History Main / TheGadFly

Contrast the BlitheSpirit and ManicPixieDreamGirl, who often use a very similar M.O. [[note]]modus operandi[[/note]] to ''improve'' people's lives. The DevilsAdvocate will do this in serious discussion to point out flaws in a stated position.

[[NoSocialSkills Maybe they have poor social skills]], so its hard for them to express themselves diplomatically. [[ItAmusedMe Or it could be they just like to watch others get annoyed, confused or angry at them.]] Or maybe the impolite behavior is a SecretTestOfCharacter for the other party.

* Robin/Nightwing in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' loves messing with people in season 1, though by season 2 he's become considerably more mature.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Kazuya Miyuki of ''Manga/AceOfTheDiamond''. On the field, he's a great catcher who knows how to effectively lead his team, and everybody relies on him, especially protagonist Eijun Sawamura. Off the field, he loves to {{troll}} others to no end, and whenever people insult or call him "evil", [[InsultBackfire he takes it as praise]].
* Chelsea from ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' loves to make fun of [[{{Tsundere}} Mine]] and [[ACupAngst her flat chest]].
* Shinnosuke from ''Literature/ApocalypseAlice'', who lives to press people's buttons. It also helps to push them [[IneffectualLoner away from him]].
* Before either of these, Tomo from ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' was doing this to [[StraightMan Yomi]].
* By episode 12 of ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'', Senjogahara admits she likes to troll Koyomi.
* ''Anime/BangDream'' gives us Moca Aoba, who delights in saying things to tease her bandmates in Afterglow, such as saying that her favorite thing to eat after "pan" (bread) is [[AmbiguouslyGay Ran]], the aloof lead singer of the band. She also explains that she never gains weight, despite being a BigEater because she sends the calories to [[WeightWoe Himari]].
* Motoharu Tsuchimikado and Misaka Worst from ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''. The former is a SelfProclaimedLiar, the latter does her best trying to troll Accelerator.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': C.C. seems to come off as this trope, with [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]] and [[PrettyFreeloaders freeloading ]] the person she does it to as a bonus when pushing Lelouch's buttons.
* Shin of ''Manga/CrayonShinChan'' loves getting a rise out of Georgie.
* L from ''Manga/DeathNote'' does this to gauge reactions from other people, helping him read them more easily.
* Korone (Green) in ''Literature/DemonKingDaimao'' loves yanking Akuto's chain.
* Tsuyuri from ''Manga/DoujinWork'' is this through and through, causing most of the misunderstandings in the series.
* [[VideoGame/DragonQuestV Bianca]]'s characterization in ''Anime/DragonQuestYourStory'' sees her having this type of relationship with the hero (Luca). She repeatedly lovingly trolls him to get under his skin.
* Rindou Kobayashi from ''Manga/FoodWars''; pretty much every time she appears she's trying to get a rise out of other people she finds amusing or interesting. Indeed, her first significant appearance after her introduction is her hanging around Terunori and Soma's stalls at the Full Moon Banquest festival just to tease them. She later shows up out of nowhere during a crucial shokugeki just to bother the participants.
* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'':
** Sougo Okita pretty much lives to annoy others. The most common target of his is Hijikata, and the pranks he directs at him frequently are more like attempted murder.
** Honorable mention goes to Gintoki and Kagura for the epic troll faces they pull on Shinpachi in the 9th opening.
* Half the time when Koizumi and Kyon from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' talk, Koizumi will explain some theory to explain Haruhi and Kyon will start getting very involved in the conversation and thinking about it deeply - at which point he says "Just kidding, I made the whole thing up." Annoying!
** A bad case of this comes from none other than [[spoiler: Ryoko Asakura, who decides it's her job to make Haruhi do something and tries to murder Kyon.]] Actions speak louder than words?
* In ''Anime/GreatPretender,'' Laurent is a shameless troll who loves teasing his associates. This ranges from merely making snarky comments about them to outright [[TheTease flirting with them]] to tick them off.
* ''Manga/HayateCrossBlade'': Amachi Hitsugi, being the head of an AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil, often uses her powers to amuse herself, usually at the expense of others.
* ''Manga/HoloearthChroniclesSideEYamatoPhantasia'': While investigating the HauntedHouse, Fubuki tries to find a chance to scare Mio for fun, [[SkewedPriorities despite both already been attacked by ghosts and Mio having a past trauma]].
* Haru Hozuki from ''Manga/HozukiSanChiNoAneki'' has nothing better to do than mess with her step-brother.
* [[TheTrickster Hisoka]] from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' messes with people just for amusement in some scenes, though he toes the lines between comedy and cruelty (for example, joking about killing Killua to [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Illumi]], who reacts accordingly, though he calms down quickly upon realizing it was a joke).
* Raphael from ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel'' is a mix of this and TheTease towards Mikael.
* ''Manga/InoHeadGargoyle'': Saejima's police partner Okita, who's younger, more handsome, and luckier than him in every way, never misses a chance to rub Saejima's face in it.
* Joseph Joestar of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', no matter his age. [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency In his youth]], he bold-facedly lies to the BigBad about how he achieved victory (blind dumb luck, incidentally), just for the sake of pissing him off. [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders As an old man]], he spends a considerable amount of time doing things to mess with his traveling companions, including his own grandson, to the point where Jotaro nearly [[RapidFireFisticuffs ORA ORA]]s him at the end of the series out of confusion and annoyance with one of his pranks.
* Ritsu from ''Manga/KOn'' loves pushing Mio's buttons, mainly to scare the crap out of her.
** When Mugi tried to simulate her [[spoiler:to get more popular]], she came off as a JerkAss.
* ''Literature/KagerouDaze'': Kano. It really doesn't help that he's a ShapeShifter. Most of his lines are meant to fluster ''someone'' in some way, whether it is to break Kido's cool exterior, reading Mary's poetry aloud for everyone, or making comments suggesting he's attracted to Momo [[MySisterIsOffLimits in front of Shintaro]]. [[spoiler:Once his status as TheResenter is revealed, it's clear he's more of a {{Troll}} instead]].
* Ena of ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'' like messing up Rin for fun sometimes, like making a bear-like bun hair out of Rin, or asking Rin to buy her lunch while knowing well Rin's camping.
** In the ''Heya Camp'' segments, this role is fulfilled by Aoi. She tells [[LittleKnownFacts completely random explanations]] for something, mostly to mess with Nadeshiko. In the second season, her sister Akari joins in the fun at Nadeshiko's expense.
* [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kazuma]] of ''Literature/KazeNoStigma'' is a DeadpanSnarker with a hobby: {{Troll}}ing his distant cousin [[{{Tsundere}} Ayano]].
* Manabe from ''Manga/KotouraSan'' is a mixture of this and TheTease. It's not just that he likes having sexual fantasies of his girlfriend and local {{telepath|y}} Haruka so that she flusters, it also turns ''him'' on. When he discovers Haruka ''can't'' read his mind when she's sick, it takes all the fun right out of it.
* Prince Baka Ki=El-Dogra, also known as the Prince, in ''Manga/LevelE'' is pretty much made out of this.
* Konata in ''Manga/LuckyStar'' constantly pushes Kagami's buttons and giggles quietly at the [[{{Tsundere}} explosive]] results.
* In ''Manga/MaidSama'', [[TheAce Takumi]] [[MrFanservice Usui]] does this a lot to basically everyone, but his favorite victim is his {{Tsundere}} love interest [[DoesNotLikeMen Misaki]] [[BelligerentSexualTension Ayuzawa]].
* Akane of ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'' sits right on the line between this trope and being a full-blown {{Troll}}. She absolutely delights in screwing around with people, but often has a [[TricksterMentor vaguely benevolent ulterior motive]]. The exception is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld her]] great-great-grandaughter Akari, who she antagonizes just for kicks.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The pro heroine Ms. Joke, real name Emi Fukukado, is this in her interactions with Shota Aizawa. She's constantly cracking jokes and hitting on him, though it's clear it's mostly because she's trying to get a reaction out of him.
* ''Anime/MyHime'' gives us Shizuru Fujino, president of the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil, is BrilliantButLazy. She is also deeply, but secretly, in love with resident ActionGirl Natsuki Kuga. She takes great delight in teasing Natsuki with unexpectedly inappropriate jokes, glomps, and various other antics. She also delights in tricking her rival on the student council, Haruka Suzushiro, into taking on larger workloads.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** Albireo Imma who seems to feel it is his job to get a rise out of Evangeline. He's described as her 'natural enemy'.
** Zazie Rainyday appears to be following in his footsteps.
** More than once, a few of the others - such as Haruna, Kazumi, even Chachamaru - have said or done something teasing or over-the-top mainly to get a reaction from others.
* ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'':
** Mai from goes to great lengths in order to confuse her friends, going so far as to seemingly confess to Yukko just to provoke a funny response or simply stop when playing Red Light-Green Light while the others are in an uncomfortable position and are not allowed to move. She'll even troll herself. Also, [[UncattyResemblance her dogs]] are the same way.
** Mio's older sister is just as bad. Her initial appearance featured her wearing a mascot mask and chasing Mio around for, to Mio, no reason whatsoever. Unlike Mai, Mio tends to beat up on her sister when she does this.
* [[ServileSnarker Gramps]] from ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'' loves to tease Haru, and on several occasions withholds information about what her friends are doing because it's more interesting to see her get worked up over nothing.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Luffy does this to the villains, often pointing out their physical features ('''BIG RED NOSE!!!'''), seemingly just to make them mad. To his credit, however, he doesn't do it on purpose; he's just too much of an idiot to keep his comments to himself.
** Fittingly, his number one fanboy Bartolomeo ''lives'' to piss every non-Strawhat off, delighting in their enraged reactions and keeping any reprisals at bay with his BarrierWarrior powers.
** Any time they're seen together, Eustass Kid does this to Luffy and Law. At one point he provokes them into sailing down a ''waterfall''.
* Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin in ''Manga/OuranHighschoolHostClub'' generally amuse themselves by baiting Tamaki and Haruhi. Tamaki is a bit of a {{butt monkey}}, but Haruhi can hold her own. Often unintentionally.
** The scary thing is that ''it runs in the family.''
* Morris from ''Anime/{{Pikaia}}'' seems to enjoy messing with the Elfin girls. However, they're happy to retaliate.
* Otako of ''Manga/PleaseTellMeGalkoChan'' likes messing with Galko.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': Miette and Serena are rival performers and cooks. They get along just as any rivals would, but Miette also likes to mess with Serena by pretending to be a ''romantic'' rival as well, "threatening" to take Ash away from Serena every chance she gets.
* Nabiki often acts like this towards Akane and Ranma in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''.
* Suiseiseki of ''Anime/RozenMaiden'' appears at first to be as aloof and proper as Shinku, but in actuality she loves nothing more than tormenting Hinaichigo with tricks and pranks. Really, [[NotSoAboveItAll her "properness" is about as deep as her paint job]]. She's more like a spoiled and [[TheOjou immature royal]] who is more than willing to smack around her "subjects." She only sobers up during life and death situations. She ''acts'' like this during common situations, she is easily [[AllLovingHero the most caring of the dolls anyway]] (it says something when she is the only doll who never even tried to become Alice out of fear of losing her sisters). When she snaps out of it, she snaps out of it ''hard''. There's even one instance in the drama [=CDs=] when she tries to rectify her behavior after realizing that she had gone too far.
* Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune of ''Manga/SailorMoon'' is the series' resident Gadfly. She ''loves'' making sarcastic, thinly veiled comments (even wandering to sex jokes in some of her words) behind her innocent-looking smile. She goes around making comments for the sake of screwing with people and watching their reactions when they finally get what she's really saying.
* Kaede Ikeno from ''Manga/SakuraTrick'' fits the bill, often playing pranks on the other girls because they seem like good ideas at the time.
* In practice, Kafuka Fuura of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' comes across like this, as while she professes extreme optimism on every subject, she tends to create or encourage chaos by doing so, and we know that she's really CuteAndPsycho.
* Yutaka's sister Kaoru from ''Manga/ServantXService'' mentioned she likes to play tricks on people when she introduced herself. She's right; the first she appears, she actually staged an UnsettlingGenderReveal in front of Lucy, making the latter to believe Yutaka is indeed a female for a few seconds!
* Shirokuma of ''Manga/ShirokumaCafe'' enjoys making things up and messing with his friends because he thinks their lives are too dull.
* Koiwai of ''Manga/RecoveryOfAnMMOJunkie'' may be a ShipperOnDeck for his current co-worker Sakurai and his former coworker Moriaka, but that doesn't mean he won't take time to mess with both along the way, like tricking them into spending time with each other or sending taunting photographs to Sakurai. It's also suggested that the nicknames [[TheNicknamer he frequently gives out]] are only tolerated by the recipients, and he knows it too.
* ''Manga/TalesOfWeddingRings'': Morion Ravri Nokanatika spends most of her time teasing her brother-in-law Satou and his harem (especially her elder sister Krystal) for her own amusement. She once tricked Krystal into using a [[FantasyContraception birth control spell]] that wasn't infallible, deliberately waiting for a suitably amusing moment to reveal its 70% success rate. Krystal and Satou, understandably, didn't find this as funny as she did.
* ''Manga/TeasingMasterTakagiSan'': The very premise revolves around Nishikata's attempts to get back at the titular girl Takagi for all the times she's teased him. Although it's all PlayedForLaughs, and they are great friends despite this.
* ''Manga/{{Yuyushiki}}'': Yuzuko and Yukari's favorite hobby is to tease their friend Yui to get a funny reaction from her. Especially Yuzuko.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AdoptionNightmare'', Brina embodies this trope in that she likes provoking her opponents until it begins to bite her in the ass (like when Skulker of all ghosts/people was her target) and has very poor social skills, primarily the latter especially when [[spoiler:Vlad]] becomes the target of her bluntness in chapter four.
* ''[[Fanfic/TwoTwentyOneB 221B]]'': Mary Morstan Watson teases her groom's best friend by pretending he's insulted her when he hesitates to take the best man's privilege of kissing the bride. Watson plays along briefly, before Mary decides the joke has gone on long enough and pecks Holmes on the cheek to fulfill the tradition [[CelibateHero without requiring Holmes to do something with which he's uncomfortable]].
* Mahanon has shades of this in ''[[Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird]]'', as he has a bit of a trollish sense of humor. He chiefly directs it at his best friend, in part because she's the more serious of the two and he likes to tease her.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887807 baby wonder]]'' shows this is possible to be one in spite of still wearing diapers: when Tim complains about one-year-old Damian hating him, Cass candidly reveals Dami actually likes him a lot... but he likes even more Tim's funny faces and noises when he's bitten or takes a plushie to the head.
* Yuuki Terumi in ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'' is an utterly {{sadist}}ic {{troll}} that loves saying any insult or demeaning remark he can to annoy or enrage people for his own amusement. Even his allies on Salem's inner circle aren't immune as he loves screwing with them the most.
* ''Fanfic/ABrighterDark'': [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Corrin]] is portrayed as this. She likes to get a rise out of people, and so will sometimes say what she thinks will offend someone the most whether or not she actually believes it to be true. However, she will feel bad about it if she finds out that she's actually seriously hurt someone's feelings.
* ''Fanfic/ACharmedLife'': Ryuk will often say things just to get a reaction out of Light. He really likes getting him riled up.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Doctor Strange, the apparently nigh-omniscient Sorcerer Supreme, a master of precognition, time travel, and countless forms of magic, who is an unknown number of centuries old (Odin's estimate is that, with time travel, he's about 5000. The real answer is [[spoiler: probably around 500,000. He stopped counting after he hit six figures]]), and is universally feared/respected. He is also an inveterate {{Troll}}, who does things like [[StealthHiBye pop up behind people when they're least expecting it]], use his future knowledge for purposes of perfect comic timing, and indulges in being infuriatingly mysterious.
** Harry pretty much inevitably ends up becoming one of these, given that he ''is'' the nephew of Loki, the Trickster God. Of course, his friends, most especially Carol (and Hermione, surprisingly enough) often turn it back on him.
* In ''Fanfic/CodeGeassColorlessMemories'' C.C as usual with Lelouch and Rai at various points of the fic, with the former in his quest to recruit Rai and just Geass him into serving him. The latter in regards to looking for his memories and wanting a better Knightmare. Counts as Foreshadowing with Rai considering she's the one who [[spoiler: took his memories according to E.E]] meaning she's the reason for his quest in the first place.
* ''Fanfic/CodeGeassPaladinsOfVoltron'': C.C. is still a big one. Case in point, when Kallen asks how Lelouch threw her off when she questioned him while taking a shower, C.C. asks the latter if he 'enjoyed the view'.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8705103/11/Nymphadora-Tonks-Back-to-Hogwarts Nymphadora Tonks Back to Hogwarts]]'' a teenage Bellatrix Lestrange was described as one of these, playing mind games and saying things just to get a rise out of people.
* ''Webcomic/ComicBookSNAFU'': Hawkeye enjoys annoying villains, even when they're about to kill him. His EstablishingCharacterMoment has him responding to Deathstroke shooting at him by snarkally calling him a pedophile. A post on the author's Tumblr showing how characters react to COVID-19 quarantine shows that Clint is "desperate for someone to troll".
* ''Fanfic/CorrinReacts'': Corrin and Azura are this to each other. And everyone else, to varying degrees of exasperation or [[WorldOfSnark reciprocity]].
* Trixx, fitting his nature as [[MasterOfIllusion the Kwami of Deception]], enjoys teasing and messing with his partner Wang Fu in ''Fanfic/CrimsonAndNoire'', whether it be outing Fu [[spoiler:helping the heroes against Volpina]] to his wife Marianne or bringing up some of his past mistakes. And when Trixx is temporarily given to [[spoiler:Nino]], the first thing he does is pretend to be a fox demon that will eat their soul as a sacrifice.
* In ''Fanfic/{{CRME}}'', Emerald makes fun of Mercury for being a virgin, just because she knows it would annoy him.
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': When they travelled to [[TheMultiverse Avalon]], Shinji and Asuka met Misato Sohryu-Ikari, daughter of their analogues from that dimension. However she pretended for a short while she was THEIR future daughter only to see the expressions on their faces. She admitted ruefully she likes messing with other people's heads a bit (and she thinks she got that trait from her mother).
* Navarone from ''Fanfic/DiariesOfAMadman'' often says or does things for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of others, which he readily admits to.
* ''Fanfic/EchoesOfYesterday'': If she can't openly beat a jerkass or a bully up, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] resorts to trolling them. After seeing Kara troll Emma in the mall until the redhead leaves out of embarassment, Taylor calls her a "menace".
-->"What the hell was that all about?!"\\
Kara blinked, then smiled, "Ever heard of the phrase 'kill your enemy with kindness'?"\\
I rubbed my temples and paced back and forth, "You're a menace, Linda Danvers. I thought I was going to die of secondhand embarrassment. If you have to do that, please don't do it when I'm around."\\
"No promises." Kara practically sang, still staring at her shirt.
* Emerald from ''Fanfic/AnEmeraldUnearthed'' takes a man's wedding ring for being a Jerkass and noticing that the girl he was with wasn't into him. After that, she goes to where he's proposing to him and uses her Semblance to make him think he still has it, making him look like a fool.
* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'':
** Surprisingly, Thorax is this, clearly enjoying throwing both teases and jokes at other Arrancar and watching how they react. He once apparently set up his brother Pharynx and Ember on a date without either of them knowing for a joke. It's partially caused by how gruesome and depressing living in [[DeathWorld Hueco Mundo]] is and his desire to make life a little less bleak.
** Hoops, Dumbbell, and Score occasionally go into the human world and mess around with people for kicks. Apparently there's a video online of them haunting someone by messing with the lights and stuff.
* ''Fanfic/FireEmblemThreeHousesFifthPath'':
** Sothis enjoys teasing Byleth but she generally doesn't mean anything malicious by it (aside from the beginning where she was legitimately mad at Byleth for the Divine Pulse botch up).
-->'''Byleth:''' (Who's side are you on!)
-->'''Sothis:''' ''The funny one.''
** Byleth also has quite a bit of fun needling people from coercing Ingrid into betting on Felix and Sylvain's love lives to teasing Seteth when he personally comes to inform her that Rhea wants an audience with her.
* ''Fanfic/{{Haigha}}'':
** When {{Paparazzi}} start hounding Miruko, asking if she's somehow secretly related to Izuku simply because he [[AdaptationalSuperpowerChange also has rabbit-like traits]], she amuses herself by giving them a wide variety of contradictory answers, all false. When he interns with her, she encourages him to join in, leading to them spinning stories about him being her time-traveling ''father''.
** Shouto is inspired by their antics, and starts daydreaming about making up all kinds of ridiculous stories about his father as a form of revenge.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13175310/18/Hella-Potter-and-the-Reincarnated-OC Hella Potter and the Reincarnated OC]]'', Treowe shows all of his family's House Elves the ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy and tells them that Yoda was the greatest House Elf to ever live, declaring he took care of thousands of Jedi by himself. As a result, they not only venerate Yoda, but the oldest House Elf serving the family gets to imitate him.
* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'' are basically a justification for turning canon characters into a swarm of gadflies. It's the only mechanism most of them have for dealing with the endless repetitions of the time loops without going completely insane from boredom.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11634921/3/Itachi-Is-That-A-Baby Itachi, Is That A Baby?]]'', both Harry Potter and Dumbledore are firm believers in screwing with people for their amusement. Dumbledore openly admits that he's only warning people about the third floor corridor so he's legally covered and anyone who ignores him and dies will be buried in a mass grave behind the castle. Furthermore, not only are the schedules handed out five minutes after classes start, but he's ordered all prefects and teachers not to give directions to anyone who asks (or give wrong directions, whichever they choose). Harry responds to Snape insisting he attacked Malfoy because Malfoy said so by claiming Malfoy tried to stab him with a broadsword in front of the entire school.
** Dumbledore is later noted to be deliberately screwing with people to see how far he can go before someone calls him out on it. He's actually rather disappointed no one has yet.
* In ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'', Nora loves to annoy Pyrrha by teasing her about her obvious crush on Jaune.
* In ''Fanfic/KarmaInRetrograde'', Touya is a master of annoying the hell out of people by pinpointing their flaws and insecurities. He weaponized this against Endeavor so he could [[TakingTheHeat take some of the pressure off Shouto]] when they were younger and happily prods Bakugou when he's up in his face. Shouto is also one of these towards his brother, playfully teasing Touya about his HeightAngst and [[RummageSaleReject fashion sense]].
-->If there was one thing that [Touya] excelled at, it was annoying people. No, it was more than that. He could find a person’s weakest point and would pick at it until they were pissed off. It was probably why he and Bakugou kept butting heads. It was why he kept looking at everyone in Class A like they might turn into a threat. He knew how to pick until a person exploded. No wonder his father had hated him. There was very little worse than having a bratty teenager point out all your flaws.
* Blaise Zabini's character in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8715416/3/King-of-Serpents-Chamber-of-Secrets King of Serpents: Chamber of Secrets]]'' really develops into this with Lockhart's arrival. Blaise gleefully mocks and ridicules him, going as far as to invent a curse to give him the same hairstyle as Snape - and every Slytherin see that as an improvement! Of course, Lockhart being sacked doesn't appease him: after such a glorious start, he's not keen on stopping anytime.
* After being [[PeggySue sent back in time]], [[Anime/CodeGeass Kallen]] thinks over how she can react to Lelouch's plotting at various points in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11864574/3/Like-A-Wish Like A Wish]]''. One of her options is invariably to screw with Lelouch for fun. When determining what to do about his plan to deflect her suspicion of him, one of her ideas is to go along but also flirt with him and see what happens.
* ''Fanfic/MegamiNoHanabira'': Mai gets a real kick out of teasing her girlfriend Reo. usually by saying pervy things and making her flustered.
-->'''Mai:''' You know, we could always...\\
'''Reo:''' NO.\\
'''Mai:''' I was gonna say we could always, you know, ''talk'' or something. Jeez, Reo, even I'm not up to doing "that" in ''public''.\\
'''Reo:''' Oh...\\
'''Mai:''' Of course, we could find an alleyway or something...have our demons stand guard...\\
'''Reo:''' NO! MAI, YOU DUMMY! PERVERT!
* Oscar from ''Fanfic/OlivesLastPartner'' offers a rather interesting example. He invites Olive to Ms. Baker's bakery as a supposed [[NotADate not-date]] and tells her that he heard she's having a half-off sale on pies. Given that the pastry is Olive's TraumaButton, she promptly shifts into terrifed mode and starts berating him for forgetting that she's afraid of pies, but then he grins and takes off running with her chasing after him. She realizes it's a practical joke and she realizes that Otto, himself a bit of a goofy [[ThePrankster prankster]], must have taught him well. It's completely PlayedForLaughs and she holds no hard feelings against either of them.
* Betelgeuse often does this in the ''[[Fanfic/SayItThrice Say It]]'' stories. He likes to rile other characters just to see what they'll do, but it's rarely meant to be genuinely malicious.
* [[Anime/CodeGeass Zero]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7634168/1/Special-Delivery Special Delivery]]'' sends Cornelia a cake and plushie doll of himself for her birthday. He even includes a birthday card telling her not to bother sending him a gift on his birthday as watching her people try to figure out his sinister agenda was gift enough. In doing so, he leaves her scrambling to figure out what he accomplished while her top people were investigating the package, sows distrust among them due to his insider knowledge, and wishes his sister a happy birthday.
* [[GossipyHens Carlos]] from ''Fanfic/TheStoryOfApolloDaphneAndLucaAnItalianTragedy'' is a cheeky and mischievous young boy who likes to meddle in other people's business.
* Soundbite of ''Fanfic/ThisBites''. Also, B.R.O.B., the Bastard Random Omnipotent Being responsible for [[SelfInsertFic sending Cross into]] Manga/OnePiece. Also Cross himself, to a SOMEWHAT lesser degree than Soundbite.
* ''Fanfic/ThreeGuysGoToABarAndThenTheyBeatYouWithIt'': Shinsou snarks ''constantly'', never shying away from saying things that might startle or unsettle others. He's especially fond of mocking Bakugou, but doesn't hold back around anyone else. The only time he holds his tongue is [[spoiler:when he's ''forced'' to, via his mother [[AbusiveParents literally muzzling him with a bridle]]]].
* [[Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen]] from ''Fanfic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'' likes trolling people so, ''so'' much.
* In ''Fanfic/WhenReasonFails'', Shoto is not above flustering Izuku and his friends for his personal entertainment. It literally warms his heart to do so, overcoming the drawbacks of his ice magic.
* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-15918-14/Nerdgirl+Xander+the+Maou.htm Xander the Maou]]'', Xander decides to screw with [[Franchise/StargateVerse Senator Kinsey]] after the man slaps him. So Xander, who's thought to be [[ItMakesSenseInContext alien royalty]], pretends that slapping someone in the face is a marriage proposal in his culture. And that taking back the offer is a terrible insult to the royal house, but luckily for him, Xander declines. Kinsey gets ReassignedToAntarctica for nearly causing an interstellar incident.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheATeam'': In "[[Recap/TheATeamS3E25IncidentAtCrystalLake Incident At Crystal Lake]]", Hannibal tricks the bad guys into leaving the van (which they grabbed as a getaway vehicle) and running away by claiming that he put explosives on it. When they're gone, he still looks like he'll blow it up for a moment, causing B.A. to yell loudly in protest about destroying "his van". Hannibal grins — and reveals that the explosives were road flares and the explosive remote was a TV remote.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Hank Schrader.
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Jenny Calendar likes playfully teasing Giles by describing the damage she has either ignorantly or inadvertently done to his books. She's of course well aware of the value of the books and wouldn't think of damaging them: she just likes to see him squirm.
* Lieutenant Series/{{Columbo}} makes a lot of comments that could plausibly be excused by [[ObfuscatingStupidity stupidity or absentmindedness]], yet usually seem very intended to make the person he's talking to upset or off balance. He doesn't always limit his targets to murder suspects, either.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Elektra takes a lot of joy in exasperating and pissing off Matt because it's amusing to her.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Doctor has shades of this in all [[TheNthDoctor their incarnations]].
*** The Second Doctor especially loved to outwit his enemies by being as annoying as possible.
*** Creator/MattSmith saw [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen "The Tomb of the Cybermen"]] and asked for a similar costume as the Second Doctor, the first incarnation to wear a bowtie. Eleven takes quite a bit of inspiration from Two in general: dotty old man, weird and hyperkinetic body language, willing to chat happily with everyone and everything including babies and animals, takes great pleasure in being very annoying.
*** The Fourth Doctor has this in spades. While he pretends to be ObfuscatingStupidity, his enormous ego and penchant to let others in the room know he is really clever annoys them, and often just messes with people because he can.
*** Per the novelisation of [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], the First Doctor can't even resist the urge to annoy ''[[OtherMeAnnoysMe his own future self]]'' by being hugely sexist for no other reason.
** River Song, in her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary first appearance]], tells the man who hired her to keep his helmet on because she doesn't fancy him, starting as she means to go on.
* In ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' Sherlock Holmes' hobby of messing with {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s may fall under this umbrella more than {{Troll}}ing, as there isn't any real malice in his habit of playing on their eccentricities for his own amusement.
-->"My hobby is conspiracy theorists. I adore them. As one would a barmy uncle. Or a pet that can't stop walking into walls."
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Robert likes to evoke awkward moments only to defuse them with a TensionCuttingLaughter. In his very first scene, the AdiposeRex Robert accuses Ned of getting fat, to the amusement of both men.
* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Daemon Targaryen, big time. For instance, he enjoys the privilege of being allowed to fuck off to Dragonstone and hang out there with his girlfriend—something most of the Small Council thinks he shouldn't have been allowed in the first place. Then, when bored, he decides to announce his marriage to a woman he hasn't so much as proposed to (while already being married), steal a dragon egg, and make up a FakePregnancy story, all to no end except trying to ''piss off his brother''.
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': Lorelai Gilmore uses this as her main coping method with her overbearing parents. She even describes it to her mother Emily at one point so Emily can do it to her hated mother-in-law.
** Jess has shades of this as well, and it's something he retains post-CharacterDevelopment. It's another way he and Lorelai are StrangeMindsThinkAlike, though neither would ever, ever admit it.
* In ''Series/HoratioHornblower: The Duchess and the Devil'', Acting Lieutenant Hornblower meets the Duchess of Wharfdale, a flirtatious older woman who loves needling the uptight Royal Navy officers with her boisterous attitude. She ''especially'' loves teasing the young and awkward "Mister H," as she takes to referring to Hornblower. [[spoiler: She's not even a Duchess, but rather [[RefugeInAudacity an actress trying to bluff her way back to England]] what with all of Europe engulfed in war. She assures Hornblower that her portrayal of the Duchess is quite accurate though.]]
* [[spoiler: The Mother]] in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is shown to have this tendency to deceive others for laughs, such as telling Lily that the cookies they had given her were from underneath a train seat and freaking out Marshall by pretending to be a creepy psychic who reads Marshall's situation with "frightening accuracy".
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'':
** Durin IV tricks Gil-galad into handing over his dining table by claiming that it's made of a rare mineral that has great cultural significance to Dwarves. Elrond works out what happened when he spots Durin chuckling after one of the Elves carrying the table struggles with its weight.
** Halbrand likes to push Galadriel's buttons and trade {{Snark To Snark Combat}}s with her.
* Hawkeye of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' does this, most frequently to Frank, Margaret, and Charles. He'll freely make flirtatious comments to Margaret ([[GayBravado and Frank]]), and generally troll and prank them for his own amusement because it was easy to get a rise out of them (''especially'' Frank). Trapper would be right there with him as his partner in crime, and once Trapper left, B.J. took his place (and occasionally would turn the tables on Hawk as well). Charles wasn't as easily gotten to as Frank and Margaret, however, and often gave back as good as he got. Even Margaret would at times give a bit back later in the series as she mellowed out.
* Patrick Jane from ''Series/TheMentalist'' positively thrives on getting under people's skin. A favored method of his is using his ColdReading and SherlockScan skills to publicly embarrass people by exposing their secrets. Much as with the ''Sherlock'' example below, it can be very useful during an investigation, but he also does it [[ItAmusedMe because it amuses him]].
* In the ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'', the shaman Naboo acts like this at a party after a bottle (used to play SpinTheBottle) breaks. He claims that it wasn't an ordinary bottle and that they released a demon that's hiding inside one of them, causing everyone to worry. He then clarifies that it will only possess the body of a virgin. This causes Howard to scream in terror. Naboo then says that he was only joking, causing an embarrassing moment for Howard.
* Bill [=McNeil=] from ''Series/NewsRadio''. At some point, Dave has to explain to Mathew that Bill lies to him "because he thinks it's funny".
* ''Series/OddSquad'':
** O'Brian, one of the tube operators working at Precinct 13579, is a bully and tends to resort to this in order to get a rise out of whomever he "tube-blocks". In "Life of O'Brian", he does this with Olive, closing the doors of the tube lobby so she's prevented from leaving after she apologizes for the wrong thing and she is once again denied access to the tubes. This only serves to make her more irritated as she snarkily tells him that he's "making my day" before the doors suddenly open.
** However, that's not to say Olive and Otto don't have their moments as well. The ColdOpen of "O vs. the Ballcano" has them giving Sven some LaserGuidedKarma while also teasing him by toying with his odd problem of having snowballs thrown at him every time he says the word "snowball".
* ''Series/PrincessAgents'': Yan Xun starts out as one. He constantly teases Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue, even after they've both made it clear they're fed up with him, and he switches the guards' swords and steals food from a passing servant for his own amusement. In spite of his antics he isn't malicious; just careless and inconsiderate of others.
* ''Series/TheRiseOfPhoenixes'': Ning Yi has his moments, like when he gets Zhi Wei to repeat her unflattering remarks about Zi Yan while knowing Zi Yan can hear everything she says.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' uses this as an investigative technique, throwing out random ideas and accusations just to see how the target reacts to them. According to him, people can be hesitant to volunteer information if they know they're being questioned, but they ''love'' to [[CorrectionBait correct you.]]
** This actually goes back to one of the original Sherlock Holmes short stories, where he gets someone to volunteer information “for a bet” that he’d never have gotten with straight questioning.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has Q. This is an omnipotent SufficientlyAdvancedAlien who spends most days screwing with people and the fabric of the universe for his own amusement.
* Garak plays this role on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', to the extent of deliberately screwing with people just to keep his skill in lying sharp.
* On ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' [[spoiler:Mirror-Georgiou]] take great delight in annoying the Starfleet personnel who are aware of her true identity, and especially likes [[{{Troll}} trolling Burnnham]] in front of others who ''don't'' know her secret, forcing Burnham to fume without being able to respond and reveal the secret.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': Narek seems to enjoy deflecting Soji's attempts to learn more about him after they sleep together.
-->'''Soji''': Can I ask you a question?\\
'''Narek''': Sure, just don't expect an answer.\\
'''Soji''': Are we allowed to be sleeping together, or is that a secret?\\
'''Narek''': Very much the latter.\\
'''Soji''': Is everything Romulans do a secret?\\
'''Narek''': Ooh, I'm not at liberty to divulge that.\\
'''Soji''': Is your name actually Narek?\\
'''Narek''': It's one of them.\\
'''Soji''': So is there anything you can tell me about yourself?\\
'''Narek''': Yes. I'm a very private person.
* On ''Series/StrongMedicine'', Lu' s old nemesis Dr. Dylan West has joined the staff, much to her annoyance. He matter-of-factly insists that women don't need specialists, since, "aren't you all just small men anyway?" Lu being Lu and her StrawFeminist tendencies being completely out of control by this point in the series, basically erupts into one of her shrieking fits, much to Dylan's amusement (and expectation; his old nickname for her is "St. Helens", as in Mount St. Helens). The fact that he himself is a women's health specialist and therefore couldn't possibly believe what he's saying is completely lost on her.
* ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'':
** Creator/GregDavies, the eponymous Taskmaster, greatly enjoys winding up the contestants while he judges their efforts, especially if they attempt to argue with him over it. He also enjoys trolling the audience with his judgments, such as one occasion where he broke a tie by telling the audience to shout out who they thought should win... and then deliberately choosing the other person.
** Creator/AlexHorne, the Taskmaster's Assistant who actually creates and oversees the tasks, is a more subtle example. While he's often agreeable enough to assist the contestants in their task attempts, he's intentionally unhelpful when it comes to offering any advice (which is almost always of the CaptainObvious variety), or clarifying the parameters of the task (typically responding with "All the information is on the task", which is unhelpful, and even less helpful in scenarios where the task has been destroyed and can't be re-read anyway"). The tasks themselves are also often clearly designed to annoy or aggravate the contestants, or make them look ridiculous. Occasionally, a contestant will be singled out and secretly given a unique rule that they have to follow as they complete a task ("You must speak in an accent other than your own"), or even given a unique (and inevitably annoying or embarrassing) task that nobody else has to do ("Count all the hoops in this can of Spaghetti-Os"), which serves no purpose at all except to amuse Alex and Greg.
** On the contestant side of things, Rhod Gilbert: Owing to a misunderstanding of what the point of the show actually was, and his long-standing friendship with Greg Davies, he basically took every possible opportunity to just ''screw'' with Greg every chance he got. He outright threw challenges in order to mess with his friend, to the point that he ''easily'' would have won had he buckled down and taken the show seriously. Some of his exploits include submitting the exact same [[FanDisservice "erotic"]] photo of Greg "looking fat" [[RunningGag numerous times]], hiding in Greg's closet to spy on him while he slept, getting a photo of Greg's mother in the bath wearing a fez, repeatedly making Alex get naked, tying up Alex numerous times, outright ''torturing'' Alex, nearly killing Alex with a spear, submitting a gift from Greg during the "worst gift ever recieved" challenge, and generally going out of his way to be a pest during team tasks. The fact that there is a compilation of all his wildest antics that is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt6UM2LSWqk 22 minutes long]] is very telling.
* ''Series/Titans2018'': In Bruce Wayne's self-titled Season 2 episode, Dick hallucinates Bruce as a sarcastic wise-cracker who represents Dick's guilty conscience; he crops up at the most inconvenient moments, predicting what Dick will do next, pointing out or flawed or inadequate those actions or statements will be and criticising or mocking everything Dick says or does. Although Dick knows he's dealing with a hallucination, he becomes increasingly frustrated until he can't help retorting back, much to the confusion of those around him. Meanwhile, "Bruce" has a whale of a time, taunting Dick over his cliche interrogation of Benny, defining himself as Dick's "psychic split", and even appearing on stage dancing with two exotic dancers on either arm.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/EternalRadiance'': Katrina likes to tease her junior knights with outlandish statements or orders, but at least some of her antics for the sake of breaking up the tension when her juniors are discouraged. [[spoiler:Near the end of the game, she tells everyone Celeste met Eldareth in battle, but doesn't specify that she came back unscathed, which is implied to be a ruse to get Quinn worried about her and more likely to reconcile with her.]]
* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Yae Miko, befitting how fox spirits (such as kitsune) are trickster figures in East Asian myths, some of her interactions with the Traveler consist of her teasing them her fox form, only to refuse to show it when prompted. [[spoil with outlandish statements or orders, but at least some of her antics for the sake of breaking up the tension when her juniors are discouraged. [[spoiler:Near the end of the game, she tells everyone Celeste met Eldareth in battle, but doesn't specify that she came back unscathed, which is implied to be a ruse to get er:She even loves to make fun of Ei, the ruling Archon of Inazuma ''and the god her shrine worships''; Ei doesn't mind as they're best friends.]] She also likes to tease Gorou as well, as she finds him cute.
* Jade Curtiss from ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss''. Jade routinely spars with the rest of the party verbally, and no one is entirely sure about his actual intentions. It doesn't help that his DeadpanSnarker nature means that he uses the same tone for nearly everything he says...
-->'''Anise:''' Colonel, what's your secret for being so strong?\\
'''Jade:''' Simple. I drink people's blood.\\
'''Anise:''' Huh?!\\
'''Jade:''' It's so difficult when people take me seriously...
** Tenebrae from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' likes to push his teammates' buttons from time to time, probably the best example being him overhearing Sheena and Regal talking about how close Zelos is to his half-sister Seles, and then deliberately misinterpreting what they're saying as insinuating that he's in love with her. Right in front of him.
** Though the other characters like to give him his comeuppance on occasion as well, like when they keep deliberately calling the Nazdrovie a light-frog despite his constant insistence just to annoy him (and then switch back to calling it a Nazdrovie when he gives in and starts calling it a light-frog as well.)
** Another candidate would be Malik from ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', who does this by telling resident NaiveEverygirl/[[spoiler:RidiculouslyHumanRobot]] Sophie ridiculous lies for the lulz. This includes suggesting that Pascal is a rare breed of fish, gills included. He finally meets his match in Graces f when Richard rejoins the party, because Richard is sometimes even better at this than Malik. Especially notable is the skit "Reforming Zavhert", in which Richard leads Asbel, Hubert and Cheria in sweet, sweet revenge:
--->'''Cheria:''' (discussing the dismal uniforms in Zavhert) What if you added a cute lacy frill to the cuffs of the coats? And maybe some designer logos!\\
'''Richard:''' Yes, that might work!\\
'''Malik:''' Your Majesty!?\\
'''Richard:''' And perhaps a sparkling white coat of paint for Fendel tower! I'm certain that would raise spirits!\\
'''Hubert:''' With a giant mech popping out!\\
'''Richard:''' Hahah! Yes, that would be wonderful!\\
'''Malik:''' (distraught) You can't be serious!\\
'''Richard:''' ''Or am I?''
** Ange from ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'' is also a master of this, and like the aforementioned Jade, drops her gems in the same tone as everything else she says, so more often then not the rest of the party believes her until she says she's kidding.
** Alvin from ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' gets in on this sometimes. For instance, telling Elise that wyverns feed on the souls of children while they sleep right after she comments on them not being as scary as she thought they would be.
** [[LittleMissSnarker Edna]] continues the proud tradition in ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria''. She winds up Mikleo almost every time she talks to him, and messes with Alisha due to her rather naive nature. Occasionally, when she's not picking on him as well, [[HandsomeLech Zaveid]] joins in on the act too, even noting at one point that he can see why she has so much fun winding up Mikleo.
** And Magilou from ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' keeps the tradition going, teasing the entire main cast all the time, especially Velvet, despite her being a barely stable, murderous Daemon.
* Kamikura Hiroki of ''VisualNovel/Canvas2'' enjoys picking on friends, love interests and students for fun. There are a few he won't mess with, but they are the exception rather than anything approaching the rule.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** Zevran in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' trolls the other party members in the party dialogue. Or at least, he trolls Wynne and Leliana. He even tells Leliana that he's doing it. ''Twice.'' She does get to one up him if she's been hardened, though. Some of his lines with Alistair also suggest trolling, but it's done very skillfully (and Alistair is so comparatively naive.
*** Sten also gets in some of this in party banter, particularly with Alistair and Morrigan. Bonus points for being TheComicallySerious at the same time, making his trolling ''extremely'' subtle.
** Hawke, the player character in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII,'' can be this when choosing the Witty/Snarky options for dialogue.
*** Isabela. Trolling is her way of saying she likes you.
* ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' has Vincent, who's an asshole whichever way you see him... but a particular exchange he has with Heather in the final dungeon has been a source of debate among fans of the series ever since:
-->'''Vincent:''' Don't stand there looking so smug! You're the worst person in this room! You come here, and... ENJOY spilling their blood! And... and listening to them... cry out! You feel EXCITED when you... step on them and... snuff out their lives!\\
'''Heather:''' (''uncertainly'') Are you... talking about the monsters?\\
'''Vincent:''' (''giving her an odd look and smiling'') Monsters? They looked like monsters to you?\\
''Cue horrified reaction from Heather.''\\
'''Vincent:''' (''waving his hands and smirking'') Don't worry! It's just a joke!
* Miakis in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' loves to {{Troll}} Lymsleia, and sometimes [[TheHero the Prince]]. At least in the beginning.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** In the first ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', Wrex has a habit of asking outrageous questions to squadmates in the elevators, just to see how they react.
** In the subsequent two games, [=EDI=], the ''Normandy''[='s=] AI, will sometimes make rebellious and/or disturbing comments just to mess with Shepard and the crew of the ''Normandy''. She even does it to the powerful terrorist organization Cerberus; it's one thing to cripple their computer network, which, as an AI designed in part for electronic warfare, is something she'd be expected to do. It's another to do it by overloading the network with ''porn''.
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', whenever Javik talks about what Prothean civilization was like, it's more likely than not that he's simply making up something completely outrageous just to mess with whomever he's speaking.
* Temenos from ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'' just loves messing with people, especially Crick. He admits to Agnea during his second chapter that he likes watching Crick's reactions to what he says.
* [[GodOfGood Lady Palutena]] in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' messes with [[TheHero Pit]] nonstop, and does so [[{{Telepathy}} telepathically]] while Pit is busy fighting monsters.
* Gaius from ''VideoGame/RuneFactory3'' will occasionally drop a line of dialogue hinting that he may be attracted to the (male) player character. It's usually followed by a "just kidding, but your reaction was priceless" sort of justification, but that didn't stop him from being one of the more popular characters in the game.
* The protagonist from ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' can be played this way. Most dialogue options are either [[GenreSavvy serious]] or [[CloudCuckooLander silly]] and some of the sillier ones have him messing with his friends. Think of calling [[TheStoic Makoto]] a pervert even when she finally knocks before entering his room, sniffing her hand when she holds it out to him, yelling 'BOO!' at [[ShrinkingViolet Io]] while she's lost in thought or trying to pull [[ButtMonkey Daichi's]] pants down while he desperately tries to keep a box full of supplies from falling. The way the other characters react shows that he doesn't do this out of malice, but to keep everyone's spirits up in the CrapsackWorld that Japan has rapidly become.
* Karura in ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'' thoroughly enjoys messing with Touka's head. Not that that's [[TheDitz very difficult.]] Also Hakuoro, but she's nice enough to everyone else.
* From ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' we have the [[PetalPower flower youkai]] Yuuka Kazami. In ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'', there are at least three instances where she lead other characters to believe she's the culprit of the flower incident, or [[SureLetsGoWithThat accept their accusations of such]]. Except that she's not, and was just picking fights [[ItAmusedMe for the lulz]]. She claimed it was just "daily teasing".
* Orochi from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has her moments of this. One of the best examples is in her conversations with Hinata, where she sends him off on a bunch of [[WaxOnWaxOff seemingly-random tasks in order to "build character"...]] And then she reveals that she was only [[FencePainting tricking him into running errands for her]]. She also gets a kick out of messing with Takumi and Subaki in her supports with them, too.
** Azama from the same game may be an even bigger example. He screws with just about ''everyone'' in his conversations with them, to the point that Mozu claims he's gotten a reputation across camp for it (which he actually ''enjoys'' hearing). One of the biggest examples comes from his supports with Kagero, where Azama gleefully claims that "messing with serious people is so much fun!" after she [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaves the conversation]].
** Niles gets a few gadfly moments as well, such as trolling Arthur in their conversations and engaging in some SnarkToSnarkCombat with Subaki. He also admits to getting a kick out of riling people up multiple times.
* Claude Von Riegan from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' gets a kick out of riling up the rest of the Golden Deer house, especially the uptight Lorenz and the self-serious Lysithea. He seems to mostly grow out of this after the timeskip.
* Mistel, in ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons2014'', will sometimes say things he doesn't actually mean just to get a reaction. It's more apparent in his romance line than otherwise.
* Sans from ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has this as his hobby, combined with ThePrankster. Highlights include asking you out for dinner and thanking you for paying the bills, telling you his TrustPassword which is "I am the legendary fartmaster", [[spoiler:[[HaveANiceDeath and rubbing his power in your face]] as he blocks your path as ''[[ThatOneBoss the]]'' toughest boss in the game]].
* A trait of Natsume from ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', an eccentric who loves to poke at people to make them react.
** Wataru definitely also engages in this at times, though he's so [[LargeHam hammy]] and eccentric it's not always clear exactly when he's doing it deliberately. Still, he clearly enjoys the shocked and exasperated reactions he gleans from other people, especially serious types like Tomoya and Keito. Unfortunately for them, one of the few people who seems immune to Wataru's barbs is Eichi, who as student council president happily lets him get away with whatever he wants, to Keito's ''great'' frustration.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': This is the ''raison d'être'' of the avant-garde French artist Charles Châtenay, who strives "to provoke, to ''challenge''" his audience -- primarily through nude paintings of people they'd prefer not to see nude. Even while fleeing town, he claims that there's no difference between being loved and being hated, as long as he makes an impact.
* MAGES. in ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' often likes to get on other people's nerves (especially towards [[{{Tsundere}} Noire]], who she often calls "assistant"), so often that it reaches {{Troll}}-ish levels.
* Azuma from ''VideoGame/{{A3}}'' loves to make random sexual innuendo and play up his promiscuous reputation to get a rile out of protagonist Izumi and the younger members of the cast.
* ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' features an NPC that is an agent from [[LaResistance Secret Wings]]. He claimed his name is Lazy, and not only he ''is'' lazy, he also invoke this trope in almost all of his dialogues. It can make you wonder if he really is a secret agent, considering his normal personality is pretty much unlike one.
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' has Johnny Cage. While he's one of Earthrealm's defenders in the Netherrealm Studios reboot, he's also an entertaining-yet-mouthy annoyance to friends and foes alike. He's the class clown of the Earthrealm defenders, poking fun at everyone for his own entertainment, and with no limits on who he'll take potshots at. Notably, he has sassed dimension conquering overlords, undead wraiths, killer cyborg assassins, and ''literal'' gods to their faces.
[[/folder]]

* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Rocket Ship Galileo'', Dr. Cargraves does this when debating with his three teenage apprentices, to get them to question their own assumptions and realize the importance of being able to prove their assertions. His contrary position is that the Moon might not have a "far side", because no one has ever seen it (the book was written before spacecraft were sent to photograph the far side).

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' fan expansion ''Mimir.net'', [[http://mimir.net/cagerattlers/julius.shtml Julius the Symmetrical]] is an Athar who sees both sides of every question, and is also known as "the Contrary" for the fact that, whatever you propose, he has an argument against it. In the essay "[[http://mimir.net/essays/morals.html Planes of Contradiction]]", he argues against ''every'' CharacterAlignment, concludes that nobody has the answer, and then argues against ''that'' as well. (He's also a jermalaine; it's been suggested that he has the race's usual enjoyment of humiliating the bigger races, just a more sophisticated way of doing so than his fellows.)

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Yae Miko, befitting how fox spirits (such as kitsune) are trickster figures in East Asian myths, some of her interactions with the Traveler consist of her teasing them her fox form, only to refuse to show it when prompted. [[spoiler:She even loves to make fun of Ei, the ruling Archon of Inazuma ''and the god her shrine worships''; Ei doesn't mind as they're best friends.]] She also likes to tease Gorou as well, as she finds him cute.

[[folder:Game Shows]]
* ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'' had when Rhod Gilbert was on. Owing to a misunderstanding of what the point of the show actually was, and his long-standing friendship with Creator/GregDavies, he basically took every possible opportunity to just ''screw'' with Greg every chance he got. He outright threw challenges in order to mess with his friend, to the point that he ''easily'' would have won had he buckled down and taken the show seriously. Some of his exploits include submitting the exact same [[FanDisservice "erotic"]] photo of Greg "looking fat" [[RunningGag numerous times]], hiding in Greg's closet to spy on him while he slept, getting a photo of Greg's mother in the bath wearing a fez, repeatedly making Alex get naked, tying up Alex numerous times, outright ''torturing'' Alex, nearly killing Alex with a spear, submitting a gift from Greg during the "worst gift ever recieved" challenge, and generally going out of his way to be a pest during team tasks. The fact that there is a compilation of all his wildest antics that is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt6UM2LSWqk 22 minutes long]] is very telling.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/Titans2018: In Bruce Wayne's self-titled Season 2 episode, Dick hallucinates Bruce as a sarcastic wise-cracker who represents Dick's guilty conscience; he crops up at the most inconvenient moments, predicting what Dick will do next, pointing out or flawed or inadequate those actions or statements will be and criticising or mocking everything Dick says or does. Although Dick knows he's dealing with a hallucination, he becomes increasingly frustrated until he can't help retorting back, much to the confusion of those around him. Meanwhile, "Bruce" has a whale of a time, taunting Dick over his cliche interrogation of Benny, defining himself as Dick's "psychic split", and even appearing on stage dancing with two exotic dancers on either arm.

* Azuma from ''VideoGame/{{A3}}'' loves to make random sexual innuendo and play up his AnythingThatMoves reputation to get a rile out of protagonist Izumi and the younger members of the cast.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Hank Shrader.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': [[CatsAreSnarkers Hobbes]] ''loves'' to rile up Calvin, using everything from {{Stealth Insult}}s to [[ThePrankster various pranks]] to spoiling the endings of Calvin's favorite comic books. Then there's Calvin's dad, who loves to tell LiesToChildren, sometimes just to get a reaction out of him (Such as saying that babies come from Sears, although Calvin himself actually came from Kmart). Calvin himself at one point buys an album that glorifies the SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll lifestyle and ''throws away the record'' because all he wants to do is leave the cover around to annoy his mother.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AdoptionNightmare'', Brina is the [[TheTrickster trickster]] variant of this trope. Brina embodies this trope in that she likes provoking her opponents until it begins to bite her in the ass (like when Skulker of all ghosts/people was her target) and has very poor social skills, primarily the latter especially when [[spoiler:Vlad]] becomes the target of her bluntness in chapter four.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom]]'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/AdoptionNightmare]]'', Brina is the [[TheTrickster trickster]] variant of this trope. Brina embodies this trope in that she likes provoking her opponents until it begins to bite her in the ass (like when Skulker of all ghosts/people was her target) and has very poor social skills, primarily the latter especially when [[spoiler:Vlad]] becomes the target of her bluntness in chapter four.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom]]'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/AdoptionNightmare]]'', Brina is the [[TheTrickster trickster]] variant of this trope. Brina embodies this trope in that she likes provoking her opponents until it begins to bite her in the ass (like in the case of Skulker) and has very poor social skills, primarily the latter especially when Vlad becomes the target of her bluntness in chapter four.

* Some Quarn in ''Literature/InFuryBorn'' will intentionally switch to speaking Rish to make jokes about Rish sex (which to the Rish is SeriousBusiness) where they can overhear (such as crowded spaceport terminals) just to see if they can provoke them. The Quarn find this immensely funny, and appreciate the fact humans find it amusing.

** The Doctor has shades of this in all [[TheNthDoctor his incarnations]].

* More or less everything out of Rockslide's mouth from ''ComicBook/NewXMenAcademyX''. While often times a bully, he never ''truly'' malicious about it, he just thinks that's how friends act. Like roasting marshmallows on Match's head.
* ComicBook/SpiderMan, one of the founding fathers of the [[TropeCodifier trope itself]]. Especially to the hero community and his various villains.

Socrates' death from drinking a cup of poison Hemlock after the trial shows the risks of being a gadfly to a powerful government. Even in modern times, a gadfly in a totalitarian state or junta may find themselves imprisoned in a BlackSite or "[[DeadlyEuphemism disappeared" by the SecretPolice.