Dr. Jerk: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

His attitude is often explained by the notion that, in order to become such a good physician, he's had to make a habit of treating people as machines and "never letting his feelings get in the way". In his worldview, it would be unthinkable to cut another human being open and tinker with their insides, so he forces himself to view others as if they are ''not'' people. (Despite this he still admits [[It Never Gets Any Easier]]; he just suppresses it.) In many ways, he's often the ultimate [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]], since he often demonstrates that he really does care about people deep down by doing whatever it takes to save their lives.

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', Dr. Kureha, a [[Never Mess with Granny|tough, sarcastic old lady]], is the only doctor on a small island where the inhabitants all call her a witch for her strange, violent, and greedy behavior. She won't just ask for a set amount of bills, but 50% of your income for the month. If you tip her, she may lower it to 49%. She's also willing to ''injure'' patients who don't follow her orders.

** Dr. Hogback is a much better, being probably the best surgeon in the world and an actual villain. Even with the love of his life, he only cares about her body and thus patches her corpse up and lets her be revived with another person's soul.

* Dr. [[Black Jack]] is probably one of the first; generally more of the Dr. [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] variety.

* ''[[Bleach]]'' has an interesting variety of medical personnel characters, but Ishida Ryuuken hits both the [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] and [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] sides of this trope. An early scene in the manga suggests he does the right thing for his patients, but when it comes to the afterlife, he won't lift a finger without a damn good reason and proper compensation. Confirmed later in the series when his son ends up in hospital. His Jerkass nature seems reserved for his son and (to a lesser extent) Isshin. To other people, he's actually gentler. He even treats Ichigo and Orihime kindly, including offering to give Orihime a lift home because he knows her life is in danger.

* Dr. Knox from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. He's quite a good man, though a bit grumpy.

* Caren Ortensia from ''[[Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya|Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya]]'', an elementary school nurse who has the tendency to consider patient's injuries 'boring' and ask they get hurt much more badly next time they come to see her. To add insult to non-injury, the often tells visitors to get lost because "healthy people make her sick."

 

* [[Doctor Strange|Dr. Stephen Strange]] was one before the car accident that crippled his hands. He was so hated that the only jobs he was offered were of the [[Kicked Upstairs]] variety, which he had too much pride to take. After becoming Master of the Mystic Arts, he mellowed out and lost most of his [[Jerkass]] qualities.

 

 

* Dr. Lazarus in ''[[Outland (film)|Outland]]'' (1981) is a rare female example.

 

** Especially in The Reveal of his tragic past. {{spoiler|And his subsequent death, which includes pushing Face off Phanan's path.}}

** According to Lawn, the Discworld version of Hippocrates is most famous for the quote "Am I going to get paid for this?"

* [[Smug Snake|Professor Nemur]] from ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]''.

* Jayfeather, a ThunderClan medicine cat from ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', who even at one point proclaims, "I'm a medicine cat. If you want sympathy, go to the nursery."

 

* Dr. Gregory [[House (TV series)|House]] is the poster boy for this trope. Or maybe even the [[Exaggerated Trope|exaggerated version]].

*** And now he's got [[Body of Proof|another female version in the form of Dr. Megan Hunt]].

* Dr. Romano in ''[[ER]]''. {{spoiler|Even though he died after [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|a chopper crashed against him]], nobody even seemed to notice his absence until they were told so by the authorities.}} Dr. Corday was the only person who seemed to get along with him, and she was the only one who {{spoiler|[[Lonely Funeral|attended his memorial service]].}}

** It's almost as though they wanted him to become [[The Woobie]] though. The poor man {{spoiler|had his arm cut off by a helicopter in an earlier episode, spent some time trying to rehabilitate said arm, only to seriously burn it and need to have it properly amputated. And then the bloody chopper killed him. Probably the same helicopter, too. And they spent a long time showing him being afraid of it and putting him in a safer position out of fear. Where it managed to Crash. Then, when he gave all of his wealth to the Hospital in his will, they used it to fund the one thing he would not have wanted it spent on.}}

* Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in ''[[Chicago Hope]]''.

** Also Dr. Victor Ehrlich, at least in the early seasons of the show, which makes sense as he's Craig's protege. Both characters softened somewhat as the series went on.

* ''[[Scrubs]]'' interestingly has both kinds: Dr. Cox is the un-sociable [[Deadpan Snarker|sarcastic]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] who really does care about his patients, whereas Dr. Kelso is the [[Bad Boss|sadistic asshole administrator]]. The show extracts a great deal of humor and drama from playing the two off each other.

'''Dr. Turk:''' That's nothing, you should hear their nickname for Dr. Mickhead.

'''J.D.:''' ...What? }}

*** Dr. Maddox on the other hand? A little bit more of type 2 than Kelso.

** The pediatrician Dr. Norris in one episode managed to out-jerk ''Cox'', although Cox gets him back. And he's played by [[Christopher Meloni]].

* Dr. Harris in ''Mercy''.

*** He was worse in the original book. Burns was at the last era in history where a practicing physician could get a license ''without going to medical school''. In Frank's case, he served an apprenticeship under his father.

*** In the TV series, he once stated that he flunked out of two medical schools and took twice the normal time to become a doctor. He was also tricked into admitting that he paid $400 dollars (a large sum at the time) for the answers for a critical exam.

* This trope is a daytime soap staple: David Hayward on ''[[All My Children]]'', Chris Ramsey on ''[[Port Charles]]'', probably lots of them on ''[[General Hospital]]''.

** Dr. Patrick Drake, son of Rick Springfield's character is the current one on GH.

** Not helped by his social skills being [[The Blind Leading the Blind|programmed by]] [[Socially Awkward Hero|Reginald]] [[Ambiguous Disorder|Barclay]].

** His total lack of bedside manner may well have been justified - in the circumstances an EMH is usually required, the patients have bigger things to worry about than a bit of brusqueness, such as keeping at least one of their lungs.

** It's worst with Data. Spock could ''strike back'' at McCoy via his [[Deadpan Snarker]] expertise. Data, with all that knowledge but little understanding of emotion, really couldn't understand why (or sometimes even ''understand that'') he was being picked on, so Pulaski came off as an adult picking on a child who couldn't fight back (''in addition'' to being abrasive, arguing with everyone including Picard, and being about as fun as heart surgery.) As for the "[[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|heart of gold]]" half of the equation, that was [[Informed Ability|something we were told of but never, ever saw]].

** He certainly qualifies in "Friday's Child," where he persuades an obstinate, haughty patient to let him ease her pain... by slapping her in the face.

{{quote|'''Kirk:''' Never seen that in a medical book.

{{quote|'''Sandoval:''' We don't need you, not as a doctor.

'''Bones:''' Oh no? [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Would you like to see just how fast I can put you in a hospital?]] }}

* Even [[Deep Space Nine]] had the early Julian Bashir, though he was less mean and more completely tactless, calling Bajor 'the frontier' and 'wilderness' right to the face of the Bajoran who would be second in command of the station and didn't like the Federation being there. This was the first time they met. He gets better though.

* [[Enterprise]]'s Phlox is almost an aversion to this, being warm and friendly, and generally pleasant. The almost is to make room for the time he sorta committed genocide.

** Technically, [[The Captain|Archer]] made the final decision. Phlox had the option of not telling him, but that would go against his duty.

** A good example of how pleasant and friendly Phlox was? When one of his wives came aboard the ''Enterprise'', she immediately started hitting on Trip. Being a [[Southern Gentleman]], he went to Phlox to tell him the truth. Phlox immediately encouraged Trip to go for a roll in the hay with ''his own wife''. Of course, all Denobulans are polygamous, so it's natural for him. Trip is raised differently, though (so much for embracing alien cultures).

** Gaius Baltar could also count as this, the best example being his blunt attitude towards Sharon Valerii while testing to see if she's a Cylon sleeper agent. "So now we'll find out whether you're a human or [[Tomato in the Mirror|an evil Cylon]]." He's also an egomaniacal jerk with the poetic sarcasm of Gregory House.

{{quote|'''Cottle''': I don't like what you're doing. It's unnatural and damned dangerous.

* Heston Carter in ''[[Doctors]]'' is of the pompous and arrogant variety, though [[Character Development|he got better]].

* ''Grey's Anatomy'': Hahn, Yang, Karev, Stark...

** Simon himself starts out like this before he trusts Reynolds.

** The doctor in question was played by the same actor who played [[Cheers|Sumner Sloane]]. It's [[Typecasting|not the least bit surprising]] that he's so unsympathetic.

* Dr. Harry Harper of ''[[Casualty]]''.

** Personality-wise, Becker pretty much ''is'' House in a sitcom.

* In the [[And Now for Something Completely Different]] ''[[JAG]]'' episode "Each of Us Angels", the Actor that normally plays Bud plays as this.

** Same with Dr. McKay from ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', albeit McKay is more incredibly arrogant and bad with people than a deliberate jerk. And again, not a medical doctor.

* The [[The Nth Doctor|first and sixth incarnations]] of the Doctor in ''[[Doctor Who]]''.

* Doc Cochran in ''[[Deadwood]]'' is an alcoholic, partially shell-shocked [[Frontier Doctor]] who is as abrasive as he is intelligent. His conduct so alienates Alma Garret that he must beg her to accept his help in spite of his "defects of character" when her life is at risk.

* [[Insistent Terminology|Professor]] Richard Craig of ''[[All Saints]]''. Thanks to his world-class surgical skills, he is able to get away with habitually disregarding the opinions of the nurses in spite of their proven diagnostic abilities, criticising his protege Luke for being willing to listen to them, regularly antagonising patients when they decide against his (usually experimental) treatment suggestions, and in one case lying to a patient about his wife surviving their car accident. It's hardly surprising that Bron conceals the fact that he's her father, especially after he blackmails her into leaving the hospital in exchange for him saving the life of a friend. (To his credit, it's actually Bron that holds herself to this agreement, even though Bob died in surgery and Craig left at the same time.)

* Dr. Wu from the first season of ''[[Glee]]'' comes off as a this, though it's probably because his patience with Terri and Kendra (who ''are'' batshit crazy) is wearing thin.

* Dr. Bykov in the Russian show ''Interny'' ("Interns") is an [[Expy]] of [[House (TV series)|House]] and [[Scrubs|Cox]]. He's a complete jerk to his patients and interns, as well as his boss and best friend. He often punishes the interns for slightest offences or even for no reason at all (this usually involves being given impromptu night shifts, especially if they have plans). Like House, he has a strenuous (sometimes romantic) relationship with his female boss, who only tolerates his antics because he does the job well. Also, for a bit of irony, Bykov is played by a priest, who took time off from the church to do the show.

 

* Victor Niguel, of the ''[[Trauma Center (series)|Trauma Center]]'' series. He's genuinely dedicated to his medical research (as his character description in the manual and his reactions during the Pempti operations show); but he also apparently hates everybody, and is the only one to curse in written or spoken dialogue. Consider his description of Paraskevi: ''"This one is fibrous... which basically means it's a pain in the ass"''. Conveniently, that's what the player [[Nintendo Hard|will be probably thinking in the following seconds]].

* Dr. Turner Grey from ''[[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All]]''. One of his nurses is accused of malpractice, and dies in an auto accident a few weeks later. Upset that business at his clinic is bad, he wants to commission a spirit medium to call her back from the dead, so she signs a note admitting the incident was her fault. Oddly, neither Phoenix nor anyone at the medium's village sees anything wrong with this.

* In ''[[Myst|Myst: The Book of Ti'ana]]'', Jarl of the Guild of Healers actually tells Ti'ana that it would be better for Gehn, who is only half Ronay, to die.

* Dr. Kaufmann in ''[[Silent Hill]]''.

*** The Dr. Kaufmann in "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" fits this trope much better. He's an abrasive, condescending, manipulative ''therapist'' who is nonetheless trying to help the patient.

* The possibly prejudiced Dr. Borville in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]''.

** He still doesn't really care about Ralis' condition. He also has a tendency to charge large sums for his services and was planning to sell an important statue he stole from Ilia, which was only so he could pay the huge bar tab that he hadn't bothered with until Telma started pressuring him.

*** He's the only doctor in town, so he seems to be getting away with bad bedside manner, unethical practices, and general quackery through supply-and-demand alone.

 

* ''[[Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name]]'' features Doc Worth, a chain-smoking med-school dropout who operates out of an alley and enjoys tormenting and shouting at anyone who makes him angry. However, he is solidly in the [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] category, since he seems pretty laid back when he's not screaming in Conrad's face, genuinely cares for Hanna, and doesn't appear to charge him for his frequent visits.

* Doctor Sun of ''[[Girl Genius]]'' is a [[Deadpan Snarker]] who is infamous for his "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110204 Sun-ny bedside manner]". He's also perfectly willing and able to ''beat his own patients unconscious'' if that is what it takes to get them some bedrest.

 

* A few doctors pop up in [[The Nostalgia Critic]]'s show to treat him when he's sick or wants to kill himself, but they always end up forcing him to keep going with the review.

* [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses]] doesn't like any doctors because he trusted "[[Meaningful Name|Dr. Love]]" and ended up being raped.

 

* Dr. Hofschneider in ''[[The Oblongs]]''.

* Ratchet, in almost every incarnation of the ''[[Transformers]]'' franchise.

** ''[[Transformers Prime|Prime]]'' Ratchet also has the old and crotchety thing going on ("My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!"), in addition to being a snarky scientist type who gets ''extremely'' annoyed whenever any of his equipment is damaged. Unfortunately for him, that tends to happen a lot. [[Defrosting Ice King|He starts to mellow out, but it's a slow process]].

* Dr. Ball on the second ''[[Star Wars]] [[Robot Chicken]]'' special.

 

* As ''[[Cracked.com]]'' explained in [http://www.cracked.com/article_18822_5-famous-scientists-dismissed-as-morons-in-their-time.html Famous Scientists Dismissed as Morons in Their Time] and [http://www.cracked.com/article_18501_7-incredible-scientific-innovations-held-back-by-petty-feuds.html Incredible Scientific Innovations Held Back by Petty Feuds], the prevalence of this trope in the 19th century was the reason why it took so long for hygienic practices to catch on in hospitals. As medicine was seen as a gentlemanly profession at the time, doctors in that era ridiculed and attacked scientists like Ignaz Semmelweis who merely suggested that they wash their hands after handling corpses in the morgue, as it seemed to imply that they were unclean enough to kill people just by touching them. Before Louis Pasteur's germ theory proved once and for all that such basic hygiene was the right course of action, it was more dangerous to give birth in a hospital than ''in the street'' due to how rampant disease was within hospitals.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Doctor Index]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:Medical Drama]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]