History Main / FrenchJerk

# In Canada, French-speaking Quebecois are also lumped together with their European counterparts, to the latter's distress.

* [=LeFrog=] in ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway''. "I find everyone's pain funny but my own. I am French!"

* Huey Laforet from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', [[MadScientist oh]], [[AboveGoodAndEvil so]] [[ManipulativeBastard much]].

-->You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a [[Music/{{Eminem}} white guy]], the best golfer is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods black guy]], the tallest guy in the NBA [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yao_Ming is Chinese]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alinghi the Swiss]] hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror arrogance]], Germany [[UsefulNotes/WeAreNotTheWehrmacht doesn’t want to go to war]], and the three most powerful men in America are named [[GeorgeWBush Bush]], Dick, and Colon. Need I say more?

* The French Peas in ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' are for the most part in the show, usually friendly and kind, if not mischievous at times. However, early in the show’s run, whenever re-enacting Bible stories, they were often cast as the villainous characters, such as the Philistines, the guards at the wall of Jericho, and Ninevites in Jonah.

* There was an episode of ''Bangkok Airport'' with an obnoxious, [[AlphaBitch bitchy and racist]] French tourist insulting the airport staff for the flight she just missed, even though [[WhatAnIdiot it was her own fault she missed it in the first place]] by getting drunk mere hours before, and she couldn't buy another ticket because she [[TooDumbToLive used up all her money to get drunk]].

* One of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'s earliest foes was Jacques Duquesne aka the Swordsman, a greedy fellow who trained Clint as a boy only to rob the carnival they both worked at and almost kill his pupil in the bargain. Following that he committed various international crimes, tried out for the Avengers hoping to commit bigger crimes while posing as a hero, and eventually fell for the ComicBook/ScarletWitch, leading to LoveRedeems.

* Coco [=LaBouche=] and her assistant Jean-Claude, from [[WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis the second Rugrats movie]]. In a movie set in Paris, they're the only main characters who are actually French. They're also smug, greedy, and they hate children.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'', Batroc the Leaper (see Comic Books, above) shows up several times. His French Jerk tendencies seem to have been [[CharacterExaggeration greatly exaggerated]] for the show.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}''. Collette says at one point, "Sorry to be rude, but we're French. And it's dinnertime," which only makes sense as joke meant to reference this trope. (Were she referring only to the need to rush and prepare dinner, the first part wouldn't be necessary, but whether that's what she meant or not, the first part serves no purpose since they ''are'' in France.) There are some examples of French chauvinism, like the opening narration stating that "although other nations might dispute this fact... [[FoodPorn the best food in the world]] is made in France," and Skinner dismissively calling corn dogs "cheap sausages dipped in batter and fried; you know, American."
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Chef Louie has shades of this -- including the obnoxious, nasal "french laugh": [[MauriceChevalierAccent Hee hee hee, haw haw haw]]! He also sings about cutting up and serving fish for dinner, which seems ''intensely'' sadistic from to Sebastian's point of view -- especially as the chef is preparing '''stuffed crab''' as the main course, thinks Sebastian is a "missed" crab, sings about him being "succulent", dips him in oyster sauce, covers him with flour, stuffs bread in his mouth, and then ''chucks him at the boiling pot.''

* Lord Nooth in ''WesternAnimation/EarlyMan'' has a French accent ([[OohMeAccentsSlipping mostly]]). He's also a wealth-obsessed snob who receives at least one massage. It's never stated that he's actually ''from'' France, and the Bronze Agers seem to have accents from basically everywhere, but it is notable that the main villain of the movie is also the most prominently French-coded.
* Coco [=LaBouche=] and her assistant Jean-Claude, from [[WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis the second Rugrats movie]]. In a movie set in Paris, they're the only main characters who are actually French. They're also smug, greedy, and they hate children.

* Victor of ''WesternAnimation/VictorAndHugo - Bunglers in Crime'', who is noticeably ruder and more bad-tempered than Hugo (though almost invariably TO Hugo).
* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'':
** Le Quack, the antagonistic French duck. "Stupeed Amereecans!"
** And the Napoleon Bonaparte look-alike, who spouts the same catchphrase.
* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' has the main antagonist, Chef Puree in "Fancy Restaurant", who has thrown Dan in the dungeon along with the other chefs who had opposed him.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'': Antoine the Coyote, who was quite rude to Sonic. He gets CharacterDevelopment in the Archie comics but never quite got there in the show before it was cancelled.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' has Cecil, who was rude to everyone '''''but''''' Dot, his employer.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', with the one-off joke about the "Republic of French Stereotypes". Nobody likes ''them''.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}}'' the title character goes to the dry cleaners only to be abused by the French-sounding owners. When he mentions that he is not there to complain, they say that they're not French, only rude, and it just sounds better with a French accent.
* Jean "Crook" Duprey from ''WesternAnimation/SpiralZone''.
* [[AlphaBitch Nanette Manoir]] from ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'' is Franco-Canadian rather than French, but otherwise fits this trope perfectly. Although, as the titular character points out quite often to the viewers, Nanette really isn't French at all; she's just faking it because she thinks it makes her sound cultured. Indeed, the BilingualBonus is that anyone listening who actually ''knows'' French can tell Nanette is often either flat-out mistaken or making it up when she uses "French" words, and the plot of one story is an ''actual'' French girl (who is far nicer than Nanette is) joins the class and nearly reveals she can't speak a word of French.
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheOctonauts'' where the French-accented remipedes initially seem like they're going to be a nuisance to [[AbsentMindedProfessor Shellington]] being wary of him in their cave, but prove to be wholly helpful and actually nice after he passes the literal smell test by [[DisabilitySuperpower leading the team out by smell, upside down at that.]] [[ShownTheirWork Being that it's an education show, real remipedes are actually blind and swim upside down.]]

* Jacques and Josee of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' are technically French-Canadian; however, both of them are rude, arrogant, and ill-tempered towards the other contestants, Josee more so than Jacques.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDavincibles'': [[BigBad Quaba]] looks very French, and is very much a jerk.
* The episode "Princess Problems" of the ''WesternAnimation/GummiBears'' has a French-accent King and his daughter visiting King Gregor's castle. The French princess is a mean spoiled brat.
* One Episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' reveals that one of Cosmo's and Wanda's former godchildren was a French boy named Pierre who has a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain very low opinion on Americans]] and is generally a {{Jerkass}} to Timmy. He even says that he wished for all French people to be rude to Americans.
* In one WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck short, ''WesternAnimation/TheTrialOfDonaldDuck'', Donald has a picnic which gets rained out, so he goes into the first shelter he spots: a French restaurant, where the maître d'hôtel, named Pierre, overcharges him for ''his own picnic food''. Donald is unable to pay (it comes out to [[ShockinglyExpensiveBill $35.99]], and all he has is a nickel), so Pierre takes Donald to court, and the judge finds Donald guilty, forcing him to spend the next ten days at the restaurant [[WorkingOffTheDebt washing dishes]]. Donald hits Pierre with LaserGuidedKarma, however, as the duck breaks most of the dishes after he washes them. Pierre begs him to stop, but Donald ignores him.
-->'''Donald:''' You heard what the judge said: ten days!
* Due to [[AccentAdaptation being given a French accent]], Dick Dastardly becomes this in the Latin American Spanish dub of ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' and ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines''. To drive it even further, [[DubNameChange he's also given the name]] "Pierre Nodoyuna" to go with it.
* Most of the French characters in ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' are portrayed in a negative light, with Napoleon Bonaparte in particular being given a HistoricalVillainUpgrade. This may have to do with the fact that the directors, writers, and producers had a distinctly Francophobic bias. It is for this reason why the show [[AmericansHateTingle did very poorly in French-speaking countries]].

# In France, itself, non-Parisian people are often said to think of Parisians this way. [[StopBeingStereotypical And possibly blame them for this trope]].

# In France, itself, provincial people are often said to think of Parisians this way. [[StopBeingStereotypical And possibly blame them for this trope]].

* {{Downplayed}} in ''Soldier of Fortune'' (a movie inspired to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_of_Barletta Challenge of Barletta]]): the French ''knights'' are for the most part jerks (leading to Ettore Fieramosca and his companions to refuse to serve with them and joining the Spaniards defending Barletta, and later to the Challenge), but the rank and file troopers are simply doing their jobs and their only practical difference from the Spaniards is that they are better fed. Also, during the challenge the French knights fight by the rules, and it's the ''Italians'' who try to cheat by showing up with longer-than-regulation spears ([[LaserGuidedKarma that promptly end in the French hands when, in a sign of sportsmanship, propose to exchange spears and the unknowing Spaniard judge accepts]]).

Putting the word ''Douche'' in "[[JerkAss douchebag]]."

[[quoteright:350:[Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/french_2.png]]]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frenchman_9065.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[-[[http://www.larrywelz.com/blog/art/sketches/frenchman/ Sketch]] by [[http://www.larrywelz.com/blog/ Larry Welz]]-] ]]

* [[MagnificentBastard The Spy]] of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' fame can be ''[[SophisticatedAsHell quite]]'' unpleasant [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwYu8LAmNvg to everyone else]] during a KillStreak.

* During the ''VideoGame/LaraCroft'' review, the WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier noted that every character in the Paris level is a jackass who's rude to the main character... and notes that this is the one aspect of reality the game got perfectly right.

This is more of a {{Characterization Trope|s}}, unlike, say, EagleLand or CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys. Compare to EvilBrit, TheMeanBrit and GermanicDepressives.

* Comedically subverted in ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' in the character of Jean Girard - Ricky Bobby ''reacts'' to him as if he were a stereotypical French Jerk, but Girard is actually a pretty nice guy in an apparently well-adjusted, loving relationship. It's at the film's climax, in which [[spoiler:Ricky Bobby consummates Girard's status as a WorthyOpponent with a [[FoeYay very, very, VERY long kiss]].]]

# FrenchCuisineIsHaughty: Characters visit a French restaurant, where the cook and/or the waiter are all arrogant, badly tempered snobs who [[SmallNameBigEgo think they are the greatest geniuses in the culinary profession]], and refuse to give their clients what they want or interpret everything they say as a complaint. If they deliver the meals the food will always be [[HauteCuisineIsWeird bizarre]].

# FrenchCuisineIsHaughty: Characters visit a French restaurant, where the cook and/or the waiter are all arrogant, badly tempered snobs who refuse to give their clients what they want or interpret everything they say as a complaint. If they deliver the meals the food will always be [[HauteCuisineIsWeird bizarre]].

# FrenchCuisineIsHaughty: Characters visit a French restaurant, where the cook and/or the waiter are all arrogant, badly tempered and dirty snobs who refuse to give their clients what they want or interpret everything they say as a complaint. If they deliver the meals the food will always be filthy, disgusting, cold or at the very least overpriced.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Sophie Montgomery and her mother Jeanne in ''Manga/{{Lady}}''. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted with Sophie, who shows a quite more sympathetic side as it's shown that Jeanne manipulates and harrasses her in hopes to get her to inherit her English grandma's fortune, threatening Sophie with abandoning her in France if she fails. Meanwhile, [[WellDoneSonGuy Sophie just wants to be loved by her mom]].]]
* ''Anime/MarginalPrince'' gives us Henri-Hugues de Saint Germain, the series' resident [[TheStoic stoic]] DeadpanSnarker. He's relatively silent in general, but when something comes out of his mouth it's often snarkage at others, his favourite target being the American Alfred. Subverted sometimes, when his proverbs and comments veil genuinely valuable lessons/suggestions. He never takes any efford in making them sound nice, though.

* Most Venusians from ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita''. A race of hideous, egg-shaped mutants descended from French space colonists, their dependance on OrganicTechnology has given them a very callous attitude towards other living things.

* ''Film/{{Welp}}'': Two French go-karters are at the camping spot the Belgian Cub Scouts are supposed to be at, but they talk down to them and refuse to move from the spot. This forces the troop to camp even further in the woods, right where the evil WildChild lives. Since this [[ForWantOfANail inadvertantly leads to all the horrible things that occur in the film]], this makes the trope all the more apparent.

** Definitely forms ''some'' of the humour in the running gag of your character attempting to rename himself "Raphael Ambrosius Costeau".