Miser Advisor: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Chuck''': You're taking money from blind children?<br />

The [['''Miser Advisor]]''' is a sub trope of [[Mr. Vice Guy]], in that a character's main motivation for being part of the main character's [[True Companions|circle of friends]] is to [[Greed|wring a little money]] out of him/her now and then. Said character will often lament the hero's lack of wealth, or berate them for spending even a little bit. After all, "a penny saved is a penny earned," and the Miser needs every little bit of cash he/she can scrounge up.

Neither the main character nor the [['''Miser Advisor]]''' has to be [[Rich Bitch|obscenely rich]] to fall under this trope, and it's a lot better if they donaren't. Otherwise, they just come off as [[Jerkass|petty and mean.]]

Contrast [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]], where the [['''Miser Advisor]]''' already has the one thing they're looking for, and uses it against others.

{{examples|Examples:}}

* Nami from ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'' exhibits shades of this trope - while she has other motivations for being in the main cast, she still takes every opportunity she has to make the other members of the crew her debtors, Zoro and Usopp in particular.

* Not really a member of the ''main character's'' party per se, but in ''[[Naruto (Anime)|Naruto]]'', Kakuzu from the Akatsuki is this way. Being the treasurer for the organization, he is extremely thrift and constantly tries to find ways to make money. The main reason he initially thought to partner with Hidan was because he thought that Hidan's [[Religion of Evil|religion]] would make them money.

* Particularly in fanfiction, Nabiki Tendo of ''[[Ranma One Half (Manga)|Ranma One Half½]]'' has some elements of this character type, but it's fairly rare she has actual advice to sell and she actively sells to everyone -- ineveryone—in fact, the main characters, her sister and her sister's fiance, are actually the two she ''least'' offers advice to. Mostly, they pay her money to get something they desperately need at that moment in time, or to make sure she does ''not'' tell something to somebody (she usually takes their money and goes and blabs for even more money anyway).

* Sakurako from ''[[Ai Kora (Manga)|Ai Kora]]'' is a mild example. She's an average high-school girl who's smart with money, but she gets a ''little'' carried away with cost-cutting tips sometimes... She's also shown to be a sucker for sales and give-aways.

* Aahz from Robert Asprin's ''Myth'' series is a tightwad of the first order, even once the M.Y.T.H. Inc. crew has become successful and obscenely rich. Supposedly, this is because his mother squandered the family's money on bad investments. Unusually, doubles as [[The Obi -Wan]].

* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' Robert characterizes his advisers as being too fond of what he calls "counting coppers" and what they consider "not bankrupting the kingdom". Turns out they're right, and when Eddard arrives and reviews the financial situation he's shocked to discover that they owe massive debts to the church, the [[Fiction Five Hundred500|Lannisters]], and the [[Loan Shark|Iron Bank.]]

* The financial adviser in ''[[Sim CitySimCity]]'' (3000 and 4) constantly complains about your taxes, spending, and budget. S/he'll usually encourage you to cut funding to minor programs like junior sports or stairwell lighting.

* In ''[[Fable III (Video Game)|Fable III]]'', after your character becomes ruler of Albion, you gain an aide named Hobson. Hobson tries to encourage you to fill the treasury (in order to {{spoiler|fund the defense of Albion from the Night Crawler's forces}}) by any means necessary, such as raising taxes, cutting the budget for the royal guard, or accepting a bribe to enact prohibition of alcohol, though it quickly becomes obvious that he's just obsessed with gold. [[Heroic Sociopath|Reaver]] takes this role as well, doing this like encouraging you to reinstate child labor or convert an orphanage/homeless shelter into a state-funded brothel.

* Lampshaded in ''[http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html[The hereGrand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches]]'' as the "Lemina Rule" (can beappear [[Justifieddue Trope|Justified]] asto [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]).

* Thief from ''[[Eight Bit Theater (Webcomic)|8-Bit Theater]]'' is an extreme example of this, forcing his comrades into signing usurious contracts that grant him all of their income (as well as stealing every GP that isn't nailed to their bodies for good measure.)

{{quote| '''Black Mage:''' Didn't the pirates take everything already?<br />

* Haley from ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' is like this too, even though it's [[Justified Trope|justified]] as {{spoiler|combination of habits acquired from her father and need to ransom him}}. A [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0765.html more recent strip] shows that she also, indeed, does that out of plain old greed. She IS a rogue, after all.

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