Narm Charm: Difference between revisions

** Try just about all of ''Code Geass''. Lelouch as Zero is the [[Large Ham|biggest ham ever]] and that actually helped it to reel in legions of followers.

** Mao's infamous "[[Chainsaw Good|I'll make you compact]]" line has become slightly [[Memetic Mutation|memetic]] among his fans. It's totally ridiculous... but it actually gives a good view of how insane he really is.

* Everyone makes fun of the infamous [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaoy1QKxGQs potato-chip scene] in ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'', or the somewhat "overexpressive" anime in itself. Still, it is a very popular and critically acclaimed show with a ton of fans.

** This is especially evident in the final episode, in which the over-the-top fashion in which {{spoiler|Light and Mikami break down}} runs a weird line between comical and horrifying.

== Comic Books ==

* Golden-Age and Silver-Age ''[[Batman]]''. One issue of the original ''Detective Comics'' focused around the tale of Batman Jones, a child named in honor of the Dark Knight who rescued his parents, who in turn became a giant otaku and tried desperately to join Batman and Robin in their adventures. (The only reason he stopped is because he found another hobby- stamp collecting) Even the iconoclastic [[Joker]] was presented as nothing more than a psychopathic clown with campy crime schemes. It wasn't until the late 1970's and '80's with tales like "How Many Ways Can A Robin Die?" and ''[[The Killing Joke]]'' that made it a truly engrossing series, presenting the characters with extreme psychological depth as never before.

* ''[[The Walking Dead]]'': The [[Title Drop]] ("WE ARE [[The Walking Dead]]!") that comes after a speech about how the survivors (or at least Rick, giving the speech, displacing some guilt) are [[Not So Different]] from the zombies. Extremely [[Anvilicious]], but nonetheless dramatic and effective.

* ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Dark Empire]]'': "Aren't I the master of all the Jedi? Your father was my apprentice." "Formless, I exist as pure energy. I ''am'' the dark side." Palpatine is just a huge ham.

** During the ending of the third movie. {{spoiler|Watching a college student play with a toy cowboy has never been so heartwarming}}.

* Eric Idle's over-the-top [[Villain Song]] in ''[[The Secret of NIMH]] 2: Timmy to the Rescue''. It's the most idiotic thing one can do right after the supposedly dramatic twist that the villain is the hero's brother, but the song is ''so'' entertaining.

{{quote| '''Mater:''' {{spoiler|Stay away from me, or you could get hurt real bad!}}<br />

'''Lightning:''' {{spoiler|I know I made you feel that way, but none of that matters, because [[This Is Sparta|WE'RE! BEST! FRIENDS!]]}} }}

* [[Batman (Franchise)|Batman]] films have a fair amount:

** Certain scenes in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', less by not killing the drama and more for injecting a little realism -- not to mention [[The Woobie|pity]]. Not everyone can [[Say My Name|bellow their beloved's name]] and sound bereaved and heroic, you know.

*** Batman's rusty voice. Some people went along with it because he was obviously trying to disguise his real voice, but it became unintentionally funny when he started using it in front of [[Morgan Freeman]]'s character, who already knew who he was.

**** [[Fridge Brilliance|There have been comics that have played with the idea that Bruce Wayne is the mask and Batman is the real person. Perhaps Bruce felt it was best that Lucius would see his true self in order to cooperate]]

* ''[[Godzilla]]''. [[Godzilla (Film)|The 1998 American version]], even more so.

** Speaking of which, any movie by [[Roland Emmerich]] such as ''[[Independence Day (Film)|Independence Day]]'', ''[[The Day After Tomorrow]]'' and recently ''[[Twenty Twelve|2012]]'' will apply. He [[Did Not Do the Research|get most of the facts wrong]], but you can't help enjoying [[Visual Effects of Awesome|the awesomeness of their visual effects]].

* ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]'': "By Grabthar's hammer... by the suns of Warvan... you shall be ''avenged''." Though in that case the original line was ''trying'' to be silly in an [[Affectionate Parody]] sort of way for ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]''. The context the line is delivered in is genuinely [[Badass]] and makes up for it. It helped that it was [[Alan Rickman]] saying the line.

* ''[[G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra (Film)|G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra]]''. Over two hours of [[Troperiffic|every action movie cliche]] turned [[Up to Eleven]] and [[Christopher Eccleston]] and Jonathan Pryce, clearly enjoying themselves. Joseph Gordon-Levitt ''embodies'' [[Ham and Cheese]] in that movie, apparently deciding to play Cobra Commander as "[[Transformers Generation 1|Starscream]], by way of [[Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game)|Darth Malak]], with a touch of [[Dr. Strangelove]]." Pretty much the entire cast gets in on this, Ray Park manages to do it without ever saying a single word, ''that's'' impressive.

* Frank Peretti, a Christian horror writer, is very adept at the use of Narm Charm. Apparently, he realizes that his plots are extremely outlandish, and in order to avoid Narm he cranks up the absurdity of it his situations [[Up to Eleven]] and lets you know it's okay to laugh through witty prose, thereby leading to situations -- such as a town erupting into terrifying/hilarious chaos around a false Messiah -- that are bizarre, hilarious, and somehow, really, really terrifying. [[Adaptation Decay|Unfortunately, this does not translate well into]] [[Narm/Film|the film versions of his work]].

* ''[[Little Women]]'' plots a course through [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]], [[Purple Prose|wildly extravagant and sentimental prose]], [[An Aesop|Aesops]] (some of them [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|rather questionable]]) in [[Once an Episode|nearly every chapter]]... and comes out as a gripping romantic drama with a deserved place in the highest pantheon of American literature.

* Let's face it: Both the ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]'' books and [[Harry Potter (Film)|films]] can be quite [[Narm|narmilicious]]... but the thing is, the quality of it is just so good, it can easily be forgiven. One particular example is the ending of [[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix|the fifth]] when Harry gives his [[Reason You Suck Speech]] to Voldemort; which basically boils down to "I have [[The Power of Friendship]]. You don't. I pity you (though I still want you to die)". This, coupled with the shots of Voldemort's kind of goofy poses in the visions Harry sees during the film, ''could'' be extremely [[Narm|Narmy]]... but it's not. The reason being that when you've spent all this time reading the books and/or watching the films, you'really do understand what Harry is saying no matter how corny it might be. This is doubly true for the movie, which also shows clips from all the previous ones before it, most of those clips being of other [[Narm Charm]] moments from the series. This trope can definitely also apply to the ending of the 7th book; After [[Earn Your Happy Ending|all the crap]] that [[Power Trio|The Trio]] has been through, you can't help but feel happy that everything turned out okay (for the most part) in the end... unless you're a fanatic [[Shipping|Shipper]] and the ending defied your [[OTP]]; in that case, the ending of the series was your worst nightmare come true.

** * [[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|"I'll join you when hell freezes over!"]] is one of the cheesiest cliches out there. But considering that this is {{spoiler|[[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Neville Longbottom]]}} saying it to {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Voldemort]]}}'s face, and suddenly [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|you don't feel like laughing anymore.]]

** Blaine's {{spoiler|confession of love}} to {{spoiler|Kurt}} could count, as the dialogue is like something from a chick flick, but the way he says it is so heartfelt that you can't help but [[Squee]] as he says it. Even the people who don't like Blaine admit that they're glad something was ''finally'' going right for {{spoiler|Kurt}}.

* Many, many scenes in ''[[Stargate SG 1]]'' containing [[Large Ham|Goa']][[Physical God|uld]], especially with [[Deadpan Snarker|O'Niell's]] constant [[Lampshade Hanging]].

** Not to mention the Daleks' famous "EXTERMINATE!" line is clearly [[Chewing the Scenery]], except they usually come across as unstoppable, merciless [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|genocidal maniacs]] (so much that a Cambridge University academic wrote [http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/ex-tra-po-late-moral-philosophy-and-the-daleks/ a paper] ''about'' the Daleks' Narm Charm.). So that line gives more chills than snickers.

** The Daleks' "Exterminate" is a bit Narm Charm in itself, especially in its more modern incarnations. Case in point: The Daleks transmit a single word message of their famous catchphrase across the whole earth during ''The Stolen Earth'' and pretty much every one of the Doctor's earthbound former companions just about needs to change their pants upon hearing it and realising who it is. Including Sarah Jane Smith and a man ''who can't die''.

** The pointless chase scene which takes up pretty much the entirety of episode two of "Planet of the Spiders", where Jon Pertwee and John Dearth pretty much drive or fly every combustion-engine-powered vehicle known to man with the exception of locomotives and jet fighters, and which ends with the villain vanishing anyway at the end of it, is still awesome in its own right. Of course it helps that Barry Letts wrote the sequence as a going-away gift for Pertwee, who had a deep interest in motor vehicles of all kinds and relished scenes where he could get behind the wheel.

** The production staff can be forgiven the hideous monsters from "The Three Doctors", and Omega's scenery-chewing, as the interplay between Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell and Nicholas Courtney make up superbly for it.

** [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Jason]] is the master of [[Narm Charm]]. For one example, [[No Indoor Voice|screaming]] [[Captain Obvious|"OH MAN, HE FROZE THE ZORDS. WE'RE HISTORY!"]] in Lord Zedd's debut is utterly ridiculous, but it still hammers home how dire the situation is.

** Bulk and Skull calling the people of Angel Grove to help in the final battle of ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]''. Corny, yet awesome.

** This is the reason that even the legendarily bad episodes (like, say, "[[Star Trek (Franchise)/Recap/S3 E1 Spocks Brain|Spock's Brain]]") are [[So Bad It's Good]] instead of completely unredeemable. TOS episodes that were heavy on the [[Narm]] were ''always'' entertaining. Compare ''actual'' bad episodes that are dull and full of [[Padding]], like "The Alternative Factor". People will go for "Brain and brain, what is brain?!" every time.

* Then there's ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' which occasionally also runs on pure cheesiness. It's the series outright honesty and belief in itself, and its writers' (and actors') refusal to shy away from uncomfortable subjects, which means it gets away with a lot of it (when you have characters living in a future when humans are, supposedly, a much more reasonable, understanding bunch, and got there ''the hard way'' via a couple of near apolcaypses and one helluva lot of personal growth, then an audience can't help but appreciate their passion and dedication to their ideals. Even if they ''are'' pointing about dramatically and occaisonally doing flying leaps).

** It has been remarked, as well, that [[Patrick Stewart]]'s strength as an actor is his ability to deliver bad dialogue with utter conviction. Case in point is ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'': ''"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!"'' Controversial. Some fans see it as [[Narm|horrible]], [[Narm Charm|some as so bad it's good]], while others see it as simply good, and a few even consider it a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for Picard, who didn't have the strength to so much as stand but still made the effort to make a last shout of defiance.

* ''[[CSI: Miami]]'': It may sound hilarious...but I...[[Glasses Pull|[puts on shades] ]] [[Rule of Cool|make it cool]]. '''''[[The Who|YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!]]'''''

* ''[[Fringe]]''. [[Hollywood Science|Science, even the most far-out, fringiest science that ever fringed DOES NOT work that way]]. But it's ''soooo'' much [[Rule of Cool|fun]]. [[Nightmare Fuel|Nasty]], [[Squick|Squicktacular]] fun.

* ''[[The Thick of It]]'': On paper, "COME OUT OF THE CUPBOARD HUGH..." looks ridicuolus. In Malcolm's low Glaswegian growl it sounds genuinely terrifying.

* This trope occurs at the conclusion of Season Two of ''[[Robin Hood (TV)|Robin Hood]]'' during the death scene of {{spoiler|Marian}}. On the one hand, the build-up involves a confusing and contrived sequence of events, and the death scene itself is drawn out to an utterly ridiculous extent in which {{spoiler|Marian}} has a sword in her stomach and yet is able to carry on a completely coherent conversation for several minutes; on the other hand, {{spoiler|''Maid freaking Marian''}} is dying and the [[Emotional Torque]] is [[Over Nine Thousand]] and [[Like You Would Really Do It|no one can believe it's really happening]] and it's the most horrible, devastating thing that's ever happened on any [[Robin Hood]] retelling ''ever''.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Robin:'''}} "We have forever, my love."<br />

* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGmkM4v9AaY In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida]," by Iron Butterfly, is completely ridiculous. Yet awesome. Yet ridiculous.

** Oddly enough, the rest of its parent album, also titled ''In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'', could also qualify. What else would you expect from an album that has a song called "Flowers And Beads"?

* The two actual songs on famous stuntman Evel Knievel's record ''Evel Speaks To The Kids'' (the rest of the record consists of one press conference and one question and answer session with children). "Why?" is a poem written and recited by Knievel himself over music: The rhymes are often cliched or painful ("Success is a term that has broad use, for you and I to have none in life there's no excuse"), but the sincerity in his voice and schmaltzy backing music somehow do still make it oddly affecting. Meanwhile there's the country song "The Ballad Of Evel Knievel" by John Culliton Mahoney (which is on the record despite having nothing to do with Knievel beyond it being ''about'' him): the arrangement is just as melodramatic, the vocals waver all over the place, and the lyrics are oddly preoccupied with the idea that Knievel could die while attempting his stunts, but it's still kind of a tearjerker.

* The song "[[Last Kiss]]" is so earnest with [[Teenage Death Songs|its subject matter]] it pretty much gets by on this trope.

* "Mana" by Equilibrium ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chHJGk25MVI Part 1] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqdwDxnH5bE Part 2]). Most of their music is pretty straight folk metal, but ''this'' is a sixteen minute instrumental rock epic, complete with choirs, flute solos and a retro video game sound-effect breakdown. It sounds like something from a mid-90s JRPG, and revels so gleefully in it's own ridiculous grandeur that you can't help but love it. Found in two parts here and here.

* Two-Ton Paperweight is awesome precisely ''because'' it takes a subject like a crappy car and makes it worthy of suicide, murder, and obscene amounts of violence, all to a rockin' tune. It helps that anyone who's ever had a shitty car can totally relate. "My. Car. Is a '''''[[My Car Hates Me|PIECE OF SHIT!]]'''''"

{{quote| "When the [[Unusual Euphemism|centipede]] is hot, you're bound to feel the fire."}}

* Ultravox's "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" is listed under [[Narm]], but it and the rest of the band's output while Midge Ure was their leader (which could also be considered narm-y) still have fans with people who are in love with that overarching, melodramatic European synthpop element to this band's music. It does also put that era of the band's existence at odds with the John Foxx era, which was more detached and punk-oriented, but one can still hear elements of the older Ultravox in 1980's ''Vienna'' and it's not uncommon for one to be a fan of both the Foxx and Ure eras of Ultravox.

** More subjectively, the setting can feel like the writers are just trying too hard. [[Memetic Mutation]] clearly shows that some people love it for that anyway.

** Read any description of something from ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' on this wiki and you find something so incredibly absurd that it becomes absurdly incredible. For example:

** Really, the whole setting could be summed up by saying its Warhammer in space with deliberate over the top Grimdark black comedy and Narm Charm.

 

* [[Sonic Adventure 2 (Video Game)|Sonic Adventure 2]]'s {{spoiler|Last Story's ending}} is considered very memorable, with mostly good dialogue, but Tails' ''"[[Memetic Mutation|we all did it together]]"'' line is considered notoriously cheesy even apart from the [[Accidental Innuendo]].

* [[The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword|Demon Lord Ghirahim's]] would be ridiculous, what with his [[Fashion Victim Villain|gaudy]] outfit and oddly casual lines...except he's also so damn ''crazy'' that it makes him come off as [[Creepy Awesome]].

** {{spoiler|Aerith's death}}. [[Blind Idiot Translation|The dialogue is nonsense]], but between that ''music'' and the scene of {{spoiler|Cloud gently letting her body fall into the pond}}, it still manages to make people sob into their controllers.

** Similarly, when ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' was [[Updated Rerelease|rebuilt]] for the [[Nintendo DS]], several things got changed: the score was updated to match the style of the current ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' soundtracks, cutscenes, as well as CG graphics for the overworld map and voice acting for the cutscenes were introduced. The opening cinematic, as well as some of the cutscenes {{spoiler|Paladin Cecil fighting his former Dark Night self}} looked like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwyoVV85EYLo this.] But a majority of the cutscenes look like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mptSyHTRWY this,] with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNrcaWLnUcc plenty] of the [[Narm]]. Yet, it still manages to keep the philosophy of [[Anyone Can Die]], all the best [[Tear Jerker]]-ing and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|heartwarming moments]] are still kept in, the battle system is true to its core, and it makes for great nostalgia fuel.

** Zhao Yun's cry for help in ''DW6'' "Someone! I am in ''NEED'' of ''ASSISTANCE!"'' leaves it unclear whether the player should save him from enemy troops or bring him his Xanax, but remains highly amusing either way.

* ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]'': "I think you're gonna need backup."

* As noted by [[Zero Punctuation|Yahtzee]] on the quotes page, this is one of the reasons why fans love ''[[Resident Evil]]''. You'd expect a zombie game to have a basic plot that says "Zombies! Shoot them!" but ''[[Resident Evil]]'' has a winding detailed story that makes little logical sense. Combine this with characters ripped from B movies, awkward dialog and even more awkward voice acting. Then put it all in between two slices of self-unawareness and you've got a delicious Jill, er, [[Narm]] sandwich.

{{quote| "Complete. Global. Saturation." <br />

* The English voice acting in the ''[[STALKER]]'' series fits the bill.

** Especially in the sequel, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehnfK-iES-s Call of Pripyat]''.

* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' runs on this trope. Have you any... "[[Big Word Shout|OBJECTION]]!"?

** How about the fact that everyone on the stand reacts to the revelation of problems in testimony like they were physical attacks? Or the fact that no one seems to take these things as out of place (most of the time)? The simple fact that Apollo gets away with {{spoiler|calling out the scar on the back of Kristoph's hand ''turning into a demon face'' in court as part of his proof}} and it's accepted by all involved might be Narm in concept, but leads in to such well done scenes that you won't care.

* ''[[Symphony of the Night]]'': "What is a man?! A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk! ''Have at you!''"

* ''[[Earth Defense Force 2017 (Video Game)|Earth Defense Force 2017]]''. Cheap graphics, silly voice-acting, and a buttload of B-Movie monsters to shoot!

[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]

[[Category:Narm Charm]]