There are plenty of things that Real Life people rarely see as funny, even when they're Played for Laughs.
- Death: Whether it be natural causes, unfortunate accidents, or intentional homicide and murder, it is almost always completely unacceptable to talk positively about a real-life person's death. The sole exception to the rule is if the person was a despised criminal, bigoted extremist, dictator, terrorist, exceptionally mean-minded boss, or sympathizer for any of the former five categories.
- Another possible exception is when the cause of death is unusually bizarre or the deceased was Too Dumb to Live and got killed by doing something really stupid. (The Darwin Awards thrives on this.)
- The Sick and Dying: Similarly, speaking ill of those at Death's door is considered extremely bad form if not taboo. And never make light of the illness, injury, etc. that caused the situation.
- Suicide: Although suicide is occasionally used for dark humor in some media, this can tread into very dangerous territory because it may trigger people who suffer suicidal thoughts. Even if one doesn't suffer suicidal thoughts, it may scare them or make them sad, especially if they knew someone who committed suicide. Moreover, telling someone to go kill themselves, even as a "joke", is considered to be completely beyond the pale; not least because depressed or mentally ill people may decide to take you up on it.
- Rape: It's considered to be one of the most serious crimes, because of the devaluing of the personhood of the victim and the mental trauma that surviving victims have to suffer for the rest of their lives. And although Prison Rape is often treated as a source of dark humor due to sex offenders and other convicted criminals often being viewed as acceptable targets, the vast majority of real-life prison rape victims are young, white, small, effeminate, passive in nature, and/or part of the LGBT community
— especially poor qualities for public policy and social norms to bring such a cruel punishment on. This isn't even mentioning that most imprisonments are for non-violent drug offenses. - The Male on Female version of Domestic Abuse.
- Sitcoms' use of Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male variety has been gradually starting to get this reaction, although so far it hasn't been nearly vocal enough to convince the networks to stop using it.
- Abusive Parents, particularly as it was used in professional wrestling where — to mock a babyface opponent — the heel claims that a beaten child wants to go live with said babyface "because he don't beat nobody!"
- Hilariously Abusive Childhoods can fall victim to this if the abuse fails to cross the line twice and ends up being uncomfortably realistic to viewers.
- Kidnapping — It's sometimes played for comedy if the kidnapper is very incompetent, but usually it's too serious to be comedic, especially if the one being kidnapped is a pregnant woman, an animal, or an actual kid and clearly shown to be terrified. And even more so if it also leads to an even more serious crime, like the aforementioned rape or murder.
- Any felony where the victim is a woman or especially a child. Furthermore, saying anything negative about the victim or positive about the criminal is considered equally deplorable, as is supporting people who sympathize with the criminal.
- Maximum Fun Chamber: Cold-Blooded Torture, played for humor. Because who can't see the lighter side of agonizing pain?
- Butt-Monkeys, if taken too far.
- No Sympathy
- No Sympathy for Grudgeholders
- Some of the more severe cases of Kafka Komedy (too much Kafka, not enough comedy)
- Harsher in Hindsight moments.
- Insanity and Mental Illness, particularly as a result of intentionally inflicted mental distress such as Gaslighting. While insanity can be played for laughs sometimes, it's becoming less acceptable, and it's even more unacceptable to play a specific mental illness for laughs.
- Also alcoholism. While people often make jokes about characters being drunk (provided they're not driving, see below) or wanting to drink, implying that they actually have a problem is right out unless it's a parody using a non-alcoholic substance acting like alcohol.
- Mocking or criticizing: Targets are treated as too sacred and sensitive of a topic.
- Unprovoked Pervert Payback: Expect this to happen at least once in a Harem anime.
- April Fools' Day jokes if they seem to come across as way too cruel or unfunny.
- Jokes about animal cruelty
- Cruel Twist Endings
- Diabolus ex Machina
- Karmic Twist Endings if the audience believes that what caused "karma" to punish the character is too disproportionate.
- Karmic Misfire: When the Karmic Butt-Monkey gets framed by the true guilty party and get (unfairly) punished.
- Social problems
- Bullying
- Exclusion
- Loneliness
- Therapy Is for the Weak, especially offensive to people who go to therapy, went to therapy in the past, or know someone who is or was in therapy.
- Heartbreaks, especially since they can take a serious toll on your mental and even physical health.
- Paraphilias
- Racism and other bigotry
- Anything having to do with the Nazis — even if it portrays them in a bad light (there are some exceptions, but not many)
- Adolf Hitlarious (treating Hitler as a buffoon when he was really a genocidal maniac)
- Those Wacky Nazis, if The Holocaust is downplayed or treated too flippantly.
- Racial stereotypes played for mockery
- Using the N-word, especially if the characters saying it are white, and regardless of context, however even in productions involving black characters, use of the word for comedic reasons is dicey depending on the venue.
- Anything having to do with the Nazis — even if it portrays them in a bad light (there are some exceptions, but not many)
- Homophobia and Transphobia
- Misogyny
- Downer Endings
- Drunk Driver. It used to be a source of humor, but the usual reaction now is "My God, s/he's going to kill somebody!"
- Sorry Ociffer: Ha ha, somebody behind the wheel is too drunk to speak straight.
- Trauma Conga Lines
- Blaming the Victim
- The Woobie (and similar tropes, such as Designated Monkey): Making fun of someone's misery (especially if it's realistic and/or overwhelming) can backfire hard.
- Unemployment and / or Poverty, particularly during times when economies the world over are in a downturn. This can come off as Kill the Poor levels of insensitivity.
- Slavery.
- Fake pregnancy jokes can come off as this when the person playing the prank makes it less obvious that they're joking.
- Uses of Apocalypse How can come off as this when Played for Laughs, as the end of the world is often a serious matter in lots of fictional material and can cause Nightmare Fuel for the easily-frightened.
