Ragin' Cajun



""Now, Amos Moses was a Cajun. He lived by hisself in the swamp. He hunted alligator for a livin; he just knocked 'em in the head with a stump!""

- Jerry Reed, "Amos Moses"

One of many ways to make a character more Badass: Make him from New Orleans. Maybe he honed his skills wrestling alligators in the bayou, maybe he has voodoo powers, but he's a native of The Big Easy and he's gonna let you know it.

This character is guaranteed gerr-on-teed to have a thick accent.

Note that Cajun does not mean from New Orleans. The Big Easy's specific ethnic group is known as Creole. The word itself is a corruption of "Acadian". It is a Southern U.S. culture with French roots, an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana (but many creators can't tell the difference). See The Other Wiki here.

Comic Books

 * Gambit of the X-Men is nothing more than a collection of various stereotypes about thieves and Cajuns all rolled into one that has only recently been given any major Character Development. He was raised by your run-of-the-mill Cajun thieves' guild after being kidnapped at birth, and their leader was advised by a black Catholic voodoo priestess type! He has a Cajun accent so hardcore that even the writers of the X-Men books can't help parodying it now and then! Every time Gambit has a few issues in New Orleans, he will have scenes in the swamps, the French Quarter or both, and some mention of gumbo or jambalaya will be made, I gerr-on-tee it.

Film

 * The movie Southern Comfort is about a bunch of Southern city boy National Guardsmen who make the mistake of stealing some boats from some swamp-dwelling Cajuns.
 * Many of the New Orleans natives in The Big Easy, particularly Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid).
 * The Not Even Bothering with the Accent page notes that Action Hero Jean Claude Van Damme has been given a Cajun background in several of his movies, such as Universal Soldier and Hard Target. Technically an example, even though it's just a Hand Wave for his Belgian accent?
 * Likely so, since if you've only heard a Cajun accent on movies and TV, you probably wouldn't know what a real one sounds like anyhow. Most writers certainly don't.
 * Ray the Cajun firefly in The Princess and the Frog is usually just a big goofball, but proves to be a Pint-Sized Powerhouse when fighting Dr. Facilier's Living Shadow minions.
 * Now, sure, Bobby Boucher from The Waterboy may be a soft spoken mama's boy - but let's just say that when he gets mad, it ain't pretty.

Literature

 * Edward S. Aarons' Assignment / Sam Durell series. Fictional CIA agent Sam Durell is the hero for all of the stories in this series. He has the nickname "The Cajun". He grew up in the swamps of Louisiana. Note that he was trained to have a "average" U.S. accent by the CIA, so he does not have the thick accent.

Live Action TV

 * on True Blood could count as an aversion, since he.
 * Gator hunter Troy Landry and his gang on Swamp People are this by default; hunting giant, carnivorous reptiles for a living will do that. They're also something of an annoyance to Louisianians who have a hard enough time convincing the rest of the country that the whole state population isn't like that.
 * Gator hunter Troy Landry and his gang on Swamp People are this by default; hunting giant, carnivorous reptiles for a living will do that. They're also something of an annoyance to Louisianians who have a hard enough time convincing the rest of the country that the whole state population isn't like that.

Video Games

 * Bayou Billy. A game this Nintendo Hard truly needs a Badass like Billy.
 * Crimson Skies has an entire gang from New Orleans, called the Ragin Cajuns.

Web Comics

 * The Savoy siblings from Lackadaisy, the Marigold's main thugs.

Western Animation

 * Gung Ho from G.I. Joe is probably the single most badass Joe of all. His real name's Etienne R. Lafitte and he loves him some gumbo.
 * Darkwing Duck villain Jambalaya Jake.

Tabletop RPG

 * Champions adventure C.L.O.W.N.: A New Orleans based superhero team called the Bayou Brigade fought with the eponymous villain group. One of its members, the Cajun Commando, "gay-ron-teed" to bring C.L.O.W.N. to justice.

Real Life

 * Possible Trope Namer is James Carville, a U.S. political pundit with an accent, temperament, and badass cueball to match the title.
 * He didn't invent the Sublime Rhyme, but he's the most prominent example of it.
 * This is then name of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette sports teams.