Lazy Bum: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{quote|<poem>'''Joe:''' I could do a lot of things if it was necessary.
'''Queenie:''' Then why don't you?
'''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]]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.
 
A more metaphorical example of this trope would be moral laziness. Usually seen in villains, anti-heroes and anti-villains this type of laziness applies to those who "take the easy way out" in a psychological sense. Usually, this includes murder, being an [[Extreme Doormat]], allowing oneself to be easily manipulated, [[Lack of Empathy|lacking empathy]] [[The Sociopath|toward others]] or just lacking the drive and willpower to say "no".
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{{examples}}
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* [[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".
* Played with in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''. [[Meaningful Name|Belphegor]] represents the sin of Sloth, but is a very hard worker. It's just that if she's the only one doing the work, it advances her vice. Still, when {{spoiler|Rudolf tricks her into a [[Duel to the Death]] in the third arc, she doesn't notice that her master, Eva-Beatrice, is in the line of fire until she only has time to [[Taking the Bullet|take the bullet]] (He apologizes to her, at least).}} As she puts it, ''"I was lazy ?!"''.
* Ryner Lute from ''[[The Legend of the Legendary Heroes]]'', who much prefers taking afternoon naps to fighting evil.
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** Both Sloths are also morally lazy. The anime Sloth tries to take the easy way out, killing the Elric brothers rather than psychologically coming to terms with the fact that she is {{spoiler|the reincarnation of their mother}}. Manga Sloth, in a similar vein, tends to use his [[Super Strength]] to go through objects rather than around them, and commits crimes because he simply lacks the willpower and drive to say no. In his case it's justified as he's the literal embodiment of the sin he's named for.
* [[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".
* Teppei Tairyobata (called simply Trout in the dub) from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V]]'' is an exaggeration of the type of guy who engages in a passive activity (fishing, in this case) to claim he's exercising. Also something of a [[Con Artist]] and [[Dirty Coward]], Tairyobata formed a partnership with Mokota during the tournament, with the intent to let Mokota do all the work dueling the opposition and then defeat him and gain all the Pendulum cards when Mokota was exhausted. To his credit, Tairyobata had something of a [[Heel Realization]] when the Obelisk Force showed up and tried to help fight them, only to be beaten [[Phantom Zone Picture| and carded]] along with Mokota and several other contestants.
 
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Literature]] ==
* 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.
* Each of the villains in the ''[[Keys to the Kingdom]]'' series represents a [[Seven Deadly Sins|deadly sin]], with Mister Monday representing sloth. He has servants carry him around at all time and the waiting line for people seeking his approval to do something stretches into the hundreds of thousands. Seeing as he keeps an important part of the [[Celestial Bureaucracy]] running... Let's just say that in the ten thousand years of his reign, even some people remain unaccounted for.
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: The Grasshopper in ''The Ant and the Grasshopper'', one of [[Aesop's Fables]].
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** Most of these characters are [[Book Dumb]] as well, and it's hard to say if they really "don't test well" or if they're just plain lazy.
* The ''[[Dick Tracy]]'' animated series had the [[Ethnic Scrappy]] Go-Go-Gomez, a lazy Mexican detective who solved crimes from his hammock.
* 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]].
* Bird from ''[[Skunk Fu!]]'' fits this trope rather well. He also induces this on Ox as well.
* Beezy on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' literally schedules his sloth.
* ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball|]]'': Richard Watterson]], GumballsGumball's dad, who's an over grownovergrown [[Man Child]] who sits in the couch all day.
* Experiment 625 in ''[[Lilo and Stitch]]: [[Recycled: the Series|The Series]]'' is every bit as powerful as Stitch... but he has no interest in using his abilities, and would rather make sandwiches. He does get to work to help Lilo a few times, though.
** In the [[Grand Finale]] movie, ''[[Leroy and Stitch]]'', in addition to finally getting his own name, Reuben, he gets a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when he successful repairs Gantu's crashed ship, something Gantu had been unable to do all series.
* ''[[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.}}
 
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