Unstoppable Mailman: Difference between revisions

{{examples}}

== Advertising ==

* In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, the United States Post Office [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_bIf0rbE4 released a commercial] reassuring the nation that, despite everything that had happened, the people of the United States could still count on them. It's actually pretty heartwarming, and its message fits this trope:

{{quote|"We are mothers and fathers and sons and daughters who every day go about our lives with duty, honor, and pride. And neither rain, nor snow, nor heat, nor gloom of night, not the winds of change, nor a nation challenged will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever."}}

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* The Letter Bees from ''[[Tegami Bachi]]'' are given a companion and told to deliver their mail no matter what monster tries to stop them. There are often many complications with the letters themselves, such as the intended recipient having moved or being in a difficult area to reach.

* In a filler episode of ''[[Naruto]]'', Jiraiya's newest novel draft gets mixed up with a diplomatic message from one kingdom to another, and Naruto desperately tries to chase the mailman down, [[Lawful Stupid|despite his adamant refusal to listen to what Naruto is saying]]. In the end, Naruto fails, but the daimyo likes Jiraiya's work, so things turn out well.

 

== Comic Books ==

* In the [[Carl Barks]] comic story "The Persistent Postman," [[Donald Duck]] is a [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|persistent postman]] who delivers the mail on a nearly impossible route. He buys a helicopter to try and make the route go faster, and gets into a fight with a giant eagle who steals his sack of mail, but in the end still manages to deliver everything.

* In another [[Carl Barks]] story, "My Lucky Valentine", Donald gets a job as a mailman and has to deliver a valentine by walking miles in a blizzard. When he realizes the valentine is addressed to [[Love Interest|Daisy]] from his "dirtiest rival," [[Smug Snake|Gladstone Gander]], he throws it away, but then feels guilty and goes through all kinds of trouble to get it back and deliver it.

* In the [[DC Comics]] [[Crisis Crossover]] ''Final Night'', at least one Metropolis mailman is still on his rounds when everyone is certain that the world is about to end.

* Similarly, during Marvel Comics' '''Onslaught''' mega-crossover, Hulk and Onslaught are slinging punches hard enough to shatter windows of buildings across the city. A mailman (one who appears in the Fantastic Four once in a while) tries to push through the crowd and begins to deliver the famous passage... but even he gives pause as the two behemoths battle.

 

== Film ==

* The Western Union Man in ''[[Back to The Future]] Part II'' is able to deliver a letter at the exact minute specified despite a thunder storm and an obscure delivery site.

** Although that's more of a special case. The telegram was dropped off {{spoiler|by Doc Brown, in ''1885''}}, and had been sitting with them ever since. According to the Western Union Man, the telegram was the subject of a lot of speculation, along with bets as to whether or not Marty would actually have been there to receive it.

 

== Literature ==

** Specifically, the golem failed to deliver a message to a king before the kingdom was destroyed. Roughly 10 thousand years later, he still carries the message in the belief that time is cyclical and he'll eventually get another chance to deliver his message.

*** His personal version of the motto is "Neither Deluge Nor Ice Storm Nor The Black Silence Of The Netherhells Shall Stay These Messengers About Their Sacred Business.<ref>Do Not Ask Us About Sabre-Tooth Tigers, Tar Pits, Big Green Things With Teeth Or The Goddess Czol.</ref>"

* In [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Good Omens]]'', the same mailman finds the four horsemen of Apocalypse anywhere they are (from an African country torn by civil war to good old England) to hand them their symbols/weapons of power. He even kills himself to meet Death and deliver him his package. Note that he is a regular guy, [[Badass Normal|with no powers or special skills.]]

* A delivery man in the ''[[Knight and Rogue Series]]'' carries a letter meant for Fisk for three months, and devises a method to track him through a number of towns to deliever the darn thing.

 

 

* The episode of ''[[Seinfeld]]'' where Jerry takes over Newman's route for a while. He loves the job, as exhibited in a "friendly mailman" montage, leading to this exchange:

{{quote|'''Newman:''' They knew it wasn't me doing my route!

 

== Manhwa ==

* Banya from ''Banya The Explosive Delivery Man'' fits the trope, as one might expect from the title. [[The Determinator|Nothing stops this guy.]] [[Desert Punk|And he]] [[Monsters Everywhere|doesn't exactly]] [[Our Orcs Are Different|have it as easy]] [[After the End|as mailmen in our world]] [[Earth Is a Battlefield|have it, either.]]

 

== Video Games ==

* The postman from the ''Zelda'' games is of the track-you-down-anywhere variety. This is most noticeable in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', where he becomes an [[Implacable Man]] who can't even be deterred by the twilight that is gradually reducing ''everyone else'' to spirit form.

** [[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]] [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructs]] this trope with a mailman who can't stop, no matter how much he wants to. In the face of the impending apocalypse, he just keeps delivering the mail.

* In one [[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]] mission, you must intercept a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Bangaa]] postman before he can deliver a message to a place it should not be going. He will end up fighting your clan over the mission, and while he is not especially difficult, he puts up a fight.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]''; leave something behind in a dungeon or raid? Maybe because of a full inventory or haste to leave a bad group? Rest assured, it ''will'' be in your character's mailbox when he gets back into town, courtesy of the Postmaster. One "secret" quest in Legion actually puts a face on this mysterious wizard who, despite being stressed and backlogged, shows incredible dedication towards getting the mail through.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Looking for Group]]'' once featured a mailman who was able to deliver a letter to Cale even though he was in the [http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/236 middle of the woods.]

* ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' once featured a mailman who was still able to deliver the mail despite a snowstorm of the [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/oh-hey/ worst variety.]

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', the Parcel Mistress goes to incredible lengths to retrieve a package she's supposed to deliver when it falls into the hands of an official on the opposite side of the war her people are fighting. She also survived the destruction of her home, wandered for untold number of years in a [[After the End|wasteland]], duty bound to deliver the mail to long gone people. {{spoiler|Then her friends are killed through time shenanigans and she decides to [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|open a can of whoop ass]] on the ''[[Stealth Pun|dog-headed]]'' [[Physical God|Jack Noir]].}}

 

== Western Animation ==

* The Little Man From the Draft Board from the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short "Draftee Daffy", who will stop at nothing to give [[Daffy Duck]] his conscription notice, even follow him all the way to Hell.

* Parodied on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', when Heloise wakes up to find Beezy in her bedroom, now a mailman, to deliver her a package. The joke being that [[Lazy Bum|Beezy's sloth is legendary]].

 

== Real Life ==

* The Pony Express (as noted on the [[Briefer Than They Think]] page, it only lasted a year and a half, but during that time it was vitally important).

* Not the mail but close enough: the NY Times let it be known that ''no matter what happened'' during Hurricane Irene, they still would deliver. The fact that Irene ended up not being as bad as thought does not change how insanely badass that is.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]

[[Category:Occupation Tropes]]

[[Category:Mail, Post and Parcel Tropes]]