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{{trope}}{{Cleanup|Entirely too many examples on this page are simply "He's named Bob", with nothing else about the trope applying. These need to be removed. If there's no comedy -- contextual, inherent, or other -- in the example, it's not an example.}}
{{quote|"''You... are my number one... guy!''"|'''[[The Joker]]''' to, well, '''[[Captain Obvious|Bob]]''', ''[[Batman (Film)|Batman]]''}}▼
{{quote|"''You... are my number one... guy!''"
▲
Similar in nature to [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]], [[Everything's Better
▲[[File:Bobwastheretoo.png|link=Casey and Andy (Webcomic)|right|Bob was there, too.]]
Bob is evidently an [[Inherently Funny Words|automatically humorous name]]. This is at least partially because it's so ''aggressively'' mundane to Western ears that it's funny in any context that's the ''least'' bit out of the ordinary. The effect is only enhanced if he [[Bob From Accounting|works in accounting]], or if he happens to be your uncle. It also helps that it's very short (one recognized characteristic of [[Inherently Funny Words]]) and that when you [[Sdrawkcab Name|spell it backwards]] you still get "Bob."▼
Compare [[Alice and Bob]] ([[Aerith and Bob|or Aerith]]).▼
▲Similar in nature to [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]], Everything's Better With Bob is the way the name Bob seems to come up a lot in comedy, either as a punchline or as a common replacement name. Bonus points if someone happens to be named Billy Bob, in which case they are probably from the [[Deep South]].
[[I Thought It Meant|Not to be confused with]] [[Important Haircut|restyling one's hair into a bob cut]].
▲Bob is evidently an [[Inherently Funny Words|automatically humorous name]]. This is at least partially because it's so ''aggressively'' mundane to Western ears that it's funny in any context that's the ''least'' bit out of the ordinary. The effect is only enhanced if he [[Bob From Accounting|works in accounting]], or if he happens to be your uncle. It also helps that it's very short (one recognized characteristic of [[Inherently Funny Words]]) and that when you spell it backwards you still get "Bob."
▲Compare [[Alice and Bob]] ([[Aerith and Bob|or Aerith]]).
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* There was a series of [[Hilarious Outtakes|faux outtake-style]] commercials for the ''[[
* Little Bobdog, whose cartoony face adorns many a [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_scZ5gCDPOaY/Regi7wGkL9I/AAAAAAAAAEs/uH2rMWM9Iwc/s400/63157914_a806f7bc23.jpg box of candy], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120507143233/http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lxL-N46M3KdFzfas05IRwQ T-shirt] and [http://www.qianzhihe.com.cn/pic/0791012248.gif stationery set] across Asia.
* In Belgium and the Netherlands the designated driver is commonly called BOB.
* [[Bob From Accounting]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JVewMSPyWc vs. the Orgg.]
* Bob, or Smilin' Bob, is the guy in the [
* [[The Unseen|The never-heard]] Bob from Accountemps always makes everything better for Mr. Fernwell and Nurlman in a long-running series of [[Radio]] ads for the accountants' temp agency.
* Bob of Bob's Discount Furniture, a chain with showrooms across the United States, whose voice and stop-motion animated representation graces their every radio and TV commercial.
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Full Metal Panic
** It probably doesn't help that it sounded like "Bobo" in Japanese, either.
* In ''[[Pokémon:
== Comic Books ==
* Subverted in the [[Chick Tracts]] in that Bob is a preacher who "retells" the [[The Bible
* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] member [[Fun Personified|Bobby Drake]] aka Iceman.{{context|reason=How is this an example of the trope as written?}}
== Film ==
* Bob the Goon from ''[[Batman (
{{quote|
* [[The Silent Bob|Silent Bob]] from [[The View Askewniverse]].
* The [[Fun
* Planet Bob from ''[[Titan
{{quote|
'''Cale:''' So now you're the boss. You're the King of Bob.
'''Akima:''' Can't we just call it "Earth"?
'''Cale:''' No one said you have to live on Bob.
'''Akima:''' I'm never calling it that. }}
** Caption: '''EARTH 2.0''' (aka Planet Bob)
* In the beginning of ''[[The Mummy Trilogy]]'', "Abdul? Mohammed? ...[[Aerith and Bob|Bob?]]"
* ''[[Bob Roberts]]'' is a fictional politician depicted in the eponymous mockumentary by Tim Robbins.
* Algren dubs the silent samurai who is assigned to guard him "Bob" in ''[[The Last Samurai]]''.
* One half of [[Mission Control|the Twins]] from ''[[Men in Black (
* In ''[[Mirror Mask]]'', all the Monkeybirds [[Planet of Steves|are called Bob]]. Well, except one.
* In ''A Kid In Aladdin's Palace'' we have this exchange:
{{quote|
'''Calvin:''' Well, at least ''he's'' not named after food.
'''Ali Baba:''' Bob, short for Kabob. }}
* ''[[What About Bob?]]''
* In ''[[The Hole]]'' there's Frankie's clearly made up friend Bob (and his girlfriend Sally) who owns a ferrari and apparently one night heard about an escaped killer on the loose on the radio...
* Old BOB (BiO-sanitary Batallion) from ''[[The Black Hole]]''.
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== Literature ==
* In the "Prancing Pony Inn" sequence of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', there's a throwaway mention of a bumpkin stable boy named Bob, who was probably the most inconsequential and plainest-named character in the entire Tolkien mythos. How's that for [[There Is No Such Thing
** The fact that he directly aids and interacts with the pre-Fellowship makes him pretty damn notable in the grand scheme of things (in Middle Earth), though.
* In the [[
* The Lamuellans from ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to
* [[The Dresden Files
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Bob
* [[The Bob Newhart Show|"Hi, Bob!"]]<ref>[[Drinking Game|(drinks)]]</ref>
* [[SCTV|Bob and Doug McKenzie]]
* There were not one, but two characters named Bob in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Boy''': Kate
'''Blackadder''': Kate? That's an unusual name for a boy.
'''Boy''': Oh, it's short for...um.. Bob. }}
** One of the best examples in terms of Bob As [[Inherently Funny Words|Inherently Funny Word]], thanks to Rowan Atkinson's unique delivery.
*** This is actually an example of [[Throw It In]], as Rowan Atkinson has a stammer and that's just how he says "Bob".
* Bob, the dyslexic friend of the titular characters in ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]''.
* [[Twin Peaks|He is BOB!
* In ''[[
{{quote|
'''Dr. Bob:''' Nope! First name's Fred!
'''J.D.:''' ...''Fred Bob?'' }}
** There was also a deceased patient named Bob. Complete with Carla pantomiming the name by bobbing her head back and forth.
*** What's got two thumbs and doesn't give a crap? [[Magnificent Bastard|Bob Kelso.]]
* The [[Fan Nickname]] for Benton Fraser's father in ''[[Due South]]'' is dead!Bob.
* ''[[
{{quote|
'''Xander:''' Yeah, I think it's Bob. }}
** There's also Principal Flutie stating that he prefers it when students call him Bob, which Buffy does, and then he sees her previous school report and insists she call him Principal Flutie.
* Bob Bishop from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. He always introduced himself (or was introduced) as the head of the Company, followed by "I'm Bob."
* From ''[[
** Who later became Angel Bob.
* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', Sheppard dubs the toughest Wraith he had yet faced, "Bob".
* In ''[[Friends]]'' Phoebe decides to name the rat that keeps coming to her apartment Bob. When she finds out he's a girl, she says she likes Bob as a girl's name.
* [[Nick
== Music ==
* [[The Arrogant Worms]]: [http://www.lyricsdownload.com/arrogant-worms-bonus-dog-named-bob-lyrics.html
** Don't forget [[Jesus]]' Brother Bob:
{{quote|
''A nobody relative of the son of God''
''If only I'd been born just a little sooner''
''I'd be more than the brother of God Junior'' }}
* The [[
* [[
* Rapper/singer [[w:B.o.B|B.o.B]]
* A capella group [[The Bobs]].
== Newspaper Comics ==
* Used constantly in ''[[
** In commentary Stephen Pastis wrote, "Bob is a funny word. It has two b's (b is a funny-sounding letter), it's a palindrome, and it's a verb".
** Not to mention "Bob" is short and easily fits into the ever shrinking panels of Newspaper Comics.
* At one time, ''[[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]]'' befriended three mice who were squatting in his house. Two of them were named after their forebears, [[Odd Name Out|but the third]], Bob, was named for "the sound his head makes when he runs into the wall".
== Recorded and Stand Up Comedy ==▼
* [[Bob Newhart]] - The very
▲== Stand Up Comedy ==
* There's an old joke
▲* Bob Newhart - The very embodyment of the everyman trying to deal with all the non-Bobs out there in the world.
▲* There's an old joke- What do you call a guy with no arms or legs in the water? Bob. It's a bit tasteless but still a valid example.
* In a stand-up routine back in the 60's, [[Bill Cosby]] insisted that all gas station attendants have their name, "Bob", on their uniform name-tag.
* There's a clip from a [[Howie Mandel]] concert in which he's interacting with a man in the audience. Mandel asks the man his name and is told "Bob". Mandel replies, "Bob? But ''you'' spell it backwards!" He then queries Bob about his job and finds out he works for the Federal Aviation Administration; Mandel then asks if it's really safer to sit in the back of the plane. Bob replies clearly, "Yes, because the mountains are in front!" The audience roars, and Mandel, clearly delighted, says "You see, Bob? Everyone loves a good FAA joke!"
* In a game show parody on one of Cheech and Chong's albums, a guy named Bob has to guess his own name.▼
== Theater ==
* The Reduced Shakespeare Company's performance of ''The Complete Works of [[William Shakespeare]] (Abridged)'' involves one of the actors calling the lighting manager 'Bob' because '2/3rds of lighting managers are named Bob' and calling every one of the audience members called up to participate 'Bob'.
== Video Games ==
* [[Earthworm Jim (
* [[
* [[Animal Crossing
* [[Billy Bob The Cactus Blob]]
* [[Gentle Giant|Billy Bob]] of ''[[Space Colony]]''.
* The beggar Blind Bob in ''[[The Longest Journey|Dreamfall]]''.
* [[Ace Attorney
* The infamous [[Fun
* Inversion: A lot of ''[[
* ''B.O.B.'', a robot who crashes his dad's space-car en route to a date.
* The B.O.B. (Big-O-Blaster) in ''[[Banjo-Kazooie|Banjo-Tooie]]''.
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* [http://www.toysforbob.com/ Toys for Bob], notable for developing ''[[Star Control]] 1'' and ''2''. An Umgah captain in the second game is called Bob, too.
* [[bob's game|Um...HELLO?]]
* [[Super Mario Bros.|Bob-ombs]]
* Bob, the [[Stout Strength|fat]] fighter from ''[[Tekken]] 6''. Also BOB, the [[Fan Nickname]] for series mainstay Hwoarang.
* [[The Secret of Monkey Island
** But [[Do Not Call Me "Paul"|you can't call me Bob]], I'm ''[[Large Ham|Murray]]''!
** Also, in ''[[
{{quote|
* ''[[Suikoden II]]'' has Bob, a werewolf with dreadlocks.
* [[Bubble Bobble
* Uncle Bob, the jovial cop from the ''[[Pangya]]'' games.
* The briefing for the ''[[
* Bob Wilson from ''[[Fatal Fury]] 3''.
* Bob, one of the ''[[Sunset Riders]]''.
* Bob Newbie, from ''[[The Sims]]''.
* ''[[Punch
* In ''[[
* The voice of the announcer in ''[[
* [[Wandering Hamster|Bob the Hamster]]
* [[Maple Story|Bob the Killer Snail]]
* Bob the Temmie of ''[[Undertale]]'', the only Temmie with coherent speech.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Casey and Andy]]''
** In [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=584 strip #584], while discussing [[Rouge Angles of Satin|gnu control]], a map of Africa shows the continent is better with Bob.
** The very last panel of [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/index.php the very last strip]: "Bob was there, too."
* ''[[Bob the Angry Flower]]''.
* Bob from ''[[Fletcher Apts]]''
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* Bob from ''[[Emergency Exit]]''
* The late, lamented ''Waiting for Bob''.
* ''[[xkcd]]'': [http://xkcd.com/327/ Robert'); DROP TABLE Students; --], a.k.a. Little Bobby Tables.
* Pretty much every male character in ''[[Edible Dirt]]'' is named Bob, unless it's someone famous or someone whose name is important to the pun.
* Subverted in the bonus panel of [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/de-extinction this installment] of ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]''
== Web Original ==
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Bob the Builder]]''
* [[The Simpsons (
{{quote|'''Sideshow Bob''': ''Hello, Bart...''
* [[SpongeBob SquarePants (Animation)|SpongeBOB Squarepants]].▼
'''Bart''': Oh, it's you, Bob. How' ya doin'?
* Bob the Guardian in ''[[Re Boot]]''. So named apparently because the producers liked the way [[Black Adder]] said the name "Bob". Unless he's a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitter_object blitter object] - a type of Amiga hardware sprite most commonly called a 'Bob'.▼
'''Sideshow Bob''': No screams? ...Not even...an "eep"?
* ''[[God the Devil And Bob]]''▼
'''Bart''': Hey, I'm not afraid of you. Every time we tangle you wind up in jail!}}
* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'': in one ep, Timmy pretended to be 'Bob from the Nervous System' and there is a clown/businessman named Flappy Bob.▼
▲* Bob the Guardian in ''[[
▲* ''[[The Fairly
** That's the '''central''' nervous system!
** And Elmer's [[Tuckerization|boil, Bob]].
* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode ''Dear Ed'' was about Plank leaving Jonny after an argument, so the Eds make new friends for Jonny. One of them was a traffic cone named Bob. Things seemed to be going well until Jonny and Bob played ping-pong where Bob spiked the ball into Jonny's forehead, where it was lodged.
* [[Bumbling Dad|Bob]] [[The Oblongs
* Bobby Hill from ''[[King of the Hill]]'', who even once tried his hand at stand-up comedy.
* If Bobby is allowed... Bobby Generic, from ''[[
* And Bobby from the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (
* ''[[Histeria
* ''[[Veggie Tales
* One of the segments on ''[[
* [[Monsters vs. Aliens|B.O.B.]]
* [[The Incredibles|Bob Parr]]
* There is a minor Irken character on ''[[Invader Zim]]'' named Table-Headed Service Drone Bob---a case of [[Aerith and Bob]], given most Irken (and even human) names on the show.
* [[Titan
* [[Recess|King Bob]], who is even called "Your Bobness".
* Bob the piñata from ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]''.
* [[Daria|"No, that's B.O.B. It stands for "Boy On Bike"; I didn't catch his name!"]]
* Helga's dad, "Big Bob" Pataki (the Beeper King), of ''[[Hey Arnold
* ''[[The Mask (
* After much prodding from the Muses, the narrator from Disney's ''[[Hercules (
* One of the ''[[
* In ''[[As Told
* One of the [[Animaniacs
* The [[Informed Deformity|hideously deformed]] Ugly Bob, from ''[[
* [[Vocal Dissonance|Bob Babble]], the game commentator from ''[[Mutant League]]''.
* Bob, one of [[Multiple Head Case|the Snowrilla's heads]] on ''[[Jimmy Two
* Bob from ''[[Kaijudo (
== Other ==
* Microsoft Bob, the annoying house-themed alternate-user-interface program that became a byword for software flops. It prominently featured "agents," which were the predecessors of the Microsoft Office Assistants. In this case, everything would probably have been better ''without'' Bob.
** It had every assistant but Clippy. Apparently the others weren't annoying enough.
* J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, pipe smoking icon of the Church of the
* In Austria, you can even get internet and mobile phone from [http://www.bob.at Bob]. Who'd have expected that in Austria.
* If you fancy visiting the top of Mt. Jungfrau in Switzerland, you will need to use the trains of BOB - the Berner Oberland Bahn.
▲* In a game show parody on one of Cheech and Chong's albums, a guy named Bob has to guess his own name.
* The name Bob is also used in the Bob campaign in the Netherlands and Belgium, to raise awareness against drunk driving. (people there would thereafter often call the designated driver The Bob)
* Everything is not better with [
{{quote|
* When the eastern half of Canada's Northwest Territories was separated off into a new territory called Nunavut in 1999, there were some unofficial polls as to what to call the remainder. "Northwest Territories" was by far the favourite, but the runner-up was Bob.
* Another Canadian example: The Edmonton Transit Service runs a series of ads about proper behavior on the bus called "It's All About Bob."
* Inverted by [[Mitch Hedberg]], who argued that since [[Thirteen Is Unlucky]], so is the letter B, because it looks like a compressed number 13.
{{quote|
"Bob."
"Get the fuck away!" }}
* Deinterlacing videos can be a tricky process. There are several methods for performing it in software, one of the best being a combination of two methods called Bob and Weave [http://www.100fps.com/ according to this site.]
* [http://thebobclub.com/ The Bob Club]
* This very wiki's [[All The Tropes:Contact us|Moderation Team]], because a site this size needs more than two full-time mods.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
|