Good Ol' Boy



That conservative, strong-willed guy from the Deep South or Sweet Home Alabama. Often in a position of authority or government, or sometimes a Corrupt Corporate Executive (Oil Tycoons in particular) or a Simple Country Lawyer, but in any case a Good Ol' Boy is staunchly Republican (or staunchly Democrat if set prior to 1964), pro-life (1970s and later), for the war in Iraq (or Vietnam, depending on the time period), and doesn't have much tolerance for anti-American behavior. He also knows what's best for his country, or at least he thinks he does, and doesn't need no nancy liberals with their bleeding hearts telling him what to do (though it should be noted that many of these guys were moderately liberal prior to the '60s, if only out of political expediency).

Can either be a very sympathetic or very unlikable character depending on the political persuasion of the writer. Portrayal can also differ widely from wise, uncompromising leader to lovable, simple buffoon to racist, homophobic, oil-loving bastard. Sympathetic characters may have a personal code of honor and invoke one or more positive Morality Tropes.

Also see Southern-Fried Private and Southern-Fried Genius.

Comic Books

 * Samuel Guthrie / Cannonball from X Men as well as his sister Paige Guthrie.
 * Many characters in Preacher (Comic Book) fall into this category but more often than not, it's a very dark twist on this trope.
 * Smitty, Wynonna's partner in Wynonna Earp.

Film

 * O Brother Where Art Thou uses this archetype for satire.
 * Most of the Baylor family from Elizabethtown.
 * Reverend Monroe from Cold Mountain.
 * Gene Hackman's character, Ohio Senator Keeley, from The Birdcage.
 * Most of the Southern officials in My Cousin Vinny. The civilians and the police are a bit dim and slow but otherwise are nice and quiet, while the prosecutor is just doing his job and drops the charges once evidence proving the innocence of the boys comes forth. The judge is a Jerkass, but only because he's suspicious of Vinny's credentials and dislikes his manner in the courtroom, and rightfully so on both counts.
 * Jack Wade from the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies.
 * Tommy Lee Jones' character in No Country for Old Men.
 * A good many of the cast in Midnight in The Garden of Good And Evil.
 * The Blues Brothers has an entire band of Good Ol' Boys.
 * The redneck team in the Camaro Z-28 in The Gumball Rally. Also the Arizona state trooper.

Literature

 * Forrest Gump
 * The cowboys from Hank the Cowdog, but especially Slim. Rip and Snort are described by Hank as "good 'ol boy coyotes" who love nothing more than fighting, eating, and singing (in that order).
 * In Anita Blake, narrator Anita refers to one of Edward's methods of disguising himself as his "good ol' boy" manner. He fits the trope to a tee...when he's playing the part, anyway. The man himself is Death to Anita's Boogeyman.

Live Action TV

 * District Attorney Arthur Branch from Law and Order and Law and Order Trial By Jury. (Actor Fred Dalton Thompson is a pretty good real life example of this as well.)
 * Numerous defense attorneys over the years as well.
 * The West Wing: Robert Ritchie
 * Ben Matlock from Matlock
 * Perry White in Lois and Clark
 * Boston Legal: Denny Crane
 * Dwight Hendricks from Memphis Beat (of the "Aw shucks, Ma'am" variety).
 * Just the good ol' boys, never meanin' no harm, beats all you've ever saw, been in trouble with the law since the day they was born.
 * Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock.

Radio

 * Bandleader Phil Harris in both The Jack Benny Program and The Phil Harris Alice Faye Show.

Real Life

 * It's not uncommon for American politicians in both political parties to present themselves as this trope to appeal to blue collar workers. Many times, they are not originally from the South, nor do they necessarily have any kind of blue collar background.
 * Lyndon Johnson, although a liberal, was about as close to this trope's ideal as a human being could possibly be. Texan, friendly, delightfully quirky...and also a bit of a sycophant.
 * The entire state of Texas is often portrayed as this trope writ large, among the men and (to a lesser extent) women alike. Southern gentility crossed with Western toughness and integrity.

Video Games

 * If you believe all the myriad Fan Fiction and Machinima movies, The Engineer from Team Fortress 2.
 * Heck, he's described as such on his trading card.
 * Cid from Final Fantasy X, who comes off as being some kind of Texan stereotype in a world based off of Okinawan culture. Particularly striking as everyone else from Bikanel Island doesn't display these kinds of personality traits. Cid Highwind of Final Fantasy VII also carries the stereotype, especially in Advent Children.
 * Cid was an Al Bhed, and he wasn't from Bikanel Island.

Western Animation

 * Hank Hill is a sympathetic version (see above picture).
 * Tom Anderson from Beavis and Butthead, on whom Hank Hill is based (and with whom he shares a voice).
 * Various locals in South Park, particularly Skeeter.
 * Harry Boyle from Wait Till Your Father Gets Home.
 * Though the show took place in California.
 * Applejack from My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, minus the political side. She's a mostly positive example, she might be conservative, somewhat intolerant of differences and not nearly as educated as the other characters, but she's also possessed of the most robust sense of honor and common sense of the cast.

Web Comics

 * Roscoe from A Game of Fools.