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{{trope}}
[[File:
'''Vicars''' are inherently funny.
British vicars are generally portrayed as docile and gentle elderly chaps, with white hair and little glasses and ever so prim and prissy ways. They <s>drink</s> ''take'' [[Spot of Tea|afternoon tea]] ("more tea, vicar?"), have a tendency to be a bit liberal with the altar wine and don't believe that anything remotely sexual happens ever, despite the fact that Church of England vicars are allowed to marry. So, to be caught ''[[Caught
A more recent trope is the "trendy" vicar, who is younger, and probably plays the guitar, but is really just as clueless, especially when it comes to attracting young people to the church. Expect them to make air quotes while using [[Totally Radical|thirty-year-old slang]].
For those of you who are non-Brits: ''Vicar'' is a term used to refer to a parish priest of the Anglican Church. This is the official established religion of England, a faith that was designed -- [[The House of Tudor|long, long story]]
The ''word'' "vicar" technically just means "deputy"; one of the Pope's titles is "Vicar of Christ," for instance. In the Middle Ages, the word 'rector' meant the person that had the right to collect the income of the parish (known as the 'living'), but this could be a bishop, a canon, an abbey, or a pluralist rector with multiple livings. The 'rector' would hire a deputy, the vicar, who was a priest who did the actual work that we associate with ministers and priests. So folks got into the habit of using the term 'vicar' to refer to any 'working priest',<ref>the officially 'done thing' is to call the rector 'vicar' in a parish that traditionally had one, which means the rich important ones that were formerly attractive to pluralist prelates. So, in one of the strange inversions of which British custom is so fond, the originally lower title of 'vicar' is now used by the rectors of the richer and more important parishes.</ref>
Since 1992, women have been able to become vicars. The first woman vicar in England was appointed ([[Base Breaker|despite some serious struggles]]) in 1994. However, female clergy have been ordained in the Anglican communion worldwide for some time, the first in ''1944'' in Hong Kong.
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It is usually used in a religious context, but not always; a memorable exception is E.R. Eddison's ''Mistress of Mistresses'', starring an [[Evil Chancellor]] known only as The Vicar.
See [[Nuns Are Mikos]], [[Naughty Nuns]], [[Sexy Priest]], and [[Nun
In terms of rank, the [[Authority Tropes
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Entertainingly subverted in ''[[
* The "Nice Little Vicar" terrorised by Fungus in ''[[Fungus The Bogeyman]]'' by [[Raymond Briggs]]. A footnote explains that bogeys resent Vicars for conflating them with devils.
* Subverted in ''Father Spikes'', a comic strip which circulated in various British "adult humour" publications during the 1990s. He appeared in a memorable send - up of ''[[
* Subverted also in ''Paul Whicker, the Tall Vicar'' in early issues of ''[[Viz]]''. He had very little time for the usual Church activities.
* The [[Hard Gay]], sociopathic Midnighter ends up as one in a issue of ''[[The Authority]]'', while fighting a British reality altering villain.
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* The Vicar in ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]: Curse of the Were-Rabbit''. Basically a broad parody of this trope as applied specifically to early UK horror films. Albeit that doesn't ''exactly'' explain the "Nun Wrestling" magazine on his desk...
* Heavily subverted in ''Natasha'', where the vicar is dark-haired and handsome and makes love to his wife so noisily that their daughter in the adjacent room hides her head under a pillow, and where a woman with adulterous ambitions tries (and failing) to lure him into sin. Considering the movie's other convoluted erotic activities it is probably a [[Take That]] on the cliches regarding Britons and sex.
* ''[[The Princess Bride (
* ''[[Lesbian Vampire Killers]]'' features a typical English vicar who attempts to be a [[Badass Preacher]].
* ''[[Whistle Down the Wind]]''
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== [[Literature]] ==
* The Reverend Leonard Clement in [[
* Dr Chasuble, a minor character in [[Oscar Wilde]]'s play ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'', is a standard-issue vicar.
* The protagonist of Margaret Craven's novel ''[[I Heard The Owl Call My Name]]'' is a relatively young vicar, assigned to minister to a remote First Nation village in British Columbia. He sort of fits the trope at first, but slowly [[Going Native|goes native]], and by the end of the novel is pretty much a total subversion.
* Jane Austen's vicars are never quite as saintly or as pure as the stereotype. Mr. Collins is an unctuous [[Smug Snake]]; Mr. Elton is a two-faced [[Gold Digger]] who desires Emma mainly for her money.
* Dr. Primrose from ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith. [[Cloudcuckoolander]], [[Wide
* The [[Nightside]] has a rogue vicarage, to do good among the evildoers. Originally Pew was the rogue vicar; ''Just Another Judgement Day'' introduces his replacement. She lives in a wholesome cottage whose windows show fields of wildflowers instead of the dark, grimy buildings of the Nightside, and she serves tea and biscuits while making polite conversation. She's also the daughter of a famous prostitute/assassin and has a demon for a live-in lesbian lover.
* [[Tony Blair]] is portrayed [[Satire|satirically]] as a "trendy" yet sanctimonious vicar in ''[[Private Eye]]'''s [[Parody]] of his Government, "St. Albion's Parish News".
* The Parson (another generic word for "Vicar" in common English parlance) in Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'' is one of several religious figures on the pilgrimage - and the only one who isn't either a pious bully or a worldly lush:
{{quote|
* Patera Silk, protagonist of [[Gene Wolfe]]'s [[Book of the Long Sun]], is initially presented as somewhere between this and a Catholic priest, albeit one who sacrifices animals to read the future.
* [[
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Proof that Vicar is an inherently funny word: ''[[Friends]]'' features Joey reading Rachel's pornographic novel that includes the word "Vicar." He then pokes fun at Rachel, despite the fact that he has no idea what a Vicar is.
{{quote|
* ''[[The Vicar of Dibley]]'' is a highly noticeable subversion of this character type; the overturning of the stereotype being the main premise of the comedy.
** Long before ''Dibley'', a sketch on ''French & Saunders'' [[Lampshade Hanging|hung a lampshade]] on the trope when Dawn French announced she was to be the first female comedy vicar. Her "kit" included thick glasses, false buck teeth, an unflattering wig, etc.
*** The outfit referred to was a clear reference to the comedy vicar played in the 1970s by Dick Emery.
* The Reverend Timothy Farthing in ''[[
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', of course, had the "Dirty Vicar" and "Loony Vicar" sketches.
** Not to mention the wine merchant vicar, the black market vicar, failed action hero "The Bishop", the Church Police, the school Pastor delivering an incomprehensible sermon in ''[[Monty
* Reverend Mervyn Noote, and other characters in the 1966 sitcom ''[[All Gas And Gaiters]]''.
* The Rector in ''[[To the Manor Born]]''.
* The affable Rev. Stephen Wentworth (played by Richard Briers) in the ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' episode ''Death's Shadow'' embodies this trope down to a tee, {{spoiler|although arguably the trope is subverted when it turns out he is responsible for the brutal murders of several of his parishioners, to avenge the accidental death of the illegitimate son he fathered in a passionate affair with a young post office worker forty years previously}}.
** Entering the clergy in Midsomer is generally equivalent to a death wish. If you're a vicar, and you appear in a substantial role other than at a wedding or a funeral, you're probably not going to finish writing that sermon. If you do, chances are you'll be unmasked as the killer before you get chance to preach it.
* The ''[[
** The classic series also has a rare example, in "Curse of Fenric", of a Vicar character played straight and given genuine character development.
** The Reverend [[This Is My Name
* A Vicar appears in the classic serial ''[[Quatermass and The Pit]]'', but he's played straight as a decent man of the cloth confronted by forces he can't begin to understand.
* Subverted in ''[[Anita And Me]]'', where the vicar is a friendly hippie who gets on well with all the kids.
* ''[[
* Anything played by Derek Nimmo. He was a monk in ''[[Oh Brother]]'', later spoofed in a series of ads for crisps, a vicar in Comedy Playhouse and ''All Gas and Gaiters'', a priest in ''[[Oh Father]]'' and the Rev. Green in ''[[Clue (
* Michael from ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]'' is a classic subversion. A young, handsome, well-adjusted man with an attractive wife, he is nevertheless in perpetual fear of
* A sketch in ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' features a group of people discussing the immense party the night before, all of the accidents and misfires leading back to "the bishop".
** The joke rests in part on the existence of a deceptively strong alcoholic drink often served at parties in the [[Good Old Days]] called "bishop". It was made of fortified wine (usually port), sugar, and spices.
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[[Category:British Media Tropes]]
[[Category:The Vicar]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicar, The}}
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