History Main / StraightManAndWiseguy

** Harley Quinn, being not PyschoticManchild but also a full blown {{Cloudcuckoolander}} act as the Wise Guy to most other characters, even if they would otherwise act as the Wise Guy themselves like the Joker.

** Pearl and Marina have a more lighthearted version of this using the same set-up and response format. Pearl serves as the wise gal who says something absurd or surprising, while Marina is the straight woman who follows it up with a teasing remark.
-->'''Pearl:''' I LOOOOVE using dualies here. I just dodge-roll nonstop!\\
'''Marina:''' I noticed. You might want to think about playing the objective once in a while...

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has {{idol singer}}s Callie and Marie play the parts of wise guy and straight man (respectively), both when they served as newscasters in the first game, and in their usual banter in the various story modes. Notably, they invert the usual of set-up and response format seen with this trope: jokester Callie often opens conversations with a bad joke or something ditzy, which straight woman Marie replies to with a snarky comment playing off it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has {{Iiol singer}}s Callie and Marie play the parts of wise guy and straight man (respectively), both when they served as newscasters in the first game, and in their usual banter in the various story modes. Notably, they invert the usual of set-up and response format seen with this trope: jokester Callie often opens conversations with a bad joke or something ditzy, which straight woman Marie replies to with a snarky comment playing off it.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'', {{idol singer}}s Callie and Marie play the parts of wise guy and straight man, respectively, in newscasts announcing the current stage rotation, Splatfests, and updates. However, they invert the roles of set-up and response: Callie is the jokester that often opens conversations with a bad joke or by saying something ditzy, and Marie is the straight woman that sneaks in a quietly (or blatantly) snarky comment playing off it.

[[folder: Anime And Manga]]

* ''Literature/KovacAndLiska'': Sam Kovac is a gruff and mostly serious police detective with some soft spots. Nikki Liska is a big mouth detective in a small package

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Endeavor plays the serious and stoic -- if hot-headed -- Straight Man to Hawks eccentric and pun-making Wise Guy.
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': Barnaby serves as the StraightMan to Kotetsu's Wise Guy.
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': the titular [[TheStoic stoic]] human protagonist Koboyashi is the Straight Man to Tohru, a dragon from another world whose lack of familiarity with the human world leaves her a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} when living among humans. She is also in love Koboyashi ever since she saved her life, even though Tohru [[FantasticRacism doesn't even like humans]], something Koboyashi is oddly indifferent to.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': The entire series is set in a bizarre {{Cloudcuckooland}} city ruled by a AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil, and the main character Ryoko Matoi is the Straight Man the only person who thinks any of it is weird. Her best friend Mako Mankanshoku is someone who is considered a loony [[UpToEleven even by the standards of the series]] who manages to baffle everyone with her InsaneTrollLogic. The result is that she not only acts the Wise Guy to Ryoko's Straight Man, but also anybody else.

%%* ''Howard and Nester'': Formed such a duo in the long-running Nintendo Power strip, with the difference being that Howard never physically "corrected" Nester - the environment (or an enemy nearby) corrected Nester for him.
* In the ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader'' comics, this is basically the dynamic between Vader and Dr. Aphra. She's a snarky, adaptable archaeologist/thief, he's a 7" impassive BlackKnight.
* ComicBook/SpiderMan is the wise guy to most of his villains, much to their annoyance, and ''almost'' any hero [[https://davidmann95.tumblr.com/post/146981189181 when they team up]]. The exceptions are the Human Torch, where they basically take turns annoying each other, and Deadpool, who's so out there it gives even Spidey a headache.
* ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'' is built entirely on this trope. The CrazyPrepared straight-laced serious Quantum is paired with the irreverent street-smart DeadpanSnarker Woody. And they're ''forced'' to stay paired up to prevent discorporating into pure energy, no matter how much they get on each other's nerves. Also doubles as an early inversion of SaltAndPepper.

* [[Film/TheViewAskewniverse Most]] of Creator/KevinSmith's films have [[ThoseTwoGuys Jay and Silent Bob]], with Silent Bob being the Straight Man.

* Stephen Fry often plays (ironically) straight man to Hugh Laurie's wise guy whenever they are in the same production.
* Rowan and Martin also used this in a straightforward way. Dan Rowan was the straight man; Dick Martin, the Wise Guy.

* The V film in ''Film/ABCsOfDeath2'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope; a man is on a Skype call with his girlfriend while on vacation with his best friend. Said sleazy best friend, however, starts to show and tell her what they had been doing that night, including sleeping with two prostitutes, with the StraightMan trying to stop him throughout.
* Hot blooded [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Marty Mcfly]] and ingenious [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Dr. Emmett Brown]] in ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''.
* Creator/JackLemmon (straight man) and Creator/WalterMatthau (wise guy): From ''Film/TheFortuneCookie'' to ''Film/GrumpyOldMen''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'' reimagines Batman as a ManChild EmoTeen (despite not even being a teenager) who acts the Wise Guy of the movie, while Alfred instead acts as the Straight Man and the CloudcuckoolandersMinder.

* ''Jackrabbit Messiah'': Jackrabbit is the wise guy to, of all people, God as the straight man. (God is [[spoiler: actually the predominant [[HelpfulHallucination voice in Jack's head]] - Jack is schizophrenic]]).

* ''Series/PerfectStrangers'': Of course Balki (Wise Guy) and Larry (Straight Man) deserve to be listed here, [[CatchPhrase don't be ridiculous]].
%%* ''Dag Sinterklaasje'' (''Sinterklaas Day''): Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet in this Belgian series.

* ''Series/MostExtremeEliminationChallenge'' has Kenny Blankenship play Wise Guy to the snarky Vic Romano.
--> '''Kenny:''' Heh, that Troper just called me a wise guy.
--> '''Vic:''' Right you are, Ken.

%%* ''{{Series/QI}}'' - Stephen Fry & Alan Davies.

* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'':
** JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf unintentionally play the Wise Guy to Fozzie's Straight Man. It's the only reason that Fozzie's act is funny.
** And Kermit was the StraightMan to the rest of the cast's general zaniness, although he was often the DeadpanSnarker too.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'': The other Muppet show has Bert being the Straight Man to Ernie's Wise Guy.
** In the original season, a ''non-muppet'' sketch series starred Buddy, (Wise Guy) and Jim (Straight Man).
%%* ''Series/KenanAndKel''
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Jerkish, calm-to-apathetic [[DoctorJerk Taiga]] is stuck with the bratty, overly cheerful [[MoralityPet Nico]]. His attempt at acting like proper [[PerpetualFrowner brooding]] TokenEvilTeammate are followed either by [[TastesLikeDiabetes her]] trolling him or trying to act tough herself. Both ways usually [[NotSoStoic ruin]] his efforts, much to his dismay.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': The quirky ComicallySerious snarker Sento tends to poke the more grounded DumbMuscle Ryuga to get a reaction out of him, usually to a great succes. Their conversations often have the dynamic resembling BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine as a result.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Early episodes were mainly multiple wise guys (Hawkeye and Trapper, with occasionally Col. Blake or Radar) against straight men (Frank and Margaret). Later on, though, Hawkeye and BJ comprised one of these duos, with clean-cut BJ as the straight man (most of the time).
* Alex Trebek and Sean Connery form such a duo in the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches. Trebek wants to conduct a normal game show, while Connery would rather make jokes about [[YourMom Trebek's mother]].
* ''Series/{{Burnistoun}}'': Recurring characters Paul and Walter have this dynamic. Walter is extremely childish and constantly causing trouble for Paul by doing things such as splashing water on him, calling him gay, and in general, indulging in all sorts of whimsical and antisocial fantasies. Meanwhile, Paul is just trying to run the ice cream stand and is constantly exasperated by Walter, trying to keep him under control.
* ''Series/TheStrangeCalls'': Officer Toby Banks and his sidekick Gregor have this dynamic. Banks is an earnest, hapless, and mildly dorky ByTheBookCop who takes everything about his job very seriously, and is always skeptical of any supernatural explanation by things. Gregor meanwhile is an old man with lots of weird fetishes and eccentricities, who constantly makes fun of Banks and ropes him into wacky adventures relating to his expertise on the town's supernatural doings.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'', {{idol singer}}s Callie and Marie play the parts of wise guy and straight man, respectively, in newscasts announcing the current stage rotation, Splatfests, and updates. However, they invert the roles of set-up and response: Callie is the jokester that often opens conversations with a bad joke or by saying something ditzy, and Marie is the straight woman that sneaks in a quietly (or blatantly) snarky comment playing off it.
-->'''Callie:''' Help! I have a sudden craving for peanut butter!\\
'''Marie:''' Great stage tip, Callie. Really helpful.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', this is mostly likely the form the relationship between [[PlayerCharacter the Detective]] and his partner, Kim, will take. No matter what, Kim is always a ConsummateProfessional StraightMan who tries his damnest to keep the investigation on track, while the player will mostly likely be living it up as an [[BunnyEarsLawyer extremely eccentric]] and snarky DefectiveDetective. The game's loading screens even encourages the player to play into this dynamic. The player is, however, also free to subvert this, by playing as a ByTheBookCop.
* ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'' has the leads, the laid-back Zuke and spunky rapscallion Mayday, though they take turns being the voice of reason and goofy one depending on the situation.

* ''WebAnimation/LlamasWithHats'': Paul and Carl. Paul is the Straight Man by virtue of being the even-tempered and normal OnlySaneMan and is stuck reacting to the BloodyHilarious antics of Carl, the AffablyEvil (and AxCrazy) Wise Guy.
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Andy is the wise guy and Martha is the straight man. Andy makes a dumb joke, and Martha sarcastically reacts.

%%* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'': Piro and Largo, initially.
* ''Webcomic/{{Stairwell}}'': This webcomic is a little on the odd side as it has Norman as the Straight Man AND the Wise Guy (which is represented by a manifestation of Norman's brain)

* ''Webcomic/ExistentialComics'': Creator/AlbertCamus and Creator/JeanPaulSartre, where the former is shown as being a superbly cool, laid-back womanizer who effortlessly picks up women, while Sartre is a stuffy intellectual, mostly the {{foil}} to Camus's barbs. This may ''some-what'' reflect their real-life relationship. Also Zeno of Citium and Zeno of Elea, depicted as roommates in the mode of ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'', the latter mostly getting on the former's nerves when he used his paradoxes as excuses.

* [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]] plays straight man to [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Q]] in ''WebVideo/SpockVsQ''.
* ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'': When doing ''Game Grumps'', Creator/{{Egoraptor}} is the Straight Man, while WebVideo/JonTron (or [[Music/NinjaSexParty Danny]] as of June 25th, 2013) is the Wise Guy.
* WebVideo/{{Danisnotonfire}} often plays Straight Man to WebVideo/AmazingPhil's Wise Guy in their collabs.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/user/TheJeffAndDavidShow/ Jeff and David Show]]: David (Straight Man) and Jeff (Wise Guy).
** "You[Wise]'ll be short and angry, and I[Morecambe]'ll be tall and stupid. And we'll ''both'' be idiots."
* Most of The Courier's companions in ''Machinima/CouriersMindRiseOfNewVegas'' are straight man compared to him to some degree, but [[TheStoic Boone]] is easily ''the'' Straight Man to his Wise Guy. Nowhere is there a bigger contrast in personalities than between the [[TheComicallySerious No-Nonsense]] veteran ColdSniper and the [[LargeHam loud]], {{boisterous|Bruiser}}, and [[AxCrazy cheerfully bloodthirsty]] mailman.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'': Rudy is the Straight Man and Snap is the Wise Guy.
* The hosts of ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'' - Henry is the Straight Man while June is the Wise Girl.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb,'' Perry plays straight man to Dr. Doofenshmirtz's wise guy. Keep in mind, Perry's a platypus.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
** In Book Four, straight-laced detective Mako gets assigned as the bodyguard to the foppish, hedonistic CasanovaWannabe Prince Wu. Mako doesn't make a secret of how annoying this is and takes some getting used to the whole idea.
** Bolin, usually something of a wise guy himself, ends up playing the straight man to the eccentric Varrick when the two of them are on the run from Kuvira.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren and Stimpy]] are a subversion, with Ren as the straight man, and Stimpy as the "eediot".[[note]]Some (repeat: [[DependingOnTheWriter SOME]]) episodes DO have Stimpy acting as though he were a wise guy, but that's the joke since he's anything BUT wise...[[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019''. The title character is as expected, an AxCrazy CloudCuckoolander. Her best friend ComicBook/PoisonIvy acts as the most common Straight Man. Poison Ivy is a murderous eco terrorist, but compared to most of the criminals in the show she's the OnlySaneMan.
** The show's version of Franchise/{{Batman}} acts as the Straight Man to its Jim Gordon. Years of acting as a cop in [[WretchedHive Gotham City]] have taken their toll Gordon's mental health, making him a nervous wreck with a drinking problem. During the show's second season Batman is [[PutOnABus injured]] so Batgirl takes the role instead, acting as one of the show's few normal characters.
** [[ServileSnarker Alfred]] acts as this to Batman. Batman as turns out only comes off as normal compared to everyone else in [[CloudCuckooland the crazy city]]. BeneathTheMask he's a total ManChild, albiet one trying to do good. Alfred is the DeadpanSnarker foil. Batman's attempts to return to fighting crime despite his injuries in his ADayInTheLimelight has play out like a FantasyForbiddingFather arguing with his stubborn teenage son.
* Balthazar Cavendish and Vinnie Dakota from ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw.'' The former embodies BritishStuffiness and is serious about his job, the latter is a fun-loving BigEater who is BrilliantButLazy.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Catra, prior to her VillainousBreakdown, acts the Straight Man to [[TheDitz Scopia's]] Wise Guy. Catra is a dangerous, competent villain. [[DumbMuscle Scorpia is a formidable fighter, but she's a complete idiot]] who is hopelessly in love with Catra, who clearly doesn't share her feelings.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': [[IdiotHero Son Goku]] acts as the wise guy and whoever he is playing off is the Straight Man, barring some [[DumbassHasAPoint moments where he's right]]. Either way he has a knock for driving the unlucky Straight Man insane, something that he is hinted to be doing on purpose.
* ''WebVideo/DragonBallDC'', similar to the above mentioned ''Dragon Ball'', it's version Son Goku (called Kakarot Kent in this series) acts as the Wise Guy while whoever he plays off is the Straight Man, except for [[Franchise/GreenLantern Larfleeze]] who is a lunatic obbsessed with hoarding anything of value.
** In the side story "The JENNY And LARFLEEZE Show" featuring a podcast with [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Jenny Olson]] and [[Franchise/GreenLantern Larfleeze]]. Jenny is normal person, who is largely conditioned to the outlandish happenings of the Comicbook/DCUniverse. Larfleeze is countinues to desire to hoard anything of value, even immaterial things like views, comments, likes and subscriptions for the podcast.

* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019''. The title character is as expected, an AxCrazy CloudCuckoolander. Her best friend ComicBook/PoisonIvy acts as the most common Straight Man. Poison Ivy is a murdering eco terrorist, but compared to most of the criminals in the show she's the OnlySaneMan.

See also BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine, where a foolish character sets up the jokes for a straight man to correct, often violently. Compare SmartJerkAndNiceMoron, a similar comic contrast pair where no one character is the straight man. Often paired with FatAndSkinny; usually, the skinny one's the straight man but not always. Sister trope to HamAndDeadpanDuo and GleefulAndGrumpyPairing.

See also BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine, where a foolish character sets up the jokes for a straight man to correct, often violently. Compare SmartJerkAndNiceMoron, a similar comic contrast pair where no one character is the straight man. Often paired with FatAndSkinny; usually, the skinny one's the straight man but not always.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', this is mostly likely the form the relationship between [[PlayerCharacter the Detective]] and their partner, Kim, will take. No matter what, Kim is always a ConsummateProfessional StraightMan who tries his damnest to keep the investigation on track, while the player will mostly likely be living it up as an [[BunnyEarsLawyer extremely eccentric]] and snarky DefectiveDetective. The game's loading screens even encourages the player to play into this dynamic. The player is, however, also free to subvert this, by playing as a ByTheBookCop.

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': The entire series is set in a bizarre {{Cloudcuckooland}} city ruled by a AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil, and the main character Ryoko Matoi is the only person who thinks any of it is weird. Her best friend Mako Mankanshoku is someone who is considered a loony [[UpToEleven even by the standards of the series]] who manages to baffle everyone with her InsaneTrollLogic.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallDC'' has its side story "The JENNY And LARFLEEZE Show" featuring a podcast with [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Jenny Olson]] and [[Franchise/GreenLantern Larfleeze]]. Jenny is normal person, who is largely conditioned to the outlandish happenings of the Comicbook/DCUniverse. Larfleeze is a complete lunatic obsessed with hoarding everything of value he can think, even immaterial things like views, comments, likes and subscriptions for the podcast.
* [[PsychopathicWomanchild Rin]] from ''WebVideo/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorksAbridged'' as the wise guy to whoever she plays off, ussually [[TheHero Shirou]] or [[IgnoredExpert Archer]].

* Balthazar Cavendish and Vinnie Dakota from ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw.''

* Creator/GeorgeBurns and Gracie Allen used a variant: StraightMan And TheDitz. Interestingly, Gracie Allen was initially the StraightMan in their comedy act...until George Burns realized her set-up lines got more laughter than the actual jokes. He switched roles with her and spent the next several decades as one of the classic straight men.

** SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker invariably plays the Wise Guy to Batman's Straight Man... a psychotic, murderous, twisted genius of a Wise Guy, and an obsessive, violent, angst-ridden Straight Man. Mental health is not the strong point of the Batman oeuvre. Given that Batman is the TheComicallySerious of the entire DC universe, he plays the straight man to the more flamboyant of his RoguesGallery, and often other superheroes such as the wisecracking ComicBook/TheFlash as well.

* Hot blooded [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Marty Mcfly]] and ingenious [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Dr. Emmett Brown]] in ''Series/{{BackToTheFuture}}''.

* Hot blooded [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Marty Mcfly]] and ingenious [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Dr. Emmett Brown]] in ''Series/{{Back To The Future}}''.