Dismotivation: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''I found that if you have a goal, you might not reach it. But if you ''don't'' have one, then you are never disappointed.''|'''Peter LaFleur''', ''[[Dodgeball]]''}}

 

 

[[Dismotivation]]; noun. This is when a character ''actively'' avoids doing anything that might get them ahead in a relationship, on the job, or in life. They feel that working at maintaining the personal [[Status Quo Is God|status quo]] is much better than working at getting somewhere, whether because of risk-aversion, simple laziness, or [[Celebrity Is Overrated]]. Of course, they just may be genuinely happy where they are, and see no reason to change a life that they are satisfied with.

* Dave Lister, from ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', is basically an [[Almighty Janitor]] in because of this. While partly due to the fact he hates his job pre-apocalypse (in the novels, he only signed on with Red Dwarf because he somehow got so plastered that he wound up on Mimas, a moon of Jupiter, when he'd been getting drunk ''on Earth'' and it was the quickest way to get back to Earth), and post-apocalypse he's millions of years of non-stop travel away from Earth, he just doesn't have any major ambitions outside of trying to get home and open up a hot dog stand on Fiji.

* Jaye Tyler in ''[[Wonderfalls]]'' exemplifies this trope but ends up helping others, often under protest.

* George in the first season of ''[[Dead Like Me]]'', who goes back to work at the same temp agency she worked at prior to her untimely death.

* Morgan Grimes on ''[[Chuck]]''.

 

* Kariya from ''[[The World Ends With You]]'' intentionally avoids getting a promotion, despite being one of the most competent Reapers around. He already has his ideal job, which lets him relax and hang out with Yashiro.

** Though he's not completely demotivated. Axel explains that Demyx's specialty is scouting and observation, which he does enjoy. It's the missions where he has to do more than sneak and watch that he dislikes.

* Many games force this on the player, if they're trying to achieve some sort of perfect or near perfect game. Many games feature ''[[Empty Levels]]'', where the player is punished with lower overall stats or some other disincentive for levelling up normally, and thus are better served by running away from every single random encounter and fight bosses with the main character dead for the whole battle.