Tropedia

  • Before making a single edit, Tropedia EXPECTS our site policy and manual of style to be followed. Failure to do so may result in deletion of contributions and blocks of users who refuse to learn to do so. Our policies can be reviewed here.
  • All images MUST now have proper attribution, those who neglect to assign at least the "fair use" licensing to an image may have it deleted. All new pages should use the preloadable templates feature on the edit page to add the appropriate basic page markup. Pages that don't do this will be subject to deletion, with or without explanation.
  • All new trope pages will be made with the "Trope Workshop" found on the "Troper Tools" menu and worked on until they have at least three examples. The Trope workshop specific templates can then be removed and it will be regarded as a regular trope page after being moved to the Main namespace. THIS SHOULD BE WORKING NOW, REPORT ANY ISSUES TO SelfCloak. DON'T MAKE PAGES MANUALLY UNLESS A TEMPLATE IS BROKEN, AND REPORT IT THAT IS THE CASE. PAGES WILL BE DELETED OTHERWISE IF THEY ARE MISSING BASIC MARKUP.

READ MORE

Tropedia
WikEd fancyquotesQuotesBug-silkHeadscratchersIcons-mini-icon extensionPlaying WithUseful NotesMagnifierAnalysisPhoto linkImage LinksHaiku-wide-iconHaikuLaconic
Peanutsbuttmonkey
Cquote1
You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt-monkey!
Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Cquote2


The character who is always the butt of the demeaning joke or the "put him through hell" plotline. For whatever reason, the Butt Monkey seems to walk through life with a permanent "Kick Me" sign attached to their backs, invisible to them, but all too visible to the rest of the world. Nothing ever goes right for this character, and if something bad is going to happen to someone, chances are it's going to happen to them. Long story short, it sucks to be the Butt Monkey.

Simply having a character go through hell once or twice (no matter how severely) is not enough to be the Butt Monkey. With primary and secondary characters, it must be a regular occurrence. With tertiary characters, it must be their sole purpose to exist. They don't do anything to earn the hell they go through, other than being an easy target. Sometimes it's all the writers can think of to do with the character.

The direct opposite of a Karma Houdini (although technically the definition applies to those who escape from karma regardless of whether it's good or bad) If carried too far, may result in Deus Angst Machina. This can be counteracted if you occasionally Throw the Dog a Bone, though many writers just can't resist Yanking The Dog's Chain. The Butt Monkey is occasionally dangerous if he's pushed too far.

If the audience sympathizes with them, they become The Woobie. If, however, the character's suffering is Played for Laughs and the reason the audience loves them is because of all the crap they get put through, they're generally The Chew Toy. On the other hand, if the audience begins to resent the "unfair" treatment of the character, they can become the Designated Monkey. The joke can also be dragged too far in other ways - to make a character a Butt Monkey of fate is one thing; to have them constantly taking the punishment for the misdeeds of an unsympathetic cast is another.

If a female Butt Monkey is regularly used for slapstick and it is Played for Laughs she is probably also a case of Slapstick Knows No Gender. If every conceivable misfortune happens to the Butt Monkey, regardless of its logic or lack thereof, you've got yourself a Cosmic Plaything.

If someone is Giving the Sword to A Noob, nine times out of ten this person is the noob. On the other hand, if someone in the cast other than The Hero is going to Take a Level in Badass, its almost invariably the Butt Monkey who does it.

In Yiddish, this character type is called a Schlimazel.

If a Butt Monkey gets pushed too far, until (s)he snaps and goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, that's an example of a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds.

See also: Bumbling Sidekick, The Unfavourite, Guilt by Association Gag, Humiliation Conga, Iron Butt Monkey. Is nearly always on the receiving end of Comedic Sociopathy.

No real life examples, please; we'd be here all day.

Examples of Butt Monkey are listed on these subpages: