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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"When you name your baby Jeeves...you've pretty much set up his career for life. You don't see many Hit Men, for example, named Jeeves. "Pardon me sir, but I must wack you now."''|'''[[Jerry Seinfeld]]'''}}▼
▲{{quote|''"When you name your baby Jeeves...you've pretty much set up his career for life. You don't see many Hit Men, for example, named Jeeves. "Pardon me sir, but I must wack you now."''|'''Jerry Seinfeld'''}}
The canonical example is Jeeves himself, from the [[Jeeves and Wooster (
A somewhat common subversion, which began while Wodehouse was still writing, is to have the butler as a brutish thug (and possibly a [[Battle Butler]]). Both the original and the subversion are examples of an actually useful
▲[[The Jeeves]] is the perfect English butler, valet, or manservant. Always well-dressed, unfailingly polite, devoted to his employer... and usually much smarter or more level-headed than [[Upperclass Twit|his employer]], too. Usually can manipulate him so subtly that he does not even have to speak [[With Due Respect]] to achieve his ends.
Note that
▲The canonical example is Jeeves himself, from the [[Jeeves and Wooster (Literature)|Jeeves and Wooster]] short stories and novels of [[PG Wodehouse (Creator)|PG Wodehouse]] and the ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (TV)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'' TV series based on them. The original Jeeves, just for the record, is a valet, [[You Keep Using That Word|not a butler]].
▲an actually useful kind of valet taken to the logical extreme. After all, if an [[Blue Blood|aristocrat]] is in fact foolish and incompetent, then [[Conservation of Competence|a competent valet is an urgent necessity]] if they are to survive everyday life. Conversely, an aristocrat
▲Note that [[The Jeeves]], even if a valet, is not prone to the [[No Hero to His Valet]] plot, generally having a clear view of his master's faults and virtues, though he may, on occasion, allow his view of the former to jaundice his view of the latter.
Usually a [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]]. Complete opposite of the [[Bumbling Sidekick]].
----
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* [[Old Retainer|Genji]] and especially [[Supreme Chef|Gohda]] from ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
▲* The central premise of ''[[Black Butler (Manga)|Black Butler]]''
▲* [[Old Retainer|Genji]] and especially [[Supreme Chef|Gohda]] from ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]]'' fall into this trope.
* Pagan, the Darlian's butler from ''[[Gundam Wing]]''.
* Tokita, the Itoshiki-family butler in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* In ''[[Wild
* Wataru's butler in ''[[Sister Princess]]'' is literally named "Jeeves".
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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*** Though in the case of Alfred, he's certainly more level-headed than Batman, and keeps Batman from either giving up, or going too far into [[Knight Templar]] territory. While he isn't more intelligent or deductive than Batman (though he has his moments), he's certainly ''wiser'' than he is.
*** Jarvis is considerably more level-headed than Tony Stark - which one of them, after all, is the alcoholic?
* Cadbury, the butler of [[Richie Rich (comics)|Richie Rich]].
* From [[Archie]] Comics, the Lodge family butler, Smithers.
* Nestor, the butler of Marlinspike Hall in the ''[[Tintin
== [[Film]] ==
* Hobson, Arthur's valet from ''[[Arthur (
* Martin from the 1998 version of ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]''.
* Leonard's butler in ''Leonard Part Six''.
* ''The Admirable Crichton'' (Title and description of Jeeves-like hero).
* Wadsworth in ''[[Clue (
* Bates from ''[[
* Bensonmum in ''[[Murder By Death]]'', memorably acted by Alec Guinness.
** That's [[Running Gag|Jamessir Bensonmum]], to be precise.
* Jeens in ''[[Dark and Stormy Night]]''.
* {{spoiler|Mrs. Wilson}} from ''[[Gosford Park]]'' [[The Dog Bites Back|turns this to unusual ends]].
{{quote|
* Delbert Grady of ''[[The Shining]]'', albeit briefly
== [[Literature]] ==
* Jeeves from the ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (
** Mention should also be made of Sebastian Beach, the butler supreme of Blandings Castle.
** [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with Voules, Reggie Pepper's manservant. Reggie Pepper was a [[
** Also subverted with Brinkley who Bertie hires when Jeeves is temporarily working for someone else. Brinkley is an incompetant, violently alcoholic Communist who ends up setting the house that Bertie is staying in at the time on fire.
* Also, Jeeves the [[Expy|eponymous]] robotic [[Battle Butler]] for Clan Korval in the [[Liaden Universe]], {{spoiler|a rehabilitated decommissioned war machine}} who it turns out actually adopted his name and manner specifically from certain ancient novels {{spoiler|(after having suffered at the hands of a character who is ''entirely coincidentally'' named [[wikipedia:Roderick Spode|Roderick Spode)]]}}.
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* [[Lord Peter Wimsey]]'s valet Bunter is not, in fact, smarter than his amateur-detective employer, but he does have a number of useful skills that his boss doesn't -- like knowing how to develop a photograph.
* The [[Meaningful Name|meaningfully-named]] Jock Strapp of the ''[[Charlie Mortdecai]]'' series is written as the subversion type, and is actually described as the anti-Jeeves. He's crude [[Dumb Muscle]] and completely loyal to his cunning employer, the titular [[Villain Protagonist]] (or anti-hero on a good day).
* Butler, the [[Battle Butler]] of the ''[[
* Vimes' butler Willikins in the ''[[Discworld]]'' books encompasses both this trope and its subversion: normally, he is the perfect Jeeves (minus the subtle manipulation of a wayward master), but in his childhood or when the situation demands, he was and becomes a thug.
** Indeed, in ''[[
** In ''[[
*** Also in the same book, Willikins admits to having been a street gang member (in a gang even Vimes, a gang kid and possibly the Disc's dirtiest fighter, describes as a tough, mean lot) in his youth, favoring a cap-brim lined with sharpened penny coins. We also see him assisting the watch as a volunteer reservist later. Vimes marvels at the difference in Willikins' working-class background and his current highbrow butler status.
** In ''[[
** The Igors are pretty much this for the [[Mad Scientist]] type. Although they are willing to work for non-mad scientist types.
* Stevens in Kazuo Ishiguro's ''[[The Remains of the Day]]'' is a [[Deconstruction]] of this, {{spoiler|what with all the realising that his life has been meaningless and the Nazis and everything.}}
* In Robert Asprin's ''[[
* Sam Weller of ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]'', while somewhat less polished than most, is certainly far more level-headed than Pickwick himself.
* Lugg in the [[
* Because he apparently hated butlers (going so far as to say they had their own circle of hell, [[Laser-Guided Karma|where kitchen-maids and journalists could watch their torments from Heaven]]), [[Hilaire Belloc]] wrote a different kind of subversion in ''The Emerald of Catherine the Great''. The butler acts like
* [[Poul Anderson]]'s [[Technic History]] has the valet of Dominic Flandry, Chives, who is a clear [[Shout-Out]] to Jeeves. Even if he is not human.
* Miss Feng in [[Charles Stross]]'s short story "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131020105557/http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0701/Trunk.shtml Trunk And Disorderly]", which is a pastiche of the ''Jeeves'' novels relocated to an indeterminate future.
* ''[[Ruggles Of Red Gap]]'' which was also made into a play and a movie.
* Konstantin Bothari from the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'' fits as one of the tropes' subversions. He plays batman to Aral Vorkosigan in the Barrayaran army, and later young Miles Vorkosigan after his release from service, but his primary qualities are his loyalty to the Vorkosigans and his martial abilities as a body guard. Later Miles acquires the suave and Jeeves-like Armsman Pym, who more closely embodies the original trope. Both Bothari and Pym are examples of the [[Battle Butler]].
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* Mr. Butler from the [[Phryne Fisher]] novels. He keeps Phryne's eccentric household running like clockwork and is never put out by any request, no matter how odd.
== [[Live
* Massively defied by Edmund Blackadder in ''[[
* Geoffrey from the sitcom ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel
** And his spiritual ancestor, Benson DuBois of ''[[Soap]]''.
* Frasier hires one of these in one episode of the [[Frasier|show named for him]], although he only plays up the [[British Stuffiness]] when on the clock, and is happy to discuss Man Utd with Daphne in the kitchen.
* Niles from ''[[The Nanny]]''
* There is Frick from the mini-series ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. He is the polite and well-mannered servant to Queen Mab who horribly mistreats him. He often tries to serve as the voice of reason only to be ignored and is often the one to actually carry out her plots. {{spoiler|He leaves her employ/is fires when Mab kills the woman he loves. He then helps Merlin destroy her.}}
** He defines his role and the trope perfectly when Merlin meets him at the end saying: ''"There will always be a need for the perfect gentleman's gentleman, and I was and always will be one of the best."''
* In an episode of [[Even Stevens]] Louis hires Chives, an English butler, for a week.
* Kryten of ''[[
* Hudson from [[Upstairs, Downstairs]], who often puts duty and rectitude before compassion or flexibility, or even his own selfish needs. In one story, he panics when he is seen by Sir Richard at a restaurant entertaining relatives from Australia because he thinks he is aping his betters and thus deserves to be sacked. He is quite shocked when Bellamy doesn't get rid of him, though Bellamy's brother makes him squirm quite a bit.
* Carson from ''[[Downton Abbey]]''. Only [[World War
==
* Speed definitely comes off this way in ''[[
* Tranio in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]''
* ''[[Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]]'': In the song "Go, Go, Go, Joseph", the Pharaoh's butler is referred to as "the Jeeves of his time".
* ''The Admirable Critchton'' appeared before even Jeeves. Though he plays [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]] to an entire family of [[
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Laura Bow]]: The Colonel's Bequest'', there is a butler named Jeeves.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', engineers can craft a device that requests the presence of Jeeves, the perfect gentleman robot butler, who will attend to your needs for 10 min. Jeeves allows players to repair their armor and weapons, sell unwanted items, buy reagents for spells and grants bank access to skilled engineers. Truly a gaming gentleman's gentleman.
** The Jeeves robot, however, has the look of a clockwork gnome and lacks the British stuffiness of a true Jeeves. A closer approximation to
* Lawrence is one of these to Dr. Nefarious in the ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' series. He tends to troll his boss a lot with [[Stealth Insult]]s.
* In [[Fallout 3]], when you get a house (either in Megaton or Tenpenny Tower), you are given a robotic butler to help explain the house's functions, give you fresh water, and tell you jokes. Both possible butlers speak with a british accent and have remarkable manners.
* In [[Pokémon
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* After he won the lottery, Robbie of ''[[PvP]]'' hired a butler ''named'' Butler who plays this to the hilt and can solve any problem the other characters have if they ask him to.
** ... And apparently {{spoiler|1=LolBat in his spare time}}.
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (
* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Gilgamesh Wulfenbach's assistant Wooster is a {{spoiler|complete aversion}} of this trope, considering that {{spoiler|he works for British Intelligence. Gil knows about this.}}
** Considering [[Jeeves and Wooster (
** Despite being
== [[Web Original]] ==
*
* In the [[Show Within a Show]] ''Caleb Rentpayer'' from the [[Homestar Runner]] cartoons, Caleb is a young slacker who somehow came into a lot of money. From the brief snippets of the show we've heard, his hapless butler Tuxworth seems to be half Jeeves, half [[Butt Monkey]].
{{quote|
'''Tuxworth:''' Caleb, that suitcase was ''heavy!'' }}
* [http://uk.ask.com/ Ask Jeeves]. Back by popular demand.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In ''[[
** And Preston Vogel, whom Owen modeled his personality {{spoiler|and current form}} on.
* Duckworth from ''[[
* One of Gromit's many household roles in ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]''. Usually the cause of his misfortune.
* One episode of ''[[The Fairly
* An episode of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' had Danny getting rich and getting a butler named Hopkins.
* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had Beezy getting a butler who literally ''lived his life for him''.
* [[Archer]] has a butler named [[Spell My Name
* In ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Delightful Children from Down the Lane]] had a butler like this named Jenkins. Sadly, [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character| he was not used much]], only appearing when they needed him to do something they could not due to being children, such as drive a car.
* From the ''Super Chicken'' segment of ''[[George of the Jungle]]'', the criminal genius The Noodle has a butler and accomplice named Beastly, who despite his name, was a straight example of this Trope.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Servant Tropes]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Stock British Characters]]
▲[[Category:Darkness Visible]]
[[Category:An Index of Ladies and Gentlemen]]
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