History Main / BasementDweller

* Morgan form ''Literature/{{Sanctuary}}'' lived with their parents until their mid twenties. Part of the reason they moved into Casswell Park was because they were worried about what would happen to them after their parents died.

* On the French webshow ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' (the "Attic Gamer"), this is what the title and the persona of Grenier allude to, once gone though CulturalTranslation: in France, the equivalent of a {{Nerd}} would be expected to live in the attic rather than in the basement.

* ''Film/{{Fanboys}}'': Hutch is a man in his mid-20s who resides in his mom's garage ([[InsistentTerminology or "carriage house" as he likes to call it]]).
-->'''Eric''': Your mom said, "clean up this shithole, [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment or no grilled cheese for a week]]."\\

* ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'': The main character Dudley Puppy and leader of D.O.O.M. Verminious Snaptrap are both shown to still live with their mothers.

* ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPupy'': The main character Dudley Puppy and leader of D.O.O.M. Verminious Snaptrap are both shown to still live with their mothers.

* Jeffrey Middleton from ''Film/Snatched2017'' is a middle-aged ShutIn who lives with his mother Linda and is too terrified of germs to leave the house.

* WesternAnimation/KidCosmic has Phantos the Amassor. While styling himself as a herald and loyal supporter of Erodius the PlanetKiller, he comes of as more of a big ManChild and fanboy, whose "minion" is actually his mom who he still lives with.

* Beryl Bainbridge's comic novel ''Young Adolf'' expands on the not unproven story that sometime around 1911 or 1912, the young Adolf Hitler travelled to Liverpool, England, and stayed here with his sister and brother-in-law.[[note]]Who are known to have lived in Liverpool prior to UsefulNotes/WW1; Hitler may well have lived with them for a short period, although this is not conclusively proven.[[/note]].\ Hitler is expected to stop being an idle waster, get a job, knuckle down and take advantage of the opportunity to learn some English. However, the unemployed failed student carries on taking advantage of others and carries on behaving like an idle entitled drifter. The amusing idea of Hitler speaking English with a Scouse accent is explored, but the picture that emerges is of a parasitical Basement Dweller that won't go away.

* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'': [[spoiler: "Warlock's" "Command Center".]]

* "Franchise/{{Batman}} may ''call'' it "The Batcave", but that doesn't change the fact that he spends most of his time in his parent's basement."

* ''ComicStrip/BigNate'': The titular character's Uncle Ted is a stereotypical ''Series/BattlestarGalactica''-obsessed nerd who still lives at Nate's grandparents' house and comes up with multiple excuses as to why he can't work. School Picture Guy is also implied to be one, though he at least has [[NewJobAsThePlotDemands multiple jobs]] to keep himself afloat.

-->'''Hoss:''' (''in a high-pitched voice'') Yes? Mommy?

-->'''Hoss:''' (''angry and embarrassed'') No mommy. (''the bad guys laugh hard'')

-->'''Hoss:''' Yes mommy. (''fires his cannon at the bad guys creating a huge explosion'')

''[Melllvar groans and disappears]''\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' Book 3 (Change), one of the new potential [[BlowYouAway Airbender]] recruits is a 22-year-old man who still lives with his mother. His mom, despite saying that he's "still trying to figure his life out" to try and justify it, is ''delighted'' by the idea of Tenzin taking him to the Northern Air Temple, just so she can finally get him out of the house. Three years later, not only does he join Tenzin and the other Airbenders, they also give him a job as a tour guide, and his parents are glad he has a job. However, he's embarrassed to see them at work

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode, "Moving Bubble Bass", it is revealed that Bubble Bass lives in his mother's basement, and when he gets fed up with her interrupting his fantasy talk show and making him do chores, he tricks [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick into helping him move his belongings to his grandmother's basement across the street.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Dennis, Ludo’s brother is a grown man who still lives in his parents’ home, and they often complain that he’s not doing anything good with his life, blowing stuff up, and thus becoming a deadbeat like Ludo. Dennis eventually moves out of his parents’ home.

* WesternAnimation/KidCosmic has Phantos the Amassor. While styling himself as a herald and loyal supporter of Erodius the PlanetKiller, he comes of as more of a big ManChild and fanboy, who’s “minion” is actually his mom who he still lives with.

* Speaking of Tim Allen, his role as Zoom in ''Film/ZoomAcademyForSuperheroes'' has him meeting his fans and asking how many of them still live in their Mom's basement. All but Creator/ChevyChase raise their hands. This is followed by what [[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Zoom__Academy_for_Superheroes_2006.aspx?Page=3 the movie's Agony Booth Review]] refers to as ''"Awkward Silence Which Is Supposed to Be Funny[[TradeSnark ?]]."''

* Beryl Bainbridge's comic novel ''Young Adolf'' expands on the not unproven story that sometime around 1911 or 1912, the young Adolf Hitler travelled to Liverpool, England, and stayed here with his sister and brother-in-law. [[note]]Who are known to have lived in Liverpool prior to UsefulNotes/WW1; Hitler may well have lived with them for a short period, although this is not conclusively proven[[/note]]. Hitler is expected to stop being an idle waster, get a job, knuckle down and take advantage of the opportunity to learn some English. However, the unemployed failed student carries on taking advantage of others and carries on behaving like an idle entitled drifter. The amusing idea of Hitler speaking English with a Scouse accent is explored, but the picture that emerges is of a parasitical Basement Dweller that won't go away.

Note that living with one's parents is a stigma mainly in the USA and other Anglosphere countries, where working-age adults are expected to live on their own, so [[ValuesDissonance this trope shouldn't be applied to characters from cultures where this is the norm]]. This trope has become much less stigmatizing in RealLife, however, as problems and deficits in the economy have been sending more and more adults back to their parents' homes, and some in the newer generation don't even leave in the first place. [[https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2017/08/young-adults.html And if this article is any indication, this trope could even become discredited at some point in the future.]] [[https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/ In fact, it may already be that "near future".]]

** Subverted when Jason Nesmith is contacted by the Thermians. He thinks that they're particularly rabid fanboys who have built an exact replica of the the ''Protector'' in their parents' basement. He's only two-thirds right.

A stereotypical HollywoodNerd who, [[{{Manchild}} despite being a grown adult, still behaves like an adolescent]], right down to living with his parents. While the decor of his PosterGalleryBedroom is subject to the tastes of the character, be sure there will be a computer to communicate with the outside world. It's always PlayedForLaughs. More importantly, the subject is AlwaysMale. There is much less stigma against a female character living at home - in the past, women were expected to stay with their parents until they married, men were expected to go out and earn money so they could be breadwinners while being shamed and/or shunned if they didn't do so, and these ideas still endure in many cultures today. This makes the trope a DoubleStandard against men (but see below).

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode "A Space Oddity" plays the HollywoodNerd image ludicrously straight by showing two guys living in a reconstruction of the ship from "[[Franchise/StarTrek Astro Quest]]" in their mother's attic.

* On the French webshow ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' (the "Attic Gamer"), this is what the title and the persona of Grenier allude to, once gone though CulturalTranslation: in France, the equivalent of a HollywoodNerd would be expected to live in the attic rather than in the basement.

* Geoff from WebVideo/MothersBasement used to live in his mother's basement. Who would have thought?

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dustin}}'': The strip thoroughly averts this with its main character, who does begin the story returning with his parents and younger sister after graduating, but considers his stay with the folks a "temporary measure", expecting to leave as soon as he gets an stable job.
* In ''ComicStrip/MaryWorth'', Dawn Weston dates Jared, a ''Franchise/StarWars'' geek who still lives with his mom and her boyfriend.

** In one episode, Tony and Ziva interview the web master of a porn site who lives in his mother's basement. He also collects ''Franchise/StarWars'' toys as "investments" and meets the site's owner on his paper route. If memory serves, his mother wants to bring them snacks.

* Lazy and unwilling to earn a living for himself. (May be a {{NEET}}.) If he ''does'' have a job, it'll likely either be something on the lower end of the earning ladder (i.e. a BurgerFool, SoulSuckingRetailJob, or something else along those lines), or he works from home and so doesn't need to leave the house, especially if he doesn't have to work from home (like many people did during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic).

* A female example: this commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsJ0rLHDqgo in which the lead singer laments that he and his "dream girl" wife are living in her parents' basement because he didn't check out his wife's poor credit, which is keeping them from getting a home loan--if he had known, he would have been "a happy bachelor with a dog and a yard."