The "good twin" to the Knight of Cerebus, this is a "Knight of Reverse Cerebus Syndrome", if you will.
This character (or team) is usually the first to being brought forth when the series or the franchise has gone TOO dark, and a Lighter and Softer Breather Episode is in order.
The character will always be either a Fun Personified Cloudcuckoolander, or a Crazy Awesome Deadpan Snarker.
Whenever you see this character, it's the author's (or the studio's) way of telling "I know the last one was pretty dark, so here is something fun to blow off some steam".
Examples of Breather Episode Character include:
Anime and Manga[]
- Breather Episodes of Oh My Goddess usually have Skuld at the center of the plot.
- Both incarnations of Dragon Ball that have Kid Goku (Dragon Ball GT and the original Dragon Ball) are Lighter and Softer than Dragon Ball Z.
- One Piece: Foxy and his crew are fun goofball antagonists debuting in the Davy Back Fight Arc, in contrast to the darker and more serious Eneru of the preceding Skypeia arc, or the even darker CP9 of the following Water 7/Enies Lobby arc. Foxy has since re-appeared in a few Lighter and Softer filler episodes of the anime, usually when the anime is in-between arcs with much darker content.
Comic Book[]
- Just as in the film folder, Deadpool is usually brought forth to bring the readers respite from a major event.
- Ambush Bug never plays a meaningful part in the darker "events" of the DC Universe.
Film[]
- Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy are this for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (in fact, this trope was originally launched as "The Ant-Man"). Whenever the MCU hits its emotional and/or dramatic peak, they release either a new Ant-Man movie, or a new Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
- Whenever the X-Men Cinematic Universe is at its darkest, Deadpool shows up.
- Lightning McQueen and his buddies often get movies whenever Pixar hits the apex of its dramatic and emotional content.
Live-Action Television[]
- Whenever Buffy the Vampire Slayer does a Breather Episode, Xander will usually play a large part in said episode.
Western Animation[]
- Lyra and Bon Bon almost never have meaningful roles in the Darker and Edgier "event" episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- If an episode of Aladdin: The Series has Mechanicles as the main villain, it means it's devoid of the dramatic and emotional elements of darker episodes.