History Main / DiscoDan

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' character known only as [[{{Yuppie}} "That Guy"]] who lives his life like [[Film/WallStreet Gordon Gekko]] despite his perfect grasp of his temporal location. He even gets Fry to embrace his lifestyle while performing a hostile takeover of Planet Express and nearly pulls off a flawless pump-and-dump to Mom Corp. Only his sudden death from boneitis stops him from succeeding. The DVD commentary for the episode reveals that his name is [[spoiler:Steve Castle, an appropriate name for an '80s business guy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has a few of these. The animated series gets around the painful TotallyRadical nature of old Titans villains like Mad Mod by making them old men who hide behind illusions to make themselves appear "young" and "hip" again:
** Mad Mod uses mind control to impose his vision of an Anglicized US (at least one seen through the lens of ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' and [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Monty Python]]) on Jump City.
** Ding Dong Daddy rides a hot rod and abuses the living crap out of phrases like "Daddy-O". He's got round sunglasses and a beret.

* James Donovan Halliday from ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' is an EccentricMillionaire and [[UsefulNotes/VideoGameDesign game designer]] that was obsessed with the 1980s (the decade that he lived in as a teenager). He had an encyclopedic knowledge of nearly all movies, tv shows (animated and live-action), anime, books and games (be they video games, tabletop games and so on) and [[MeanBoss would impulsively fire employees that did not share his obsessions]] (though his friend and partner Ogden Morrow would discreetly rehire them).

* "90s Kid" on ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' is out of touch and obsessed with Creator/RobLiefeld-esque [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks 1990s comic books]]. Note that he met with WebVideo/EightiesDan (see below) to trade soft drinks, so for one crossover you got twice the Disco Dan fun!

** The ridiculous ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman'' villain Turner D. Century acts like he lived in [[TheGayNineties the 1890s]], and his entire motivation is making things more like that period.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe3'', Gru and Lucy tangle with Balthazar Bratt, a FormerChildStar turned super-villain who seems obsessed with TheEighties, when he was at the height of his popularity. He wears a purple suit with shoulder pads, he has a mix-tape of "heist music" that includes "Bad" by Music/MichaelJackson, and his arsenal includes trick bubble gum, a bomb disguised as a Rubik's cube, and [[MusicalAssassin a keytar that fires blasts of weaponized sound]].

* In ''Film/TheWrestler'', Randy "The Ram" Robinson seems to be stuck in TheEighties, the time of his GloryDays. He plays Nintendo games with neighborhood kids and talks about how much he hates modern music, preferring hair metal from the eighties.

* In ''Film/AngryVideoGameNerdTheMovie'', WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd uses a UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} to access the internet and play an MMO with Cooper, which is rendered with flashy modern graphics on Cooper's PC but looks like a 16-bit platformer on the Nerd's Commodore. The Nerd also uses a massive bulky microphone for voice chat as opposed to the sleek headset that Cooper uses. Later, the Nerd brings along a huge record player for music to listen to on a road trip.

* ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'': Poppy is not only nostalgic for the 1950s, she's ''built a '50s-themed main street''. And apparently, her grasp of current affairs [[TwoDecadesBehind is still stuck]] in TheEighties as she complains about being persecuted for peddling marijuana (which, while still illegal, it's not seen as ''that'' threatening) while execs of alcohol and tobacco companies get to appear on magazine covers (something that hasn't happened since the mid-1990s).

* In the [[JumpingTheShark post-shark]] seasons of ''Series/HappyDays'', when the show was encroaching into TheSixties, Fonzie refused to let go of his Greaser ways. He's scandalized when Chachi and Joanie take an interest in folk music instead of rock n' roll. In an earlier episode, he even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this himself: "If it was up to me, it would stay 1955 forever!"

** Joan became this as TheSixties went on. At the beginning her look was the embodiment of the Pin Up girl and SexySweaterGirl look of the Postwar Era and admired, then later her updos, pencil skirts, wiggle dresses, stilettos, and attitude are found passe and garner some ridicule from younger men. While she updates her look slightly after becoming wealthy (she is after all in her mid- to late 30s, so dressing like Twiggy is a no-no) and wears floatier fashions, she still hasn't let go of her stilettos, elaborate hairdos, super-curve hugging clothing, and her '50s era apartment decor.

* Tommy Saxondale in Steve Coogan's ''Series/{{Saxondale}}'' has a bit of this going on; an ex-roadie from TheSeventies convinced he's still bucking the system, he's a bit stuck in the past and not quite the rebellious spirit he thinks he is.

* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'' plays with vampire stereotypes by having the main cast be an extreme version of this -- stuck in the VictorianLondon time period of classic vampire icons like Dracula -- but then, hilariously, has a much more literal version of this trope with a menacing vampire family nearby who are stuck in TheSeventies (called "the Hustle Dynasty").

* In the mid-to-late [[TheSeventies 1970s]], on both sides of the pond, there was a resurgence of 1950s rock-and-roll style music that most people who were young at the time found puzzling and anachronistic. In the UK, acts like Showaddywaddy made appearances on shows such as ''Series/TopOfThePops'' in crepe shoes, Teddy-boy suits and ducktail hairstyles, performing songs that felt twenty years (at least) behind the times. In the US, Sha Na Na, who rose to fame with a '50s covers set at the iconic Woodstock festival, became one of the most popular musical acts in America, and even had their own syndicated variety show that showcased both '50s rock 'n roll acts that were still touring as well as more "modern" acts. Viewers of the normally intended demographics were puzzled, but their parents -- who'd been young in the 1950s -- basked in the warm glow of recognition and nostalgia. Pan forward another twenty years and note there was a surge of popular music that evoked the [[TheSixties 1960s]]. It was even ''called'' the "second summer of love" [[note]]The first Summer of Love having been 1967)[[/note]]. It has been speculated that the programme-shapers and opinion-formers of both periods had been going through a collective mid-life crisis pining for their own lost youth, and had generated a revival of the music of their youth which appealed not so much to the young as to those of their own generation.

* In 2010, Wrestling/JayLethal of [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] did a gimmick that entailed pretending to be "Macho Man" Wrestling/RandySavage (including the wraparound shades and the JiveTurkey accent) and literally acting as if it were still TheEighties. The gimmick was dubbed "Black Machismo."

* Franchise/{{Barbie}}'s {{Childhood Friend|s}} Midge expresses an interest in fads from TheSixties, the decade in which dolls of herself first entered production.

** Then there's the Videlectrix guys, who release UsefulNotes/Atari2600 style games in the present day without realizing that they're ridiculously out of touch until they're tasked with developing the ''Homestar Runner'' game and try controlling a UsefulNotes/Commodore64 with a UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}mote.

** Bob has a collection of vinyl records, an entire basement full of VHS tapes with a working VCR, an UsefulNotes/Atari2600, a rotary phone, and of course wears his trademark bellbottom pants. It's probably not so much that he's actively defying change as just that he'd be the last person on Earth to ''care'' about fashion trends, including technology fashion.

* The character of the blogger running ''Blog/YoIsThisRacist'' is a TotallyRadical [[TheNineties '90s]] "out-of-work rapper" who refuses to get an [=iPhone=] as he prefers his pager, hangs out at the mall and still thinks yelling "[[Music/DrDre DEEEEEEEEZ NUTS]]" is the cutting-edge of meme-based comedy. Possibly justified as one update implied he was actually a HumanPopsicle "unfrozen in the future to spread the message about racism".

* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' lives in a basement full of old video game consoles, doesn't own anything made after TheNineties and uses a Commodore 64 and a rotary phone. [[RuleOfFunny The former can browse the internet and play modern games (they just take about five years to start up), and the latter can play smartphone games despite not having any kind of screen.]] The ''Franchise/MegaMan'' episode, made in honour of his 10-year anniversary on Website/YouTube, later reveals that he's "kept up with the times" by updating his vinyl collection and getting a cell phone. The vinyls are now on cassette tapes, and the cell phone is a forty-year-old Motorola digital personal communicator.

* Quagmire from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' lives by the swinger lifestyle of the [[TheFifties '50s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] (or, he used to, before [[{{Flanderization}} they amped up his sexual perversion]] and made him Brian the dog's SitcomArchnemesis). It makes sense when it's revealed that [[OlderThanTheyLook he was actually born in 1948 and stays young by ingesting carrots]].

* Motor Ed from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' behaves like an [[TheEighties '80s]] rocker, [[VerbalTic seriously]], often goes into air guitar riffs, seriously, and even quits his job because he loves his mullet, [[OverlyLongGag seriously]].
* Michigan J. Frog in the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short ''WesternAnimation/OneFroggyEvening'' is a Disco Dan from TheGayNineties brought up to TheFifties and later TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. He dances around in a top hat and sings the popular Tin Pan Alley music of his era.

** Disco Stu's a recurring joke character who's eternally stuck in [[TheSeventies the mid-1970s]], but he's a fairly positive portrayal of this trope. In fact, one episode reveals that he is actually fully aware that disco is dead and admits that he doesn't even like disco anymore--however, Stu's worried that he's become "a one-note guy" after letting it define him for so long. Most Springfield-residents seems to like Stu just fine--one episode reveals that he was married to Marge's sister, Selma, at one point (Stu was Selma's fourth husband) and Marge claims that Stu's the only one of Selma's ex-husbands she actually liked.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' gives Cyborg some shades of this, with a love of [[TheEighties '80s]] sitcoms and a preference for cassette tapes and VCR over more modern forms of media.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' has a few of these. The animated series gets around the painful TotallyRadical nature of old Titans villains like Mad Mod by making them old men who hide behind illusions to make themselves appear "young" and "hip" again:

** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' gave Cyborg some shades of this, with a love of [[TheEighties '80s]] sitcoms and a preference for cassette tapes and VCR over more modern forms of media.

Not to be confused with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Ford "Disco Dan" Ford,]] the former major league baseball player, ''[[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0001400 Disco Dan,]]'' the 80s ZX Spectrum computer game in which the player fixes nuclear reactors by jumping around inside them, or with [[http://cooldiscodan.net/ Cool "Disco" Dan,]] the Washington, DC graffiti artist.

* In a series of Wendy's commercials advertising the return of their taco salad -- a huge hit in the 90's -- middle-aged adults celebrate by bringing back slang and fashion from the decade while their children watch and cringe. Neon ''everything'', frosted tips, saying "bomb diggity", etc.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', Peter Quill was abducted from Earth in 1988 and hasn't been back since. Consequently, he acts like he's in the 80's and constantly listens and dances to a mix tape of old music. The mix tape was a gift from his late mother and is his most prized possession. Peter's mother might also be one; all the songs on Awesome Mix 1 are from the 60s and 70s, with the most recent one (Escape) being from 1979. For some reference, that's the same year that Peter's actor was born, so he's nostalgic for music older than he is.

* Miss Hannigan in ''Film/{{Annie 2014}}'', subtly. Her hair and clothing style is more suited for a young woman in the 90s-early 2000s, another way she's living in the past.
* One odd version is Debbie from the 1992 movie ''Film/{{Singles}}''. Set in early 90s-era Seattle, the film is absolutely drenched in the early grunge and alt-rock scene ([[UnintentionalPeriodPiece almost painfully so]]). Debbie, though, still dresses like she takes all her cues from mid-to-late-80s MTV trends. However, due to how much it clashes with the look of everyone else (plus the fact that, fashion-wise, the 60's and 70's made several small comebacks in the 90s and 2000s, which means ironically that hearkening back to older trends would blend in better), Debbie comes off as bizarrely anachronistic even though her fashion is, at most, seven years out of date.
* ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'': Poppy is not only nostalgic for the 1950s, she's ''built a 50s-themed main street''. And apparently, her grasp of current affairs [[TwoDecadesBehind is still stuck]] in TheEighties as she complains about being persecuted for peddling marijuana (which, while still illegal, it's not seen as ''that'' threatening) while execs of alcohol and tobacco companies get to appear on magazine covers (something that hasn't happened since the mid-1990s).

* Jon L. Breen wrote an Series/ElleryQueen pastiche where a head injury caused him to be mentally stuck in the 50s. When he solved a case requiring knowledge of US presidents, several of whom were elected post-1959, his father made a remark about him being back to normal. He replied that he had no idea what his father was talking about and that "President Winkler" had better do something about the moon colonies before it was too late.

* In one episode of ''Series/TheChrisRockShow'', there was a fictitious TV movie called "Daddy Still Has a Flattop", about a black man, played by Creator/ChrisRock, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who still wears an 80s flattop hairdo by the late 90s]], embarrassing his wife and son.
* ''Series/CobraKai'': Johnny Lawrence is permanently stuck in the bubble that is the '80s. He drives an old Pontiac Firebird, only listens to hair metal music, and constantly watches old movies like ''Film/IronEagle''. He's also hopeless with modern technology and social media; he uses a 5-year-old LG flip phone, and doesn't even know what Website/{{Facebook}} ''is''.

* Kath from ''Series/KathAndKim'' still perms her hair and dresses as though it's still the '80s. She doesn't even seem to realize that times, and fashions, have changed. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in 'Da Kath and Kim Code' where Kath arrives at an 80s themed party dressed in her everyday clothes...

'''Kath:''' ''[wearing an over-the-top 80's style pink outfit]'' Oh, from my wardrobe, Sharon. Costume?\\
'''Kim:''' Yeah, it's an 80's party.\\

** Joan became this as TheSixties went on. At the beginning her look was the embodiment of the Pin Up girl and SexySweaterGirl look of the Postwar Era and admired, then later her updos, pencil skirts, wiggle dresses, stilettos, and attitude are found passe and garner some ridicule from younger men. While she updates her look slightly after becoming wealthy (she is after all in her mid to late 30s, so dressing like Twiggy is a no-no) and wears floatier fashions, she still hasn't let go of her stilettos, elaborate hairdos, super-curve hugging clothing, and her '50s era apartment decor.

** Most of the residents of Camden (including Earl) are stuck in the late 80's or early 90's. Most of the men (and some of the women) wear flannel shirts, bands such as Music/DefLeppard and Music/{{Metallica}} are still hugely popular, and most are HopelessWithTech (until Season 4, when everyone has high-speed Internet and computers out of nowhere) Justified in that Camden is on the WrongSideOfTheTracks; most of its residents are uneducated past HighSchool (if even that), and many of them are older (and therefore less likely to develop newer tastes in music or adopt new technology). This leads to Camden being a kind of RetroUniverse.

* A 1997 episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' took a look at the "Superfans" after Mike Ditka became head coach in New Orleans. Chris Farley's character Todd O'Conner, having had a nervous breakdown and now believing it was still 1985, fit this trope to a T: he mentioned he had to get home "to see Creator/JimmyStewart on [[Series/TheTonightShow Carson]]." (If he was told it wasn't 1985, he'd have a HollywoodHeartAttack.)

* ''Series/TheWindsors'' has Fergie being unable to get over the 80s, when life was going particuarly well for her, and has her repeatedly try to recreate the era via things like disco.

* SR-71's song "1985", [[CoveredUp made famous by]] Music/BowlingForSoup, is about a middle-aged soccer mom who [[JadedWashout thought she could become a world-famous actress back in the 80s]]. Instead, her life has been anything but what she imagined - a dull routine suburban life with a family, and even ''they're'' sick of her inability to get over it.

** Singer-songwriter/guitarist ''Leon Redbone's'' music is primarily covers of Early 20th century jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics, as well as some self-penned songs in those styles. He is probably best known for his musical appearances on SNL in the 70's and as the singer of the theme song for the TV show ''Series/MrBelvedere'' in the 80's.
** ''The New Vaudeville Band'' was a 60's retro-jazz group created by British songwriter Geoff Stephens who in 1966 recorded a hit novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by 1920s Dance Band and with a Rudy Vallee megaphone-style vocal. They would later release the ''On Tour album'', with the hit single ''Peek-A-Boo'', later followed by the hit singles ''Finchley Central'' and ''Green Street Green''.
** ''Creator/RobertCrumb'', best know for his underground comics, formed a retro string band in the 1970's called R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders. On the 3 albums they released in the 1970's, they played songs from, and in the style of, the 1920s: old-time music, ragtime, "evergreen" jazz standards, western swing, country blues, hokum, vaudeville and medicine show tunes. They where also know for releasing their albums also on the then long defunct 78RPM record format (in addition to standard 33 1/3 RPM records).
* On his album ''Life is Good'', ''Music/{{Nas}}'' of all people invokes this on the track "Loco-Motive", intended as a throwback to the 90s [[GangstaRap gangsta rap/boombap]] of the start of his career, explicitly both for the enjoyment of and a shot at those FanDumb who think he should remain in that style and not evolve as a musician -- declaring "this for my trapped in the 90s [[NWordPrivileges niggas]]". To be fair, the whole album, to a degree, is a throwback to 80s and 90s hip-hop, but "Loco-Motive" especially.

* In the mid-to-late [[TheSeventies 1970's]], on both sides of the pond, there was a resurgence of 1950's rock-and-roll style music that most people who were young at the time found puzzling and anachronistic. In the UK, acts like Showaddywaddy made appearances on shows such as ''Series/TopOfThePops'' in crepe shoes, Teddy-boy suits and ducktail hairstyles, performing songs that felt twenty years (at least) behind the times. In the US, Sha Na Na, who rose to fame with a 50s covers set at the iconic Woodstock festival, became one of the most popular musical acts in America, and even had their own syndicated variety show that showcased both 50s rock 'n roll acts that were still touring as well as more "modern" acts. Viewers of the normally intended demographics were puzzled, but their parents -- who'd been young in the 1950's -- basked in the warm glow of recognition and nostalgia. Pan forward another twenty years and note there was a surge of popular music that evoked the [[TheSixties 1960's]]. It was even ''called'' the "second summer of love" [[note]]The first Summer of Love having been 1967)[[/note]]. It has been speculated that the programme-shapers and opinion-formers of both periods had been going through a collective mid-life crisis pining for their own lost youth, and had generated a revival of the music of their youth which appealed not so much to the young as to those of their own generation.

* Wrestling/JoeyRyan had a gimmick as a CasanovaWannabe who acted like it was the 70's.

* Wrestling/WrestlingSocietyX had the Old School Express, Jock Samson and Marion Fontaine. This got worse when they were joined by an ''unfrozen'' old school wrestler [[Wrestling/ColtCabana Matt Classic]], 'old school' 50s/60s moves such as a head vice or an abdominal stretch as finishers despite these moves generally no longer being taken seriously. Even the website listed him as having won the championship in 1952.

* In Wrestling/{{Progress Wrestling}} there's Flash Morgan Webster who dresses up like a [[ScooterRidingMod Mod]] (for those unfamiliar Mod's have their roots in the 1960's, at least 20 years before he was born)

* In 2019 Wrestling/ImpactWrestling redebuted Johnny Swinger, a 25+ year veteran by that point, as a delusional out-of-touch goofball who thinks it’s vaguely sometime between the mid 80s and 1993 [[note]]when he was just a teenager, let’s not think about it too hard[[/note]] and speaks only in inside wrestling references and lingo from that period.

* In ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' v4, we have Joshua Krakowski, who has been literally described as "The Living Anachronism" due to his clear 90s influence, right down to using [[TotallyRadical 90s slang]] and looking like a SurferDude. Daniel Vaughan also has tendencies of this, as he clearly is a little too fond of the 80s. Naturally, he and Josh get along quite nicely.

* ''Theatre/TheDrowsyChaperone'' features Man in Chair, a lonely recluse who is obsessed with Broadway musicals of the 1920's-1940's, and who proceeds to narrate a recording of the titular show to the audience (making it a PlayWithinAPlay).

* [[BunnyEarsLawyer Milla Vodello]] from ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}.'' Her Mental World is a giant technicolor dance studio with disco music blaring. (Unless you stray [[SurvivorGuilt into her]] [[KillItWithFire nastier memories]], anyway.) Possibly inverted as the game's aesthetic and the timeline shown on the camp log seem to put the game's setting somewhere in the 60's. Apparently, [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling clairvoyance]] can [[MundaneUtility let you enjoy musical trends a full decade before they hit.]]

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': Recurring radio interviewee Jack Howitzer is an 80's action star who has difficulty accepting that the days of TheAhnold are over.

* Creator/BradJones of ''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob'', has created a character called WebVideo/EightiesDan. His videos are parodies of 80s style sitcoms, with canned laughter and a feel good theme song, and feature the time displaced Dan subjecting his less than enthusiastic roommates and neighbors (including a R.O.B. the Robot) to the joys of 80s pop culture. Bonus points for him actually being named "Dan".

* ''WebVideo/NightmareTime:'' Miss Holloway is an immortal witch with a love for the 80s, keeping the same teased hair and leather jacket even as the decades pass.

* Eddy from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' keeps a disco ball, polyester suits, and various Music/TomJones and Music/BarryWhite records in his room. While the show takes place in an AmbiguousTimePeriod (however it's heavily implied to be in the 2000s), it's clear that Eddy is still way behind the times. Eddy is unusual in that he is only 12 and thus is likely too young to have even experienced the 70s.

-->'''Nathan''': Rap rock band with a DJ?
-->'''Lead Singer''' That's us, motherfucker.
-->'''Nathan''': Somebody tell this band what year it is.
* ''WesternAnimation/MuchaLucha'' has Senor Hasbeena, a teacher at the '''''[[NoIndoorVoice FOREMOST WORLD-RENOWNED INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF LUCHA]]''''' who constantly spouts 70s slang in a rather [[LargeHam hammy]] voice. He even has a signature move called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Funky Disco Ball]]. According to the episode "Woulda Coulda Hasbeena," he was actually a pretty successful luchador in the 1970s until a mysterious flash (later found out to be [[spoiler:his future self performing his signature move]]) distracted him during a championship match with Kid Up And Coming, resulting in him losing the championship; hence why he's stuck in the 70s.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', Uncle Bobby still performs to this day as an old-school Funk singer straight out of the Seventies, complete with the characteristic heavy rhythmic "Owwww!" tone in his voice (which even Lionel Richie quit doing by the 80s) and which he uses even when speaking "normally".

** Much was made in older episodes (when the passage of time in the real world made the show's sliding timescale less noticeable) of the early 70s as Homer's teenage years, his love of bands long past their sell-by date, most infamously Music/GrandFunkRailroad. Nowhere is this clearer than in "Homerpalooza", where his attempts to sell the kids on his old favorites fall flat and he's left to express confusion because, "Everyone knows that rock achieved perfection in 1974!"

* Since many of the people behind ''Teen Titans'' also created ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', this also applies to some of the lower-scale human villains the Autobots fight. Headmaster is a nerd heavy on late-2000s internet slang, Angry Archer talks in medieval lingo, Prometheus Black/Meltdown looks like he never got over the 70s (same with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Porter C. Powell]]), and Slo-Mo is an evil version of a 1930s ScrewballComedy lead. The difference here is that they're in a futuristic, robot-heavy UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, making them contrast even more.

* ''Franchise/MegamiTensei'': Recurring zombie enemies Bodyconian[[note]]"bodycon" is short for "body-conscious" and refers to the style of dress she's wearing, which was extremely popular in Japan before the economic bubble burst[[/note]] and Maneater are references to the Japanese disco dance culture of the 1980s[[note]]While disco died in America, it continued to persist in other countries for a little while longer[[/note]]. As the Shin Megami games were released in the late 80s, it is a joke that the subculture was on its way out at the time.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' character known only as [[{{Yuppie}} "the '80s guy"]] who lives his life like [[Film/WallStreet Gordon Gekko]] despite his perfect grasp of his temporal location. He even gets Fry to embrace his lifestyle while performing a hostile takeover of Planet Express and nearly pulls off a flawless pump-and-dump to Mom Corp. Only his sudden death from boneitis stops him from succeeding. The DVD commentary for the episode reveals that his name is [[spoiler:Steve Castle, an appropriate name for an '80s business guy]].

* The titular character of the ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' series is permanently stuck in the 1970s in terms of style; in his case, it's partially [[{{Justified}} justified.]] At the start of the series, Larry is a 38-year-old virgin who's been completely out of touch with the modern dating scene for most of his life; when he finally decides to remedy the situation, his idea of "cool" is over a decade out of date, more due to ignorance than willful disbelief. Later games, however, establish that even after coming to his senses, he maintains his "classic" look and tastes simply because he personally likes them.

* Tiger in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 3'', a hidden character who is merely a different outfit for Eddy Gordo. As such, he uses the same fighting style (Capoeira).

* Toni, the Flashback FM DJ in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII''. People ask her if she remembers anything after the 70s and the 80s, and she doesn't, but she also thinks there isn't anything worth remembering after those times. You also hear her in ''Vice City'' (set in the 80s) as the DJ of Flash FM.

* Jon from ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' is a fan of disco. In the animated special, ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Garfield Gets a Life]]'', he's not even aware that it isn't popular anymore. In ''1991''. ("You learn a dance, then zango! -- 14 years later, they change it!") Funnily, this even works as a ContinuityNod -- there are early comics where Jon was interested in disco back when it was still popular.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Anyone attending [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-australia-43184382/hair-to-stay-australians-celebrate-the-mullet The Mullet Festival]] can safely be said to count as an example. One individual was even quoted as saying, apparently sincerely, "it's not a hairstyle, it's a lifestyle!"
* Retrocomputing is basically this trope applied to technology.
* Millennials are starting to slide into this with their refusal to let go of skinny jeans and form-fitting, [[TheNewTens 2010s]]-style clothes. At least [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXFWoPLIuB0 according to Gen Z]].
[[/folder]]

** Joan became this as TheSixties went on. At the beginning her look was the embodiment of the Pin Up girl and SweaterGirl look of the Postwar Era and admired, then later her updos, pencil skirts, wiggle dresses, stilettos, and attitude are found passe and garner some ridicule from younger men. While she updates her look slightly after becoming wealthy (she is after all in her mid to late 30s, so dressing like Twiggy is a no-no) and wears floatier fashions, she still hasn't let go of her stilettos, elaborate hairdos, super-curve hugging clothing, and her '50s era apartment decor.

* Motor Ed from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' behaves like an [[TheEighties '80s]] rocker, [[VerbalTic seriously]], often goes into air guitar riffs, [[CatchPhrase seriously]], and even quits his job because he loves his mullet, [[OverlyLongGag seriously]].

Usually, this is played for laughs. We get a funny character, who is a walking anachronism by simple virtue of denial. Bonus points if this character forces other people to act as though this reality is true. Curiously enough, more than a few of these characters have an affection for disco music, hence the title.

Most likely has a FunnyAfro. Would not take it kindly if told that DiscoSucks.

* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam I'' and ''II'' have Dancing Denzell and Groovy Gregory as characters player can choose.

* Judge Harry Stone on ''Series/NightCourt'' wears a fedora, is a huge fan of crooner Mel Torme, and loves movies and fashions from the 1940s.

* ''Franchise/MegamiTensei'': Recurring zombie enemies Bodyconian and Maneater are references to the Japanese disco dance culture of the 1980s[[note]]While disco died in America, it continued to persist in other countries for a little while longer[[/note]]. As the Shin Megami games were released in the late 80s, it is a joke that the subculture was on its way out at the time.

[[caption-width-right:300:The '80s called, they want their leisure suit back.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:The 80s called, they want their leisure suit back.]]

->''"The 80s are ''never'' over. You don't just ''turn off'' the 80s!"''

* The Creator/ImageComics miniseries ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}'' is about this: a "phonomancer" who draws power from music comes into conflict with a group of "retromancers" who wish to reshape the cultural memetics of Britain just so that they can clutch on to their {{Britpop}} youth.
* The ridiculous ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman'' villain Turner D. Century acted like he lived in [[TheGayNineties the 1890s]], and his entire motivation was making things more like that period. The (somewhat) more serious Hammerhead talks and acts like he was a member of Al Capone's mob; he liked to go to the movies as a kid and the gangsters he saw on the big screen left a big impression on him. Hammerhead even has a vintage limo in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', which is kind of badass.
* Briefly happened to Comicbook/GreenArrow after he was resurrected. His soul (which opted to remain in the afterlife) only allowed [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal]] to bring back a previous version of himself, one from before his life fell apart. The reborn Arrow doesn't know what year it is, thinks a man is a super-villain simply for owning a modern (for 1999) computer, and mistakes a cellphone for a walkie-talkie. By the end of the story, his soul rejoins his body, bringing him back up to date.
* The main character of independent comic ''The Griffin'' is a slightly {{Jerkass}} high school student who, in 1967, is met by [[TouchedByVorlons aliens who convince him to join their galactic war]] in exchange for FlyingBrick powers (including freezing his aging at 18), since humans are one of the few species the superpower procedure works on. He agrees, leaving behind his best friend, girlfriend and family. Twenty years later he deserts and goes home. Although he'd accepted that society would have probably changed, he had assumed everyone he met would have put their lives on hold and stayed the same. Therefore he's actually shocked to discover that, in the intervening years he'd been declared dead, his best friend and brother had grown up into mature adults, his parents had another child and his girlfriend (who he'd always assumed would wait for him) got married. He takes ItsAllAboutMe to a whole new level.
* Dozier D. Daze and his Nostagianator on the ''ComicBook/TomorrowStories'' by Creator/AlanMoore.

* In Image's ''DeadlyDuo'', Kid Avenger mixes this with FanOfThePast; He's actually from the very end of time, but for some reason loved the 1970s and only knows about culture and politics and technology from that era.
* Indigo from ImpactComics. Because he's been in jail so long, he was unaware of the leaps and bounds made in technological developments in the last three decades.
* The Mad Mod in ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' was, in the original comics, a contemporary 1960s character. ComicBookTime led to the version in [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans the cartoon]] and the [[RecursiveAdaptation cartoon-based comic]] ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'', where he became a Disco Dan type instead, still obsessed with 1960s pop culture even though the 1960s were long gone.
* ''ComicBook/{{Icon}}'' featured a ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire parody named [[http://www.writeups.org/fiche.php?id=1349 Buck Wild Mercenary Man]], who showcased all the most ridiculous aspects of 70s "Blaxploitation" super-heroes. This was because the experiment that gave him his powers also literally froze his brain in 1973.
* Comicbook/CaptainAmerica gets hit with this after he's unfrozen in both the comics and the movies. Subverted in that while Cap does eventually catch up with the times enough to function in society, his values system remains rooted in the 1930s and 40s (which usually serves as a tool for the writer to contrast Cap's idealism with the cynicism of the world around him). The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel version from ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' plays it straighter, since the writers figured it would be more realistic to play up the DeliberateValuesDissonance between someone yanked from the end of UsefulNotes/{{W|orldWarII}}W2 and dropped straight into the vastly different world of the early 2000s. Reaction was mixed, especially when some authors began adding in more ''modern'' negative American values, like anti-French attitudes or anti-intellectualism or playing up 30s attitudes toward the appropriate behavior of racial minorities and women.
* DependingOnTheWriter and artist, Klara Prast of the Comicbook/{{Runaways}} sometimes still dresses like a lower-class immigrant from the early 20th century.
* Thanks to the circumstances of his resurrection, [[ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas Jimmy Woo]] still acts like he's in the world of the 1950s.
* ComicBook/StarLord from ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' loves retro stuff and classic 60's to 70's music, even designing his costumes to evoke Buck Rogers-style pulp heroes. This was partly caused by the fact that he was taken from Earth when he was only a kid (which occurred in either the 70's or 80's, depending on the continuity); all he had to remember Earth by was his own memories and the stuff he had on, which included an old Walkman. This used to not be brought up very often, but after the [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 film adaptation]] made it a major source of characterization, it's since become one of his most well-known character traits.
* When [[WesternAnimation/SgtSavageAndHisScreamingEagles Sgt. Savage]] is brought into 2017 by the ComicBook/{{Revolutionaries}}, it transpires that after having been brought forth from 1944 to 1994 thanks to [[MacGuffin the Talisman]], he ''embraced'' [[TotallyRadical 90s culture]], becoming a [[Creator/RobLiefeld Liefeld]]-style hero who fought ninjas and skateboarders. He at one point yells "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Eat my shorts!]]" at an enemy completely seriously. [[NarmCharm And he's also]] ''incredibly awesome'' (what with being a SuperSoldier and all).
* Snowflame, the infamous [[AddictionPowered cocaine-powered supervillain]] that premiered in ''Comicbook/TheNewGuardians'' series was revamped as an 80's themed villain who dresses like Don Johnson in ''Series/MiamiVice'' in a 2020 ''Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}'' storyline after more than 30 years since his initial appearance.
* {{Justified}} with Cecily Bain in ''[[ComicBook/VampireTheMasqueradeVault Vampire: The Masquerade: Winter's Teeth]]'' as she is a vampire and stuck in her decade of Embrace (the late Seventies). Cecily was a hardcore GothicPunk rebel for the first three decades of her life and is adjusting to the fact her scene has been dead since the Nineties.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanBlackAndGold'': Cathy has reopened the shop she ran with Diana [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 in the 1960's]] when she was a teenager despite being middle aged now. She dresses the same way and seems to be trying to relive her glory days. This ends up justified since she is dying of cancer, and only staving off death by using a magic talisman that requires her to be in the place she felt most alive. Understandably having adventures with Wonder Woman and saving people is what she went with for that.