Sleepyhead

Nearly everyone has had an experience where they've dozed off, or almost dozed off, at an inopportune moment. However, a select few of us, both in real life and in fiction, raise this odd habit to an art form, becoming the official Sleepyhead of their social circle.

These characters have a habit of nodding off anywhere, at any time. They constantly end up at the last stop on the train/bus because they fell asleep on the journey, the teacher routinely throws things at them because their snoring is getting in the way of the lesson, and their friends spend half their lives prodding them awake...or at least hauling them into a vertical position so that no one notices that they're actually unconscious.

There are two main character types that are prone to having the sleepyhead trait. The first is the Cloudcuckoolander, and it's part of their social inappropriateness schtick. They couldn't care less if they get caught sleeping, and may complain about being disturbed. Other characters, however, often yell at them and tell them to be more responsible.

The other sleepyhead is the hardworking-but-kinda-dim character, and unlike their more eccentric cousins, this is a source of major embarrassment for them. They'll blush and stammer when woken up, but by contrast, other characters usually see it as an endearing trait. Unlike the Cloudcuckoolander, whose snoozle-fits reflect their dissatisfaction with/divorce from reality, the implication with an earnest character is that they put so much of themselves into everything they do that they wear themselves out.

Both types will have exaggerated reactions to the things that naturally cause sleepiness, like a full stomach or a warm day. In anime at least, this character tends to be female.

These characters actually seem to sleep pretty well at night. Characters who pull all-nighters and then go thwump at an inopportune time don't come under this trope — that's just exhaustion, while a sleepyhead will get a good eight hours and still doze off in Biology class. The sleepyhead really likes their bedtime, and under times of stress will usually be heard complaining that they're tired, or longing aloud for a pillow. Their bedroom is often filled with creature comforts, tons of stuffed toys, and the world's comfiest bed.

Occasionally they will actually have narcolepsy, or another real-life medical condition causing excessive daytime sleepiness. Usually not, though.

A Sleepyhead may or may not be a Heavy Sleeper. They're probably Not a Morning Person as well — the eccentric type will be grumpy, and the earnest type completely out of it when the alarm clock goes.

Anime
"Chiyo: Wow, she did fall asleep!"
 * Nemu in Haibane Renmei is the queen of this trope. Even in her character-defining "cocoon dream," she was snoozing. She's closer to the earnest version of the trope, though in actual fact she's more organised and reliable than other versions, on top of being a sleepyhead - other characters comment that her dependability is why no-one minds that she sleeps all the time.
 * Phonsekal Laure from Tower of God is an absolute master of grabbing sleep everywhere. He sleeps not only during lessons and non-combat tests, but also during deathmatches. He runs around with his pillow and Security Blanket and after minimum effort he drops to the ground and takes a nap. The only way he usually can be arsed to do something is by taking those two items away.
 * Yuno in Hidamari Sketch is the earnest variant of the trope. Her Genius Ditz neighbour Miyako is normally hyperactive, but she also dozes off frequently, especially in afternoon classes (post-lunch being tough on the Big Eater Miyako), making her the Cloudcuckoolander version.
 * GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class, also in a high school art setting, we have Kisaragi who, like Yuno, is an only-moderately-talented but hardworking sleepyhead.
 * Mihoshi in Tenchi Muyo! likes her naps.
 * Osaka in Azumanga Daioh is the definitive Cloudcuckoolander version, indulging in her bizarre dreams during class.
 * At one point, while under a kotatsu, she declared that it was so comfy she could fall asleep. Then she used Chiyo's large Chiyo-dad plushie for a pillow, laid back, and...


 * Keiichi, the cellist of La Corda D'Oro, seems to spend more time asleep than he does awake. He's a male Cloudcuckoolander (or, more accurately, Bunny Ears Lawyer) version.
 * Aoi Sakuraba from Ai Yori Aoshi does this right at the start of the series when she meets with Kaoru. They board a train and needed to get off at the next stop, but Aoi was so exhausted that she fell asleep on Kaoru's shoulder and they ended up circling around back to the stop they originally boarded on. Kaoru woke her up by the time their destination came by again.
 * Konata from Lucky Star sometimes falls asleep in class. When Miss Kuroi calls on her name and snaps her back awake, Konata instinctively tries to defend herself by saying she wasn't sleeping. If she had just kept her mouth shut, she would have been fine. However, since Konata's daytime drowsiness can partly be contributed to her staying up late playing games or watching anime, this is a partial aversion.
 * Tsukasa is a straight example for the earnest type, together with a cuddly bedroom and being a Heavy Sleeper.
 * Sloth from Fullmetal Alchemist tends to fall asleep even when people are threatening him.
 * Greece from Axis Powers Hetalia sleeps a lot and at random times, although he is more laidback than Cloudcuckoolander or embarrassed. He even falls asleep once in the middle of a conversation, and then looks bemused when he wakes up soon after.
 * Yoshimori from Kekkaishi. Justified in that he has to go to school, do chores at home, and fight Ayakashi every night.
 * Nayuki from Kanon, besides being a memetic Heavy Sleeper, is also this. Yuuichi regularly wakes her up at the end of class.
 * Saiga from Legal Drug spends most of his time sleeping at Kakei's store, even when he's supposed to be watching the till. There has been much speculation as to why.
 * Yakumo, from School Rumble. Random classmates are prone to staring at her whenever she falls asleep on the bench outside school.
 * Portgas D. Ace of One Piece has rather intense narcolepsy and tends to fall asleep in the middle of talking or eating, leading more than a few people to think he suddenly dropped dead.
 * The narcolepsy is evident in his family, as shown with main character Luffy and their grandfather Garp. All three of their cases really just crop up for Rule of Funny though.

Comic Books

 * In Marvel Adventures Avengers, Iron Man was once caught sleeping during a Captain America (comics) movie. He wasn't caught until the end because of his helmet. The only reason that anyone noticed was because of his snoring.

Film

 * Sleepy, in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, is an obvious example.
 * Steve-O from the Jackass and Wildboyz movies and TV show fits this as well. He was attacked by the "Black Mamba," hair trimmers, and thrown from a moving boat due to this.

Literature

 * The Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland, natch.
 * Clovis and his half-siblings in The Heroes of Olympus. Justified as they're children of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep.
 * Lieutenant Mercadet, from Fred Vargas's thriller novels, is hypersomniac and frequently sleeps at work ; at one point, he even put pillows on his desk to make his naps more comfortable, since he cannot stay awake more than six hours in a row. His hypersomnia is used as a plot point in L'Armée Furieuse,
 * Lazy from Someone Elses War is this trope Up to Eleven. It's implied that he does have narcolepsy, but that doesn't mean anyone takes him seriously.

Live Action TV

 * Patrick Jane from The Mentalist takes frequent naps, even while on duty. However, it's implied that these are practically the only times he sleeps.
 * Sgt. Rizzo from M*A*S*H was often observed under the carriage of a jeep; however, he was rarely working on them as using them as an excuse to get a secret nap in.
 * Noob has Ivy, who frequently falls asleep in front of her computer and always sounds tired when she's awake. A recent episode revealed that she acutally suffers from narcolepsy.

Newspaper Comics

 * Peppermint Patty is notorious for falling asleep in class. She actually goes to a narcolepsy clinic in one strip and dozes off at the reception desk. However, nothing comes of it.
 * Garfield has "nap attacks."

Video Games

 * Cammy Meele of the Ace Attorney: Investigations game, has the horse-like ability to sleep while standing up, and has to be constantly prodded into consciousness when you interview her. This is particularly annoying, even more so when . Yanni Yogi pulls this off as well.
 * The Main Character of Persona 3 has the option of dozing off during a good portion of his classes. Upsides include improving your condition and recovering from sickness faster. Downsides include the possibility of missing information that comes up during exams (and don't think you can use the Internet to get the exam answers: if you didn't hear it in the game, you don't get the option of answering it).
 * General Haar from Fire Emblem Tellius, and also Treck from Fire Emblem Elibe and Forde from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
 * Siegmeyer of Catarina from Dark Souls can be found asleep (while standing up, no less) in several improbable and dangerous places. Kingseeker Frampt also enjoys the occasional power nap, requiring you to hit him once to wake him up(but only once).
 * Skyward Sword's Link apparently always had to be woken up by Zelda, and his sleepiness is actually incorporated in gameplay, as he will start to nod off if you have him sit down for too long.

Web Comics

 * In Grey Is Black frequently calls White this. He sleeps in late(in comparison to Black) and is always ready to take a nap during the day if he can find the time.
 * Lillian Tallis of Go Get a Roomie. She is a recluse who love nothing more in the world than sleeping and dreaming. She is SUCH a sleepyhead, it's implied she forgets to eat because she's spending all of her time sleeping. Her brother calls her Lazy Tyke. A nickname Roomie took next to no time to adopt.

Western Animation

 * Snoozy on The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.
 * Bedtime Bear of the Care Bears.
 * Sleepy Bat on Birdz is somewhat of a type 1, except that he doesn't usually get called out for it.
 * Astra from Lite Sprites fits the Cloudcuckoolander type.