All The Tropes

The Klutz: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

The Klutz (view source)

Revision as of 07:14, 8 April 2014

228 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
m (Mass update links)
m (Mass update links)
Line 4:
There are varying degrees of klutziness, of course. Some characters are fairly capable with a notable tendency to trip, drop things, forget important tasks, or [[Myth Busters|just plain hurt themselves with their reckless use of explosives]], while others can effectively be a force of raw chaos, inducing [[Deus Ex Machina]] levels of disaster that can foil even the best-laid [[Plan]].
 
A broader supertrope covering those characters that cannot be fit into the narrower [[Cute Clumsy Girl]] / [[Dojikko]], which combines with [[Ms. Fanservice]], [[The Ditz]], and [[The Woobie]] specifically to transform the character into a [[Moe]] factory. Klutziness may be the bunny ears on the [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]], where their clumsiness is forgiven when they possess valuable knowledge or work skills where their utter lack of grace are not such an impediment. May occasionally transform into [[The Millstone]] or [[Spanner in Thethe Works]], depending on how well the heroes can point the klutz at their enemy's plans, and away from their own. If the klutz is routinely [[The Millstone]], the audience may be compelled to yell "[[Just Eat Gilligan]]!"
 
Often used as an excuse to inject [[The Pratfall]] and other elements of [[Slapstick]] comedy.
Line 10:
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* Osaka of ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]''.
** Chiyo, often times, as well.
** Kimura's Wife displays traits of this as well as [[The Messiah]].
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'': Usagi is as much a klutz as she is [[The Ditz]]. Yuuichirou, the guy who works with Rei at the shrine is also klutzy.
* [[Dojikko|Misuzu]] from ''[[AIR (Visual Novel)|AIR]]'' is exactly this. Much of the comic relief lies in her tripping and falling on her face whenever she starts running.
* Akane Tendo of ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma ½]]'' is the klutz in spite of being a [[Tsundere]] with greater-than-average strength and martial arts training (if severely outclassed by every other fighter in the series). She gets teased for it a lot, even in the threat of her [[Hyperspace Mallet]]. Unlike some other examples, though, she usually learns from her mistakes --for example, when she tried to learn rhythmic gymnastics, she made a mess of everything and tripped over her own feet... but by the end of the week she was pretty good at it, and by the end of the manga she pulls off feats of near-superhuman agility.
* Proud, noble and powerful Yeon from [[Tower of God]] is capable, but on two occasions she burnt up her entire team, and when their strength was measured, she slipped and barely touched the measuring plate with her knuckles while bumping her head against the machine. {{spoiler|She still got in third place and was first place at the time.}}
Line 23:
* Mai's mother in ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star]]'', explained as being due to a lack of sleep -- she works as an archaeologist of the non-[[Adventurer Archaeologist|adventuring]] kind, and frequently pulls all-nighters.
** Yes, you read that correctly. Mrs. Mishou is an archaeologist who, seemingly unique on television, actually spends her time on research and on carefully excavating dig sites with small, precise tools.
* Taiga Aisaka from ''[[Toradora (Light Novel)|Toradora!]]''.
** Taiga is an unusual case; she's not particularly clumsy in the sense of tripping over, dropping things or bumping into people (she's actually remarkably athletic), but she's capable of acts of startling carelessness. Most notably, she not only [[Love Letter Lunacy|put a love letter in the wrong boy's bag, she actually forget to put the letter in the envelope!]]
* Dr. Tearju Lunatique from ''[[Black Cat (Mangamanga)|Black Cat]]'' to a very small extent. She trips several times, and each time she has some sort of strange food or something that stains/burns that ''always'' lands on Sven. She ruins two of his Fedoras in the course of one chapter (once with a substance that's supposed to be eggs, and again with scalding hot tea). Sven even questions how the hell she managed to trip over her own feet when attempting to carry the tea.
* Dino from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]!'' takes this to extremes: when his fellow mafia family members are present, he's especially skilled and all-around awesome. Without them, though, he gets ''so'' clumsy that he can't even eat a simple meal without getting it on himself, or walk up or down stairs without tripping and falling (mostly onto Tsuna for added effect.) When the series shifts into action territory, however, this trait seems to be all but written out of the plot.
** He still does this in most appearance where he does more than just standing around being the [[Combat Commentator]], including falling down the stairs of the Namimori Shrine. Luckily he's [[Made of Iron]].
Line 31:
* The Loveless family maid Roberta from ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' is completely inept in any housework. She's [[Obfuscating Stupidity|using the job as a cover]], being a former FARC guerrilla fighter and international terrorist.
** Greenback Jane from her self-titled arc is another big example, though she's nowhere near the unstoppable badass Roberta is.
* [[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Dawn's Piplup]] is a [[Mons|mon]] version of this. When it tries to stretch itself up in ego, it falls over. It'd be quite a bit more liked [[Creator's Pet|if it weren't used so damn often.]]
** Better examples are Ash's Gligar (who mostly got more competent when it evolved) and Misty's Psyduck.
** And Ash earlier on in the series.
* A repeatedly lampshaded trait of Eto "Careless Hachibe" Hachibe from ''[[Iono the Fanatics]]''. She desperately tried to hide it using her [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo]] side, but alas, clumsiness is just one of those things that are really to control.
* In ''[[Gao Gai GarGaoGaiGar]]'', one member of each pair of the "[[Combining Mecha|Dragon Brothers]]" (and according to ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', the Dragon Sisters) is very bad at landing when launched into battle (see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0K_R0RpaJ4 here]).
** Funny thing is, it is usually the [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Red Oni]] counterpart who is prone to crash-land, as proven with the Dragon Brothers. But for the Dragon Sisters, it's the [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Blue Oni]] who is the one to crash-land.
** However, in the actual show, KouRyu (the "red" one) never has to ''land'', but has a great deal of comical trouble maneuvering in space.
*** AnRyu crashing is from ''[[Super Robot Wars W]]''.
** Actually, in the aforementioned scene in FINAL, ''both'' of them crash-landed. AnRyu simply had a more spectacular one, more akin to EnRyu's kind of "landing" as opposed to the simple "thud" that KouRyu experienced. Given that they were both falling in from ''orbit'' and had likely been tossed away by Puranus, though...it's kind of understandable.
* Koyomi, the protagonist of ''[[Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou]]''. Her only magical skill is summoning [[Anvil Onon Head|falling basins]], and she tends to get herself into trouble even when that's not happening.
* Lilika from ''[[Burn Up]] Scramble''. Especially when [[Can't Hold His Liquor|drunk]].
* Yomiko Readman of ''[[Read or Die (Anime)|Read or Die]]'', although she is outclassed by Joker's assistant Wendy's [[Dojikko]] antics.
* Jinpei in ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Anime)|Gatchaman]]'', through a combination of his young age and tendency to leap before he looks.
* Miranda from ''[[D .Gray Man-man]]'' went through a ''lot'' of jobs thanks to this.
* Nyu, the innocent split personality of [[Ax Crazy]] Lucy in ''[[Elfen Lied]]''.
** Another example from ''Elfen Lied'' would be Kisaragi, Kurama's "clumsy secretary." [[Kill the Cutie|Lucy rips her head off and uses her body as a sheild in the first 6 minutes 30 seconds.]]
Line 59:
* Awkwardman from the ''Inferior Five''. He's been known to bump his head on panel borders and knock over ''the laws of perspective'' when he falls. That's right, this man is so clumsy that the conventions of the medium and physics both topple before his fumbling.
* Wildcard from ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' literally accidentally breaks everything he touches without fail. Sooner or later, it ''will'' happen.
* [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]: Clumsy Carp from the comic ''B.C.'' In one strip, Peter and Thor are watching Clumsy approach from far away, across a flat plain that's totally featureless... except for one small rock, which he duly trips over. Peter turns to Thor and says "Pay up."
** Well, almost exactly. He's not a carp.
** He's also charged five times the standard admission to an antiques show in one strip.
Line 73:
== Films -- Live Action ==
* Chunk in ''[[The Goonies]]''. Mikey even uses Chunk's clumsiness to break the [[Treasure Map]] from its frame. "What'd you break this time, Chunk?"
* ''[[Star Wars (Franchise)|Star Wars]]''' Jar Jar Binks, on his own admission: "Messa... clumsy."
* ''[[The Pink Panther]]'': Inspector Clouseau.
* Cadet (later Officer) Fackler in the ''[[Police Academy]]'' films. Oddly, most of his mishaps inflict injury on people other than himself.
Line 80:
* Dr. Allison Reed in ''[[Evolution]]''.
* Seymour in both film versions of ''([[The Little Shop of Horrors|The]]) [[Little Shop of Horrors]]''. In the original, he's a {{spoiler|[[Lethal Klutz]]}}.
* [[Godzilla (Franchise)|Godzilla]] of all creatures, particularly during the Showa era. During his rampages and monster fights, the King of the Monsters frequently loses his footing and tumbles to the ground (often taking out a building or two in the process).
** This was all too common in the actual filming of such scenes, particularly in [[Gojira (Filmfilm)|the first movie]]; stunt actors would often topple over due to the awkwardness of the toe spread.
 
 
== Literature ==
* Bella Swann from ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]'' always makes a point of discussing her klutzy tendencies. Which, conveniently, hides all her injuries from her altercations with vampires.
** Spoofed to hell and back with the extravagant clumsiness of Belle Goose in the ''Harvard Lampoon'''s parody, ''Nightlight.''
* Prince Rhun in ''[[Prydain Chronicles|The Castle of Llyr]]''. As Fflewddur put it, "If there were a field with one stone he'd trip over it!" And get back up with a smile on his face.
* Penlan from [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' novels.
{{quote| "Penlan?" Kasteen looked thoughtful for a moment. "Isn't she the one they call Jinxie?"<br />
"Yes." I nodded. "But she's not nearly as accident prone as she's supposed to be. I'll grant you [[Continuity Nod|she fell down an ambull tunnel once]], and there was [[Urine Trouble|that incident with the frag grenade and the latrine trench]], but things [[Cursed Withwith Awesome|tend to work out for her]]. The orks on Kastafore was as surprised as she was when [[No OSHA Compliance|the floor in the factory collapsed]], and we'd have walked into right into that [[Noodle Incident|hrud ambush on Skweki if she hadn't triggered the mine by chucking an empty food tin away]]..." I trailed off, finally listening to what I was saying. "You know how troopers tend to exaggerate these things," I finished lamely. }}
** Aka "Jinxie". But the troopers ''want'' to be near her; they think she soaks up all the bad luck in the vicinity.
* Tonks from the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books. She nearly failed her Auror's exams because of her poor stealth skills, and passed only because of her handy [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]] abilities.
Line 107:
* [[Family Matters|Steve Urkel]].
* ''The George Lopez Show'' had a [[Recurring Character]] named Accidental Amy (played by executive producer [[Sandra Bullock]]).
* Parodied in ''[[I CarlyICarly]]'', where the titular [[Show Within a Show]] airs a joke trailer for a movie starring a teenage heroine who "falls down a lot for no reason."
** A [[Take That]] for the example just below?! Or maybe to Nick alumni [[The Amanda Show|Amanda Bynes]] in ''[[What a Girl Wants]]''?
* The title character of ''[[Lizzie McguireMcGuire]]''.
* Claire in ''[[My Wife and Kids]]''.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'' had Julie, one of J.D.'s [[Girl of the Week|girlfriends of the week]] (played by Zach Braff's [[Real Life Relative|girlfriend-at-the-time]] [[Mandy Moore]]). It comes as a bit of a surprise when Elliot predicts ''J.D.'' to be the one who eventually screws up their relationship. (Surely enough, he does.)
** J.D. and Elliot do have this as well, though Julie just takes it to the extremes.
* Male example: Jack Tripper from ''[[Threes Company|Three's Company]]'', who'd usually trip on the sofa.
** Chrissy's cousin Cindy is even more of one.
* Sam and CJ in ''[[The West Wing]]''.
Line 121:
* Kramer in ''[[Seinfeld]]''.
* Captain Parmenter in ''[[F Troop]]'', who pratfalls on a regular basis.
* Kelly Bundy occasionally drifted into this trope on ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]''.
 
 
Line 133:
 
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'': Colette is such a klutz that some of her attacks are essentially her falling on someone (with an added bonus effect of [[Kleptomaniac Hero|stealing their items]]). Her tendency to stumble and fall on the ''[[Shaggy Search Technique|exact thing]]'' the party was looking for (a rare book, the off switch for a trap) leads her companions to call it a "divine clumsiness", which doesn't preclude her being just plain clumsy at times -- the room in which the game begins has a [[Efficient Displacement|Colette-shaped hole in the wall]].
** Another wall that Colette leaves a Colette-shaped hole in is ''still'' there in the second game and used as the town's tourist attraction (an NPC suggested it be used for such a thing in the first game). This place is one place that IS reasonable to trip, as it is at the end of a steep downward slope.
** At one point, in Welgaia, she trips ''into a deactivated machine, turning it on.'' Not only that, but later in the game she manages to trip and fall over despite ''[[Winged Humanoid|being able to fly]]''. That's an achievement in itself.
Line 163:
 
== Western Animation ==
* Young Hercules in Disney's ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'', [[Does Not Know His Own Strength|due to his]] [[Super Strength]]. The [[Recycled: Thethe Series|TV series]] based on his teen years had this as a recurring theme.
* ''[[Lilo and Stitch: The Series]]'' has an experiment named Woops, who is this trope incarnate. He's actually important to the story in his first and only appearance.
* [[Goofy]] is well known for being the klutz.
* Eugene in ''[[Hey Arnold]]'', who is not just extremely clumsy, but is also just [[The Chew Toy|a bad luck magnet]] in general. In one episode it was revealed that he was born on Friday the Thirteenth, which explains a lot.
Line 174:
* [[George of the Jungle|George, George, George of the Jungle... WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!]]
* Nancy in ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]''. A psychic even pointed this out once while attempting to read the bumps on her head, most of which were obtained through Nancy's own klutziness. In another episode, Mr. Chan instinctively calls out to Nancy when he hears someone crashing into a lamp. (It was Stanley, who's also rather clumsy himself.)
* Irma from the 1987 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 (Animation)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' is really a klutz tending to step on people's feet and often addressed as this by others including Bebop and Rocksteady.
* The title character of ''[[Doug]]'' could be this at times.
* The original Applejack from ''[[My Little Pony]]''. It's a main part of her backstory for the toys, and she got a song in the UK about how "silly" she is.
** Not so much in the cartoon, though. The one big spill she ends up in is Firefly's fault.
** In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', the title goes to fan-favorite Derpy, who despite only having a few lines so far in a single episode, has been seen dropping furniture on people, accidentally pulling the plug out of a bobbing-for-apples tub, accidentally smashing holes in the roof of a building she was getting ready for a party. and even creating a hole in the ground by just sitting down.
 
 
Line 185:
** [[Chevy Chase]]'s [http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=7144a23c-d9eb-450f-84ac-40e594f3fe64 parody of Ford] on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' included this.
** In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', as he and Homer walk to his home they both trip and fall flat on their faces.
** In the ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'''s "Presidents" song, all he gets is "Gerald Ford fell down a lot".
** [[Justified Trope]]: he had a balance problem due to inner ear failure.
* [[George W. Bush]] also gets stuck with a bit of this reputation, having fallen off a Segway and his bicycle, choked spectacularly on a pretzel, and been "outwitted" by a door at the end of a press conference.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/886289"