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What Exactly Is His Job?: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Ross''': What is Chandler Bing's job?
'''Rachel''': Oh! Oh gosh, it has something to do with numbers.
'''Monica''': And processing!
'''Rachel''': Oh, oh, oh, he's a transpons... [[Perfectly Cromulent Word|transponster]]!
'''Monica''': [[Perfectly Cromulent Word|That's not even a word]]!|''[[Friends]]'', "The One with the Embryos"}}
Often, especially in media with a large ensemble cast, there is one character whose function (in terms of his internal purpose within the cast) is a bit fuzzy. The details of this role are left purposefully ambiguous. Sometimes, the general nature of the character's job is quite evident; for example, the character might be big, intimidating, and good in a fight... but this naturally raises the question of just why the group needs someone who is big, intimidating, and good in a fight.
This is often [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] by someone unfamiliar with the group and their adventures pointedly asking "What exactly is ''his'' job, anyway?" When the question is [[Played for Laughs]], the answer the newcomer gets is almost always something absurd. This can typically be paired with [[The Main Characters Do Everything]] since there are usually recurring characters whose purpose is ambiguous and the Main Characters can easily function without them.
Compare [[One-Hour Work Week]] and [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]. Contrast the [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]], who has a [[PHD]] in Everythingology and ''awesomeology.''
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{{examples}}
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* Jinpei in ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]].'' Yes, he drives a Swiss Army knife of a vehicle, and he's no slouch in a fight, but he otherwise has no unique skills to display.
* Zoro from ''[[One Piece]]''. Every other crew member has a designated position (i.e. Captain, Shipwright, Navigator) except him, unless "Swordsman" counts. It's assumed (even by characters outside the main cast) but never outright stated that he's [[Number Two|First Mate]].
** Downplayed with Robin, the the archaeologist of the Straw Hat Crew; until the Zou arc, there were no benefits of having an archaeologist on board. Although, Robin was never officially invited to join them to begin with, being sort of a guest whom they never asked to leave. On Zou, however, Robin quickly becomes useful, as the Straw Hats learn that they need to decipher all four Road Poneglyphs to find the One Piece. Furthermore, since she is one of the very few people who is able to decipher Poneglyphs, it gives the Straw Hats a massive advantage over almost every other crew who wants to find that legendary treasure. Being the sole survivor and last archaeologist of Ohara, Robin is literally irreplaceable for the crew.
** The main characters technically are pirates. Even if you let that slide, they travel in very dangerous areas, meaning that having a dedicated fighter is in no way unreasonable.
** It's assumed that he's the "champion" of the crew: Basically, Luffy thought it'd be cool for the next Pirate King to have someone aspiring to be the "world's strongest swordsman" in his crew, so he recruited him.
* According to his description in the english version of volume 61, he's the 'Fighter'.
* Jersey Club from [[Rinne no Lagrange]] does exactly this trope. Be at being an extra participant in any activity or saving the Earth, Jersey Club does it.
== Comic Books ==
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== Live Action TV ==
* As the quote above says, Chandler Bing in ''[[Friends]]''. No one else can name what he does, although it's clear he earns a lot of money from it (he replaced all the furniture in his and Joey's apartment). The only time his job title is mentioned is when he quits in later seasons. Then he gets more money to come back. Incidentally, it's Statistical Analysis and Data Reconfiguration.
* This was asked of ''[[News Radio]]'s'' Matthew from time to time. (He technically was a reporter, but it seemed the only thing he did was play computer solitaire.)
* ''[[Firefly]]'': When asked what Jayne's job aboard the good ship ''Serenity'' actually is, Mal Reynolds replied, "[[Blatant Lies|Public relations]]."
* For most of the first season of ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'', nobody knew why Harry was on the mission. They then revealed that he was the radio link with their home planet. He eventually gets sad about this fact, since he's essentially equipment.
* Creed from ''[[The Office]]'' asks this of himself during an audit. We don't find out until a later episode.
{{quote|
** Ryan was a temp, catapulted into a vice-president's position, went to jail, and was hired as a salesmen at Michael Scott Paper Company. Since that collapsed, his job has been fuzzy in the extreme, but he's played by the show's producer, so don't expect him to go anywhere.
* ''[[Cheers]]''. One of Carla's issues with Diane comes from the fact she seldom seems to do any real work around the bar.
{{quote|
'''Carla''': How come no one ever seems to know that? }}
** Diane's replacement Rebecca would take this even further once she got fired from her original corporate job and Sam bought back the bar. Despite her position changing every so often (from waitress, to managing day to day operations to actual business partner), the fact that she doesn't do much of anything has become a [[Running Gag]] that was even mentioned in ''[[Frasier]]''
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Homer's job at the power plant was Chief Safety Inspector, but as the years dragged on, Homer never seemed to go to work anymore, which became [[Lampshaded]] a few times lately.
* Initially, Bender from ''[[Futurama]]''. It's addressed in an early episode, and he's given the position of [[Lethal Chef|ship's cook]]. Even though he can't actually cook.
{{quote|
'''Bender: ''' You call that a couch? I DEMAND A PILLOW! }}
* For the majority of ''[[Moral Orel]]'', Orel's dad Clay Puppington complains about his "lousy dead-end job". It isn't until the second to last episode that we find out {{spoiler|he's the Mayor}}. Even his son is surprised.
* One of the biggest mysteries in ''[[King of the Hill]]'' throughout its run was "What is Jeff Boomhauer's job?" It wasn't until the last minutes of the last episode does it reveal he is a {{spoiler|Texas Ranger}}.
* In ''[[Family Guy]]'' Glenn Quagmire started out this way until it was made clear that he's an airline pilot who is quite good at his work.
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== Real Life ==
* Some restaurants have someone, called a "roundsman" among other names, who floats from station to station during peak hours helping out where needed. At slower times their presence can resemble this trope.
** At Thomas Keller's restaurants The French Laundry and Per Se, they added a secondary sous chef who would work the pass or float around as needed during busy periods, and otherwise just stand around. The cooks began calling it the 'SAS,' for Standing Around Station, but when Keller asked what it meant he was told Second Assistant Sous, liked the acronym, and made it official. So, to this day, somebody is always scheduled to the Standing Around Station, which can be very much this trope.
* There is a job called a "Gofer". This person has no one single defined job, but does anything that needs to be done. Depending on the person they report to and what the project is that they're working on, this person can serve as a personal assistant, sound board operator, even an unofficial second-in-command.
* There are lots of jobs like this in many universities.
* Lots of people have at least one person like this in their extended family.
* [[Valve
{{quote|
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Money Tropes]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:This Index Asked You a Question]]
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