Compensating for Something: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Like building an [[Evil Tower of Ominousness]] or wielding a [[BFS]] or [[BFG]], there are just some things that have to make other characters wonder if a male character must be compensating for certain [[Freud Was Right|other inadequacies]].

See also [[Gun in My Pocket]].

 

 

{{examples}}

{{quote| '''Deadpool:''' Hey, y'know what money can buy? A solid gold gun. That shoots diamond bullets. I call it "The Compensator". Whatta ya think?}}

* Herr Starr from ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' develops an obsession for large handguns {{spoiler|after he gets his junk bitten off by a trained dog}}. He poses in front of the mirror holding one in front of his crotch and goes: Doom cock. DOOM COCK! DOOOOOOM COOOOOOCK!!!!!!!!!

 

 

== Films -- Animation ==

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* In ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'', this trope is invoked in reference to a double-necked guitar.

{{quote| "Say I'm a guy with a small weenie. I'm gonna take over this BIIIIIIIG country, or build this really TALLLLLL building, or write this really LOOOOOOOOONG book, so the other guys don't know, right? But the problem is, you're still wearing clothes, so you conquer the country or whatever, but you're still wearing clothes, so no one can prove who has the bigger weenie."}}

* Parodied / [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in ''[[I'm Gonna Git You Sucka]]'', when a [[Mook]] questions why the heroes have such bigger guns than they do; his compatriot replies, "It's a phallic thing, I dunno."

* Even mentioned in James Cameron's ''[[Titanic]]'', during a scene in which one of the boat's backers is bragging about the ship's capabilities, claims which our heroine Rose greets with some skepticism. "Do you know of Doctor Freud, Mr. Ismay? His ideas on the male preoccupation with size might be of some particular interest to you."

* In ''[[Undercover Brother]]'', after noticing the size of Undercover Brother's car, hair, and jewelry, Sista Girl believes that he is "overcompensating for something." And of course, there's the matter of his "big, black, fuzzy balls" hanging from his car's rear view mirror.

{{quote| '''Amar:''' ''(to a Hashansin warrior with a huge sword)'' You know what they say about men with big swords... ''(bends finger)''.}}

* Averted in the 1987 movie version of ''[[Dragnet]]'':

{{quote| '''Connie Swail:''' ''(who has just been rescued from becoming a virgin sacrifice)'' How come his is so much bigger than yours?<br />

'''Richard Hammond:''' Let's move on! }}

* One episode of ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'' has a hospital patient who has just had his genitals removed. The doctor, in order to help him cope, gives him a pet Doberman, a Jeep, a subscription to ''Guns and Ammo'', and a lot of camouflage clothing, telling him that it's standard policy. This joke doubles up when the patient complains about needing to urinate. The Doctor's response? If he drives around in that car, in those clothes, with that dog, people will be taking the piss out of him all the time.

{{quote| '''Dean:''' Of course, the most troubling question is, why do these people assume we're gay? <br />

'''Sam:''' Well you are kind of butch, they probably think you're overcompensating. }}

** On another occasion, Dean implies that Cas is doing this when Cas boasts to another character about how large his true form is.

* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Shortly after returning as a regular cast member, Vala makes an accusation of this {{spoiler|to the chairman of the appropriations committee}}. General Landry was not amused.

{{quote| '''Ross:''' How hot do I look in this? Huh?<br />

'''Chandler:''' Ross, a sports car? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just stuff a sock down there? }}

 

== Music ==

 

 

 

== Video Games ==

* The Brotherhood gang of ''[[Saints Row]] 2'', fans of excessive tattoos and big cars, use a giant truck called "The Compensator".

* "That is quite an impressive body you've built. But I believe only 30% of it is truly necessary. Are you perhaps, compensating?" -- [[Little Miss Badass|Rachel Alucard]] on defeating [[Hollywood Cyborg|Iron Tager]], ''[[Blaz Blue]]''.

* Orlok the Eternal from The Hierarchy in ''[[Universe At War]]'' will frequently decree "[[Suspiciously Specific Denial|I compensate for nothing.]]"

* One of the more expensive cars in ''[[The Sims 3]]'' is called the "VFN Kompensator".

{{quote| '''Anders:''' You've got a real chip on your shoulder, you know. <br />

'''Carver:''' I've got a [[BFS|big blade]] on my shoulder, magey.<br />

'''Anders:''' Right. Wonder what you're compensating for? }}

{{quote| '''Daniel:''' And what's with that ridiculous sword anyway? It's like a huge slab of iron!<br />

'''Sick:''' He's [[Compensating for Something|compensating]]. }}

* In a rare female example, one furry comic called ''Vitaboob'' has this as the punchline. The main, female fox girl in it (selling some kind of [[Breast Expansion|breast enhancement]] drug which she gleefully tells you she uses regularly) has '''ENORMOUS''', perfectly spherical breasts bigger than her head, a '''HUGE''' poofed out tail twice as long and big as her body, and '''MASSIVE''' feathered Farrah Faucett 80's hair, and you kind of wonder why she needed her breasts enlarged in the first place... except she's like a tiny, little, itty-bitty thing about 4'10" tall. See, she's really small, and [[Buxom Is Better|wants to make up for it by being as big as possible]]. What was that Rev. Lovejoy said? "To compensate for my own smallness"? Yeah, she's got you beat there Reverend.

* The comic ''Chaos Campus'' has a similar female example, in the character Jamie Schaffer, a goth poser who is unusually short and compensates by having massive, cartoonish, 72"-of-inadequacy breast implants.

{{quote| '''Eastwood:''' "[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2010-06-27/comic/voiding-your-warranty/firing-blanks-at-10000-rounds-per-minute/ What in the bloody fucking hell] is ''[[BFG|THAT]]'', and how small do your man parts need to be to justify using it?"}}

* Iceland in ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]'' has [http://satwcomic.com/the-collection disturbing ways] of [http://satwcomic.com/brand-new-equipment dealing with] a severe insecurity complex related to his small... population. His severed penis collection is based on a [[Real Life]] phallus museum in Iceland.

* [[Parodied Trope|Parodied]] and [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]], then [[Trope|played straight]] in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1918 this] ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' strip.

* One of the villains in a recent arc of ''[[Fans]]'' was a Middle-Eastern property developer who had a tendency to build extremely tall structures emblazoned with his initials on them. When time comes to battle him in the climax, the heroes have difficulty until they hit upon the idea of taunting him for his obvious efforts at compensation. [[Villainous Breakdown|He doesn't take this so well.]]

 

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In Xanauzumaki's [[Ocarina of Time]]: [[Abridged Series|the Abridged Series]], Ganondorf wishes to take over the kingdom {{spoiler|to compensate for his [[Teeny Weenie|unbelievably small penis]]. His logic behind this is that if he can't have a big dick, then he shall '''BECOME''' one! To quote the Great Deku Tree, "You see, Ganondorf's penis is so small that the only way to [[Compensating for Something|compensate]] for it would be to obtain the powers of a god and [[World Domination|conquer the entire kingdom of Hyrule".]]}}

* ''[http://tantagreen.deviantart.com/art/Compensation-156790992 Compensation]'' by TantaGreen on [[Deviant ART]], about them ''[[Transformers]]''. Because, what if [[Humongous Mecha|Mecha]] isn't [[Humongous Mecha|Humongous]] enough?

 

== Western Animation ==

** When Peter discovers that Chris has a bigger penis than him, he buys a very long [[Midlife Crisis Car]], and says to a driver of a normal car: "When you pull that thing into your garage, does the garage say "Is it in yet?" He gets his own car crushed a minute or so later. The episode also implies that this is the case for every man in the NRA.

** Also in the episode "Peter's Progress", Stewie (who is a baby) is King Stewart of England. When someone asks Brian why the King is so nasty (which is normal for Stewie), Brian replies it is due to Stewart having an extremely small penis. He describes it as "that one grape in a group of grapes that never really became a grape."

{{quote| '''Marge:''' Why do we need a church steeple that big?<br />

'''Rev. Lovejoy:''' To compensate for my own sense of smallness. }}