Adaptational Seriousness - TV Tropes

This Gomez never stands on his head, doesn't crash model trains, nor fences or judo flips his guests for fun. His one sword fight is with Morticia and occurs when they are actually mad at one another rather than the Addamses' love of swordplay for its own sake.

• Berserk: In the manga, Casca has multiple funny moments along with comical expressions. In Berserk: The Golden Age Arc films she's magnitudes more somber with the moments of her being silly and wild being cut entirely.
• Bokurano: Aiko "Anko" Tokosumi is significantly more ditzy in the manga than in the anime, although she is capable of being serious and even angsting at times. In the anime, most of Anko's comedic moments, such as losing her temper when Koyemshi vaguely alludes that she'd been masturbating before being teleported to Zearth, are cut (in the anime, she's in the middle of drying her hair) and she's shown to be somewhat more emotionally vulnerable.
• Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally: While Milly Ashford is still relatively lighthearted overall, this version of the story has her more often in serious moments, since she serves as a pillar of support for Nunnally after Lelouch disappears at the start of the story. The Lake Kawaguchi trip was specifically intended to help get Nunnally's mind off of her worries about Lelouch.
• Devil May Cry: The Animated Series: The series often gets flak for giving Dante a sizeable amount of this. In the games (with the exception of the second one) Dante is pretty much Fun Personified, having numerous Large Ham moments, funny lines and outright breakouts into dance/rock guitar/stage performance. In the anime, Dante though he still has humorous one-liners, is far more brooding and serious in edgelord fashion. In fairness though, the events of the anime are chronologically set after the first game where Dante seemingly had to kill Vergil his only brother when the latter was disguised as Nelo Angelo with Dante only discovering this truth after slaying him. Not to mention anime Dante is technically closer to how Dante was originally i.e somewhat jokey at times but otherwise quite serious, however since the preceding DMC3 made Dante’s goofiness a staple of his character, this more sullen treatment stands out by comparison.
• Dragon Ball: In the non-serial films, particularly the Z-era ones, Goku is far more serious and mature than ever he is in the original manga or in Dragon Ball Super. In canon Goku is a largely carefree Boisterous Bruiser who is obsessed with fighting and it takes immediate danger or death to his close allies, family and innocent civilians for him to actually take matters seriously. In the Z films Goku is still lighthearted and fun but he completely lacks the ridiculous Skewed Priorities of his canon counterpart and doesn’t remotely go easy on villains or willingly let them get stronger for the sake of having a better challenge. He also shows more active concern for Gohan, even ordering him to leave the battlefield in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan after the titular evil Saiyan makes a veiled threat towards him.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • In the manga, Envy is a very excitable and somewhat frequent source of comedy for the audience with several Large Ham moments when recounting their evil deeds. In the 2003 anime, Envy is considerably calmer with toned-down comedic traits, also lacking the manga version's Powerful, but Incompetent tendencies. Justified since Envy is a much older and smarter Adaptational Badass in the 2003 anime, being treated as a very real threat to the heroes, whereas manga!Envy was dwarfed in terms of power and importance by many other villains.
  • Barry the Chopper is an Affably Evil comic relief Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain in the manga and Brotherhood. In the 2003 anime, he is treated as a serious threat, and he lacks his comedic and redeeming qualities. In fact, the 2003 anime actually shows him as a Serial Killer in life, and he nearly kills Winry.
• Ghost in the Shell: The original manga is filled with numerous comedic elements such as Black Comedy, sight gags, Batou being a Butt-Monkey for comedy's sake, Motoko Kusanagi being greedy, petty, bitchy, and snarky, and plenty of exaggerated expressions thanks to Shirow Masamune's art styles. Mamoru Oshii's 1995 adaptation conveys a complete tone shift by refocusing Motoko and Batou as stoic and introspective while focusing on philosophy and the nature of humans and technology in a Cyberpunk setting, as well as more proportionally realistic depictions in the art style. Every series that has followed has continued with a fairly grounded reality within its story settings, usually only allowing humor to develop naturally from character interactions.
• Hanebad!: While the manga is quite light-hearted and often comedic (at least in the early parts), the anime adopts a much more somber tone, changes some characters' personalities, and rearranges the storyline significantly, making the two versions very distinct from each other.
• Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation: Downplayed with Iris Heart. While she isn't a completely serious character, her anime counterpart shows far more restraint in her sadistic behavior by only targeting her enemies and is overall a more of a reasonable if harsh person while still having a bit of chaotic tendencies. This is a stark contrast to her depiction in her introduction game, where she was a colossal Heroic Comedic Sociopath who enjoyed tormenting both enemies and allies alike, in physical, mental, and sexual ways, while also making unintentionally sexual-sounding jokes. This was likely due to her more friendlier portrayal in the anime.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • In the manga, Jotaro Kujo is much more expressive and smiles more often during Stardust Crusaders. In the anime, Jotaro only has the serious part of his personality present during most of the series, and it takes a lot more to make him emotional. He's still very serious in the 1993 OVA, but Jotaro does smile and show genuine appreciation for what he sees on his travels more frequently than in the latter.
  • Also from the Stardust Crusaders OVA, Joseph Joestar. In both the manga and anime, he's very eccentric and prone to hammy outbursts, cracking jokes and getting into comical mishaps; but in the OVA, he's a much more serious-minded and soft-spoken man who stays unflappably cool, calm and collected.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016):
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Agitha is one of the rare humans who's not scared of Link in his wolf form. Here in the manga, both of them meet in Castle Town streets in a dark night, and she's scared of him as he carries an injured Midna on his back, believing he killed her.
  • While no less of a pathetic Manchild, Zant is much less Laughably Evil and his antics are Played for Horror a lot more.
• One Piece: In the movies (especially the Darker and Edgier ones) a good deal of the goofier Character Tics of the Straw Hats are downplayed. Sanji notably is always a Lovable Sex Maniac in the manga, whereas in the films (while still easily aroused) he’s surprisingly more serious and mature even when beautiful women are involved, for example in One Piece Film: Red Sanji treats Uta with respect rather than just drooling over her as he would in the manga knowing she's dying due to the Wake Shroom.
• Pokémon the Series:
  • In the games, the villain squads of each region usually consist of a hierarchy in competence (in most cases, bungling mooks but with sinister leaders), but are very often still very hammy and grandiose in behaviour despite a usually threatening scheme. In the anime, likely because Team Rocket still exists as the Goldfish Poop Gang in each series, the alternate teams are usually conveyed as more consistently serious and fearsome. Team Flare in particular are conveyed as genuinely no-nonsense and stoic, even their lowlier grunts, while in the games their fashion victim gimmick made them far more pretentious and silly acting in-universe to offset their shady behaviour. Only Team Skull are largely the same as their games counterparts, posing as a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis for Team Rocket.
  • Played and subverted with Brock and Kiawe, who, in a case of Characterization Marches On, were much more stoic and no-nonsense in their earliest appearances in the anime, only to become even more comical and jovial than their games counterparts afterward.
• Sailor Moon: Usagi Tsukino is best known for being a Cute Clumsy Girl, a crybaby, and a Big Eater slob who bungles around being a Sailor Senshi before Character Development eventually kicks in. In the eventually dropped American pilot, Victoria (Usagi's to-be American counterpart) is a far more composed teenage girl who, while still engaging in typical teenage activities, handles her double life as a Princess Warrior immediately.
• Sorcerer Hunters:
  • The Animated Adaptation as a whole has a slightly more serious tone than the original manga, mostly in that it tones down some of the sillier character quirks of the Sorcerer Hunters themselves — mostly Gateau's Macho Camp antics and constant flirting with girls (and Marron) — and it removes some of the sillier characters, most prominently Count Potato Chips, the Sorcerer Wannabe Kidanova. Downplayed in that the series is still a comedy filled with Fanservice first and foremost, it's just not quite as wacky as the original manga could be.
  • Millefeuille in the Animated Adaptation is almost a completely brand new character. In the manga, he's a Camp Gay, Ambiguously Bi, Wholesome Crossdresser who is constantly hitting on a repulsed Carrot. And it turns out that this is largely him Obfuscating Stupidity to hide his true identity as one of the more skilled members of Big Momma's Haze Knights. In the anime, he's a stoic, serious, reserved Haze Knight who is all business whenever he appears; the only thing he shares in common with his counterpart is the name and being so pretty that he's easily mistaken for a girl — he doesn't even deliberately crossdress in the anime. The second of the three OAVs does portray him in a more manga-accurate fashion, however.
• Trigun Stampede: Vash is a great deal more serious and nearly not as ridiculous as he was in the previous anime series. This does actually make him Truer to the Text of the manga though, the 1998 anime having played up manga Vash’s sillier qualities up to the hilt.
• Trinity Blood: In the light novels and manga, Cain Nightroad is clumsy and absent-minded just like his younger brother Abel which easily fools his enemies into not realizing that he's the leader of the Rosenkreuz Orden. In the anime, he's stoic and serious.
• In Twelve Months, the Months are stern, serious and quiet (except for a single moment when they burst out laughing at the idea of snowdrops in winter), a big change from the play's cheerful and friendly characters who sing a merry song.

• Batman:
  • The Dark Knight can sometimes fall into this trope. Some versions are completely goofy or The Comically Serious, like the Batman (1966) iteration, and others still, like the Batman: The Animated Series version, do in fact crack jokes or display a warmer side. However, some have completely lost themselves in the identity, and little, if any warmth or humor, is not present. The version from The Dark Knight Trilogy eventually falls into this, and the iteration from The Batman (2022) is like this from the beginning.
  • Dick Grayson gets this constantly in adaptations, usually thanks to getting fused with his adoptive brother Jason Todd. Many adaptations, from the Schumacher films to Teen Titans (2003) to Titans (2018), depict him as quite edgy and serious. In the comics, while Dick is more mature and somewhat brooding when he becomes Nightwing, he's still a cheerful Nice Guy who gets along with everyone and has plenty of levity compared to his mentor. Even the famous "falling out" Dick has with Batman wasn't nearly so violently rageful and bitter as Batman: The Animated Series depicts. In the comics, it happened due to Batman simply asking Dick to step down after Joker shot him in the shoulder, in a bout of Papa Wolf concern. Dick accepted his foster father's request gracefully — but made still made it clear that he was going to continue fighting crime anyway.
  • Frank Miller's depictions of the Joker in both The Dark Knight Returns and All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder are utterly devoid of his usual twisted humour and gags. He's easily the least funny incarnation of the character in the comics.
• In Fables every single remotely goofy or lighthearted Fairy Tale character gets a more serious make-over and in some cases even outright Adaptational Villainy. It’s most notable in characters such as Pinocchio or Goldilocks whom are goofy in their original stories but are as gritty as Tarantino characters here.
• Ultimate Marvel:
  • The original Hawkeye was a warm, friendly guy who was quick to crack a joke and had such a strong code against killing that he temporarily quit the Avengers when he killed the supervillain Egghead by accident (he'd tried to disarm Egghead by firing an arrow at his ray gun only for the gun to explode and fatally wound Egghead). In The Ultimates (2002) Hawkeye was changed into a stone-cold, dead-serious assassin who never joked and never smiled while casually killing people.
  • Ben Grimm aka The Thing of Fantastic Four is a loveable Boisterous Bruiser and while he was a Jerkass Woobie in the beginning (due to his appearance) he was upbeat and full one-liners. In Ultimate Fantastic Four Ben is deadly serious having tried to kill himself off-screen and is perfectly willingly to kill foes.
  • Classic Spider-Man is the quippiest and one of the most humorous Marvel heroes of all time, he always has serious moments but at his core is lighthearted. Ultimate Spider-Man depicts a far more serious and rageful Peter Parker, dialling up his earlier Troubled Teen characterisation from Lee-Ditko run to eleven. This Spidey fights with Aunt May, punches out Nick Fury and gets frustrated with Mary Jane. He’s still got his 616 counterpart’s You Fight Like a Cow tactics but is far more of a loner than his mainstream version ever was.
• Sakura from Street Fighter received a parody of the Superpowered Evil Side in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter's Dark Sakura — which was explained as her thinking she got the powers of the Satsui no Hado due to being sunburned and was played as a joke. UDON Comics's adaptation, on the other hand, incorporated Dark Sakura as her genuinely tapping into the Satsui no Hado to get Akuma's attention, and treated it as a genuine threat to Sakura's sanity.

• For His Own Sake: The Hinata Girls (barring Shinobu) are portrayed as being far more malicious than in canon and their constant abuse of Keitaro is played strictly for drama. Keitaro himself is far more competent and less of a Butt-Monkey than in canon, showing a lot more self-awareness regarding the girls abuse of him, questioning the double standard of a group of women getting away with inflicting violence on a hapless man, and eventually makes the right decision to ditch them with a more suitable girlfriend.
• JoJo New Universe: Various characters who are designated sources of comic relief in their respective media have their Butt-Monkey tendencies toned down here so that they appear more competent. Jean Pierre Polnareff, Okuyasu Nijimura, and Ryuji Sakamoto are just a few examples.
• In the Ghostbusters fanfic Sick, Ray, who, in canon, is an extremely cheerful and energetic man, is somewhat subdued and a lot less optimistic.
• One of the defining traits of the The Loud House/Helluva Boss crossover story A Loud Among Demons it's tone; the story rolls with a serious and dramatic tone, shifting away from the comedic tone of Helluva Boss, and far away from the lighthearted tone of The Loud House. Granted, the latter series began undergoing Cerebus Syndrome, but it was still balanced out with a consistent level of humor. And while the fanfic still retains a number of jokes from the original episodes (as well as a few of its own), it takes the events much more seriously.
  • This is best displayed in the adaptation of C.H.E.R.U.B.: while the original episode of "C.H.E.R.U.B" was the silliest and zaniest episode in the show, the chapter adaptation is significantly more serious by further challenging Lincoln's idealism. It's especially potent near the end of the chapter, when Lincoln sees C.H.E.R.U.B.'s truly corrupt colors and when his demonic side first starts to show.
• In the Singin' in the Rain fanfic To the Stars, Cosmo only makes one joke and he never does any of the deliberate slapstick gags that he almost never stops doing in the film.
• The New Jedi Order: A Vision of Confluence: The B1 battle droids, when they appear during the Battle of Fondor, are noticeably less conversational and bumbling than their canon counterparts with their comic relief aspects non-existent. This is due to the author choosing to portray B1 battle droids from how they were depicted in Legends before The Clone Wars TV series made them into joke characters. One Ultramarine even comments on how the B1 droids are far less chatty than the protocol droids he's encountered in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.

• The Jungle Book has Bagheera the panther, one of Mowgli's animal companions. In the books, he was a playful character to contrast Baloo the bear's (who gets the inverse in the Disney adaptation) Stern Teacher attitude. In the movie, he's the Only Sane Man to Baloo's Big Fun personality, though it's played with in that Bagheera is The Comically Serious who can be just as out there as the other animals.
• In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 is a complete hardass who’s the Straight Man to Peter B. Parker, little baby Mayday and pretty much everyone else. In the comics though still a '90s Anti-Hero Miguel was not above quips in the spirit of Spidey and has numerous funny moments.

• Ace Attorney (2012):
  • Maya in the game was a Genki Girl and a bit of an Adult Child. Here, she behaves more maturely and is still haunted by Mia's death, such as when she angrily demands to know why Redd White killed Mia. She still has some traces of her original personality at points (such as looking at the giant inflatable Steel Samurai with a look of awe at one point), but it's more muted compared to the game.
  • Edgeworth in the game was a Smug Snake who took pride in humiliating his opponents. Here, he's more of The Stoic and is less antagonistic towards Phoenix.
  • The Judge in the games was an occasional Cloudcuckoolander, who while competent at his job, can be somewhat childish and is just as prone to being silly and over the top as the court he presides over. In the film though, he is borderline stoic and very serious.
  • Polly the Parrot. In the game, calling her to the witness stand is one of its most comedic moments, and Phoenix trying to get something relevant to the case out of her limited vocabulary is Played for Laughs. In the film, Phoenix cross-examining her is treated as him desperately grasping at straws when he's at his lowest, and proof of her owner's identity comes when she echoes what was likely Yani and his wife's last conversation before her suicide.
• The Batman (2022): The Riddler in the comics is a Large Ham and Attention Whore in a silly green costume with some goofy gimmicks. This movie portrays him as a straight and creepy terrorist and killer who regards himself as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. This is in sharp contrast to not only the original comics but also to earlier adaptations of the character like in Batman (1966) or Jim Carrey's take in Batman Forever.
• The Dark Knight: Most versions of the Joker usually have a variety of comical gags and plenty of jokes to throw around in their quest to drive Batman insane. Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson's respective versions are no exception to this rule. Enter Heath Ledger's take, who eschews the comedy in favor of his scheme being the joke; to him, the world is a chaotic place, and every person is just one bad day away from going insane. He's going to be the one to prove that, and he's dead serious about it. If he does laugh, it's not because Batman got covered in silly putty, but rather that he's playing right into his hands and proving him right. He still provides a few laughs, but they mostly come from Joker's utter flippancy in the face of any kind of threats against him.
• Disney Live-Action Remakes:
  • Aladdin: This version of Jafar lacks the more comedic side of his animated counterpart in favor of being a straight-up madman who wishes to wage war on a neighboring kingdom, with no banter with Iago (who undergoes a similar treatment) or mocking the Sultan behind his back.
  • A downplayed example with Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. While he's still a Large Ham with his own Villain Song boasting about how awesome he is, more of his screen time is devoted to moments of him scheming or trying to get Maurice to let him marry Belle, not bellowing out how he's the hero of this story.
  • The Jungle Book: This version of Kaa is a female python and less comedic and fun, thanks to having the serious voice of Scarlett Johansson. The meeting between Mowgli and Kaa is definitely not played for laughs.
  • The Lion King:
    • Scar possesses none of the Camp and Laughably Evil qualities of his 1994 version, and his sarcasm is more of a biting and malicious version. Additionally, whilst the photo-realistic rendition means that none of the characters look particularly emotive, Scar appears to be a Perpetual Frowner with a displeased scowl on his face, just to show that he's still Obviously Evil.
    • Shenzi in the original film was voiced by comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, and was prone to trading jokes and Snark-to-Snark Combat with her friend Banzai. Shenzi in this film is voiced by serious actress Florence Kasumba who speaks in a deep contralto, never makes jokes, and therefore behaves more like an actual danger to young Simba and Nala. On the other hand, her subordinates are just as funny as ever.
• Dragonball Evolution takes out Goku's fight-happy Idiot Hero nature and changes him into a near stoic young man whose goal is to avenge his foster father Gohan.
• The title character of Harry Potter. In the books, Harry is a Deadpan Snarker with a penchant for Gallows Humor, while his film counterpart is typically more serious.
• The Hobbit:
  • A good amount of the Dwarven Company, likely to give them more depth, are more serious and hardened. In the original book, even Thorin the most developed and stoic Dwarf in the book had numerous funny moments. For instance he’s the one who has Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur fall on top of him when Bilbo opens his door too quickly. In the film Thorin is given Aragorn-level respect and gravitas throughout the film trilogy and his funny moments are taken out.
  • In the original book, Beorn the skin-changer is a cheerful Boisterous Bruiser who laughs a lot and jokes around with the dwarves once he learns about them and their adventures. In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, he's a menacing figure with a gruff demeanor who never smiles, due to a tragic backstory that includes all the skin-changers except for him getting slain by orcs.
• The Last Airbender: While almost all of the protagonists have been noticeably stripped of their humor and lightheartedness, the most noticeable difference is with Sokka; in the original series, he is a goofy, sarcastic, comedic ally while in the film, he is a stoic, straight-talking, and often angry character.
• The portrayal of Superman in Man of Steel is much more solemn and prone to brooding than his classic iterations in both the comics and the Reeve films, who are best known for their warm and approachable All-Loving Hero personalities.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Thanos isn't nearly as much of a Large Ham Badass Boaster that he is in the comics. In the MCU, he's much more solemn and contemplative about his work, rarely raising his voice, and dead set on ensuring his goal is complete, with few boasts of his awe and might (Ebony Maw fills that void on his behalf).
  • The Incredible Hulk, though still The Woobie, is a child-like Bruiser with a Soft Center and often a Blood Knight. He has plenty of silly moments. In The Incredible Hulk (2008), The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hulk is depicted as always serious and on edge as a rage-monster and speaks a grand total of twice: "Hulk smash" and "Puny god". This is amended in Thor: Ragnarok, which depicts Hulk as more goofy like he is in the comics. The irony is that Bruce Banner, Hulk's alter ego, gets the hard opposite with Adaptational Comic Relief — whereas in the comics, Bruce Banner is probably the most tortured soul in the Marvel universe.
  • Hawkeye was based on his Ultimates incarnation rather than the original character and as such is a rather grim special agent rather than a friendly snarker. He is manages to be quite funny at times though.
  • Captain America villain Batroc the Leaper in the comics is mostly portrayed as an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain with a silly accent and a colorful ridiculous costume who despite being a skilled fighter isn't taken very seriously as a threat by the superhero community. Georges Batroc in the MCU misses all of that comical elements and is portrayed as a serious terrorist in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
  • In a similar way, Spider-Man-villain Herman Schultz a.k.a. the Shocker is often portrayed as Butt-Monkey and more of a joke villain (although with some Not-So-Harmless Villain-momentsfrom time to time), the Shocker in Spider-Man: Homecoming is a professional criminal and respected member of Vulture's gang and never got to be the receiving end of Spidey's jokes as in the comics.
• The film version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has Skeletor. While very hammy, he's a overall competent and intimidating villain that doesn't mess around. Having already taken over Eternia at the beginning of the film and his only comedic moments are a few sarcastic comments and Surrounded by Idiots reactions. A farcry from his more known cartoon counterpart, that was a cackling goofball who rarely got his way.
• The film version of Percy Jackson and the Olympians strips Percy of his Deadpan Snarker tendencies and his humorous narration from the books.
• The Punisher: In the comics, while a very dangerous villain, The Russian is a pretty humorous character with plenty of funny dialogue. In this film, The Russian is still a tough and brutal thug but he never speaks and comes across as much more serious as a result.
• Sherlock Holmes: While Sherlock was very witty and showy in the stories, Basil Rathbone's portrayals became increasingly a straightlaced hero-type throughout the films (although he did have some moments of hilarity, like impersonating a music hall performer singing "I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside.")
• The Shining: Danny Torrance is a more withdrawn and quiet child than he is in the source novel. Likewise, his father Jack lacks his literary version's wry and intellectual humor and comes off as more unstable.
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2: In his first appearance, Knuckles was a giggling villain, laughing whenever Sonic and Tails were victims of his traps. In this movie, which adapts the plot of his first appearance, he takes the encounters with Sonic and Robotnik very seriously. A little too seriously, in fact.
• Spider-Man:
  • One of the few criticisms of the Spider-Man Trilogy starring Tobey Maguire is how that version of Spider-Man doesn't quip anywhere near as much as a character known for You Fight Like a Cow should, if at all. His later appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home does show him to have become considerably snarkier over the years, bringing him closer to his comic characterization and those of his two otherworldly counterparts.
  • Norman Osborn's cinematic iteration from Spider-Man and Spider-Man: No Way Home is another downplayed example. He still has the silly green costume, cracks plenty of jokes, and yells out his dialogue with enough gusto that he could break a window, but his goal of breaking Spider-Man — his or another universe's — is all played deadly serious, as he goads his foe into taking the final blow.
• In Star Trek: The Original Series, Uhura is friendly and warm, with her most memorable scene involving her playing music with Spock for fun during break time. In Star Trek, she's a driven and ambitious hard worker who has no patience for antics and rarely smiles.
• Tales from the Crypt: The Crypt Keeper in the comics just comments on the stories with puns. In the film version, he's a serious person. He tells a group of people in his Crypt and how each of them had died.
• X-Men Film Series:
  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Deadpool was changed from a Heroic Comedic Sociopath and Talkative Loon to a serious threat with his Mouth Stitched Shut. This version of the character was the butt of many jokes in Deadpool and its sequel. This is downplayed though, since he was still a snarky joker before getting brainwashed and turned into a weapon.
  • Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and Rogue in the comics all make quips, joke around and give to villains Trash Talk. Their film counterparts (barring the infamous Toad line from Storm) are far more straight-faced with Rogue in particular having no funny moments or sassiness that she’s known for outside the films. This was amended in at least Cyclops’ case in X-Men: Apocalypse where he’s quite snarky and jokey, but by the time of X-Men: Dark Phoenix he’s back to being joyless and stoic again.
  • In the comics Sabretooth has a truly twisted sense of humour, with some of the stunts he pulls on his nemesis Wolverine being internet troll level. In the first film he’s purely feral and stoic. The Sabretooth seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine has the Truer to the Text personality, even if his appearance is not particularly accurate at all.
  • The Jennifer Lawrence version of Mystique thanks to Adaptational Heroism, completely lacks the Laughably Evil traits of Mystique in the comic. The Rebecca Romijn version was more accurate personality-wise (indulging in much gloating or sick tricks), albeit not nearly as talkative.
  • Apocalypse much like the aforementioned Thanos is prime Large Ham in the comics, regularly being a Badass Boaster. In X-Men: Apocalypse by contrast he’s Cold Ham throughout.

• Alex Rider (2020): Season 2's Big Bad Damien Cray was one of the most over-the-top villains of the books, being a loony pop star and Psychopathic Manchild with a penchant for elaborate Death Traps, namely a life-sized mock-up of his company’s video game and crushing a greedy traitor with small change. Here, he's portrayed as much more stable and down-to-earth (on the surface), with a more logical reason for his apocalyptic Evil Plan. In fact, his relative sanity makes him more frightening, as he's absolutely seething with barely contained rage whenever someone messes with his plans, leading you to wonder when he's going to explosively snap. He also keeps trying to be a No-Nonsense Nemesis, but keeps getting interrupted before he can shoot Alex.
• Arrow: Oliver Queen is much less humorous in this adaptation than his comic counterpart, being more terse and stiff. This is attributed to Oliver's traumatic experiences on the island as well as everything else he is put through on the show.
• The 1980s Casablanca TV series. In the original film, Sascha is pure Plucky Comic Relief; in the series, he has a much more reserved demeanor and is never used for comedy at all.
• In the Sky adaptation of Going Postal (Discworld), Mustrum Ridcully is soft-spoken and polite, a far cry from his boisterous self from the books.
• Halo: Master Chief, though right in the middle of a war, usually snarks out some Danger Deadpan at his teammates or Cortana, and is friendly to his fellow soldiers when off-duty. Because this version had his emotions suppressed upon being forced into the SPARTAN program, he takes everything, even a child stamping his hand, with a greater sense of seriousness.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Luke Cage: His comic book counterpart could trash-talk like Spider-Man, but the Netflix adaptation makes him considerably more composed and philosophical to better suit its weighty, ponderous tone.
  • Moon Knight: Arthur Harrow, in his sole appearance, was a typical Mad Scientist trying to uncover Nazi research that could aid him in his work and had the Large Ham dialogue to go with it. This Harrow is an enigmatic cult leader who takes his goal of unleashing Ammit and purging the world of vice and sin very seriously, giving little time to humor.
• Outlander: Season 3 features Chinese immigrant Yi Tien Cho. In the books, he is a perverted drunkard with a creepy foot fetish. He speaks Engrish, is generally a Butt-Monkey creating humor via his otherness, and eventually betrays the main characters. Showrunners, aware of the accusations of offensive racial caricature, Adapted Out his alcoholism, his foot fetish, and all the handsprings, flea jumps, and weird physical ticks he had in the novel. In the show, he is a distinguished, older gentleman who maintains a regal poise despite the constant and blatant discrimination he faces. Additionally, he's fiercely loyal to Claire and Jamie who like and respect him, sympathizing with his plight as an immigrant, rather than begrudgingly tolerating his presence as they did in the books.
• In the live-action drama based on Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Sarushima has a more composed and somber demeanor than in the manga, making it less believable that a girl like that would just go around and kiss everyone to show affection. Given that she still has some cheerful moments, it may be that her actress chooses to portray her that way rather than she is purposely written that way.

• Transformers:
  • The Transformers helped put the franchise on the map thanks to a combination of exciting plots and unique characters (helped by the cast and crew giving virtually all characters a unique voice or inflection). Optimus Prime in particular avoided the biggest pitfalls of being a Standardized Leader by being an approachable yet warm leader, which caused him to be viewed as a surrogate father figure by many kids of the '80s. However, virtually every version of him since then (such as his counterparts in the live-action films, the Aligned Continuity and IDW's Transformers comics) are all portrayed as stoic, humourless leaders weighed down by the burden of leadership. The Netflix series version of Optimus is particularly disliked for being such a dour, unlikable character that it's difficult to imagine him inspiring the Autobots at all.
  • Megatron in the original cartoon, while Not So Harmless as the series continued, was still very much a bluster-prone Laughably Evil 80s bad guy, prone to cartoonish schemes and arguing with his cronies (especially Starscream) Like an Old Married Couple. Later takes of Megatron, while maintaining his snark and Large Ham tendencies to some level, generally portray the Decepticon leader as a much more fierce and sinister Big Bad, his threat level often taken deadly seriously by both the Autobots and his own Decepticons.
  • Sentinel Prime, in comparison to his iteration from Transformers: Animated, falls into this trope. His original iteration had little backstory, and the TFA iteration was a Jerkass of the highest order, but even that version has moments where karma would give him a swift kick to the tailpipe, often for comedic purposes. If they need to show Sentinel as the guy the audience wants Optimus to replace, enter this trope. Look at Transformers: Dark of the Moon or IDW's first run to showcase a very serious, very horrific, and very evil guy who has no time for joking around.

• Reconstructed for the Alternate Timeline B-Team Sequel, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. In the original games, a lot of Crash's supporting cast were relatively more serious than him, but still arrogant and prone to being the butt of jokes. In later games, the formality was often skipped, and a lot of the characters were depicted as even wackier and more idiot prone than Crash was. It's About Time however Flanderizes the original format even further than before, with Crash and Cortex being the sole comic relief in an unironically serious acting cast. Coco for example is Crash's outright Hyper-Competent Sidekick, losing all of her petulant Bungling Inventor qualities that brought her back down to his level, while N Tropy is now the Knight of Cerebus far more fearsome and sinister than Cortex, rather than a time pun-spewing ham who only thought he was.
• Dynasty Warriors:
  • In the historical records and the novel, Cao Pi has several quirks such as being obsessed with grapes, being a talented poet and literary critic, and being into occultism and superstition. The games downplayed all of it and portrayed him as serious and stoic. While some of his quirks were mentioned in passing, it rarely has anything to do with his characterization in the games.
  • Wu officer Zhou Tai is much more serious in the games than in historical records and the novel.
• Halo: 343 Guilty Spark at his most lucid rarely gets more helpful than evasive half-truths, and frequently seems to lose touch with reality altogether. In the terminals added into the anniversary editions, he still gets a little nutty, but in the timeframe of the main plot he is on-task, direct and honest to point of rudeness, and even offers some astute commentary on Covenant politics.
• Super Mario Bros.: In his series, Mario is a happy-go-lucky Heroic Mime who is friendly to everyone he meets. In the Super Smash Bros. series (from Melee onwards), he is instead a stoic, grumpy Heroic Mime who is very skilled at fighting, and is sometimes hostile to anyone who harms his loved ones (Like in Brawl where he wanted to kill Link and Yoshi, the latter being one of his friends, for killing Peach).
• Spyro the Dragon: In the original series, Hunter was a goofy Surfer Dude who would help out, but normally leaves hero stuff to Spyro. In The Legend of Spyro series, he is instead a serious, stoic resistance leader who is a Hero of Another Story.

• One of DEATH BATTLE!'s main rules is that characters are stripped of all restraints from killing that would exist in their home series. As such, characters who are canonically a Plucky Comic Relief, the Fun Personified, a Cloudcuckoolander, or any combination of the three would also have those traits stripped away from them when facing their oppenent, and since those types of characters are far from badass, they would have a moment of being a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass that they didn't have in their home series.
• The Scratched Universe: TF2 mercenaries with distorted faces and speech are a common sight in Gmod and SFM fan animations, and those features are usually a source of slapstick comedy with little bearing on their health, if at all. This series contextualizes distorted faces and voices as telltale signs that these mercenaries are infected by a hostile virus, which turns them into murderous drones for the aliens propagating it. The faces are thus exclusively presented as Body Horror, and the only sensible response for the characters facing those infected is to kill them on-sight, lest they become infected, too.

• The original Koha-Ace manga is a satirical take on the Holy Grail wars of the Fate Series focusing on Japanese servants, and it has a very simplistic chibi art style and lots of nonsensical gags. Fate/type Redline is the very dark adaptation of the above plotline, removing the striking majority of Mythology Gags, cameos and satirical elements, having an incredibly detailed — and quite beautiful — art style, a The Tokyo Fireball premise, and depicting all the characters as far more serious versions of themselves. That characterization also stems from the Fate/Grand Order GUDAGUDA events, which are based on the Koha-Ace manga but grew increasingly serious over the years despite the gag elements.
• Total Trauma: A few characters who were originally comedic in Total Drama are taken more seriously, due to both Adaptational Angst Upgrade and the characters having matured into young adults.
  • In the original show, Lindsay is mostly used as a source of comedy about being a Dumb Blonde who forgets simple things. Total Trauma deconstructs this by giving her a serious subplot where she runs away, changes her identity, and forgets who she actually is. Her "dumbness" is also recontextualized as dissociation issues and is strictly Played for Drama.
  • Sierra is a cartoonish stalker in the original series. In the comic, she's far more mature and has a serious plot where she undergoes some self-discovery and breaks up with Cody.
  • Downplayed with Izzy. While she still has some silly moments (i.e. kicking Chris to the ground at the hospital), she's given a more serious backstory of being a Former Child Star with heavy implications of child abuse, and generally seems more rational than her Cloud Cuckoo Lander self from canon.

• Arcane: In contrast to her game counterpart, Jinx is depicted with a more dour tone, and she’s more willing to kill.
• Maria Renard wasn't treated all too seriously in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, with her having a stereotypically cute character design and her ending having her run out of the Collapsing Lair in a way that was Played for Laughs, followed by a goofy samba-style credits theme. Castlevania: Nocturne, on the other hand, has her as a far more serious character (as indicated by her using her more practical outfit from Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles) that frequently calls Richter a "wanker" and espouses the views of The French Revolution.
• DuckTales (2017): As an adaptation of the Disney Ducks comics and a reboot of the 1987 cartoon, this happens with a handful of characters:
  • Mrs. Beakley in the original classic is a doddering Granny Classic, while in the 2017 series she is an Adaptational Badass no-nonsense former spy (although she is often The Comically Serious).
  • Donald Duck, while he still has a temper and Butt-Monkey moments due to his terrible luck, is also more of an overprotective Action Dad with an Adaptational Angst Upgrade from losing his twin sister and having a falling out with Uncle Scrooge over it, raising the triplets alone. Season 2 even reveals he's been going to therapy for many years so he can better channel his anger into protecting his family.
  • Fenton's mother in the original is a lazy, nagging housewife, while in the new series she's a dedicated Latina cop (though she has some moments of Not So Above It All over her telenovelas).
  • Doofus Drake is the most extreme example. He goes from a klutzy but friendly Fat Comic Relief to a wealthy but dead-serious Creepy Child who all of the other characters fear.
• Invincible (2021): Only slightly; in the comics, Powerplex was a blatant showcase of the story's dark humor coming into play, being a short sighted supervillain who didn't really think his revenge plan against Invincible through, with his family being equally lacking in proper judgement. In the show, Powerplex is handled dead seriously; to contrast, Powerplex accidentally killing his family in the comic was the result of him, his wife and child being completely ignorant about how electricity travels, while in the show, Powerplex accidentally kills them in a fit of blind rage, framing his tragedy to be more ironic, rather than something completely stupid on their part.
• My Little Pony 'n Friends: The toys and UK My Little Pony comics present Wind Whistler as The Ditz and her name comes from her insistent whistling. In the cartoon she is The Spock while her friend Fizzy is the goofier Cloudcuckoolander.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM): Dr "Eggman" Robotnik, while fluctuating in competence, is generally depicted as a Laughably Evil ham of a bad guy in most interpretations of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. This series set itself apart from the norm by depicting Robotnik as a legitimately terrifying Evil Overlord, with the entire globe under his mercy from the start of the show, with a full-on Cerebus Syndrome concerning his badnik machinations and very few jokes made at his expense. The second season made Robotnik more characteristically vain and prone to a bit more sarcasm and pratfalls, though he still remained a far more sinister entity than most takes of the doctor.
• Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: Peter Parker in this series is one of the least jokey incarnations of Spider-Man, though he's still pretty quippy and snarky (it is Spider-Man, after all).
• Transformers: Animated: In his original appearance in Beast Wars cartoon, Waspinator was a comic relief Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain whose status as the show's chew toy and a tendency to get blown to pieces in his every single appearance served as a great source of comedy for the show. By contrast, his Animated version is portrayed as a much darker interpretation of the character, depicted as a genuinely menacing and dangerous threat, and the abuse he receives not being Played for Laughs, instead serving as a source of horror.