The Fool: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|"Sometimes it depresses me how well dumb luck works for you."|'''[[The Political Officer|Colonel Jevee Ceeta]]''' to [[The Captain|Kaff Tagon]], ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]''}}

Not the kind of fool that [[Mr. T]] [[You Fool!|pities.]]

 

 

 

The Fool was often the [[Audience Surrogate]] of medieval plays, representing the [[Every Man]] or [[Karmic Trickster]], but typically [[Book Dumb|more clever than smart]]. In the annual Feast of Fools, he was King For A Day.

 

For the [[Christopher Moore]] novel about the character from ''[[King Lear]]'', see ''[[Fool]]''.

{{examples}}

* Shinichirou Tamaki from ''[[Code Geass]]'', whose most noticeable traits consist of being a clueless Zero fanboy and avoiding certain death often. [[Ensemble Darkhorse|And fandom didn't fail to appreciate it]].

* Mihoshi from ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]''.

* The eponymous protagonist of ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'', unless he was just using [[Obfuscating Stupidity]].

* Openly acknowledged as being the main (and besides cooking, perhaps ''only'') ability of Milfeulle in ''[[Galaxy Angel (anime)|Galaxy Angel]]'', perhaps related to her usually selfless behaviour. (See also: [[The Messiah]]) This ability is so powerful that, on the day her normally [[Born Lucky|good luck]] reverses, a black hole almost swallows the entire galaxy. She is also [[The Ditz]].

* In ''[[You're Under Arrest]]'', the sweet tattletale Yoriko Nikaido was actually the higher-ranking graduate from the police academy... through several strokes of luck (in the shooting range she aced by shooting in with her eyes closed, in the martial arts stage she slipped and this let her pin her rival to the tatami mat, etc.), much to the fury of her friendly rival, [[Rich Bitch]] Chie Sagamioono.

* Sonsaku Hakufu and Ryuubi Gentoku from ''[[Ikki Tousen]]''.

** It is possible that season four's events insinuate that Saiou himself is The Fool (in an inverse connotation, Tarot-wise), allowing himself to have been manipulated by fate and demonstrating no control over the outcome of events he put into motion.

** Regardless, the insinuation is that no matter whether [[Balance Between Good and Evil|The Light or The Darkness]], Judai (The Fool) [[Spanner in the Works|will always somehow prevail]]. (Keep in mind also that the [[Light Is Not Good|Light]]/[[Dark Is Not Evil|Darkness]] in Yu-Gi-Oh! has never been seen as Good/Evil, but instead extremes of ideology.)

* In ''[[Gintama]]'', Sakamoto Tatsuma pretty much epitomizes this trope. He appears clueless most of the time and reacts to everything with a cheerful disposition and his trademark laughter. Though this may be a case of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], {{spoiler|as he is also a successful businessman who owns a fleet of armed merchant spaceships, and in a flashback is shown to have been a serious, intelligent resistance fighter who gave up fighting for a lost cause and turned to commerce when he saw that the latter would be a more successful and less bloody way of bringing about better relations between the inhabitants of Japan and the Amanto aliens.}}

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' has the eponymous Moon/Usagi, who found out she was Sailor Moon after rescuing a cat (Luna) from a bunch of bullies, and survived her first battles out of sheer luck and the support of her [[Mysterious Protector]].

** [[Character Development]] improves her as the series continues and she matures as a person and fighter, however, she never would have survived the first season if it wasn't for her fool's luck.

* [[One-Scene Wonder|Femio]] from ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' is almost an over-the-top parody of the trope. When the [[Dark Magical Girl]], Princess Kraehe, casts a spell on him so he'll literally and figuratively give his heart to her (so she can [[Heart Trauma|feed it to her father]]), he ''almost'' falls for it...until he declares he can't, because his narcissism makes him believe he should be available for ''all'' women to love him. Both Kraehe and the eponymous [[Magical Girl]] are left speechless by it.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Zayne Carrick from ''Star Wars: [[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' is The Fool personified. Not only is his unique force power directly stated as causing "unexpected changes in fortune" (and note that he is considered incompetent by everyone who does not recognize this), but he is referred to as "The Fool" by several powerful people, nearly all of whom are trying (unsuccessfully) to kill him.

* In his earliest incarnation, Johnny Thunder was an ''insanely'' lucky guy due to having been born at 7 AM on 7/7/17. A Saturday, the seventh day of the week, no less. (Yes, born in 1917; he goes [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|way back]].) By pure luck alone, he'd accidentally demolish enemies while his actual attempts to hit them missed completely; sometimes he didn't even ''figure out'' that he was being attacked because they'd take themselves out ''just'' outside his field of vision. He was [[Bond Creature|connected to a genie]] called the Thunderbolt who was like his guardian angel, summoned by the magic word ''cei-u.'' Of course, Johnny had no idea of this, but would often yell "say, you!" at whoever he was chasing and accidentally summon him. Unfortunately, his phenomenal luck wasn't enough to prevent his [[Aloof Ally]], a lovely blonde by the name of [[Black Canary]], from taking over his spot as the backup story in [[The Flash]]'s comic.

 

== Fairy Tales ==

* In ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/pt1/pt113.htm The Brown Bear of the Green Glen]'', the youngest prince is said not to be wise enough. (Before he is the one to succeed on [[The Quest]].)

* Many Russian Fairy and Folk Tales have the main protagonist, named Ivan the Fool (Ivanushka-Durachok is the endearment for him) who fits this trope perfectly. He starts as the village idiot and lands in some incredible adventures. Sometimes he transforms into a handsome and non-foolish prince at the end of the story, and sometimes he refuses the fortune, the Czar's daughter in marriage, and the transformation, to go back to his original village idiot occupation.

** There's a [[Shout-Out]] to this in Lois McMaster Bujold's [[Vorkosigan Saga]]: Lord Ivan "You Idiot" Vorpatril.

* Puerto Rican folk tale character Juan Bobo (literally "John Fool") was one of these, OR [[Book Dumb]], depending on the tale. Sometimes he was stupid enough to kill his own baby brother while babysitting him; other times he got the better of people trying to take advantage of his naivete.

 

== Film ==

* Harpo Marx of the ''[[Marx Brothers]]''.

** In ''A Shot In The Dark'', he irrationally refused to consider that Maria Gambrelli was behind all the murders because he was madly in love with her, despite the fact that ''all'' the evidence points to her doing it. At the end of the movie, {{spoiler|the mansion's other occupants get in a heated argument and ''all of them'' accidentally confess to a murder each. Realizing that they're about to be arrested, they tried to escape in Clouseau's car, which incidentally was rigged with a bomb installed by his insane boss Inspector Dreyfus. The case is solved, Clouseau is alive, and the murderers all suffered [[Karmic Death]].}}

* Chance the Gardener in the film ''[[Being There]]'' is '''the''' archetype of sub-trope of this.

* Jar Jar Binks from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequel trilogy.

** In an episode of ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'', a Clone Trooper captain has apparently been Jar Jar's bodyguard long enough to accurately predict when the Gungan's antics will defeat the enemy. However, the captain wrongly believes that Jar Jar [[Obfuscating Stupidity|isn't as stupid as he seems]].

* Scrat from ''[[Ice Age]]'', although he's half fool and half desperate for nuts.

* The main character of ''[[The People Under the Stairs]]'', and also happens to be his name.

* ''[[The Party]]'' has another, less known [[Peter Sellers]] example, in which he plays the sweet but incredibly accident-prone Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi.

* ''[[The Bobo]]'' is an even less-known Sellers vehicle, where he plays an itinerant singer who tries to get his big break at a Barcelona theater (note: 'bobo' is Spanish for 'fool'). The theater owner agrees on the condition that, within three days, he can seduce a manipulative gold-digger. Trope averted as Sellers is shown to be adept at concocting and sustaining an elaborate ruse to string her along.

* [[Danny Kaye]] played this role in ''The Inspector General'', as a hapless, illiterate, but good-hearted gypsy who is mistaken for an Inspector General (on assignment to root out corruption from [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] himself) by a small town's [[Corrupt Politician|corrupt city council]].

** Ironically, he doesn't play this role in ''[[The Court Jester]]'', as he has some idea of the danger he's putting himself through, but accepted because he [[Jumped At the Call|wanted to be a hero]]. And impress [[Action Girl|Maid Jean]].

 

== Literature ==

* Plenty of [[P. G. Wodehouse|PG Wodehouse]] characters. [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Bertie Wooster]] [[Lampshade Hanging|hung a lampshade]] on it in ''Carry On, Jeeves'': "Providence looks after all the chumps in this world, and personally, [[Self-Deprecation|I'm all for it.]]"

 

* Charlie from ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]''.

* Eric in the later seasons of ''[[Boy Meets World]]''.

* Jason Stackhouse from ''[[True Blood]]''. Partially averted, though: although he's frequently [[Too Dumb to Live]] and always ends up all right in the end, he's more of a [[Karma Houdini|Karmic Houdini]] than most Fools: he's frequently selfish, amoral and religiously intolerant. Although he does sometimes get his comeuppance (the priapism and being accused of some murders), he does always seems to come out fine in the end by no other reason than dumb luck.

* [[The Mighty Boosh|Vince Noir]]

* Played with in ''[[Firefly]]''. While most fools are depicted as happy and childlike, Jayne Cobb, easily the dumbest member of the cast (despite his talents for interrogation) is also grouchy and generally unhappy.

 

== [[Machinima]] ==

 

== Music ==

* A song by Brazilian group Titãs has the line: "O acaso vai me proteger enquanto eu andar distraído." - Meaning "Luck will protect me as long as I walk on absent-mindedly".

 

* ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' has The Fool as an avatar, where you can be happy go lucky, find the right item at the right time, avoid damage by accident, be in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.

** This troper once played an Unknown Armies game as a Fool and ended up saving three characters' souls by tripping and falling in the right place at the right time. It is an ''extremely'' powerful archetype.

*** Also dangerous to be around, though - as that damage you avoid by "dumb luck" has to go ''somewhere''...

* ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' associates the Acanthus Path with the [[Tarot Motifs|Tarot card]] of The Fool. Members of the Path have a natural affinity for Fate magic, meaning they can get ''really'' lucky.

* Everway, which uses a modified Tarot deck as a game play mechanic, has an [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] of The Fool: a cross between a court jester and a wanderer. The Fool is free to do or say anything and get away with it, because no one takes him too seriously, and he's not tied down with responsibilities. This doesn't imply stupidity or luck. More like "Jack of all trades; master of none." Some forms of "real" Tarot reading portray the whole deck (or at least the picture cards) as representing The Fool's journey to enlightenment.

* In ''[[Toon the Cartoon Role Playing Game]]'', characters can make a Smarts check to decide whether or not they can undertake a clearly impossible action. If they fail, [[Achievements in Ignorance|they are presumed to be able to do it]]. This is one of the few examples from a tabletop role playing game where it's worthwhile ''failing'' a simple stat check.

 

== Theatre ==

** In ''The Winter's Tale'', the Shepherd's Son (for whom no name is given, but in some printings is called Clown) and to a lesser extent, the Shepherd.

** Launcelot Gobbo in ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' goes from being an [[Cloudcuckoolander|eccentric,]] [[Lazy Bum|useless]], [[Big Eater|gluttonous]], uneducated peasant forced to work for the local revenge-crazed villain to a [[The Jester|professional jester]] who never has to do anything but [[Hurricane of Puns|make puns]] and whose new master, known for lavishing money on his servants, just won a mansion and buckets of cash. All this happens with ''no effort on Launcelot's part.'' He himself comments that, if Fortune is a woman, she must really like him.

 

== Video Games ==

* Appropriately enough, [[Tarot Motifs|The Fool]] from the Cliff Johnson classic ''The Fool's Errand'' qualifies neatly.

** Kirby often gets into situations due to his carelessness (and being a [[Big Eater]]), but once he's aware of a problem, he's too active in fighting whatever miscreant is involved to be a Fool.

* An inversion of this trope, in ''[[Persona 4]]'', the protagonist's friends social link as the Investigation Team under the tarot of The Fool. Despite this, they grow and learn from the end of the game, and eventually {{spoiler|re-social link under The Judgement.}}

** Same in ''[[Persona 3]]'' and you even start out with a Persona of The Fool Arcana. There's a bit of a visual shout out even, with the female character in the PSP remake, where her hairpins are arranged as XXII.

* Jen Tate in ''[[Primal]]''.

** Her behavior, and inappropriate comments and dialog always manage to work out.

** {{spoiler|When under foreign control, she manages to press Scree's [[Berserk Button]] to make him fight her. Which was the only way to free her.}}

* Colette from ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''.

*** She's really only unlucky with things concerning her sucky destiny. There are sometimes she has avoided attacks sent at her by tripping. Due to similar things happening, Zelos suggests they should let Colette trip on the way to buy a lottery ticket.

 

== Web Animation ==

* The eponymous character from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', especially in the earlier cartoons, when Homestar would always beat Strong Bad, no matter how much Strong Bad cheated; Homestar was eventually [[Flanderization|flanderized]] into a character [[The Ditz|too stupid to know when he'd lost]], which also frustrated Strong Bad's efforts.

 

== Web Comics ==

*** To be fair, he has quite a long track record of getting into trouble and has racked up a lot of evidence that outside forces will invariably come to his rescue.

** Sam's far more smart, canny and aware than the average Fool, though. He's closer to the original archetype as a lucky trickster and troublemaker.

** Fighter ''is'' the only actual Hero of the Light Warriors (Of the other three, one is a [[Heroic Sociopath|sociopath]], one has stolen and 'acquired' more things than actually exist, and the last is not actually evil, but highly narcissistic). The only real debate is whether his collaboration with his 'friends' subtracts from his heroism.

* Gordon Frohman from ''[[Concerned]]''.

* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', the Boy is fully as foolish as his [[Fairy Tale]] prototype, the Boy Who Set Out To Learn What Fear Was.

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] very, ''very'' [[Break the Cutie|cruelly]] with Fumbles of ''[[Goblins|Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes]]''. Or at least the Blessed-by-Lady-Luck bit.

* John Egbert of ''[[Homestuck]]'' fame makes unwise decisions on a regular basis (that even lead to his death in [[Bad Future|one alternate time line]]) - but without them, he'd have never been able to set up the [[Stable Time Loop]] that ensured that he and all his friends got born, among other things.

* Julie, from ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'' very much so.

* In [[Overlord of Ravenfell]], Razin only has a vague idea of what being an Overlord entails, and is quite the bubblehead despite the grim occupation. Somehow he manages.

 

== Web Original ==

* The anthropomorphic [[Moe Moe|cute-girl]] version of Windows ME, Me-tan.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Ron Stoppable from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' has elements of this, notably the "blundering towards success" part. As he puts it, upon being called on his blundering: "Not dumb luck, Kim! Dumb ''skill''!"

** Just call it The Ron Factor!

* Meatwad from ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' occasionally fits the description. Even when "bad" things happen to him, karma pays him back almost immediately. (i.e. Shake sells him to the circus and he becomes the star attraction, Shake sticks him in the dryer and he gains super powers. etc.)

* Subverted in ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', "OP TRIP." Two [[Evil Minions]] stalk ditzy Numbuh Three on her trip to Tokyo. Numbuh Three is too clueless to notice she's been followed, but she manages, purely by accident, to get the stalkers attacked by a mean dog, thrown in a dumpster, catapulted out of a moving train, etc. The minions give up in agony. Then they discover that the dog, the dumpster driver, the train driver, etc. were all Numbuh Three's not-so-ditzy allies in disguise.

* The eponymous character of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' sometimes classifies, especially in later seasons.

** Patrick Star as well.

* A bizarre example of the trope, the band Dethklok in ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' are evil, in an apathetic kind of way. They aren't that intelligent (except in contracts) and accidentally cause death and destruction everywhere they go. Yet they're oddly ''immune''. Oh, they'll accidentally set off explosions and laser beams and falling debris that kills off everyone around them, especially people trying to kill them; but it will miss them ''every time.'' And they won't even notice; not that they would care.

** The Infamous "Homer's Enemy" episode deconstructs the living hell out of this trope.

* [[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack|Flapjack]] is this with a light dose of [[The Messiah]], as he once tried to make enemies to be a good adventurer, but failed spectacularly at every attempt. He only succeeds at the end, and even that is by accident. Plus, he considers his "enemy" to also be his [[Vitriolic Best Buds|best friend.]]

** Russell is merely the secondary one, since he's just flat out clueless.

* [[Rocky and Bullwinkle|Bullwinkle J. Moose]] is portrayed as a fool despite him starring in segments that intend to teach. In fact, when Boris used a gas to turn the whole world (including Bullwinkle's friend Rocky) into morons, Bullwinkle is the only one unaffected because he already is a moron.

* Charlotte in ''[[Making Fiends]]''. Cheerfully oblivious to the fact that her "friend" Vendetta is trying to kill her with an army of toothy, vicious monsters who have the entire town they live in terrified into submission, she usually ends up [[Fluffy Tamer|befriending the fiends as well]], and even keeps one as a pet.

* Aang from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. In the beginning, he's young, naive, and playful, and seems to win fights partly out of a feeling that he can't imagine losing. And like The Fool from the tarot card, he's definitely willing to jump off a cliff, but figuratively and literally (he ''can'' fly, after all). He's lost this somewhat by the end of the series, having had to deal with the losses and suffering he's caused, and having to contemplate the choices he must make for the world.

* Rufus and Amberley of ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' often acted as inept kids in stopping the Urpneys. Nearly everytime however they were handed the victory with barely a hair out of place, either due to the Urpneys own bumbling or some [[Contrived Coincidence]].

* Norb of ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'' plays with this, while he does have [[Butt Monkey]] moments, he is far less often at the brunt of things than Daggett, and sometimes in a very close or contrived manner. This was even Lampshaded in an episode where he and Dag switch roles and Dag notes he (seemingly) avoided a painful injury just like he usually does.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Luck Tropes]]

[[Category:Archetypal Character]]

[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]

[[Category:Clown Tropes]]