History Main / GenreDeconstruction

Genre-specific subtropes include MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction, {{Capepunk}} (superheroes) and MocksteryStory (detective stories).

See also MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction and {{Capepunk}}.

->"If ''Franchise/StarWars'' is humanist, ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is totalitarian."

See also MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction and {{Capepunk}}. Yes, MagicalGirl series and {{Superhero}}es have so many deconstructions that they need their own pages.

See also MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction and {{Capepunk}}. Yes, MagicalGirl series and {{Superhero}}es have so many deconstructions that [[UpToEleven they need their own pages]].

See also MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction. Yes, MagicalGirl series have so many deconstructions that [[UpToEleven they need their own page]].

* GenreDeconstruction/{{Other}}

* GenreDeconstruction/WebComics

Whilst deconstructing a genre well will change a genre forever (and in extreme cases, [[GenreKiller discredit it entirely]]), please note that [[TropesAreNotBad deconstruction of a genre is not a bad thing]] (Your Mileage May Vary on this of course, despite the given facts). Many famous works credited with revolutionizing their media and genres have been Genre Deconstructions. This is because deconstruction is one of the ways genres can change themselves; flaws are hunted down in the deconstruction and corrected in the following {{reconstruction}}. Deconstruction can also add depth and enhance realism, which in turn assists audiences in [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief suspending their disbelief]].

See also MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction. Yes, MagicalGirl series has so many deconstructions that [[UpToEleven it needs its own page]].

See also MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction.

!!Sub-pages abounding with examples:

Whilst deconstructing a genre well will change a genre forever (and in extreme cases, [[GenreKiller discredit it entirely]]), please note that [[TropesAreNotBad deconstruction of a genre is not a bad thing]] (Your Mileage May Vary on this of course, despite the given facts). Many famous works credited with revolutionizing their media and genres have been Genre Deconstructions. This is because deconstruction is one of the ways genres can change themselves; flaws are hunted down in the deconstruction and corrected in the following {{reconstruction}}. Deconstruction can also add depth and enhance realism, which in turn assists audiences in suspending their disbelief.

Whilst deconstructing a genre well will change a genre forever (and in extreme cases, [[GenreKiller discredit it entirely]])), please note that [[TropesAreNotBad deconstruction of a genre is not a bad thing]] (Your Mileage May Vary on this of course, despite the given facts). Many famous works credited with revolutionizing their media and genres have been Genre Deconstructions. This is because deconstruction is one of the ways genres can change themselves; flaws are hunted down in the deconstruction and corrected in the following {{reconstruction}}. Deconstruction can also add depth and enhance realism, which in turn assists audiences in suspending their disbelief.

Whilst deconstructing a genre (and doing it well) will change a genre forever, please note that [[TropesAreNotBad deconstruction of a genre is not a bad thing]] (Your Mileage May Vary on this of course, despite the given facts). Many famous works credited with revolutionizing their media and genres have been Genre Deconstructions. This is because deconstruction is one of the ways genres can change themselves; flaws are hunted down in the deconstruction and corrected in the following {{reconstruction}}. Deconstruction can also add depth and enhance realism, which in turn assists audiences in suspending their disbelief.

->''"If ''Franchise/StarWars'' is humanist, ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is totalitarian."''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Though it portrays Jesus in a favorable light, ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' is a pretty harsh deconstruction of society's romanticized view of life in the time of Christ, and of biblical stories in general. As it points out, the Romans weren't just cruel oppressors with ZeroPercentApprovalRating -- they did more to improve the Judean people's lives than anyone before them. Conversely, "God's chosen people" had criminal justice that could be just as brutal and unfair as the Romans', and they were never a noble LaResistance -- they spent more time getting involved in petty squabbling amongst themselves than they did resisting the Romans. And in any case, having a cult of devoted followers who expect you to solve all of their problems isn't nearly as cool as you would think. And getting betrayed by your friends and "sacrificing" yourself on the cross? It's only inspiring '''''when it's not happening to you!'''''
* JidaiGeki films underwent an increasingly cynical Deconstructionist phase during the 1960s that arguably led to the genre going out of vogue for a good deal of the 1970s:
** ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}''
** ''Sanjuro''
** ''Samurai Assassin''
** ''The Sword of Doom''
** ''Hari-kiri''
* Similarly, {{Western}}s in the 1960s went through [[SpaghettiWestern a deconstructionist phase]]:
** ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' -- a remake of ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', although ''Yojimbo'' was an adaptation of Creator/DashiellHammett's ''Literature/RedHarvest''
** ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore''
** According to WordOfGod, ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' was intended as a swipe at classic {{Western}} movies. Its violence was, for the time, gratuitous; and while stylish, was uncomplicatedly so -- an attempt by [[SergioLeone Leone]] to remind the viewer of what kind of men really were in the Wild West. The torture sequence is legitimately brutal, and accompanied by SoundtrackDissonance. As for the character of Blondie (The Good), he's both significantly more fleshed out (and, as a result, less invincible) than he was in the previous two ''[[DollarsTrilogy Dollars]]'' movies, showing tenderness, affection and pain; and yet the title 'The Good' draws attention to what a bastard he is (performing the kind of actions that were [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality fairly standard in Westerns at the time]]). The two times his title pops up on screen, it's after he's been a particularly MagnificentBastard (delivering a BondOneLiner to someone he's abandoning in the desert, and pretending to hang someone for his own personal amusement). Of course, [[MisaimedFandom it's considered the archetypical Western nowadays]], probably because it's just so good.
*** [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim "If you're gonna shoot, shoot.]] [[TalkingIsAFreeAction Don't talk."]]
** ''Hang 'Em High''
** ''TheWildBunch'' -- JohnWayne is said to have complained that this film "killed the Western".
*** Even though it kinda started with ''TheSearchers'', in which Wayne's hero is unabashedly racist towards Native Americans - even toward his own adopted nephew, who is one-eighth Cherokee.
**** He's still the hero in that movie, however, while his Comanche counterpart dies shamefully. And he's really no more racist than many of the other characters. What really makes him frightening is that he's both racist ''and'' insane.
** ''HighPlainsDrifter''
** ''ElTopo''
** ''Django''
** Worthwhile deconstructions later on include RobertAltman's ''McCabeAndMrsMiller'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Film/DeadMan''.
** ''RustlersRhapsody'' is a parody and deconstruction of the singing cowboy westerns such as those with Roy Rogers.
** ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' is a particularly sharp deconstruction of American westerns, but also of the {{spaghetti western}}s that Clint Eastwood himself starred in. In particular, the portrayal of the main character shows how an [[TheAce ace gunfighter]] might have lived out his later years. His character progression also goes in reverse, unraveling into his former state to undo the character development he's acquired. Many standard conventions of westerns are also subverted, including the quickdraw contest, the hooker with the heart of gold, and the triumphant ride into the sunset. The scenes with the dime novel author are dedicated to exposing the falsehoods of the folklore surrounding the "wild west".
* ''Film/TheTrumanShow'' is a deconstruction of RealityTV. Oddly enough, ''before'' (1998) the huge proliferation of Reality TV in the 2000s took place, although they had certainly existed for some time by then.
* ''LawAbidingCitizen'' is basically a movie about a SuperVillain, including [[spoiler:his EvilPlan failing because of what, in most comics, would be an entirely mundane detail, probably not even mentioned.]]
* ''FunnyGames'' is intended as a [[PostModernism Post Modernist]] deconstruction of {{Gorn}} and horror films by presenting it in the most bare-bones and [[{{Squick}} disturbing]] way possible. The whole film forces the viewer to examine ''why'' they are watching the film and being entertained by it. A number of scenes play with audience expectations, flatly telling the audience what they want to see and either giving it to them or denying it to them based on the whim of the author. One particularly taunting scene features [[spoiler:the female victim managing to gun down one of the attackers, only for this triumphantly cathartic moment to be snatched away as the other attacker ''rewinds'' the film and undoes it.]]
* ''TheGunsOfNavarone'' deconstructs the "crack military team sent behind enemy lines" genre, what with the characters questioning the morality of the means they use to complete the mission or even the mission's relevance.
** Mallory is perfectly aware that the steps he takes to complete the mission are often immoral.
** Miller's deadpan snarking is his only defense to the madness of war.
** "Butcher" Brown has post-traumatic stress and is unable to kill enemy soldiers, putting the entire team at risk.
* ''TheElementOfCrime'' deconstructs FilmNoir (a genre already quite dark and cynical) by pushing some of the tropes to their limits, and by turning the others on their head (thus, the PrivateEyeMonologue becomes a dialogue between the detective and his therapist, and the DeliberatelyMonochrome is achieved by lighting all the sets with only street lamps), and yet ''still'' manages to be a {{Homage}} rather than a {{Parody}}.
** ''NightMoves'' (1975) is another noir deconstruction. Gene Hackman plays Harry Moseby, a pro football player-turned-private investigator. He asks a lot of questions, but rarely gets straight or complete answers. He sees a lot of things, but they're usually obscured by distance or obstacles (such as windows or screen doors) or seen only on an incomplete filmstrip. He both literally and figuratively spins in circles during the movie, and ends (as does the audience) knowing who the bad guys were but not why any of it happened. On another level the film is a deconstruction of the entire idea of American masculinity in the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam era; Harry's glory days are behind him, and he does what he does not because he's any good at it, or because he particularly enjoys it, but because he simply doesn't know what else to do.
* Creator/MNightShyamalan presented a deconstruction of SuperHero stories with ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}''. The main character [[HowDoIShotWeb has no idea about the nature of his powers or about how he should use them]]. Even better, [[VillainsActHeroesReact the one who teach him how to use them is the]] [[spoiler: {{Villain}} ]].
* To a certain extent, the 2006 Film/JamesBond film ''Film/CasinoRoyale'' deconstructs earlier Bond films, and Martini-style SpyFiction in general, through features such as a conversation mocking the DoubleEntendre names of previous Bond girls, [=LeChiffre's=] comment about preferring simpler methods of torture to the {{Death Trap}}s endemic to the series, having Bond respond "Do I look like I give a damn?" when asked how he wants his martini, and generally treating his profession as an assassin more literally. At least some of these features were present in the original novels, making the film something of a Reconstruction as well.
** His CowboyCop attitude is scrutinized more ruthlessly and his interactions with his allies sometimes prove fatal for them.
** Bond movies have always had a tension in the character of Bond, between "flashy guy with clever lines, cool toys, and beautiful women", and "he's an assassin." ''Film/CasinoRoyale'' and its sequel, ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', push the dial almost all the way towards the "assassin" element, but it was present in most of the earlier Bond films (particularly the Timothy Dalton films).
* ''Film/BattlesWithoutHonorAndHumanity'' (Jingi Naki Tatakai) is a deconstruction of the {{Yakuza}} films popular in Japan around the same time, which tended to portray the Yakuza as a chivalrous, honorable organization of BloodBrothers. In the film, besides the main character, they're money-grubbing, backstabbing, treacherous, and vicious. Every vow of brotherhood or loyalty has been violated and the time-honored traditions of the Yakuza seem ludicrous, outmoded, or just plain crazy. The name of the film demonstrates this -- "Jingi" is the term for the Yakuza code of honor.
* ''TheWrestler'' is a deconstruction of sports movies in which the fallen and ailing sporting hero's RedemptionQuest is to triumph against physical adversity and win a big bout against an old rival, which thus asolves his current problems and allows him to move on with their lives with renewed success and appreciation from the fans. Here, what would be the subject of such a quest in such movies -- a big reunion bout with his main rival in the past -- in fact isn't; Randy's ''real'' RedemptionQuest is to build a new life for himself outside of the ring by fixing things with his estranged daughter and find love with Cassidy, the stripper with whom he has fallen in love. [[spoiler: He ultimately fails at both, and the fact that he enters the big bout is in fact a symbol of his failure in this; although he wins the bout, it's strongly implied that his heart problems means that the effort killed him in the process. In addition, his victory was inevitable, as all wrestling duels are shown to be [[{{Kayfabe}} scripted]], and Randy is a still-beloved AllAmericanFace who just can't lose.]]
** Not only that, but there is no real animosity between Randy and his old rival, The Ayatollah. The people he has real problems with are those outside the ring. In fact, [[spoiler: The Ayatollah tries to help Randy when he realizes that something is wrong with him.]]
* ''EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'' deconstructs Romance movies by having nearly the entire movie take place after the honeymoon period of a new relationship when things start to fall apart. In fact, the thesis of the movie is effectively "romance can be so horrible that you will want to have your memory erased [[spoiler: but when you add it all up, they're probably worth the angst]]".
* Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance" trilogy, which includes ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance'', ''Film/{{Oldboy}}'', and ''Film/SympathyForLadyVengeance'' is very much a deconstruction of the revenge film. This is most true in the first film, in which all the violence committed only leads to further despair.
* ''{{Pleasantville}}'' deconstructs the stereotypical 1950s ''LeaveItToBeaver'' style sitcom, and with it the whole phenomenon of 1950s nostalgia; it starts off as a typically wholesome, innocent and carefree place (especially when contrasted to the 1990s, a lengthy opening montage reeling out all the social problems seemingly endemic since the 1950s), but the introduction of colour into the black-and-white environment gradually peels things back to reveal the stifling and repressed attitudes towards race, gender and sexuality seething under the surface, and the social problems of the decade that such nostalgia frequently overlooks.
** The movement to stop the spread of color in Pleasantville is analogous to [=McCarthyism=].
*** The movie is a double deconstruction as the 90's free spirit girl is shown to be just as one dimensional, in that she never really cares for anything, and only when she does can she be part of a fully realised world.
* Both ''Film/TheLongGoodbye'' and ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' are deconstructions of film noir, specifically Creator/RaymondChandler's Literature/PhilipMarlowe stories, although ''Lebowski'' is also [[DeconstructiveParody played for laughs]]. In both films, the protagonist is more or less a loser who lives by himself and comes to the wrong conclusion at the end of the case, but it's not a big deal since it never really mattered in the first place.
* The film ''ShinKamenRiderPrologue'' is arguably one for the ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series, showing a much more realistic and gruesome look at the themes of forced genetic engineering, {{Phlebotinum Rebel}}lion, and giant bug people that were present through the franchise's Showa era.
* Whereas ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' was ClintEastwood's deconstruction of westerns, ''GranTorino'', which came out about a decade and a half later, is his deconstruction of his other big genre, the [[VigilanteMan urban vigilante film]].
* ''Film/{{Gamer}}'' is a particularly nasty deconstruction of {{First Person Shooter}}s and [[SimulationGame social simulators]] like ''VideoGame/TheSims'', with ''actual people'' being [[AndIMustScream controlled by players as avatars for the games]].
** The "Society" game is a very sickening take on {{Rule 34}} and ''SecondLife'' due to the above reason.
* ''TheFinal'', a 2010 indie horror film, kills two birds with one stone by deconstructing both the "nerds get revenge on the bullies" plot and the "psycho classmate" plot. The outcasts don't want the simple comical revenge that so many such teen movie protagonists desire -- they actually want the bullies to suffer ([[ColdBloodedTorture through torture]]) [[PayEvilUntoEvil the way they've been made to suffer throughout their school years]]. The "psycho classmates" are not simple outcasts with your average FreudianExcuse -- it's implied they were generally good people whose crappy home lives, coupled with years of abuse from the bullies, turned them into the dark characters they are in the film. Indeed, they try to make sure that Kurtis, a friend who was nice to them, doesn't go their "[[NastyParty party]]," and they don't torture people who didn't actively abuse them. The film then takes another deconstruction of the bullies themselves -- Bridget, the AlphaBitch's best friend, tries to reach out to one of the outcasts, and gets offered a chance to save herself if she tortures one of her classmates. [[spoiler:The stereotypical Libby would've gladly taken up the offer, but she refuses and is punished for it.]] The film cleverly shows that [[BlackAndGrayMorality neither the bullies nor the outcasts are all that good]].
* RebelWithoutACause deconstructs TeensAreMonsters films so prevalent in the 50's.
* "''Stahlnetz''" ("Steel Net") , a German series of MadeForTV crime movies, deconstructs PoliceProcedural. The officers. are people with their own problems and shortcomings, far from being neatly divided into squeaky clean and corrupt bastards. The criminals are also realistic, many being bullied, pushed or outright coerced into crime while still being definitely bad people, whereas other are {{Complete Monster}}s, despite looking like ordinary people on the outside. Victims also come with their share of problems, some being an AssholeVictim, others being [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished punished for being nice]]. The police solves cases through hard work, including setbacks, rather than beating half the underworld. And despite each film finishing with the crime resolve and criminals caught, the realistic portrayal of both the criminals and victims means most films have a BittersweetEnding, if not a [[DownerEnding Downer]]. (Ironically the only story with (relatively) HappyEnding is also the most brutal of all).
* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'' is a rather bitter deconstruction of the popular John Hughes style teen movies at the time. The bad boy the heroine lusts after is actually a disturbed psycho who lures the heroine into his scheme to murder the popular kids and he even tries to [[spoiler: blow up the school and pass it off as a group suicide.]] She isn't happy to be part of the popular kids and it's actually that which makes her want to murder them. Also the GirlPosse aren't the cookie cutter bad guys with one of them being bulimic and sick of being a butt monkey while another genuinely contemplates suicide.
* ''MightyJoeYoung'' (at least the 1998 version) deconstructs ''Film/KingKong''. The ape isn't an island-dwelling monster, but an otherwise normal African gorilla with extreme giantism. The female lead has more in common with Dian Fossey then the screaming damsel in distress of ''Kong''. And when Joe finally does go on his "rampage" it's because he's confronted with the poacher that killed his mother.
* ''{{Scanners}}'' sets up a fairly standard [[TheHerosJourney Hero's Journey]], as [[TheHero Cameron Vale]], blessed with PsychicPowers, is sent by wise old [[{{Mentor}} Dr. Paul Ruth]] to defeat Ruth's former pupil, [[BigBad Darryl Revok]], who also has PsychicPowers. Vale befriends a WhiteHairedPrettyGirl, Kim Obrist, who can help him infiltrate Revok's organization. Not unsurprisingly, it is revealed that both Cameron and Darryl are the two sons of Paul. With us so far? And then Darryl [[LampshadeHanging points out]] what kind of father would abandon his sons like that, and weaponize one against the other, and, indeed, [[GuineaPigFamily would test a potentially dangerous new drug on his pregnant wife]], thus making Cameron and Darryl psychic in the first place. "[[CallingTheOldManOut That was Daddy.]]" Also, the psychic stuff is [[BlessedWithSuck disgusting and creepy]]: scanning is presented not as a graceful and mystical power, but as a painful and unpleasant "[[BodyHorror merging of two nervous systems]]". The process is as unpleasant for the the person being scanned (who suffer from headaches and nosebleeds at best, and can have their hearts stopped and heads exploded at worst) and the scanners themselves who suffer severe social and psychological side effects from hearing other peoples thoughts (the main character starts the movie homeless, and another scanner murdered his family when he was a child). Ruth's dream of a scanner utopia turn out to be NotSoDifferent from Revok's scanner-supremacy idea, as observed by Vale. Meanwhile, Cam and Kim never fall in love, as would be expected, because they're too scared for their lives.
* The 1991 film ''TheDarkBackward'' contains an animated sequence that deconstructs the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoons: Tom's CaptainErsatz gleefully pursues Jerry's, hatchet in hand, and then cuts him in half with it (guts spill); then Spike's CaptainErsatz appears and blows the cat's brains out (literally) with a shotgun. The main character's mother laughs out loudly at this scene.
* The 2008 movie ''{{JCVD}}'' is a deconstruction of Jean-Claude Van Damme himself, as an out-of-luck delusional actor as opposed to the real-life moderately successful actor. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JCVD Read the synopsis here.]]
* One could argue that the first live action ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' movie deconstructed the gang's main quirks. In the cartoon, Daphne often became the DesignatedVictim, but took it in stride, even cracking a quip about it occasionally. In the movie, however, she openly despises the fact that she's "always the damsel in distress", and this combined with the fact that she blames it on the "incompetence" of the others makes her the most bitter and reluctant to get the gang back together. Velma was always [[TheSmartGuy the smart girl]], but the movie portrays her as an under-appreciated InsufferableGenius. Fred was the de facto leader of Mystery Inc, and as such was often the voice of reason. The movie shows him as a literal OnlySaneMan who struggles to keep the conflicting personalities of the team from getting out of hand. Surprisingly, Shaggy and Scooby are actually almost identical to their cartoon incarnations but in the second movie, they become deconstructed as well; Their cowardly and clumsy behaviour causes the team to see them as a burden, and when they found it out, they try their hardest to improve themselves. Of course, it ends up bad and when the team is exiled from their hometown, Shaggy's self-esteem is at rockbottom.
** Also the first movie shows how much the gang are willing to tolerate [[TheScrappy Scrappy Doo]]. Not one bit.
* The Milla Jovovich version of ''JoanOfArc'' plays out the way the true story went until she is captured by the English, at which point it deconstructs the entire mythology surrounding Joan of Arc.
* ''SaturdayNightFever'' harshly deconstruct America's hedonistic take on life in TheSeventies. Sure, there were beautiful clothes, music, and lots of dancing, but there was a dark side to the life led by such people Tony and his friends. For example, Tony, who turns to hedonism as a way to cope with his own life as a low-class Brooklyn guy with a ''really'' DysfunctionalFamily, has no thought for the future (and the culture as a whole didn't either), and his friends are involved with [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll drugs, drinking, and casual sex]] which does cause them huge problems.
* ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', of course, was a deconstruction of the slasher horror film genre, with almost all of its characters being GenreSavvy and [[DiscussedTrope talking about what would happen next if this were a slasher film.]] This was done so successfully that "deconstructing the slasher genre" became a genre of its own.
* Before VisualNovel/SchoolDays, ''The Beguiled'' (starring ClintEastwood) showed why taking advantage of a bunch of ready and willing teenage girls is a bad idea.
* The 2003 adaption of ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' deconstructs a lot of elements found in Comic books adaptions. Due to his vigilante lifestyle, Matt is in extreme pain from fighting, nurses multiple broken bones and nasty scars on his body, munches down painkillers regularly, he is frequently absent from work, he refuses to handle guilty or dishonest clients at his law firm, his super senses make it impossible for him to sleep out of a sensory depravation tank and he is dealing with a wreck of a personal life. Which is to say nothing of the fact that the poor guy is so miserable and downbeaten by life he can barely muster the energy to keep going.
* ''Film/{{Troy}}'' deconstructed the TrojanWar.
* ''SevenSamurai'' deconstructed the samurai mythos. Samurai aren't allowed to change occupations so they sell their services or (like the bandits) resort to crime.
* ''Film/SnowWhiteATaleofTerror'' deconstructs the original fairytale characters and especially the Disney film. Claudia starts out as a loving woman who wants to bond with her new stepdaughter, but Lilli shies away from her and that ends up leading to Claudia's FaceHeelTurn. Also, the miners aren't cheerful dwarves, but outcasts from the kingdom.
* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' [[NotADeconstruction does not actually deconstruct]] the Zombie Apocalypse genre. The fact that the zombies aren't actually dead but rather infected with a "rage virus" that takes hold instantly (preventing the token Zombie Infectee) and runs don't change the fact that the film follows the typical tropes of a Romero zombie-flick: A small group of survivors trying to adapt to thier new world and other humans being a much more dangerous threat than the zombies.
** Quentin Tarantino critizied director Danny Boyle for claiming to not have been inspired by Romero for those reasons, noting the similarites between the last act of 28 Days Later and Day of the Dead.
* ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' deconstruct {{Kaiju}} monsterflicks by instead of focusing on the monster pounding other monsters' faces in or wrecking the military, you're given the perspective from ordinary people trapped in the crossfire... which makes one realize how horrific the bog-standard giant-monster movie plot would be if it really happened.
* One could say that ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' deconstructs {{Dystopia}} sci-fi. The hero is WrongGenreSavvy and his efforts to free himself ends badly.
* The StarWars Prequel Trilogy can be viewed as a Deconstruction of the Original Trilogy. The OT was standard Space Opera with all it's Tropes played straight, but the PT is far more morally complex and ambiguous. In the Episode III every victory the heroes had in the previous 2 films (And for the first part of that one) was in fact the villain's plan all along. And Anakin becomes a near perfect deconstruction of the MessianicArchetype. ObiWon's bold statement of "Only the Sith Speak in Absolutes" is the exactly opposite of what the everything else in the film depicts about the nature of the Sith and Jedi and their worldviews.
* ''Film/EasyRider'' deconstructs the biker genre.
* ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'' is one for HillbillyHorrors, featuring the rural hicks as the heroes and the college kids as the villains. However, it's also a partial {{Reconstruction}}, since [[spoiler:Chad, the actual villain of the movie is revealed to actually ''be'' an evil hillbilly who turns into a crazed killer by the end. He just doesn't stereotypically look like one. His origin story, in which his crazy hillbilly father raped his mother (resulting in his conception), is a straight example.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* {{Exalted}} deconstructs a lot of typical fantasy tropes. You are not the beloved chosen of an [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] [[TopGod sky-father god]], you are an autonomous hunter-killer weapon built to kill the creators of the world and left to run amok. You are not in charge because it is your divine right to rule or because good always prevails, but because you're the most badass autonomous hunter-killer weapon around and you killed/dominated/enslaved/subverted all the competition. You win not because you're morally right, or because you believe with all your heart, you win because you have power, you use it intelligently and you're awesome: you can always define yourself as morally right afterwards, when you gain your own personal OmniscientMoralityLicense and propaganda machine set up.
* TabletopGame/UnknownArmies is this for UrbanFantasy, by pointing out the various issues with human nature that would come up if the supernatural really existed in the modern day world. Violence, insanity, tragedy and anti-social behaviour is common in the occult underground.
** By the one of the same authors, John Tynes, [[http://johntynes.com/revland2000/rl_powerkill.html Power Kill]] is a brutal takedown of ''the entire medium'' of Tabletop RPGs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* StephenSondheim's ''IntoTheWoods'' spends its first act as simply a retelling of the stories of "JackAndTheBeanstalk", "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", and "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", all tied together with the story of a baker and his wife who are cursed with infertility unless they can procure certain items from all four. In the end it looks like everyone's gotten what they want and is happy, but suddenly the narrator announces "To be continued!" Act two begins with the idea that the giant was just minding his own business when Jack came up the beanstalk and killed him, and just builds from there into an incredibly brutal AnyoneCanDie deconstruction of fairy tales.
* ''{{Hamlet}}'' has been read as a massive deconstruction of Elizabethan revenge dramas (although most of them end in tears for everyone). ''Measure for Measure'' might do the same for comedies. The whole thing is a source of much debate.
** ''RomeoAndJuliet'' can be read as a deconstruction of the idea that "LoveAtFirstSight" can exist, since Romeo and Juliet's attraction is implied to be purely superficial, more to do with lust than love, and brings nothing but tragedy to everyone around them (and, of course, themselves). Again, [[TakeItToTheForums it's debatable]].
* ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' plays much like any of GilbertAndSullivan's other operas, except the DeusExMachina never shows up, so everybody gets married to the wrong person.
* ''MButterfly'' is a deconstruction of the Western fantasy of [[MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow getting with an Asian chick]] in general, and Puccini's opera ''MadameButterfly'' in particular.
* ''AStreetcarNamedDesire'' did not deconstruct any genre in particular, but it did deconstruct gender roles, physical relationships, and the American system of social classes in a rather harsh way.
* OlderThanFeudalism: {{Euripides}}' ''Trojan Women'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed TheTrojanWar as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Homeric tradition. In general, his tragedies are regarded as more "modern" than those of his predecessors because of their morally ambiguous protagonists, pervasive sense of [[{{Wangst}} anxiety and despair]], religious skepticism and overall portrayal of mythologycal subjects and characters as real people.
* The musical ''{{Urinetown}}'' has the downtrodden people fighting to overthrow the oppressive system that heavily taxes and regulates their bathroom usage during a worldwide massive drought. They succeed, but [[spoiler: they are so caught up in the "freedom" that they don't control themselves at all and end up effectively squandering all the remaining water.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* When it opened in 1967, the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' boat ride at [[DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] was intended to be a deconstruction of the romanticized, swashbuckling [[{{Pirate}} Type 2 Pirate]] that was popular during TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. While still pretty lighthearted as far as deconstructions go, it does feature a pirate ship attacking a small Caribbean town, pirates dunking the mayor in the well in order to get information out of him, pirates auctioning off women, pirates chasing women, and pirates getting drunk and burning down the town... all of which is PlayedForLaughs. The final show scene in the attraction shows a few pirates in an armory drunkenly firing at gunpowder barrels, which they mistake for rum barrels. "Dead men tell no tales", indeed.
** Conversely, the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies (which were loosely based on the ride) serve as a {{Reconstruction}} to the romanticized, swashbuckling Type 2 Pirate that the original attraction had denounced.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* VideoGame/ChronoCross deconstructs time travel by going into detail about [[FridgeHorror what happens]] [[AFateWorseThanDeath to the people who live in erased timelines]], as a result of the actions of the characters from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and Serge's death [[spoiler: or rather, survival. The alternate timeline is the one in which he lives, Home]].
* While the first two ''Franchise/MetalGear'' games played everything fairly straight, the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series is intended as a deconstruction of action movies (and, to a lesser extent, video games), twisting tropes common to them around in extremely horrible ways to establish how damaged everything and everyone would have to be for an action movie scenario to work in the real world. By the second game it's way out into the nastiest parts of the DeconstructorFleet territory, shamelessly attacking fandom, the video game industry, the expectations of fans and even its own prequel and characters. Some would argue it goes a bit too far, to the point where it feels very painful to play a game which clearly hates you so much.
** The setup of the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is simple; a terrorist attack on a government nuclear warhead disposal facility occurs and a legendary mercenary is brought back to stop it. However, all the characters are unbelievably screwed up, ''precisely by the character traits that they'd plausibly need in order to do what they do'', and the plot gets very complicated very quickly. Unfortunately, [[MisaimedFandom not all members of the fandom saw the deconstruction; they instead thought the game was the ultimate action film and wanted to be Solid Snake.]]
---> '''Snake, [[spoiler: in the ending where Meryl dies]]:''' I'm a loser. I'm not the hero you thought I was! I'm nothing!
** The aforementioned MisaimedFandom [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor got precisely what it wanted]] with ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', which deconstructed the way people related to the first game. So, [[IJustWantToBeBadass you want to be just like Solid Snake, huh?]] You get to play as a [[ThisLoserIsYou player proxy character]] that, like Snake, is an emotionally crippled BadAss with buckets of blood on his hands and [[BloodKnight a killer instinct]]. Unfortunately, your girlfriend is an [[NeverLiveItDown exceedingly whiny bitch that calls you in the middle of your mission to discuss your lack of emotional warmth]], the only way you could've acquired these oh-so-BadAss skills is TrainingFromHell that you have repressed the memory of, and indeed your desire to be just like Snake is going to be granted [[spoiler: via a mind-control experiment that the entire game's sequence of events is]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' applied the same approach (if much less viciously than in [=MGS2=]) to [[SpyFiction spy]] films such as JamesBond and (to a lesser extent) action films like ''{{Rambo}}''. Most of the usual tropes are there -- beautiful BondGirl [[spoiler:[[DoubleAgent who is actually a spy for the enemy]]]], the FakeDefector, the Soviet scientist defecting to the U.S. and so on. Most are unexpected plot twists, all are horribly tragic, and all combine to make the protagonist into the biggest villain in the series.
*** It should be noted that, except for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', the series was somewhat affectionate in its dismantling of said tropes. At the end of the day, the heroes find a reason to justify their personal suffering and the battles they just fought.
** Finally, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' raises the question of what exactly happens to {{action hero}}es after the action movie ends. The choices that are presented are dying in a blaze of glory, suicide, or falling into obscurity.
** [=MGS4=] explores the concept of the BadassGrandpa. Snake's willingness to fight in spite of his advanced physical age isn't solely depicted as being admirable but also as being foolish and suicidal, people who idolized Snake back in the day patronize him and treat him as a burden, and in general Snake's age is the subject of cruel jokes. In fact, Snake's lifebar is changed to ''Old Snake'' to emphasize this.
* If Metal Gear Solid and later games in the series dealt with action and spy movies, then {{Policenauts}} tackled fiction that involved space travel and space colonization such as {{Gundam}}. It is shown, said, or suggested in the game that there are issues with overcrowding, assorted denizens are on medications that are of dubious legality, said denizens need to be careful when it comes to their calcium intake, and that humans born and raised on Beyond Coast are taught to act differently from earth born humans to the point there are accents for both of them. And there's even more than all of that, such as how living in a space colony affects sex working. Ultimately, the {{Big Bad}} basically says in the {{Motive Rant}} that humanity in the universe of Policenauts was not ready to leave Earth, especially seeing as how the Earth's problems still hadn't been properly dealt with, and the player might very well agree with that. As an article on {{Hardcore Gaming 101}} [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/policenauts/policenauts.htm puts it]]:
-->"Of course, just as ''Metal Gear Solid'' was screaming "[[NuclearWeaponsTaboo NUKES ARE BAD]]" at the top of its lungs, the prevailing theme in ''Policenauts'' is "[[{{Anvilicious}} SPACE IS BAD]]", which is pounded into your head on several occasions."
* It is quite plausible to read ''HalfLife'' as a deconstruction of the [[TropeCodifier archetypal]] FirstPersonShooter ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. The basic premise is essentially the same; an experiment into teleportation technology [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]] and creates a dimensional rift through which monstrosities invade our world. Additionally, there is very little plot exposition (just like the original ''Doom''!). But whereas ''Doom'' played this incident as [[IJustWantToBeBadass a wonderful way to demonstrate one's masculine virility by filling demons full of lead]], ''HalfLife'' shows you exactly how frightening this kind of situation would be in the real world. You must scramble to stay alive, think and ''not'' act like a stereotypical SpaceMarine in order to remain breathing. Additionally, while ''Doom'' had almost no plot exposition whatsoever, ''HalfLife'' frustrates the player with its ''lack'' of explicit exposition, demonstrating just how terrifying it would be to be stuck in a life-threatening situation with absolutely no information about it.
* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' deconstructs the more cerebral, RPGElements-gifted and EmergentGameplay style of FirstPersonShooter games (such as ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' and ''VideoGame/SystemShock'') by showing you exactly how much choice you actually have. [[spoiler:None. During the entire game you are essentially on the leash of MissionControl and the ButThouMust demands it makes of you, and all the choices you can make (ammo types, plasmid loadout, etc) are (with one specific exemption) basically meaningless in terms of the game's plot.]] It's especially heavy on deconstructing the idea of how players blindly follow the orders they're given, even by someone they've never met, without considering the consequences. In addition, [[DeconstructedTrope several other tropes unrelated to the genre are deconstructed as well]], most famously the concept of "Galt's Gulch" from Creator/AynRand's novel ''AtlasShrugged''.
** WordOfGod is that they weren't trying to deconstruct Objectivism ''per se'', more that they where trying to deconstruct the idea of Utopian fiction (showing that human nature always gets in the way of any so-called "perfect society") as well as the idea of the {{Ubermensch}} with the antagonists Andrew Ryan and Sofia Lamb (who runs a collectivist society in ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock 2}}'').
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' starts with a fairly common [[ExcusePlot paper-thin puzzle game plot]] -- make it through all nineteen Test Chambers of [[DeathCourse the Enrichment Center]], and ThereWillBeCake. However, as the danger level climbs, the explanations you're given for why you're facing such dangers go from slightly unusual to downright insane -- then stop altogether. The entire set looks like you're a subject in a deranged Skinner Box experiment. And you start seeing evidence that previous test subjects have suffered nervous breakdowns, been driven to madness, or tried to break out of the test chambers. And then comes TheReveal at the end of Test Chamber 19. You've got an ExcusePlot played for horror. And [[PlayedForLaughs for]] [[BlackComedy laughs.]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars: [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Knights of the Old Republic 2]]'' has all of the standard RPG conventions; you recruit party members who follow you forevermore, an [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan]] equivalent who explains everything, and you gain XP, levels and new abilities through combat. [[spoiler: And then several important characters ''call you out on all of this,'' saying, "Have you ever stopped to ''think'' about how you get stronger by killing everything? Don't you ''wonder'' why these people follow you without question? Has it ''occurred'' to you that your [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan]] only knows so much about both us and the villains because she's ''worked for both?''" It turns out that these standard RPG conventions aren't GameplayAndStorySegregation at all, but rather, things that actually happen in the plot, caused by the plot's AwfulTruth. The standard aspects of the genre we as the player take for granted are seen by the people involved not because [[BreakingtheFourthWall they can see through the fourth wall,]] but because any sane person would look at this behavior and realize that it's not the way reality should work, even the reality of StarWars.]] Light or darksided, it says something about the Exile that s/he doesn't even notice it.
** Not to mention the way it subverts the KarmaMeter, by making what seems like the right thing to do end up being exactly the wrong thing to do, as is often the case in real life. For example giving to a beggar could lead to a worse outcome than if you had left him alone, as it makes him a target for armed robbery, and thus getting him killed. This example is the most obvious one in the game, as Kreia will bitch out the Exile ''regardless'' of the player's choice, not because she disagrees with the morality involved, but because the Exile (and very likely the player) does not consider the fact that following one's moral code does not exempt decisions from having consequences.
** This includes deconstructing the idea of the RPG party and battle system, and at one point a companion tells you it frightens her how she follows you unthinkingly into battle, shoots when you say to shoot, kills when you say to kill etc. [[spoiler:As in the above XP Point example, this is framed as a disturbing and unique characteristic of the main character, and treated as a plot point.]]
** It also deconstructs the Jedi and the Sith -- Force users in general can often be compared to deities, able to accomplish great feats that a mere mortal would declare impossible. A recurring theme in the game is that there are often times where a {{Muggle}} can do things that a Jedi would never be able to do.
** Finally, it deconstructs Lucas's presentation of the Force, in that the BigBad, having sampled from both the Jedi and Sith wells, ultimately rejects both because they're completely opposed ''yet they both work''. Obviously the Force is far greater than they realized and the BigBad is hoping to destroy the Force itself using the PC, freeing life from its influence.
** ObsidianEntertainment then went and did much the same thing with ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', which deconstructs D&D and heroic fantasy in general. Only difference is, they took the DeconstructiveParody route this time.
* [[http://www.cracked.com/article_15660_ultimate-war-simulation-game.html This article]] from ''{{Website/Cracked}}'' proposes an ultra-realistic war game. That is, you spend two hours pushing across a map to destroy a nuke silo only to find out later it was an orphanage, complete with celebrities decrying the attack. Public Support rises and falls depending on entirely arbitrary factors, mission objectives change frequently and without warning, the cool superweapons kill 100 of ''your'' soldiers because the contractors cut corners, etc.
* Even though ''VideoGame/HalfMinuteHero''[='s=] role-playing-game parts mostly ridicule many cliches found in role-playing games, it deconstructs RPG [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment game]] concept as a whole. Makes you wonder why almost all other role-playing games include hours of ForcedLevelGrinding and other tedious activities.
* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise often plays around with tropes and expectations, but one of the main thrusts of the recent ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' title is an ''unrelentingly vicious'' deconstruction of "{{Mons}}" games in the vein of ''Pokémon''. During the course of the game, many people obtain small handheld devices that allow them to summon various kinds of demons which essentially work like the Mons do in other games. Needless to say, it doesn't take very long before many start using them for power, or "justice", or the like, resulting in chaos and death on the streets of a locked-down Tokyo.
** One event in particular even plays out just like a Pokémon fight -- the two combatants face each other, their Mons in between them, verbal orders and all... and then one Mon is beaten, and its "Demon Tamer" is ''graphically murdered'' by the other's demon, by order of that very tamer. [[NightmareFuel Yes, kids, this is how most of the situations Ash finds himself in would]] ''[[NightmareFuel really]]'' [[NightmareFuel end.]]
* ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' could be considered as a deconstruction of the more typical SurvivalHorror games where the main character is given all sorts of weapons and ammunition to cut down a near endless stream of monsters. The most Fiona can do herself is kick the enemy, and she relies on her pet dog to keep the enemy at bay as long as she can. The game also has a feature where the main character panics and gets harder to control the more she's hurt, like most real people would do if they were being chased around by psychopaths.
** ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' uses very similar gameplay -- and was originally intended as a sequel -- to the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series, the first part of which was [[OlderThanTheyThink published for SNES in 1995]], before survival horror had [[UnbuiltTrope established itself as the genre it is today]]. Perhaps a better example of a survival horror deconstruction would be the original ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'', which takes what at first glance seems to be a fairly typical zombie scenario, but instead of handing you lots and lots of guns and a character with a visible health bar, you get a cast of very average people who are clumsy in combat, have a very limited access to weapons (and no access to healing items whatsoever), and die very easily. Instead of fighting everything with wild abandon, you need to be stealthy and avoid close encounters, much like the average joe would have to do in such a situation. The sequels have been gradually slipping into a more conventional, combat-oriented style of gameplay.
* The ExpandedUniverse of ''EveOnline'' tends to do this to {{MMORPG}}s. It thoroughly explores the consequences of [[AGodAmI law-unto-themselves immortal demigods]] waging perpetual war both between themselves and with the [[{{NPC}} other, less gifted denizens of the universe]]. The mere existence of the player capsuleers ups the average daily death rate in New Eden by many thousands, and contributes in large part to the CrapsackWorld New Eden now is.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is a deconstruction of literally the whole [[MysteryFiction Murder Mystery]] genre. [[spoiler:Despite that, it's supposed to be FairPlayWhodunnit, though one could argue about the amount of fair.]]
** [[spoiler:The OPENING SEQUENCE of the second game states quite clearly "No Dine, no Knox, [[CluelessMystery no Fair]]. In other words it is not mystery. But it happens, all it happens, let it happens." The author actually goes out of the way to inform us that he's not following Van Dine or Knox's rules of "fair" detective fiction and that... well, it's not a mystery that can be solved by us.]]
** [[spoiler:And then in the Chiru arcs the writer introudouces first a personification of the Knox rules, and then later a personification of the Van Dine rules.]]
** At the end of the series, the answer becomes clear: [[spoiler: the mysteries that Meta-Beatrice purposely set up (the first four arcs) are quite solvable, and for the most part follow Fair Play. The reason that the author said that he didn't want to give a straight answer is because we are never told what ''[[TheUnreveal really happened]]'' on Rokkenjima. Most people thought that the whole 'not giving a straight answer' referred to the games themselves, which are just [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis stories within the story]], but it referred to the real events on the island]]. [[MindScrew Confused yet]]?
** Umineko also has a brilliant deconstruction of the {{Tsundere}} Moe in the third arc.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' is a deconstruction of the Sentient Robot Heroes genre, if not the franchise. Unlike it's lighter predecessor, there is a major war going on between mavericks and maverick hunters, and many people, reploids and human (who are mainly off-screen) alike die. ''X4'' is probably the biggest deconstruction of the franchise, if not ''X5''. Zero, the main character's friend [[spoiler: is speculated to be created by Wily and was made to destroy X. Also, he kills the brother of his love interest, who in turn, tries to avenge him, only to die as well]], the war between the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce could have been avoided, and, as it turns out, [[spoiler: Zero is the cause of the Maverick Virus and Sigma's StartOfDarkness.]]
** The fact that Zero is the cause of [[spoiler:both the Maverick and Elf Wars]] can be seen as a deconstruction of JokerImmunity and ThouShallNotKill. If Dr. Wily was executed when he was arrested in ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'', Zero would never exist and so ''much'' death and destruction could've been avoided. But he wasn't, and some of his leftover projects came back and screwed things up for everybody.
* ''PlanescapeTorment'' is a deconstruction of [=RPGs=]. Characters in the gameworld comment on how adventurers are unwelcome in Sigil and how bad the main character looks and smells. It features a dungeon that deconstructs and ridicules the concept of dungeon hacking, the side-quests are... unusual to say the least. (Tired of these "Romeo and Juliet" quests that have you uniting annoying lovers? ''PlanescapeTorment'' has a quest where you have to ''destroy'' a relationship.) ProtagonistWithoutAPast is heavily subverted because [=NPCs=] remember your character while you don't (because he has ''[[spoiler: several past lives' worth of]]'' amnesia). Experience is gained by remembering and regaining skills you already had, but forgot. The main quest is mainly about people ''you'' gave quests in the past, rats are powerful enemies, there are none of the typical ''D&D'' races, and an [[LightIsNotGood ANGEL is one of the antagonists!]] Oh, and there are only two swords in the whole game. (Your character can only use one.)
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' takes a deconstructor chainsaw to every fantasy story revolving around destiny, [[ScrewDestiny screwing it]] and everything else that falls into the "[[TheChosenOne Chosen One Fantasy]]" genre. Turns out that everyone in the world is assigned some role by a prophecy, but the "Chosen One" is actually [[CloningBlues a clone of the real one]]. This event threw the entire world's fate off-course, starting out with subtle alterations (like the Chosen One not dying like he was supposed to) and eventually winding up with most of the known world sunk beneath a poisonous miasma ''and'' a good portion of the world's population killed off and replicated. Even though the BigBad says that "deviations are as nothing" in the eyes of this prophecy, [[BlatantLies we know better]]. Heck, towards the end of the game, the party actually winds up ''intentionally'' fulfilling part of the prophecy because they realise that there's no other way to save the world, but not long after the whole planet goes to hell. Basically, ''don't mess with fate''.
* The VisualNovel ''CrossChannel'' can be seen as a deconstruction of the numerous charecter archetypes found in anime in general and eroge games in paticular. Sure we have a cast full of tsunderes, cloud cookoolanders, emotionless girls, genki girls and what not. But where to do they all go to school? A special school for young people that cannot function in society.
* VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas features Caesar's Legion as one of the two main powers in the Mojave Wasteland. As the name suggests, they are essentially the Romans [[RecycledINSPACE placed into]] a post-apocalyptic setting. As the progenitor of modern Western civilization, the glory of Rome is often seen through an intense NostalgiaFilter. You get to see some of Roman culture up close in this game, and it is [[DeliberateValuesDissonance ugly]]. There are probably no more {{complete monster}}s in the Legion than most other factions, but the slavery, misogyny, and sheer brutality of the Caesar's Legion makes it the [[BlackAndGreyMorality black to the NCR's grey]].
* ''NoMoreHeroes'', especially the second game, seems to be a deconstruction of the ultra-violent type of game. Travis' rant toward the end of the sequel is basically summed up as "Even if the person is fictional, it's still a death, and you're kind of a bastard for forcing the killings to happen." It was even seemingly aimed at both Sylvia, and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall the player]].
** Meanwhile, most of the villainism of the series' VillainProtagonist, especially in the first game, comes from what would happen if a stereotypical videogame/anime geek retained their combat ability in the real world and lived life like they play games.
* For one of Gamespot's April Fool's Day jokes, they have announced that Capcom has recently announced a new game called ''VideoGame/MegaMan Deconstructed''. See 7:43 of [[http://www.gamespot.com/shows/today-on-the-spot/?event=today_on_the_spot20100401 this video]].
* ''BaldursGate'' deconstructs the well known idea that most of the world's problems tend to occur just as TheHero arrives on the scene. [[spoiler:Due to CHARNAME's status as a Bhaalspawn, he/she is a ''literal'' DoomMagnet, so the fact that you seem to stumble upon a lot of trouble isn't coincidence, ''you are literally causing it through your own existence''. Furthermore you are not the ''only'' Bhaalspawn out there causing chaos through existance. It doesn't help things that your father is the God of ''Murder''.]]
* A lighter example of Deconstruction would belong to ''SWAT4'', an FPS which objective is not shooting bad guys. Just plain shooting bad guys like in another FPS, in ''SWAT 4'', does not net you a point. This game expects you to be a police officer, not an FPS character. To earn points (which needed to advance in harder difficulties), you must deal with the bad guys with non-lethal methods, and arresting them.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' deconstructs not just many of the implications of a CrapsaccharineWorld in the series that are hinted at through the Pokédex entries, but also decontructs the idea that everyone in the world of Pokémon thinks that it's a good idea to send kids and teenagers out into the wild to capture Pokémon, with Bianca's father feeling immensly concerned for her. Another part of it is the idea that no one bats an eyelash at Pokémon battles or no one thinks it's too violent with Team Plasma and N. Speaking of Team Plasma, the games also [[TakeThat viciously]] deconstruct the concept of MoralGuardians and the validity of their intentions, as in essence that is what Team Plasma are.
* PhantomBrave viciously deconstructs AllOfTheOtherReindeer. The power of a Chroma (which is what Marona is) is, for all intents and purposes, necromancy, and as such it is widely regarded as a dark, unholy power, and people react accordingly to her. This isn't simply general disdain or mocking of her, this is real, genuine fear and hatred. Hell, listen to that woman who scolds her son for wanting to be friends with Marona in the opening chapter. You can literally feel the pure, unbridled barely contained ''rage'' she has at the mere ''mention'' of her name.
* ''AirPressure'' deconstructs the "do everything you can to build/improve your relationship with a cute girl" RomanceGame plot. The protagonist actually starts out disillusioned about how much he depends on his girlfriend Leigh and wondering if he should break up with her, and having him ignore his doubts in favor of appeasing Leigh results in a deliberately EsotericHappyEnding where [[spoiler:it's all but outright stated that Leigh is actually a metaphor for drug addiction or abusive relationships in general and that the protagonist's decision that he can't live without her is ''not'' in any way romantic or healthy]]. Not only that, but the game's happiest ending is actually the one in which [[spoiler:the protagonist breaks up with Leigh and feels genuinely happy about being independent from her]].
* The ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' trilogy, especially ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' acts as a deconstruction of the EasternRPG genre.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' deconstructs its own series. Rather than glamourizing crime and criminals like its predecessors, most characters you meet in the game are broke, greedy and psychopathic and the toll it takes on people. In addition, the [[DownerEnding end of the game]] where [[spoiler: your cousin or your love interest is murdered, you get revenge but it feels hollow, and you spend the rest of the game alone and driving around.]]
* ''SpecOpsTheLine'' deconstructs the modern military first-person shooter by showing the protagonist, Walker, as slowly slipping away from his sanity the further the game goes on. Walker continues to try to rationalize what he's doing by saying he intends to help whilst he's only making things much, much worse. He also says that he [[IDidWhatIHadToDo had no choice]] in a lot of situations where he very clearly did, including crossing the MoralEventHorizon by [[spoiler: [[KillItWithFire using white phosphorus to firebomb fellow American soldiers]], and unknowingly killing dozens of civilians]]. Walker is, at best, a NominalHero, though he's closer to a VillainProtagonist. On top of all this, [[DownerEnding none of the possible endings are happy ones]], with Walker either dead or clinically insane.
** The game also [[WhatTheHellPlayer insults the player for continuing to play it]], passive-aggressively telling the player "hey, why should you care? None of this is real, [[YouBastard so you can just kill everybody, right?]]" After seeing what Walker goes through as well as being mocked, many players [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou will probably start to question what they're doing]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' can be seen as doing this to the preceding games in the series and to other similar series (such as ''Halo'') in that the heroic character upon which everything revolves isn't invincible but is being psychologically worn down by the pressure s/he is under.
** And then there's the endings. So you're the OnlySaneMan hero gathered a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to fight against an AncientConspiracy who sweeps in and destroys all organic life for an apparently incomprehensible reason. What happens? [[spoiler: Did you really think overloading the mass relays wasn't going to have horrible consequences, even if you stop the Reapers?]]
** While the earlier games promised hard decisions with no easy answers, they mostly left [[TakeAThirdOption an easy way out in the major quests.]] But the additional ending in the Extended version manages to deconstruct that. After fan outcry for a way to resist taking a choice from a [[UnreliableExpositor possibly untrustworthy source]] that determines your ending, BioWare put just that in the ending. You can take a fourth option now. [[spoiler: And doing so results in [[KillEmAll all sentient life in the galaxy dying]] because you're too full of yourself to face a situation with no unambiguously happy results.]]
* FinalFantasyVII is a deconstruction of Eastern [=RPGs=]. [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny However, because this game introduced many people into [=RPGs=], it was lost in some people]].
* ''VirtualOn'', a mecha fighting game with characters that serve as nothing more than controlled mechas, is ultimately a deconstruction to the fighting games with characters who have personalities and backgrounds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/GirlchanInParadise'' is a vicious parody of ClicheStorm Shonen Anime, particularly those with [[LazyArtist bad animation]] and corny dubbing. The characters all fit into some sort of archetype, with the title Girlchan being a SatelliteInterest and a MsFanservice who had absolutely nothing to do with the actual plot ([[WordSaladTitle nor is she actually in Paradise]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'' deconstructs TabletopGames, especially of the fantasy variety. TheLordOfTheRings was basically the TropeCodifier for FantasyLiterature, with an epic plot and massive, meticulously crafted backstory. For decades now {{Roleplaying Game}}s have often been based on fantasy stories and set in fantasy worlds... but you know, the actual progression of a roleplaying game doesn't look a thing like a fantasy novel, certainly not a ''good'' one. DMOfTheRings takes several familiar player archetypes and transplants them into LOTR, and it's a disaster. The GM needs to use {{Railroading}} on the players every step of the way. Left to their own devices, they would have killed the elves of Lorien for the loot. They also complain endlessly about the boredom of the story (there's nothing to fight but orcs over and over again and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s like the balrog, which their characters don't have the slightest chance against) and the way all the battles and side missions are entirely irrelevant to the main plot.
* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' is described by its author as a subtle deconstruction of the {{Dating Sim}}s he enjoys, with a mix of LampshadeHanging, playing it dead straight and showing the darker side of each trope, especially UnluckyEverydude, RobotGirl, and CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds. At least one of the characters might well be [[MetaGuy aware of this...]]
* A more blatant deconstruction of the DatingSim genre is ''[[http://www.tsunamichannel.com/archive.php Experimental Comic Kotone]]'' from ''TsunamiChannel'', to the point that the main character is intentionally left anonymous, and the universe ''just won't let'' '''''anyone''''' to know his real identity.
** The side story ''Magical Girl Mina'' can be considered a deconstruction (or possibly reconstruction) of the magical girl genre. Mina is far from stereotypical proto-MG and does not adhere to any of the expected cliches, tropes and quirks (despite Tsunami being explicitly instructed to scout those traits) but is smart and fit and very inquisitive about how magic works and can be used. On the other hand Mina never reacts to the weirdness "normally" (such as fleeing or avoiding the situation) but accepts it with cautious curiosity.
* ''Webcomic/AlienDice'' is a deconstruction of {{Mons}} and especially ''Pokémon''. The eponymous Alien Dice is a DeadlyGame of GottaCatchEmAll. Here, any species, {{Human|Aliens}}oid or animal-like can be turned into a mon and get captured when defeated by players. Also, the "mons", despite their HealingFactor do suffer badly in battle.
* ''Webcomic/OwMySanity'' is this to the MagicalGirlfriend genre, specifically, ''Manga/AhMyGoddess''... which it does in the best way possible with the addition of Lovecraftian Horror and said girlfriend (or [[UnwantedHarem ''girlfriends'']]) being a HumanoidAbomination[=/=]EldritchAbomination.
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' is a world where Tabletop Strategy rules are literally true, such as citizens popping in fully grown and a defeated team being frozen in time until someone comes to try and kill them. The more the rules become clear, the creepier everything starts to become.
** It also deconstructs the typical Strategist with Parson's reaction to the aftermath of the Battle For Gobwin Knob. [[spoiler:Instead of being proud and/or relieved that he won the battle against impossible odds, he is ''horrified'' by the death and destruction he has caused, so much that he steps down as Chief Warlord in favor of Ansom.]]
* The PixelArtComic ''Webcomic/KidRadd'', while largely light in tone, presents a "video game characters living in videoland" scenario where it's a very real problem that many inhabitants are innately armed and know nothing but killing. They know why they were created, and they don't like it. The player character Radd goes from slacker to {{Determinator}} because he always had the latter's mindset, but started his days in a game under the player's control, so he had to learn initiative completely from the ground up. Upon being freed, Radd needed instructions to walk independently.
* ''[[{{Walkyverse}} It's Walky]]'' could arguably be seen as a deconstruction of the goofy 1980s cartoons creator David Willis is a fan of (mostly ''GIJoe'' and ''{{Transformers}}''). Sure it features a unique special forces group, SEMME (who were initially based on GI Joe) with an eccentric line up of operatives, who routinely foil the insane schemes of a HarmlessVillain, but the eccentric operatives are soon revealed to be a bunch of dysfunctional screw-ups, and the Villain is in fact a NotSoHarmlessVillain.
* ''[[http://www.mighthavebeen.net/ My Name Is Might Have Been]]'' deconstructs ''RockBand''. Yeah, the video game.
* ''Webcomic/VGCats'' deconstructs the cartoon violence of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=207 this strip]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}: Life Through Their Eyes'' takes a good hard look at the UnfortunateImplications of labeling whole races AlwaysChaoticEvil. It portrays the titular goblins not as ''monsters'' but as ''people'' who live and love. It shows us that what {{Player Character}}s see as just an XP haul isn't so fun when ''you're'' the one they're killing to level up.
* ''[[Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor Quentin Quinn Space Ranger]]'', an offshoot of ''TalesOfTheQuestor'', is Deconstructing ''Franchise/StarTrek'' right now. So far the design of the starship Enterprise, the habit of using forcefield airlocks without wearing space suits and the ProudWarriorRaceGuy have already been hit. Hard. Up next is engineering.
* The entire premise behind ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' is that the ''StarWars'' universe is the result of a group of {{Tabletop Game|s}}rs (including a 7 year old girl) making it up as they go along. It lends a whole new perspective to the storyline of the prequel trilogy. The entire mess on Naboo was the result of the Player Characters epically ruining a delicate, carefully constructed plan by going OffTheRails, and engaging in all the sins of TheRealMan, TheMunchkin, and TheLoonie. Palpatine is actually a good guy overthrowing a corrupt regime, and trying to bring a semblance of stability to the republic. Darth Maul was just a ChaoticNeutral [[HiredGuns Hired Gun]] who was only trying to work ''with'' the player characters, before they attacked him. To top it all off, some the most bizarre and unrealistic plot points, such as Naboo being governed by a ''14 year old Queen'' exist because [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Jar Jar Binks]] is being played by a little girl.
* In the Chapter 26 of the Spanish webcomic ''[[http://jesulink.com/ 5 Elementos]]'', the author show the effects of a civil war in a world inhabited by lots and lots of people with superpowers.
* Pretty much anything ever written by AndrewHussie, but ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' and especially ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' stand out in particular in this respect.
* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' can be considered a broad deconstruction of the GenderBender TransformationComic, showing how much it would actually suck if you were transformed into the opposite gender and didn't have those kind of tendencies to start with (the part frequently ignored by TG comic fans who wish something like that could happen to them.) Ash is depicted like a real transgendered teen would be (literally a boy trapped in a girl's body), with a realistic level of distress to not only the biological and social changes, but to also having the entire foundation of your world and personal identity ripped out from underneath you.
* One could say ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' is something of a deconstruction of what it's like to live in a FantasyKitchenSink. Eventually, the amount of supernatural villains you piss off (and the infamy among the inhabitants of said FantasyKitchenSink that you gain through your deeds) will reach such a critical mass that your entire life will be swallowed up in a never-ending, breakneck onslaught of attacks and reactions to your attempts to defend yourself from said attacks from grudge-holding demons, psychopaths, monsters, conspiracies, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts of Doom]], evil {{Mega Corp}}s, etc, etc. Being a fairly early webcomic, this has been subjected to a measure of SeinfeldIsUnfunny.
* ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'' - deconstructs the backstory of VideoGame/MetalGearSolid enemies, revealing first and foremost that it was never about Solid Snake. It was all Liquid.
* ''Webcomic/CuantaVida'': Deconstruction of VideoGame/TeamFortress2 par none. [[SarcasmMode Because what's funnier]] [[AnyoneCanDie than lovable characters who can die at any time]], [[{{Gorn}} of horrible injuries no less,]] [[ClosedCircle in battlefields miles from their homes]]? As with ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'', the game becomes MUCH less funny afterwards.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' is a deconstruction of the classic {{Superhero}} vs. {{Supervillain}} conflict, as follows:
** The [[VillainProtagonist villain is the protagonist]], a shy, nerdy guy who wants to TakeOverTheWorld because he sees it for the CrapsackWorld that it is and wants to improve things... [[WellIntentionedExtremist on his own terms]]. He also wants to get a date with the girl at the laundromat, whom he's too shy to talk to.
** The [[HeroAntagonist hero is the antagonist]], a SmugSuper, JerkJock womanizer who believes that, because he is superpowerful, he's better than everyone else and is only too happy to display it. He further believes that only people who are like him can be heroic, and anyone who's nerdy or unpopular is a potential supervillain. It's strongly implied that this behavior is what drives people like the villain to become evil in the first place.
** The LoveInterest is a genuinely good person whom the villain wishes to impress with his evil deeds, failing to realize that she's very unlikely to actually respect that. She gets caught in the crossfire between the two, ends up ignored as they fight their climactic battle over her, and [[spoiler:dies tragically as a result]].
** The NighInvulnerable super hero is only brave because he's never had to experience pain in his life. When he ''does'', he has a HeroicBSOD over it.
** The villain finds that his victory: the hero defeated, entry into the Evil League of Evil secured by [[spoiler:his LoveInterest's murder]], comes at the [[PyrrhicVillainy price of his humanity]].
** It can actually be seen as a deconstruction of musical shows, because most musical shows have a positive outlook from beginning to end especially in regards to the lyrics of their songs. Dr. Horrible's got an awful lot of nagative in most of the lyrics, even when attempting to be positive.
* ''SonicTheHedgehog2SpecialEdition'' takes apart the very concept of LetsPlay. It starts by creating a game that [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs gradually gets more insane and bizarre as time goes on]], adds a narrator who spits out random nonsequiturs, all while parodying 90s pop culture. [[{{Postmodernism}} Then it starts playing with the]] FourthWall [[{{Postmodernism}} by having the narrator get in a conversation with an in game character, and making it unclear whether it's the narrator or the player character itself who's talking.]] The final boss fight consists of the player jumping on the word "logic" while the narrator says "Check it out! It's the last piece of logic left! ...Screw that noise."
* [[http://www.digital-brilliance.com/necron/necron.htm This website]] deconstructs the CthulhuMythos, specifically the Necronomicon. In essense it asks "what if it was a real book?" and builds from there, by looking for paralels between Judeo-Christian tradition and the CthulhuMythos (The Old Ones = The Giants from Genesis), it creates the content of the book, it then asks "what kind of person would write about such things in 730 AD?", thus Abdul Alhazred is what the Koran calls a "Sabian" and what western biblical scholars call a "Gnostic" a person with religous veiws related too, but radically different from mainstream Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It then builds a comprehesive history of how it got from the middle east and into the hands of western Occultists, and finally makes the assumption that while, yes Lovecraft wrote about it, he got only the name and the the author correct, having never read the book itself.
* Stardestroyer.net, as mentioned above in FanFic, deconstructs the seemingly utopian ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe, pointing out holes.
* ''SailorNothing'' loves showing just how jarringly, horrifically, nightmarishly different the characters' lives are from MagicalGirl anime. Several of them even watch an exaggerated, stereotypical version of such shows; the main character actually watches it to escape her life.
* Who could forget [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=JpBGRA6HHtY this]] remarkable deconstruction of ''SuperMarioBros''?
* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles'' takes many first person shooter tropes and twists them. Everything from capture the flag, to why there are two bases in the middle of a box canyon with no strategic value, and [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist Respawn]]. Interestingly, the new series called ''Reconstruction'' is a deconstruction of the parodic nature of ''The Blood Gulch Chronicles.'' [[spoiler:Caboose is tied up in the brig due to his self destructive tendencies. Grif and Simmons face the firing squad after selling all the ammo to the Blue team. The reason that all the red and blue conflicts were pointless squabbling over an equally pointless flag and base is revealed to be a conspiracy by command.]] However, since that is a deconstruction of a deconstruction, arguably that makes it a {{Reconstruction}} as all the video game tropes are being put back together.
* The Wiki/SCPFoundation Wiki, although beginning as a creepypasta site, has largely evolved into a deconstruction on the UrbanFantasy genre, depicting a shadowy organization entirely devoted to capturing and imprisoning all of those magicians, psychics, and mystic artifacts that populate said settings, to maintain the status quo. It is made abundantly clear that this is for humanity's own good.
* FurryFandom works frequently portray an entire world as furry. [[http://www.sofurry.com/page/16447?contentlevel=all I Wish I Was Furry!]] shows what would happen if we woke up one day and the world actually was furry. The main character is even a human furry fan, like is typical for transformation stories. [[spoiler:[[{{Squick}} And a plushophile.]] (It's exactly what it sounds like.)]] A furryized world, as it happens, is dark and brutal.
* ''[[http://everything2.com/user/t3h_poker/writeups/Sonny+gets+Mad+Scienced Sonny Gets Mad Scienced]]'' is [[DeconstructiveParody the "humourous" type of deconstruction]]. It revolves around two central ideas; telling a MadScientist story from the perspective of one of the nameless subjects experimented on, and [[spoiler:being GenreSavvy doesn't always help.]]
* [[http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ultra_realistic_modern_warfare This video]] from ''TheOnion'' sends up the idea of video games becoming progressively more realistic by taking it to a logically deconstructive extreme with a "ultra realistic ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: ModernWarfare 3''". It mostly involves sitting around and waiting.
* The WhateleyUniverse is a deceonstruction of the classic superhero/supervillain tropes, with mutants who have to obey real physical laws, some supervillains like Dr. Diabolik who are pretty far from the classic villain, and even some supers who are far from the classic hero.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDX1m0Y2Vkg This video]] is a deconstruction of Pokémon. Yes, Pokémon. It is mostly played for laughs but there is a point about half-way through where Pikachu is bleeding as he's strangled by a Bulbasaur and it's played straight.
* ''TheOnion'''s ''WebVideo/SexHouse'' series does this quite brutally to {{Immoral Reality Show}}s. Not only are the contestants much [[HiddenDepths deeper and complex]] people than the shallow stereotypes the show desperately try to portray them as, [[spoiler:the producers' "indicatives" to cut corners on the budget and ensure sex and drama in order to get the precious high ratings rolling in, soon starts to take a massive toll on their [[SanitySlippage sanity]] and health]].
* ''Literature/FunnyBusiness'' deconstructs both the trope of [[GooGooGodlike a small child having godlike power]] ''and'' [[EnfantTerrible the most common way of doing so]]. The main character [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler is quickly revealed]] to be a RealityWarper, but she seems nice enough and doesn't appear to abuse her power all that much. It is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:when she was a child, she acted more or less like [[ItsAGoodLife Anthony Fremont]], causing people who annoyed her to disappear. However, this is only because a toddler doesn't have the mental or moral development to act unselfishly, and when she grows older [[note]]we're talking three years old, here[[/note]] she is disgusted with herself for being an EnfantTerrible and develops a major GuiltComplex over anything.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* ''Reductio Ad Absurdum'' is one of the major proof techniques; a style of argument that does this to its opposition. It takes the opponent's argument and logically follows it through to an absurd or indefensible conclusion.
* The well-known {{Aesop}} "BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor" operates in this way. Person X makes wish Y. Wish Y is granted to person X. Wish Y then manages to have sufficiently negative unintended consequences on person X's life that wish Y now looks like a ridiculous thing to wish for. Thus, Wish Y is deconstructed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* There can be a very good case made for ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' being a deconstruction of ''JonnyQuest and DocSavage''-style [[TwoFistedTales stories]]. Some say spoof, some say deconstruction, some say [[DeconstructiveParody both]].
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' director Chuck Jones often used deconstruction on his cartoons. The best known example is ''DuckAmuck'': First the scenery changes, forcing Daffy to adapt. Then Daffy himself is erased and redrawn. Then the soundtrack fails, then the film frame, and so on until Daffy is psychologically picked clean. Another example is ''WesternAnimation/WhatsOperaDoc'', which takes the base elements of a typical Bugs Bunny cartoon and reassembles them as a Wagnerian opera. (Conversely, you could also say that it takes the base elements of Wagnerian opera and reassembles them as a Bugs Bunny cartoon.)
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' does a [[CrossesTheLineTwice particularly nasty]] deconstruction of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and its AmusingInjuries, wherein Elmer Fudd is out "hunting wabbits", shoots Bugs Bunny four times in the stomach, snaps his neck amidst cries of pain, and then drags him off leaving behind a trail of blood. In another episode where Peter and friends became Series/TheATeam, the show's "amusing injuries" are discussed as actually life-threatening.
** The second ChristmasEpisode deconstructs SantaClaus to NightmareFuel levels.
* The famous ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode "Homer's Enemy" is a deconstruction of the general weirdness and insanity of its setting, based around the premise of ''What if a real-life, normal person had to enter Homer's universe and deal with him?'' Frank Grimes, a relatively humorless but hard-working man who is still forced to live cheaply despite working almost his entire life, encounters Homer on the job at the nuclear power. You can imagine what happens next - the result is funny, but also disturbing and very dark upon further reflection (one of the darkest ''Simpsons'' episodes ever made).
** At one point, Homer is about to drink a beaker of sulfuric acid when Grimes stops him. Grimes reacts ''exactly'' as we would expect a normal person to react -- he's visibly freaked out, and when Homer blows off the danger with laughter, he shouts, " ''Stop laughing,'' you imbecile! Do you realize how close you just came to killing yourself?!" A series of such incidents ultimately drives Frank Grimes into insanity [[spoiler:and death]].
*** The episode eventually winds up in CrossesTheLineTwice territory when, [[spoiler: at Frank's funeral, the "mourners" do not cry but rather laugh when Homer dozes off and mumbles some idiotic gibberish. Even the minister.]]
** The episode also highlights the absurdity of one man having such a rich and adventurous life (meeting Gerald Ford, winning a Grammy, ''going into space''...)
* The ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "1+ 1=Ed" is a deconstruction of how cartoons work, similar to DuckAmuck.
* ''IronManArmoredAdventures'' offers an interesting take on the teenage superhero genre in the fact the hero really couldn't care any less about school or fitting in, claiming it's a waste of time and instead stating that his work as a hero is more important. He then proceeds to cheat on his tests and homework in order to pass, since him being a hero gives him the latitude to do so, and high school is meaningless and doesn't matter once you graduate, especially since he's already a)rich, and b)a genius inventor.
* "Epilogue" of ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' can be taken as a deconstruction of the superhero genre by having a Amanda Waller deliberately try to engineer [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond another Batman]] in response to the original Batman growing older. It fits both invoked and deconstructed, because it shows the horrible consequences of making a superhero, as well as the kind of monster you would have to be to do it (killing innocent people to do something that might achieve a goal).
** It also deconstructs the classic Batman origin: Waller plans to kill Terry's parents when he's a boy, but when the assassin she hires ([[ContinuityNod Andrea Beaumont]], [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm the Phantasm]]) refuses to go through with it, Waller realizes that whatever her goals, it wasn't worth it, and she's pleased that Terry has become a much more sane and stable superhero because he had a chance for a normal childhood.
* ''MoralOrel'' deconstructs TheMoralSubstitute but presenting a culture where ALL MEDIA are Christian fundamentalist propaganda, and showing just how messed up and [[NightmareFuel disturbing]] said culture would be.
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Disordered" deals the aftermath of a traumatic mission, with the cast of young heroes attending therapy in order to deal with the horrible things they witnessed. The ensuing interviews reveal the pressure the kids are under and ends with Comicbook/{{Robin}} deciding that he no longer wants to be Batman.
** Later episodes try to convey that being a teen superhero is not all fun and games, as we learn that [[spoiler: Aquagirl, Jason Todd, and the previous BlueBeetle]] have all been killed in action during the five year TimeSkip between seasons one and two. Upon this revelation, the line between superheroes and ChildSoldiers begins to blur even more.
* The episode of ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' about them moving to "Citysville" deals with what would happen if their brand of heroics was applied to a real life city.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', as well as deconstructing everything else on the planet, has a fine line in deconstructing itself. In "Kenny Dies", the RunningGag character they had [[TheyKilledKenny killed over seventy times already]] gets a terminal disease and slowly expires while Stan and Kyle react with utterly realistic grief and despair.
* The ''JimmyNeutron'' [[TheMovie movie]] deconstructs the [[ThereAreNoAdults "no parents would be great"]] trope by having difficulties pop up the very next day. A girl gets injured, everyone gets chronically lonely, and people get sick from eating nothing but bad food.
* "It's Oppo", a student film made by Cal Arts student Tyler Chen, deconstructs Nick Jr., as well as preschool television programs and morally unscrupulous media companies in general. Watch it [NSFW]: [http://vimeo.com/11573607]
* In ''{{Undergrads}}'', college dorm life is deconstructed to counter its inspiration ''AnimalHouse''; Rocko's [[WackyFratboyHijinx Fratboy behavior]] is looked down on heavily by his frat brothers, who view him as a source of grief. Nitz' everyman status really puts only a grade above [[ThisLoserIsYou Gimpy]], the resident {{Hikikomori}} of the 4 of them.
* ''TransformersAnimated'' is a deconstruction of the whole Autobot-Decepticon War. Things ain't so [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white]] as before, in fact the Autobots' leadership is flawed and somewhat corrupt, with one higly racist, incompetent, cowardly jerkass general on it, who only is amongst the High Command because he blames his mistakes on Optimus Prime, whose status as TheMessiah makes him somewhat of a push-over, and its leader is ready to commit dirty tricks to defeat the Decepticons. The Decepticons however, are as much the monsters they were in G1, and though this time Megatron's pragmatic enough to blast [[TheStarscream Starscream's]] ass any time he tries to overthrow him. Starscream only survives thanks to the Allspark piece on his head. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Without it he would have died right from the start]]. Then comes the [[DarkerAndEdgier season]] [[AnyoneCanDie three]]...
* ''"Hey Good Lookin'"'' by RalphBakshi (who else) is one big Deconstruction and TakeThat against anyone who believes that the [=1950s=] were really just like ''{{Grease}}'' or ''HappyDays''. The main character is ostensibly as cool as The Fonz but actually a DirtyCoward who can't back up his bragging, the PluckyComicRelief is actually a racist sociopath, their gang aren't really TrueCompanions despite looking like it, the supposed BigBad never [[MindScrew explictly]] does anything really bad and the ending's BrokenAesop is intentional about the [[SatelliteLoveInterest "Romance"]] between the main character and Rozzie.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', being the self-aware show that it is, devotes its premiere episode to [[DeconstructiveParody comedically deconstructing]] the premise of [[MyLittlePony its parent franchise]] and the [[GirlShowGhetto "little girls' cartoon"]] genre which its predecessors [[TropeCodifier codified]] by asking what happens when [[SugarBowl a setting where everyone is friends with each other by default]] plays host to someone who isn't interested in friendship. Enter the introverted (and somewhat conceited) Twilight Sparkle, who is dumped in Ponyville and left to [[MetaGuy react as any of the sane, adult human beings]] [[PeripheryDemographic who may be watching]] would if placed amidst the [[CloudCuckoolander colorful characters]] that inhabit such a world: with bewildered frustration. Throughout the episode, the other ponies' overzealous attempts to befriend Twilight merely drive her to ever-greater seclusion and jadedness in their unwitting validation of her cynical worldview. The close of the episode is a DownerEnding where [[FallenAngel Nightmare]] [[MadGod Moon]] (who acts as a dark counterpart to Twilight thanks to her past exclusion turning her into an [[OmnicidalManiac omnicidal]] WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds) demonstrates the [[CrapsaccharineWorld inherent dangers]] of the fantasy setting that helps Equestria exist in such perfect harmony by [[SugarApocalypse plunging the world into]] TheNightThatNeverEnds. Miraculously enough, [[DeconReconSwitch the following episode]] manages to [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstruct]] every last one of these elements [[IncrediblyLamePun with flying colors]].
** [[OncePerEpisode Normal episodes]] end with Twilight Sparkle sending [[AnAesop a message]] to her mentor Princess Celestia about [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle what she learned about friendship that day]], satisfying the [[EdutainmentShow Edutainment quota]] for the week. The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Lesson Zero]]" specifically begs the [[BrokenAesop Aesop-breaking]] question: "What happens if there was no friendship message to write about?" Thus begins one of the most bizarre, NightmareFuel-loaded episodes of the series when our [[SanityBall normally]] [[OnlySaneMan calm and collected]] (and [[SarcasmMode slightly]] [[SuperOCD OCD]]) Twilight races to find, and eventually ''create'', a friendship problem to report about. Ultimately, an Aesop about missing the Aesop is arrived at, and [[WhamEpisode introduces a running change]] where any of Twilight's friends can provide the Aesop (likely as a way to avoid having to shoehorn in Twilight into every episode).
* ''ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' deconstructs just about every one of the franchise's most iconic tropes.
* Along the same lines as the ''Scooby-Doo'' example above is ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime,'' which takes a grittier spin on the ''{{Transformers}}'' series.
* ''{{Archer}}'' goes through cold-war spy tropes like adamantium claws through butter.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' deconstructed the KidHero and FreeRangeChildren tropes. One moment, the viewer is rooting for their favourite character in the awesome SupernaturalMartialArts fights - then the viewer is [[TearJerker painfully reminded]] [[EarthIsABattlefield just why]] [[ParentalAbandonment a group of teens and kids]] have the [[TheExile freedom]] and [[ChildSoldier ability]] to travel all over the world. Same thing goes for the villains - one moment the viewer is hoping for somebody to kick Azula's ass, [[TearJerker then she sees her mother in the mirror...]] ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise'' goes even further with the deconstruction.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Gustave Flaubert deconstructed his early romantic works with ''Literature/MadameBovary''.
* ''InterviewWithTheVampire'' deconstructs the perceived glamour of the vampire mythos by showing the crushing tedium of living an unending existence and the idea that all vampires are killers. Louis must have taken centuries to fully embrace his killing nature. Maybe have been somewhat of an UnbuiltTrope, since Interview is a TropeCodifier for romantic vampires in the first place.
* ''Galaxies'' by Barry N. Malzberg is written both in praise and condemnation of the possibilities and limits of science-fiction. In fact, the book presents itself at the opening as a set of notes for a novel that can't be written because of those limits. Throughout, the Narrator talks about how background can be integrated, scenes set, and how the right ending is among the most important elements while at the same time, paradoxically enough, actually "telling" the story.
* GeorgeRRMartin's ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' is generally seen as being a deconstruction on romanticized, medievalesque societies in fantasy. Martin himself made a comment along the lines of "If a real-life stable-boy talked back to the Princess, he was likely to lose a tongue in the process." He's also fond of developing characters that fit many of the archetypes, then showing how difficult it would really be for them under more realistic circumstances. Eddard Stark is a premier example of the "noble lord" type of character, being honorable, just, and sympathetic, a good father and skilled leader in battle, but his positive qualities spell disaster for himself and his family and later, the entire kingdom of the North.
* ''TheFirstLaw Trilogy'' by Joe Abercrombie deconstructs heroic fantasy and a few of its common character archetypes, such as the "Wise Old Mentor", the Arthurian Aragorn-like figure, and the quest to save the world. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the "Wise Old Mentor", is a ruthless, egomaniacal asshole, the arthurian figure is an arrogant prick who grows a sense of compassion and nobility only to be put in his place. The "Epic Conflict" is nothing more than a feud between Bayaz and his rival from when they were apprentice wizards that has gone on for centuries.]] According to the [[http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/27121-last-argument-of-kings-spoiler-thread/page__view__findpost__p__1286030 author]], Logen Ninefingers is supposed to be a deconstruction of violent characters with {{Dark And Troubled Past}}s, as well as the glamorization of killing, the idea that people would [[DracoInLeatherPants overlook]] a killer's unsavoryness just because they [[PetTheDog showed a soft side]], and the idea that a man can be vicious killer and still be a good person.
** Glokta is a deconstruction of the PunchClockVillain or JustFollowingOrders; the series goes into in-depth exploration of how messed up you would have to be to keep "working" as a villain. He constantly questions himself and his superiors (in fact his CatchPhrase is "Why do I do this?") but also doesn't think he's capable of doing anything ''else'' because of what his own torture and his work for the Inquisition turned him into.
* Throughout ''AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' Mark Twain mocks Romanticism, an English writing style that was still popular in the U.S., even though its popularity had faded in England by then. Adventure books were a popular subject for Romanticism, for which Tom Sawyer was often used to parody. Twain mainly deconstructs Romanticism as a means to Reconstruct into Realism, which had developed in the U.S. during the mid nineteenth century.
** One example is during the long-winded ending, when Huck and Tom [[spoiler:are trying to rescue Jim]], and Tom insists on following a bunch of pointless activities from various Romantic stories, such as making [[spoiler:Jim]] write on a coat of arms and water a plant with his tears, and putting rats where [[spoiler:Jim is held]] for [[spoiler:Jim]] to play music for, all of which serves only to make a simple task much more difficult. Tom's attempts to make their task more exciting, like in a Romantic book, goes awry, as Tom is shot as [[spoiler:Huck, Tom, and Jim escape, and they are all caught, anyway. (Of course, the fact that Tom knew this whole time that Jim was already legally free served to make his whole act even more pointless).]]
** Another example involving Tom is when he mistakes a Sunday school picnic for Arab and Spaniard armies, which leads to the picnic being ruined. Both this and the previous example seem to show how Romantic books affected its young readers, by making them act irrationally and cause problems.
* ''BloodMeridian'' completely deconstructs many of the tropes associated with the Old West, showing what a sick, depraved, and violent place it truly is. It tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy whom we know only as "the Kid" and his journey across the American frontier. Along the way, he joins up with a group of scalp hunters led by a man known only amongst the men as "the Judge." Within this group, we are borne witness to the grotesque, fucked-up world that was the American Old West. In addition to deconstructing our notions of the American Frontier, Cormac [=McCarthy=] also deconstructs many views on morality, showing that while the scalp hunters are evil, so were many of the Indians whom they sought after. So, in the end, no one is truly moral [[CrapsackWorld in this world.]]
* ''Literature/{{Superpowers}}'' by David J. Schwartz completely tears up the super-hero genre. There are no super-villains or over-arching plots to destroy the world, but it's okay, because by the end of the book, the group has [[spoiler: been inadvertently responsible for several woundings and deaths]], Charlie, the group's mind reader [[spoiler: goes partially insane from all the dread immediately after 9/11, goes into a mental asylum for a year, and is presumably kidnapped by the government immediately after]], Jack, the group's speedster [[spoiler: dies from old age as a result of accelerated aging related to his super speed]], Mary Beth, who has super strength [[spoiler: accidentally kills an innocent islamic man, and willingly goes to jail for it]], Caroline, the group's flier [[spoiler: experiences her mother dying in 9/11]] and [[spoiler: goes into exile with Harriet (the team's invisible woman) and her father.]]
* The novel ''Literature/DonQuixote'' by Miguel de Cervantes deconstructs the ChivalricRomance by showing how much trouble the chivalric code can cause in the real world, and the dark, unspoken assumptions behind knight's tales (i.e, true gentlemen do not need to work). [[DeconstructorFleet Also deconstruct many other genres]], like the RomanceNovel (MayDecemberRomance, FilleFatale), {{Arcadia}}, SecretTestOfCharacter, SweetPollyOliver, GentlemanThief, DeadpanSnarker (SarcasticDevotee and ServileSnarker). It also has {{UnbuiltTrope}}s like StrawFan, LordErrorProne, MadDreamer, CutLexLuthorACheck and BookBurning… and given its status as the first modern novel, it’s full of {{Postmodernism}}.
** A huge amount of ''Literature/DonQuixote'' is also a reconstruction of the ChivalricRomance (bear in mind that the Don quotes whole excerpts from ''Amadis of Gaul'' and ''Orlando Furioso'' in places), after the genre was already old-fashioned, and half of the joke is a TakeThat against the contemporary MoralGuardians who believed that such tales were inappropriate and corrupting for proper young ladies... which is why the book is about how chivalric romances lead to the corruption of a fifty-year-old man. ''After'' everyone else had stopped caring. ''Literature/DonQuixote'' proceeded to spur a revival of the genre (part 2 was partially Cervantes' rebuttal to an insulting FanFic) and became a tragic romantic figure for the remainder of Western history.
** ''Orlando Furioso'' was, itself, a deconstruction of the KnightInShiningArmour's obsessive love for his lady. After Orlando finds out that Angelica has no interest in him and doesn't hold up to his impossibly high standards (i.e. she has premarital sex with and eventually gets married to a likable Arab guy), he basically [[LoveMakesYouEvil turns into]] TheIncredibleHulk and runs around killing innocent people.
* The novel ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' by Creator/CharlesDickens is a rare case of a writer deconstructing all of his previous work. All the normal tropes of Dickens novels (the ChangelingFantasy, saintly dying women, mysterious benefactors, long-lost relatives, etc.) happen like clockwork. Then these tropes are revealed to be a malevolent lie created to manipulate the hero -- who has been so morally ruined that he's more like an {{Antihero}}.
** While we're on the topic of Dickens, there's also ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''. During Victorian times it was common to idealize "self made men" (capitalists) in the context of Social Darwinism. Dickens gave the world Ebenezer Scrooge, a "self made man" who got where he was through a combination of ruthlessness and greed, and whose wealth comes at the expense of his friends, family, and ultimately his own happiness, and is thus bitter, miserable, and on the verge of dying alone and unmissed. However the book also [[ZigZaggingTrope turns around and delves into]] {{Reconstruction}} by having the three spirits teach him the error of his ways, and thus he reforms and embraces what truly matters. Off course all this was unheard of at the time, which is why it's regarded as such a classic. [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Unfortunately its impact has been blunted by overexposure.]]
* ''SoonIWillBeInvincible'' is a Superhero ''novel'', revolving around Doctor Impossible breaking out of jail to try and take over the world (again)... all the while wondering if he's done the [[CutLexLuthorACheck smartest things he could do with his life and vast intellect]]. Most of the other characters are {{Captain Ersatz}}es of other popular comic book archetype characters, with realistic human flaws added.
** Interestingly, the deconstruction for the most part comes only through the narration of the main characters, and the things that would happen off screen in comic books. When the characters actually speak, they still seem to speak in a classic way, spewing puns and unnecessarily narrating what they are doing out loud to basically no-one.
* ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'' deconstructs its genre by examining the motives people have for believing in conspiracy theories. These include the exertion of control through secrecy, a frustrated creative instinct, and the pathological desire to see every event as a symbol of something deeper instead of as itself. Ultimately, people who devote their lives to these theories are portrayed as fools who are too wrapped up in their own fantasies to realize that it is all utter nonsense.
* ''Literature/TheIronDream,'' an AlternateHistory {{Mockumentary}} essay about Adolf Hitler's career as a pulp SciFi illustrator turned author, is a deconstruction of the HeroicFantasy genre and the Apocalypse fantasy, intended to show the creepy fascist aspects at its core. Look at some of the older HeroicFantasy books, like the Lensmen Saga, where the protagonists gleefully commit genocide on a troublesome race of aliens, or the Conan books, where the titular character is described as "A beautiful Aryan warrior in a land over run by brown skin hoards" or the Literature/{{Gor}} serries, which is basically about how great it is to rape and dominate women. Add all this to the fact that HeroicFantasy grew out of Victorian adventure (and all the [[MightyWhitey white man's burden]] inherent within) and you'll understand where this book is coming from.
* ''Banewreaker'' by JacquelineCarey and its sequel ''Godslayer'' deconstruct HeroicFantasy in the most painful manner possible. It's hard to think of a fantasy trope not used, up to and including a more benign version of IHaveYouNowMyPretty, but AlwaysChaoticEvil is subverted, SympatheticPOV is averted, and the {{Designated Villain}}s are made to be [[DarkIsNotEvil ultimately on the side of what's right]] ''despite [[IDidWhatIHadtoDo committing horrible deeds out of necessity]]''. It's enough to make your jaw drop, almost qualifying as {{Detournement}}.
* ''A Princess Worth Dying For'' by Sergei Lukyanenko presents a fairly standard SpaceOpera world with a few innovative technologies thrown in. The sequel, ''Planet that Doesn't Exist" proceeds to deconstruct the entire setting, revealing that [[spoiler:it was actually a result of a GambitRoulette orchestrated by time-traveling humans from the future, who wanted to create thousands of planets worth of allies in a fight against an alien race that kept humanity from expanding out into space.]]
* Since, as of this writing, all the examples on this page are positively presented, a reminder should be given that TropesAreNotGood. For instance, there's ''Out of this World'' by Creator/LawrenceWattEvans, which deconstructs both HighFantasy and SpaceOpera. Our hero is an [[ThisLoserIsYou ordinary schlub]], so everything -- ''everything'' -- he tries [[BoringFailureHero fails miserably]] as the narration remarks that such things [[ThisIsReality only work in fiction]]. DeusAngstMachina rears its ugly head when [[spoiler:the villains rape and murder his wife and daughter]].
* ''LordOfTheFlies'' deconstructs the KidsWildernessEpic, subverting MightyWhitey and NobleSavage.
* ''Literature/SnowCrash'' is an IndecisiveDeconstruction of the {{Cyberpunk}} genre. Stephenson exaggerates the genre's usual tropes and takes them to their logical conclusion -- most notably Hiro Protagonist's outlandish array of skills and the fact that the Metaverse looks more like Second Life than any serious cyberpunk VR. The critiques inherent in ''Snow Crash'' flew over the heads of a lot of readers, but they informed many later works in the genre including Gibson's ''Literature/BridgeTrilogy''.
** Stephenson's next novel ''Literature/TheDiamondAge'' further deconstructs cyberpunk: it first introduces Bud, a typical BadassLongcoat cyberpunk protagonist...and then shows him to be an idiotic thug who is [[spoiler:executed in the first chapter]].
* At around the same time as ''Literature/SnowCrash'' was written, two of CyberPunk's early proponents, WilliamGibson (author of, among others, the [[UnbuiltTrope prototypical]] CyberPunk book ''{{Neuromancer}})'' and Bruce Sterling (author of the CyberPunk anthology ''Mirrorshades''), got together to write ''TheDifferenceEngine'', which was meant to deconstruct CyberPunk by taking all the CyberPunk storylines and themes and putting them in a Victorian Context, the point being that the themes commonly associated with CyberPunk where nothing ''new'', or even anything entirely ''fictional''. Instead they ended up giving birth to [[SteamPunk a new genre]].
** WilliamGibson [[WordOfGod himself said]] in the introduction to ''The Difference Engine'' that the idea came from when he finally got around to actually buying a computer for himself. Before then he thought computers were these mysterious magic boxes. When got it, he called into tech support that it was making "funny noises", only to be told it was just the disk drive. He went on to say how shocked he was that this "little box [was] actually run by such a primitive Victorian technology as a motor spinning a disk".
* Bret Easton Ellis's novel ''TheRulesOfAttraction'' could arguably be described as a deconstruction of WackyFratboyHijinx-style books and films, using the female character Lauren to show the casual sexism and objectification of women commonplace in the genre, the character of Paul to similarly show how homosexuality is so feared by the genre's archetypal characters, the results of massive consumption of alcohol & drugs, the indifference of most of the characters to the feelings of others, and the ennui and boredom which leads to the inevitable WildTeenParty.
* Balzac's ''Illusions Perdues'' is a particularly depressing deconstruction of the ''[[ComingOfAgeStory Bildungsroman]]''.
* ''Incognita'' is a deconstruction of the courtly romances of the early 18th century, as it exposes just how shallow and stupid all the characters would have to be and how reliant the plot is on ContrivedCoincidence.
* ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' arguably deconstructs the ''DownTheRabbitHole'' genre (subgenre of ''MagicalLand'') by showing '''just how dangerous''' a trip to a MagicalLand can be, but most important by noting that whatever summoned you there can be bad, not good -- and that the '''whole''' MagicalLand may be an [[TownWithADarkSecret evil trap]], as opposed to standard setting where evil is just a part which you should vanquish in order to either return home or live HappilyEverAfter in said land. Also deconstructs the ChangelingFantasy trope by showing that such claims may be lies.
* BrandonSanderson has said that he intended the background of the ''{{Mistborn}}'' trilogy as a deconstruction of HighFantasy, in which TheHero fails his quest, and a thousand years later, the immortal DarkLord rules the crumbling, devastated world as a god. After the first book, it also becomes a deconstruction of [[spoiler:what happens after the unlikely heroes defeat the DarkLord, and the difficulty of introducing freedom and establishing peace]].
** As part of that, Sanderson also has a disturbing deconstruction of the use of prophecy in fantasy, which is almost always represented as being either good, or at least neutral. One of the characters fulfills an ancient prophecy, [[spoiler:only to find out that the prophecy was a lie propagated by a nihilistic god of destruction to enable its release. ]]
* ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine'' books deconstruct RolePlayingGames featuring PlayerCharacters in a larger world (including TabletopGames and {{MMORPG}}s). Pays particular attention to the relentlessly influential (and often devastating) effects such characters tend to have on the world they're visiting. The trappings of a HighFantasy are there, but it's one hell of a CrapsackWorld.
* Sleeping Helena is a deconstruction of Sleeping Beauty. She is granted the gifts of music and dance and grace and beauty and so on and so forth, but these instead turn into obligations rather than gifts, each gift requiring her attention a bit each day. She also becomes a monster, torturing animals and willing to hurt and manipulate other people. "Why did no one think to grant her kindness?"
** [[spoiler: In addition, the curse of death was deconstructed as well, since the gift was not actually intended to kill her.]]
* Done with the trip-to-fairyland thing in Creator/CatherynneMValente's book ''TheGirlWhoCircumnavigatedFairylandInAShipOfHerOwnMaking''. To be specific, she deconstructs what happens to the Pevensie children. In the Narnia books, the Pevensies go to a wonderful, amazing magical land, grow up, presumably have romantic interests, and are kings and queens. When they return to their own world and are basically reset to the ages they were when they discovered Narnia, they are ''totally fine with it'' and show no signs of angst or even anger. Not so with the [[spoiler:Marquess, the villain of the piece. Near the end it is revealed she is also from September's world, only she Stumbled instead of being Ravished and so was doomed to return to her own world exactly like the Pevensies. She didn't know this, so she grew up, became Queen, had a husband and a leopard--and then, without warning, found herself a child again, back on a boring potato farm. She was ''pissed'', needless to say, and finagled herself a return to Fairyland, where she proceeds to take revenge on the whole damn ''world'' by becoming a terrifying tyrant]]
* ''TheWarlordChronicles'' by Bernard Cornwell arguably does this in regards to the KingArthur mythos.
* Arguably, Boris Strugatsky's ''The Powerless Ones of This World'' is a deconstruction of much of his own and his late brother's earlier works. Perhaps most prominently, "the Sensei", who is a [[TheObiWan wise old mentor]] (a fairly typical character for many Strugatsky novels), turns out to have been not only a TricksterMentor, but also [[spoiler:the initiator of ThePlan that dictated much of the plot and was aimed at [[DieOrFly forcing the main character to unlock his full abilities]]]]. It succeeded, but not before making said main character a nervous wreck, inducing quite a BitterSweetEnding and causing much remorse to the mentor himself. Additionally, the topic of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressor the Progressors]] is briefly brought up; one of the characters muses that the Sensei might be acting as one on Earth, and that he had, despite some occasional successes, failed miserably.
** ''Hard to Play God'' deconstructs medieval chivalry, fantasy settings, the supposed glamour of royalty and nobility, and well-intentioned meddling by developed countries (in this case, civilizations: an idealist Commies InSpace benevolent space-faring nation ideologically similar to ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s Federation). The Middle Ages are also known as the Dark Ages for a reason: a CrapsackWorld is pretty much a given there.
* With ''A Companion to Wolves'', ElizabethBear and SarahMonette do this to all [[BondCreatures bonded companion animal]] stories, especially AnneMcCaffrey's ''DragonridersOfPern''.
* A lot of John Tynes and/or Greg Stolze works features this. ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'', for instance, deconstructs the UrbanFantasy setting, the novel ''AHungerLikeFire'' deconstructs the trope of the sensual vampire temptress and the [=RPGs=] ''Godlike'' and ''Wild Talents'' deconstructs superheroes stories set during World War 2 and the Cold War respectively.
* The ''DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' novel ''The Crooked World'' by SteveLyons is a deconstruction of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-esque cartoons as the Doctor lands in a cartoon world and begins to influence its inhabitants' behaviors towards naturalism.
** And ''The Indestructable Man'' by Simon Messingham is a deconstruction of all Gerry Anderson's work, asking ''why'' Jeff Tracy founded the {{Thunderbirds}}, what [[{{UFO}} SHADO]] personnel would ''really'' be like (yes ''{{UFO}}'' was DarkerAndEdgier to being with, but Messingham takes it further), and how the ordinary people of the Supermarionation world might feel about so much money being channelled into AwesomeButImpractical vehicles. Most notably, the titular Indestructable Man is a CaptainErsatz CaptainScarlet who feels [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul detached from humanity]] and [[WhoWantsToLiveForever wishes he was able to die]].
* [[http://www.nicolagriffith.com/troll.html "A Troll Story"]] by Nicola Griffith, in which a Viking warrior faces off against a troll. He wins, all right, but the story abruptly takes a deconstructionist turn: he [[spoiler:[[GoMadFromTheRevelation goes insane]] from the troll's final curse, which renders him able to understand that [[NotSoDifferent there's no essential moral difference]] between the troll's slaughter of Vikings and his own slaughter of innocents in the towns he's raided.]]
* ''Ring For Jeeves'' could be considered Creator/PGWodehouse's deconstruction of his own stories. The usual romantic comedy character-relation tropes are there, but the world they live in is remarkably different. All of Wodehouse's stories take place in a world of eternal GenteelInterbellumSetting, but ''Ring For Jeeves'' explores what would happen if time actually ''progressed''. World War II has happened, Britain is in the throes of social upheaval which separates Jeeves and Bertie (Bertie is sent to a school that teaches the aristocracy how to fend for themselves), poverty and suicide and graphic death are acknowledged, and Jeeves even admits to having "dabbled in" World War I. The book's setting, Rowchester Abbey, is falling apart at the seams and the characters who inhabit it start to feel like a pocket of old-fashioned happiness in a darkening world. In case any doubters still exist about 3/4 through the book, there's Constable Wyvyrn's musings ''about just how much the world has changed.''
* ''Goshawk Squadron'' by Derek Robinson attacks the popular view of WorldWarOne air combat which, rather than dueling "Knights of the Air", actually involved undertrained pilots diving out of the sun and machine-gunning their opponent in the back before he had a chance to defend himself.
* ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' was a deconstruction of the KingArthur mythos, which a lot of Brits took offense to. (It was compared, at one point, to defecating on a national treasure.)
* ''TheGreatGatsby'' by F. Scott Fitzgerald could be the earliest deconstruction of the American dream lifestyle. It shows the rich and happy as people who are [[StepfordSmiler empty on the inside]] and the fight between new rich and old rich lifestyles, particularly with the titular character Jay Gatsby.
* The ''SecondApocalypse'' series by R. Scott Bakker was an attempted deconstruction of what Bakker considers the crux of fantasy -- a ''meaningful'' universe with metaphysical purpose. One of the premises of the series is "What if you had a fantasy world where Old Testament-style morality, with all of its arbitrary taboos and cruelties (like damnation), was as true in the same way that gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared?". Whether he successfully accomplishes this is [[LoveItOrHateIt heavily debated]].
* ''ATaleOfTwoCities''. To many, the famous opening line ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...") seems [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny cliche]], but one needs to look at it in the context of the FrenchRevolution. In the years following it, revisionists on both sides relied heavily on propaganda, romantising their own side as undeniably good, and demonising the other side as undeniably bad. ''A Tale of Two Cities'' makes the assumption that both side was absolutly right and runs with it, and so both the aristocrats and the revolutionaries have, among their ranks, noble, honorable people fighting for what they belive is right, and total sadists who just want some bloodshed.
* The Death and the Compass, by Creator/JorgeLuisBorges, is a short story that deconstructs the tropes of MysteryFiction and DetectiveDrama: In the first lines, the GreatDetective Eric Lonroth is implied to have a RoguesGallery and an ArchEnemy in DiabolicalMastermind Red Scharlach. Then there is a murder. InspectorLestrade Treviranus was StatingTheSimpleSolution that a thief must have killed him. Lonroth lapmshades that this ''"solution"'' heavily implies a RandomEventsPlot and prefers to study the victim’s books, he was a rabbi expert at [[{{Kabbalah}} Judaism investigating the name of God, and there is a piece of paper that states that:]] ''"the first letter of the name has been articulated"''. Deeming those as an MagicalIncantation, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Treviranus, a Christian policeman, doesn’t want to investigate those superstitions]] and give the books to Lonroth. Later, an IntrepidReporter misinterprets Lonroth’s declarations and publishes that Lonroth wants to [[LinkedListClueMethodology find the letters of God to find the name of the murderer]]. One month after the murder, there is another murder with a note, ''"The Second letter of the name has been articulated"''. Treviranus discovers that the victim was a crook who worked for Red Scharlach and states that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness HeHasOutlivedHisUsefulness]], Lonroth suspects NeverOneMurder. The second month after the first crime, Treviranus gets a call that offers to explain the strange murders, but it’s DisconnectedByDeath. When he and Lonroth investigate, it seems that a third man had been kidnapped and maybe murdered, because there is a third note that says ''"The third letter of the name has been articulated"''. Treviranos suspects a ScoobyDooHoax, but Lonroth knows someone is playing CriminalMindGames. The papers claims that PoliceAreUseless [[UnfortunateImplications and that there is a Jewish]] AncientConspiracy. One day before the third month after the first murder, Treviranus gets a map that seems to ConnectTheDeaths. Exasperated, sends it to Lonroth. Lonroth realizes that there must be a fourth murder and goes to prevent it. He’s GenreSavvy enough to know that once the mystery is solved, the rest is purely routine… [[WhamLine except it’s not]]. [[spoiler: He is surprised and overpowered by the BigBad Red Scharlach, who gives TheSummation: InspectorLestrade Treviranus was right all along, the first murder was a robbery gone bad, but when Scharlach read the article with the LinkedListClueMethodology, he was DangerouslyGenreSavvy enough to make an EvilPlan that relied in two {{BatmanGambit}}s: Lonroth’s ComplexityAddiction (and UnfortunateImplications!) to explain a crime with the most complicated solution (an AncientConspiracy involving a MagicalIncantation) and his IWorkAlone philosophy that he will not ask Treviranus for help. Lonroth [[ActuallyPrettyFunny only can praise Scarlach]] EvilPlan, but [[StatingTheSimpleSolution that it could have been more simpler]]. [[ContractualImmortality Red Scarlach promises this plan for the next time he kill Lonroth]], and then [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim he simply shoots him]]. Both of them were incredibly sad, [[EndOfSeriesAwareness because they both felt that this was the end of their adventures]].]]
* WhenYouReachMe provides an interesting deconstruction of the TimeTravel ideas, mostly from being told not as a person who is doing the time traveling. The time traveler himself is seen as generally crazy to everyone, and the only way he can have someone believe he's from the future is by sending notes carried in his mouth, because he can't bring anything to the past.
* ''Literature/ThePrimeOfMissJeanBrodie'' is another quite brutal one, about the idea of the BlitheSpirit CoolTeacher, who in this case is revealed to have some quite questionable ideas about what's best for her students, and all of them end up having miserable lives due to her influence, which she has no remorse over as long as they bucked the system she imagines she's fighting. Oddly enough, this came out before several of the more famous straight examples of the genre.
* ''Gingema's Daughter'', the first book in Sukhinov's "Emerald City" series (Continuation of TheWizardOfOZ), heavily deconstructs TheQuest and TheHerosJourney. The heroine starts out as a small girl in a Munchkin village who isn't content with simple life and runs away. She finds an [[EvilMentor old Mentor]] (complete with the advice "witchcraft is the hardest profession in the world"), learns something from her, gets a [[CoolPet cool]] ActionPet, starts WalkingTheEarth, helping people who are kind to her and punishing those rude to her, gradually gains new abilities, gets in several dangerous situations which she overcomes thanks to her cleverness (and help from her animal companion), befriends the Woodsman, eventually becomes one of the strongest witches in magic land and finaly becomes [[StandardHeroReward queen of OZ]]. All like in a standard example... except for one detail - the heroine lacks the altruism of a hero. She is never a WideEyedIdealist to begin with, and while she actually does help people in need, she always expects something in return, be it shelter of simple admiration. As her journey continues, she grows more cynical, eventually deciding that bad deeds are acceptable behaviour since she wants to be feared as well as admired. She manipulates the Woodsman into fighting and deposing Scarecrow, uses her heroic cleverness to manipulate others and her victory turns OZ into a [[CrapsackWorld place much worse than before ]], since she (as most heroes) has no idea how to rule, and is (having mindset of a regular girl) more interested in partying anyway. She also is not above petty revenge against anybody crossing her, including children. Oops!

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''MySoCalledLife'' is essentially a deconstruction of teen comedies, although the creators never declared it as such. Tropes like PlayingCyrano and ASimplePlan are played seriously, showing how unpleasant they would be in real life. And the parents, instead of being [[AdultsAreUseless cartoonishly clueless]], are clueless in a [[ParentsAsPeople more realistic, and more painful, way]].
* Good luck watching another [[CopShow crime drama]], even [[PoliceProcedural a relatively realistic one]], after watching ''TheWire'''s deconstruction of the genre.
** The earlier ''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' started the process.
* ''TheGruenTransfer'' analyzes and deconstructs advertising.
** Similarly, the "Ad Road Test" segment in ''TheChasersWarOnEverything'' took situations in ads to see how they would work in the real world.
* Though ''[[SoapOpera telenovelas]]'' are rarely prone to deconstruct the genre, a Colombian one named "''La mujer en el espejo''" ("Woman in the mirror") deconstructed the hell out of the archetypal plot of "Former {{Pollyanna}} is [[WomanScorned betrayed by her love interest]] and gets into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge via [[PaperThinDisguise becoming fashionable]] and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive ruthless]]". According to this one, the only real way one no one could recognize you is having a DealWithTheDevil to [[TheOtherDarrin literally transform into another woman]]. Pity that you now are SoBeautifulItsACurse; your family obviously doesn't recognize you (which is very inconvenient when you're trying to advise and protect them from the villains), [[GlamourFailure mirrors show your real appearance]], who becomes your detached conscience and berates all your bad decisions, including the aforementioned deal; and your love interest liked you much better the way you were.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'''s primary ''raison d'etre'' is to deconstruct the SpaceOpera genre. For example, the series opens with an epic battle in which The Alliance soundly defeats the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Independent Worlds]]; TheCaptain's epic romance never even gets off the ground due to the personality clashes between him and his love interest, and the RaygunGothic setting is rendered completely moot by the fact that the protagonists are too broke to afford any of the cool technology, and most of that stuff is unreliable anyway.
** And our heroes survive in this world by stealing, running away and generally being [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]]. One of the early defining moments of the series was when they're about to let a captured enemy go and he gives them a "TheLastThingYouEverSee" speech. So they kick him into a jet intake.
*** It also deconstructs the ActionGirl, WaifFu, and SuperSoldier concepts with River, showing just how utterly and completely insane, emotionally-damaged, and traumatized a girl with those capabilities would be.
* ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' could be said to be a deconstruction of all the classic family SitCom tropes. Instead of being cute and innocent, the kids are evil little troublemakers. Instead of being a stern authority figure the father is a spineless coward. Instead of being a kind loving Matriarch, the mother is strict, arbitrary, unreasonable, and has a volcanic temper. Instead of living in a nice, pristine, two-story suburban house, they live in a small, trashed-out home. (though it does look nice when it's clean) The parents have actual financial trouble, struggling to take care of three to four children while the dad works a dinky office job and the mom, instead of staying at home like most sitcom moms, works in a grocery store. Oh, and of course the lack of a LaughTrack.
** But Malcolm was only following in the footsteps of ''TheSimpsons'' and ''MarriedWithChildren''.
*** Making this more a case of SeinfeldIsUnfunny, as Malcolm definitely took it further.
* A dark deconstruction of a typical DomCom can be found in ''{{Titus}}'' in which it shows how a dysfunctional family can be messed up in the real world. It also plays around with several other tropes. For example; Titus' and friends' antics lead to bad publicity for their garage, leading to their biggest client demanding his money back, leading to the garage in financial trouble, leading to him drinking to drive Erin away, and so on. In most sitcoms, the guys would just make idiots of themselves publicly, learn A Lesson, then it would be forgotten by the next episode.
* The new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' massively deconstructed [[Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic the old one]], by showing how it "really" would look like if the last people were fleeing from a genocide. By proxy, the show also deconstructed "light" sci-fi like ''StarWars''.
** Arguments have been made that the show is much less of a deconstruction, than it is simply a DarkerAndEdgier re-imagining; since it fails to address many of the problems of the original. This may be reinforced by the fact that the Cylons have been changed from an irreconcilable alien ''other'', to an ''Anvilicious'' screed about [[HumansAreBastards mankind being destroyed by their own sins]]; interspersed with plenty of {{Fanservice}} and FetishFuel (two words: "dungeon ship"). Further reinforced by the fact that most of the major characters devote epic amounts of time to their personal dysfunctionalities; and seem to be only tangentially concerned with the fact that their entire race has been almost completely wiped out.
** It also does away with the SnapBack that fans of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' are familiar with. In ''Trek'', the ship could get shot up with no ill effects next episode. With ''Galactica'', especially following the Battle of New Caprica, you see what effect an epic space battle would have on a ship with no access to a station for repairs.
** The show also deconstructs [[TheAce the Ace pilot]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold with a heart of gold]] -- Starbuck, and how messed up such a person would really be.
** It could also be argued that BSG deconstructs ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', given Ronald D. Moore's criticism of that series [[http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/moore_voyager_001207.html in his famous interview]].
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodies_(TV_series) Bodies]]'' is basically a deconstruction of hospital dramas.
* ''Series/TheSopranos'' takes DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster and all its consequences and plays them for drama.
* Many people believe that ''{{Glee}}'' is a {{deconstruction}} of traditional musicals. Unlike other musicals, in ''Glee'' most of the musical numbers take place either during a performance or in the character's imaginations, and sometimes both. When a character does try singing their feelings in real life to help their problems, it doesn't work out so well. Other people see ''Glee'' as a {{deconstruction}} of ''HighSchoolMusical''. Whereas ''HighSchoolMusical'', being a DisneyChannel program for young children, doesn't show many real life high school problems, ''Glee'' deals with teen sex, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, homophobia, and drug use. This, however, is unintentional, as the creator of the show, Ryan Murphy, has stated that he's never seen ''HighSchoolMusical''.
** It's for these reasons that ''Glee'' is sometimes called "the most depressing show on television, [[CrapsaccharineWorld presented as the happiest show on television]]."
** ''Glee'' has largely abandoned its "deconstructing the musical" roots as the seasons have worn on, enthusiastically embracing the idea of bursting into song as a cure for all life's problems.
* ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' ends up deconstructing [[Manga/SailorMoon its own source material]] in increasingly surprising ways as it diverges from the original story, until, by the end, [[spoiler: Sailor Moon herself has become the OmnicidalManiac villain; the senshi's power source, the Silver Crystal, turns out to have really been an ArtifactOfDoom; and erstwhile villain Queen Beryl is revealed to have actually been trying to save the world, albeit only so she could rule it.]] The deconstruction arises here as a result of the audience's own [[MagicalGirl genre expectations]] about the senshi's PowerOfFriendship and the motivation of the {{Card Carrying Villain}}s, and how naive and dangerous it'd actually be for the heroines to make such assumptions.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' experienced a successful {{Deconstruction}} with ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', a successful {{Reconstruction}} with ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'', a {{Deconstruction}} with ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'', and {{Reconstruction}} with the 2009 film.
* ''The Ten Commandments'' miniseries shows the many hard choices (abandoning his family, alienating his adoptive mother, causing his blood brother to do a FaceHeelTurn, killing his most loyal comrade to enforce God's authority) Moses had to make in following God.
** Of course, loyalty to God and His cause above all else (sometimes including apparent good sense) is one of the major themes of Literature/TheBible from the very beginning.
* In a very unique example, as the vast majority of deconstructions are very cynical in nature, ''Series/TheWestWing'' (a highly idealistic show) could be seen as a deconstruction of the popular conventions of what constitutes political immorality: the Press Secretary spins information not to cover up the government's guilt, but to protect the jobs of heads of state and militaries from the influence of political whims; politicians make unsavory deals with amoral lobbyists and scheming congressmen not for personal gain, but to rescue legislation that would help out thousands of people; the President's speeches and public appearances are carefully scripted not to make him look good, but to prevent confusion and possible panic from people who don't have Masters' in public policy; etc, etc.
* The B plot of ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E24EnglishAsASecondLanguage English as a Second Language]] is a deconstruction of ''GoodWillHunting'. Abed pulls a paraphrasing of Ben Affleck's "the best part of my day" speech from on Troy, to try to get him to 'use his gift' and become a plumber. The next day, Abed turns to find that Troy is no longer sitting next to him in class... but not because he's inspired and has dropped out, but because Troy has switched seats because he's offended that his best friend would actually think the prospect of him just leaving without a word would be the best part of his day. Turns out, that would actually be a really horrible and offensive thing to say to a friend, no matter how gifted.
* ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' deconstructed the entire spy thriller genre - even its first season is a far cry from the "torture is everything" mantra in the later seasons. A government agent, who wants nothing more than to spend some downtime reconciling with his wife, gets press-ganged into investigating a potential assassination plot. All of Jack Bauer's co-workers are either revealed as moles or are heavily set up to be one. Jack is willing to defend Los Angeles, no matter how difficult the people (friend and foe alike) around him make it. Everyone that Jack works with either gets killed as a result of his leadership, or hate his guts because he sold them out prior to the events of the series. Jack goes through the entire season looking increasingly haggard and tired, and nods off in the morning while trying to find his family. Jack's wife goes through a HumiliationConga (including getting kidnapped, being raped, having to flee a safehouse with her daughter and ending up with amnesia) that all amounts to nothing when [[spoiler:she gets gutshot by her husband's co-worker and dies after revealing to Jack that she was pregnant]]. The best thing Jack achieves throughout the series are [[PyrrhicVictory hollow victories]] - he's never any better off; even at the end of the series, he has to flee the U.S. after being branded a fugitive.
* You could say LawAndOrder deconstructs both cop shows and courtroom dramas. It doesn't end when the suspect is caught. It's just the beginning of a long litigation process and there's no guarantee the suspect will be found guilty or even that the right person is prosecuted.
* Though [[CrapsaccharineWorld on the surface it looks like business as usual]], ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' deconstructs much of [[PowerRangers its franchise]]. We see exactly the kind of threat the villain can present (99% of the world has been nuked), the PluckyComicRelief is not an InstantExpert upon becoming a Ranger (and is just competent enough to avoid being TheLoad), the TeenGenius designing all the gear got her skills from being in a secret think tank for most of her life and has NoSocialSkills [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining as a result]], and there is immense pressure to keep the {{Mid Season Upgrade}}s coming [[ExponentiallyEscalatingArmsRace lest the villain get ahead]]. Things that don't get deconstructed tend to be lampshaded and made fun of; gratuitous StuffBlowingUp was questioned once, and the aforementioned Teen Genius regularly gets offended when the Ranger suits are referred to as [[SpandexLatexOrLeather "spandex"]].
* ''Series/{{Naeturvaktin}}'' is a fairly standard WorkCom CringeComedy centring around Georg, a ControlFreak PointyHairedBoss with awful politics. The sequel ''{{Dagvaktin}}'' is about just how awful and non-wacky it would be to have to work with someone like that in real life, ''and'' how [[CryForTheDevil genuinely messed-up they would have to be to become that kind of person in the first place.]] Several episodes of ''{{Dagvaktin}}'' are [[GenreShift straight-up drama with no jokes at all]], dealing realistically with the spiral of bullying, abuse, child abuse and murder which Georg ends up perpetrating.
* The Deconstruction entry at the ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' presents a case about the movie being the Genre Deconstruction of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', and the EmotionalTorque entry, in that same page, argues that this Genre Deconstruction saved the franchise.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* {{Exalted}} deconstructs a lot of typical fantasy tropes. You are not the beloved chosen of an [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] [[TopGod sky-father god]], you are an autonomous hunter-killer weapon built to kill the creators of the world and left to run amok. You are not in charge because it is your divine right to rule or because good always prevails, but because you're the most badass autonomous hunter-killer weapon around and you killed/dominated/enslaved/subverted all the competition. You win not because you're morally right, or because you believe with all your heart, you win because you have power, you use it intelligently and you're awesome: you can always define yourself as morally right afterwards, when you gain your own personal OmniscientMoralityLicense and propaganda machine set up.
* TabletopGame/UnknownArmies is this for UrbanFantasy, by pointing out the various issues with human nature that would come up if the supernatural really existed in the modern day world. Violence, insanity, tragedy and anti-social behaviour is common in the occult underground.
** By the one of the same authors, John Tynes, [[http://johntynes.com/revland2000/rl_powerkill.html Power Kill]] is a brutal takedown of ''the entire medium'' of Tabletop RPGs.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
%%Madoka is not a deconstruction. See discussion
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' deconstructs the SuperRobot genre. The basic premise of the show, at first, seems absolutely formulaic; an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent [[FallingIntoTheCockpit falls into the cockpit]] of a HumongousMecha designed by his father. He is the last hope for humanity in a war against various alien lifeforms called "angels." However, it is quickly shown that using ''fourteen year old children'' as ''[[ChildSoldier child soldiers]]'' in extremely traumatic battles against [[EldritchAbomination Lovecraftian horrors]] is, to put it bluntly, not very nice and ''certainly'' not the kind of idealistic "insert-positive-emotion-here conquers all obstacles" affair that previous {{super robot|Genre}} shows portrayed it as. It also played with the following mecha tropes:
** Changed the mecha from an unfeeling mechanoid with unlimited energy that is easily repaired to a biological entity that bleeds, feels pain, needs an extension cord for power, and may even have a personality.
** Most {{super robot|Genre}} shows have a teenage mecha pilot and a long-absent father who designed the mecha. So ''Evangelion'' shows how traumatizing it would be for a real teen to fight in a giant robot -- and what kind of father would abandon his son to design the robot.
** Half the cast is made up of what seem at first to be stereotypical anime characters. As the series progresses, however, they are revealed to be severely messed-up people with the same sort of problems that would be expected of real-life {{tsundere}}s, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl hard drinking party girls]], and {{lovable sex maniac}}s.
*** They even pull a GenderFlip on the three main protagonists. Shinji is a ShrinkingViolet, Asuka is HotBlooded, and Rei is TheStoic.
** Quite a few old super robot shows featured mysterious, alien villains with very lightly defined motivations; cue the relentless attacks of the Angels, alien (or not) assailants on whose motives, constituents or psychology we have a little idea of, simply malevolent [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]] to enable the story to play with 'giant robot' tropes. They also happen to get progressively [[NightmareFuel creepier]], and more unexplainably eldritch as the show progresses. Most importantly, there is an emphasis on showing the fear and uncertainty that comes with fighting an enemy that is just plain undefinable, thus showing how it just takes a little to turn an idealistic, formulaic Super Robot anime into a depressing CosmicHorrorStory. Various factions within the series vie for the opportunity to take down the Angels in the way they deem most appropriate, with the winner, of course, being the one that [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill causes the most collateral damage.]]
** Tokyo 3 is all but destroyed by the end of the series, and its populace is either dead or evacuated -- a sharp contrast to the likes of most examples of the CityOfAdventure.
** In some ways, ''Eva'' resembles the early days of the RealRobotGenre. Shinji Ikari has quite a few similarities with [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro Ray]], the most iconic mecha protagonist in anime history. While Amuro's relationship with his father is not nearly as bad as Shinji's, Amuro's father ''does'' go insane while building the RX-78 and due to his injuries in the first episode (which Amuro himself caused). Amuro is just as "whiny" as Shinji, but is forced to accept responsibilities in the military hierarchy and grows to maturity through that. Even his reaction to his accidental [[spoiler: killing of Lalah]] resembles Shinji's after [[spoiler: killing Kaworu]].
* Later arcs notwithstanding, ''RurouniKenshin'' can be seen as a deconstruction of the JidaiGeki genre. Being a {{samurai}} isn't just a thing of honor and swordfighting for either your master, your beliefs, or other causes, and it leaves ''huge'' mental and social scars on those who survive it. And then, all of a sudden, everything that made being a samurai "cool" disappears because society isn't feudal any more, owning a sword is illegal, and even if you could get your hands on one your enemy might decide to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim use guns]] instead...
* The original ''{{Gundam}}'' series (parent of the RealRobotGenre) could count as a deconstruction of the SuperRobotGenre too. To even begin to be able to pilot the Gundam, Amuro already had a strong background with electronics, and the Gundam's manual. His early fighting is clumsy and ends up blowing a hole in his home space colony that kills unknown numbers of civilians and leads to his father suffering brain damage that drives him to insanity. His early battles shook him greatly, and Char kicked his ass easily in their early fights, despite being in the less advanced Zaku 2. Amuro is also a whiny brat of a kid and is forced (through good use of the BrightSlap and a stay in the brig) to accept his responsibilities. Of course, in later Real Robot shows, the flavor of the SuperRobotGenre would kick in...
** And that SuperRobotGenre flavor that kicked in the later episodes of the show is itself a bitter deconstruction of the "loser mechs", as ''GundamSousei'' would point out.
* ''NowAndThenHereAndThere'' deconstructs the old anime stock plot of TrappedInAnotherWorld. It starts the typical basic premise of "OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent meets MysteriousWaif and gets whisked off to a world locked in a great crisis." it got worse from there. And then shows how relevant an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent would be in such a situation (not at all), how traumatizing it would be for someone from a peaceful society like late twentieth/early twenty first century Japan to be suddenly trapped in the middle of a war zone (extremely) and how likely it would be for anyone from that world including the waif that brought him there in the first place to even lift a finger for a naive and clueless outsider, much less form TrueCompanions or a harem around him (not very).
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' deconstructs the GamingAndSportsAnimeAndManga genre, taking the absurdity of elevating a ([[MyLittlePanzer dangerous]]) children's card game to an international spectator sport and the method of deciding the fate of the universe UpToEleven and past, not to mention the realistic effects this would have on the psyche of a kid.
* The first arc of ''TheTwelveKingdoms'' takes a look at the typical TrappedInAnotherWorld ChangelingFantasy, rolls its eyes, and then goes to show what would ''really'' happen if you tossed an insecure OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent into a hostile fantasy country with the expectation of saving and eventually ruling it: a complete nervous breakdown.
** Actually, it's more than that. The series includes other characters who are or have been in similar situations, like another king (Shoryuu), two ''kirins'' or "sacred beasts" (Enki and Taiki), a peasant girl (Suzu) and, in the anime, two of Youko's classmates (Asano and Yuuka). ''All'' of them have huge problems with the premise and have to deal in different ways.
** Premise: being kidnapped to a strange magical world as the chosen one is wonderful! Decon: no it's not. But per the above comment, that deconstruction isn't allowed to stand as a universal statement. Youko represents the normal reaction, especially when the benevolent kidnapper is himself waylaid and Youko herself subjected to abnormal stress. Yuuka is the one who wants to live the Changeling Fantasy and might have adapted well save for not being the chosen one at all. Suzu and Asano don't even get the illusion of being chosen, and deal poorly, though Suzu's pretty lucky. OTOH, Shouryuu and the two kirin really are Chosen Changelings, don't get waylaid on their way back, and do as well as the original trope would have it. (Taiki's later tragedy is independent.)
** Premise: a bunch of arbitrary rules and gods. Decon: a bunch of the main characters eventually wonder about the rules, doubt the gods, and try to ask the gods for rules clarifications. Storming the Heavens isn't a practical option, so they don't.
** Premise: fantasy monarchy is wonderful! Decon: except when it isn't. A filtering system gets rid of the worst cases, leaving the best ones as immortal enlightened despots, avoiding the succession problem. A kirin with contact with modern Japan snarks about possible democratic alternatives anyway.
* The anime version of ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of the harem anime, as well as h-game adaptations and other SliceOfLife romance series. The lead, after finally dating the sweet girl he's been lusting after for ages, finds that dating her feels more like work and less fun, so he pursues and has sex with one of the ''other'' girls who wanted him. Shortly after, he decides to sleep around, with no regard for the consequences and no desire to devote to a serious relationship. When the girl he first began cheating with [[spoiler:discovers she's almost sure to be pregnant and confronts him, he wants nothing more to do with her, and after everyone finds out not only did he knock her up, but refuses to take responsibility, the other girls refuse to have anything to do with ''him.'']]\\
\\
In the meantime, he's broken up with the first girl, but only after cheating on her for a ''long'' time. Said girl sinks into insanity and denial, especially since she knew he was cheating all along. [[spoiler:Desperate after finding all his girls left him, he gets back together with the first girl, and tells the pregnant girl to get an abortion after making out with the other girl in front of her. Said girl later comes to his apartment and brutally murders him, the ''first'' girl sees the body, brutally murders ''her,'' and then leaves in a boat, cradling the guy's severed head in her arms, [[DissonantSerenity with a creepy smile on her face.]]]]
** Also showed what kind of girls would be in an UnwantedHarem. At best [[ClingyJealousGirl needy]], at worst [[{{Yandere}} psychotic.]] Kotonoha and Sekai particularly deconstruct SatelliteLoveInterest: they both lose what's left of their personalities to chase after Makoto... but this is done deliberately to show the terrible consequences.
** Also brings up the true implications of the LovableSexManiac / BromanticFoil. Makoto's best friend Taisuke is a spirited yet hopeless romantic, and his perverted antics and subsequent rejections are portrayed as zany comic relief for most of the show. But then after being turned down once again on the day of the school festival, he resorts to actually ''raping a girl'' via taking advantage of her [[HeroicBSOD when she's at her lowest point]]; this not only throws the victim through the DespairEventHorizon, but it shows the character archetype to be much less harmless than commonly assumed.
* ''{{Patlabor}}'' may be the ultimate deconstruction of the Mecha-genre: It has no superheroes nor supervillains and the mechas are plain and simply tools; the majority of them are used at construction sites and storages. They're anything but cool and if there's something even uncooler, that would be being a member of the Patlabor unit.
* ''Anime/{{Mai-Hime}}'' functions as a fairly solid deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre, too, with the first half of the series being almost entirely fluffy, silly character-building and harmless MonsterOfTheWeek fighting (to further the point: the heroines battle a monster that steals lingerie), until around the halfway point when it decides to [[AnyoneCanDie Get Serious]].
* Despite being the go-to "silly school comedy," ''Manga/SchoolRumble'' messes with the genre and deconstructs a surprising number of its tropes. Not only is the ditzy female protagonist we so often see replaced with a badass male delinquent, many situations are gender-flipped (such as when Eri walks in on Harima naked). Then, of course, there's the deconstructions of ClingyJealousGirl (Eri nearly ruins her friendships when she thinks her friends are interested in Harima), {{Tsundere}} (Eri again, most people can't relate to her because she flips between extremes so much), and YamatoNadeshiko (Yakumo's inability to confront people turns her into an ExtremeDoormat who can't make friends).
* ''{{Gantz}}'', at least for most of the first couple dozen chapters, was a deconstruction of FirstPersonShooter-style video games. It showed just how bizarre and frightening it would be for someone actually ''in it'', including being teleported into an unknown area, and being forced to fight dangerous creatures [[PossessionImpliesMastery with weapons you've just picked up and have no practice with.]]
* ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' deconstructs the {{Shojo}} genre to the point of MindScrew. The original hero became a Machiavellian and the newer heroes are just petty school children. Really. See also EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory. In particular, it deconstructs the fairy tale archetypes of [[PrincelyYoungMan the Prince]], [[PrincessClassic the Princess]], and the WickedWitch. [[http://etrangere.livejournal.com/318410.html?nc=17 This essay]] goes into more detail on the subject.
* ''{{Narutaru}}'' (''Shadow Star'') deconstructs the [[{{Mon}} pet monster]] genre in a very disturbing and bloody way. To control their companions, the children have a psychic link with them which can take a heavy toll on both their body and mind, and some become very aware of the power they have and abuse it - even to the point of mass murder. The manga also looks at how the government and military might actually respond to Mons being involved in all manner of strange and violent circumstances, which leads to [[GovernmentConspiracy a lot of cover-ups and extreme measures]].
* ''{{Bokurano}}'' (written by [[MohiroKitoh the same person]] who made ''{{Narutaru}}'') is a HumongousMecha {{deconstruction}} (of different focus than Eva, yet similar to it) that showcases only too well the destructive side-effects caused by giant robot battles, not to mention the immense psychological stress caused by having a bunch of kids (who all have [[DysfunctionJunction their own personal tragedies]] on top of it) responsible for the continued existence of planet Earth. [[spoiler:And ''then'' they throw in the fact that the SuperRobot they must use is fueled by the pilot's LifeForce, meaning they're all dead even if they win, and we start crossing into DiabolusExMachina territory.]]
** Furthermore, the show deconstructs the "[[InevitableTournament magical tournament]][=/=]ThereCanBeOnlyOne" type of anime as well: [[spoiler:It's later revealed that the creatures the kids have been fighting are actually human pilots from parallel universes, specifically the battles are contests to determine which of the selected universes would be erased from existence. (Who is doing this and why has yet to be explained.) So the pilots have to choose between either winning the battles and dying or losing the battles and dooming their universes]].
*** The author manages to one-up himself by explaining that [[spoiler:even if the characters manages to make it through the requisite 14 battles and earn their universe's right to live (killing all of said characters in the process), it's not really over: the "system" that picks universes to fight might wrap around and choose the protagonists' again.]]
* ''{{Berserk}}'' is essentially a deconstruction of the whole {{Shonen}} genre, starting with the fact that ''Berserk'' ain't even a shonen, but a {{Seinen}}. Another example would include protagonist Guts himself, who is the complete opposite of the usual shonen titular hero: he's a gruff, [[HeroicBuild built]], [[YoungerThanTheyLook twenty-something year old]], who is on the more serious level of anti-heroes, who, by all means, is one of the few manga characters who is [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon actually physically capable of wielding]] [[{{BFS}} a huge weapon.]] Fighting is also heavily deconstructed and played for laughs at times, since Guts doesn't take the time to analyze his enemies' attack: if Guts sees a window of opportunity, [[CombatPragmatist he'll just take it.]] Hell - [[TheBerserker he might not even wait for that.]] Also, ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy and CallingYourAttacks has proven to be '''VERY FOOLISH''' for the mooks who do this. Oh, and [[KilledMidSentence talking is most definitely NOT a free action during battle.]]
** The whole series is a PerspectiveFlip on TheMessiah and TheAntichrist, and shows us just exactly how the dynamic between the two would work, as well as showing that both are not what they initially appear to be.
* Originally, ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' was meant to be a DeconstructiveParody of shows like ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. While it veered off that course eventually and played a fair number of tropes completely straight (never mind [[MacrossMissileMassacre inventing]] a few along the way), pretty much every major entry into the franchise has featured at least one major, often scathing, deconstruction of the science fiction, adventure and anime genres.
* ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' starts out as a light-hearted TrueCompanions GottaCatchEmAll adventure story with some darkness around the edges and interesting sexual subtext. One-third of the way through, everything you thought you knew turns inside out and the most light-hearted elements become harbingers of the ugliest secrets. From there on out, the series proceeds to do everything it can to make your mind boggle, including introducing major unexpected {{Squick}} into what had once been Creator/{{CLAMP}}'s most popular and innocent pairing.
* The "Perfect GT-R" arc of ''WanganMidnight'' has a beautiful deconstruction of street racing. Jun Kitami, who at this point has been portrayed as a reckless, heartless daredevil tuner, says point-blank that there are no winners or losers and that Koichi did exactly the right thing in giving up this senseless hobby so he could return to his wife. Given that ''the whole manga'' is about street racing, plainly admitting a truth like this took guts. Even better, this happens in the very first arc after the Devil Z and Blackbird are introduced.
* [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Emiya Shirou's]] life story is a quite literally an embodiment of a deconstruction of MartyrWithoutACause, ChronicHeroSyndrome, and other related "hero" tropes.
--> '''[[spoiler: Archer]]:''' There is nothing at the end of saving people.
* ''HaloLegends'' is a deconstruction of the whole ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series. The themes it presents are all present in the canon of the games, to a lesser extent, and the other supplemental material, to a greater extent, but ''Legends'' takes it to a different level.
** In ''The Babysitter'', it's showed that not all UNSC personnel are fond of the Spartans -- some are actually jealous of them for their awesomeness, and they use it as an excuse to treat the Spartans as freaks, which has a bad effect on their cooperation. In the end, even a SuperSoldier is a human being who can die just like that.
** ''The Duel'' reveals that not all the Covenant believe in the "Great Journey"; some are to afraid to admit to it, some rebel against it and others just use the religion as a means for their own selfish needs.
** ''Origins'' is a story about the Forerunners and their war against Flood. The message: no matter how powerful your empire is, it will sooner or later fall, especially if you fight against an enemy you don't have a single clue about.
** ''Prototype'' deconstructs TheStoic. In this episode, the other marines believes that the main character's stoic personality is evidence that he's literally emotionless and that he doesn't give a damn about his fellow men, but contrary to their belief, he has as many emotions as they have, the stoicism just a facade to hide the pain that came from seeing his entire company being wiped out and having his last recruit bleed to death in his arms.
* ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' deconstructs many of the character archetypes seen in typical HaremAnime. Most notably, Taiga basically answers the question of what kind of experiences could give a person a childish tsundere personality in real life: HUGE personal issues of the familiar kind, which also don't mesh well with the girl's own self-esteem problems.
* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' deconstructs a number of things that were barely or not touched upon in the ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' canon, such as [[AdultsAreUseless the involvement of adults]], how the government would react to programs emerging into the real world as monsters, how those programs came about in the first place, what a world governed only by the doctrine of "survival of the fittest" would be like (namely, harsh and unforgiving), how frustrating it is to be the IneffectualSympatheticVillain, and [[BreakTheCutie what would happen to a Tamer]] if [[spoiler: their partner Digimon died.]] Later, the first arc of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' could be seen as a deconstruction of part of the ending of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', specifically the part where everyone in the world got a partner Digimon - it deals with the idea of those of dishonest intent using their Digimon for crimes, something ''Adventure 02'' never even considered.
* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'' deconstructs the SaveOurStudents genre, especially the belief that students and teachers are natural enemies.
* Manga/MariaHolic is this to the YuriGenre, alternating between cruelly subverting and playfully mocking tropes associated with it through the wacky hijinks of the GenreBlind schoolgirl Kanako Miyamae and her "ideal girl" Mariya Shidou... who's actually a VillainousCrossdresser.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is, for the majority of the series, a pretty thorough deconstruction of the MagicalGirl genre. The premise starts simple. Young NaiveEverygirl Madoka and her WideEyedIdealist friend Sayaka, are approached by MentorMascot Kyubey, and the relative CoolBigSis Mami, where they are given the opportunity to become {{Magical Girl}}s. In exchange, they are granted one wish, that can be anything they want, but they will have to fight demonic entities called witches for the rest of their lives. In addition, a DarkMagicalGirl, Homura, is opposed to this, and is constantly trying to prevent the two from making a contract. Sounds reasonable enough.\\
\\
And then the show demonstrates exactly what happens to those young girls who are forced into fighting EldritchAbominations with no chance at a normal life. Mami [[spoiler:is ultimately an extremely lonely StepfordSmiler who is broken on the inside due to losing her parents, and being forced to fight with no real friends. When Madoka does become her friend, her subsequent joy leads to her death, and also reminds us that these encounters are far more dangerous when removed from the sweet and innocent flavor that permeates most MagicalGirl shows]]. In addition, Sayaka [[spoiler:decides to use a SelflessWish to heal her crush, Kyousuke, much like any typical superhero. But as the other characters demonstrate, their is no such thing as a SelflessWish, as they all have a selfish intention. In Sayaka's case, it was so that she could get together with Kyousuke, and when he doesn't return her affections, she breaks down.]] Finally, Kyubey [[spoiler:shows exactly what kind of "mentor" would knowingly send girls off to their death, without giving the full details, and more importantly ''why'' he would that - it's revealed that he's really more of a magical girl villain that sets up magical girls to turn into the very monsters they fight so he can harvest their energy. Even that is played with since he's actually gathering that energy to [[WellIntentionedExtremist stave off the heat death of the universe]]]]. At the end, [[DeconReconSwitch however]], [[spoiler:Madoka becomes a MagicalGirl, and uses a CosmicRetcon to make it so that {{Magical Girl}}s will not become witches. Although {{Magical Girl}}s will have to fight demons [=/=]wraiths instead of witches, it is at least implied that the situation is better than before -- but only slightly better]].
* Several chapters of ''Manga/FrankenFran'' deconstruct the {{Toku}} genre, what with some of the Sentinels using their fame to become rich with merchandising, blackmailing influential people to get more funds, one becoming addicted to fighting to the point that he can't have an erection otherwise (leading him to set up people to get killed just so he can avenge their death), the families of the faceless minions killed by the Sentinels teaming up to avenge ''their'' deaths, and the evil organisation's EvilPlan being to [[spoiler:cure all illnesses, stop famine, and create hospitals for everybody.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* SuperHero comics had a huge wave of {{deconstruction}} in the '80s and '90s, caused chiefly by two examples:
** FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}: ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' takes straightforward superhero action and makes it look absurd by having real-world politics interfere. Batman's work becomes a tool for debates about "toughness on crime," while ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s idealism makes him an easy dupe for the US government's plans for nuclear war. It also asked the question: "What sort of a man would dress up in a bat outfit and fight crime?" The answer: "A man who isn't very pleasant or sane." Though, it's not really clear the work is intended or often taken to be a deconstruction.
*** Its sequel, ''TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', tries to deconstruct the AuthorOnBoard Political superheroes by turning GreenArrow into a Marxist, and TheQuestion into a hardcore libertarian who believes that "Creator/AynRand didn't go far enough".
** Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' deconstructs the entire SilverAge SuperHero genre. The premise of the comic is exactly like any other SuperHero comic; some people put on strange costumes in order [[TheyFightCrime to fight crime]]. However, it didn't start with [[{{Superman}} an alien child coming to earth]], but rather, with a bunch of off-duty cops wearing masks to counter mask-wearing criminals. Along the way, every trope associated with SuperHero comics of the time is {{deconstructed}}: ImpossiblyCoolClothes turn out to be fatally impractical, [[AmericanPoliticalSystem politicians]] get involved and deputize and weaponize superheroes, these superheroes end up changing the course of history, and the main cast of SuperHero characters are all rather screwed up. Specifically...
*** Rorschach embodies morally absolutist vigilante SuperHero characters like TheQuestion. He is so morally absolutist that he will stop at nothing to enforce his view of justice and will commit heinous acts as a means to an end; ultimately it turns out he is a NietzscheWannabe with a {{Woobie}}-worthy past.
*** The Comedian is the UnbuiltTrope of the NinetiesAntiHero. [[SuperheroPackingHeat Big guns]], wisecracks, big muscles, and badass mannerisms abound... as do [[BreadEggsMilkSquick attempted rape, misogyny, murder of innocents, and moral nihilism]]. All these are merely his emotional shields. He has a breakdown when he discovers [[spoiler:Adrian Veidt]]'s plot because it was so horrifying [[EvenEvilHasStandards even to him]] [[spoiler: and CrazyEnoughToWork]]. The Comedian also deconstructs the idea of superheroes like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica who embody patriotic ideals and work for the government -- he's a black-ops agent who does highly unethical things, and as noted, couldn't give a damn about any ideals.
*** Doctor Manhattan is a true superhuman with control over matter, the ability to teleport, see the future, see subatomic particles, and is so detached from the human condition that he is indifferent to human life, out and out saying "A dead body and a living body have the same number of particles, there's no difference".\\
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He also deconstructs the OmniscientMoralityLicense. One of his superpowers is his capacity of living in the past, the present, and the future at the same time. Instead of having ''more freedom of choice'' than the average human, knowing that everything he will do will turn okay, he has ''none''. He knows what will he do in the future and cannot change it, becoming TrueNeutral. He is still a puppet, like everyone else, but ''(only)'' a puppet who can see the strings.
*** Ozymandias, the "smartest man alive," and a Marvel-style super-genius in the mold of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]] and [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Professor X]] taken to the trope's logical conclusions. He becomes a superhuman athlete [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower through sheer force of will]] and a training program he designed himself, and is also the world's wealthiest self-made businessman. He's driven by such ruthless consequentialism that certain actions of his can be... morally debated.\\
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Ozymandias also deconstructs SurroundedByIdiots by showing us how detached from humanity a true super genius would be. He feels right with himself being alone, but has rage about the whole world being so stupid to be engaged in a ColdWar that only will end in MutuallyAssuredDestruction. How would you feel if you were the smartest man alive and RichardNixon sent you his enforcer, the Comedian, to tell you not to mess in his business? How much of Ozymandias' actions are trying to save the world, and how much are nothing more than petty revenge?
*** Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II, the most healthy individuals in the team, are driven not by moral ideals but by, respectively, [[AscendedFanboy fanboyism]] and [[WellDoneSonGuy a desire to follow in one's mother's footsteps]].
*** And the rest of the superheroes are shown to have great flaws and the common prejudices of their time, many being racist, sexist, homophobic (and [[ArmouredClosetGay hypocritical homosexuals]] themselves) and equally riddled with issues and neuroses.
*** It also showed that there would be far less 'costumed criminals' since they would either be in jail, killed, or even found redemption. Many criminals would go into more profitable and yet less showy pursuits, like drug trafficking.
*** The idea of the NebulousEvilOrganisation was also targeted for deconstruction. Who has the resources to kill The Comedian, engineer Dr. Manhattan's exile, frame Rorschach for murder, and [[spoiler:engineer the destruction of several major cities]] than [[spoiler:Ozymandias, the world's smartest man?]]
* ''{{Youngblood}}'' tries to answer the question "What if superheroes were real?" The answer? They'd basically be reality TV stars. The series deals with similar themes found in ''TigerAndBunny'', such as the use of corporate sponsors and the pressures of stardom that a hero might encounter in the real world. A shocking number of the "heroes" are also shown to be outright assholes, especially in later volumes that tried to comment on the NinetiesAntiHero tropes that the title initially played straight.
** Creator/AlanMoore's ''YoungbloodJudgmentDay'' is a pretty brutal evisceration of 90's superhero comics (including ''Youngblood'' itself!), as well as concepts like the AuthorAvatar and the MarySue.
** Does anyone remember what kicked off the Marvel {{ComicBook/Civil War}}? A group of superhero reality TV Stars.
* Moore's earlier work, ''Marvelman'' (''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'' in the United States) deconstructs many aspects of the [[{{ComicBook/Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] mythos and superheroes in general. In one particularly memorable instance, it deconstructed superhero battles by showing just how bloody and devastating they would be in a more realistic setting.
* Deconstruction in comics is even older than that, dating at least back to the BronzeAge. In TheSeventies, DC came out with ''Franchise/GreenLantern[=/=]GreenArrow'', in which the title characters do superhero stuff while at the same time, arguing about the morality and political implications. As a result, the more lawful GreenLantern and the more chaotic GreenArrow butted heads many, MANY times.
* Hell! You could even argue that it dates back to the SilverAge! When Creator/StanLee first pitched the idea of [[ComicBook/SpiderMan a superhero with real life problems]] his editor replied "Don't you know what a superhero is?"
* A 70's storyline in ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' tried to deconstruct the concept of the TokenMinority. TheFalcon is forced into the team in order to fill a diversity quota, which not only leads to friction with {{Hawkeye}}, but causes Falcon to doubt his own worth as a hero. He eventually quits after growing to resent being thought of as the Avengers' token black guy.
* Freedom Ring was created by [[TheWalkingDead Robert Kirkman]] as a deconstruction of the teen superhero archetype. Specifically, he wanted Freedom Ring to struggle with his new abilities and ultimately die early on his superhero career in order to contrast how easily most teenage characters adapt to their powers, which he saw as unrealistic. Unfortunately, the decision to make him gay meant that when his deconstruction-mandated death occurred, it took about 20% of Marvel Comic's [[BuryYourGays homosexual population]].
* While ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' was part of the mid-90's wave of {{Reconstruction}}ist comics (made in response to the above-mentioned wave of deconstruction), its reconstruction of the SilverAge was accomplished by deconstructing the DarkAge, bringing it to its most extreme conclusion: the {{Nineties Anti Hero}}es, having killed all the villains, have become crazed KnightsTemplar and pretty much taken over the world.
* The entire Creator/MarvelComics Siege [[MetaPlot macro-crisis]] was a DeconstructorFleet of the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse, the ReedRichardsIsUseless trope and the idea of the superhero in general.
** It first starts with ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled showing what happens when you entrust the world to a set few ultra powerful humans. It then goes into HouseOfM, proving what happens if the super humans took over.
** ComicBook/CivilWar addressed the stupidity of having the government let walking A-bombs blow themselves up in New York everyday while simultaneously showing how said government control plans would fail. This is shown in the ''deliberate'' {{Flanderization}} of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and ComicBook/IronMan showing how both sides are pretty stupid. This was also explained in the what if story arc when both sides find a balance and thus achieve peace.
** ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' then deconstructed the entire "Lone Cop saves the world and get promoted" genre by showing exactly what would happen if said psychopaths were really appointed to such positions of power. Thor, Reed Richards and Iron Man's tenures as God, Guardian and Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in each of their individual story arcs show how each quest to "fix" the world leads to disaster. Then, the New Captain America saga had a deconstruction of the Sidekick. The idea of power and potential is again brought up in The Hood's recent story showing what happens if all the D-list heroes in the universe eventually got together and actually ''applied'' their powers, while the Current Mighty Avengers show how these super teams affect the political climate.
** The Illuminati is in itself a deconstruction of large hero collaborations (and how they lead to failure i.e. WorldWarHulk & [[SecretInvasion the Secret Invasion]]) and its counterpart "The Cabal" showed just how incapable a society of villains would be at functioning.
** All this is paralleled by the {{ComicBook/Annihilation}} and WarOfKings series depicting exactly what kind of galaxy is filled with empires that invade and blow up planets on a daily basis and exactly how disillusioned it makes characters. Seeing [[spoiler:[[TheInhumans Black Bolt]]]] turn to insanity was just further reconfirmation of what a world Cosmic Marvel is. The Nova Corps pretty much deconstructed all Space Cop tropes with its nigh-omnipotent run band of non sanctioned super soldiers and exactly how that would affect any political situation.
** The Decimation arcs in ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' show exactly how humans would react to mutants if the odds were evened. And [[ComicBook/SecretWarriors The Secret arcs]] show how exactly what being a ''real'' spy means and all the details it entails.
** And finally, ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' shows that after all this, [[{{Reconstruction}} heroes are still heroes, no matter what]].
* ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' starts out with slightly-darker takes on Victorian heroes, but the second volume shows them sinking really low under pressure (and the ugly sides of Victorian culture that they each represent). The third volume reconstructs them during its own deconstruction of 20th century heroes.
* ''TheUltimates'' attempts to put a more realistic spin on the superhero genre, specifically by trying to show what would happen if a team like Comicbook/TheAvengers existed in real life. The Ultimates become used as a tool of the government and end up causing a group of foreign countries to attack America with a LegionOfDoom-type team consisting of superhumans from nations that the U.S. has attacked. Subsequent storylines deal with the idea of a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke superhuman arms race]] between the U.S. and hostile nations.
** It also tries to cast the characters themselves in a more realistic light. [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Man out of time]] CaptainAmerica is a NobleBigot with horribly dated social views, spymaster NickFury is a ManipulativeBastard of the highest sort, [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]] is a psychotic cannibal, former Soviet spy Comicbook/BlackWidow is a [[spoiler: murderous traitor]], and troubled genius [[AntMan Hank Pym]] is a Prozac-addled misogynist. There's a reason the book is such a BaseBreaker with classic superhero fans.
** There's also a definite MovieSuperHeroesWearBlack vibe, with the Ultimates all wearing more realistic-looking outfits. These outfits ended up influencing some of the characters' depictions in the MarvelCinematicUniverse, with {{Hawkeye}}'s costume in ''Film/TheAvengers'' being the best example.
* Another interesting example by Creator/GrantMorrison is ''Fantastic 1234''. At first, it seems like a traditional deconstruction of superheroes by way of the Comicbook/FantasticFour, highlighting their 'real' personalities via highlighting their worst aspects as they would be in real life; Ben Grimm is a self pitying misanthrope with a violent temper, Reed Richards is a emotionless autistic who seems to value his inventions more than his friends and family, Johnny Storm is a brooding Greaser whose tastes for fast cars and fast women can't fill the void inside of him, and Sue Storm is an insecure, passive-agressive neurotic who feels she is trapped in a loveless marriage and is severely tempted to run off with Namor, who is presented as a coldblooded sexfiend willing to do anything to make Sue his own. However, it ends up being a subversion of such a deconstruction; Reed Richards has realised that Dr. Doom has been using a reality altering device to 'deconstruct' the Four and bring out the worst possible aspects of the four's personalities in order to destroy them and gain ultimate revenge on Richards. Richards builds his own variant of the machine to 'reconstruct' the Four and save the day, the point clearly being that the standard portrayal of the Four ''are'' their real personalities. In fact, for his arrogance Doom ends up being the one who's deconstructed, and rather painfully at that, where it is revealed that he is a lonely, pathetic man-child with a ridiculous speech pattern who is not even remotely on Reed Richard's level of genius and whose vendetta against the four is petty and stupid. Also, he seems to be going bald. Ouch.
** That series was pretty much the epitome of a DeconReconSwitch.
* Marvel comics ''{{Marvels}}'' and its EvilTwin ''{{Ruins}}'' similarly focus on the impact of superheroes on an "average" person.
* DCComics' ''JonahHex'': Sounds like old fashioned Cowboys and Indians hijinx on the wild frontier, right? Riiight.
* ''{{Princeless}}'' deconstructs a number of tropes pertaining to European fairy tales, such as the black lead becoming angry after a potential suitor refers to her as a "fair maiden". There's also some skewering of {{Stripperific}} superheroine costumes and impracticality that would come with them.
* The ValiantComics flagship title, Harbinger, featured a groups of super powered teens ''on the run for their lives'' from an seemingly unbeatable business man who, at least at first, seems to be an {{Expy}} of [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Charles Xavier]]. While the man seemed to genuinely care for his subordinates, he never hesitated to mistreat them for the sake of what he felt was the greater good of humanity (which is to say, a better world that would be completely under his control). He was desperate the hunt down their protagonist because their team leader has the same powers as him - the near-unlimited telepathy and telekinesis and ability to ''activate superpowers in others''. The hero, incidentally, wasn't exactly pure either - early issues in particular showing him using powers in selfish and potentially dangerous ways. It also does a good job showing the mental and emotional toil this kind of thing would have a group of teens, constantly moving from town to town, and being the only thing keeping this guy from becoming dictator of the world.
** Most of [[ValiantComics Valiant's]] titles were [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructive]] in nature. For another example, Shadow Man. The classic comic book plot "Heroes travel to the future to fight evil" is deconstructed in the Unity CrisisCrossover, where Shadow Man learns he's going to die in 1999. Shadow Man's book takes this and runs with it, showing him growing gradually more reckless and angsty as 1999 grows closer. In 1995 he even [[spoiler: tries to kill himself, thinking that this at least will let him choose his own destiny.]] Sadly, the line was discontinued before 1999, so we never learn how this story arc ends.
* ''AstroCity'' is a deconstruction ''and'' a reconstruction. Like Marvels, it focuses on the impact of superheroes on regular people, but also on the inner thoughts of heroes and villains.
* ''{{Planetary}}'', as an archeological survey of comic books, pulp fiction, and B-Movies, deconstructs any sci-fi trope it doesn't reconstruct or parody. The Hulk was captured by the army after his first rampage and took decades to starve to death in a silo. The Narmy B-Movie monsters are the result of horrifying Cold War experiments in American concentration camps. The Comicbook/FantasticFour didn't just come back changed, they came back ''wrong.'' And [[ReedRichardsIsUseless Reed Richards isn't useless]]. He's the American Doctor Mengele.
* Creator/WarrenEllis did a "thematic trilogy" for Creator/AvatarPress in which he deconstructs the superhero genre. ([[AuthorAppeal Yes, again]].) The first part, ''BlackSummer'', shows us what would happen if superheroes were too human. The second part, ''NoHero'', shows what would happen if they put themselves above human laws. The third part, ''{{Supergod}}'', shows would happen if superheroes weren't even remotely human.
* ''ComicBook/{{Kick-Ass}}'' in regards to superheroes in their teens. Sure, the main character [[spoiler: doesn't die]] but his life becomes even ''worse'' after donning the mask, his only super power is that he has a metal plate in his head, gets beaten to a bloody pulp after every battle and would actually be far more responsible if he quit vigilantism altogether.
* After all these superhero deconstructions, one might expect a super''villain'' deconsstruction. ''{{Wanted}}'' (the comic book, not the movie) is about an UnluckyEverydude who gets invited to join a society of supervillains known as "The Fraternity." It's a world filled with eccentric, costumed renegades who spend their days doing just as they please, with nothing to fear from law enforcement - and what they please is [[MoralEventHorizon decidedly unpleasant]]. WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds with a DarkAndTroubledPast comes under fire as the VillainProtagonist goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against all the people who ever wronged him... including [[KickTheDog guys who made fun of him back in high school]], and culminating in [[spoiler:killing his own father]]. And looming over it all is the [[RedRightHand death's-head visage]] of Mister Rictus, who makes sure that we never forget the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin true face]] of NightmareFuel, or the consequences, both moral and aesthetic, of a life without concern for boundaries. In the end, it turns out that the only thing worse than ThisLoserIsYou is [[spoiler:This Loser Is Having Delusions Of Grandeur While Fucking You In The Ass]].
* A story from the comics series ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' (noted for its PostModernism) deconstructs ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and similar cartoons: in "The Coyote Gospel," a grotesquely anthropomorphic coyote is repeatedly and brutally killed by an Elmer Fudd-style hunter obsessed with his destruction, and continuously reforms/regenerates in a most disturbing manner. Finally, in a scene reminiscent of the classic "Duck Amuck" short, the malevolent animator paints his blood in as he dies for the last time.
* While a few elements are questionable, ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'' is still a clever commentary on how writers are corrupting the once-innocent world of comics by injecting their own perversions into it. The story begins with a stereotypical HannaBarbera cartoon world of {{talking animal}}s, then introduces prostitution, child pornography, and violence. Then it's revealed that the world's creator is a child rapist and murderer who's on death row, and created the world so he can switch places with a character there, and thus live forever. The whole "man in prison creates cartoon world that turns out to be real" plot is also lifted directly from ''CoolWorld''. ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'' asks the questions, why is he in prison? Wouldn't the world he created be just as insane as he is?
* {{Tintin}}: ''The Castafiore Emerald'', ''Flight 714'', and ''Tintin and the Picaros'' are deconstructions of the ''{{Adventure}} genre'' and of the Tintin series in general.
** ''The Castafiore Emerald'' is a intentional RandomEventsPlot in which Tintin and Haddock stay at Marlinspike Hall. It is full of anticlimaxes, such as Haddock's attempted escape to Italy being foiled by an accident, the Roma community's plight is immediately solved by Haddock’s generosity, Haddock never has the chance to make AnAesop about tolerance because of various distractions, the emerald’s thief turned to be a magpie, and said emerald is lost again by Thomson & Thompson, found again by Snowy, and then dismissed as a mere McGuffin.
** ''Flight 714'' has Tintin and Haddock swept into a plot to blackmail a millionaire by a ContrivedCoincidence. The recurring villains Rastapopoulus and Allan suffer intentional VillainDecay, ultimately coming off as ridiculous and stupid. And all of the characters would have died in an eruption without the bizarre, out-of-the-blue intervention of [[DeusExMachina aliens]]. Only Snowy remembers how they were rescued, making the whole thing something of a ShaggyDogStory.
** ''Tintin and the Picaros:'' Tintin, formerly a classical GentlemanAdventurer, no longer enjoys adventure and [[RefusalOfTheCall refuses the call]] for several days, and [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks now wears a pair of quite ungentlemanly bell bottoms instead of his iconic plus fours]]. Reality really hits the tale in the second to last panel of the album, in which [[BananaRepublic San Theodoros]] is shown [[FullCircleRevolution to be no better off]] [[ShaggyDogStory than it was when the story started.]]

[[/folder]]