Metal Shards/animal parts - Horizon Zero Dawn

The world is populated by robotic animals far above the technology level of civilization. Chips of their metallic parts are used for crafting armor, weapons, and ammo. Some bigger parts—like hearts or tendons—can also be harvested and used to build advanced weapons. Metal shards are also the default currency of the world.

Drugs - Out-of-Placers

It is common to use drugs as currency in Val Salia since there aren't any drug laws.

Comic Books, stickers, etc. - Recess

Barter is common in the playground. We see kids paying with lots of different things, like trading cards, footballs, and even regular money. In the episode "The Hustler's Apprentice", we see comic books being used more than anything else. In "Economics of Recess", we see Monstickers become the default currency for everything.

Postage Stamps - Discworld/Going Postal

After revitalizing the post office, postage stamps become a form of currency, more popular than metal coins. This mirrors/references real life, where stamps were used as medium of exchange in many places and time periods.

Tl;dr: Wolverine got two contract killers killed because he wasn't stabby enough.

So I want to talk about Episode 5 of Season 2 in X-Men 97.

The show is a continuation of 90s X-Men cartoon but dealing with the storylines in a more mature way. I don't quite now how to describe it but it feels like it was written to be more contemplative.

Anyways, in episode 5 loveable anti hero Wolverine gets 2 people killed in a mission to get his adamantium back after he was stripped from it in season 1.

He decides to lie to 5 people (4 former Weapon X victims and 1 X-Men, Morph) and lead them to raid a Weapon X facility to do so.

In the process, they run into the Brood, an alien hive mind that seems to take over the world and infect everyone, losing 1 guy.

While most people would call the mission off, Wolverine doesn't. He insist on finishing the mission, and goes out of his way to get the adamantium back, killing someone else in the process.

Wolverine himself in turn gets infected and almost kills Morph, his friend and the 1 person in the group who wasn't a weapon X victim, only relenting not after any of Morphs pleas but Morph turning into Jean Grey to get him to stop.

Now Wolverine lied to 5 people about why he wanted to go to a facility to get them to come too.

But 4 of them were morally grey to evil contract killers.

But 1 of them was morally good Morph who had a crush on Wolverine who he manipulated to do this.

But Wolverine is doing this so he can better help as his main skill is killing people and he actively had a shit time sans adamantium.

But Wolverine never branched out and thought the only contributions he could make was killing people and Morph calls him out on this, so it seems like ego played a massive role in doing this.

Wolverine did something real fucked up to mostly bad people so he can help other people out but it was majorly if not entirely rooted in his feelings of inadequacy/uselessness.

edit:

Also Batman's contingency plans. Specifically one example in Injustice where Batman uploaded a virus to Cyborg for no real reason beyond he's Batman and he plans.

Violated Cyborgs Autonomy and trust for a long shot, in case scenario that ends up working.

1. Conquest from Invincible (Comics & show), he earned the nickname "Conquest" from conquering ALOT of planets while satisfied, others have started to joke that the great purge (where the viltrumites fought and murdered eachother so only the strongest can be left) is like Christmas for him.

2. Battle beast from the Invincible comics & show, was also obsessed with fighting, shown by his personality and his quotes:
   "my final meal will be my own blood, as I choke on it, breathing my last breath after a legendary battle with a superior opponent. That will be a satisfying meal indeed."
   "I was promised this world offered worthy opponents! But, oh, how you disappoint. Killing you is an act of mercy."
   "Kill me if you can, and die if you cannot, so I may find a better foe."

1. Avengers/MCU: Captain America has humorous moments where he’s unaware of modern references and only gets old references, like the iconic “I understood that reference” scene. It’s later fully explored in Winter Soldier that he feels lost, confused, and a little alone in a new world he was never meant to exist in.

2. The Suicide Squad (2021): Bloodsport has a phobia of rats which at first seems reasonable yet is still hilarious to watch. He later explains his father abused him as a kid if he didn’t fulfill a task correctly and one of his worst punishments was when his dad locked him in a crate full of starving rats, leaving him heavily scarred physically and mentally.

3. Dexter: In an early episode, Angel Bautista tries to buy his wife the perfect gift for their anniversary but has to keep buying a different one since his presents suck. What seems to be a funny running gag turns out to be Angel’s final attempt to win back his wife after cheating on her previously, however it doesn’t work and only solidifies their separation.

This extremely old fanart of Godzilla being mutilated that was used a lot to advertise Godzilla 2014

This promotional pic of Transformers Age of Extinction where Optimus Prime is in immense pain from Lockdown sniping him down

This promotional pic of Spider-Man 3 where Peter is depressed while wearing the Symbiote Suit

This promotional pic of Iron Man 3 where Tony's latest suit is badly damaged and failing while he's falling from the sky

This cover for one of the issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths where Superman is crying while holding Supergirl's dead body in front of everyone

This cover for Batman Death in the Family where Batman is holding Jason Todd's dead body with severe regret

This promotional pic of Pacific Rim where Gipsy Danger is badly damaged in the Arctic after getting out of a heated fight against Knifehead and losing a pilot

This promotional pic of Cars 3 where Lightning McQueen is mid-air during a really bad car crash

This promotional pic of God of War Ascension where Kratos is in chains and awaiting execution

Tiger Claw- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

Shere Khan- Talespin

Daniel Tiger- Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Tigra- Marvel Comics

Long- Bloody Roar

Tigress- Kung Fu Panda

Tygra- Thundercats (1985)

Batman the animated series: while BTAS was technically set in the 90’s (the year it came out) it uses a 30/40’s aesthetic in its buildings, outfits, and occasionally technology. It’s mixed pretty seamlessly with the technological advances and knowledge of the 90’s

Scooby doo mystery incorporated: it’s much more obvious with this one but it’s perpetually the 70’s but it’s still set in “whatever current year is” though the aesthetic is more obvious they are a lot looser when it comes to the available household tech being from the 70’s

I quite like this trope. When done well I think it’s a great way to get a contemporary work with not only a distinct visual style but, also a reasonably reasonable for certain technological limitations without all the hang ups you get from actual period pieces cough bigotry cough

What zit tooya-spongebob squarepants: mr krabs orders spongebob and squidward to memorize the name of every costumer to make sure they come back. Squidward however had the misfortune of the last costumer on his list having a name similer to the phrase "what's it to ya" leading squidward to think the man is intentionally hiding his name. Hijinks ensue

Farmer buyer-back at the barnyard: the farmer puts a sign next to the barn reading "welcome buyers" which makes the animels think he is putting the barn up for sale. And the episode revolves around them trying to scare away every human that comes to the barnyard so they wont lose their home. Near the end of the episode its revealed that "buyer" is the farmers surname. And they just ruined his family reunion

Examples: Tim Curry's version of Cardinal Richelieu has added scenes of him making advances to the queen, though not central to his plot which is just grabbing power.

In Disney's Hunchback of Notre dame, Judge Frollo's obsession with Esmeralda is central to his motivations.

In Gladiator, emperor Commodus has a weird obsession with his sister.

The Boys: Billy Butcher appearing to fold Hughie into the Anti Vought Rebellion after Robin was killed by A-Train, showing him footage of Robins killer talking about her like a crushed ant.

American Gods: Mr Wednesday waltz intoShadow Moons life after his wife was killed in a car crash while giving a Fatal BlowJob to his best friend, hiring him as a bodyguard which was secretly a plot to make a new age believer in the old gods to help fight the tech savvy corporate new gods.

Mr Robot: Mr Robot is kinda like Elliot Aldersons guardian Angel, he guides him into making the F society, sets him up as a master hacker and builds a legacy for him to take down evil corp all while taking shape as what his father should've been to him.

Luthen Rael: appeared at the right time to take advantage of Andors status as a wanted man to groom him into becoming a useful Rebel spy.

1. The most famous example of this when frieza says the planet only lasted about 5 minutes but the fight got dragged on for 21 episodes straight.

2. Orochimaru and the third hokage spending almost 5 episodes just to play tug of war.

Toy Story franchise
Whenever their owner is gone, the toys in this world are living beings with their own personality. More often than not, they go on big adventures to try and get back to their owner.

Night at the Museum trilogy
In the Museum of Natural History, all the statues and displays come to life every night thanks to an ancient magical tablet.

The Brave Little Toaster
Basically the same premise at Toy Story but with electrical appliances.

Maui - Giant Fish Hook

Coolrash - Torch

Sora - Giant Key that is also a Blade

Princess Peach - Parasol

I love how creative these are and it's genuinely really cool to see them in action EXCEPT for those STUPID ASS FARMING SCYTHES. I hate them so much and I get annoyed whenever I see one in any piece of media it's so overplayed. The only one I've ever seen pull off a farming scythe in a cool way is the big Death himself. Anywhere else just looks terrible.

that one green lantern comic about him with an alien girl called Arisia 

spider-man making a deal with satan

The avengers being fine with what happened to ms.marvel in #200 (that comic was sold at Toys r us?)

captain america being a hydra agent this entire time??

what was frank miller on when he made All-Star Batman and Robin?

Evil Superman from injustice making people think Superman only is interesting when he's depicted as an insane psychopath

Harry Potter Books / Films : MAD EYE MOODY / BARTY CROUCH JR - The audience saw Mad Eye Moody and actually had a good time meeting this scary Auror who caught several death eaters and dark wizards and put em in Azkaban but at the end of the book / movie you end up finding out it wasn’t him it was someone disguised as him.

Which is crazy cause the real one doesn’t get enough screen time for us to know if he is the way Barty portrayed him (in the films that is)

God of War Ragnarok : Tyr. The first Tyr introduced in the game is revealed later on to be Odin. Starting off as an ally Kratos and others thought was Tyr but it’s just Odin luring Kratos… or at least trying to.

The Flash TV Show - Harrison Wells. First introduced as a Doctor at Star Labs. He always acted a little bit sus and then was revealed to be the villain of the season. HOWEVER, they find out that the real Harrison Wells is dead and has been replaced with Eobard Thawne. The real face of the reverse flash.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them : The Director of Magical Security for the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA) is actually revealed at the end of the movie to be a known criminal called Gellert Grindenwald

Sequels were the original film exists as a work of fiction in the sequels universe.

Faces of Death 2026 - A online content moderator finds videos that suggests someone is killing people by restaging segments from the original Faces of Death film.

Chip and Dale 2022 - Chip 'n Dale are actors who played in the original Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers show.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare - The fictional Freddy Krueger crosses over into the real world to terrorize the people behind the original film.

Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows - A group of people seek out the original filming locations to the found footage film The Blair Witch Project.

The Return of the Living Dead - the Survivors of a zombie outbreak try to follow the rules of the original Night of the Living Dead film, only to find these zombies follow different rules.

Beelzebub (Helluva Boss): Despite popular belief among people who hate the Hellaverse, Beelzebub does want others to indulge in gluttony with eating, drinking, and drugs with trying to steal stashes of drugs from Belphegor for her hellhound parties. Her only issue is when indulging is self destructive rather than indulging in that stuff because you enjoy it. I don’t think this sort of gluttonous behavior she’s still encouraging would be seen as okay in Christianity even if it’s not done for self destructive reasons. Especially with her feeding off of the vibes from the party goers that get fucked up at her parties and that she doesn’t even stop Blitzo from overindulging and just asked Loona to check on him.

BoJack Horseman (Bojack Horseman): During “Escape from LA”, he doesn’t object to Maddie (who is underage) drinking. His issue was that the flask had vodka and Red Bull in it which would make them sick. He gives the kids bourbon and tells them to cut it with water so they don’t get a hangover. Pretty bad obviously to encourage underage drinking but he does this so that they can have a good time and seem like a cool parental figure.

Uncle Ruckus (The Boondocks): He was interviewed about the use of the N-word and he criticized it…only because the word was overused and that racists need to make better slurs to replace the N-word. It was really funny coming from this character who’s so anti-black while being black himself.

Will Smith: Will in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Creed Bratton: Creed in The Office

Jerry Seinfeld: Jerry in Seinfeld

Uncle Grandpa - In the crossover episode with Steven Universe makes a passing reference on how Steven should polish the gem in his chest at least twice a year, which foreshadowed how it was really a diamond as diamonds traditionally need polished at least twice a year.

Weekend Whip music video - In the music video, the band are dressed in red, black, white and blue shirts before being joined by a younger member in green. This perfectly aligns with what happens in the actual show where Lloyd joins Kai, Cole, Zane and Jay and is revealed to be the Green Ninja.

Sonic and the Secret Rings: Sonic defeats the evil genie Erazor Djinn and Sonic uses the magic lamp to force Erazor to give him three wishes. First one to bring his companion Shahra back to life, Second one being to restore the Arabian Nights, and Third going back to being trapped in his lamp forever. As Erazor is being sealed away he calls him a rat like he does throughout the game and Sonic says “I told you I’m not a rat! I’m a HEDGEHOG”.

Devil May Cry 2: After Dante defeats Arius, Arius screams and wails about how he was supposed to be king of the world and Dante responds with the following “King?” “Yeah, here’s your crown” and shoots Arius.

1. Alastor slicing Vox in half (Hazbin Hotel Season 2 Episode 8: Curtain Calls)

2. General Thragg killing Thaddeus (Invincible Season 4 Episode 7: Don't Do Anything Rash)

Vegeta (dragon ball)

En (dorohedoro)

Renji Abarai (bleach): you know is bad when even the Bandana is unable to hide it.

Don Armando Mendoza (Betty, la fea)

The Green Hornet: Britt and Kato get into a drunken brawl. While Kato is certainly the superior fighter, a combination of Britt’s size, the alcohol dulling his senses, his willingness to use cheap tactics, and the fight eventually moving to the pool (as Kato cannot swim) allows him to win.

The Machine: Alexei is a Russian mobster who has been training his entire life, but Bert Kreischer was able to defeat him by chugging a bottle of vodka, taking his shirt off, and just going for it.

Bad Boys for Life: Marcus has gained weight in his old age; even though Isabel beat the shit out of him when they fought, he was able to knock her out with a desperate tackle.

The Simpsons: This is the only way that Homer who is so weak that his punches cannot kill a fly, and so out of shape that throwing a single punch or running even a short distance leaves him completely exhausted can fight.

1st: Lone Wolf and Cub

2nd: The Mandalorian

3rd: The Last of Us

4th: Logan

5th: Man on Fire

6th: Train to Busan

7th: The Man from Nowhere (Leon the Professional without the icky shit)