The Jeeves: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:char_jeeves.gif|link=Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)|frame| [[Zany Scheme|Zany Schemes]] abound, but [[Stephen Fry]] barely [[Fascinating Eyebrow|lifts an eyebrow]].]]
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[[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.
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
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== Anime & Manga ==
* The central premise of ''[[
* [[Old Retainer|Genji]] and especially [[Supreme Chef|Gohda]] from ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* Pagan, the Darlian's butler from ''[[Gundam Wing]]''.
* Tokita, the Itoshiki-family butler in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* In ''[[Wild
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* Cadbury, the butler of [[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]]''.
* 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.
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== [[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 [[Upperclass Twit|scatterbrained aristocrat]] who was later [[Expy|Expied]] into Bertie Wooster, and Voules at first appears to be a cool, calm forerunner of Jeeves...until he turns out to be an angry, drunken [[Jerkass]] who betrays his master. [[Characterization Marches On]], what?
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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 ''[[Discworld
** In ''[[Discworld
*** 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 ''[[Discworld
** 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 ''[[Phules Company]]'' books we have Beeker, the batman of Willard J. Phule. Whilst his insanely rich employer is busy inspiring his [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] troops (and he does -- no [[Upperclass Twit]] here), he's the one who frequently has to pull his arse out of the <s>line of</s> fire.
* 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 [[The Jeeves]] around his master (except his schemes don't work), but is thuggish to the other servants. He even switches between [[British Accents|posh dialect and Cockney]], depending on whether there are toffs around or not.
* [[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.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* 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 One]] can stop him from running the house perfectly
== Theater ==
* Speed definitely comes off this way in ''[[
* Tranio in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]''--a [[Gentleman and
* ''[[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 [[Upperclass Twit|Upper Class Twits]] (and single-handedly saves the day when they end up on a [[Deserted Island]]), he still believes that it's wrong for the upper and lower classes to mingle too much and maintains that, as a mere servant, he should know his place.
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* Lawrence is one of these to Dr. Nefarious in the ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' series.
* 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 Diamond and Pearl
== [[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 {{spoiler|a spy with his own agenda}} and a university friend rather than someone hired as a professional manservant, he does seem to be good at his {{spoiler|cover}} job. And given [[Mad Scientist|who his employer was]], having a batman with non-traditional talents probably came in handy.
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== 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 Odd Parents]]'' had Timmy getting a butler named Jensen. [[Plot Hole|There didn't seem to be a problem with him seeing Cosmo and Wanda]].
* 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
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