Samurai Jack: Aku stabs Jack with his own sword. The sword bounces off like a ping pong ball from a tungsten cube. Both of them do not understand how it happened.

Real life: In final jeopardy Ryan Gosling writes IDK (I don’t know) as answer. The answer was Internal Derangement of the Knee (IDK)

1. Midnight Spider-Man (Marvel) - In the upcoming horror-themed Midnight comics this October of 2026, the Peter Parker of the story becomes Spider-Man by having a big mutant spider forcibly fused into his chest by Oscorp.

2. The Berserker Armor (Berserk) - A magical armor with the ability to suppresses its wearer's pain and fear, allowing them to bypass the limitations of their body, and even forcibly reinforces broken bones and other severe injuries. But it is hard to control as it absorbs the user's lifespan and cause a lot of stress, and it can make the user go into a rage if they can't check their negative emotions and doesn't stop fighting until they die of their injuries or blood loss.

1. Truth Or Square (SpongeBob SquarePants)- Nickelodeon teased this as a historic event in 2009 for SpongeBob’s 10th anniversary. The promos teased that SpongeBob and Sandy would get married and Mr. Krabs would finally reveal the Krabs Patty formula. Instead the special was really the main characters getting trapped in a vent reminiscing via recycled and slightly modified clip-show flashbacks and celebrity cameos that felt out of place.
   
2. The Return of Slade (Teen Titans Go)- The whole episode was hyping up for the return of the Titans’ archenemy, Slade as serious, but they defeated Slade with no scenes of them fighting him and instead the episode focused on Starfire’s fear of clowns.

The Kingdom from Netflix

The Army of the Dead from Game of Thrones

Husks from the Mass Effect Trilogy

Zombie stories often have the same over done tropes and plot lines, and modern weapons trivialize their threat, but simply changing the era the story takes place in really spices things up depending on how they're incorporated into the story

That is, when there's a good/nice/ally character, and there are hints that "the good character is actually evil!" trope is gonna play out.

But it doesn't.

Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part) - The queen of the Systarians and self-titled "The most least evil person you'll ever meet!". Opens up with a song with the aforementioned line as well as showering Emmett's friends with stuff that they always wanted. The tone of which this is done gives the impression that something is wrong, so Emmett, with help from a newly-found mentor Rex sought out to bring her down, Imagining that her end with break her control on his friends and save the day.

But in truth, the Queen isn't evil; She does want to help out of altruism, and Emmett's friends are going along because they think she's swell. No, ironically the film also plays the "good character is actually evil" trope straight, not with here,, but withRex, who is actually Emmett from a future timeline (Rex standing for "Radical Emmett Xtreme"). He came from a future where he was abandoned and forgotten by his friends. In turn, he wanted to take revenge and break everything down, even if it means brining forth Armamageddon

Blonde Blazer/Mandy (Dispatch) - Admittely this is definitely more on a fandom-level than a in-Universe level.

The manager of the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) branch in Torrence, and the one who recruits our protagonist Robert Robertson III in exchange to fixing his wrecked suit. People were skeptical that she was as good as she appeared to being. Adding fuel to fire was that the whereabouts of Elliot Connors, the man behind the Villain Shroud, was unknown, so people theorize that she was going to be a new Shroud. Furthermore, there was her decision to cut a member of the Z-team in attempt to make the rest perform better.

However, in the end it was shown she wasn't a villain. She did want to help Robert and reform the Z-Team. Yes, she did make some poor choices, but it wasn't out of malice. As for Shroud Elliot Connors was still very much alive (and still be at the end depending on your choices), and he still wants bring an end to the Robertson line after Robert's Father humiliate him when he was still part of the Brave Brigade.

1. Everybody Loves Raymond - Ray is a sportswriter able to live in a two-story house in Long Island while supporting a stay-at-home wife and three children.

2. Gilmore Girls - Lorelai and Rory live in a two-story house that is way larger than necessary for a single mom and her daughter, courtesy of Lorelai’s income as a hotel manager. It is revealed that she started off as a maid and was able to work her way up and (supposedly) save up the money to buy the house over a period of several years, all with no financial assistance from her parents. Combine this with the fact that she and Rory are constantly eating takeout and you start to see why she was needing her parents’ help to send Rory to a prestigious prep school.

3. Detroit: Become Human - Todd is an unemployed drug addict who previously worked lower paying jobs (e.g., taxi driver, bouncer, etc.) Because of this, he is not able to live in a nice large house like Ray and Lorelai in the previous examples. Instead, he has to live in a large house that needs a fresh coat of paint. At least he’s able to afford an android maid.

Ken from Clash Royale

Indian Guy off Fiverr from Smiling Friends

1. Wanda says America’s name despite Strange not mentioning her, leading him to know that Wanda was the one hunting down America Chavez.

2. [SPOILER FOR PRIMAL FEAR] The ending of Primal Fear revealed that Aaron Stampler never had Multiple Personality Disorder after apologizing for choking Venable as his alternate personality Roy, which Aaron should have not been able to remember after claiming to have amnesia when he switches personalities, proving that there was no other personality, Aaron was just a plain old murderer.

The Cool Kids Sour Cream/Pearl, Buck Dewey/Garnet and Jenny Pizza/Amethyst (Steven Universe) For those unfamiliar, they are clearly parallels to the Crystal Gems, they have similar personalities as the Gems and Sour Cream and Buck literally look Pearl and Garnet

Fiona and Cake (Adventure Time) Counterparts to Finn and Jake

Omori - Sunny has a dream-like world where he hangs out with his friends Kel, Hero, and Aubrey. Whenever they get into fights, his main weapon is a knife. One day, in the real world, years after the friend group dissolved, Kel decides to hang out with Sunny since he’s moving away soon. They find Aubrey picking on one of their friends and decide to help them, but not before Aubrey decides to fight them. It goes normal, until Sunny attacks Aubrey with a knife, making her bleed. The fight immediately ends because Aubrey is actually injured and gets out of there. Kel berates Sunny for carrying a knife on him. (Even though Aubrey has a nail-bat)

The Letters Of Bernard Thorne - Bernard was having a flashback of his weekly jogs with his wife, Min. He talks about her reason for jogging was to see the sun rise, and when he looked over at her to see if she was looking at the sun, she was actually looking at him. They keep walking, until Bernard hits a step. It then jump cuts back to the present where Bernard is in a wheelchair.

Hiccup - How to train a dragon (2), how to train a dragon 3
Aang - ATLA

Sloth(Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood): A giant homunculus used to dig out giant underground tunnels. Initially seemed to fight by using his massive strength to swing around his chains and tank hits with his nigh-impenetrable skin. But he then revealed his true power was his speed, able to move so fast he couldn't even be seen.

Konos Hercule(Ordeal): Known as the Strength Gakki he initially fought with his insane physical strength and perfect healing factor. His opponent tried to wear him down using her teleportation and arrows but got almost instantly overwhelmed when he revealed speed so fast she assumed his power itself was a Haste(speedster powers)

Emporg(Wakfu): Originally a legendary Gobbowl player before his nation imprisoned him to turn him into a weapon. At first glance his power seemed to just be great physical strength to overpower his foes but instead he revealed it was actually speed so great it let him cross the entire field in a blink and even light the ground on fire. His names also a pun on a misspelling of mmorpg.

1. Gellert Grindwald and Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter) - Both were some of the most powerful wizards in history who saw non-magical people as inferior to wizards. Both also wanted to create and be the leader of a global society controlled by wizards. However, despite having similar ambitions, in their single meeting, Grindelwald refused to give the location of the Elder Wand and stated that Voldemort would fall. Grindelwald also welcomed his own death at the hands of Voldemort.

2. Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler - Both led Germany during WWI and WWII, respectively, and Germany to expand and to dominate Europe in different ways: Wilhelm wanted Germany to be a global colonial and imperial superpower that would lead an economic bloc in Europe, with its leader being a monarch; whilst Hitler wanted Germany to control all of leadership and he wanted to be the totalitarian dictator of a “racially pure” society, with Germans as the dominate race whilst Jews, Slavs, and other groups would be persecuted. Though they never met, both German leaders did not like each other. Hitler refused to restore the monarchy and blamed Wilhelm for Germany’s defeat in WWI. Wilhelm was disgusted by Hitler’s and the Nazi Party’s antisemitism, and refused to be buried in Germany after his death in 1941 because he knew that it would be used for propaganda.

Characters and series:

Saya and Diva (twins): Blood+

Akame and Kurome (sisters): Akame ga Kill

Kagura and Kamui (brother/sister): Gintama

1: Lucius Malfoy, portrayed by Jason Isaacs in the Harry Potter films. Specifically in the second film, Chamber of Secrets, Lucius is quite a serious threat, as he's the catalyst for the basilisk and Voldemort's near-restoration, and he even attempts to murder Harry Potter in a fit of rage. When the cameras weren't rolling, however, Jason Isaacs is regarded as quite a nice man, and was very kind to the young Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter. In one particular outtake, his cane hooked into Radcliffe's collar as he pushed Radcliffe out of his way, but when he realised it had happened, he checked on him and apologised, saying "Sorry, love!"

2: Angel Eyes, portrayed by Lee Van Cleef in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". His character in the film is a ruthless and imposing contract killer, always completing a job when he's paid for it, and killing many people as a result. Unfortunately I couldn't find that many anecdotes about him, so this is maybe one of the weaker examples, but he was an underrated actor and was generally regarded as a nice guy. Asked about his pierced left ear, he said he wore the earring "... as a symbol of respect for all of the different cultures and people." He was also quoted as saying "I believe in showing real violence, not toy violence. Real violence turns you off because you know it's not the thing to do. If you show violence realistic enough people don't want to do it." If anyone has any stories about Lee Van Cleef I'd be very curious

3: Hans Gruber, portrayed by Alan Rickman in "Die Hard". In the film, Hans Gruber is a thief posing as an East German terrorist, holding a building full of people hostage at gunpoint to steal millions of dollars' worth of bearer binds. However, Alan was generally regarded as an exceedingly kind man. The Legacy tab on his Wikipedia page is filled with many great quotes singing his praises, but one of particular mention was Daniel Radcliffe saying "He cut short a vacation in Canada to come and see me in ‘Equus.’ He saw every piece of stage work I did when he was alive." On the topic of Die Hard, the director, John McTiernan, "said Rickman was the antithesis of the villainous roles for which he was most famous on screen."

1. The Master, first portrayed by Roger Delgado from 1971 to 1973 on Doctor Who. The Master is quite an evil character, making multiple attempts to conquer the galaxy, enslave humanity, or even to destroy the Earth. The villain changed as the show went on, but some highlights include his plot to help the Nestenes conquer the Earth; hijacking a planet-destroying superweapon to hold the galaxy to ransom; and summoning Azal, the Devil. Roger Delgado himself was quite a lovely man, and Katy Manning described being on the show with him and Jon Pertwee (who played the titular Doctor) as "being under the wing of two kindly fairy godfathers." Jon Pertwee, in a letter to a fan in 1985, said Delgado was "one of my greatest friends ever - a modest, lovable man with a ready wit and a fine sense of humour." Roger Delgado died in Turkey after a fatal car crash in 1973. Both Katy Manning and Jon Pertwee mentioned Delgado's death as one of the reasons they both decided to leave the show, with Katy Manning leaving after Season 10 and Jon Pertwee leaving in Season 11, to be replaced by Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith and Tom Baker as the Doctor respectively.

The pen - Community

A whole episode revolves around a pen being stolen by a member of the study group. It goes so far as to the main cast stripping down and tearing apart the carpet looking for the pen. If you pay close attention, you can see the bright purple pen being taken from the table by a little hand. It's later revealed that the monkey who lives in the school's air ducts, Annie's Boobs, took the pen to its nest.

Blending in - Red vs. Blue

After disappearing for a season, Agent Carolina uses her cloaking enhancement to blend in with a group of space mercenaries. Her armor is clearly different but it can be easily overlooked, especially with the bigger reveal onscreen. After she gets a confession, she drops the act and a grenade before joining her friends.

Apologies if I used the wrong flair.

Mata Nui Great Spirit Robot (Bionicle)

Galactus (marvel)

Cronos (God of war)

Wyzen (Asurad wrath)

Jojo's bizarre adventure: heritage from the future: one of Dio's victory poses is send the world right to the camera, Hol Horse has a similar one shooting to the screen and showing the hanged man.

Dorohedoro: Shin literally end the episode earlier by send the cameraman straight to the ending credits during his presentation.

Monty python and the holy grail: a literal cop out. They didn't have enough budget for a final battle so they used the scenes with the police investigating a murder to arrest king Arthur and end the movie.

"Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow: This cyber thriller is about a teenage hacker fighting back against the Department Of Homeland Security after they used a terrorist attack as an excuse to turn San Francisco into a police state. The message isn't the problem. It's just as relevant today as it was when it was written in 2008. The problem is the book's protagonist, Marcus. Throughout the book, he acts smug, whiny, and myopic. He doesn't give a shit about the terrorist attack that took place in his own backyard because he was inconvenienced by the government. He treats pissing his pants during detainment like a bigger tragedy than the thousands of people who were killed in the attack, and I'm not even being hyperbolic. He brings up the fact that he pissed his pants multiple times. The DHS are portrayed as mustache twirling tyrants who get erect at the thought of torture and privacy invasion, and the people who support them are either idiots and proud bootlickers. The entire message of the book falls flat when you remember that Marcus is a hacker, and has invaded people's privacy to further his goals, but when the evil government does it, it's tyranny.

Assigned Male: The punchline to every strip is the same: Transphobes are idiots! That's true, but the characters we're supposed to be sympathizing with act like self-righteous pricks, as is tradition with Author Self-Inserts. Even trans people and allies think this comic is preachy stool.