History Main / PerpetualPoverty

* Part of the charm of ''ComicBook/AlanFord'': as a parody of the spy fiction genre, the T.N.T. Group is constantly penniless and forced to live in a dilapidated flower shop, using straw bales as mattresses and being forced to subsist on meager soups and the occasional sandwich/hamburger/hotdog. Apparently is because the leader and founder, the Number One, is an extremely stingy old man, but also because, as he himself points out some times, the agents themselves aren't accustomed to being rich, and when they do receive some money as a reward they end up wasting it in record time. The trope is eventually broken after the apparent disappearance of the T.N.T. Group and Alan opening an investigation agency with his girlfriend and eventually wife Minuette Macon.
* ComicBook/SpiderMan is the premier example of this. Despite being a super-genius inventor who created a revolutionary new super-strong bio-degradable adhesive, friends with several billionaires, married to a model/actress, and a member of the world's greatest superhero team (the Avengers), he still seems to be utterly broke in most storylines, to the point where he just put up with a dislocated shoulder until it healed to avoid paying the medical bills. Many fans feared that the fallout of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan2013'' would put him ''back'' into this, [[StatusQuoIsGod which eventually came to pass]] when he has to destroy Parker Industries to keep Hydra from getting its hands on it. And to add insult to injury, he even loses the Ph.D. Doc Ock got him due to plagiarism allegations, although he does enroll in Empire State University to earn one himself.
* In the ComicBook/MarvelNOW ''Avengers'' relaunch, [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] lures ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/TheFalcon, and Spidey back to the team by each offering them something. His offers are respectively: beer, birdseed (sarcastically), and in Peter's case, money. [[MemeticMutation Peter is then shown dramatically hugging Tony]] while sighing "Oh, thank God."
* This is part of José Carioca's character in his Brazilian comic series. He's avoided paying for things so much, his debt collectors have formed their own group known as the [[http://coa.inducks.org/character.php?c=Anacozeca A.N.A.C.O.Z.E.C.A.]] He is not above [[http://outducks.org/webusers/webusers/2006/06/br_zc20_0001f_001.jpg bathing in a public fountain, or pulling a dine and dash]]. Some of his earlier stories have him balancing this out while also trying to put on the appearance that he's rich (mostly to justify the suit he wore; José wasn't designed with this characterization in mind).
* In Creator/JohnKovalic's ''Webcomic/DorkTower'', Matt and his friends are always short on funds for their hobbies and toys (and the rent), yet somehow manage to stay in the same apartment and drive a car for years.
* [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]] is an even older example than ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Somehow, circumstances always conspire to keep him from any riches he may find in the course of the stories.
** A running joke, at least in Italian stories, is that Donald puts everything on the tab, and now has an enormous debt to every grocer, vendor, repairman, etc. in Duckburg. Paying off all his debt seems to be a case of FailureIsTheOnlyOption, and his creditors can get downright brutal. Yet he's hardly ever evicted from his big suburbia house... Because his landlord is Scrooge. In lieu of rent, Donald does any task Scrooge asks of him, from life-threatening adventures to polishing every coin in the money bin.
** Italian stories also provide justifications on just why his creditors are still willing to do business with him and haven't sued him off everything he owns: on one hand, Donald is known to be friends with the local UnscrupulousHero Paperinik (alias ''himself''), so they don't ''usually'' cross certain lines out of fear of him coming after them (as it actually happened in some stories, as Donald ''does'' use his alter ego to settle scores, and being forced to sign contracts saying he'll pay them tenfold once he inherits from Scrooge or them outright laying siege to his house and devastating his garden is enough for him to grab the costume); on the other hand, whenever Donald brings home some riches he ''immediately'' pays off his tab (that's a frequent reason for him not keeping his riches), so they know they ''will'' get the money... Someday.
* ComicBook/DylanDog and his assistant Groucho live in a state of Perpetual Poverty.
* This seems to be status quo for ''Manhua/OldMasterQ,'' where the protagonist of the same name is often seen living on less than meager means. This is doubly true of the first animated film, where he lives in a tiny wooden shack on top of a high rise and running water appears to be his only amenity.
* Chester and Deck in ''ComicBook/HavocInc'', in part due to Chester's spending habits. When their daughter (something of an economics prodigy apparently) gets into the company books she finds [[http://www.radiocomix.com/havoc-inc/comic/havoc-inc-06-pg-13/ a bill adorned with little skulls]].
* The Godinez family from ''Los miserables'', ever since the comic started they are shown living (or as the author said, '''surviving''') ''below'' the poverty line: They live in a shack on a [[PollutedWasteland landfill]] and they get their income from re-selling bootleg items they buy from the Chinese. In some story arcs they manage to obtain a large sum of money... only to lose it by some DiabolusExMachina, or in another they manage to start a business that will lift them from poverty only to be out-competed by the Chinese.
* In the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' universe, ComicBook/TheAvengers are struck with this. The current incarnation of [[ComicBook/UncannyAvengers the Avengers Unity Squad]] has its funding from ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, which his title reveals is from selling merchandising and outsourcing his name for other uses, while the ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentAvengers have been given the nickname "Broke-Ass Avengers" as despite having Tony Stark on their team, he isn't the financial juggernaut he once was. They're even forced to operate out of an abandoned aircraft hangar in New Jersey because Tony had to sell Avengers Tower.
* The ComicBook/{{Runaways}} are constantly on hard times, owing to the fact that they are actual runaways and technically wanted criminals. This is slightly alleviated in the third season when Chase gets a job, but his boss turns out to be an aspiring supervillain and thus the job evaporates after he tries to turn the whole population of Los Angeles into zombies, and since the Runaways blew most of Chase's paycheck on a Nintendo Wii, they soon end up broke again.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderBoy'' is a homeless, penniless kid with a MissingMom and a DisappearedDad. Even if he were old enough to get a job, [[RetGone all documentation of his existence has been erased]], making it impossible to get working papers. His lack of money becomes a sore spot for him by Issue #3 of his comic, as his phone, his last worldly possession, was stolen just before Christmas. He then mutters that he wants twenty bucks after a woman asks how he can repay her for saving her and her cat. Unfortunately, HeroismWontPayTheBills, and the expectation that superheroes work for free means that she doesn't even entertain the thought while Christina tries to sweep Bailey's remark under the rug by saying he was just kidding.

* ''Series/CuteyHoneyTheLive'': Private detective Seiji Hayami fits this trope to a tee. He claims to be living in poverty as a way to infiltrate the underworld of Japan... whether or not that can be believed when you consider his luck with clients and general ineptness at his job is up to the viewer.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan is the premier example of this. Despite being a super-genius inventor who created a revolutionary new super-strong bio-degradable adhesive, friends with several billionaires, married to a model/actress, and a member of the world's greatest superhero team (the Avengers), he still seems to be utterly broke in most storylines, to the point where he just put up with a dislocated shoulder until it healed to avoid paying the medical bills. Many fans feared that the fallout of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' would put him ''back'' into this, [[StatusQuoIsGod which eventually came to pass]] when he has to destroy Parker Industries to keep Hydra from getting its hands on it. And to add insult to injury, he even loses the Ph.D. Doc Ock got him due to plagiarism allegations, although he does enroll in Empire State University to earn one himself.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics:'' The Chaotix, post-cosmic reboot. Even saying they don't have the money to keep the lights on would be generous, since they can't afford lights ''at all''. No matter what they do or who hires them, they barely break even. One case to find and rescue a princess does end with them getting paid, only to find the foreign currency they're paid in has [[WorthlessForeignCurrency an awful exchange rate]], meaning all they can buy is one packet of crackers for Charmy.

* The Chaotix Detective Agency in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series is stuck like this. They take up the mysterious client in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' only to find out is Dr. Eggman in the end, who promises to pay them when he takes over the world, which doesn't end well for the poor dope. ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' had one scene where the team is so broke that Vector uses a collect call message to yell at Espio.

* Implied in Music/{{Beck}}'s "Black Tambourine" from ''Music/{{Guero}}'':

* This is usually the flavor of most ''TabletopGame/ShadowRun'' groups. The [[BadassCrew Runners]] are either completely broke or are cheated out of their money by the [[MegaCorp corporation]] they're hired by, or blow all of their money buying [[CoolGuns guns]], [[ArtificialLimbs cybernetics]], and the like.

* Marshall Law from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' went from a successful businessman into someone so broke that his only chance to recover financially was to win the tournament, which canonically never happened (the most he received was some "financial assistance" from Yoshimitsu and the Manji Party after they looted Ganryu during the events of the first game), and [[PlayedForLaughs we're instead treated with hilarity with how he could never escape his poverty]]. Even in his non-canon endings where he does win the tournament, something happens that causes him to lose all his money. For example, in ''Tekken 4'', he started a successful chain of Chinese restaurants, but then when a customer [[BerserkButton insulted his cooking]] he beat up everyone in the restaraunt in a blind rage and [[HilaritySues got hit with so many lawsuits]] he went bankrupt again.

* ''Manga/NeuroSupernaturalDetective'': Yako, to the point there are several chapters dedicated to her trying (and failing) to win some money to pay off some crippling debt. The work never clears up how much she and Neuro get paid for the cases they solve, specially the ones the duo happens to [[BusmansHoliday stumble across]] but it seems to imply it's a just a combination of [[{{Troll}} Neuro]] wasting all the money in some inconsequential stuff and then [[BadBoss footing the bill to Yako]] and [[BigEater Yako]] herself ordering the occasional 12 course banquet at some fancy restaurant what seems to deplete their funds.