Dr. Jerk: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''Kerry:''' Did you even '''take''' the [[Actual Pacifist|Hippocratic Oath]]?

 

{{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.

* 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."

 

* Dr. Large McHuge from ''[[Empowered]]'', whom the title character describes as '"Dr. House the size of a house", has a total lack of bedside manners and is quite adamant that Emp gets her [[Badass Normal|normal]] friend out of the suprahuman-specific wing ASAP so he can deal with more important cases.

* [[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.

 

 

* In ''[[Doctor Strange]]: The Sorcerer Supreme'', Strange is very much this, albeit with a [[Dead Little Sister]] to make him slightly sympathetic.

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

* As is fitting for ''[[Lifetime Movie of the Week]]'', any [[The Unfair Sex|male]] doctor to ever walk in on-screen will go out of his way to be a jerk, especially when it isn't beneficial for anyone, not even himself.

* Ken Jeong's Doctor Kuni in ''[[Knocked Up]]'' is a bit of a jerk, and the couple doesn't like him, but ultimately he's all there is when the big moment comes.

 

* Ton Phanan of the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' is this, sort of, by the time we see him. He once wanted to do everything in his power as a doctor, but after an [[Emergency Transformation]] he found that his extensive [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|cybernetics ate his future]], so he dropped out of medicine and became a pilot hoping to get back at those who had hurt him. Assigned as squadron medic, he had no bedside manner and snarked a lot - once his commander told him to see himself after an injury, and Phanan said "Oh no, I'm far too lowly a person to see myself"—but he was a very sympathetic character, all told.

** 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]].

** ''House'' also has an excellent female version of this with "Cut Throat Bitch" Amber, who didn't make the final cut on House's team...but who was so memorable and delightful a character that when she returned as Wilson's girlfriend, and then cried when {{spoiler|she died}}, and then rejoiced again when she {{spoiler|returned as House's hallucination}}.

* Dr. Harris in ''Mercy''.

* Charles Emerson Winchester III in ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'' uses snobbery rather than snarkiness, but appropriate [[Pet the Dog]] moments show he is a good example of the first variety.

*** 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.

** In the spin-off ''[[AfterMASH]]'', the characters of Mike D'Angelo (season 1) and Wally Wainwright (season 2) were jerkass hospital administrators.

** On ''[[Trapper John, M.D.]]'', Dr. Stanley Riverside II fit the arrogant-but-dedicated mold.

** 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.

* 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.

** 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.

 

* ''[[Lucid TV]]'' is an entire series of this, played for laughs. [[Dead Baby Comedy|Very dark, very evil laughs]]. Think ''[[Scrubs]]'' [[X Meets Y|in the style of]] ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]''.

* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'': Dr. McNinja is normally a very good doctor, though he does occasionally punch out his patients. He has made fun of a diabetic, and on other occasions ignored his patients while possessed.

* ''[[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.

** The good Doc actually subverts this a bit, since [[Word of God|Tessa]] likes to point out that he is in fact ''not'' a skilled doctor - he's probably a mediocre one at best. Or he would be, if he had ever finished med school and actually become a doctor.

* 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.

* In ''Ragged Edges'' by Mr-Culexus, "despondent medic" Toomaga Colton from Armageddon Steel Legion. Behold the [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot]] when someone tries to compliment her: [https://mr-culexus.deviantart.com/art/It-merits-response-714345811 part 1], [https://mr-culexus.deviantart.com/art/Think-of-it-as-a-loooooong-term-preview-I-guess-715348574 part 2]. Also, [https://earltheartist.deviantart.com/art/Despondant-Medic-715389492 fanart].

 

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

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

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

* One episode in ''[[King of the Hill]]'' has Bill be diagnosed with diabetes by a very cruel and uncaring doctor. The doctor tells the nurse that he has a medical degree while she has a lesser degree, thus he is more intelligent and important than she is and the doctor just blatantly assumes that Bill, like many other patients before him, is someone that just doesn't listen to a doctor's orders and feels he is just wasting time treating Bill. To make Bill feel even worse, the doctor tells Bill that he will just lose his legs in a year so he may as well get a wheelchair while his health insurance is still good. Bill accepts this fate but after a few positive events, Bill not only cured himself of diabetes, [[Laser-Guided Karma|he also goes to confront the doctor that treated him like crap and kicks his ass.]]

 

* 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:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:The Jerk Index]]