...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Demythtification
- 255 statements
- 46 feature instances
- 1 referencing feature instances
| Demythtification | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Demythtification | label |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification | page |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification | comment |
This trope is under discussion in the Trope Repair Shop. Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Parallel to External Retcon: taking a legend and revealing what 'really' happened by stripping all the fantastic elements out of it (or, at the very least, renders them Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane so that they do not have to be fantastic). This sometimes falls flat, because without the gods and magic, the audience might wonder what the point is. If King Arthur is just another warlord with no Lady of the Lake and no Merlin, he had better be made an interesting character in his own right. Filmmakers sometimes forget this second part. In particular, the onus is on the writer to make the "imagined" historical events at least as interesting as whatever actually inspired the legend (and the actual events sometimes weren't). If the historical period in which the original story is set is unfamiliar to audiences (and only touched on for verisimilitude by the writer for that reason), audiences may assume that the real-life historical milieu so lovingly depicted by the art department couldn't possibly have been the source for the story they know and love, and is part of the filmmaker's dastardly invention. This is complicated by the fact that Reality Is Unrealistic, not to mention less dramatic, and so, in the course of taking some of the more fantastic elements out, a certain amount of Hollywood History must be added in. Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })This technique is often used to give an adaptation a grittier and more realistic feel in situations when it is perceived that the fantastic elements in the traditional version might seem too whimsical or even silly to the intended audience. Expect the hero to become Famed in Story, thereby setting the stage for the rest of the story to become Shrouded in Myth. This tends, as a rule, to be a retelling of the legend in its current form. As a consequence, it can explain the "real history" behind figures who obviously had no real history in the story, because they were introduced to the legend later - even centuries later. Frequent examples include Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, and Alan-a-Dale in Robin Hood storiesnote Little John, Much the Miller's son, and Will Scarlet (or Scathelock, Scarlock, Stukeley, Stuteley, etc.) are his oldest companions, and Lancelot and Galahad in King Arthur talesnote Bedivere, Kay, and the greatest of them all, Gawain, are the oldest "proto-knights of the Round Table". Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Incidentally, the technical term for this technique is Euhemerism, named after a 4th-century BCE Greek, making the trope Older Than Feudalism. Sometimes coupled with a less-than-subtle Take That! against religion, particularly Anvilicious writers will give the characters anachronistically agnostic attitudes towards the gods. Magical Realism can take the form of Demythtification in a more contemporary setting, or vice versa, especially if your Retroactive Realism involves one or two elements (often the most beloved elements) that are left purposefully ambiguous as to whether or not the supernatural is in play. When a writer intentionally does this as a way of drawing out what historians "really think" inspired the legends, it is this trope. When a writer makes stuff up by way of Direct Line to the Author in order to rewrite an existing legend, it is an External Retcon, which is a sister trope. When stripping away the fantastic happens within the same fictional universe that had the fantastic elements in the first place, that's Doing In the Wizard, which is a sister trope. When a writer takes definitely historical accounts and reimagines what actually happened, it is Historical Fiction (or Alternate History if the changes are great enough). When a writer makes a subtle reference to actual history in a work of fiction, it is a Historical In-Joke. See also Oral Tradition, Twice-Told Tale. When it happened in real life, it was called disenchantment. Not to be confused with Defictionalization or Low Fantasy. See Historical Fantasy for the opposite, retelling history with fantastic elements - though in some cases the approaches can overlap, like putting King Arthur into a Dark Age Europe setting instead of the usual High Middle Ages but still including magic. |
|
| Demythtification | fetched |
2020-07-20T14:56:37Z | |
| Demythtification | parsed |
2020-07-20T14:56:37Z | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to AllJustADream: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to AncientAstronauts: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to CourtMage: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to EndOfAnAge: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to ExcaliburInTheStone: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to FandomSpecificPlot: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to FootnoteFever: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to HistoricalFiction: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to KingArthur: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to MountainMan: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to MythologyGag: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to OlderThanFeudalism: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to SelfFulfillingProphecy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to ShownTheirWork: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to StockNessMonster: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheMunchausen: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to VillainBall: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | processingComment |
Dropped link to ZigZaggedTrope: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Demythtification | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Demythtification / int_109f849a | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_109f849a | comment |
Hallmark's miniseries Hercules (2005). The existence of the Gods made rather ambiguous (Hercules being fathered by an escaped prisoner of war with a lightning shaped scar), but they do throw in mythical creatures of Ancient Greece. It's heavily arbitrary on when to dismiss the fantastic. In addition, Hercules' Super Strength and fighting prowess is explained as a Charles Atlas Superpower brought on by Training from Hell. | |
| Demythtification / int_109f849a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_109f849a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hercules | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_109f849a | |
| Demythtification / int_15df0133 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_15df0133 | comment |
King Arthur (2004) attempts (the keyword being: attempts) to present a historically accurate version of the Arthurian legends. No mean feat: the evidence is vague and contradictory. The film takes the Sarmatian Hypothesis and runs with it, stripping out all magical elements in the process. The film's version of Excalibur in the Stone: It was Arthur's father's sword, and it was used as his tombstone by his wife and son. It remained there until a surprise Woad attack forced young Arthur to take it and use it to fight, and he kept it afterwards. In other words, the "spell" keeping the sword in place until retrieved by its rightful owner was actually... just Arthur's legal ownership of it, never challenged by anyone else. |
|
| Demythtification / int_15df0133 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_15df0133 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| King Arthur | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_15df0133 | |
| Demythtification / int_1fec263f | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_1fec263f | comment |
In Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain, some of the famous miracles Moses performs in The Bible while leading the Hebrews out of Egypt are really tricks he learned from his first trip into Midian: he crosses the Red Sea because of his knowledge of tides and strikes water from a stone by finding a spring he had once encountered. However, some of his miracles are still as fantastic as the biblical version, and from Moses's perspective there is no difference between them: they're all just applications of his vast knowledge of nature. | |
| Demythtification / int_1fec263f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_1fec263f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Moses, Man of the Mountain | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_1fec263f | |
| Demythtification / int_24e41891 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_24e41891 | comment |
Dexter has pretty much dropped the demonic elements from the books, and made it a (relatively) more conventional series. Well, a conventional series with a serial killer protagonist. He does later refer to his "dark passenger" but only in a figurative sense, not an actual demon. | |
| Demythtification / int_24e41891 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_24e41891 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dexter | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_24e41891 | |
| Demythtification / int_253e45cd | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_253e45cd | comment |
The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. Nimue, Morgan and Merlin's "magic" is a masterful mix of psychology, timing and chutzpah. The Unreliable Narrator is predisposed to believe in pagan magic, and believes every trick, Merlin and co. pull until Merlin explains in detail how he did it. Sometimes he still believes, despite the explanation. Similarly, pagan ceremonial magic is a mix of psychology, showmanship, trickery, and taking credit for natural occurrences. | |
| Demythtification / int_253e45cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_253e45cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Warlord Chronicles | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_253e45cd | |
| Demythtification / int_261c8d3f | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_261c8d3f | comment |
The Simpsons: The episode "Simpsons Bible Stories" had a segment parodying Exodus. In that segment, Moses (played by Milhouse) and Lisa performed the miracles using non-supernatural means such as when they dropped baskets of frogs on the Pharaoh and parted the sea by flushing toilets. The only part that wasn't demythified was the burning bush (read: God) that snitched on Bart. | |
| Demythtification / int_261c8d3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_261c8d3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Simpsons | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_261c8d3f | |
| Demythtification / int_335cea93 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_335cea93 | comment |
The Realm Of Albion, by Marcus Pitcaithly, demythtifies elements of Mabinogion, other Celtic Mythology, and the late-medieval romances Amadis de Gaul and Perceforest. | |
| Demythtification / int_335cea93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_335cea93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Realm of Albion | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_335cea93 | |
| Demythtification / int_3425fda3 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_3425fda3 | comment |
First Knight is still technically a fantasy film with no attempt made to ground it in real places, but it also strips the Arthurian length down to a group of knights, their leader, the Big Bad and his horde, and a Love Triangle. No magical sword bestowed by some watery tart — or any other magic elements, like Merlin. Like at the end, Arthur isn't taken to mystic Avalon by fey women, he just gets a Viking Funeral. | |
| Demythtification / int_3425fda3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_3425fda3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| First Knight | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_3425fda3 | |
| Demythtification / int_3483eb3c | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_3483eb3c | comment |
Exodus: Gods and Kings has naturalistic explanations for at least some of the supernatural events in the story of Moses like the parting of the Red Sea being caused by the water receding before a tsunami. Though it "doesn’t completely shy away from the miraculous". | |
| Demythtification / int_3483eb3c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_3483eb3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Exodus: Gods and Kings | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_3483eb3c | |
| Demythtification / int_35bceb50 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_35bceb50 | comment |
The Great Captains by Henry Treece. His version of Arthur and co. also appear in The Green Man, a retelling of Hamlet based on the original Danish legend. | |
| Demythtification / int_35bceb50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_35bceb50 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hamlet (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_35bceb50 | |
| Demythtification / int_35e675e2 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_35e675e2 | comment |
Vikings uses Norse sagas that feature monsters and supernatural events as part of its source material, but gives the supernatural elements of them a Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane approach (sometimes leaning farther into Unexplainably Magic with its prophecies). No one questions that Aslaug is the daughter of Sigurd the dragonslayer and Brynhild the Valkyrie, but whether they actually are her parents or even existed is left ambiguous. The show integrates the legendary inspirations with other historical sources, and often changes around both to fit its needs. | |
| Demythtification / int_35e675e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_35e675e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Vikings | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_35e675e2 | |
| Demythtification / int_44fe781e | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_44fe781e | comment |
Neon Genesis Evangelion presents the Dead Sea Scrolls as being left by the god-like alien who seeded Earth with life; this is the justification for the use of Biblical names and symbols used for the "Angels". | |
| Demythtification / int_44fe781e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_44fe781e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_44fe781e | |
| Demythtification / int_45b21df3 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_45b21df3 | comment |
Monty Python's Life of Brian, despite expectations, actually subverts this. It follows the whacky misadventures of a man that is repeatedly mistaken for a prophet in Roman Galilee, from his adoration by the Magi to his crucifixion by the Romans, and shows (accurately) that there were many self-proclaimed prophets in that time and place. Yet the movie does not make any comment on Jesus' nature, and he stays offscreen except for one scene early in the movie where he is seen addressing people from the top of a hill (The Sermon on the Mount). Despite this, many censorers considered the film blasphemous and it was denied a release in several countries for decades. | |
| Demythtification / int_45b21df3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_45b21df3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Monty Python's Life of Brian | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_45b21df3 | |
| Demythtification / int_4a08bb32 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_4a08bb32 | comment |
Baudolino by Umberto Eco does this with the "conspiracy" version of the various Grail and Templar legends surrounding the Crusades - the same material that Eco dealt with earlier in Foucault's Pendulum. The historical conspiracy is replaced by two petty criminals and forgers trying to make a profit by selling fake relics. Although it's clearly fiction, and the way that these two characters come up with nearly all the Dan Brown stuff on their own without planning is meant as a joke, the gist of it must be closer to reality than the organised, large-scale conspiracy version. Also, Baudolino himself is basically a medieval Münchhausen. |
|
| Demythtification / int_4a08bb32 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_4a08bb32 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Baudolino | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_4a08bb32 | |
| Demythtification / int_4a9ecddc | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_4a9ecddc | comment |
King Jesus by Robert Graves, which mixes the canonical and non-canonical Christian gospels, presents Jesus not as the son of God but the secret grandson of Herod. Though he does perform miracles and is resurrected at the end. | |
| Demythtification / int_4a9ecddc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_4a9ecddc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| I, Claudius | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_4a9ecddc | |
| Demythtification / int_4b187e74 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_4b187e74 | comment |
A few stories in The Lost Books of the Odyssey present the story of The Odyssey as one put together by far more mundane sources, such as Odysseus as a wandering bard, who ended The Trojan War in a matter of months but spins out a far grander tale to get away from the boredom of kingship. | |
| Demythtification / int_4b187e74 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_4b187e74 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Odyssey | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_4b187e74 | |
| Demythtification / int_60381be1 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_60381be1 | comment |
O Brother, Where Art Thou? changes the setting of The Odyssey to Mississippi during The Great Depression. Ulysses is a fugitive from prison, Penelope divorces him and tells their children he died, Polyphemus is a one-eyed criminal, Zeus is the state governor, Tiresias is a blind railroad worker with a gift for prophecy, and Homer is a blind radio station manager. | |
| Demythtification / int_60381be1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_60381be1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| O Brother, Where Art Thou? | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_60381be1 | |
| Demythtification / int_60ce1875 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_60ce1875 | comment |
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix also retells "Cinderella". | |
| Demythtification / int_60ce1875 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_60ce1875 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Just Ella | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_60ce1875 | |
| Demythtification / int_61f7e353 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_61f7e353 | comment |
Elizabeth E. Wein's The Winter Prince deals with such characters of the Arthurian Legend as Artos (Arthur), Medraut (Mordred) and Queen Morgause (Morgaine) without any magic or magical swords at all. It is about people. | |
| Demythtification / int_61f7e353 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_61f7e353 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Lion Hunters | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_61f7e353 | |
| Demythtification / int_62f94c6 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_62f94c6 | comment |
The Dark Knight Trilogy strips the world of Batman of fantasy elements. Batman fights many sci-fi and supernatural characters in the source continuities. In this version, arch-foes like Ras Al Ghul and the Joker are given much less fantastic backstories. The Joker is given less backstory, period. And Ra's is revealed to be not one immortal man but the latest successor in the long line of leaders of the League of Shadows, all calling themselves Ra's al Ghul, and any fantastic abilities are chalked up to a hallucinogenic flower. | |
| Demythtification / int_62f94c6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_62f94c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Dark Knight Trilogy | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_62f94c6 | |
| Demythtification / int_6749d524 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_6749d524 | comment |
Ever After does this for the "Cinderella" fairytale, with the story in a somewhat more down to Earth environment devoid of external magic. The Cinderella character is Danielle, a French noblewoman who's reduced to servanthood by her stepmother and one of her stepsisters after her dad dies. The crystal slippers actually are based on the shoes that belong to Danielle's Missing Mom and the Pimped-Out Dress was made by humans, not by magic. There's no Fairy Godmother... but there is a Cool Old Guy and sorta Crazy Inventor Godfather, who's none other than Leonardo da Vinci. To go to the Ball, Danielle gets help from her other stepsister Jacqueline as well as the family servants. The Prince, Henry, is a flawed human being with both pros and cons, and he doesn't take the revelation about Danielle being a "commoner" well, so Leonardo has to give him a harsh pep talk before he goes and apologizes to her. | |
| Demythtification / int_6749d524 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_6749d524 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ever After | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_6749d524 | |
| Demythtification / int_691be369 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_691be369 | comment |
While The X-Files most often veered into the supernatural, it would sometimes do the opposite and offer mundane explanations for supernatural Twice Told Tales. Maybe. "The Jersey Devil" threw away every aspect of the Jersey Devil mythology except the name and the New Jersey Pine Barrens location, recycling the titular monster as a maneating Bigfoot. Which was later revealed to be an anthropologically modern family of (white) cannibals living buttnaked in the woods. Maybe. "Dod Kalm" explained rapid aging and ghost ships as side effects of bacterian activity. "Quagmire" had Mulder and Scully come to investigate a series of deaths attributed to a Stock Ness Monster, only to discover that they were committed by an alligator. Maybe. |
|
| Demythtification / int_691be369 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_691be369 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The X-Files | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_691be369 | |
| Demythtification / int_6ed03a72 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_6ed03a72 | comment |
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. This is a borderline case, however, as more than one interpretation is offered for the Visions, and indeed implied for 'the Conscience'. Of course, since Joan of Arc was definitely a real person, The Messenger might also be accused of going the opposite route and adding fantastic elements (though this gets into a tricky theological debate). | |
| Demythtification / int_6ed03a72 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_6ed03a72 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_6ed03a72 | |
| Demythtification / int_7894fb5d | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_7894fb5d | comment |
Gospel of Afranius by the Russian author Kirill Yeskov presents the four canonical Gospels as honest but one-sided eyewitness accounts of "Operation Pisces" by the Roman secret service to undermine right-wing militia support in Judea. While not denying (or supporting) the claim of Jesus' (who is shown as an unwitting (?) victim of the Romans) divine nature, it explains most of his miracles with actions of the Double Reverse Quadruple Agent Judas and his posthumous appearances, with various impostors (one of whom went on to write the Q document). | |
| Demythtification / int_7894fb5d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_7894fb5d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Four Gospels | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_7894fb5d | |
| Demythtification / int_8960fd02 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_8960fd02 | comment |
In Vinland Saga Askeladd is the last remaining direct descendant of King Arthur, who was really a Roman-British general named Artorius. Said character was probably named after him as well, making his original full name "Lucius Artorius Castus". (Same as the King Arthur film, which it might have referenced.) | |
| Demythtification / int_8960fd02 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_8960fd02 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Vinland Saga (Manga) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_8960fd02 | |
| Demythtification / int_8a76eb6b | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_8a76eb6b | comment |
In The Master and Margarita, the title character's masterpiece is a novel recounting the life of Pontius Pilate. Excerpts are given from the chapters concerning Pilate's encounter with Jesus, which depict the episode in this way: nothing unambiguously supernatural occurs, and Yeshua is characterized as a philosopher who speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven only as a metaphor and is misunderstood by his followers. | |
| Demythtification / int_8a76eb6b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_8a76eb6b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Master and Margarita | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_8a76eb6b | |
| Demythtification / int_a59597f2 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_a59597f2 | comment |
Rossini's opera La Cenerentola tells the story of Cinderella minus the magical elements. As in Ever After, the Fairy Godmother figure is a Cool Old Guy, in this case the prince's tutor Alidoro. The glass slippers are replaced by a pair of matching bracelets, and instead of having to leave the ball at midnight, Cinderella chooses to leave to make the prince search for her and test whether or not he'll accept her even in rags. | |
| Demythtification / int_a59597f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_a59597f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cinderella | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_a59597f2 | |
| Demythtification / int_afecd0bd | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_afecd0bd | comment |
Beowulf (2007) does this halfway through a heavy dose of Alternate Character Interpretation. Hrothgar, Beowulf and Wiglaf are stripped completely or almost completely of classic heroism and depicted instead as very flawed people, Grendel is a Tragic Monster who won't hurt Hrothgar because his mother forbid him to, Beowulf uses a chain and a door to rip Grendel's arm off instead of his bare hands, the killing of his mother is a flat out lie, and the epic as we know it is just a very distorted version of events that Beowulf tries to disown in his dying breath, without success. Grendel, his mother, and the dragon are still real and supernatural, however. | |
| Demythtification / int_afecd0bd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_afecd0bd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Beowulf (2007) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_afecd0bd | |
| Demythtification / int_b3710362 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_b3710362 | comment |
Troy purposefully strips out the prominent supernatural elements of the original poems — or renders them ambiguous. The gods are never seen, and never act, despite their large roles as Physical Gods in Homers telling. Achilles is a Nay-Theist who pooh-poohs the gods at every turn. Hector, of all people, paraphrases Stalin: "How many battalions does the sun god command?" The priest of Apollo acts as an inverted Cassandra — he always gives exactly the wrong advice and is always believed. There are many other changes from the original plays unrelated to the trope. More ambiguously, Achilles' mother could be a goddess (well, one who really doesn't know the original version would think she is simply a seer rather than a goddess) or a strange but wise woman. However, Achilles scoffs when a child says that people believe that Achilles's mother is a goddess. His blasphemy, in general, tends to be followed by bad luck, and of course he is shot in both the heel and the chest (several times, in fact), but he removes the arrows on his chest before dying, and as a result his men find him dead with a single arrow stuck in his heel. In general, the film seems to interpret anything where the gods would be involved as a metaphor or exaggeration. This isn't too far from how some historians view it, with a common reading being that any kind of major feat or unlikely event would be credited to the gods - for instance, a passage going something like "Athena blocked a spear thrown at Achilles" could be read as "the spear thrown at Achilles miraculously missed him." |
|
| Demythtification / int_b3710362 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_b3710362 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Troy | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_b3710362 | |
| Demythtification / int_c00c0023 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_c00c0023 | comment |
Empire Earth zigzags this for its Greek campaign. The first level has a village chieftain named Hierakles leading his people to a new land where they build a temple and a city on top of a hill (the Acropolis), the Trojan War is fought without divine intervention, while Theseus was a leader of Athens who united the outlying city-states against Sparta and Thebes. The last (of very few) supernatural events is when Theseus ascends to become a god; this marks the campaign moving from being based on Greek myth to being based on history. | |
| Demythtification / int_c00c0023 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_c00c0023 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Empire Earth (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_c00c0023 | |
| Demythtification / int_c29f1036 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_c29f1036 | comment |
The Prince of Egypt is a partial Demythtification of the Book of Exodus, keeping in most of the overtly fantastical elements—like the Burning Bush and the parting of the Red Sea—while reimagining some of the subtler fantastical elements that don't translate quite as well into modern times. To elaborate: Most translations of the Book of Exodus heavily imply that the Pharaoh's court magicians possessed some degree of genuine magical abilities, which allowed them to replicate all of Moses' miracles until the Ten Plagues left them too weak to do magic. For the story's original audience, the intended message was likely that there were many forms of magic in the world, but none of them were as powerful as God's divine miracles note This makes sense considering that earlier Judaism is henotheist, not monotheist, so the other powers are real, but Yahweh's the only one worthy of worship. In the movie, Ramses' court magicians Hotep and Huy are shown to be simple illusionists who use sleight of hand and stagecraft to make people think they can perform miracles, while Moses' miracles are the real deal. Many translations make reference to God "harden[ing] the Pharaoh's heart" to ensure that he doesn't free the Hebrews until the Ten Plagues have run their course (presumably to make an example of the Egyptians for future generations), implying that God uses His power to influence certain people's behavior and actions. The movie gives him a pretty convincing Freudian Excuse that makes his actions seem much more understandable. His father Pharaoh Seti is shown to be an emotionally abusive tyrant who constantly reminded his son that the fate of Egypt rested on his shoulders, and that any sign of weakness could bring his forefathers' dynasty crashing down ("One weak link can destroy a chain!"). As an adult, Ramses takes his advice to heart and refuses to free the Hebrews because he considers mercy to be a sign of weakness, only relenting when his firstborn son is killed by the Plagues. |
|
| Demythtification / int_c29f1036 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_c29f1036 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Prince of Egypt | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_c29f1036 | |
| Demythtification / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who does this occasionally. Almost any supernatural element in the show is explained as either alien or extradimensional. Even vampires turn out to be alien fish using perception filters to appear human. The "teeth" are the product of human subconscious trying to warn the person of a threat. (At least, some vampires are. Other vampires are actually blood-sucking, The Virus-spreading monsters, repelled by faith [a "psychic barrier"] or garlic [or "garil", which is space-garlic], and only killable by driving a stake through the heart. But they're still from space or the future, so that's okay.) | |
| Demythtification / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_c43df4d8 | |
| Demythtification / int_c59ec4c1 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_c59ec4c1 | comment |
"The Jersey Devil" threw away every aspect of the Jersey Devil mythology except the name and the New Jersey Pine Barrens location, recycling the titular monster as a maneating Bigfoot. Which was later revealed to be an anthropologically modern family of (white) cannibals living buttnaked in the woods. Maybe. | |
| Demythtification / int_c59ec4c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_c59ec4c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| In Name Only | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_c59ec4c1 | |
| Demythtification / int_d3918c01 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_d3918c01 | comment |
The second season of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders has non-supernatural versions of a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl note a Woman Scorned turned reclusive and addicted to plastic surgery, a Caribbean zombie note a brain-damaged hitman who survived his execution and a yeti note a brain-damaged mountaineer that was lost in the Himalayas after surviving an avalanche and turned cannibalistic. | |
| Demythtification / int_d3918c01 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_d3918c01 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_d3918c01 | |
| Demythtification / int_d9909edd | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_d9909edd | comment |
The Man from Earth: While the movie has one possibly supernatural element on which the whole story is based, the way it explains the myth of Jesus is quite realistic. John's immortality is given a highly speculative natural explanation. The characters themselves discuss whether it would be scientifically plausible for a man to stop ageing and live indefinitely. They conclude that it's theoretically possible, if highly unlikely. | |
| Demythtification / int_d9909edd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_d9909edd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Man from Earth | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_d9909edd | |
| Demythtification / int_da0db67 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_da0db67 | comment |
Requiem from the Darkness features a strange subversion where a trio of outright supernatural beings are using their powers to fake or perpetuate myths of other supernatural beings. Through the series many myths and legends are examined and many of them are simply the trio using trickery to fool others. For example a sociopathic murderer is explained away as a tanuki, a shapeshifting badger dog, who is suffering from Shapeshifter Modelock. | |
| Demythtification / int_da0db67 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_da0db67 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Requiem from the Darkness | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_da0db67 | |
| Demythtification / int_e0c573d4 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_e0c573d4 | comment |
The Last Legion by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Made into a movie with Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley. | |
| Demythtification / int_e0c573d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_e0c573d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Last Legion | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_e0c573d4 | |
| Demythtification / int_e6eba2f5 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_e6eba2f5 | comment |
Jesus Christ Superstar although it doesn't debate Jesus' divinity, does question him from Judas' point of view, and seemingly does in the wizard with respect to physical miracles and angels incarnate. Rather than being made to look especially fallible, Jesus counsels his followers to be more sensible, but his best intentions are tragically unheeded by his flock. | |
| Demythtification / int_e6eba2f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_e6eba2f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Jesus Christ Superstar (Music) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_e6eba2f5 | |
| Demythtification / int_ea49d044 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_ea49d044 | comment |
The Red Tent does this with the story of Dinah (daughter of Jacob) in the Old Testament. In this story, instead of Dinah being raped by the prince of Shechem, they had a consensual relationship that her brothers didn't approve of. Instead of Jacob's visions and name change (to Israel) being seen as from God, they are seen as a man slowly going crazy as his family falls apart. | |
| Demythtification / int_ea49d044 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_ea49d044 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Red Tent | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_ea49d044 | |
| Demythtification / int_eeb69732 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_eeb69732 | comment |
The Darth Bane trilogy does this to an extent internally within the Star Wars universe, though it is still a case of this and not Doing In the Wizard. Originally the story of the Battle of Ruusan and the rise of Darth Bane was told in a pair of comic books that had elements more in line with Lord of the Rings than Star Wars including what appeared to be sailing ships in space and bows and arrows alongside lightsabers that felt extremely out of place in Star Wars. This was fixed in the Drew Karpyshyn novels that changed those elements to be more in line with the movies as well as the game Knights of the Old Republic(that actually took place chronologically earlier), which is by no coincidence written by the same author. It also has Force powers that are between the absurd mythic elements of the comic books and the movies in terms of abilities. Within the novel Bane even comments about how unrealistic some of the extreme Force abilities appear. | |
| Demythtification / int_eeb69732 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_eeb69732 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Darth Bane | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_eeb69732 | |
| Demythtification / int_f0841a69 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_f0841a69 | comment |
Primeval often "explains" legendary creatures and phenomena like dragons, mermaids, haunted houses or the Egyptian monster Ammit, as prehistoric (or future!) animals that passed through the time portals into historical times and were embellished by people.note The above animals were the dinosaur Dracorex, future sea-adapted primates, a maybe primate future creature capable of cammouflaging itself, and the Eocene "running crocodile" Pristichampsus. | |
| Demythtification / int_f0841a69 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_f0841a69 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Primeval | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_f0841a69 | |
| Demythtification / int_f2ca724e | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_f2ca724e | comment |
Hercules (2014). A constant theme of the movie is legend vs reality. The adventures of Hercules shown in the film are purported to be the "truth behind the legend", with fantastic elements rationalised as hallucinations or fanciful inventions/exaggerations though some things like Amphiarus' visions are treated as real. | |
| Demythtification / int_f2ca724e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_f2ca724e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hercules (2014) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_f2ca724e | |
| Demythtification / int_f3a0d8d4 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_f3a0d8d4 | comment |
In Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower's graphic novel series based on the The Iliad, the gods don't appear, and there's no evidence that they actually exist in the world of the adaptation. This is deliberate, as the afterword makes clear. Also, Helen of Troy is only fairly attractive, not beautiful (but she is very conscious about her image and spends a lot of time on her dressing and makeup; this, coupled with her exotic appeal and personality, is what makes all of Troy fall in love with her). Odysseus and Agamemnon decide to say she's the most beautiful woman in the world because the Hellene soldiers will fight more willingly than they would for the real reasons for the war, which are more complicated and less glamorous. The series is specifically set in the 12th century BC (the time the events that inspired Homer, who wrote around 800 BC, are believed to have happened) and there is great attention to detail to make architecture, dress, weapons, etc. be true to the period. So while the Homeric names, personalities and relations between characters are kept intact, these are cosmetically as far from any other adaptation of the Illiad, usually based on the Classical Greece of 500 BC or later, as they can be. The Achaeans are Mycenaean Greeks, and Troy is mostly Hittite with some leftover Minoan influences. Nymphs like Oenone and Tethys appear, but they are just wise women that engage in healing and divination. They are divided in orders that worship different gods; as a result, they call themselves "daughters" of said gods. The earlier sack of Troy by Heracles (aka Hercules) is narrated differently by a bitter Priam. Heracles is an Achaean warlord (though one so popular that he is treated "like a god" by his men) and he raids Troy after getting in "a dispute over a couple of horses" with Priam's father, Laomedon. Priam's sister Hesione is not saved from Human Sacrifice but taken as war bounty. The Judgement of Paris is a dream. A dream Paris claims to have had, anyway, during a long, seductive speech he makes to Helen. Cheiron, while called a centaur, is a big, hairy Mountain Man rather than a half man, half horse creature. Agamemnon does not kidnap the Oenotropae (goddesses of seed, wine and oil) to feed his army. He docks in Delos and uses its vast food reserves, deposited there as temple offers by the other Greeks. The comic's Oenotropae are in fact not godesses, but three priestesses that manage said offers, which is why their father Anius calls them the bringers of wealth to his island. Anius is addressed as son of a god - because he is a priest of Apollo. Helen is really the daughter of Tyndareus. Her mother believes Helen was hatched from an egg after she had intercourse with Zeus in the form of a swan because she is insane. However, in the world of the comic the story has already taken life of its own and translated into a rumor that Helen is of divine origin. The exceptions are the many prophecies of doom. Cassandra's, of course, are the most detailed and accurate, but true to Mythology, they are taken for incoherent ramblings and not believed. Most disturbing is how Cassandra got the gift of premonition. She believes Apollo appeared to her when she fell asleep at the temple as a child, but this is actually a distorted memory of her assault by a pedophile. He told her that nobody would believe her (about the incident), but she mistook it as a curse making her not being ever believed by anyone, about anything. This makes Cassandra's curse a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: She acts crazy because she fears no one will believe her, and people don't believe her because she acts crazy. |
|
| Demythtification / int_f3a0d8d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_f3a0d8d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Age of Bronze (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_f3a0d8d4 | |
| Demythtification / int_f7730dc4 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_f7730dc4 | comment |
Diaries of a Madman plays with this. Several human myths are actually true, including Merlin, whereas others such as legends surrounding several of the human gods are instead revealed to be powerful mages. | |
| Demythtification / int_f7730dc4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_f7730dc4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| DiariesOfAMadman | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_f7730dc4 | |
| Demythtification / int_f7d93e4a | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_f7d93e4a | comment |
Assassin's Creed: There is no God or afterlife, all the supposed miracles that occurred throughout history were illusions caused by pieces of lost Precursor technology stolen by Adam and Eve, who were slaves to said precursors. | |
| Demythtification / int_f7d93e4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_f7d93e4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Assassin's Creed (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_f7d93e4a | |
| Demythtification / int_fa7d84e8 | type |
Demythtification | |
| Demythtification / int_fa7d84e8 | comment |
Arthur of the Britons | |
| Demythtification / int_fa7d84e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Demythtification / int_fa7d84e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Arthur of the Britons | hasFeature |
Demythtification / int_fa7d84e8 |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Troy | seeAlso |
Demythtification |
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.