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{{trope}}
[[File:Batman gardening 6456.png|link=Shortpacked!|
{{quote|''"Even funnier than the man who has been made ridiculous, however, is the man who, having had something funny happen to him, refuses to admit that anything out of the way has happened, and attempts to maintain his dignity."''
|'''[[Charlie Chaplin]]'''}}
Just because [[No Sense of Humor|a character doesn't have a sense of humor themselves]] doesn't mean that they can't make the audience laugh. '''The Comically Serious''' is a character who ostensibly has a serious, composed personality, but is funny because [[Weirdness Magnet|he or she is put into funny situations]]. This works with character types who react calmly to unusual situations, especially those that more realistically induce hysteria or other strong emotions, such as the [[Deadpan Snarker]], [[The Stoic]], and [[The Quiet One]].
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Subtrope of [[Bathos]]. Also related to [[Serious Business]], as comically serious characters have a tendency to indulge in it. Might also be the [[Butt Monkey]] in settings where being serious is seen as an offense.
Compare [[No Sense of Humor]], [[So Unfunny It's Funny]].
Contrast [[Dude, Not Funny]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Karakuri Circus]]'' - Narumi's [[No Sense of Humor|nonexistent sense of humor]] is a problem - because only causing someone to laugh will halt his [[Incurable Cough of Death]]. Crosses over into [[So Unfunny It's Funny]], at times.
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* Garterbelt, ''[[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt|Panty and Stocking's]]'' stern taskmaster. Ghost-slaying at God's command is [[Serious Business]], and there's [[Absurdity Ascendant|nothing absurd]] about ghosts of [[Refuge in Vulgarity|turd, semen, boogers or vomit]].
▲== Comics ==
* [[Batman]] often plays the unfunny role. Anything can be made funnier by adding Batman as the straight guy. A rare exception is found in the ''[[The Killing Joke]]'', {{spoiler|when The Joker tells him [[Actually Pretty Funny|a joke that makes them both laugh]].}} More typically: In "Hush", when Nightwing and Batman are in the Batmobile discussing Catwoman (well, Nightwing is discussing her... Batman is glaring off into the distance ignoring him):
{{quote|'''Nightwing:''' ''If you don't want to talk with someone, why do you even have a passenger seat in the Batmobile?''
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* Previously, [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Cyclops]] would fulfill this role. As pointed out before aby a few fans, personality wise, he's not unlike Batman, meaning that any situation from his perspective could become funnier, or more awesome. He once had a oneshot story a while back, that involved him fighting evil circus folk while stealing a man's bike and leaving an apologetic note afterwards. A lot of humour was derived from the situation he was in, his reaction, and the ending which turned a small number of bits into a Brick Joke. Sadly, The X-Men are being as serious as they can now, so no more comically serious adventures for Cyke.
* Dream / Morpheus in ''[[The Sandman]]'', either through being the straight man to the likes of Delirium or [[Immortal Immaturity]]. When his latest affair ends badly at the beginning of "Brief Lives", he starts brooding on the balcony like a teenager - and [[Fisher King|causes downpours]] throughout the Dreaming just to complete the pose.
== Film ==
* Just about any character played by [[Christopher Walken]].
* [[Leslie Nielsen]] was a somewhat successful dramatic actor. When Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker came along and had him act the exact same way in a crazy situation in their film ''[[Airplane!]]'', it made him a comedy legend. The rest is history. Hence [[Leslie Nielsen Syndrome]]: it is difficult to impossible to watch older Leslie Nielsen films without stifling inappropriate giggles—including such classics as ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''.
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* Moe Howard from ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' is cast as the most "serious" Stooge and often berates the other two to stop screwing around, but he is no less likely to get a pie in the face or clonked with a shovel than anyone else in the cast. This is a natural extension of the much older role of the ''whiteface'' clown as a [[Straight Man]] to the more rambunctious ''auguste'' in professional clowning. Some people have trouble with [[Monster Clown|smart clowns]]...
* [[Home Alone]]: Harry to a certain extent.
== Literature ==
* Most of the characters in the ''[[Discworld]]'' universe, but [[Deadpan Snarker|Vetinari]] and [[Da Chief|Vimes]] particularly stick out. Also [[Never Mess with Granny|Granny Weatherwax]]. Just look at her experience with theater in ''[[
** Captain Carrot. Who will track down Death on the ground he's the only witness to a murder.
*** The thing is, this is [[Cloudcuckooland|Discworld]], where such things are not only plausible, but legitimate.
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'''Jeeves:''' Mr. Bickersteth appeared somewhat taken aback, sir. }}
▲== Live Action TV ==
* [[Seth Green]] as Oz in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Also, Giles and Angel.
* Indeed, much of the humor on [[Angel|Angel's own show]] was derived from his being deadpan in comical or bizarre situations, or how absolutely seriously he took his role as Brooding Hero of the Night With a Dark Past, to the point where it became a bit absurd. Cases in point: his dancing (it's ''dreadful'' but thankfully imaginary), leaping heroically into the ''wrong convertible'' and thereby averting a car chase scene, the discovery that he enjoys Barry Manilow but cannot sing to save his unlife, and dressing up in a [[Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist|ridiculous tourist outfit]] in order to apparently ''annoy'' information out of a local mafia boss. All of these he treats with complete seriousness or hides to keep his brooding cred.
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== Music ==
* Steve Bender, one of the two German members of the 80's multi-national band ''[[Dschinghis Khan]]''. Lampshaded in several [[YouTube]] comments which mention how utterly ''serious'' he is, when compared with his more cheerful bandmates.
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/davidchoimusic David Choi] is so serious a video on [[YouTube]] is dedicated to making him laugh.
* Just watch the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ANazeJodro unofficial video] for "Whipped Cream" by [[Ludo]] and try to keep a straight face as long as the band does.
== Professional Wrestling ==
* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]
** Wrestler Steve Blackman often served as the Unfunny in a tag team with one of the federation's wackier wrestlers, including [[Cloudcuckoolander]] Al Snow and white-boy wannabe rapper Grandmaster Sexay.
** "If I can be serious for a minute..." [[WCW]]/[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]/[[ECW]] alumnus [[Lance Storm]] also used a (fairly humorous) Unfunny gimmick ("Your days of unabashed hijinks are about to end."). The [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] [[Flanderisation|Flanderised]] him into a robot-like [[The Stoic|Stoic]] who would later [[Badass Decay|learn how to have "fun" and dance his way down to the ring]]. It's a far cry from his [[WCW]] and [[ECW]] days, where he was both [[Comically Serious]] ''and'' [[Badass]].
** [[
* [[Beth Phoenix]] comes off as unfunny since she plays [[Straight Man|straight woman]] to her boyfriend [[The Fool|Santino]], her intern [[Loony Fan|Rosa Mendez]], frequent tag team partner [[Dreadful Musician|Jillian Hall]] and the crazy characters they tend to attract.
* "Hey Tomko, gimme a beat." "[[Little No|No]]."
== Stand-up Comedy ==▼
* [[Rowan Atkinson]] is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ad1f6ZCTbg grand master of this trope.]▼
== Radio ==
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* ''Wiretap'' - Jonathan Goldstein as portrayed in most of the "conversations" on his radio show.
▲== Recorded and Stand-up Comedy ==
▲* [[Rowan Atkinson]] is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ad1f6ZCTbg grand master of this trope.]
==
* Malvolio from [[Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' is often played this way.
== Video Games ==
* Sasha Nein from ''[[Psychonauts]].'' He's more or less [[The Spock]], but gets the most amusing punishments—such as having his [[Brainwashed|brain removed]], leaving him to babble about TVs and hackeysacks, or being squashed on the underside of a giant rubber stamper.
{{quote|'''Sasha:''' [[wikipedia:Yon Yonson|My name is Yon Yonson, I live in Wisconsin, I work in the lumberyard there...]] * [[Non Sequitur Thud|Thud]]* }}
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* Tombstone in ''[[Freedom Force]] vs. The Third Reich'', as a result of being a [[Nineties Anti-Hero]] trapped in an homage to the [[Silver Age]]:
{{quote|'''Alchemiss''': ''[sarcastically]'' So how did ''you'' spend your sabbatical, Tombstone? Performing in musical theater? Raising puppies?
'''Tombstone''': {{
** Quetzalcoatl also qualifies:
{{quote|'''Quetzalcoatl''' ''[After being turned into a chicken by [[Fun Personified|Green Genie]]]'' '''[[Large Ham|YOU DISHONOR ME AND MY ANCESTORS.]]'''
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* [[Emotionless Girl]] Presea Combatir of ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''. By [[Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World|the sequel]], her actions clearly indicate that she ''has'' regained her sense of humor, bu she still speaks in a monotone making even the most ridiculous lines sound completely serious.
=== [[Visual Novels]] ===▼
▲== [[Visual Novels]] ==
* Miku in ''[[A Profile]]''. Be careful what you tell very serious people to do, Masayuki. They might do as you ask... and then you'll have them saying 'I love you' with a deadpan face during every pause in the conversation.
* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series
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** Well {{spoiler|until you get the safe ending. Then he's just plain terrifying.}}
* Though it isn't often, Nero Chaos of ''[[Tsukihime]]'', thousand year-old uber-vampire with a body comprised of 666 demon beasts composed of pure chaos, is sometimes called into this role during side stories. His crowning moment? Participating in an involved game of ''tag''.
== Web Comics ==
* [[Psycho for Hire|Mordecai Heller]] from ''[[Lackadaisy]]'', as illustrated [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=346 in this comic]
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''
** Roy is the realistic [[Deadpan Snarker]] and [[Straight Man]] to the rest of his party's wacky hijinks. {{spoiler|His death}} has led to the rest of the party having various breakdowns both comedically and mentally.
** Vaarsuvius has had his/her moments, too.
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* Agent Washington from ''[[Red vs. Blue|Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'' behaves like an actual agent from a secret military in the future. Contrasts well with the whacky mishaps the main cast. The red and blue armies also do this, by tying Caboose up in the brig and putting Grif and Simmons in front of a firing squad.
** Earlier in the series, Tex also qualifies. Though to a lesser degree. Her toughness was played for action and being a badass, rather than humor.
* This is the entire point of ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131113123808/http://averagecats.com/ Average Cats]'' - it's hilarious precisely because the captions are matter-of-fact and serious. The captions also sometimes venture into [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]. They never stop being mock-serious.
* The ''[[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]'' universe is ruled by the Laws of Comedy, which require that any character who thinks they have dignity immediately loses it.
* Batman (of course) in ''[[I'm a Marvel And I'm a DC]]''. And he's occasionally the [[Only Sane Man]], to boot.
* [[Star Wars|Darth Vader and two Stormtroopers]] celebrate the rennovation of [[Disney Theme Parks]]' Star Tours with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4_dZPVg8KI a trip to Disneyland].
* Lampshaded when Team Four Star did an abridged version of ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'', which covered the entire first season in ''2 minutes''. Tien's only line in this is "I'm the only serious character in this show. That's the joke".
* Chiaroscuro Themyst from ''[[Sinai
== Western Animation ==
* Squidward in ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''.
** Hence, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130713090757/http://acciobrain.ligermagic.com/snapeward.jpg this].
* Batman. Batman, Batman, Batman.<ref>na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]!</ref>
** Batman often plays the Comically Serious role on ''[[Justice League]]''.
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* ''[[Bob's Burgers]]'' - Bob Belcher and his [[The Stoic|emotionless]] daughter Tina.
* Optimus Prime has shades of this in ''[[Transformers Prime]]''. Bulkhead explicitly mentions never seeing Optimus [[The Stoic|laugh, cry or lose his cool]], but funny stuff is made funnier by his completely deadpan reaction to it. After showing a [[LOLcats]]-esque internet meme that actually got ''[[Grumpy Old Man|Ratchet]]'' to chuckle, Jack asked Optimus if he wanted to see something funny, Optimus replied rather bluntly "No."
* Gummy, Pinkie Pie's pet alligator, in ''[[My Little Pony:
** Arguably Twilight Sparkle, she often displays a no nonsense attitude to things, and is a [[Neat Freak]] and [[The Workaholic]] rolled into one. She is also extremely [[Adorkable]] and neurotic, either due to her wackier friends' antics or her [[Super OCD]] nature grating on her sanity.
** Fluttershy may count as [[The Quiet One]] variant. In episodes where she tries to be loud the best she can manage is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BpquDZEyUI a pitiful little squeak] or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xczDd2_X0DI something resembling] [[Flat Joy]]. What lands her in this trope is the fact she seems to genuinely believe she ''is'' being loud.
{{quote|'''Fluttershy:''' Too loud?}}
== Other Media ==▼
▲== Other ==
* The stereotype of the [[Germanic Depressives|Germans]] being what it is, this seems a rather inevitable result.
* Thanks to a combination of attempted clinical tone and strange or even downright silly subjects, [[The Other Wiki]] occasionally dabbles in this trope. For example, their page for [[wikipedia:Butte County High School|Butte County High School]], home of the Butte Pirates. Similarly, their 'plot' section for The Lonely Island song "[[wikipedia:Jizz In My Pants#Plot|Jizz In My Pants]]". Or their entry on [[wikipedia:Cool (aesthetic)|"cool"]].
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** Cats, too. There's a reason why [[Cats Are Snarkers]] in media.
*** It helps a lot that cats have such humanlike faces that people subconsciously ''think'' cats can [[Cheshire Cat Grin|smile]], heightening the disconnect.
* In response to a glaring mistake on [[Star Wars|StarWars.com]]'s
* Most satirists tend be this way. They would say something that would be really outrageous and silly while keeping a straight face about it.
* [[Roger Ebert]] always finds this style of comedy better than [[Adam Sandler]] style clowning. See the middle of his [https://web.archive.org/web/20130315192719/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Plot Magnet]]
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