List of stock characters in comedy

This is a list of stock characters that are most commonly used for comedic effect.

*The Comic Relief: Cowards who bring some humor into the plot, though they can also prove to be heroic. Examples include and Scooby-Doo of Scooby-Doo, Alexander Cabot III of Josie and the Pussycats; Iago, Genie, and Butterfingers of Disney's Aladdin, Nurse of "Romeo and Juliet", Beast Boy from Teen Titans, Usopp of One Piece, C-3PO of every Star Wars, Chitlit the messenger pigeon of Khan Kluay, and "Angel" Martin of The Rockford Files. Almost always overlaps with The Joker, but almost never with The Trickster or The Fool.
*The Heroic Coward: People who want to be heroic but are usually too cowardly to do so, they nevertheless manage to pull themselves together in situations that truly matter, or they do heroic deeds out of fear of something even worse if they don't. Can also be a Comic Relief character and overlap with the Joker. Examples include Usopp from One Piece, Chuckie Finster from Rugrats, The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, Piglet from Winnie the Pooh, and Scooby-Doo of Scooby-Doo, and Doyle from Angel.
* The English Butler: often present if the main character is upper-class or wealthy. Very proper, well-mannered, skillful, and loyal to his employers and always comes to their aid when needed. Usually speaks with a posh English accent and may have a dry sense of humor or may be prone to making cynical remarks about his employer’s behavior. Examples include Alfred Pennyworth from Batman, Jeeves (actually a valet), the title character on Mr. Belvedere, Niles from The Nanny, Duckworth from DuckTales, Nestor from The Adventures of Tintin, Mr. French on Family Affair, Hovis from "Catscratch", and Geoffrey from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
*The Fool: a clown or joker who speaks in riddles and puns. Often, the fool is, despite his name, actually extremely intelligent, wise, and/or witty and reveals key truths about the characters with whom he speaks (Shakespeare's fools, such as the ones in Twelfth Night and King Lear, are well-known examples).
*The False Hero: A usually arrogant and not very intelligent individual who is full of false confidence in their abilities. Often claims credit for things they have not accomplished, and is often well-respected and admired by those unable to see the truth about them. Examples include Zap Brannigan of Futurama, Hercule Satan of Dragon Ball Z, Gilderoy Lockhart of the , and Susano from '.
*The Fop: a person that tries to be highly fashionable and aristocratic. He is typically overdressed and his speech is characterized by overuse or misuse of popular phrases (often French phrases) or various forms of hypercorrection. The fop is never intelligent and always talkative. (The Hero sometimes poses as a fop to allay his enemies’ suspicions: The Scarlet Pimpernel hid behind the persona of Sir Percy Blakeney. Zorro hid behind the image of the Fop, Don Diego. Batman’s public persona of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne is a fop). Also, Raoul from The Phantom of the Opera is a non-comedy example of a fop.
*The Trickster: often supernatural or mysterious. No visible objectives or motivation but provides impetus to the plot and acts as a catalyst for events. May later become a clear cut good guy or villain. Plays tricks and spreads chaos, disorganizing society and creating something new. Represents both the Jungian Shadow and the basic fear and joyous love of chaos. Early examples include Loki, Amaguq, Reynard the fox, and Púca from various mythologies. Shakespearan tricksters include Ariel from The Tempest and Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Slade from Teen Titans and Xellos from Slayers are modern examples of this character type.
*The Foreign Exchange Student: whose exotic appearance and/or mannerisms often serve as comic relief (especially due to culture shock). Examples: from That '70s Show, Kaolla Su from Love Hina, Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles, Üter from The Simpsons, Ali Hakim from ', Rolf from Ed, Edd, and Eddy, and Shannon Elizabeth’s character, Nadia, in American Pie. Note that the Foreign Exchange Student is often either hypersexual (Long Duk Dong) or hypersexualized (Nadia).
*The Mother-in-law: A usually seasonal source of anguish for the son or daughter-in-law, typically ugly and overbearing. One of the familiar modern examples is Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond or Endora from Bewitched
*The Oddball: An eccentric character whose behavior and opinions are extremely bizarre, but harmless as they turn out to be very handy in the long run, proving that the oddball is much smarter than he looks. Jughead Jones of the Archie Comics series, Skeeter Valentine from Doug,Dil Pickles of All Grown Up, Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, the Muppet Gonzo, Luna Lovegood of the "Harry Potter" series, and Maynard G. Krebs from The Dobie Gillis Show are examples.
*The Old Seaman usually a sailor, has knowledge of the sea, boats, folklore, etc, but may know little about anything else. They are often very mysterious, and sometimes even mystic or supernatural. They often speak with in sailor jargon. examples include Popeye, Captain Salty from "Family Guy", Captain Haddock from The Adventures of Tintin, Sheena's Uncle Earl from , and Captain McCallister from The Simpsons.
*Sidekick: Assistant to the hero. Sometimes acting like a comic relief but can be surprisingly brave and resourceful. Examples are Robin on Batman, Festus Haggen (played by Ken Curtis) on Gunsmoke, Chitlit the messenger pigeon of Khan Kluay, Streaky on Krypto the Superdog and Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. Sometimes, the hero has a number of sidekicks, as with the Scoobie Gang on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
*The Competent Sidekick: A highly intelligent and hard working sidekick whose talents might even surpass the hero and yet goes unnoticed and unappreciated. Most often paired with The False Hero. Examples include Kif Kroker of Futurama, Penny and Brain of Inspector Gadget, Gus of Psych and Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder the Third,Cornfed Pig in Duckman .
* The Schmoe: A blue-collar working man who didn't get past high school. He is a lower middle class family man who is obnoxious and not very bright. He often makes foolish choices, and gets into serious trouble that he usually brings on himself. Such examples include Al Bundy of Married... with Children, Archie Bunker of All in the Family, Homer Simpson of The Simpsons, Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners, Winnie the Pooh, Fred Flintstone, and Peter Griffin of Family Guy.
*The Three Friends: Recently it has been a tradition to include as protagonists a series of characters of a certain type. The characters are always in the state of friends. The first is the starring character, a white boy/girl, that serves as the bridge between the audience and the show; and the other characters are his/her friend, usually in trouble, that includes another white boy/girl and the black boy/girl. Usual "new stereotypes" have been found in recent shows as Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide; Braceface; Unfabulous; The Fairly Odd Parents; Zoey 101.
* The Talking Pet: Serves to point out ludicrous behavior, ridiculous ideas and plot holes, often predicting disastrous turns of event before they happen only to be dismissed out of hand or ignored. Their human owners may or may not be aware of their pet's intelligence, wisdom, and/or maturity, which (ironically) is usually highly superior to their own. These include Salem Saberhagen from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Luna from Sailor Moon, Dogbert from the Dilbert comics, Garfield, Iago from Aladdin, Brian Griffin from Family Guy, Corniel from Corneil and Bernie, pets from Cats and Dogs and the fish from The Cat in the Hat (both the book and the movie.)
* The Town Drunk: serves as a figure of fun, serves as a moral example, or is used as a plot device to disrupt public gatherings. Examples: Marmeladov from Crime and Punishment, Huckleberry Finn’s father “Pap” from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Bacchus of the Pastoral segment of Fantasia, and Barney Gumble of The Simpsons. In the example of “Crazy Ralph” from Friday the 13th, the town drunk provided a warning.
*The Pothead: A character whose use of marijuana (although the writer could use other substances) is the source of humor. This humor often relies stereotypical behavior of people who use marijuana. Examples include Cheech and Chong, Towelie from Southpark, Titus from I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Slater from Dazed and Confused, Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Otto Mann from The Simpsons.
*The Village Idiot:A character who is normally recognized as having the lowest IQ level of the whole community. They can usually be seen making a fool of themselves in public. Examples of this character include Ed of Ed, Edd n Eddy and Doogle Pluck of Ned's Newt.
*The Faceless Guardian: A character that has no face and only appears as a certain body part, mainly the legs. Most of the time, they are a guardian of the hero. Examples include Nanny of Muppet Babies, Mr. Hands of the Mr. Bill show segment of Saturday Night Live, Timmy Turner's parents in the pilot episodes of The Fairly Oddparents, and Mrs. Yang (mother of the Ying Yang Twins) of The Andy Milonakis Show.
*The Wacky neighbor: lives close to the main character and has eccentric qualities which often serve as a convenient plot device. Examples: Cosmo Kramer of Seinfeld, Ned Flanders of The Simpsons, Wilson of Home Improvement, the Dinkleburgs from The Fairly OddParents, Mr. and Mrs. Ochmonick of ALF, the O'doyles of Click, Steve Urkel from Family Matters, Gladys Kravitz of Bewitched and Squidward Tentacles from Spongebob Squarepants .
*The Harem comedy guy: He is often a kind hearted lad, under 20, who somehow ends up living with a large group of women interested in him, even though he is nervous around women. He is normally a protagonist of the story, and has to deal with the girls being interested in him which can be a bit hard as there are many different problems. He is also drawn into the troubles surrounding them. Examples include Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina, , to a limited extent, Three's Company, and some others.
*The harem comedy women These women are interested in one guy mainly, and often there are at least two fighting for him. The others are mainly a bit interested in him, but are not violent. Groups of these women often include the following: an emotional girl/ woman, a fighter and a mad scientist.
*The Inanimate Object: An object which functions as a character and is treated like a real person by at least some the cast. Most of the time, the object is a toy, but there are exceptions. Examples include Pooky, of Garfield, Bubble Buddy of Spongebob Squarepants, Mr. Hat or Clyde Frog of South Park, Mr. Bean's Teddy, Plank of Ed, Edd, n Eddy, Ultralord doll of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, B.B. King's guitar Lucielle, and Stumpy in the Ren and Stimpy show.

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