverting the trope. Then Justice attempts to shoot the Bandit with Junior's gun, only to discover it's empty as well. It turns out that when Junior puts bullets in his gun, [[WhatAnIdiot it gets too heavy.]]

* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': An obvious RedShirt has to open his parachute in time to hit a floating platform. At first it seems he doesn't open his parachute in time and misses the platform. It seems like he will pancake himself onto the planet below, but in fact he does manage to open it. ...Only to apparently burn up in the energy beam projected below the platform.

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf' double-subverts FanService in an early anime episode. Ranma takes ClothingDamage which would lead to some nice UnderBoobs. [[GenderBender If he was a girl.]] Then he [[WeaksauceWeakness jumps through a fountain]], activating his GenderBender {{curse}} (which is triggered by [[WeaksauceWeakness cold water]]).

These let a writer have their cake and eat it too: get the trick of a SubvertedTrope, without abandoning the plot-furthering nature of that {{trope}}. It is more frequent when the subverted form of the trope is very common, almost a trope in itself, so the second subversion really does subvert an existing trope.

* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': In chapter 74, Kusuri invites Rentarou to her home to meet her parents. [[spoiler:Rentarou’s harem at this point includes [[AbsurdlyYouthfulMother Hahari]] and [[KissingCousins Chiyo]], and so he expects Kusuri’s mother to be his next girlfriend... but she isn’t. Then at the end of the chapter, Kusuri’s grandmother comes home and—'''''[[LoveAtFirstSight ZING!!]]'''''

** The show's treatment of RememberTheNewGuy falls into this territory. The season two episode [[Recap/RickAndMortyS2E4TotalRickall Total Rickall]] [[JustifiedTrope Justifies]] it with the introduction of telepathic parasites who implant false memories of new people into the host's brains, causing scores of new characters to pop up only for the family to treat them as old friends. Eventually, Morty figures out how to tell the real memories from the fake ones, and he and his family wipe out the parasites. Unfortunately for poor Mr Poopybutthole, he turned out to be a Double Subversion by playing the trope completely straight: he wasn't a parasite, but a new character whom the rest of the cast had apparently known the whole time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overtime}}'', a ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' crossover fangame, double subverts ISurrenderSuckers. If you accept [[spoiler:Dell Conagher]]'s offer of mercy, he lets you go on, and even encourages you to save. Once you continue, however, you'll get killed by [[spoiler:the {{Sentry Gun}}s waiting for you]].

* The ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' crossover fangame ''VideoGame/{{Overtime}}'' double subverts ISurrenderSuckers. If you accept [[spoiler:Dell Conagher]]'s offer of mercy, he lets you go on, and even encourages you to save. Once you continue, however, you'll get killed by [[spoiler:the {{Sentry Gun}}s waiting for you]].

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' crossover fangame ''VideoGame/{{Overtime}}'', if you accept [[spoiler:Dell Conagher]]'s offer of mercy, he lets you go on, and even encourages you to save. Once you continue, you'll get killed by the [[spoiler: Sentry Guns]] waiting for you.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' double subverts a [[{{Troperiffic}} huge slew]] of SuperheroTropes