Comic Trio: Difference between revisions

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[[File:~~2315819_2158~~.jpg|link=Ed Edd and Eddy|frame|The leader, the complainer, and the idiot.<br />Try to guess which one's which.]]

[[File:2315819 2158.jpg|link=Ed Edd and Eddy|frame|The leader, the complainer, and the idiot.<br />Try to guess which one's which.]]

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Often the [[Only Sane Man]] resigns himself to his position of powerlessness, even [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] to comment on the hopeless situation. This kind of third man orten becomes a [[Deadpan Snarker]] to deal with their inevitable and repeated doom, and is the most likely to remain calm as the car plummets to its doom.

That's the [[Comic Trio]]. One character powers the plot with their bizarre obsessions, one keeps it going by blindly following orders, and a [[Straight Man]] ''fails'' to prevent the disaster.

That's the '''Comic Trio'''. One character powers the plot with their bizarre obsessions, one keeps it going by blindly following orders, and a [[Straight Man]] ''fails'' to prevent the disaster.

The most common set-up is for the navigator to be a [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] and incompetent [[Schemer]] whose schemes always backfire, but there are other ways to do it.

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== Trope Maker ==

* [[The Three Stooges]] may have been the original [[Comic Trio]] - certainly they're the guys we're most likely to think of. Moe comes up with dumb schemes, Curly carries them out (while making them even dumber), and Larry is just too spineless to avoid being dragged along. (Sometimes, but only sometimes, Larry's aware of the stupidity of a plan; he's got a less crippling case of [[Cloudcuckoolander]] than Curly does.)

* [[The Three Stooges]] may have been the original Comic Trio - certainly they're the guys we're most likely to think of. Moe comes up with dumb schemes, Curly carries them out (while making them even dumber), and Larry is just too spineless to avoid being dragged along. (Sometimes, but only sometimes, Larry's aware of the stupidity of a plan; he's got a less crippling case of [[Cloudcuckoolander]] than Curly does.)

* The [[Marx Brothers]] (Groucho, Chico and Harpo) became this as well a bit later in the 1930s when Zeppo left the group.

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== Comic Books ==

* Comic subversion: Jeff Smith's ''[[Bone]]''. While it may seem that the Bone cousins each fill the workings of the [[Comic Trio]] early on (Phoney is a schemer, Smiley is stupid, Fone is powerless), it becomes more obvious as the series progresses that this is not the case: Fone can exert some power and ''definitely'' has a backbone, Phoney might only be greedy because {{spoiler|all three of them were orphaned at an early age and, being the oldest of the three, he had the reponsibility of looking after the cousins himself.}} He also becomes slightly more sympathetic as the comic goes on. Smiley is more obvious, as he is ''not'' stupid, just very optimistic, and even later agrees with Fone that Phoney might not always be right.

* Comic subversion: Jeff Smith's ''[[Bone]]''. While it may seem that the Bone cousins each fill the workings of the Comic Trio early on (Phoney is a schemer, Smiley is stupid, Fone is powerless), it becomes more obvious as the series progresses that this is not the case: Fone can exert some power and ''definitely'' has a backbone, Phoney might only be greedy because {{spoiler|all three of them were orphaned at an early age and, being the oldest of the three, he had the reponsibility of looking after the cousins himself.}} He also becomes slightly more sympathetic as the comic goes on. Smiley is more obvious, as he is ''not'' stupid, just very optimistic, and even later agrees with Fone that Phoney might not always be right.

* Played with in [[Planetary]]: Elijah Snow is eager to discover the secret history of the world {{spoiler|and fight The Four.}}, Jakita Wagner generally follows him because it stops her from getting bored, and The Drummer usually recognizes that it's dangerous but he's too crazy to make his case clearly (and they wouldn't listen if he did).

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* Later seasons of ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'' have one in the form of Hawkeye (bizarre one), B.J. (the one who goes along), and Winchester (the smart one). Earlier seasons had the first two roles covered, but no one else at the 4077th was smart/sane enough to see what was coming (except for Radar on occasion).

* ''[[Top Gear]]'' has a lot of shuffling with this, although Jeremy's usually the schemer, with Richard and James trading off on the stupid/going along with it and the helpless.

* In a few episodes of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' such as "Tall Tales" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me," Sam, Dean, and Bobby transition from a [[Power Trio]] to a [[Comic Trio]]. Sam comes up with an idea, Dean helps him carry it out, and then Bobby shows up when it goes wrong and tells them that they're idiots.

* In a few episodes of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' such as "Tall Tales" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me," Sam, Dean, and Bobby transition from a [[Power Trio]] to a Comic Trio. Sam comes up with an idea, Dean helps him carry it out, and then Bobby shows up when it goes wrong and tells them that they're idiots.

* The guys and the girls of ''[[Coupling]]'' tend to split off into separate comic trios. Specifically, Susan and Steve tend to be the sensible ones, whilst Patrick and Sally are the ditzy navigators, and Jeff and Jane are basically nuts.

* The Tanner sisters from ''[[Full House]]''. Michelle is definitely the naïvely used one, but while DJ takes charge, she's pretty much the [[Only Sane Man]]. Stephanie is quite intelligent, but is more of a [[Ditzy Genius]] who makes things crazier by going along with DJ (often to her annoyance). In the end, both often share the blame for what happens. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] once where they were called "the Three Stooges in pantyhose".

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* ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]]'': Shane is the leader, Dustin is more laid back than dumb, and Tori is "the responsible one".

* In ''[[The Office]]'', Michael, Dwight and Jim often act as this with Michael being the leader, Dwight being the blindly obedient one and Jim being the only one with sense, particularly evident when they team up in the 'Branch Wars' episode. Ironically, in another episode of that season Dwight acts as the smart man while Michael blindly obeys (and misinterprets) the directions of his GPS, driving directly into a clearly visible lake.

** Also the trio who start the Michael Scott Paper Company in Season Five. Michael is once again the leader. Ryan is usually the guy who follows ~~him -- or~~ at least doesn't question him ~~much -- but~~ arguably in the episode "Broke" he is analogous to a navigator as he formulates their unworkable company strategy. Pam is the closest thing this company has to an [[Only Sane Man]] although she is [[Not So Above It All]] by virtue of having joined in the first place. She even compares the company to a crashed car.

** Also the trio who start the Michael Scott Paper Company in Season Five. Michael is once again the leader. Ryan is usually the guy who follows him—or at least doesn't question him much—but arguably in the episode "Broke" he is analogous to a navigator as he formulates their unworkable company strategy. Pam is the closest thing this company has to an [[Only Sane Man]] although she is [[Not So Above It All]] by virtue of having joined in the first place. She even compares the company to a crashed car.

* ''[[30 Rock]]'' loves this. See:

** The Tracy Jordan Entourage. Tracy is the unstable leader, [[Dot Com]] is the smart and powerless guy, Grizz is the enabler.

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** One could also make a case with Jack as the leader, Jonathan as the follower, and Liz as the smart one, but Jack also tends to be right.

* The Gang in ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' shuffle roles around many episodes, but Mac, Dennis and Charlie are the most common trio. Dee, Artemis and The Waitress are the [[Distaff Counterpart]].

* The [[Stella~~|Stellas~~]] fit this trope to a T. Michael Black is the leader, Michael Showalter the smart one, and poor [[Butt Monkey|David]] is the third guy.

* The [[Stella]]s fit this trope to a T. Michael Black is the leader, Michael Showalter the smart one, and poor [[Butt Monkey|David]] is the third guy.

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== Web Comics ==

* Subverted in ''[[Achewood]]'' with the three cats who started out as a real Comic Trio, but after some character development: Ray is the navigator (a subversion since his plans, no matter how insane, ALWAYS work out), Beef follows Ray's lead (he's a manic depressive with passivity to a ~~fault -- but~~ still the only person capable of talking Ray out of anything), and Pat is the "smart one" (but so "smart" that he's unbearably obnoxious, and so unwilling to listen to other points of view that he ends up making the wrong calls in the end).

* Subverted in ''[[Achewood]]'' with the three cats who started out as a real Comic Trio, but after some character development: Ray is the navigator (a subversion since his plans, no matter how insane, ALWAYS work out), Beef follows Ray's lead (he's a manic depressive with passivity to a fault—but still the only person capable of talking Ray out of anything), and Pat is the "smart one" (but so "smart" that he's unbearably obnoxious, and so unwilling to listen to other points of view that he ends up making the wrong calls in the end).

* ''[[Freefall]]'' plays Sam as the Schemer, Helix as the Follower, and Florence as the Sane (Wo)Man. Alternatively, Florence or Sawtooth play sane men to Qwerty and Dvorak.

* [[Two Guys and Guy]] typically has Guy as the leader/navigator, Frank the idiot/driver (though he enables the situation through his apathy rather than his ignorance), and Wayne the complainer/backseat, though the roles can shift depending on the joke.

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* ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'' is a strange example as Jimmy is the schemer, Sheen goes along but the role of the voice of reason depends on the episode. If it's just Carl with them, then he's the powerless sense of reason. If Cindy and Libby come along though then those two (especially Cindy) are the voice of reason while Carl becomes just another follower.

* ''[[Megas XLR]]'': Coop is the schemer. If he wants to do something, he will, and in his way. Jamie usually complies with a fist bump and horns of rocks. Kiva lets Coop know that what he's planning won't work, but to no avail.

* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'' is a good example. [[Enfante Terrible|Mandy ]]is a scheming evil genius, Billy is stupid [[The Ditz|(very stupid) ]], and Grim is the [[Only Sane Man]] who is powerless because [[It Makes Sense in Context|he lost a game¨of limbo.]]

* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'' is a good example. [[Enfante Terrible|Mandy]] is a scheming evil genius, Billy is stupid [[The Ditz|(very stupid)]], and Grim is the [[Only Sane Man]] who is powerless because [[It Makes Sense in Context|he lost a game¨of limbo.]]

* Gorillaz had this during the Plastic Beach/ Phase 3 story arc. [[Crazy Awesome|Murdoc]] is an amoral, insane mastermind, Cyborg Noodle follows (in all fairness she's a robot and most likely has no sense or what's right and wrong), and [[Extreme Doormat|2D]] -who's become surprisingly more intelligent since being kidnapped- constantly snarks at and criticizes Murdoc but can't really do anything without getting [[Curb Stomp Battle|the crap beaten out of him]]. The example at the top of the page is used almost exactly during the video for Stylo (only the leader is driving instead of the follower), in which Murdoc actually ''does'' drive like a madman whilst 2D slumps back in his seat, [[Face Palm|running his hands over his face]].