Butt Monkey/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

* Even though he took levels in Badass, Merlin I believe qualifies for this roll.

* Claudia Donovan spent most of her first episode of ''[[Warehouse 13]]'' pointing a gun at Artie's head, but later on became a tool for physical comic relief, usually through messing with an artifact, and was revealed to be socially inept. They toned that down in the next season, though, as she gained more skill at and respect for her job. She remains socially inept, but that's justified by her backstory.

*** "Blood sample, Chekov...Skin Sample Chekov...If this keeps up...I'm going to run out of samples!"

*** This was explained as a convenient way to show there was mortal peril. Apparently, Kirk, Spock and [[McCoy]] all being older, dignified men would have made it improper for them to scream, but Chekov is in his early twenties and still very boyish, so it's all right for him. Doesn't make it any easier on the poor guy, though.

** Rory Williams has a lot in common with Mickey in this sense, though he progresses to [[The Woobie]] level with surprising speed and doesn't so much take a level in badass as [[Determinator|bypass the concept of levels completely]] [[The Power of Love|and end up becoming a near legend in plastic, guarding an ancient box for two thousand freaking years]].

*** Yet a butt monkey in that he dies/is wiped from existence/turns into plastic...how many times?

*** And taken to its final logical conclusion in Chapter Five, where {{spoiler|Matt tries to imprison [[Big Bad]] Sylar's mind inside his own body... only to have Sylar prove to be better at using Matt's powers than Matt is, with Sylar proving capable of making Matt see things within one episode and taking total control of Matt's actions within two episodes.}}

** And then we have Sylar, whose ability to {{spoiler|literally NEED to know how everything works}} led to him turning from what might have been a brilliant genius into an {{spoiler|attempted suicide case}}, followed by a psychopath who just can't lead a normal life {{spoiler|even when he tries his damnedest.}}

* Leo Johnson on ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' was interesting because he was a terrifying and menacing figure all through the first season, but after {{spoiler|his injury}} in the finale, he became a butt-monkey for everyone from his wife and her boyfriend to {{spoiler|Windom Earle}} in the second season. It just never stopped! Certainly it was warranted, given his status as an abusive [[jerkass]] for the first bit of his existence, but after a while you couldn't help but notice it was getting silly.

** [[Clueless Deputy|Andy Brennan]] and [[Henpecked Husband|Pete Martell]] are more comical variations in the show.

** J.D. himself gets the Butt Monkey treatment often, usually in the form of the Janitor pulling some kind of prank on him.

** It is even law that every intern is a Butt Monkey.

** Also Major Charles Winchester after Frank's departure. He too often deserved it, [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|just not quite as often]].

*** Ironically, it was ''because'' of his Butt Monkey status that Frank Burns was written out: Larry Linville expressed his opinion that Frank Burns had been developed about as far as possible, and could never advance beyond the uptight, reactionary portrayal that had become so well-known.

{{quote|'''Michael:''' Toby is from corporate, so he's not really a part of our family... also he's divorced, so he's not really a part of ''his'' family.}}

** Even when he agrees with and/or helps Michael, he gets this.

{{quote|'''Michael:''' NO, GOD! NO GOD, PLEASE NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...}}

** To a lesser extent, Phyllis also fulfills this role, having Michael constantly belittle and humiliate her. And let us not forget the time she got flashed by a pervert in the office parking lot and when Dwight drove her to a bad side of town to only leave her there without a phone, forcing her to walk miles back to the office.

* Gareth in the original UK version of ''[[The Office]]'' is set up for pranks at his expense regularly by co-worker Tim, some of which can seem quite mean-spirited... However Tim often gets away with it because Gareth is depicted as being gormless and irritating, and often mean-spirited himself along with it, so you could say that Tim is simply giving him payback. Gareth still catches a break every now and then, though.

** Dawn is also portrayed as such, at least later in the series where David Brent is constantly leaving her to clean up after him. She is much more sympathetic than Gareth though.

* Howard Steel in ''[[The Worst Week of My Life]]''.

* Jerry the perpetual understudy from ''[[Slings and Arrows]]'', who averages a hilarious injury every three or four episodes and inevitably gets parts snatched away from him as soon as he starts enjoying them.

* E.B. Farnum from ''[[Deadwood]]'' is the camp's resident Butt Monkey, who constantly suffers physical and verbal abuse and degradation from just about everyone, even his hotel guests. At one point, one of the villains spits in his face twice and tells Farnum that he will ''kill him if he wipes it off'', so Farnum has to walk around with spit and mucus on his face for a while. After justifiably being frozen in terror for hours.

** Richardson is usually the victim of Farnum's impotent rage

** Isn't Grant usually the guinea pig?

*** True, but Tori's the guy who's always hurting himself or getting [[Groin Attack|hit in the nards]]. A male [[Dojikko]], if you will, with overtones of [[The Chew Toy]] because so many of the series' fans find the nutshots and other misfortune [[Viewers Are Jerks|hilarious]].

*** If we're going to count Vir, then don't forget Delenn's lackey who was in love with her... whatever his name was. Unrequited love is a bitch.

**** That would be Lennier. Also, I think Marcus Cole deserves an Honorable Mention, what with having to do incredible amounts of risky dirty work that he can't even talk about for most of Season 3, and (yet again) his unrequited love for Ivanova...

*** {{spoiler|Vir becomes Centauri Emperor as a result of his family exiling him. As is their custom with deceased Emperors, the Centauri will elevate him to ''godhood'' upon his death. He took several levels in badass during his [[Redemption Quest]].}}

* Joel, and later Mike, from ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' usually ended up being the butt of most of the jokes made by robots Crow and Tom Servo. This didn't only happen in the host segments, sometimes the robots manage to include mockery of Joel/Mike in their movie riffing.

** And that's just the first episode or two...

*** Also, Mason, who is ridiculed by his colleagues, shot at, run over and hurt in various other ways, and once had a stash of drugs dissolve in his anal tract. Oh, and he died drilling a hole in his head.

** Later, in ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'', [[Kamen Rider Kuuga|Yuusuke]] suffers from that in [[Kamen Rider Den-O|Den-O's world]].

*** Speaking of Den-O, the titular Rider puts the other two to shame as he is more of [[The Chew Toy]].

* Spencer Reid in ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' isn't abused by his friends (they do treat him like a younger brother, but he's not ''abused''), but he is abused by the writers, so much so that whenever another character is the victim, fans rate the trouble on how close this is to a "Reid Trauma". Reid's been kidnapped, beaten, drugged, held at gunpoint, forced to dig his own grave, and poisoned by anthrax, just to name a few.

** The one time that he was present at an issue but wasn't the one that got the trauma? He got to listen while one of his coworkers was dragged into a nearby room and beaten because she took the fall so that the cult they were being held hostage in wouldn't know he was with the FBI.

{{quote|'''Leslie''': So enjoy watching it. Assuming you still have electricity. And sorry about the weird blank gap in the middle. A man named Jerry Gergich screwed up the recording somehow. He had one job to do.}}

* ''[[Gossip Girl]]''s Chuck Bass. His father hated him, his BFF Nate is a hot candidate for Worst Friend Ever, his adoptive sister Serena verbally abuses and sabotages him except for when she needs his help, his uncle wants his company so bad that he didn't particularly mind when Chuck was wobbling on the edge of a building after his father's death, and now most recently {{spoiler|the not-so-dead-mommy storyline}}. The only two people who don't treat him like crap are Lily, who still tends to forget that he exists most of the time, and Blair.

** [[The Woobie|POOR VILA.]]

* Rodney Trotter on ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]''', since he's both teased and used by his big brother Del Boy in his long-running journey to become a millionaire.

{{quote|'''Josh''': "I never thought we had a problem, [[Shaun Micallef|Shaun]], but people keep telling me on Twitter that it's obvious you don't like me."}}

* Fez from ''[[That '70s Show]]'', ever the effeminate, unlucky-with-the-ladies guy. Kelso also fills this role to some extent out of sheer stupidity.

* Mel Cooley on ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]''.

* Chris from ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]''. The title should already give you a clue about how the show treats him.

* Theon Greyjoy of ''[[Game of Thrones]]''. Its not just that he's grown up as a hostage of the Stark family to keep his once-rebellious father in line. When he goes home at the behest of Robb Stark to secure an alliance between the Starks and Greyjoys, he gets scorned right off the docks when he first arrives. Instead of a royal welcome, the only two people who are there are an old man who is entirely unimpressed by Theon, and a flirty young woman who he manages to feel up and then discovers {{spoiler|was his sister}}. Things get progressively worse for Theon as he gets snubbed by his own father multiple times until he {{spoiler|accepts his place as a Greyjoy and works with his father to conquer the North, including the very Starks that raised him.}} He gets a single small ship and is ordered to harass small fishing villages, gets disrespected by his own crew, and when he {{spoiler|invades Winterfell, Bran Stark, a young crippled boy, drives Theon to total exasperation by refusing to yield.}} And he can't even {{spoiler|execute a man right, as it takes four swipes with his sword and a bunch of kicking to get Ser Rodrick's head severed}}, and this is before he {{spoiler|gets made a complete fool of by Osha who sleeps with him just so she can slip out of the castle with the Stark boys, Hodor, and the two direwolves.}} That's right: Theon managed to turn a flawless, audacious conquest into a ''massive'' [[Humiliation Conga]]... which continues over the next few episodes, beginning with his attempt to save face: {{spoiler|it results in him being manipulated by [[The Dragon|his right-hand man]] into killing two children and making it look as they were the Stark boys.}} Not only does it fail to get him any respect whatsoever, but it also gives his sister the opportunity to drop a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|barrage of insults in his lap]] and tell him that all of his successes are for nothing because he won't be able to maintain any of them for long- {{spoiler|especially since his father refused to send him any reinforcements.}} After being driven half-insane over the next few days by the horn-blowing of {{spoiler|the Stark bannermen marching on Winterfell}} he tries to rally his men to go down fighting, even delivering an impressive [[Rousing Speech]] to that end, and for a moment it looks as though he's finally earned their respect... {{spoiler|And then he gets knocked out by his own treacherous right-hand man and left to face to the approaching army while his own men retreat.}}