Always Late
He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time.
—Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, chapter 4
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A character is never on time for anything.
In video games the player character can be treated as this to lampshade Take Your Time.
For younger characters, this can result in a chronic case of Late for School, but differs from that trope in that it is a stock scene, while this is a character trait.
Examples of Always Late include:
Anime and Manga
- Usagi Tsukino of Sailor Moon always seems to be running to get somewhere -- usually school -- on time, and often failing.
Comic Books
- Some writers have made this part of The Flash's cover for his Secret Identity.
Literature
- Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, who is the subject of the page quote. Unlike many (most?) examples of this trope, he is deliberately late to everything.
Live-Action Television
- The 2014 Flash TV series makes this a trait of Barry Allen before he becomes The Flash to add a bit of irony to him becoming "The Fastest Man Alive". It's never mentioned again after the first episode.
Video Games
- Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is an example of the player character treated as always being late.