Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,189
edits
prefix>Import Bot (Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.CoveredInMud 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.CoveredInMud, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (standardized section heads, potholes, fix bogus redlink, spelling, copyedits) |
||
(12 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
Face it, we all take ''some'' stock in our appearance: at least, enough that we don't want to be all dirty, especially not in front of others. So what's a universal way for someone to be brought down a few notches? Well, by them being muddy, of course! Mud is a particularly dirty substance, hard to wash out.
Occasionally they'll be ''pushed'' into mud by someone, or simply fall on their own, which either way is an embarrassing experience. Bonus humiliation points if it's right in their face, or if they fall into a patch of mud that had pigs wallowing in it - this implies that the character is even more lowly than a pig, and, of course, there's a chance they're going to stink afterward. It may be part of a [[Humiliation Conga]].
It can also have practical purposes for [[A Handful for
Now, while getting muddy may ''not'' be the character's choice, there are times when they'll intentionally cover themselves in mud. It may have a practical purpose such as helping to camouflage them. Or, perhaps, they may be getting extremely dirty in order to help someone else out, in which case they're seen as being more humble and selfless because they put themselves in that position. Sometimes, if the mud is from a character that spends a lot of time outside, such as gardening, it can imply that they're more of a down-to-earth person who spends more time actually ''doing'' things than worrying about their appearance.
May be used as [[Body Paint]]. Sub-trope of [[Covered in Gunge]] - if it's anything other than mud, it goes there.
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', Tohru's uniform is dirty from the mudslide that fell on her tent. Once she gets cleaned up, one of Yuki's fanclub, jealous that Tohru arrived at school with Yuki, says "That mud looked so good on you".
* As a combination of [[Butt Monkey]] and [[Ms. Fanservice]], the title character in ''[[Maicchingu Machiko Sensei]]'' ends up covered in muck from time to time, usually while losing articles of clothing. This was averted in the episode in which she helps her students fight against bullies by knocking them in a big mud pit.
* Happens to Mei in ''[[Totoro]]''.
== [[Film]] ==▼
▲== Film ==
* A staple of many war films, particularly those depicting World War I. Used to show that a character has been in the trenches for a long time and been covered in grime from shelling.
* In the 1994 film version of ''[[The Little Rascals]]'', at the end, Alfalfa decides to fight back against the bullies, and sends one of them flying into a pig pen. He threatens to punch the other one as well, who decides he'd rather leap facefirst into the mud instead of getting punched! Both of them get completely ''covered'' in mud.
* In ''[[Dragonheart]]'', some of Kara's former neighbors throw mud and [[Produce Pelting|fruits/vegetables]] at her when she tries to convince them to rebel against the king. Bowen taunts her about the mud, and she responds by smearing a smashed watermelon in his face.
** In ''[[Dragonheart|Dragonheart: A New Beginning]]'', [[The Rival]] Roland trips and gets a face full of stable mud.
* In Disney's ''[[
* In ''[[Cruel Intentions|Cruel Intentions 2]]'', Sebastian pushes Kathryn in a pool of mud as a declaration of war.
* Getting covered in mud is the standard method of avoiding thermal detection in ''[[Predator]]'' and its sequels.
Line 30 ⟶ 29:
* ''[[Tom and Huck]]'': Tom (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Huck (Brad Renfro) get coated head-to-toe in brown mud to camouflage themselves in the woods.
* Late in the [[Made for TV Movie]] ''The Invisible Woman'' (nothing to do with the ''Fantastic Four'' character) the title character. played by Alexa Hamilton, gets doused with mud in a mud puddle, making her visible and [[Special Effects Failure|showing]] that she's not really an [[Invisible Streaker]].
* ''[[
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* Professor Sprout in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series is described as having lots of earth on her clothes and fingernails that would make prim and proper Aunt Petunia faint.
* In ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', Peeta uses a large amount of mud with plants on top to disguise himself as part of a riverbank when he is too injured to move.
* In the ''[[
* In one ''[[
* In ''The Curse of the Pharaohs'', the second [[Amelia Peabody]] novel, Amelia's son Ramses interrupts a tea party after having gone digging in the compost heap and getting covered in mud (among other things). Ramses is described as not so much leaving muddy footprints as having a stream of filth trailing behind him.
* In ''[[The Inheritance Cycle|Eldest]]'', Eragon has a seizure caused by a cursed injury to his back. He's feeling terrible already because of the seizure and because it was in front of his teacher, but then he becomes especially embarrassed when he realizes that rolling around on the ground caused him to get his clothes (which were new and a gift from the elves) covered in dirt/mud.
* [[Winnie the Pooh]] covers himself with mud to [[Paper
* In ''[[Wipeout 2008
▲== Live Action Television ==
▲* In ''[[Wipeout 2008 (TV)|Wipeout]]'', sometimes there'll be mud instead of water under the obstacles for the contestants to land in. So not only do they suffer an embarrassing fall, but they also have to be coated in mud.
** Iolaus is on the run from somebody and their mooks, so he hides himself by [[Wallpaper Camouflage|covering himself in mud and lying in a mud puddle]]. He stays covered in mud for a few scenes afterwards.
▲* ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (TV)|Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]''
** Iolaus (Michael Hurst) and Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) are handcuffed to each other and fight until they fall down a hill into a pool of wet mud. They spend the next few scenes completely covered in the mud.
▲** Iolaus is on the run from somebody and their mooks, so he hides himself by [[Wallpaper Camouflage|covering himself in mud and lying in a mud puddle]]. He stays covered in mud for a few scenes afterwards.
** In the episode "War Bride", Iolaus (Michael Hurst) and
* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'': in the [[Pilot Movie]], Lois and Jimmy are captured by [[Lex Luthor]]'s [[Dragon]]; Clark goes in to rescue her (as Clark, not as Superman). There's a bomb in the building and as it goes off Clark flies Lois
* In the ''[[
▲* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'': in the [[Pilot Movie]], Lois and Jimmy are captured by [[Lex Luthor]]'s [[Dragon]]; Clark goes in to rescue her (as Clark, not as Superman). There's a bomb in the building and as it goes off Clark flies Lois & Jimmy a little bit, as if they're being pushed by the blast and they land in a pile of mud just far enough away that they're all safe.
* ''[[Step
▲* In the ''[[Mash (TV)|Mash]]'' episode which introduces new doctor BJ Hunnicutt, before he even gets to the unit he, Hawkeye and Radar get caught in a bombing raid by the North Koreans along with some GIs. As he runs from one wounded soldier to another he slips and falls into some mud, ruining his dress uniform.
▲* ''[[Step By Step]]'': In the episode "The Wall", Frank (Patrick Duffy) goes to a beauty spa and sits in a bath tub. Suddenly slimy brown mud begins to fill the tub and Frank frantically tries to stop it but only gets coated entirely in the mud.
* ''Zoboomafoo'': In several episodes of this children's show, Martin and Chris Kratt swing on vines and fly face-first into the mud puddle at Animal Junction.
* ''[[Even Stevens]]'': In the episode "Boy on a Rock", Louis (
* ''[[Malcolm in
* In episode 3 of ''[[The Borgias]]'', assassin Michelotto goes to a sauna and has himself covered in mud as a disguise.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', rogues have the ability "blind" which pretty much consists of [[A Handful for
▲== Video Games ==
▲* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', rogues have the ability "blind" which pretty much consists of [[A Handful for An Eye|throwing dirt in one's face]] (previous versions had them carry special "blinding powder", which became [[Vendor Trash]] after the need for it was removed).
{{quote|
▲** [[Lampshade|Lampshaded]] in blinding powder's new item description:
▲{{quote| Once favored by rogues as a blinding agent, it was abandoned for more readily available resources... like dirt. }}
* ''[[Monster Hunter]] Tri'' introduces the Barroth, the love child of a [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]] and a Bulldozer that is often covered in mud. It has a habit of shaking said mud off, and any hunters unfortunate enough to get hit by the flying globs are covered in quickly-hardening mud that makes it impossible to attack (and open to getting plowed under by the Barroth!)
* A few ''[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In ''[[My Little Pony
** Played with in an early episode: Applejack can't understand why Rarity hates being muddy but enjoys [[Cucumber Facial
* ''[[
** Katara and Toph take full body mud baths in their spa day in "Tales of Ba Sing Se". Toph uses earthbending to traumatize the spa employee during her [[Cucumber Facial]].
** "The Runaway" Katara and Toph get into an argument that turns into something of a mudwrestling match because of their water and earthbending abilities respectively.
* ''[[Spider
* [[Phineas and Ferb]]:
** "That Sinking Feeling" Baljeet and the girl from his past, in a flashback, before she "turned into a ''girl''". They were playing and covering each other in mud.
** "Run Candace Run" has Candace and Jeremy both covered head to toe in mud after her borrowing the boys' speed shoes helps them win a wheelbarrow race.
* [[He
* ''[[The
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'', in a [[Treehouse of Horror]] episode parodying [[Orson Welles]]' ''[[War of the Worlds]]'' broadcast: Springfield is terrified of being invaded by Martians. Sideshow Mel tells everyone to take off their clothes and wallow in the mud. That way the Martians will leave them alone, not realizing that they're people.
** In an early episode where the family went camping, Homer and Bart get lost, Homer ends up covered in mud, unintelligible and raging from bee stings, and gets mistaken for Bigfoot.
* The ''[[What's New, Scooby
== [[Real Life]] ==
* As many parents of young children can testify, this happens quite often.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Disgust Tropes]]
[[Category:The Ground Beneath Our Feet]]
[[Category:
|