Screwy Squirrel: Difference between revisions

If the '''Screwy Squirrel''' is an otherworldly being, the character may also be an [[Amusing Alien]] or a [[Great Gazoo]].

 

 

Not to be confused with [[Crazy Awesome]] or [[Nutty Squirrel]] (for actual squirrels).

 

{{examples}}

* Suiseiseki of ''[[Rozen Maiden]]'' appears at first to be as aloof and proper as Shinku, but in actuality she loves nothing more than tormenting Hinaichigo with tricks and pranks.

** Really, [[Not So Above It All|her "properness" is about as deep as her paint job.]] She's more like a spoiled and [[The Ojou|immature royal]] who is more than willing to smack around her "subjects." She only sobers up during life and death situations.

*** To elaborate, she ''acts'' like this during common situations, she is easily [[The Messiah|the most caring of the dolls anyway]] (it says something when she is the only doll who never even tried to become Alice out of fear of losing her sisters). When she snaps out of it, she snaps out of it ''hard''. There's even one instance in the drama CDs when she tries to rectify her behavior after realizing that she had gone too far.

* [[Haré+Guu|Guu]] is a [[Deadpan Snarker]] who spends most of her time pulling various pranks on Hale using her [[Reality Warper|seemingly unlimited powers]]. Of course, with Hare + Guu being a [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?|rather]] [[Widget Series|screwy]] anime in the first place, the fact that one of the main characters is a Screwy Squirrel is to be expected.

 

* [[Superman|Mr Mxyzptlk]], [[Depending on the Writer]].

 

* Eileen Fields in ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Dragon]]'' is definitely this, though some of her pranks fall under [[Villainy Discretion Shot]], particularly when she isn't seen in a particular episode and another character has to mention her to get her [[Once an Episode]] prank quota in for that episode.

 

* [[Geronimo Stilton]]'s cousin, Trap, is a relentless prankster who teases his cousin whenever he sees him, when he isn't taking advantage of Geronimo's fame and fortune.

* [[Dr. Seuss|The Cat in the Hat]] is a benevolent example. Played straight though with Mr. Fox in ''Fox in Socks''.

 

* Janitor in ''[[Scrubs]]'' torments J. D. to an insane degree. His own amusement is at least ''one'' of the possible reasons. Other interpretations include him honestly feeling just as tormented by JD (which is sometimes the case, though not because JD ''wanted'' to) or that he actually see's him as a friend but is too screwed up and [[Heroic Sociopath|socially awkward]] to properly show it (Something his actor believes).

* [[House MD|Dr. Gregory House]]. Has been known to ruin people's lives for no reason other than that he found them annoying. The fact that the majority of his victims wouldn't be alive were if not for him is the only thing saving him from complete [[Jerkass]]ery.

* Niles the butler from [[The Nanny]]. While normally his actions are limited to [[Servile Snarker|bitter sarcasm]], his life's passion seems to be playing cruel tricks on C.C. Babcock.

 

* "Star Invasion" by [[Helloween]].

 

== Religion and Mythology ==

** Or a god who will go the extra mile to protect the innocent (see the ''Loka Tattur''), criticize corruption even if it means facing prison and torture (see the ''Lokasenna''), and doesn't give a flying fuck if you're as queer as he is.

 

* Cirque du Soleil's ''Mystere'' has Brian Le Petit, the principal clown, who is explicitly described in [[All There in the Manual|the backstory]] as an intruder of the [[Magical Land]] the show takes place in. He constantly teases the pompous emcee (at one point successfully tricking him into stepping off a high ledge), pretends to lead audience members to their seats only to lead them on a roundabout path, steals their popcorn, and in the long climactic scene {{spoiler|tricks a man from the audience into climbing into a crate, which Brian locks so he can ''woo the man's date''}}. Nothing toned down about him, and most audience members ''love'' him for it. Once his plan starts falling apart, his increasingly absurd efforts to save himself edge him towards [[Crazy Awesome]] status. {{spoiler|In the end, he's tossed out of the show and doesn't appear in the curtain call.}}

* Launcelot Gobbo, the clown in ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', seems to genuinely love Old Gobbo, his aged, blind father. Which doesn't stop him from practicing deceptions on Old Gobbo's blindness when the poor guy doesn't recognize him, finally informing him that ''his son has died.''

* Comes up occasionally in the Commedia dell'Arte, although with so much of the plays [[Depending on the Writer]], it varies who it is—usually either Harlequin or Pulcinella. Any clever zanni, really.

 

* Tewi Inaba from ''[[Touhou]] Project''. Despite leading most of the youkai rabbits in Eientei, she is said to have a deceitful personality (this is later shown when Reisen Udongein Inaba arrives at Eientei, and Tewi often pulls pranks with her as the victim). [[Fanon]] takes it so far that she pulls pranks on ''everyone'' (mostly the lower-leveled girls), though canon and semi-canon shows that this isn't far from the truth, with her victims in both ''[[All There in the Manual|Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red]]'' and ''[[Comic Book Adaptation|Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth]]'' having included [[Intrepid Reporter|Aya]], [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|Meiling]], [[Time Abyss|Eirin]], [[Ojou|Kaguya]], [[The Phoenix|Mokou]], [[Physical God|Suwako]], and [[God Mode Sue|Yorihime]]. Strangely, her power is to give ''good'' luck to humans...

* The skull kids in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' franchise commonly possess this kind of personality. The one in ''[[Majoras Mask]]'' is said to have possessed such a personality prior to finding the titular mask, {{spoiler|who also may have appeared in ''[[Ocarina of Time]]'', as implied in the game's ending}}. ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' also has a similar-minded skull kid, pulling pranks on Link while traveling to the Master Sword.

* While usually more an [[Idiot Hero]] or simple [[Cloudcuckoolander]], ''Crash Tag Team Racing'' placed [[Crash Bandicoot]] as a rather conventional version of the trope for numerous easter egg [[FMV]]s, harrassing Park Drones with endless pranks and [[Amusing Injuries]].

 

* Bun-Bun from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' can often be like this. Oh, he'll usually ''claim'' that the people he torments did something to piss him off, but for Bun-Bun sometimes just existing in the same room as him is enough to do that.

** "sometimes"?

** Of course, the romantic crisis only came about because ''she herself seduced her son's boyfriend''.

 

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj5qLv9JTc8 "HA! I HAVE FOOLED YOU! I AM CLAUS! I AM PRANKSTER BUG!"] ([[NSFW]])

* Fegelein from the [[Hitler Rants]] parodies. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aataaE7wi2U "FEGELEIN! FEGELEIN! FEGELEIN!]

* Tom Foolery of the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' is a psychotic, sadistic clown who enjoys messing with people just to mess with them. Add in his scary makeup, his spine-chilling laugh, his weaponized toys, and an urge to see the whole world go down in flames, and you have a Screwy Squirrel who verges into [[Complete Monster]] territory. But then, he is basically the setting's [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[The Joker]].

 

** Perhaps best encapsulated in 1997, when Screwy Squirrel, on April Fool's day "took over" [[Cartoon Network]] and refused to show anything but a repeat viewing of his short Happy-Go-Nutty while demanding his own animated series.

** Screwy Squirrel is so completely demented a character he came to scare his creator. There were only four or five Screwy Squirrel shorts made - and already the [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Fouth Wall]] was in smithereens - before Tex Avery decided to stop using the character; the unlimited potential for utter insanity and chaos [[Creator Breakdown|unnerved the animation team]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:The Trickster]]

[[Category:Villains]]