OOC Is Serious Business / Web Animation

• Greg the Spider has one of these in Arby 'n' the Chief in Season 7 after Chief has murdered Cortana. Greg is normally friendly and rather cheerful, who peppers his 'speech' with text lingo and smilies like Chief. However upon witnessing what Chief did, he becomes dead serious when he confronts Chief about Cortana's death, begins writing with perfect grammar, capitalization and punctuation, and even manages a Precision F-Strike, despite him normally going out of his way to sanitize his own speech in comparison to Chief's.
• Camp Camp:
  • In the season one finale, David of all people drops a Precision F-Strike and gives a completely serious speech in response to Max's attempts to get him to give up on the camp, letting know just how far he's gone.
  • In the episode "Cult Camp", David finally realizes that something is wrong with Daniel when a brainwashed Max declares his love for him.
  • When Max tells David that his parents left it in the camp without really caring about him, it's the first time we see the usually snarky kid being vulnerable, noticeably trying to hold back tears.
• DEATH BATTLE!: Wiz and Boomstick normally try to hype up every character as much as possible and make it seem like the outcome of each battle is actually uncertain, but "Spongebob vs. Aquaman" was so lopsided that neither of them could be bothered. Wiz states before the fight even starts that Aquaman's "best feat is literal garbage", and instead of the usual "IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!", Boomstick starts the fight by shouting "IT'S TIME FOR AQUAMAN'S FUNERAL!"
• Koden from DSBT InsaniT falling into despair whenever things go wrong.
• Dreamscape: When Melissa finds out Melinda is still alive, she completely flips out! It takes a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Betty to snap her out of it and get her to cooperate with her allies in coming up with a plan to defeat Melinda. Even then, she still mostly believes Failure Is the Only Option.
• In Fallout Lore: The Storyteller, the titular Storyteller never shuts up. Over the first 58 videos, he was never at a loss for words, prattling on about the history of one thing or another to anyone who will listen as well as many who would rather not. However, at the end of season 3 when Junior is killed and Tanner captured, he leaves to rescues them, alone with his droid. In. Complete. Silence.
• Helluva Boss:
  • In "Truth Seekers", Loona (normally an angsty, apathetic jerkass) keeps the portal to the mortal realm closed despite heavy protest from Millie (whose husband is trapped outside), because Blitzo didn't swear or use euphemisms or innuendos of any kind:
    Blitzo: Loona, close it!
    Loona: Blitzo was using a total of zero euphemisms, innuendos or swears. That means it was serious.
  • Comes up again in "Oops" when Blitzo, who never apologizes for being an unrepentant jerkass, breaks down in tears and sincerely apologizes to Fizzarolli for the circus fire that ruined their lives. It's such an unexpected reaction that for a moment Fizz almost seems sorry for Blitzo even though he's still angry at him.
• If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device:
  • Marneus Calgar, Glory Hound extraordinaire, not just from reading the fluff but from a previous scene playing the part of Monty Python's black knight during a battle. When we're shown his current whereabouts, we learn the man's undergoing serious depression, and absolutely hates his own beloved marines' Sue-like exploits. We don't know what's happening, but we do know something has to be, and it's serious.
    Calgar: Nothing is satisfying anymore...
  • The Emperor catches on to something odd being up with the Tau when the Custodian, who has been polite and quiet to the point of being a Yes-Man, and has put up with every last bit of his Grumpy Old Man ruler or his fellow Macho Camp custodes' antics without much fuss, starts flipping his shit when he's asked to talk about them.
    The Emperor: You're starting to sound like your father.
  • Whammudes is both the lewdest of the three usual Custodes, and possibly also the most sarcastic, among other bits of irreverence. As such, during his incursion into the Emperor's Canals, the gravity of the situation when he encounters whatever infernal sludgeform it is he found is sold by the fact he gets dead serious, throwing away all Macho Camp attitudes and frustration at his literally shitty situation and leaving only a Super-Soldier that has found a foe that could actually kill him and knows it.
  • Defied with the Dark Eldar: when they try to treat with the Fyodperor's retinue diplomatically rather than just flat out try to kill them where they stand, Leman Russ doesn't fall for it for a second and starts pummeling on their leader until he's been reduced to a fine red mist, reasoning that they probably expect to capture them without a fight. And he's later proven to be entirely right.
• The Misadventures of R2 and Miku: Miku is normally a combination of an Idiot Hero and an Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist who endlessly and obliviously irritates and mistreats her companion R2. One episode starts with R2 getting so upset he tells her off severely, admitting that he only befriended her out of pity; this gets to her so badly that she tearfully goes into a genuinely serious speech to apologize, admitting her own faults and laying out her earnest affection for R2. Further accentuating the effect is that her Synthetic Voice Actor gets briefly switched out for an actual recording of someone sobbing during this.
• The Music Freaks: Luke is normally cheery and completely willing to give Jake the benefit of the doubt, so it’s terrifying when he blatantly threatens Jake that if he hurts Zander, he’ll be dealing with him (Luke) after.
• Red vs. Blue:
  • In the finale of Revelations, Sarge, who up until now has been the most fanatical about the Red vs Blue war, is the first to volunteer to help Caboose save Church. He then promptly drops his Neidermeyer persona to give a genuine Rousing Speech and motivate the others to come together and get dangerous. He even compliments Grif and Tucker during the speech.
  • In Season 10, Episode 12 the Lazy Bum Grif, who usually tries to find time to nod off, can't.
    Grif: I never thought I'd say this... but I can't sleep.
  • In S 10 E 13, Tucker, who always responds to any Double Entendre with his Catchphrase "Bow Chicka Bow Wow", doesn't say it.
    Tucker: Church, just because you want to get close to someone doesn't mean that you have to end up inside them!
    (Beat)
    Church: ...Oh come on. Aren't you gonna say it?
    Tucker: No, because I'm pissed off!
  • After Church rages at the crew in Episode 18, Caboose leaves Epsilon-Church despite his prior Undying Loyalty, driving home just how crushed the Blood Gulch Crew is at that point. That said, he does get over it quickly enough, so it's probably more that he was upset that Epsilon-Church was alienating his friends than anything else.
  • In the same episode, who is the first to leave? Lazy Grif, who typically just goes along with whatever crazy scheme everyone else comes up with because it's too much work to disagree with them.
  • After Caboose, Simmons, Grif and Tucker escape from the canyon in Season 11, being forced to leave Sarge, Donut, Lopez and Wash at the mercy of their enemies, Tucker, well known for his behaviour, doesn't try and woo Vanessa Kimball, the leader of the New Republic.
  • In episode 6 of season 12, when Kimball has talk with Tucker, she ends their conversation by telling him he can drop by her office at any time. The thought of making a joke and/or hitting on her doesn't even seem to cross his mind. Instead he goes straight to Grif, Simmons and Caboose and tells them they're leaving because he doesn't want her, or anyone else, getting hurt on their personal mission.
  • Felix rarely takes anything seriously and always has a sassy remark ready. But when the Reds and Blues trick him into an Engineered Public Confession and blow the whole War for Fun and Profit scheme sky-high, he has his first moment of Sarcasm Failure.
  • After the Reds and Blues make their plans to find Church, Grif announces that he's quitting, as he's tired of the constant danger, mistreatment, and the others in general. As he's walking off, Sarge tries to get him to stop with his usual methods of threatening and insulting him, but as Grif keeps walking, Sarge, realizes he's serious, drops the tone entirely and simply asks him to come back.
• RWBY:
  • When Ruby first encounters Penny in Volume 2, she tries to find out where Penny's been since she mysteriously disappeared during the Volume 1 finale, but Penny acts like she has no idea who Ruby is. It turns out that Penny is being monitored by the Atlesian military because she's a very special person who cannot be allowed to roam freely without some kind of escort or guardian. She's terrified of getting Ruby into trouble if they're caught together.
  • During the Volume 3 finale, Ruby unleashes an ability neither she nor Cinder ever expected to exist. Cinder, who until that point had been carrying out the villainous plot with smug, self-assured pleasure, is shocked into panic as she unleashes an incredulous Big "WHAT?!". It's a game-changer for Cinder, revealing that the mythical powers she's been stealing have a crippling weakness to Ruby's inherited and equally mythical power. It leaves her permanently scarred down the left side of her body, forcing her to wear a mask that hides the left side of her face and resulting in her replacing her left arm with that of a Grimm. It takes her the whole of the next volume just to recover.
  • Yang is generally a very loud and proud Boisterous Bruiser, enjoying a good fight while also being insightful enough to talk to others about their problems. However, in the aftermath of losing an arm towards the end of Volume 3, she becomes sullen and barely talks at all, understandably traumatized by the experience.
  • In the Volume 4 finale, Ren, usually the calm, patient and collected member of Team JNPR, loses all control of his emotions when they fight the Grimm that has been destroying the villages they've been coming across throughout Volume 4. He fights recklessly, thoughtlessly, and almost gets himself killed before Nora can slap some sense back into his head. The Grimm is a creature that destroyed his home village when he was a child leaving him to raise himself as an orphan. In the Volume 4 finale, they finally encounter it in the ruins of Ren's home village, making it an intensely emotional issue for Ren.
    • Even before that, his behavior when they find the sign leading to Kuroyuri and are deciding whether to go there or chance the mountain is very unusual for him: He's stubborn, unwilling to reveal why he doesn't want to go there, and actually comes very close to yelling at the others. Given his normal consideration of others and relatively calm attitude, this can come as a bit of a shock, even after his history with the village is revealed not too much later.
  • Ozpin is calm and collected throughout the show, so much so that he has been criticized by Ironwood for not being more proactive in dealing with Salem or the White Fang, and by Qrow for not being so passive about Ironwood usurping his authority over the Vytal Festival. The few times he has become annoyed or angry, his tone may become clipped and authoritative but he still doesn't lose control. When stranded in the snow on the way to Argus, Ozpin becomes visibly rattled by Team RWBY's persistent questioning of his motives as they try and figure out what he's hiding. However, when they realize they can ask the Relic of Knowledge to reveal the answer to that question, Ozpin finally panics. He screams "No!" and charges towards Ruby. Everyone is absolutely shocked by his reaction, and it's the Relic of Knowledge itself who intervenes to stop him. His secret is a game-changer in that it reveals how Salem came to be the villain she is and just how completely unstoppable she really is. The heroes are left shattered by the truth, and Ozpin is left devastated by their despair, Qrow's in particular.
  • During the battle at Haven, Ruby starts out trying to reason with people like Raven and Emerald. Then people started getting hurt. When she leaps in to help her sister, Yang asks if she's okay. Ruby admits she's not; she's angry. The significance of a cheerful, always-positive girl losing her tolerance and getting angry stops the background music cold.
  • In Volume 9, Ruby starts acting withdrawn and is visibly hesitant about fighting or making big decisions; a huge departure from her usual Determinator status. Trauma from the Volume 8 finale is setting in and she's starting to feel that It's All My Fault for everything that's gone wrong recently, since the heroes have largely been following her lead. Unfortunately, her teammates don't quite realize just how off Ruby's behavior is, partially because she's previously been able to shake off a Heroic B So D by herself, and the failure of anyone to really acknowledge Ruby's feelings leads to her attitude worsening. Things come to a boil in "The Perils of Paper Houses", when she doesn't even fight against the Jabberwalkers, starts seeing hallucinations of Cinder, Penny, and Salem, and eventually refuses to even touch Crescent Rose after the fight when Jaune tries to give it to her, everyone present finally realizes that something is wrong with Ruby after she uncharacteristically lashes out at her friends and gets into a heated argument with Jaune, ultimately resulting in her running away in tears.
• Supermarioglitchy4's Super Mario 64 Bloopers:
  • Mario is usually the selfish, self-entitled person who refuses to share his spaghetti with anyone else, so seeing him willingly share it with Meggy in Meggy's Bootcamp suggest that he knows how devastated she was feeling.
  • Meggy is an Action Girl without fail, and never goes anywhere without her trusty Splattershot. In The Splatfest Incident, the gang's fears that something bad has happened to her are confirmed when they go to Meggy's apartment and find her gun just lying on the ground.
  • Whenever Mario admits that he's not intelligent, it's a sign that he's about to say something really heartfelt that whoever is listening really needed to hear. Ironically, it also means that he's about to say something really intelligent.
• Zero Punctuation:
  • Meta-example: When Yahtzee gives a game an even remotely positive review, his fanbase explodes. Doubly so for Portal, which he can't think of any criticism of, and heavily lampshades this.
  • If he ever pauses mid-rant, you know things have gotten serious, such as when he was discussing Spec Ops: The Line.
  • In the episode where he reviews the 2020 reboot of Battletoads, he explicitly tells the developers that he hates the game, without any swearing, hilarious metaphors or sarcasm whatsoever. Given that he's well known for those three things and he tends to exaggerate every game's flaws in a lovingly facetious way, this only emphasizes just how much distain he has for the game.

---