Unfazed Everyman: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

A specific type of [[Token Human]], The Unfazed Everyman is an [[Muggle|ordinary human]] with no special powers, who happens to hang around with aliens, [[Time Travel|time travellers]], espers or wizards, and assorted other weirdos. Unlike [[Innocent Bystander|most of]] [[Muggles|their kind]] for whom such oddbods are [[Invisible to Normals|invisible]], Unfazed Everymen have a great capacity to cope with and ''accept'' the incomprehensible wackiness that surrounds them; in many cases with a wise and rational demeanor.

Compare [[Badass Normal]], a person whose lack of superpowers doesn't get in the way of kicking evil ass; [[Ordinary High School Student]], who may look like this in the beginning, but eventually is revealed to be another thing; [[Superpower Silly Putty]], who is actively affected in weird ways by the strangeness around him; and [[The Everyman]], who is like this trope but with [[Flat Character|less personality]]. Contrast [[Only Sane Man]], who loudly insists that none of this can possibly be happening. Compare [[Heroic Bystander]], who despite his [[What Measure Is a Non Super|powerlessness]] actually [[Fighting for Survival|manages to help,]] and the [[Action Survivor]].

If they are a protagonist, they tend to be Muggle Weight on the [[Super Weight]] scale. If they join a team, they are [[The Team Normal]].

{{examples}}

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'''s Asakura; she's one of the first girls to discover Negi's magical abilities, yet never gained any sort of magic or kung fu abilities of her own until recently, and even then, it was an emergency situation. Despite that, she was still able to be more or less self-sufficient when she was forced to fend for herself in the Magic World.

** Jonny [[Boss Subtitles|"Blazing Rumbling Trucker"]] Raidein is one in the Magic World arc, being nearly the only non-empowered person in the crew. He helps out Ala Alba purely because he's friends with some of the girls, and takes the whole "saving the world" thing in stride.

* Kaede from [[Ninin ga Shinobuden]]. She apparently spends a good chunk of her free time hanging around a ninja mansion despite being an [[Ordinary High School Student]].

* Ataru Moroboshi of ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]''. Though, this might be subverted as time goes on, as he seems to gain an inhuman level of super-speed (whether running away from trouble or running after a woman) and a comic invulnerability that would make Daffy Duck proud.

* Naru Osaka, from [[Sailor Moon]], in both senshi and youma knowledge. It rendered her the nickname of [[Fan Nickname|Youma Bait]]; to a lesser extent, Umino fits this trope.

* Kawachi from ''[[Yakitate!! Japan]]'' is [[Can't Catch Up|an average guy]] stuck in a world of overly-dramatic bakers who break out [[Crazy Awesome|all sorts of crazy recipes and techniques]] and get entangled in [[Serious Business|life-or-death]] [[Cooking Duel|bread-making contests]].

* Played with in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' when Ed finds himself surrounded by Homunculi and chimeras and humorously realises that he, as the only normal human, is the minority, even though it's hard to consider cybernetic limbs and alchemy as ''normal.''

* Tsukune Aono in ''[[Rosario to Vampire]]'' is initially very unnerved upon discovering the [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink|true]] [[Boarding School of Horrors|nature]] of Youkai Academy, but he adapts quickly (in both senses), makes some friends, and becomes quite comfortable with his new lifestyle. It helps that he's the [[Only Sane Man]].

* Oz from ''[[Pandora Hearts]]'' takes pride in his ability to accept the oddities he encounters and adapt to them. Keep in mind, this manga is one big [[Alice Allusion]] [[Mind Screw]], so having that kind of adaptability deserves some applause.

== Film ==

* Janine Melnitz from ''[[Ghostbusters]]''. She is surrounded by men who hunt ghosts, half of whom are mad scientists. She even has a ghost in a cage close to where she works that the busters keep as a "pet". Not once has she ever batted an eye at any of this.

** Winston Zeddmore was this in the first film, casually commenting "As long as there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say."

* Kolya Gerasimov ([[Alexei Fomkin]]) in Soviet [[Sci Fi]] classic ''[[Guest From the Future]]'' is an [[Ordinary High School Student]] who one day accidentally winds up 100 years in the future. He does pretty well, given how confused he is.

* Francesco Dellamorte, ''[[Cemetery Man]]'' - for some reason, unbeknownst to both the townsfolk and the audience, all corpses in the Buffalora cemetery reanimate seven days after burial. Despite having no clue as to why this happens, Francesco expresses neither surprise nor concern, and instead dispatches zombies nightly without batting an eyelid. He refuses to inform the authorities of the situation because he does not want the cemetery closed, which would put him out of a job.

== Literature ==

** He is also ''very'' good at {{spoiler|making sandwiches}}.

** And he carries a ''very'' useful towel.

** He also actually takes some time to actually come into the "coping and rationality" part of the trope. Heck, in the movie, he actually comes close to ''cracking'' under the weird a few times.

** In the books, he actually decides that he will go mad. And then he does. Although that was due more to loneliness than the weird, the weird still played a major part.

* Jim in ''Skunk Works''

* Kit's older sister Carmela in the ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series, though she's a secondary character who doesn't get much "screen time" until the later books.

** {{spoiler|And then she jumps over to [[Badass Normal]] with a mail-order death ray.}}

* Richard Mayhew in ''[[Neverwhere]]''

** Though he does eventually crack and end up a broken misanthrope after being rejected by the passionless horse-people in book four, who he [[Unreliable Narrator|looks up to despite their coldness and talk of genocide]].

** She also manages to [[Weirdness Magnet|bump into countless other vampires and werewolves, just because]].

** And now, none other than the former trope namer's actor (Martin Freeman, not Simon Jones) is going to play him in Peter Jackson's upcoming film adaptation.

** Not forgetting that his version of [[The Watson]] in the recent ''[[Sherlock]]'' series is pretty much this anyway. Sure, every now and again his medical skills and gun-toting habits are slightly useful, but really he just is an ordinary man dragged along for the ride.

* Waldo Butters, in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. Well, he's a [[Muggle]] who accepts the supernatural easily and hangs around with a powerful wizard who's always getting him into danger... his freakish love for polka might discount him from being considered "normal", exactly.

** A case could also be made for Karrin Murphy. Her life was fine and dandy until she tried choking a literal troll to death, and met Harry. You could also make an argument that it's a [[Deconstruction]], as she nearly gets killed several times before Harry realizes that she ''needs'' to get clued into the supernatural if she's going to survive.

* Rincewind the "Wizzard" ([[Discworld]]) is the perfect example. He is such a bad wizard that if he died, the per capita magical capacity of the Disc would go up. Despite his ineptitude, he has been to hell, heaven, Earth, the dawn of ages, the court of the fabulously rich and good-natured serif Creosote of Klatch, the court of the fabulously rich and [[Obliviously Evil]] emperor of Agatea, the the abode of an [[Eldritch Abomination]], Dungeon Dimensions (from which the latter originally came), Death's Domain, and outer space, and not necessarily in that order<ref>chronologically or otherwise</ref>. This is not a full list, and he was scared to death at all of these times.

** Although it is worth keeping in mind that he ''is'' a wizard, and can still, for example, see Octarine (he does not know the time of his death, but that is because his timeline is so screwed up that even ''Death'' doesn't know, rather than any incompetence or tendence towards muggledom).

* Daniel in ''[[Lonely Werewolf Girl]]''. Whether it is an angry werewolf, or an upset fire demon he can be relied upon to have one constant response. [[Spot of Tea]]?

* The protagonist of [[The Subject Steve]] pulls this off, despite a lack of supernatural elements in the book.

* Shin-tsu, the protagonist of [[The Longing of Shiina Ryo]], tries to convince himself of this every day.

* George Dorn from the ''[[Illuminatus]]''-trilogy definately qualifies: he gets recruited to the League of Dynamic Discord implicitly due to this quality, and promptly sent to deal with the International Crime Syndicate for a job vital to the safety of the human race after being member only for a day or two, and only getting a brief explanation for the goals and history of the organization. Though it's not directly stated, it's implied that Hagbard Celine does this because he wants a person who's mostly free even from the Discordian preconceptions to be his representative. In fact most people in the Discordian organizations are like this when they first join.

* Kamele Waitley from the later [[Liaden Universe]] books by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, who over the course of knowing Professor Jen Sar Kiladi goes from being a naive, cloistered ivory-tower academic (''Fledgling'', ''Saltation'') to {{spoiler|setting out to "rescue" Kiladi from Clan Korval but ending up rescuing ''herself'' from the machinations of the Department of the Interior instead}} (''Ghost Ship'', ''Dragon Ship'').

** It has been lampshaded (in a rather dark way) that being one of The Doctor's companions turns you into a [[Badass Normal]].

** One of the stand-out moments being in "Delta and the Bannermen". After an initial shriek of fright, Mel is seen nonchalantly sharing her room with Delta and her newly-hatched green alien baby.

* John Watson from ''[[Sherlock]]''. Yeah, every now and again his military and medical expertise come in handy, but he's usually just an ordinary doctor being dragged along on crazy cases by Sherlock.

* Marilyn in ''[[The Munsters]]''

* Penny in ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' is the [[Unfazed Everyman]] of the cast, as she is surrounded by [[Genre Savvy]] geeks and spends a lot of time being confused about what's going on.

* Xander in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''

Buffy can read his thoughts. }}

* Jerry Seinfeld in ''[[Seinfeld]]'', who inexplicably surrounds himself with [[The Chew Toy|George]], [[Tsundere|Elaine]], and [[Cloudcuckoolander|Kramer]] for the majority of his waking hours and rarely does more than than [[Deadpan Snarker|snark]] in reaction to them. Only [[Evilly Affable|New]][[Arch Enemy|man]] fazes him.

** HRG's wife and Claire's adoptive mother, Sandra Bennett, seems to have adapted to her daughter having superpowers and her husband being an all-purpose spook rather well, all things considered.

* Kaoru from ''[[Garo]]''.

* Sheriff Carter from ''[[Eureka]]'' qualifies for this trope most of the time, though he generally has to rise to [[Badass]] level by the climax of the episode.

* Frank Lapidus on ''[[Lost]]'', a recurring character introduced in season four (and later made a regular for season six). He doesn't have any connection to the story or mythology, and his only personal problem (being a drunk) was dealt with before he arrived. He's possibly the only normal, well-adjusted person to ever set foot on the Island...and also accepts all the weird crap that happens on it without question.

* Joel from ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''.

** Although now he has {{spoiler|become one of Earth's four [[Physical God|Gods]] }}, without even knowing what he was getting into.

* Moloch VonZinzer of ''[[Girl Genius]]'' is an ordinary mechanic and soldier fallen on hard times, who against his best wishes, keeps getting caught up with [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]] of all flavors, to quote "I've been around way too many sparks!" Even when he ''tries'' to stay out of the way ("I'm nobody's happy helper, got it?!"), he's clearly minion material, as he immediately accepts the job of carrying the Sparky heroine's tools and (unwillingly) following her through death traps.

** Airman Higgs is another one - a common soldier being hauled along after a group of very important people and managing to maintain ''some'' degree of detachment. He may actually be a subversion, though, as it is strongly implied that he is something ''more'' than an ordinary human. He is ''incredibly'' durable, superhumanly strong, personally familiar with Castle Heterodyne, and {{spoiler|may either be connected to the Jagers or actually ''be'' one.}}

{{quote| '''Sarah''': [http://egscomics.com/?date{{=}}2002-03-20 Thanks], but i'm really not that cool. I just have some experience with this sort of thing...}}

** Justin could also qualify. In fact, a lot of humor during his early appearances was how he reacted to the weirdness around him.

** Then again, the recent story comics have Justin as more of a [[Ordinary High School Student]] who has just been revealed as a [[Badass]].

** In fact, this is practically Digger's racial superpower. Wombats are so sensible and tied to realism rather than faith or magic that they gain a mild immunity from divine/magical/prophetic dealings.

* Torg and Zoe from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' play this role most of the time. True, Torg ''does'' have a magic sword, and Zoe's got the cursed tattoo that occasionally turns her into a camel. But compared to the [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]], witches, [[Alien|Aliens]], and [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]] they hang out with, they're downright mundane (though Torg does occasionally enter [[Badass Normal]] territory).

* Bob Smithson in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]." has been an [[Unfazed Everyman]] since the beginning, and has gradually been turning into an Evolved Unfazed Everyman as he becomes more and more capable.

* Saya and Jason from [[Emergency Exit]]. And even then, Saya {{spoiler|has a toy laser gun that shoots people}}, and Jason {{spoiler|grew up in a circus--which is more handy in combat than you might think.}}

* Sam of [[Sam and Fuzzy]]. The poor sap is basically a walking [[Weirdness Magnet]].

'''Sam''': I made dealing with it my full time job.<br />

'''Fuzzy''': Here's our card! }}

* Red from '''[[Girls in Space]]''' is a normal human, traveling the universe, surrounded by aliens.

* [[Questionable Content|Marten]] and his friends seem to be [[Weirdness Magnet|Weirdness Magnets]] getting involved with anything from mating vacuuming robots, to government agents looking to take away [[Robot Buddy|Pintsize]], to a Vespa riding vigilante and a parallel world coffee shop. And that's not counting the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief|accepted breaks from the world as we know it]] such as talking small robots.

* Dave in ''[[Narbonic]]''. {{spoiler|At least until he goes mad at the end.}}

{{quote| '''A gamer''': (to a big frog alien from whom everyone else flees in panic) Have a nice trip?}}

== Western Animation ==

** However, the fleshies of [[Transformers Prime]] seem to hold up quite well next to their co-stars, as each has perpetrated his/her fair share of [[Badass Normal|badassery]].

* This is how Stan manages to cope living in ''[[South Park]]''. The entire town is a [[Weirdness Magnet]] and his father is pehaps the most insane in a town of people with multiple personalities, illiterates, [[Knight Templar Parent]], the son of the devil, a [[Depraved Bisexual]] teacher and Eric Cartman. Despite all this, he usually watches on unfazed by what is happening this week other than to [[Face Palm|hold the bridge of his nose]].

* In ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'', the [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot]] for Crash Nebula reveals the eponymous hero was like this once: the only human in an intergalactic school. Of course, once he gets the powerful space suit he begins to get less so.

* Mark from ''[[Ugly Americans]]'' could probably out-Unfaze Everyman Arthur Dent.

* Sokka from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' is this being the only non-bender in the group (before [[Action Girl|Suki]] joined mid-season 3) and actually coped quite well thanks to meat and sarcasm.

== Video Games ==

* Sigint in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3: Snake Eater'', the [[Only Sane Man]] in a team of [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|weirdos]] supporting a [[Badass]] soldier fighting even ''weirder'' enemies.

* The player character, of all people, in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' is simply a random Republic soldier who just happened to be one of the few survivors of the Endar Spire in the first chapter, and seems to cope rather well with Mandalorians, war heroes, Wookies, Jedi, and Sith. Somewhat subverted due to [[Tomato Surprise|later events]], though.

* Derek Badger, unflappable [[Oop North|Yorkshireman]] and protagonist of [[Yahtzee Croshaw]]'s ''[[Poacher]]''. Not even a tumble down the proverbial rabbit hole into a world of spirits and monsters can shake him.