Perpetual Poverty: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"April is in the red. May was in the red. June, again, in the red. July, in the red. The whole book -- red, red. Red!''" |'''Kotomi Hiyama''', ''[[Niea UnderNieA 7 (Anime)|Niea Under 7]]''}}

A subtrope of [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: Most plots are driven by the characters making a living doing something entertaining to audiences such as catching criminals for money (or maybe being criminals), and if they ever had a windfall they might actually choose to do something less troublesome and therefore less entertaining.

{{examples|Examples:}}

* The ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' crew spend every single episode complaining about their lack of food, fuel and money - to the point where they end up eating dog food and ages-old rations. Despite failing to capture a bounty in almost every episode, they never actually starve -- althoughstarve—although one episode does show them not only out of both money and food but out of fuel as well, a situation which gets remedied mostly by accident. And when they actually do get a bounty head, either [[Yank the DogsDog's Chain|some circumstance will conspire to ensure that they don't get anything for it]], or [[Destructive Saviour|the repair, medical and other bills from the massive destruction they caused going after bounties will cancel out whatever money they made]]. And, on top of it all, [[Ms. Fanservice|Faye]] is shown to be a gambler. In the entire series, there is exactly ''one'' time that they manage to successfully cash in on a bounty (Session 8: Waltz for Venus), but the amount is so little that they're ''immediately'' looking for another bounty.

* In ''[[Get BackersGetBackers]]'' the title characters are always starving and are frequently denied credit at the Honky Tonk. That still doesn't stop them from being incredibly powerful fighters.

** Considering that even the ''design'' of the thing was ludicrous ([[More Dakka]] to the point where Bit was wondering why she didn't stick a few nuclear missiles on it), all those weapons were probaby really expensive, too.

** It's explained that he ''could'' make more riches, but that would involve leaving his work post as a teacher and/or doing either illegal or shady things, [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules|which he refuses out of principles]]. As ''much'', he'll use once or twice his demon hand to cheat at the Pachinko games, where his students can't see him.

* In ''[[Excel Saga (Mangamanga)|Excel Saga]]'', various individuals fit this trope since the manga was poking fun at the recession Japan was going through. But the heroines in particular are always starving since they cannot hold down a temp job. However, their "emergency food ration" survives to the last episode.

** {{spoiler|This trend is broken in the manga after Hyatt and Elgala become executives of ILL (Il Palazzo's current and most successful world conquest vehicle). Menchi (the aforementioned ration) gains quite a bit of weight because of this.}}

*** This development led to {{spoiler|brief poverty for Dr. Kabapu and his employees as Il Palazzo revealed his embezzlement and general corruption, but he bounced right back since his secretary Momochi managed to hide most of the money even from himself.}}

** This is actually a depressing example of [[Truth in Television]]--some—some people fill their bellies with water when they don't have anything to eat. Of course, this being [[Slice of Life|Hidamari]] [[Rule of Cute|Sketch]], it's more funny and cute than it is sad, especially when Yuno offers to split her lunch, despite losing some of the bread she brought as charcoal erasers to Miyako's hunger.

* Lack of funds is a main theme in ''[[Binbou Shimai Monogatari]]''--no—no surprise, since the title translates as "the story of the poor sisters".

* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Maylene, the Veilstone Gym Leader, is initially jealous of [[The Ojou|Platinum's]] wealth and is usually shown to be hungry. At the battle at Sky Pillar, she outright states that she is poor. This is probably due to the fact that she has a deadbeat dad who does nothing but play slots at the Game Corner all day, much to her chagrin.

* Train's group in ''[[Black Cat (Mangamanga)|Black Cat]]'' are almost always strapped for money, constantly having to take on new sweeps despite managing to catch several bounties worth millions. Apparently their debt tends to be caused by Train breaking things or [[Big Eater|eating too much]].

* Kobato from ''[[Kobato.]]'' seems to only possess her clothing, her ''futon'' and the magical bottle where she stores the suffering of others.

* A major point in ''[[Niea UnderNieA 7 (Anime)|Niea Under 7]]'' is that Mayuko's troublesome finances get strained even more by Niea's freeloading.

* Akihisa Yoshii, the lead of ''[[Baka to Test Toto Shoukanjuu]]'', lives in a state of finances that get actively pushed to the limit. He has to eat salt and sugar water for energy, has no hot water in his shower, and divides up his meals into 1/64ths so he can survive. His situation improves somewhat after his big sister moves in, but not by much.

* The basic premise of ''[[Nerima Daikon Brothers (Anime)|Nerima Daikon Brothers]]'' is that the eponymous band needs money to build their concert dome, so of course they're always broke to keep the plot going. Ichiro ''is'' the most popular host at a host club and does make a good bit of money but saves most of it for the concert dome, Mako is extremely materialistic and tends to blow whatever money she gets, and Hideki is usually the one she ''gets'' money from in the first place.

* Despite most of the cast being [[Ojou]], ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'''s Hayate Ayasaki and Yukiji Katsura are pressed to the limits of their pocketbooks continually. Hayate for his selfless giving to his harem, Yukiji for her love of drinking.

* Kanba, Shoma and Himari Takakura from ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum (Anime)|Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' live in a run-down house with their penguins and are almost always short of cash. Episode 5 has Kanba discussing matters related to their lack of money with their uncle Ikebe, who is worried about their well-being and how their parents have been gone already for a while; he tells Kanba that he should sell the house and move with his siblings to a smaller apartment, but Kanba refuses to do so. {{spoiler|By the end of the episode, however, Kanba has somehow gotten a hold on enough money for the month. This is very important, plot-wise, as we later learn that he's in cahoots with a certain terrorist cell...}}

* This is part of José Carioca's character in his Brazilian comic series. He's avoided paying for things so much, his debt collectors have formed their own group known as the [http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Anacozeca A.N.A.C.O.Z.E.C.A.] He is not above [https://web.archive.org/web/20150206202803/http://outducks.org/webusers/webusers/2006/06/br_zc20_0001f_001.jpg bathing in a public fountain, or pulling a dine and dash]. Some of his earlier stories have him balancing this out while also trying to put on the appearance that he's rich (mostly to justify the suit he wore; José wasn't designed with [[Perpetual Poverty]] in mind).

* Andy Capp lives off his wife's wages and is usually behind on the rent. He is occasionally evicted, but always gets his home back so that the neighbours (Chalky and Ruby) and rent collector (Percy) are always the same.

* [[Donald Duck]] in any of the ''[[DuckDuckTales Tales(1987)]]'' comics is an even older example than [[The Simpsons]]. Somehow, circumstances always conspire to keep him from any riches he may find in the course of the stories.

** A running joke, at least in Italian stories, is that Donald puts everything on the tab, and now has an enormous debt to every grocer, tailor, repairman, etc. in Duckburg. Paying off all his debt seems to be a case of [[Failure Is the Only Option]], and his debtors can get downright brutal. Yet he's hardly ever evicted from his big suburbia house. ... Because his landlord is Scrooge. Donald pays the rent by doing any chore Scrooge has in mind for him, from being recruited to life-threatening adventures to polishing every coin in the Money Bin.

** This was the case in the first few books, but isn't nearly so bad now. Ever since he {{spoiler|became a Warden}}, he has a moderate, reliable stipend in addition to the money he makes as a wizard-for-hire. It's not a fortune, but it's not as bad as he lets his friends think, either.

* The Weasley family in ''[[Harry Potter]]'', whose wands, books and robes have been handed down through seven children in order to save money. Despite this, the Weasleys have no problem letting Harry and Hermione (both well-off) stay with them for all or part of the summer. They even manage to hold on to their Perpetual Poverty despite winning the lottery in ''Prisoner of Azkaban.'' Rather than buy new robes, they opted to blow the lot on a trip to Egypt. This could be simply because the Weasleys feel that a family trip is more important than material possessions, though; and it was the first time they'd seen Bill, who worked there as a curse-breaker, in years.

** The Weasleys' situation never seems to improve, even after the five oldest children move out. Although the Weasley twins are Aversions. Once they receive seed money from Harry at the end of ''Goblet of Fire,'' they become wealthy in short order (and all the Weasley siblings become [[Badass Family|very successful in their chosen fields]], even if those fields don't always pay well.)

** The Weasleys did use a lot of the money to buy new things for the family, in addition to the trip. The amount of money they won was a descent amount, but wouldn't have solved their problems.

* ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'''s crew is usually struggling to make ends meet, even keep their ship flying, on top of their higher goals. At one point, Mal actually manages to sell something without shenanigans going down... and then you see the laser sight on his buyer's forehead...

* Even more the case in ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'', who for long periods had no higher goals other than finding a way to get [[Dog Food Diet|enough to eat]] to stay alive and avoiding capture. They knock over a bank in the climax of the second season, however, which eases most (but not all) of their money troubles.

* Not quite as severe day to day (but with a worse overall situation given the population difference) was [[Battlestar Galactica]], which also included several episodes attempting to get enough food, water and fuel to keep surviving. The ships were constantly getting more damaged and even the clothes getting worn out, and even when they had enough supplies to get by it was still eking out a miserable existence in rooms the size of closets (if you were lucky enough to get a room -- veryroom—very few did even among the senior crew, Admiral Adama being a notable exception) with nothing much to relieve the crushing monotony and basic nature of their lives, eating algae processed muck as a staple. It comes as no surprise they always made sure they had plenty of booze around. Much like the students' example in the trope explanation.

* Practically every character living in the neighborhood in ''[[El Chavo Deldel Ocho]]'', with the possible exception of Doña Florinda, judging by her house, her solvency, and the little greasy restaurant she owns later in the series (Still, one could ask why, given her snobbishness, she couldn't move to a better place).

* ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'' takes this to ridiculous extremes.

* Honestly, how would [[Magnum, PIP.I.|Magnum]] survive without the good graces of Robin Masters and the loyalty, gullibility and infinite patience of his friends?

* The main family in ''[[Malcolm in Thethe Middle]]''. There are several episodes throughout the show that emphasizes how much they are struggling to make money and support their four, dysfunctional children. The fifth and oldest goes through this as well, but subverted in that he constantly travels around trying to make ends meet. Justified as neither Hal or Lois earn very much (he's an average blue-collar office worker, and she works in convenience store) and providing for 4 (then 5) children and sending Francis to military school costs a lot.

* Jim Rockford of ''[[The Rockford Files]]'' fits the stereotype of the perpetually broke [[Private Detective]]. While he does have many successful cases, the various methods that his clients use to avoid paying him is one of the show's [[Running Gag|Running Gags]]s.

* The entire gang from '[[ItsIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'. They've lost everything they own multiple times over, yet they are somehow keeping their bar afloat.

* "Still Fly" by the Big Tymers is about a guy who can't even afford everyday stuff because he [[What an Idiot!|wasted all his money on fancy cars, clothes, jewelry, and entertaining (married) women.]]

* ''[[Genius: The Transgression (Tabletop Game)|Genius: The Transgression]]'' has this as a rapidly increasing problem for [[Mad Scientist|Geniuses]]: mad science is expensive, time-consuming and difficult to make a profit on. One of the few remaining advantages [[Ancient Conspiracy|Lemuria]] has is a lot of money and weird science supplies.

{{quote| '''RAGUENEAU:''' No—but—I bore him to his room... <br />

* [[Gabriel Knight (Video Game)|Gabriel Knight]] is shown as being rather poor - at least in the first game; where he pretty much sells a family heirloom to make $100 and get past a specific plot point. He does manage to afford flights to Germany, West Africa, and back mostly because he charged them all to Mosley's credit card. In the sequel, a book deal {{spoiler|and some loot from the Voodoo syndicate base}} has given him the means to move to Germany and live in the family castle.

* Even the space mercenaries of ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'' often find themselves struggling to make payroll. Like with many people, there's nothing they love more than getting paid multiple times.

* Jade Sinclair of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' runs away from an abusive father, is staying at school on a scholarship, and cleans the school sewers (amongst other maintenance tasks) for the little money she can scrape together -- andtogether—and then spends it on weaponry, defense systems, upgrading her "sister", and maintaining her cover story. She is regularly unable to afford things like more or better clothes, and refuses anything which smacks of charity. Her obscenely rich teammate has to resort to all kinds of subterfuge to reduce Jade's costs and/or get her to accept the occasional gift. It also doesn't help that she's dating someone who has several dozen million dollars to throw around, but she will still only accept very personal and at least psuedo-romantic tokens of affection. As a result, she owns at least two nearly priceless mithril-based artifacts, several (dozen?) thousand dollars in custom precision-worked superhero devices, materials, and uniforms, and a casual-wear selection of clothes that hobos would consider sparse.

* Chester McBadbat on ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' is shown to live in a trailer, has to reuse paper plates, and has mentioned eating out of the garbage. Despite this, he seems to afford a few frivolities.