History Main / StepfordSnarker

* Chandler from ''{{Friends}}'' could be a poster child for this trope. He openly admits to using sarcasm to hide deep self-loathing that developed due to his rather unusual and traumatic childhood. His snarking also grows noteicably worse during painful situations such as Ross and Rachel's break up, his parents visiting or friends leaving. When he falls in love with Monica, the fact he isn't as sarcastic with her is a telling indicator of how secure he feels with her and how she builds his confidence.

* Chandler of ''{{Friends}}'' openly admits to using sarcasm to hide whatever feelings developed due to his rather unusual and traumatic childhood.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ryuuken Ishida comes across as grim, bitter, sarcastic and hypercritical although there are hints that he's actually a gentle, protective personality underneath it all. Then the final arc visits the past in flashback and it reveals that he really was an open, gentle, very protective person until a series of circumstances ruined his quincy future, his adopted cousin and, worst of all, culminates in the loss of his wife. The people responsible are still at large and the story all but confirms he's a HeartbrokenBadass. The man's still incredibly protective, but he's learned the hard way to hide it.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ryuuken Ishida comes across as grim, bitter, sarcastic and hypercritical although there are hints that he's actually a gentle, protective personality underneath it all. Then the final arc visits the past in flashback and it reveals that he really was an open, gentle, very protective person until a series of circumstances ruined his quincy future, his adopted cousin and, worst of all, culminates in the loss of his wife. The man's still incredibly protective, but he's learned the hard way to hide it.

* Conversation during Act II of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' with Aveline can have her expressly tell a [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic Hawke]] this is what she thinks he or she is.

** Given that Tony's [[Film/IronMan own films]] show his life to be something of a mess, with quite a lot of moral emptiness (before he decides to become a superhero,) alcoholism and relationship issues (continuing after he becomes a superhero,) he counts as this trope in all his films.

* Morrigan, resident LadyOfBlackMagic from ''DragonAgeOrigins,'' who uses the facade of a sultry ice queen to hide her extreme awkwardness from being raised in an isolated environment by a HumanoidAbomination.
* Conversation during Act II of ''DragonAgeII'' with Aveline can have her expressly tell a [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic Hawke]] this is what she thinks he or she is.

The fraternal twin of the StepfordSmiler. The Stepford Snarker has intense feelings of sadness, anger, numbness, loneliness, or other negative emotions, but, for whatever reason, wants to hide these feelings from the people around her. But whereas the Stepford Smiler hides these feelings by acting sweet and happy, the Snarker hides them by [[DeadpanSnarker being snide and sarcastic]]. She often puts on an outward appearance of being very jaded and bitter (though some may maintain a brighter disposition when in a better mood, snarking only when upset), and make sarcastic comments about everything and everybody, but those that are able to break her shell find that she is actually deeply hurt. If she is able to heal, she will not necessarily stop being sarcastic -- it may just part of her personality -- but she will hopefully find a way to express her feelings to her loved ones, rather than solely hiding them with her quips.

In addition, she may be a SnarkKnight but doesn't always have to be. While the Snark Knight is antisocial and sarcastic because of discontent with their surroundings, the Stepford Snarker does not have to be anti-social. She could have many friends and even an optimistic view of the world itself, so long as she still hides her bad moods with snark. A staple of the JerkassWoobie and frequently seen in {{Goth}}s. Closely related to {{Kuudere}}, {{Tsundere}}, BrokenBird and DefrostingIceQueen, all of whom might use this sort of snark as a way of masking their inner sweetness. Compare/contrast SadClown, who is less rude and more ridiculous. Compare JerkassFacade

Despite the pronouns used in the description, this trope can be either male or female.

* VeronicaMars: sophomore year, she is ridiculed, outcasted and raped after the death of her best friend. Junior year, she makes quips.
* Ellie on ''DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' is introduced as a wry goth girl who frequently makes biting, sarcastic comments. After a while, it is revealed that she is deeply depressed.

* Jeff on Series/{{Community}} has been accused several times of hiding his feelings by being a wise-ass. This may be due to the fact that he spent several years as a lawyer, where keeping things to oneself is a professional necessity. It's also due in no small part to his misery at being forced to attend a crappy community college. He has himself on occasion admitted to it, and being in the study group has [[ThePowerOfFriendship softened him a little]], as shown in later episodes. Still doesn't stop him snarking when he's in a bad mood or feeling insecure, though.

** Toby Ziegler shows signs of this as well.

* Diana Ladris (GONE, HUNGER, LIES, PLAGUE and FEAR) often embodies this trope.

* You could argue that Gabriel from ''Supernatural'' fits this trope - he's a sarcastic smart-arse full of mockery and cynicism, and with a superficially-upbeat demeanour... but it turns out that [[spoiler: he knows that his brothers are destined to kill each other and destroy the Earth and that there's nothing he can do about it, and it's tearing him apart. Hence his running away and hiding on Earth.]]

** [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Chloe]] [[TheSmartGirl Sullivan]] managed to remain the PluckyGirl crossed with DeadpanSnarker for most of the time, but [[TraumaCongaLine season eight]] is a bit too much even for her to bear.

* ''{{Smallville}}'': [[BrokenBird Tess]] [[JerkassWoobie Mercer]] becomes this once you find out her [[AbusiveParents horribly]] [[ParentalAbandonment depressing]] [[OrphanageOfFear backstory]], and it only gets worse during her tenure on the show. By later seasons it's obvious that, while DeadpanSnarker is her default setting, she tends to fall into it defensively whenever someone gets too close to figuring out [[BrokenAce how badly she's broken]].

* Archer in ''FateStayNight.'' It's clear early on that he's got some issues, but Tohsaka is actually bothered when he ''stops'' being stepfordy about it [[spoiler:even before he {{Face Heel Turn}}s.]]

[[folder:Real Life]]

* ''[[WorldOfSnark Everyone]]'' in a JossWhedon show. Why? [[SignatureStyle Because]] [[BreakTheCutie it's]] [[KillTheCutie a]] JossWhedon [[DysfunctionJunction show]], [[CrapsackWorld of]] [[ItGotWorse course]].

In addition, she may be a SnarkKnight but doesn't always have to be. While the Snark Knight is antisocial and sarcastic because of discontent with their surroundings, the Stepford Snarker does not have to be anti-social. She could have many friends and even an optimistic view of the world itself, so long as she still hides her bad moods with snark. A staple of the JerkassWoobie and frequently seen in {{Goth}}s. Closely related to {{Kuudere}}, {{Tsundere}}, BrokenBird and DefrostingIceQueen, all of whom might use this sort of snark as a way of masking their inner sweetness. Compare/contrast SadClown, who is less rude and more ridiculous.

* Jade Curtiss from ''TalesOfTheAbyss'' has elements of this ''and'' StepfordSmiler - his brand of snark comes with a permanent smile and cheerful tone attached. It seems to be a sort of self-enforced IntelligenceEqualsIsolation, and covers up his insecurity over his [[MyGreatestFailure troubling childhood]] and apparent LackOfEmpathy for others.

* JohnMunch, DeadpanSnarker extraordinaire is confirmed to be this. In one episode of LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit he is directly asked [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "Do you always deflect personal questions with jokes?"]]. His immediate response is "Do you always deflect jokes with personal questions?", which, [[LameComeback being somewhat less impressive than his usual quips]], suggests that did actually get to him. Given the fact that he's spent most of his career dealing with brutal murders and horrible sex-crimes, it's not all that surprising that he needs some sort of defence mechanism.

The fraternal twin of the StepfordSmiler. The Stepford Snarker has intense feelings of sadness, anger, numbness, loneliness, or other negative emotions, but, for whatever reason, wants to hide these feelings from the people around them. However, unlike the Stepford Smiler, who hides these feelings by acting sweet and happy, the Stepford Snarker hides these feelings by [[DeadpanSnarker being snarky]]. They often puts on an outward appearance of being very jaded and bitter (though some may maintain a brighter disposition when they are in a better mood, snarking only when upset), and makes sarcastic comments about everything and everybody, but those that are able to break her shell find that she is actually deeply hurt. If she is able to heal, she will not necessarily stop being sarcastic -- it may just part of her personality -- but she will hopefully find a way to express her feelings to her loved ones, rather than solely hiding them with her quips.

In addition, they may be a SnarkKnight but they don't always have to be. While the SnarkKnight is antisocial and sarcastic because of discontent with their surroundings, the Stepford Snarker does not have to be anti-social. They could have many friends and even an optimistic view of the world itself, so long as he/she still hides their bad moods with snark. A staple of the JerkassWoobie and frequently seen in {{Goth}}s. Closely related to {{Kuudere}}, {{Tsundere}}, BrokenBird and DefrostingIceQueen, all of whom might use this sort of snark as a way of masking their inner sweetness. Compare/contrast SadClown, who is less rude and more ridiculous.

The fraternal twin of the StepfordSmiler. The Stepford Snarker has intense feelings of sadness, anger, numbness, or other negative emotions, but, for whatever reason, wants to hide these feelings from the people around them. However, unlike the Stepford Smiler, who hides these feelings by acting sweet and happy, the Stepford Snarker hides these feelings by [[DeadpanSnarker being snarky]]. They often puts on an outward appearance of being very jaded and bitter (though some may maintain a brighter disposition when they are in a better mood, snarking only when upset), and makes sarcastic comments about everything and everybody, but those that are able to break her shell find that she is actually deeply hurt. If she is able to heal, she will not necessarily stop being sarcastic -- it may just part of her personality -- but she will hopefully find a way to express her feelings to her loved ones, rather than solely hiding them with her quips.