Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: Difference between revisions

 

[[Captain Obvious|Inverse of]] [[Cerebus Syndrome]], can be combined to get [[Cerebus Rollercoaster]]. Compare [[Lighter and Softer]]. See also [[Denser and Wackier]] when a series gets less realistic and zanier as it goes on. An instance of [[Mood Whiplash]].

 

* The original name for this trope was "Buu Syndrome," named after the Buu Saga of ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', which brought the long-absent humor aspect of the story back in full force, featuring things such as Gohan trying to be a superhero only to be immediately found out, a tournament which quickly degrades into slapstick, villains who are initially so weak that the heroes aren't at all bothered by them, Goku getting favors from a god by offering to introduce him to Bulma, a sage who "brings out Gohan's potential" by forcing him to sit still while he reads comic books, and the world's most powerful coffee candy. To top it off, the villain of the story is a Cosmic Horror from the dawn of time who resembles a fat creampuff in Arabian Nights digs, who kills people by turning them into candy and eating them. While it did have some very dark parts, these chapters are generally so over-the-top that you can't help but laugh.

** The Funimation dub of the anime took it even further by giving Buu a high-pitched [[Sesame Street|Elmo]] voice.

*** So did the Ocean Group dub. It was provided by [[Scott McNeil]].

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' had most of its 4-to-5-episode-long arcs slowly turning from amusing [[Slice of Life]] to gory horror. Then came the last arc of ''Kai'', that was practically a shonen-style action-adventure story with [[Non-Lethal Warfare]] and {{spoiler|[[Everybody Lives]] ending}}.

** ''Kira'' is just straight-up [[Ecchi]] comedy.

* While always humorous, earlier episodes of ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' really presented the whole cast as deeply depressed and unhinged people, whereas later episodes rely on more self-referential and pop culture humor and the cast is generally better adjusted. For example, although it was always implied he never really wanted to kill himself, Nozomu's suicide attempts largely stop later on in the series. On the other hand, Chiri becomes increasingly murderous as the series progresses.

** To be honest, the post-card game manga wasn't ''that'' much lighter. It was still, after all, the manga where people could be amputated, blown up, used in black magic rituals or any number of things just for losing a card game.

 

* The [[Savage Dragon]] started off as a byproduct of the [[Darker and Edgier]] period of comics. After about a year or so, the comics began to show some humorous characters, making the comic more fun. Once the 00's came around, the comic was turned into more of a [[Shout-Out]] to classic [[Marvel Comics]] and is a lot goofier.

* ''[[Cerebus]]'' itself had this happen at least twice

** The first instance occurred all the way back in Issue 3. The first two issues were - in all honesty - basically straight-up fantasy adventures that happened to star a [[Funny Animal]] and had ''some'' comic relief thrown in here and there. Issue 3 was where the series started to overtly parody the [[Heroic Fantasy]] genre rather than imitate it.

** Later on, after years of progressively-darker and more-serious plot developments, Dave Sim gave readers ''Guys'', ''Rick's Story'' and ''Going Home'': three very comedic and light-hearted (although definitely not kid-friendly) story arcs.

 

== Film ==

** [[Your Mileage May Vary]]. While it was slightly straighter than the sequels, the first movie had the title character making [[Bond One-Liner|bad puns]] and riding a tricycle at superspeed. There was also a random kid sidekick in that one.

** '''"F--k you Lucky Charms!"'''

* The ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'' film franchise. While there are still some dramatic character deaths, once it was out of [[The Sixties]] there was a lot more self-referential humour and lampshading of the [[Strictly Formula]] aspects. The Craig movies continue to play with the formula, but are far more serious.

* The [[Godzilla]] franchise started off depicting the horrors of a nuclear holocaust. The first movie was very dark and even by today's standards, frightening. The series gradually went from a horror series to a children's movie series best known for goofy rubber suits and ridiculous plots. The title monster turned into a proud national icon and the source for cartoons, toys, video games, etc.

* The third ''[[The Neverending Story (film)|The Neverending Story]]'' movie was widely criticized for having goofy depictions of characters like Falcor and the Rockbiter who spew pop culture references as opposed to the far more serious mood of the first movie.

* This happened to the classic Universal Studios horror films: Dracula and Frankenstein and the Wolf Man started out in genuinely frightening movies, and wound up being outwitted by Abbot and Costello.

 

== Literature ==

* The first two stories featuring ''[[Retief]]'' were serious in tone. But by the third story, it had focused more on satire and humor, which the series is widely known for.

* Dean Koontz's Frankenstein's series. The first two books are considerably darker than the last three.

 

* ''[[Angel]]'' went through something similar at the beginning of Season 5, although it'd be more accurate to say that the show suffered from permanent comedy-drama dissociative identity disorder. This was not new to season 5; the series radically shifted in focus several times, starting all the way back in season 1. The ''ending'' of season 5, however... [[Bolivian Army Ending|not so much]].

* ''[[The X-Files]]'' underwent this in Season 6. For a while there, every single episode of the formerly dark, creepy drama was a comedy.

* The Fourth Doctor's tenure in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' underwent this shift. After a debut season that included such unsettling serials as "Genesis of the Daleks", seasons 13-14 had many violent horror-inspired storylines ("Pyramids of Mars", "The Seeds of Doom", "The Brain of Morbius"), to say nothing of the truly dark "The Deadly Assassin". Complaints from [[Moral Guardians]] poured in. When new producer Graham Williams took over for Season 15, the show quickly started to lighten up with the addition of [[Robot Buddy]] K-9 and the Doctor's humorous side had more airtime; in general, stories in this period were less gruesome and violent if not verging on comic ("City of Death" being the epitome of this). When John Nathan-Turner came on board as the producer for Season 18, he dialed back the humor and had K-9 written out of the show; the season ended with the Fourth Doctor's regeneration in the virtually humorless "Logopolis".

** The contrast between the Sixth Doctor and the Seventh's Doctor's tenure is also thought of as this. The Fifth and Sixth Doctors had increasingly dark and convoluted stories involving parallel universes, and the Sixth Doctor in particular was [[The Mad Hatter|batshit insane]] and more violent than most preceding doctors (perhaps except for [[Character Development|some of the early stories with the First Doctor]]). [[Executive Meddling]] caused him to be abruptly replaced with the Seventh Doctor, who had much fluffier stories such as "The Happiness Patrol", which, while being a satire on [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s Britain, is mostly remembered for having an evil version of Bertie Basset killing people with fondant.

* The first episodes of ''[[Passions]]'' tried to incorporate horror elements a la ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' or ''[[Charmed]]'', leading to much [[Narm]]. Eventually, the show gave in completely to the [[So Bad It's Good|witchcraft, complex death plots and total absurdity it's known and loved for.]]

* Speaking of ''[[Charmed]]'', the show zig zagged through this twice. Season 1 had many horror elements to it with demons such as werewolves, mirror ghosts and hell fiends. Cue the start of season 2 where the we have cupids, girls turning animals into men for dates and a bland love triangle as the main arc. This was fixed in season 3 but then season 6 went down this route again adding a surplus of fairies, leprechauns and woodnymphs as well as a nauseating episode with a [[Tastes Like Diabetes|magical "Mr Right"]]. The seventh season fixed this.

* While it had always been a highly optimistic comedy, ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'''s first four seasons never shied away from emotional moments and tough, grim, even [[Tear Jerking]] storylines (Marshall and Lily's temporary breakup, Ted and Barney's fight, Ted getting left at the altar, Barney's unrequited feelings for Robin). Come season five however, it was all thrown out the window as everyone experienced [[Flanderization]], the show underwent [[Denser and Wackier]], and episode after episode revolved around pointless goofy filler. Even Robin and Barney's breakup had no emotional depth and no fallout until late in the season. The show reacquired some seriousness in season 6, however, and subsequently went too far in the other direction with ''extreme'' [[Cerebus Syndrome]] in season 7.

 

 

== Video Games ==

** ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'' had a goofy, deliberately cheesy veneer masking a reasonably serious plot, whereas ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' which was darker and grimmer most of the time.

** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' undergoes a similar shift. It starts with an [[Inferred Holocaust]], the main characters being [[Blessed with Suck]] against their will and being hunted down by the military. Oh, did I meantion they all hate each other? By the end {{spoiler|[[Character Development|They've all gotten over their personal issues]], become [[True Companions]] and decide to go the [[Screw Destiny]] and [[Shut UP, Hannibal]] route. And they manage to kill the [[Jerkass God]] final boss ''without'' completely destroying the world like he predicted.}}

** ''Team Fortress 2'' itself has been undergoing a variation of Reverse Cerberus Syndrome; while the story hasn't gotten less serious, the design process certainly has. When the game was launched, the art style stuck to a strict "[[Eagle Land]] during [[The Sixties]]" theme, and each character was boiled down to a series of instantly-recognizable traits, in terms of both design and game balance. Compare that to today, with over 300 increasingly-wacky unlockable hats and weapons inching further into [[Rummage Sale Reject]] territory. A Scout armed with a [[Shamu Fu|fish]] fighting a Heavy wearing a [[Dodgy Toupee]] was unthinkable in 2007, but is rather commonplace today.

* Despite how hard it tries not to, ''[[Diablo]]'' went through this. Strip out the names, and going from one game to the other, you'd not even know they were supposed to be related. The first is dark, slow, gritty, and actually downright scary at times. The second is somewhat brighter. The third game looks is far less like the first game and is much more colorful, though not quite to extent that Blizzard [[Teasing Creator|teased]] their fans over. (See the page image in [[Lighter and Softer]]).

* The ''[[Shin Megami Tensei|Persona]]'' series went this route with ''[[Persona 4]]'', which despite its plot about serial killers and {{spoiler|the sublimation of humanity's consciousness into the sea of shadows as orchestrated by the embodiments of self-destructive desire}}, is just so darn cheerful and optimistic its signature color scheme is ''sunshine yellow'', its mascot is a colorful and pun-spewing teddie bear, and it ends {{spoiler|with an unambiguously happy ending}}. After its predecessors' soul-crushing "Good" endings, and especially within the greater [[Shin Megami Tensei|Megaten]] franchise, this was quite the [[Mood Whiplash]].

* The ''[[Command & Conquer]] [[Command And Conquer Red Alert Series|Red Alert]]'' series gives us this. The first installment is fairly serious, with you either leading the Soviet Union's attempt to conquer Europe or the heroic Allied defense in an [[Alternate History|alternate]] [[World War II]] using mostly-realistic weapons. The second game features [[Anachronism Stew|out-of-place technology]] (well, more of it than the first game), [[Psychic Powers]], and attack squid. The third game includes, among other things, [[Everything's Worse with Bears|bear cannons]] and [[Tim Curry]].

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' started as a ''very'' dark [[Black Comedy]], then gradually evolved into ''[[Xkcd]]'' with more sex jokes, political jokes, and jokes based upon absurd science fiction and philosophy concepts. [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=829#comic Compare this] old comic with [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2421#comic this one].

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** The Simpsons itself is an example to an extent. It started with serious plots but eventually Flanderized it's self and it's characters.

* ''[[The Land Before Time]]''. What makes this obvious is the fact that all the films in the series except the first one are ''musicals''.

** ... Discord comes along in the second season's first episode to [[Cerebus Syndrome|flip]] [[Cerebus Rollercoaster|it]] [[Zig Zagged Trope|back]] by being ''much'' worse than Nightmare Moon... only to be defeated by episode 2.

** The same occurred with the [[My Little Pony|original]] [[My Little Pony N Friends|cartoons]]. Originally there wasn't supposed to be anything after the first special but the series became so popular that they made another special, a [[The Movie|movie]], and a TV show based off said movie. The original special - called ''Escape From Midnight Castle'' - has little humor and is mostly just as much straight up action and [[Nightmare Fuel]] that they could back into such a short special. The next special, while still dark, is considerably more cute and lighthearted. The movie is mostly on-par with the second special but with more humor, and the series.. It's still dark but it's pretty fluffy.

 

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[[Category:Series Tropes]]

[[Category:Tone Shift]]

[[Category:Example as a Thesis]]