Running Gag/Anime and Manga

Examples of Running Gag in Anime and Manga.

"Zoro: I got on board the wrong ship."
 * Merely mentioning the words "small" or "short" or any synonyms thereof around Edward Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist will make him start ranting and raving about the insult. Whether it happens too much is up to you.
 * Every time the Elrics are introduced to someone, they greet Al as Fullmetal. Then every other character in the scene points to Ed. Ah, the small one. See above.
 * Al's armor. Kitties. End of story.
 * In the manga, there are various running gags, for example the over-the-top gothic style of Edward's transmutations and a rich couple of innocent bystanders, whose new cars get stolen a lot.
 * Also in the manga, anytime a spear is transmuted it is almost immediately destroyed by the person it was supposed to be used against.
 * And occasionally a character will be presented with a gift at a time that's awkward and inappropriate, but the person giving the gift doesn't know it and the character receiving will accept it, think for a second and yell about how wrong the whole situation is.
 * And Ed's reactions to suggestions that he loves Winry.
 * Ed's extreme dislike of milk
 * Shao May being called a black and white cat instead of a panda.
 * Maes Hughes and his Elicia pictures.
 * THE AMAZING RUNNING GAG TECHNIQUE THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!!!
 * Additionally, everyone associated with the Armstrong family has a Bishie Sparkle. Even the flower lady.
 * Any time that Colonel Mustang forgets that water is somehow involved, Riza Hawkeye trips him and tells him he's useless. Cue Face Fault and Color Failure on his part.
 * Slayers:
 * The wanton destruction of bandits (and everything in general), or pirates in the fourth season.
 * Lina and Gourry's extreme appetites.
 * Gourry's conspicuous lack of intelligence
 * Amelia's quixotic notion of justice (This one finally came to an end in season 4)
 * Xellos' "That is a secret!" Catch Phrase
 * The Cross-dressing episodes
 * Zelgadis' Butt Monkey status, which often correlates to his cure (more sporadic than the others, but still prominent)
 * Filia and Xellos' sexual tension in season three, which overtook the show's humor
 * Kodomo No Jikan has what may be the most cringe-inducing running gag ever: Aoki getting kicked in the nuts.
 * Shiho's "maki maki" spiral cursing device in Mai-Otome.
 * Hazumu's father's attempts to photograph her naked in Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl.
 * And his attempts to get her to bathe with him. And his inevitably getting beaten senseless by his wife as a result. And the alien showing up at strange times. And Asuta getting knocked about. And Namiko-sensei's speeches about 'having no boyfriend for 35 years', and the inevitable fall that follows. The show has a lot of running gags.
 * Momoko's spotlight hogging in Chou Kuse ni Narisou.
 * Sakaki of Azumanga Daioh repeatedly encounters Kamineko throughout the course of the series, who always acts friendly only to bite her hand when she tries to pet it.
 * There was one episode where various things were said to be "flying" -- Yukari's car, Kaorin after Tomo interrupted her photographing Sakaki, the knife in Osaka's hand...
 * The way Barnaby of Tiger and Bunny rescues his partner Kotetsu is lampshaded and played for laughs in-series twice out of the three times it makes an appearance. It has even acquired Memetic Mutation status among many members of the fandom.
 * Kimagure Orange Road has a running gag of a couple confessing their love to each other with a variation of Shakespeare's "wherefore art thou Romeo" speech. They appear in the most unlikely places and are often interrupted by the antics of the regular cast.
 * Rukia's horrible artwork (and bunny fixation), Chizuru's crush on Orihime, Zaraki Kenpachi and Yachiru always getting lost and Kon's lechery in Bleach.
 * Yachiru's incredibly embarrassing nicknames.
 * There's also the Shinigami Men's Association, constantly getting shafted.
 * There's also the joke where someone makes fun of or comments on the sizes of Orihime and Rangiku Matsumoto's very large breasts, usually Kon.
 * Isshin constantly ambushing and attacking Ichigo at inappropriate times.
 * How many times do I have to tell you that Ikakku isn't bald?
 * Not a particularly funny (and actually a little tragic) example, perhaps more Hilarious in Hindsight: every time Leomon (or a Leomon lookalike) shows up in a Digimon series, he's either terribly abused or outright killed in short order.
 * In Digimon Xros Wars, the Leomon that shows up is a particularly nasty, evil member of The Empire. The same is true for SaberLeomon, one of the two Sacrificial Lions in Digimon Savers. The next humanoid lion to appear in Xros Wars, Apollomon, dies twice within the span of three episodes!
 * It's also averted in Digimon V-Tamer 01, where Leo the Leomon survives.
 * To emphasise, we have Leomon/Saberleomon in Adventure, Leomon in Tamers, Leomon within the first three minuites in X-Evolution, Technically Koichi counts, having Loweemon as one of his forms, and there's Ice Leomon too, Saber Leomon AND Bancholeomon in Savers, and in Xros Wars, Mad Leomon [Who was a corrupted normal Leomon, who was also shwon revived at one point... and never showed up again, unlike the villagers he was with...], and Apollomon... Twice. And that's just in the main shows and movies, and not counting mangas. 10 dead Lions... possibly 11 if Leomon was killed off-screen in Xros Wars [Which, given how Leomon respond to evil, and the fact that Lillymon, one of the villagers, shows up later... is possible]
 * The normally serious and Badass Roronoa Zoro of One Piece gets lost anytime he is left alone. Or when he's being led by other people, for that matter. This even extends to the Zombie that is possessed with his shadow. It sort of reached a crescendo post-Time Skip when a ship suddenly appears sliced in two. Guess who's sitting in the crow's nest.

"Crocus: "Can't you appreciate a good running gag?""
 * Zoro is also known for sleeping through anything. Even storms at sea, and when the crew is learning important information. He also fell asleep even when he said he wanted to hear Nami's backstory.
 * Luffy has a tendency to call Mix-and-Match Critters the animal they look the least like. This lead to him calling Bananawani (crocodiles with banana-like growths on their heads) "bananas".
 * He also refers to anything new as a "Mystery ______". This little quirk was completely absent in the 4Kids dub.
 * Nami is often adamantly against anything reckless that the crew (aka Luffy) wants to do, but will Heel Face Turn in an instant if there's money involved.
 * Chopper will insult anyone that compliments him while waving his arms cutely or doing a joyful little dance.
 * People will mistake Chopper for a different kind of animal(usually a tanuki).
 * All of Usopp's lies.
 * Sanji's quest to earn himself a bounty. From consistently losing out on getting one to, when he finally does get a bounty, getting a poster featuring a Godawful composite sketch because they couldn't get a good picture (darn tricky lens caps). The topper though, is a man who hated Sanji because his face is near-identical to the godawful composite sketch.
 * Robin's tendency to give extremely morbid descriptions
 * Luffy asking biologically-different creatures if they can poop (notably skeletons and mermaids).
 * In the anime when the Straw Hats are in Laboon and meet Crocus, they do a series of cuts that end with close-ups of Crocus' eye. It sounds ominous, but ends funny every time. Crocus even lampshades it:

"Haruhi: Do you mean--
 * Luffy has been known to ask any strange person or creature to join his crew, much to the annoyance of his crew.
 * Luffy and Chopper will admire their enemy's techniques in the middle of a battle, with sparkling eyes, and will even temporarily forget their hatred for the said enemy. They will then request the enemy to explain how they did it. The enemy will often oblige before resuming the battle.
 * And while on the subject, Ryōga from Ranma One Half has getting lost as a major character trait. As Ryōga is an incredibly fit and highly durable martial artist, he is capable of getting very lost, even finding himself in other countries (or even other hemispheres) while trying to travel between two points in Japan. Whenever Ryōga demands to meet Ranma at a specific place and time, he will show up a week late, which is invariably when Ryōga finally finds the place.
 * Two points in Japan? Ryōga gets lost walking down the street. In one episode of the anime (don't think it happened in the manga) he became hopelessly lost in a park, which had a figure-eight shaped path, and not much else besides trees. Early on, he goes to Cologne's house where Cologne offers to train him. He declines and leaves. Cologne then makes a snack and watches a television show, then goes downstairs to find him still there. He asks her where the front door is. While standing right next to it.
 * Another Running Gag in said series is main character Ranma Saotome getting splashed by water (usually triggering his Jusenkyō "spring of drowned girl" curse if the water is cold) at the worst possible time. Or just to irritate him.
 * There's also the Nerima district's tendency for conspicuously specific warning signs. ("Please do not hang people on this tree.")
 * Shampoo has a few, such as breaking through walls and landing her bike on top of Ranma.
 * Akane's HORRID cooking
 * Mousse and his habit of not wearing his glasses due to his vanity. Every time he appears, he WILL attempt to woo Shampoo, only to end up propositioning someone else (usually an annoyed Ranma), animals that will scratch or bite him, or even inanimate (and typically very ugly) objects.
 * This is the source of all humor in Ranma. Each character has at least 3 or 4 running gags.
 * While on the subject of Rumiko Takahashi series, Inu-Yasha of Inuyasha's running gag is him saying something stupid or derogatory and in retaliation is usually pulled to the ground HARD due to the rosary beads around his neck by the command "Sit!", stated by Kagome Higurashi.
 * Miroku groping Sango and Sango smacking him for it.
 * Miroku's habit of asking EVERY cute girl he meets to bear his child.
 * And everyone mistaking any demon based on small mammals (Foxes, Otters, etc.) for a Tanuki (dubbed rather well as a Raccoon-dog). Shippo is often at the end of this but other characters get it from time to time.
 * Yet ANOTHER Rumiko Takahashi series, ;;Urusei Yatsura, is almost nothing but'' running gags, from Ataru's flirting (inevitably followed by a "Darring no BAKA!(ZAP!)") to Jariten and Ataru's "Frying pan duels" to Shinobu's Desk Tossing.
 * Another character with notoriously bad sense of direction is Masaki, pilot of Cybuster, from Super Robot Wars OG.
 * A Running Gag in the Super Robot Wars community is, following mass disappointment of Masaki's failure to appear in SRW Alpha 3, the joke that he tried to get in the game, but got lost.
 * Kusuha Mizuha's "energy drinks", which have laid out not only the greatest badasses Earth can produce, but also augmented humans, cyborgs, aliens, and robots. Ryusei says they do work though, but said drinks are extremely potent
 * Now Rim may join Kusuha in O Gs 2, with her milk concoctions and Chocolate and Jelly filled rice balls. Arado may not have a problem with that though.
 * Ibis which apparently being a bully victim for well endowed girls, just look at this frickin' scale!
 * Poor Ibis...defeated by a loli
 * AND BY SANGER!? Poor, poor Ibis
 * Ibis can't bounce, while we clearly seen other with SMALLER chest bounce.....what the?!
 * Sailor Moon has many; Ami's obsession with study, Makoto's always comparing boys to her sempai, Minako's always getting proverbs wrong, Usagi's appetite and unwillingness to study and Rei & Usagi always fighting are only some. One that's especially funny is how Chibi-Usa's scepter never works the first time, a joke used a few times during the S season, with even the daimons stopping confused and once in the subsequent season, SuperS.
 * Prétear the anime: Himeno's older step-sister, Mayune, repeatedly attempts to seduce the Leafe Knights by having them stand outside the bathroom and hold her bathrobe while she takes a shower (usually after meeting in a Crash Into Hello-style). This happened to three of them, with the victim escaping each time before Mayune could continue her plan. The fourth time, in the epilogue, she attempted to do this with Mannen, who turned out to be "too young to appreciate her beauty" and just fell asleep.
 * There's also Yayoi thinking that things happening in real life are like a romance novel, and the butler's pay being cut for things that weren't his fault at all.
 * The above three gags are notable for their collective re-appearance in the series' Where Are They Now? Epilogue, when the comedic side characters returned from their "final battle absence".
 * Also in the anime, Mayune repeatedly tries to set up traps in order to prank Himeno. For the most part these backfire on her, although Himeno does intentionally walk into one in order to make Mayune happy.
 * Whenever Van eats in Gun X Sword, he always demands "all the condiments you have". He also tends to yell his reaction to the meal at the top of his voice.
 * Van's many nicknames.
 * And Carul Mendoza insisting on being called Carmen99.
 * As well as Van saying he is a virgin, while whoever he's talking to also being one.
 * Miu, Ichigo Mashimaro's poster child for ADHD, is frequently the victim of (well-deserved) off-screen violence at the hands of her friends, ranging from a slap upside the head to being chucked out of a spaceship in the "Episode 0" series preview.
 * The title character of Bludgeoning Angel Dokurochan killing Sakura only to resurrect him a couple seconds later.
 * In Pokémon, Pikachu seems to have taken on the habit of frying girls' bikes, causing them to tag along with Ash until they get it replaced.
 * Except for Iris, who didn't even have a bike.
 * She herself gets shocked instead.
 * And then there's the ultimate running gag - Team Rocket's ubiquitous exits.
 * This gag finally ended when they Took a Level In Badass.
 * And Brock flirting with every girl older than him but younger than his mother.
 * And subsequently getting pulled away by Misty/Max/his Croagunk.
 * No one getting Butch's name right.
 * Also, in the episode he appears in, Byron's constant and at times unfitting, "I LOVE BASTIODON/STEELIX/FOSSILS/DEFENSE/THIS HOLE!"
 * Nearly every time Ash's Gible uses Draco Meteor it hits Dawn's Piplup. On at least 2 occasions it's even used to find Piplup.
 * Iris calling Ash a "kid" when she seems to be the younger of the two.
 * In the short time period that Meowth tricked the twerps into thinking it had been fired from Team Rocket, and stayed with the twerps, he was nearly caught three times, but always escaped the ball.
 * The old, elderly male judge who keeps saying "remarkable," after reviewing a performance or battle in different Pokemon Contests.
 * Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure
 * Regarding the title JoJos; if it's a vehicle, it flies and it contains at least one of them, it will crash. Joseph managed to weaponize this in Part 2.
 * Polnareff from Part 3 tends to encounter trouble (or something strange) in bathrooms; first, he attempts to use a toilet in India only to find that Later on, when he's attacked by the Stand Justice, he gets trapped in a bathroom; once he's injured by the Stand and placed under its control, he's forced to   It's even lampshaded by Joseph, who mentions Polnareff when he's about to use a bathroom in Egypt, where
 * In Mega Man NT Warrior, Lan will call his commander "Mr. Famous"/"Meijin-san" every single time they meet, or he's called. And Meijin always responds with "Just Famous!"/"-san wa iranai."
 * In Rurouni Kenshin, the other characters made frequent remarks about his horrible handwriting.
 * Code Geass has several:
 * One could argue that the Pizza Hut Product Placement ascends to the level of a running gag, along with C.C.'s obsession for said pizza and the lengths she'll go to get some.
 * Kallen, the show's Action Girl, often ends up embarrassingly naked or half-naked.
 * Lelouch's horrible physical skills, as seen during one Festival Episode where he's outrun even by Milly in a big fancy dress; when, in the penultimate episode, when he makes it up several flights of stairs with relative ease, many fans were shocked.
 * This is how many fans assumed it should have been.
 * The side materials' propensity for putting the male cast in drag, with Lelouch being mortified and Suzaku... enjoying it just a little too much.
 * Suzaku gets bitten regularly by Arthur the cat.
 * Cecile has some unique cooking skills that show up a few times.
 * She's a Cordon Bleugh Chef.
 * Persona 4: The Animation has a couple:
 * Yosuke getting set on fire.
 * Yu and his attempts to tape the Midnight Channel programs.
 * Aika making deliveries/working in increasing unlikely places. Not only does she work at Aiya, make a delivery in the middle of a chase scene, and bring food to the protagonists on top of a mountain in the middle of the school camping trip, but she also has a job at a noodle shop at Tatsumi Port Island and at the Amagi Inn. They try to explain away the job at Tatsumi Port Island, but by the Amagi Inn episode, the writers stopped caring.
 * Scenery Censor: In addition to Censor Steam, episode 20 uses this to hide the girls' lady bits from the audience. There are many, many conveniently positioned arms. At one point, a washtub held at a funny angle is used to hide  entire upper half.
 * Eyeshield 21: Mamori not being able to draw, Monta being mistaken for/compared to a monkey, Ishimaru being forgotten about or not noticed i.e. Demoted to Extra, the Shinryuuji Nagas (who attend an all-boys school) being distracted by girls, Shin's technological impairment, Otawara forgetting to wear clothes, the Ha Ha Brothers having to remind people that they are not actually bothers and/or are separate people...there are a few.
 * Haruhi's obliviousness to others' attraction to her (usually culminating in her asking "Do you mean [obscure interpretation of professed attraction]?") is repeatedly played for laughs in Ouran High School Host Club, finally lampshaded when one of the boys asks her to go out with him:

No, I do not mean "Will you go somewhere with me?" I'm asking you on a date."

"I'm a hideous pig.  I'm a worthless piece of garbage. I deserve to die."
 * Tamaki's constant references to Haruhi as his daughter and Kyoya as "Mommy." This is played for laughs, since Tamaki is a lovable idiot of a character who likes to think of the host club as a family.
 * His habit of going through Color Failure when anything traumatic happens, usually relating to Haruhi. Bonus points for when characters break the fourth wall and comment "Oh, Tamaki has gone all white again" "Look at him crumble into powder and disappear."
 * Dinosaur King: Ursula being called an old lady (which always hits her Berserk Button), and her noticing it, no matter how far away she is, and getting mightily offended. In one episode, this became a plot point-Ursula's uncanny hearing allowed her to find the D-Team after they referred to her as 'old lady' one too many times.
 * Cagalli Yula Atha of Gundam Seed is repeatedly mistaken for a boy, first by Kira and then by Athrun. Her hatred of dresses, despite and her said displeasure at mistaken gender, also reoccur throughout the series (both in Seed and Destiny).
 * Patrick Colasour of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 just cannot die. Ever. No matter how spectacularly he fails in battle, he always lives through it. The other characters notice and mockingly nickname him "The Immortal Colasour".
 * Mobile Suit Gundam 00 subverts the "It's a GUNDAM!!!" meme. Even though it's said every other battle, everyone from Mooks to major characters, most of the people who say it survive, or, in the case of mooks, aren't necessarily among the dead.
 * In Soul Eater, anyone who's ever had the misfortune of encountering Excalibur will inevitably get the same, identical, pained expression on their face when he's mentioned in their presence, at the same time.
 * Even The Table Of Contents grows a face simply to show his frustration/pain at Excalibur's existence.
 * Black*Star failing to sneak up on anyone because of his Voice.
 * Death The Kid whenever he encounter something unsymmetrical.
 * Bonus points when he does said unsymmetrical thing he gets on his slumps on his knees and starts pounding the ground.

"Sanae: "So my bread is... my bread is... !" *runs down the street in tears*
 * In many a romantic-comedy anime such as Love Hina, where a Tsundere female protagonist's daily beating the crap out of the male protagonist is used as a primary source of laughs, expect her assaults become increasingly more violent to keep the joke going, despite the fact that their growing relationship should cause it to be the exact opposite.
 * In Moon Phase, pans, metal objects, and such, will fall on characters' (who take no notice) heads with a loud CLANG! many times per episode, happening more and more frequently over the course of the series. Whether the scene is comedic or dramatic, with no bias.
 * In S-Cry-ed, Kimishima's' ride would constantly get smashed (or destroyed in some odd way), causing to cry out (or a variant of), "NOT THE CAR!"
 * The Sound Stages and Comics of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has a few, such as Shamal's cooking skills ("Shamal is not a bad cook!"). In the series proper, we have Vita's inability to remember Nanoha's name, which subverts the three times rule by getting it right by then.
 * In Keroro Gunsou if something lands at the Hinata household, you can be sure it will land on Giroro's tent. Bonus points if he's inside it when it happens.
 * Mahou Sensei Negima has Nodoka using her artifact to read her own mind. She finds out more about herself than she wanted to know.
 * The Mahorafest Arc had Takane D. Goodman, who ended up getting stripped naked every time she showed up. Using magically summoned clothes is bad idea when 1) they disappear when you faint, and 2) the lead heroine uses Anti-Magic. Even the other characters start calling her a stripper, despite the fact that in the Negiverse Clothing Damage is a regular occurrence.
 * Negi sneezing off Asuna's clothes.
 * Clothing Damage in general has gotten to this point. Asuna actually asks Negi if he's capable of getting anything done without blasting people's clothes off.
 * There's also the gag where Koyomi attempts to use her artifact repeatedly, but is always foiled by Jack Rakan flipping her skirt up after stealing her panties. It's happened on at least three separate occasions.
 * Kind of a background Running Gag, but pay close attention whenever the girls are betting on something. Sakurako always wins.
 * Clannad: Akio Furukawa talking about his wife Sanae's bread when he doesn't notice she's in the same room as he is. That is all.

Akio: *stuffs her bread in his mouth* "I love your bread!" *chases after her*"

"Tomoya: This is getting really old."
 * Also, hurting Sunohara. There's actually a running tally of how many times he gets kicked.
 * Kotomi, when asked by Tomoya to introduce herself, ends up saying numerous times, "Hello, Tomoya-kun." Tomoya even lampshades the gag.

"(everyone nearby collapses in pain)
 * Kotomi's violin playing, and her non-awareness of its "quality."

Kotomi: So pretty..."

"Shino: We must avoid drawing attention to ourselves.
 * When Fuuko starts an imagine spot, Tomoya plays weird tricks on her due to her refusal to accept she's doing any such thing.
 * Rena, from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's obsession with cute things.
 * Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei: "I'M IN DESPAIR! THE LACK OF RECOGNITION FOR MY CONSTANT OVERUSE OF THIS CATCHPHRASE WHICH ALSO SERVES AS A RUNNING GAG HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR!"
 * The series of visual running gags included in each episode after their debut, consisting of: The dog with a stick up its ass, the stork, Kaere's random panty shots.
 * Chobi chewing on Ai's hair in Final Fantasy Unlimited.
 * Shoulder a Coffin Kuro: "Just so you know, I'm a girl."
 * Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: Miu always throws anyone who comes up behind her.
 * There's also Apachai constantly answering the phone with some variant of "Hello. We have your child."
 * Sakaki acting like he doesn't care about Kenichi when he worries about the kid more than any other master. And getting called on it. It's gotten so bad that SHIGURE has started making fun of him for this.
 * Fushigi Yuugi's list of running gags consists of the following:
 * Miaka's appetite.
 * Tamahome's Money Fetish, even after it's revealed that.
 * Hotohori praising himself and his total gorgeousness, as well as his getting mistaken for a girl.
 * Nuriko's sexual orientation getting mocked or questioned, as well as causing destruction with the tiniest gestures.
 * Chichiri's frequent appearance in Super-Deformed form counts as well, as he does it in extremely inappropriate situations and it is lampshaded by Tasuki later on.
 * Tasuki burning Tamahome with the tessen and claiming each time that it's an accident, as well as getting clobbered by either Tamahome or Nuriko.
 * Tama-neko's charades and being mistaken for Chichiri.
 * Taiitsukun. Just... Taiitsukun.
 * The Nyan-Nyan getting punched/kicked into the stratosphere for not keeping their mouths shut.
 * The most notorious in Fairy Tail: Gray's striping down to boxers without noticing, or simply forgetting to put more than that on before going out.
 * Also, in the first arc she was in, Erza would frequently hug people as a sort of congrats only to have them hurt by her thick armor. She would also explain something before turning to a bystander and giving them orders as if they were expected to have also been paying attention to her.
 * And the ridiculous amount of luggage Erza would take with her, and any rumor about an accomplishment of a Fairy Tail member somehow ends up being about Lucy.
 * Lucy failing to seduce anyone with her looks.
 * Every time Natsu gets on a vehicle.
 * And every time Lucy goes home someone from her team is usually there.
 * Lucy getting clothing damage on nearly every mission.
 * And the defining one of the series: Property Damage
 * Elfman thinks that running gags is JUST WHAT A REAL MAN WOULD DO. *cue muscle flexing*
 * Lucy walks along the edge of the walkway, and someone in a boat tells her "Hey, that's dangerous kid!"
 * Takeda Shingen from Sengoku Basara punching his subordinate Yukimura into a wall about once an episode, while they shout each other's names at the top of their voices.
 * Death Note has L's increasingly over-the-top sweet snacks, including a stack of sugar cubes drizzled with sauce and a cup of tea that's mostly sugar cubes.
 * Ryuk and his love for apples, and his apple-withdrawal.
 * For that matter, Mello and his chocolate. Or Near and his toys.
 * Hayate the Combat Butler has Isumi who gets lost at every opportunity.
 * Axis Powers Hetalia has the classic 'vital regions' gag.
 * Subverted: The times it's actually used in-stry can be counted with the fingers of your hands. Fanon greatly exaggerates how common is it.
 * People forgetting who Canada is.
 * Italy's first instinct in battle -- making a white flag and instantly surrendering.
 * Every single character seems to have one, to some extent: America and his hero complex, Belarus's 'married married married', Prussia and his 'awesomeness', England's cooking and his fairies, Russia and his Slasher Smile (and the pipe! The pipe!) and so on and so forth?
 * Whenever Himaruya draws a character that no one recognizes, it's pretty certain that someone will comment with, "It's Mexi-/shot"
 * The announcer-lady in the American dubbed has a habit of insulting its viewers, well, more so American-anime viewers at any rate.
 * Chrono Crusade: Rosette violently responding to something Chrono said, normally meant to be a barb by him, but not always. The manga also has Satella flirting with Chrono because she "likes younger boys" and Joshua hating carrots.
 * In Episode 11 of Princess Tutu, Ahiru forgets that she's naked when she transforms from her duck form to her girl form and transforms in front of Fakir, who responds by blushing and holding out her clothing, then throwing them at her when she forgets she's naked again. By the time the second season rolled around, there was a running gag of her transforming around Fakir (often with Uzura's help) and him reacting in increasingly over-the-top ways. There's also Uzura's obsession with people's tails and "lovey-dovey", Professor Cat threatening Ahiru with marriage and Autor yelling at people to be quiet in the library. Fandom has also decided that Mytho not liking to wear pants is a running gag, although it's hard to tell if this was meant to be a gag or not.
 * Cromartie High School: Nobody except the main characters realizing that Mechazawa is a robot (including Mechazawa himself), Hokudo's Lackey being interrupted before he can tell someone his real name.
 * At least in the anime, 2 out of 3 field trips are cancelled or go completely wrong. The one that goes 'well' (i.e., where the class actually arrives at its intended destination) has Takanouchi pass out. So in essence, Takanouchi missing out on all the field trips is the real Running Gag.
 * Gintama: Alright, stay calm. We just need to find a time machine...
 * SOAP OPERA RERUNS!
 * Yamazaki's badminton.
 * "It's not [x], it's Katsura."
 * Expect many characters voiced by Kikuko Inoue to declare that she's 17 years old, be they from anime or video game. Because she did so in real life and formed a club about it!
 * Naruto: Guy fails to recognize Kisame every time they clash, which Kisame takes great umbrage in. In the latest encounter (ch. 505), Guy managed to mistake Kisame for his own dark side due to some bizarre timing, and laid him out before processing the warning others were shouting that Kisame wasn't. Every time they meet just gets funnier and funnier.
 * In a complete reversal of this gag, after Kisame Guy is so impressed that he vows to remember him forever.
 * There's also Shino taking issue with frequently being ignored or left out, culminating in this exchange:

Ino: You'll be fine, Shino."


 * Kakashi being purposely late for mostly everything.
 * Naruto has a habit of getting swallowed by giant snakes.
 * Naruto charging out enthusiatically and then stopping abruptly to ask, "Where is this place anyway?"
 * Sakura punching Naruto.
 * In Great Teacher Onizuka, Hiroshi Uchiyamada's Cresta constantly gets damaged badly due to accidents, much to Uchiyamada's dismay.
 * To Aru Majutsu no Index has plenty of these, usually involving Touma's immense misfortune. theres also Misaka's tendency to chase down and try to electrocute Touma in To Aru Kagaku no Railgun anytime she sees him (several times she chases him for a whole day and well into the night.
 * A frequent, rather hilarious visual joke in Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu involves an Art Shift, Yuuji placing his hand on Akihisa's shoulder, saying something in a sagacious manner, and Akihisa looking back in awe, often while saying "Yuuji...".
 * Trigun has the black cat Kuroneko-sama appearing in every episode without fail (even in the Flash Back episode; look in the statis capsules), and usually in some funny manner.