History Main / CommediaDellArte

** '''Pulcinella''' (''Polichinelo'', ''Polichinelle'', ''[[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch]]''): A hunchback or otherwise disabled/disfigured character, based on the stooping walk of Renaissance Italian coal carriers. Can be an idiot, can be a GeniusCripple. Very violent, especially towards Arlecchino and Pierrot, and speaks in an unusually squeaky voice. His name means "little chicken". The character is culturally attached to the city of [[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Naples]], where he originated and becale a stock character in {{puppet|Shows}}ry.

** '''Pulcinella''' (''Polichinelo'', ''Polichinelle'', ''[[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch]]''): A hunchback or otherwise disabled/disfigured character, based on the stooping walk of Renaissance Italian coal carriers. Can be an idiot, can be a GeniusCripple. Very violent, especially towards Arlecchino and Pierrot, and speaks in an unusually squeaky voice. His name means "little chicken". The character is culturally attached to the city of [[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Naples]], where he originated.

** '''Pulcinella''' (''Polichinelo'', ''Polichinelle'', ''[[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch]]''): A hunchback or otherwise disabled/disfigured character, based on the stooping walk of Renaissance Italian coal carriers. Can be an idiot, can be a GeniusCripple. Very violent, especially towards Arlecchino and Pierrot, and speaks in an unusually squeaky voice. His name means "little chicken". The character is traditional to the city of [[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Naples]], where he originated.

** '''Pulcinella''' (''Polichinelo'', ''Polichinelle'', ''[[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch]]''): A hunchback or otherwise disabled/disfigured character, based on the stooping walk of Renaissance Italian coal carriers. Can be an idiot, can be a GeniusCripple. Very violent, especially towards Arlecchino and Pierrot, and speaks in an unusually squeaky voice. His name means "little chicken". The character is associated with the city of [[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Naples]], where he originated.

A form of theater developed in late-[[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Renaissance]] UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}, '''Commedia dell'Arte''' ("artists' comedy") relied on a UniversalAdaptorCast of [[StockCharacter stock characters]], whose roles, characteristics, and costumes were well-defined and widely known. The troupe would take a scenario, which would outline the plot, and create their own dialogue and actions to tell the story. Contrary to popular belief, Commedia actors did not improvise their dialogue on the spot. Rather, they created the dialogue before performing the scenario.

** '''Pulcinella''' (''Polichinelo'', ''Polichinelle'', ''[[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch]]''): A hunchback or otherwise disabled/disfigured character, based on the stooping walk of Renaissance Italian coal carriers. Can be an idiot, can be a GeniusCripple. Very violent, especially towards Arlecchino and Pierrot, and speaks in an unusually squeaky voice. His name means "little chicken".

* [[ComicBook/HarleyQuinn Harley Quinn's]] name in the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' series is a pun on Harlequin.
** Ironically, her character is more of a [[CompositeCharacter composite character]] of both the Harlequin and the Pierrot character due to her abusive and onesided relationship with the Joker.

** Wodehouse's other most notably series, the ''Literature/BlandingsCastle'' stories, also apply ''zanni'' tropes to the aristocracy, with the doddering Clarence Threepwood, Earl of Emsworth, as a kindly ''Dottore'' figure, his domineering sister Lady Constance Keeble as a ''Signora'', their disreputable brother Galahad as an elderly ''Arlecchino'', and Clarence's nemesis and neighbour Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe as a sort of ''Brighella'' figure, and there are always a pair of ''innamorati'' on hand, one of whom will generally be a grandchild or distant in-law of Clarence. This time, however, the servants are a bit more in on the act, with the eternally put-upon butler Beach as a toned-down, non-romantic ''Pierrot'', and the truculent gardener Angus [=MacAllister=] as ''Pulcinella'' (without the violence or threats thereof), and the opportunistic pig-keeper George Cyril Wellbeloved as a more conventional Brighella.

** '''Pantalone''': Often the father of the other ''innamorato/a''. [[TheScrooge Rich and miserly.]] Keeps propositioning Colombina, the DirtyOldMan. Is also a BadBoss to Arlecchino. Sometimes an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist. Based primarily on the stereotype of the rich Venetian merchant. Has a peculiar, shuffling walk, because he's always wearing Turkish sandals (Venice had a strong trade relationship with the Ottoman Empire). Note that unfortunately, this one is often an anti-semetic caricture in old works both because of the AllJewsAreCheapskates stereotype and because Venice was known for having a large Jewish population (see Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice).

* '''The Servants/Commoners''' (''zanni'', from whom we get the word "[[ZanyScheme zany]]") [[HypercompetentSidekick Frequently the ones to ensure the marriages, as you can't count on the lovers being able to pull it off]].

** '''Pulcinella''' (''Polichinelo'',''Polichinelle'', ''[[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch]]''): A hunchback or otherwise disabled/disfigured character, based on the stooping walk of Renaissance Italian coal carriers. Can be an idiot, can be a GeniusCripple. Very violent, especially towards Arlecchino and Pierrot, and speaks in an unusually squeaky voice. His name means "little chicken".