The Teetotaler: Difference between revisions

A common prank is to [[Intoxication Ensues|trick this guy]] into drinking a "Long Island Iced Tea" (which ''is'' an alcoholic drink).

 

 

* [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]] is a teetotaler in the comics. Though his public persona is a borderline alcoholic.

* [[Scott Pilgrim]] claims to be one of these, though he does drink on occasion and has gotten drunk once. {{spoiler|This may have something to do with how Scott purposely changes things in his mind to idealize himself}}.

* Joshua Carver of ''[[No Hero]]'' never drinks, smokes, and is a vegan.

* Billy Butcher from ''[[The Boys]]''.

* Jay Garrick, the original [[The Flash|Flash]]. Mostly as a result of him being an old-fashioned elderly man.

* Jackie Estacado, a.k.a. [[The Darkness]], doesn't drink alcohol. And honestly, are you gonna [[Bullying a Dragon|rag on him for it?]]

* When we are first introduced to Dwight in ''[[Sin City]]'', he abstains from alcohol. He soon [[Takes a Level In Badass]] but seemingly continues not to drink, as evident when he is shown visiting bars but doesn't drink. Granted, he's typically working in those scenes but that doesn't stop other characters.

* After recovering from his drunken fall from grace, [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] was this. However, it remains if it stays after [[Fear Itself (Comic Book)|he sacrificed it to get Odin's attention]].

 

* Severus Snape in ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3735743/1/The_Moment_It_Began The Moment it Began]'', of the "drunken father" variety. Ironically, it's later ''him'' who attempts to initiate a night of pub-hopping with his now-recovering dad, [[What the Hell, Hero?|who calls him out on it.]]

 

* Played with in ''[[To Be or Not to Be]]'':

'''Colonel Ehrhardt:''' Yes... '''''NO!''''' }}

* While it wasn't directly referenced in ''[[L.A. Confidential]]'', Russell Crowe asked the writer and director whether his character, Bud White, ever drank alcohol. They told him no. Because he likes [[Dyeing for Your Art|dyeing for his art]], Crowe did the same during the entire shoot. As an Australian, he was miserable.

* Nicholas Angel from ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' was this in the beginning, drinking only Cranberry Juice. However he decided to drink beer later.

* [[Russell Brand|Aldous Snow]] of ''[[Forgetting Sarah Marshall]]''. However, he does revert back to alcholism in ''[[Get Him to The Greek]]''. Russell Brand, who plays Snow, is actually teetotal.

 

== Literature ==

* Ibram Gaunt of ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' became an alcoholic at one point. He gets clean and becomes this trope.

* ''[[Discworld]]''

** Magrat Garlick, although she's been a victim of [[Intoxication Ensues]] once or twice.

* [[Charlie Chan]] is a teetotaler, but in a bit of double irony he is no fan of a [[Spot of Tea]]; he prefers sarsaparilla (a nonalcoholic root beer-like drink).

* The residents of Ennett House Drug and Alcohol Recovery [[Department of Redundancy Department|House]] (''[[Running Gag|sic]]'') in [[David Foster Wallace]]'s ''[[Infinite Jest]]'', being required to join AA or NA, are of course therefore required (theoretically) to be Type Bs, but Don Gately eventually comes to be an honest one (it's important).

* Sir Raoul in the [[Tortall Universe]] is the "recovering alchoholic" type.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Seth Bullock on ''[[Deadwood]]''. In contrast to the frequent use of alcohol by other characters (Doc Cochran, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickock, Al Swearengen and his men), Bullock rarely drinks at all. IIRC, he only does so once during the first season, and its done with Swearengen as toast at the end of their conversation.

* Mr. Garibaldi on ''[[Babylon 5]]'' starts off as a Type B. He slips into drinking for an episode when he's framed in Season 1. In Season 5, his alcoholism became [[Off the Wagon]].

* In ''[[Rumpole of the Bailey]]'', Sam Ballard seems to be one at first, being a goody-two-shoes who only ever drinks mineral water...but then we learn that he isn't, but [[Can't Hold His Liquor|really ought to be]].

* Captain Jack Harkness in the first season of ''[[Torchwood]]'' only has one drink: to raise his glass to a fallen soldier. Otherwise he's always drinking plain water while whoever he's drinking with has something alcoholic. This becomes even more conspicious if one considers his original ''[[Doctor Who]]'' characterisation which included a habit of heavy drinking. The reasons for this change are probably a combination of keeping his wits and being a recovering alcoholic - he has spent a century working for an organisation that habitually slips [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] drugs into people's drinks (or at least Jack does...), and we later see him [[Drowning My Sorrows|drowning his sorrows]] in Victorian era flashbacks and alien space bars post-''[[Torchwood: Children of Earth|Children of Earth]]'', so it's likely that he has at least a psychological addiction, even if he can't actually be physically hurt by too much alcohol. (He can get drunk, but he [[Good Thing You Can Heal|can't drink himself to his grave]], [[Blessed with Suck|as much as he wants to]], sometimes.) Add to this that he really can't afford a case of [[In Vino Veritas]] at that point, and you have all the reasons a character might ever need to become temporarily teetotal. He much prefers good coffee over a [[Spot of Tea]], though.

 

* [[CM Punk]] is [[Straight Edge]]. Which also makes him this trope.

* Jerry Lawler, in real life, is also [[Straight Edge]].

* [[John Cena]] seems to be an embodiment of clean living and good morals in his character. Considering how much time and dedication he puts into representing the WWE in real life, especially for the kids, there may be some truth to it.

** Averted actually - Cena is a pretty hard drinker, but never in front of the kids.

 

== Video Games ==

* A lifestyle choice in ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]''. Choosing to be incarnated as a teetotaler will block your ability to drink alcoholic beverages for the entire run in favor of a greater ability to consume food (which is unlocked about halfway in). There's also the "boozetafarian" path, which is this reversed, meaning that you may not consume food, while alcohol is completely fine, and finally the oxygenarian run, in which you may consume ''neither'', although you can consume things that don't count as food. Needless to say, the oxygenarian run is the one that yields the most rewards.

* Blaise in ''[[Rune Factory 3]]'' openly hates alcohol. Apparently [[Noodle Incident|something happened when he had "a glass of wine at a party", but he doesn't remember and no one will tell you what!]]

 

== Web Comics ==

* Gabe from ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' doesn't even take aspirin or those vitamin boosts at Jamba Juice, and was too nervous to take his prescribed anxiety medication. Compare to the often-drunken Tycho.

* Kittan of ''[[Double K]]'' '''was''' one of these. But a few panels of hanging out with Kamina, and a certain word starting with a p and rhyming with fussy changed that real quick.

 

== Real Life ==

* The pirate Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts was a Teetotaler.

* [[Adolf Hitler]] was at one time a very dedicated smoker, and grew to find the habit disgusting.

* [[Richard E. Grant]]. [[Cue Irony]] when he was cast as the alcoholic Withnail in ''[[Withnail and I]]''. The director got him to go on a drinking binge once to better understand the character. Grant reportedly found it "deeply unpleasant".

* Possible [[Trope Codifier]]: Wyatt Earp was known for drinking tea instead of alcohol. This obviously gave him a useful advantage in reaction time when breaking up (the perpetrators of) barfights.

* [[Russell Brand]]

* [[Natalie Portman]]

* Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench abstains from alcohol, due to his "dark and troubled past."

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Hard-Drinking Tropes]]