Lazy Bum: Difference between revisions

{{quote|<poem>'''Joe:''' I could do a lot of things if it was necessary. <br />

'''Queenie:''' Then why don't you?<br />

'''Joe:''' It ain't necessary.'' ''</poem>|''[[Showboat]]''Showboat (1936)'''}}

A [['''Lazy Bum]]''' is very rare. Just ask anybody if they're lazy. They may be [[Brilliant but Lazy]], or [[Book Dumb]], or shrewdly saving their energy, but they're not just plain lazy. They work hard, really, or at least they could if it was worth the effort to do it. But they're not lazy. The only people who think they aren't working are their fascist bosses. Got it? In fact, if you asked these hard-working people about their co-workers, you'd realize that [[Hypocritical Humor|they're the only ones who do any work around here]].

Of course, every now and then you get a [['''Lazy Bum]]''' who is more self-aware. These tend to be [[Smug Snake|Smug Snakes]]s who think it's hilarious that other people bother to do work instead of just leeching. Then there are the ones who are ''really'' self-aware, and almost [[Humphrey|philosophically devoted]] to being lazy. They [[DismotivationLazy Bum|scheme so hard at getting out of work]] that it's actually harder work than just doing the work. Usually, because their boss is a humorless [[Control Freak]] who is so annoying that we root for the worthless slacker instead.

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Lazy-Sensei]] from ''[[Jungle wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Haré+Guu]]'', who enforces "siesta" time on his class purely to get himself more shut-eye. Nevermind that his students range in age from 9 to late teens, and are all past the need for naptimes.

* Genma Saotome of ''[[Ranma ½]]'' sits somewhere between subverting this and playing it straight. In the series itself, he [[Wants the Work Done for Them|almost never bothers to do anything]] besides loaf around, eat, and play shogi, leaving his son to handle any problem that pops up. [[Sins of Our Fathers|Even if Genma caused that problem in the first place.]] However, prior to the series, Genma willingly left his [[Supreme Chef]] wife and the comfort of his home to travel the highways and byways of Japan and China for over a decade, in order to help his son become a powerful martial artist, and in fact designed two schools of techniques (the Yamasenken and Umisenken) that are amongst the most powerful in the series, with near-perfect invisibility, [[Razor Wind|vacuum blades that can cut through steel like runny butter]], spine-snapping bearhugs, and more. He has also displayed mental sloth in regards teaching Ranma - for example, failing to read the [[Useless Useful Spell|Nekoken]] training scroll [[Now You Tell Me|all the way through]], or taking his son to [[Transformation Ray|Jusenkyo]] simply on the virtue that it sounded impressive, without bothering to find out ''why'' it was called "The Valley of Cursed Springs".

** Interestingly the first anime double subverts this. Sloth is portrayed as a beautiful woman who can turn herself into water. In her human disguise as [[Pride|King Bradley's]] secretary she's a very hard worker. But when in combat, she appears to be rather lazy, as it's been shown at least once that she can actually [[Making a Splash|turn her entire body into water and drown anyone and everyone around her]], but she usually just uses a small amount of her power (usually in her arms) and kind of just stands there in one spot while trying to hit her target.

* [[Durarara!!|Shizuo Heiwajima]], [[Hair-Trigger Temper|of]] [[The Berserker|all]] [[World's Strongest Man|people]], appears to be this. In his official character profile his only hobby is listed as "basking in the sun", and he tells Celty in his "Special Voice" on the character CD that he likes days where there's "just nothing to do".

* [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe/Characters|Gladstone Gander]] -- his—his perpetual [[Lucky Bastard|good luck]] has given him a very warped set of morals, including such a disdain for work that he sees the one coin he made on one unlucky day where he ''had'' to work as [[My Greatest Failure]] and hides it in a safe out of shame.

* Victor Tugelbend is the hero of the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld/Moving Pictures|Moving Pictures]]'', who puts an extraordinary amount of thought and effort into being lazy. He finds the student life at [[Wizarding School|Unseen University]] very cushy so he studies extra extra hard to get exactly 84% on all his exams. 88% is the minimum passing grade for UU, and he has to get at least 80% to keep his trust fund. He's also in very good shape, so he doesn't have to waste energy hauling around excess body mass.

{{quote| My Aunt Ablewhite is a large, silent, fair-complexioned woman, with one noteworthy point in her character. From the hour of her birth she has never been known to do anything for herself. She has gone through life, accepting everybody's help, and adopting everybody's opinions.}}

* Bertie from ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'', who has [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit|more than enough money to support his lazy lifestyle]] and dreads nothing more than losing [[The Jeeves|his valet]], [[Living Emotional Crutch|who runs his life]] [[Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense|and sees to it that he doesn't have to do a thing himself]].

* Lister from ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is one of the ones we root for. He never does any work whatsoever, but it's not like a giant empty spaceship with no crew needs a lot of work, and he's more fun than his [[Control Freak]] nemesis.

* Maynard G. Krebbs from ''[[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]''. The mere mention of work was enough to scare him.

* Hank on ''[[Corner Gas]]'', though he is also [[The Fool]].

* [[Squid Row]]: Grace. Let special orders accumulate for months -- andmonths—and then when Randie cleared up them, [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|Grace got more hours for it]].

** [[The Simpsons (animation)|Homer and Bart Simpson.]]

** Fry from ''[[Futurama]]''.

** Timmy Turner from ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]].''

** Oscar from ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'', who couldn't even ''read'' until Arnold taught him how.

* Mr. Lazy from ''[[The Mr. Men Show|Mr. Lazy]]''.

* Dodsworth the cat in a couple of Robert McKimson's [[Looney Tunes|Warners shorts]] (''Kiddin' the Kitten'' and ''A Peck o' Trouble'') in [[The Fifties]].

* ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball|]]'': Richard Watterson]], GumballsGumball's dad, who's an over grownovergrown [[Man Child]] who sits in the couch all day.

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|]]'': Rainbow Dash]], who is [[Brilliant but Lazy|super speedy and athletic but also very lazy]]. Even ''she'' lampshades this sometimes:

{{quote| '''Rainbow Dash''': I ''was'' busy. Napping.}}