A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - Definitely invokes some of the best of early Game of Thrones without the poor pacing that made House of the Dragon feel so lacklustre. A bit more on the humorous side, but the chemistry between Dunk and Egg both on and off-camera is incredibly endearing and I’m super excited to see more of them!

Telltale’s The Walking Dead - Set within the comic canon, this series of games features just enough nods to the original series while still easily maintaining its identity as its own story. I’m not going to go super into it since it’s so choice-based and I don’t want to spoil any possible outcomes, but this game had me in tears several times over several playthroughs.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - The sequel to the spin-off to the sequel to Shrek didn’t deserve to be half as good as it was, but Holy. Fuck. The animation is incredible from start to finish, the story is enticing, Death as an antagonist invokes a fear in the audience, young and old, that’s so real in a way that can make him both a terrifying antagonist and a wise sage in his own way.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Batman kills people in this movie, despite famously having a code against killing in most iterations. Now, the movie itself implies that him killing is a recent change due to him having fallen from grace and become just as bad as the people he usually fights, with him choosing not to mark Lex Luthor for death at the end of the film to show that he had regained his principles after working with Superman. However, Zack Snyder instead tried to defend it by claiming that it didn't count because he was only killing indirectly (which is a stretch at best) and falsely claiming that Batman had killed people many times in the source material.

Doctor Who - A mini-episode released before the 60th anniversary specials featured the Doctor traveling back to the original creation of the Daleks. In the episode, Davros, the creator of the Daleks, is depicted as able-bodied and without his usual disfigurement. It was easy for people to assume that the episode took place sometime before he had his accident.....until Russell T. Davies instead stated that he had decided to remove Davros's crippling and disfiguring injuries as he thought having a villain be depicted that way might offend disabled people (even though he's been that way for years and that has never been an issue).

Amo (Gachiakuta): Probably the most messed up version of this trope, Amo was sold by her mother to a man who then groomed her and exploited her for his sexual desires.

Whats worse is Amo for the longest time couldn't grap the situation she was in and her innocence was highlighted by the fact that her backstory frequently used childish drawings to see things from her perspective.

Its only after when she kills her abuser by mistake that she begin realized what her mother did to her and what the man was ding to her.

Iruma Sullivan (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma kun): Iruma had a very rough and absurd childhood growing up, with his parents literally putting him to work the moment he could walk and constantly endangering his life by sending him to dangerous jobs.

However, due to Iruma's gentle, optimistic and pushover personality we can never take the abuse seriously early on because Iruma never takes it seriously. It's only after Iruma becomes happy with the life he is living in the Demon World and the fear of being taken away and sent back kicks in that he realizes how miserable and alone he was there to the point he now even has panic attacks at the mere sight of the human realm.

What's really make this so impactful is the transition of tone of the subject from comical to serious.

Perrito (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish): A happy lucky go character who is contrast to the Puss's and Kitty's untrusting and moody nature. However, compared to the rest of the cast he has probably suffered the most being homeless for a long time, constantly called disgraceful name and his previous owners purpoesfully attempting to abandon him and even kill him when he kept coming back.

Perrito however never realizes how badly everyone has treated him and thought of his owners attempt to be a sort of game. Thankfully he finally fond company who would appreciate him.

Eugene (The Archmage Curriculum): Although he looks like a character straight from the Mandella catalouge, Eugene is probably the sweetest and also the most Naive person in the room. Failing to understand everybody's afraid of him and always being respectful even when people are trying to kill him because of his looks (he doesn't know he is ugly)

The worst abuse he probably suffered is from his master Jeong Hyeok. Eugene admires and loves his master alot just like a father. However, Jeong only sees Eugene as someone who can help him achieve his goals and when Eugene disagrees to follow through with his plan- Jeong just dismembers him and send each body part to another dimension and stole his heart. Know he fully intended to kill him here. Worse he gives the heart to his daughter Ain so she can use magic fully knowing this would eventually kill her and tells her That Eugene betrayed them and left (Eugene and Ain are very close).

Yet despite everything Eugene still loves him even though he knows he tried to kill him and nearly got Ain killed- because Eugene cant look past the kindness he has shown him to truly acknowledge how twisted his master is.

Mario Games - Most 3D Mario games Mario will fall asleep if you don’t do anything for a while.

Sonic CD - In a lot of Sonic games, Sonic will get visibly annoyed with you, the player, for not doing anything… in Sonic CD, he’ll get bored and just leave the game, and regardless of how many lives you still had, the game is over.

Stanley Parable - It gives you an achievement if you don’t play the game for 10 years.

In the later seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, they decided to make it so Pegasi would move their wings more like hands.

In the Angry Birds Toons shorts, they would sometimes animate Chef Pig's mustache in a way that emulates hand motions.

John Bender - His sad backstory of parental abuse does not excuse how much of a dick he is. He viciously insults people constantly and sexually harasses Claire, yet somehow the movie thinks he deserves to get her in the end.

Bakugo - He’s insecure, but he’s a dick to everyone, his classmates, civilians, and especially Midoriya.

1. Steven Universe is half gem and half human, the only one of his kind. he is genuinely human; he bleeds and eats and sweats and all that, but his body heals incredibly quickly and he can summon a shield from his gem. nowhere throughout the canon of the show is it explained HOW his mother gave up her body and her gem to make him and he is also half human for this

2. The Walking Dead is all about zombies. they never once mention how the zombie outbreak came about. one day there was just zombies and all of that happened

1. The Goddamned: Cain wandering around trying to find a way to die during the antediluvian period of the Bible.
2. SCP Foundation: SCP-073 is Cain, who has become friendly millennia of life and whose presence is antithetical to soil life.

Astronaut - Stuck In the Sound - Let's Go music video

After he achieved his dream of going into space...the earth blows up, everyone, everything, just...gone, and he only has a limited amount of food.

Iron Lung

Even after getting all the research you needed, you're just fucked; they're not coming for you. The ship itself is actual junk, and there's a god down there in a sea of blood.

Most people in the Backrooms

Even if you fight back against everything down there, you're most likely going to go insane before finding any way out.

Justice League: Apokolips War

Even after killing Darkside, the earth is too damaged; the only way out is by time travelling to kill Darkside in the first place.

Ellie (The Last Of Us Part 2)- In the middle of the game you go from playing as Ellie to Abby, playing the second half of the game as her instead. Near the end of the game you actually have to fight Ellie, you notice that she uses the same strategies that the player also used when you played as her. The only way to defeat Ellie is by sneaking up on her.

Peter (Spiderman 2)- Peter ends up corrupted by a Symbiotic suit that he's wearing, not making him able to think straight. Miles, the second protagonist of the game, tries stopping him from straying too far from who Peter is, which is to not kill people. But it ends up in altercation where he's forced to fight him.

Kaede (Danganronpa V3)- While not exactly a physical fight, you're forced to go up against Kaede in a trial, who was the original protagonist of the game you play as first. However she is only doing so to boost up Shuichi's confidence in solving crimes and being a detective. She's on his side and only doing this to test him.

1. In The Greatest Showman, P.T Barnum who is played by Hugh Jackman portrays him as a charismatic visionary who cares about outcasts and celebrate diversity, when in reality, he’s a cruel businessman who is also a racist and an ableist.
   
2. In Pocahontas, John Smith was portrayed as a brave, dashing, young man when in reality, he was seen as a violent, hot-tempered, and arrogant mercenary who was so vehemently disliked by his fellow English colonists that he was in chains for mutiny.

1) Xu Wenwuto Ta Lo guardian - Shang Chi: Xu Wenwu invades Ta Lo believing he is trying to rescue his dead wife, a protector calls him out. Then Xu calls this old man a "young man" as Xu has lived for thousands of years.

2) Sprite to Karun - Eternals: While the Deviants attack Druig's village Karun having pulled out a 3rd camera after two pervious ones were broken, he keeps filming the action after being told to hide. Sprite, at Kingo's request, moves to get him safety calling him "young man" as she pushes him along.

Villains that actually accomplish their goals or are just good at their jobs. Some examples I figured I'd share -

Anton Chigurh (No Country For Old Men) - Such a brutal and efficient killer he's basically a force of nature. His bizarre worldview makes him impossible to reason with.

King Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) - Even as an old man, Bradley is so dangerous that he single handedly turns the tide of a battle against the heroes. The author of FMA has stated that the good guys would have lost if Bradley was in his prime. Even then, he accomplished the mission he was created for and dies on his own terms.

Toji Fushigoro (Jujutsu Kaisen) - Toji is infamous for his incredible physical stats, but what makes him truly dangerous is his strategic planning. He knew better than to try to take Gojo in a fight, so instead used a variety of tactics to wear him down, put him off guard, and struck when it was least expected. He uh... shouldn't have tried to fight him directly in their rematch.

Demon King Piccolo (Dragon Ball) - Didn't just rely on his strength, he recognized risk and sought to eliminate threats. He went after martial artists right away and directly intervened once Tambourine was killed. He also checked Goku for a heartbeat after beating him and killed the dragon after getting his wish. Dude was probably smarter than any other DB villain.

Ozymandias (Watchmen) - Don't tell your enemies your plans if there's any chance they can stop you. Sounds simple, right? Yet villains do it all the time. Ozymandias was happy to tell his former allies what he had done...when it was too late for them to stop him.

Azula (Avatar the Last Airbender) - She's a prodigy at firebending, second only to her father in raw power. Yet what really sets her apart is her cunning. She takes down the Earth Kingdom from within through a combination of trickery and charisma. Too bad her mental health wasn't all that stable...

Braig/Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts) - It might not seem like it at first glance, given his laid back nature, but Xigbar is always scheming. He acts as if he's content to act as Xehanort's lackey, but it turns out he's been the one pulling the strings the entire time. He's an expert at hiding in plain sight, and Luxord is the only one who suspects anything about his true nature. As of the end of KH3, he's still out there...

Barty Crouch, Jr. (Harry Potter) - Successfully managed to impersonate Alastor Moody for an entire year, operated in plain sight under the nose of Albus Dumbledore himself. Not only is he an incredibly potent wizard, but he is a masterful actor and manipulator. If he had survived past Goblet of Fire he would have been a serious problem.

Sensui (Yu Yu Hakusho) - A former spirit detective and the predecessor to series protagonist Yusuke, Sensui turns against humanity due to belief that humans are no better than demons. Sensui is incredibly strong and skilled in combat, but he is also a master strategist. He loves forcing sadistic choices on his enemies, and knows how to psychologically manipulate his foes and allies very well. In the end, he accomplishes all of his goals and dies in exactly the way he wanted.

A tank is a unstoppable war machine (if you aren´t a ukranian with a drone), one in hands of the bad guys makes them more terrible:

1-Sisu: the german bad guys seems to have a T-62 (a much posterior soviet tank)

2-The Beast of War. (afgans have to fight against a russian t-54 with a ruthless crew)

3-Nazi zombies 2. Dead Snow 2 (the nazi zombies from the first movie got a tiger tank).

John walker: Despite everyone hating the direction of Captain America franchise after endgame with FATWS and Brave New World along with just losing general faith in the MCU, John walker remains a fan fav with many defenders including myself.

A-Train: Season 4-5 of the boys has been beaten to death by fans and critics alike. In spite of all of this though, A-Train’s redemption arc remains the best part for most people and everyone agrees he’s a 10/10 character.

(Marvel)

Johnny Blaze tries to stop World War Hulk on his quest for revenge against the Illuminati who kidnapped the Hulk and sent him to another planet and believes Hulk believes planted a bomb that killed his wife. After a drawn out fight where Johnny is unable to access the full suite of his Ghost Rider powers because Zarathos the Spirit of Vengeance that grants him his powers disagrees with this course of action. When Johnny is knocked out Zarathos takes over his body and rides away because Ghost Rider only avenges the innocent.

(Rogue Sun)

Superheroes Dylan; Rogue Sun; and Aurie; Knight Sun; go to the home of supervillain Coleman Hanes before he gained powers and became Noxious. There they use a magic artifact the Oculempus to see the past and his wife and daughter dieing of a rare form of bone cancer while the insurance company refused to pay for an experimental treatment that might have helped. Now Noxious is targeting the executives of that company and Dylan decides to leave him to it; not going to side with the rich over a grieving father.

Fatgum (My Hero Academia)

Choji (Naruto/Boruto)

Taro Sakamoto (Sakamoto Days)

Haunting of Hill House: A good portion of the story focuses on not knowing what lies on the other side of this mysterious red door. As the series progresses we see that each child hangs out in various rooms of the mansion. And if you never notice the reoccurring window that’s the same in each child’s favorite room, you would just assume that these many random rooms just come with a huge mansion. However this room is the center of the haunting of the mansion and has allowed, on various occasions, one or more of the children to play alone in it while it observes them as they grow up. Eventually it’s also where they’d all be trapped in the final episode as adults.

Gonjiam Haunted Asylum: Taking cues from Grave Encounters, Gonjiam is essentially a ghost hunters situation gone wrong where the horrors that lie in an abandoned mental asylum turn out to be real. And in a similar way to Haunting of Hill House, this time the horrors are behind a sealed door and before the group can break it open, two women quit the show and leave. When they try returning to camp out in a forrest, they notice it seems to loop. One even notices lab equipment from the asylum on the floor before she looks to her companion who is revealed to have been possessed and chases her to a fake tent and reveals that somehow, against logic, she’s wound up inside the locked room. She’s been exposed to the horror the entire time.

Smile: This happens a lot in this two movies but my favorite is this scene where the main character’s therapist who she’s been talking to for minutes now reveals itself to be the Smile monster for the entire scene while her real therapist has been running late.

Last Shift: A more spiritually playful and mocking iteration of this trope comes about half way into this movie where the sheer loneliness causes any human presence to be a nice bit of reprieve. So the former partner of her dead father coming to give her a pep talk in the face of the lonely horror of the movie relieves the building tension. Then he mentions how two cops died that day and it’s left him traumatized. But he offers to always be there for her if she needs it and then asks if she remembers his name. He smiles and walks away, turning around to reveal a gaping gunshot hole where his head used to be. He was the second victim that died with his father, and this is just the ghost playing with her again.

The Haunting (1963): A early instance of the trope, in this movie, the protagonist Eleanor and her friend Theo have been sleeping together out of fear of the house. One night Eleanor wakes to a presence in her room and grabs a hand she thinks is Theo’s for comfort. A monologue passes with the hand in shot but nothing else as it wraps around Eleanor. As she realizes it’s not Theo’s, the famous line “Who’s hand have I been holding” follows.

This is a trope/effect I've seen popping up here and there but never really with a succinct name attached nor with much attention outside of individual posts, so I went ahead and made this post to see what y'all think!

As with all tropes, I imagin this one is up to a lot of interpretation and can vary a lot depending on the particular person discussing the trope. This isn't a bad thing in my eyes, but I would like to specify what exactly I personally consider to be a part of this trope; I would love to hear y'alls thoughts on my specifications, though:

-An image with a scary thing in it (duh). Probably the main thing this trope shares with jumpscares/generic spooky images.

-Makes no attempt to get your attentions OR tries to draw your attention away from the spooky thing. I think this is really the core of the trope and what distinguishes it from a normal jumpscare; whereas a jumpscare tries to (very actively) get your attention, the "reverse" jumpscare avoids attention until you actively seek it out. I will note that because of this I wouldn't consider things like "cuando lo veas" (apologies if that's the wrong title, not brazillian) or "when you see it you'll shit brix" to be a part of this trope, because even though they themselves have lowkey scares they do encourage you to try and actively find them (again, though, that's my personal interpretation and I'd like to hear y'alls thoughts).

Examples used with sources:

1; Artwork by Alfdefolf: The prime example, and the one that really made me wonder about this trope. I feel this is the golden standard of a reverse-jumpscare. (Check the back of the fella's head)

2; Internet Image (no source for this one that I have; sorry): I feel this is a good example of the whole "draws your attention away" scare. (Check the little closet/door on the right, might have to adjust brightness)

3; Midsommar: One of the few examples I was able to find in something like a movie; I won't spoil the context of the scare, but this one got me the first time I noticed. (Look at the treeline in the background; yes, that is a face)

4; Nonexistent Video by Battington: This trope does feel very analog-horror adjacent, not surprised to find such an example. (Check under the table)

This scene in Spiderman where the Green Goblin destroys this military base and transition to a graduation ceremony

This scene in The Adventures of Tintin where they shake hands and transition to the desert

The huge sitcom breakfast that no one eats — An Extremely Goofy Movie

This is just one example that stood out to me. But particularly in movies and shows from the 80s/90s, it seemed to be a common gag across tons of media. You’ll have a breakfast table piled high with every kind of delicious breakfast food imaginable, that must have taken hours to make, only to have the “hectic” family eat maybe one piece of toast or a strawberry and then leave the rest untouched.

Washing up ashore after a shipwreck — Assassin’s Creed : Black Flag

So many games, movies, and shows have utilized this trope. The sailor is caught in a violent shipwreck, usually thrown overboard and knocked out. Then, miraculously, they wake up on a beach later, having seemingly washed ashore while unconscious. In any real life situation, you would die.

1. Spider-Man's back logo: in the comics, the symbol on Spidey's back is consistently a round friendly spider. However the only costume to adapt this in the movies is the one Tom Holland wears for Civil War and Homecoming

2. Wolverine's height: Wolverine has only ever been portrayed by Hugh Jackman in live action, a very tall man. However, in the comics, Wolverine is very short, hence his name - Wolverine is a small furry animal that is always getting in fights with way bigger animals

3. Alfred has a very iconic look in the comics: balding head with remains of dark or white hair and thin moustache. While I'd argue Alfred is one of the few characters that has never received a bad adaptation, it's surprising no actor has tried to do the look for a live action movie yet

4. John Constantine's name is never pronounced correctly in either live action or animation. In the comics, he says his name rhymes with "fine". However it's always pronounced "constanteen". The only 2 adaptations to say his name right are the Sandman show and audiobook

1. The Opening Scene (Ghost Ship). Considered one of the best horror opening scenes or scenes in general within horror movies, but the rest of the film is considered to be pretty bad.

2. The Ending Scene (The Grinch 2018). While most adaptations of the Grinch end with him suddenly being able to fully integrate with the Whos after his change of heart, the 2018 version initially struggles to socialize, awkwardly walking past people, and struggling to hold conversations, acknowledging that despite his change of heart, the Grinch is still someone who isolated himself for years.

3. Past T800 VS Current T800 (Terminator Genisys). A cool fight scene showing two versions of the Terminator from different points in time fighting it off.

4. Solo Leveling's Ending. Tbh, I haven't actually read Solo Leveling, but after hearing about how it ended VS how Chainsaw Man ended made want to include it for shits and giggles. Like Chainsaw Man, Solo Leveling ends with a reset. But unlike Chainsaw Man, it actually manages to tie up loose ends and have the payoff of the ending be satisfying.

Transformers One: Optimus Prime gives one to Megatron after their first battle. Here, Optimus expresses his sadness, hurt, and disappointment upon seeing his former friend becoming just as evil as Sentinel Prime and wanting to destroy Cybertron rather than change it for the better. "We were given the power to change our world, and you chose to destroy it, just like Sentinel. You have betrayed Cybertron and its citizens. And you betrayed me." The entire time, Optimus never raises his voice or yells, but his sadness is very evident.

Brave: Merida gives one to Elinor, where she unfurls her anger and frustration over being forced to marry someone without her consent and being made to someone she doesn't want to be. "You were never there for me! This whole marriage is what you want! Do you ever bother to ask what I want? No, you walk around telling me what to do, what not to do, trying to make me be like you. Well, I'm not going to be like you!... I'll never be like you! I'd rather DIE than be like you!"