History Main / MirthToPower

* The Comedian from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' at the beginning of his career wore a clown costume, trying to invoke this trope. However, nobody got the joke, so he became a StrawNihilist {{Troll}} who only said truthful things to hurt others without any hope that anyone would get the joke and do something to change things. At the first reunion of the [[SuperTeam Crimebusters]], the Comedian was so mad that the heroes were so vain to think they could solve all of America's problems that he claimed that [[ReedRichardsIsUseless it would not matter because a nuclear war would destroy the world anyway]]. The Crimebusters disbanded immediately, but even when the Comedian thought he was trolling them, in reality, he exposed the real situation to [[spoiler: the only hero with the knowledge and resources to avert nuclear armageddon]].

* In ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'', near the end of the series, Tylor is briefly held captive by enemy forces and kept around as a toy by a basically well-meaning princess who is surrounded by political enemies. He's only kept alive under the condition that he basically be drugged out of his skull. Even in this condition, while they constantly and knowingly recommend terrible courses of action, he plays the clown and points out the absurdity of the situation and gives her the best advice of her life. Unfortunately, at this point in time, she doesn't really take him seriously yet.

* Since the mid-1970s, high-profile prankster Joey Skaggs has been impressing upon the media the need for proper fact-checking by tricking them with absurd hoax news stories.

-->'''[=YouTube=] Comment:''' You can tell this is fake because he said [[TakeThat Youtube notified him]].

* In ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'', near the end of the series, Tylor is briefly held captive by enemy forces and kept around as a toy by a basically well meaning princess who is surrounded by political enemies. He's only kept alive under the condition that he basically be drugged out of his skull. Even in this condition, while they constantly and knowingly recommend terrible courses of action, he plays the clown and points out the absurdity of the situation and gives her the best advice of her life. Unfortunately, at this point in time she doesn't really take him seriously yet.

* The Comedian from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' at the beginning of his career wore a clown costume, trying to invoke this trope. However, nobody got the joke, so he became a StrawNihilist {{Troll}} who only said truthful things to hurt others without any hope that anyone would get the joke and do something to change things. At the first reunion of the [[SuperTeam Crimebusters]], the Comedian was so mad that the heroes were so vain to think they could solve all of America's problems that he claimed that [[ReedRichardsIsUseless it would not matter because a nuclear war would destroy the world anyway]]. The Crimebusters disbanded immediately, but even when the Comedian thought he was trolling them, in reality he exposed the real situation to [[spoiler: the only hero with the knowledge and resources to avert nuclear armageddon]].

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Olenna Tyrell's acidic quips and one liners tend to point out the hypocrisy and fallacious thinking to whoever she's speaking to. She gets away with saying things that others would be beheaded for.

* LetsPlay/{{videogamedunkey}}: While the content of his videos is often silly and nonsensical, there are often times where the goofy jokes serve to illustrate a salient point about the subject.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK158ih4smY "Anthem Legends: Exodus"]] serves to highlight the number of samey open-world games being made, often with identical systems, gameplay, and story.

* Creator/BenjaminFranklin was known for this. For example, when the British Parliament was discussing the possibility of sending convicts to the Thirteen Colonies in 1751, Franklin published an open letter under the pen name "Americanus" where he suggested sending rattlesnakes to the British isles in exchange, saying the British would get the better end of the deal because unlike convicts, rattlesnakes only hurt people in self-defense and always give warnings before striking.

* The Comedian from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' at the beginning of his career wore a clown costume, trying to invoke this trope. However, nobody got the joke, So he became a StrawNihilist {{Troll}} who only said truthful things to hurt others without any hope that anyone would get the joke and do something to change things. At the first reunion of the [[SuperTeam Crimebusters]], the Comedian was so mad that the heroes were so vain to think they could solve all of America's problems that he claimed that [[ReedRichardsIsUseless it would not matter because a nuclear war would destroy the world anyway]]. The Crimebusters disbanded immediately, but even when the Comedian thought he was trolling them, in reality he exposed the real situation to [[spoiler: the only hero with the knowledge and resources to avert nuclear armageddon]].

[[folder: Poetry]]

* The Japanese equivalent of a jester, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taikomochi Taikomochi]], pulled double duty as a military advisor and was expected to fight alongside his lord in battle, making them literal {{Lethal Joke Character}}s. The overlap in roles makes more sense when you realize that both require similar skillsets: quick thinking, an understanding of the situation, and the ability (and close relationship with their lord) necessary to speak truth to power.

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK158ih4smY Anthem Legends: Exodus]]" serves to highlight the number of samey open-world games being made, often with identical systems, gameplay, and story.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6PUlx0K1AU Youtube Gave All of My Subscribers to Will Smith]]" is a satire of Website/YouTube's unhelpful and unintuitive policies, which often punish and inconvenience content creators for no reason and with little chance of appeal.

* ''Theater/TwelfthNight'' features Feste, one of the Bard's best fools, who crosses the Countess Olivia in a bad mood and is told to either make her laugh or beat it. Feste pokes fun at the Countess's ExcessiveMourning of her brother by [[RefugeInAudacity saying her brother must be in Hell]] if she's so sad about his death. At first shocked, Olivia ends up laughing.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/HorribleHistories https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d15ddaf7ef0b68c94278bc1cc94d5200.png]]]]

* Ouma Kokichi from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' fulfills this role. He might be an unpleasant little guy and wears a ''straitjacket'', of all things, but his trolling tendencies and his antagonistic attitude make the other characters start to think, and his provocations end up making the others realize things they needed to know about their fellow students.

* ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': Onimi is the slave jester to [[EvilOverlord Supreme Overlord Shimrra]] of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]]. His position as Shimrra's 'pet' allows him to mock and criticize the Elite mercilessly in a way no one else can, and he seems to take great pleasure in being as offensive as possible. [[spoiler:[[[[TheManInFrontOfTheMan He's also the true power behind the Yuuzhan Vong throne]], using MindControl to speak his wishes through the practically brainless Shimrra's mouth.]]

* ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': Onimi is the slave jester to [[EvilOverlord Supreme Overlord Shimrra]] of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]]. His position as Shimrra's 'pet' allows him to mock and criticize the Elite mercilessly in a way no one else can, and he seems to take great pleasure in being as offensive as possible. [[spoiler:He's also the true power behind the Yuuzhan Vong throne, using MindControl to speak his wishes through the practically brainless Shimrra's mouth.]]

* ''Literature/TheKnightsOfTheCross'': Ciaruszek, Jagie??o's jester, is very good at making people laugh and [[HonestAdvisor turning their attention to things that need to be attended]].

[[AC:Advertising]]

[[AC:Anime & Manga]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

[[AC:Myths & Religion]]

[[AC:Theatre]]

[[AC:Visual Novels]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]

[[AC:Web Videos]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:Folklore]]
* Myth/ArthurianLegend: King Arthur's jester was Sir Dagonet, a man knighted as a joke. Many stories have him wittily pointing out the other characters' mistakes and shortcomings.

[[AC:Web Original]]

* The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA) is an international anti-authoritarian activist group that combines clowning with nonviolent protest.

[[WMG:Note: this draft is the result of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1592961132022667600&page=1 a TRS decision]] regarding TheJester]]