Line #81 Main/CrazyHomelessPeople


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1300320554087153000
2	%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:349:[[Webcomic/VGCats https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homeless1_8654.png]]]]
5	%%
6	->''"Still I sing: bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys\
7	Bedlam boys are bonnie,\
8	For they all go bare and they live by the air\
9	And they want no drink nor money"''
10	-->-- '''Music/SteeleyeSpan''', ''Boys of Bedlam''
11
12	In media, the homeless are portrayed generally as being [[TheMentallyDisturbed mentally troubled]]. At best, they're harmless {{Talkative Loon}}s who suffer from FunnySchizophrenia; at worst they're [[InsaneEqualsViolent violent]] [[AddledAddict drug or alcohol addicts]] who are more interested in getting their next fix than getting long-term help.
13
14	Technically, such a character may not even be homeless: sometimes they do have an apartment or other place to live. Their defining trait is that instead of living like an ordinary person (i. e. going to work, having a timetable, etc.), they seemingly aimlessly wander the streets, [[TalkativeLoon muttering to themselves]] and doing other strange things. If such a character is female and [[UnkemptBeauty beautiful in spite of her unkempt appearance]], it is TheOphelia.
15
16	Interestingly, the key operating word here is not "homeless", but "people". Usually, when only a single homeless person (or married couple) gets at least half a dozen lines, the view is sympathetic. They're just a character who has fallen on hard times. It's even possible that the hero knows them from before the BigBad broke the world.
17
18	The trope is a partial TruthInTelevision as the mentally ill are disproportionally represented in the homeless population. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that 20-25% of the homeless population in the USA have "serious mental illnesses". The symptoms of many mental illnesses and addictions can make holding down a job difficult (and the stigma of a former brush with mental illness makes many employers wary of hiring them), and the loss of income may eventually lead to homelessness, while others may clash with roommates or landlords and find themselves getting evicted or struggling to find people who will rent to them or let them move in. The problem is compounded by the Patients' Rights Movement, which makes forcing someone into treatment more difficult than it used to be, and America (and the rest of the world) instituting the policy of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinstitutionalisation deinstitutionalization]]'' with regards to the mentally ill during the 1960s and 1970s. The idea was that with the invention of many psychotropic drugs (Thorazine for schizophrenia, Prozac for depression, Valium for anxiety, Lithium for bipolar disorder, etc), instead of locking up the mentally ill in mental hospitals (possibly for years or the rest of their lives), they would be given medication and sent home, and the money saved would be instead reinvested into community housing and social support programs to help these patients reintegrate into the community.
19
20	If you pay them to try to do something for you, it's BribingTheHomeless. A subset of AcceptableTargets. Also see HomelessPigeonPerson.
21
22	[[noreallife]]
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* Hasegawa Taizou A.K.A. Madao (which stands for "totally useless middle-aged man" in Japanese) from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' is a subversion of this, being a lot more sympathetic than your average hobo. While almost everyone treats him like dirt, the only thing he's really inept at is finding and keeping a job and has actually forgone jobs for the sake of doing what's right.
30	** There's also Musashi whose only response to anything is "Can you eat it?"
31	* ''Manga/ArakawaUnderTheBridge'' is about the wacky shenanigans of a community of homeless people ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin under a bridge in Arakawa]]) who are all... [[CloudCuckooLander unique, in their own ways]].
32	* In ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'', Daisuke enters Judoh's slum area, and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment encounters]] an emaciated man (who looks like [[Franchise/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]] huddled in an alley, repeating the word "Deeper" over and over again. He explains to Daisuke that he's transmitting radio waves to another universe. He appears again in the finale, still huddled in the alley, but doesn't have any lines.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Books]]
36	* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': Tony Stark spent several issues in the '80s on the streets constantly drunk after his company was bought, his personal accounts frozen, and his apartments taken away.
37	* The ComicBook/SubMariner wandered the Bowery as a homeless amnesiac for years before [[Comicbook/FantasticFour Johnny Storm]] found him.
38	* Subverted by the homeless guy Anne meets in ''Why I Hate Saturn'', with whom she has a conversation about the term "homeless".
39	-->"...did you ever wonder who decided to call bums 'homeless'? Why did that start? It seems that as 'bums,' we were individuals, but as 'the homeless,' we're an institution."
40	* Justified by Ezrael in ''ComicBook/{{Vogelein}}'', at least whenever he talks to Vogelein:
41	-->"Nobody'll see you. Everybody 'round here already thinks I'm a crazy old man, anyhow. They won't care if I talk to myself."
42	* Being heavily based in New York, ''Minimum Wage'' (a.k.a. ''Beg the Question'') shows plenty of crazy homeless people.
43	* Creator/GarthEnnis' ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' had quite a few. One storyline revolved around a homeless guy who lived in the New York sewers and [[spoiler:had people abducted, killed, and kept in a huge pile under which he lay in order to remind him of his obese mother]]. Another story began with a splash page of a homeless guy on the street, being ignored, screaming, "I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!!"
44	* A ''ComicBook/MarshalLaw'' story featuring a Punisher clone caller ''The Persecutor'' included gangs of cannibal tramps infesting much of New York.
45	* Subverted in ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' where the crazy homeless guy is the mentor (Tom O' Bedlam).
46	* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' had Spider doing a column on these.
47	* In ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac,'' Nny describes his comic strip, ''[[ShowWithinAShow Happy Noodle Boy]],'' as being "very popular with the homeless insane."
48	* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} had a mentally ill homeless man as a sidekick for a while. His name was "Ratbag", and Deadpool was so amused by his schizophrenic ramblings that he hired him as a "biographer". At the end of the arc, while facing the telekinetic villain Black Swan, Deadpool forced him to use his powers to cure Ratbag's illness. Once the man was lucid again, 'Pool ordered him to escape as he made what was then his LastStand. One of the character's first unquestionably heroic acts.
49	* ''ComicBook/TheDregs'': The comic is told from the point of view of a schizophrenic homeless man. He idolizes the detective Philip Marlowe and tries to be him; he also becomes convinced there's a conspiracy in the disappearances of his friends. He's right, but nobody takes him seriously, and he ultimately fails to make a difference.
50	* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': When Tim is trying to figure out how Drury Walker was in more than one place at the same time, he interviews a number of Gotham's homeless, the first few seem rather well put together if a bit ProperlyParanoid given that they live on the streets of Gotham but the last one rambles utter nonsense in response to Tim's question. Of course, any attempt to explain what is actually happening with Walker would sound like utter nonsense since he's still the demonic entity Charaxes and is somehow asexually reproducing mini versions of his former self in an abandoned YMCA.
51	* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': At least a couple of the "crazies" Dream recruits to rescue Delirium from her own head are homeless.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
55	* Elmont in ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' is quite deranged, but not dangerous to anyone (in fact he's quite sympathetic).
56	* In ''ComicStrip/FrankAndErnest'', Frank and Ernest are often bums. (GenreRoulette means they can also hold a number of other positions.)
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Fan Works]]
60	* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', the LemonyNarrator seems to ignore most legitimate historical sources in favor of the words of her friend [[spoiler:and crush]], the homeless [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Crazy Larry]], who supposedly lives in a box behind the donut shop.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
64	* Strongly subverted when Gin, Hana, and Miyuki, the central three characters in ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'', show us a side of Tokyo rarely seen in anime.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
68	* One of these appears briefly in ''[[Film/TheAnthropophagusBeast Anthropophagous 2000]]''. He tells the main characters to turn back, then eats a pregnant woman's vomit.
69	* ''Film/AroundTheWorldIn80Days2004'' adaptation starring Jackie Chan has a crazy homeless man played by Rob Schneider.
70	* In ''Film/BigBusiness'', the homeless man roaming the front of the Plaza Hotel notices the twin confusion shenanigans and tries to tell some of the characters but they don't believe him. [[spoiler:He meets a rich man that also looks like him in the end.]]
71	* ''Film/{{CHUD}}'' is another exception. The subterranean-dwelling homeless are portrayed (mostly) as nice people, and one of the heroes runs a homeless shelter. Then the homeless all start mutating, but that is mostly because so little is being done for them.
72	* Played with in ''Film/DirtyWork'':
73	-->'''Mitch:''' Hey, homeless guys! I'll tell ya what. I'll give you a dollar each if you'll go into this building here and run around yellin' and screamin'.\
74	'''Homeless Guy #1:''' Uh, that's very nice, but I think what you probably need are, like, some psycho, out-of-control homeless guys?\
75	'''Homeless Guy #2:''' Yeah, we're more the broken, spiritless, I've-lost-the-will-to-live type homeless guys.\
76	'''Mitch:''' How about for two dollars?\
77	''[cut to the homeless people running into the building screaming]''
78	* ''Film/TheFisherKing'' is full of them. The main character meets Creator/RobinWilliams' character who thinks he is a KnightErrant on a quest. [[spoiler:He went crazy because his wife died in a mass shooting that the main character was responsible for.]]
79	* ''Film/HalloweenEnds'': Corey Cunningham gets dragged into Michael Myers' lair, but escapes. On his way out, a homeless man who had been living near the lair threatens him with a knife and angrily demands to know why he is still alive while calling him a little shit and ordering him to go back inside. He finishes his speech with, "I'm Michael Myers." Corey is forced to kill him to get away.
80	* In ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'', when Kevin is walking alone in Central Park at Night, he meets many Tramps, especially one that scares Kevin. Avoided later. has Kevin eventually befriend a bird lady that turns out to be not so scary after all.
81	* ''Film/MaryPoppins'' sings a song about the Old Bird Woman, presenting her in a sympathetic light, and this eventually leads to an uproar at the bank his father works with because young Michael would rather spend his money feeding the birds.
82	* In ''Film/{{Monsters\|2010}}'', the only person left [[spoiler:in the Texas Evacuated Zone]] is a mentally ill bag lady who apparently didn't evacuate with the sane folks.
83	* ''Film/MouthToMouth'': Averted. Most of the characters are homeless and apparently sane, if quite influenceable. Also, even though Mad Axe appears to play this trope straight, it's later subverted when he reveals it's all just a masquerade with the following quote:
84	-->"The more fucked up people think you are, the more likely they are to leave you alone."
85	* The killer in the slasher film ''Film/OpenHouse'' turns out to be a crazed vagrant who is killing realtors because he blames them for his homelessness.
86	* In ''Film/TheOtherGuys'', Gamble's car gets used by some homeless men for sex with each other.
87	* John Carpenter's ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness''. The BigBad takes mental control of the homeless people around the church and uses them to prevent the protagonists from escaping.
88	* In ''Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness'', there's one bum who thinks that the bone density scanner is a time machine. The main characters are aversions, however.
89	* The protagonist of ''Film/TheSoloist'' is a mentally disturbed homeless.
90	* In ''Film/{{Scrooged}}'', there is Herman who thinks that Frank is actor Richard Burton. [[spoiler:Frank later finds Herman frozen to death in the sewer.]]
91	* In ''Film/SetItOff'', a crazed homeless man almost ruins the second heist because he makes a ruckus near the girls' getaway car and attracts police. Cleo has to steal another car and crash it into the bank to get the girls out.
92	* Subverted in ''Film/{{Sneakers}}''. Martin encounters one saying "The government took my home!" outside the building where he's going to meet the NSA agents. Martin points at an election poster for the current President and says, "Tell it to him." Later when Martin and Crease realize they've been conned, they race back to the building and find it in the process of being demolished.
93	* In ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'' a crazy homeless man frequents Ana's bakery.
94	-->'''Homeless Guy:''' Are you gonna tax the bathroom?
95	* The BMovie ''Film/StreetTrash'' plays this trope straight and very harsh.
96	* ''Film/SwedenHeavenAndHell'': A group of drunken homeless people in Stockholm are shown eating shoe polish on bread in one scene.
97	* The last sequence of ''Film/SymbiopsychotaxiplasmTakeOne'' involves a crazy, drunken homeless guy who wanders into the film production and delivers a profane rant.
98	* Subverted by the local bum in ''Film/{{UHF}}'', who looks and speaks like a crazy bum. However, when he asks George for some change, he takes exactly $1 in coins and hands George a dollar bill in return. Later, when apparently trying to do the same thing to the villain, he receives only a single penny, which he instantly recognizes as being a valuable collector's item. He invests the money he makes on the penny wisely -- [[NiceJobFixingItVillain by buying up all the remaining U62 shares, thus saving the station]].
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Literature]]
102	* ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub''. During the books when Stacey lived in New York, she talked about a homeless woman named Judy who talked to her sometimes. She is mildly mentally unstable but has her good days and bad days.
103	* ''Literature/ChocoholicMysteries'': Royal Hollis in ''Clown Corpse'', who isn't quite normal after getting out of the army (and his head injury doesn't help). He spends most of his time camping out rather than relying on professional aid, which is part of what gets him in trouble in the book. Thankfully, by the end, his daughter has convinced him to get mental help.
104	* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, a number of Ankh-Morpork's beggars are like this, including:
105	** Foul Ole Ron, a completely insane TalkativeLoon with a sentient stench that ''outclasses him'' who employs [[TalkingAnimal Gaspode the Wonder Dog]] as a "thinking brain dog."
106	** Duck Man, a perfectly normal "upper-class gentleman down on his luck" type, save that he cannot recognize that there is a duck on his head. At least, everyone else thinks he has a duck on his head. The Duck Man knows he has no duck on his head. The duck's views on this are unrecorded.
107	** Altogether Andrews, who has seven personalities, none of whom are named Andrews. Terry speculates that the original Andrews was a medium with a mild personality who has been completely overtaken by ghosts or spirits. Although it appears that most of his personalities are pretty sane, or at worst eccentric. (Most. It's implied that one, Burke, is AxCrazy.)
108	* ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'': The Factionless are those who do not fit the faction system, whether because they do not have the qualities to join a faction, or reject the whole idea. They live on the edge of society, and faction members are careful not to interact with them on account of their "savage" nature. In the second book, however, it's revealed that the Factionless operate a relatively civilized community, led by Evelyn Johnson-Eaton, who has ambitions to topple the faction system and install a government with her as the leader.
109	* In Terry Pratchett's non-Discworld novel ''Johnny & The Bomb'', part of the ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'', the adventure is kick-started by the discovery of Mrs. Tachyon -- the local bag lady (who is very much like Foul Ole' Ron, complete with random gibbering, detachment from reality and vile smell, to the fact she can be considered somewhere between a DistaffCounterpart and a precursor model) -- lying unconscious in an alleyway.
110	* The mysterious wise woman of the streets from ''Literature/TheDaysGoSoSlow'' by Nicasio Latasa becomes an EccentricMentor for the protagonist Curren and helps him change his life. She is also a seer with precognitive powers, and it is mentioned that in spite of being extremely unkempt, she retained traces of beauty.
111	* In ''Literature/DragonTears'' by Creator/DeanKoontz, the antagonist has psychic powers and can create dangerous golems from his own mind. One takes the form of a disgusting, cruel vagrant to torment a man, who actually is homeless and is not bad or crazy at all.
112	* The novel ''Literature/ThereIsAHappyLand'' by Keith Waterhouse features "Uncle Mad," a mentally simple homeless man whom the ten-year-old (nameless) narrator becomes friendly with. The narrator finds Uncle Mad strange but does not see anything frightening or unwelcome about him, and they develop a genuine friendship of sorts. Eventually [[spoiler: Uncle Mad is blamed for the murder and (implied) rape of a local girl, which in reality was committed by an older boy. The narrator [[InnocentInaccurate doesn't really understand the implications of this]], but helps Uncle Mad escape before he can be arrested.]]
113	* This trope gets considerable play in ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity's Christmas]]''. The villagers' reactions to the news that Lori and her family had a collapsed vagrant airlifted to hospital ranges from incredulity to hostility. Lori herself also recounts how she is often uncomfortable when confronted by homeless people (having so nearly been one herself); of the villagers, she says, "I was the last person on earth qualified to judge my neighbors. I had too much in common with them." Lori and Fr. Bright also have an argument over the man's sanity, especially as the evidence of his recent past suggests he has done highly unusual things and may have been committed to a psychiatric hospital; the priest later admits, "Where there was goodness, I chose to see madness." [[TheVicar Rev. Bunting]] chastises the villagers for their attitude as well.
114	* In the ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' books - specifically, their sequels - Daja meets with a homeless man who seems crazy but is surprisingly helpful. He returns in ''The Will of The Empress'' and catches Tris' eye. Together Tris and Briar conclude that [[spoiler: he actually has the phenomenally rare ability to see and hear on the wind, which, combined with his attempts to repress it, and all the horrible treatments administered to try and make him stop it, and the constant treatment as if he ''is'' insane, have driven him half-mad already.]] They help him and it's suggested at the end that he's going to be able to function (relatively) normally in society from now on.
115	* ''Literature/NinaTanleven'': ''The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed'' features Jimmy, the bum who Nine knows from the feeding program where she and her father volunteer. He comes off as a little crazy, but he’s really a nice guy. [[spoiler:Also, he’s only part-time homeless; he lives in Phoebe Watson’s cellar when it’s too cold or wet outside, declining an upstairs room despite her offering.]]
116	* While trying to get back home, Bella from ''Literature/ADogsWayHome'' is caught by a homeless man named Axel. He's a mentally ill and heroin-addicted veteran that refuses to stay at a homeless shelter because he thinks people are tracking him. Bella refuses to leave Axel because she feels he needs her. She stays with him until [[spoiler:he dies of an overdose]].
117	* Eatbugs from ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' is the cat equivalent. He's an old, raggedy cat that often goes into random states of mania that lead to him running off somewhere. [[spoiler:He's actually an amnesiac Lord Firefoot.]]
118	* The Laughing Man from ''Literature/WhenYouReachMe'', though how much is an act and how much is real is in question. This makes a nice ShoutOut to ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime'', where Mrs. Whatsit is described as looking, in day-to-day life, like a homeless tramp as ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime'' is in-universe Miranda's favorite book.
119	* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': Subverted with Kevin Norton, who walks around London calling himself "the most powerful man in the world". Everyone shrugs him off as a crazy hobo. [[spoiler:Kevin calls himself that because, for reasons he doesn't understand, Scion, the undisputed most powerful being on the planet, does what Kevin says. To Kevin's credit, once he realizes that Scion is obeying him for some unfathomable reason, he does try to give Scion good orders, like "rescue people from disasters" or "help us fight the [[{{Kaiju}} Endbringers]]".]]
120	* In the ''Literature/BasLagCycle'', the vagabond Spiral Jacobs is a harmless loon who wanders the city via {{Extradimensional Shortcut}}s, vandalizing the buildings with [[SigilSpam spiral graffiti]] as he goes. Until [[spoiler:he's revealed to be an enemy archmage who's ObfuscatingInsanity while he prepares a SummoningRitual to annihilate the city.]]
121	* ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'': In a convoluted series of events that could've driven him crazy if he weren't already, a homeless man who barely speaks english (and often isn't comprehensible when he does) called "the tramp" is mistaken for Merlin, [[CrazyEnoughToWork mooches off of a baffled coven]] of pseudo-scientific fascist devil-worshippers [[FearlessFool while not being afraid or even curious about them]], then the ''real'' Merlin shows up and casts a mind-control spell on the tramp, finally forcing him to ''impersonate'' Merlin as part of the real Merlin's plans to destroy the fascists. For his part, the tramp himself was unaware of all of this, and just wanted to eat and drink as much as possible. It's difficult to say whether C.S. Lewis wanted this PlayedForLaughs, PlayedForDrama, or both.
122	* In ''Literature/TheTripods'' trilogy, most of them are vagrants, people whose minds were broken by the caps they wear. They were either too strong for the caps and were broken or already had mental illness. Villagers see them as deserving of pity and have shelters they can stay in and get a meal. Ozymandius, the man who recruited Will to the resistance, pretended to be one so he could get close to suitable young people not yet capped.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
126	* ''Series/ThirtyRock'' has a character called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Moonvest]] often hanging around near the titular building.
127	-->"Gimme your fingernails."
128	* The ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "The Long Dark" had a homeless man on the station, a ShellShockedVeteran of the Earth Minbari War, who was constantly freaking out and declaring that the station was doomed and that an invisible enemy was coming to kill them. Turns out, he ''was'' crazy, but he was also ''[[ProperlyParanoid right]]'' about the invisible enemy, which he ended up helping the station's security to defeat.
129	* In the ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode "The Woman In The Tunnel," one of the guest characters is not only homeless but also a ShellShockedVeteran. He is discovered in a tunnel hundreds of feet underneath the city near the body of the episode's victim, and when taken in for questioning, is very twitchy and uncommunicative. When they have him take them underground, however, he mellows out greatly. [[spoiler: He is homeless as a choice, taking care of the other homeless people [[TheAtoner as atonement]] for [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone accidentally killing a pregnant woman and her child]] on the battlefield.]]
130	* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' season 5, the gang notice a strange increase in crazy homeless. They are drawn to Dawn, in particular. It is later discovered that they were normal until Glory sucked their minds dry.
131	* The killer in the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "A Dollar, A Dream'' is Hopper. He is kind, if spacey, a homeless man who helps the Bradford family get comfortable with being homeless. He gives Marlene Bradford a lottery ticket if she promises to give him a part of the winnings. She wins $25 but he thinks that she is hiding the rest of the money so he kills her. He fails to find any more money so he hides Marlene in the car and pushes it into a pond.
132	* In an episode of ''Series/CopRock'', a homeless encampment was being cleared out. So, what do the homeless people do? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SJqRbNpJsk They broke out in a song and dance number.]]
133	* An episode of ''Series/{{Eagleheart}}'' featured crazy homeless people whom the government wanted to kidnap and experiment on so that their dreams could be used for fuel, or something. Subverted in that the hobos really were from another planet and the whole thing was just a ride at an amusement park in the vein of Universal Studios' "E.T. Adventure".
134	* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': In "No Brain, No Pain", the crazy homeless man Chappie is rumored to an axe murderer called the Mad Whacker or Eerie's last living liberal. Marshall and Simon discover that he is in fact Charles Furnell, the smartest man on Earth. He invented the Brainalyzer in 1978 so that the knowledge and intelligence of brilliant people could be preserved for future generations. However, his wife Eunice Danforth stole it in order to fix the 1980 presidential election. To ensure that this could never happen again, Charles destroyed the Brainalyzer, scrambled his brainwaves, and transferred his mind onto an 8-track tape of the Knack song "My Sharona". Even in his brain scrambled state, however, he retained enough knowledge to build another Brainalyzer.
135	* "Kill Moves" from ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'', seems to be a classical example of this (plus he knows martial-arts!), until we find out that [[spoiler:he's actually from a rich family, with a high level of intelligence, used to work in a number of qualified jobs until the economy changed, then he saw a vision of [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Gazoo]] telling him to follow his true calling and become a homeless person.]]
136	* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' did this with Claude, the [[{{Invisibility}} Hobo]]. HRG shot him, but Claude survived, and then he stayed invisible to hide from the Company, becoming an incredibly misanthropic homeless man in the process. He steals everything and doesn't care, he hates everything and everyone, but he takes care of a flock of pigeons.
137	* ''Series/ICarly'' makes a few references to these early in the show's run. One example being Sam needing to bring a baseball bat to a corner shop because of a crazy hobo living in the alley next to it.
138	* Rickety Cricket of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' doesn’t start out as one, but after his SanitySlippage, he becomes an unhinged, animalistic, drug-addict who talks at length about [[BestialityIsDepraved being raped by and raping feral dogs]] and gleefully assists the Gang in their [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]] in exchange for booze and drugs.
139	* In the ''Series/{{JAG}}'' episode "The Guardian", Harm and Mac defend a homeless former Navy SEAL, in civilian court, who is accused of killing three men while thwarting a convenience store robbery.
140	* The ''Series/LawAndOrder'' episode "Darwinian" has a take on the "human trash" concept. A homeless man is on trial for murdering another homeless man over an ''orange''. The defense lawyer argues that his desperate situation caused him to kill just to survive (hence the title), which should excuse him for his crime. [=McCoy=]'s counter-argument: saying that homeless people should not be judged by the same standards as the rest of us is saying they are less than human. And in this particular case, letting the murderer go free would further suggest the life of the homeless victim was worth less than that of someone more fortunate! (He wins.)
141	** In another episode (and the ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' episode based on it), a man is charged with assault after beating up one of these who had been terrorizing and harassing people in the neighborhood for years, with [[VigilanteMan the final straw being the guy attacking and injuring his wife]]. Despite the DA's usual arguments about how people can't take the law into their own hands and the man's implausible claims of acting in self-defense--insisting that the guy was attacking him despite ''both'' of his legs being broken--he's acquitted.
142	* In ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', episode "Babes", people are attacking homeless people. The Squad decide to lure them out with, in Fin's words, "the laziest bum they ever met." [[AnswerCut Cue Munch roaming the streets shouting conspiracy theories]].
143	-->'''Stabler:''' Gotta admit, he does crazy good.\
144	'''Fin:''' What are you talking about? It's the same crap he spouts every day, just louder.
145	* In the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr Monk and the Miracle", three homeless men hire Adrian Monk to find out who killed their friend. They're portrayed pretty sympathetically, and Natalie gets on Adrian's case for his OCD-induced freakouts over their dirtiness. They also pay Monk with gravy, because [[RunningGag homeless men make their own homemade gravy]].
146	* Exidor, leader of the Friends of Venus and later a [[HarsherInHindsight worshipper of O.J. Simpson,]] on ''Series/MorkAndMindy''.
147	* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', an old friend of Earl's is on The List. Back in the day, Earl and Randy got kicked out of the house by their father (again), and a CloudCuckoolander named Raynard took them into his home. Sometime later, the tables were turned; Raynard got evicted from his apartment and attempted to turn to Earl for help, but Earl turned him away due to being married to a moody, pregnant Joy. Raynard took shelter in a Bookmobile they had abandoned earlier (they had pretended it was a tour bus and they were rockstars to get girls to sleep with them), and ate some hallucinogenic berries (and the books). He spouted nonsense (having forgotten what it was like to interact with people), and sincerely thought he was married to a woman named Irene (who turned out to be [[BestialityIsDepraved a raccoon]]). Earl helps him detox from the berries, and attempts to help him reintegrate into normal (well, normal for ''Camden'', anyway) human society, but that doesn't work out. Earl realizes that Raynard was ''much'' happier living in the woods, and sets him up with proper camping supplies.
148	* ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack':
149	** It's revealed that [[ConspiracyTheorist Lolly]] suffers from an untreated mental disorder (likely paranoid schizophrenia), and because of it, she was never able to hold a job for very long. She was therefore chronically homeless. She found a way to cope ("quiet the voices"), but it ultimately wasn't much help to her. She probably ''could'' be living a relatively normal life with the right treatment, but she fell through the cracks in the system.
150	** In an earlier episode, there's an elderly prisoner named [[GenderBlenderName Jimmy]]. She suffers from dementia, and while in one of her delusions, mistakes the altar in the chapel for a diving board, and predictably gets hurt. The prison can't keep her (even in psych), because she is such a risk to herself and others, she doesn't have any family or friends on the outside who could take care of her (or at least get her into long-term care) and the state is unwilling to commute her sentence to a nursing home. She is given "compassionate release," which, in this case, means she was simply released out onto the streets, with the idea that "whatever happens, happens." It's unknown what becomes of her, but it likely wasn't anything good.
151	* ''Series/{{Raines}}'' did an episode that actually deconstructed this particular variation of the trope, where the deceased of the case Raines has taken on is a murdered homeless woman, who turns out to have had her identity stolen, among other tragic circumstances. When he talks to his therapist about the case, she notes after noticing his discomfort with the case that many times people aren't "comfortable" thinking of homeless people as real people who are worthy of normal respect and kindness, because they would rather think of themselves as naturally superior than admitting that they too might possibly end up in similar dire straits. The show managed to do it without seeming too much like a Very Special Episode... and in that the show still got canned anyway.
152	** And sure enough, Raines eventually admits that he took against the victim because he was afraid that he may end up like her one day. His therapist cottons on to the fact that the reason for this fear is that he's worried he's going mad, and mental illness is one of the top causes of homelessness.
153	* Averted in an [[VerySpecialEpisode episode]] of Series/SavedByTheBell, in which the gang befriends and helps a homeless man (and his hot homeless daughter).
154	* A ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode had Kramer try to recruit homeless people to pull rickshaws for a start-up business he and Newman were partnering on. The three candidates they rounded up fit this trope pretty well.
155	* An episode of ''Series/SmallWonder'' featured Foster Brooks as a homeless man who almost takes over the Lawson household.
156	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
157	** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' showed one (played by Creator/ClintHoward no less) in a time travel episode. Doctor Bashir is horrified that the guy has been dumped on the street rather than getting the psychological treatment he so obviously needs. Grady later attempts to convince Dax that he can turn himself invisible, though he does correctly guess that she's an alien (and one of the good guys, at that).
158	** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had the 29th-century captain Braxton degenerate into this after getting stranded in the 20th century.
159	* Tom Green once had a crazy bag lady in one of his skits. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0toaTpL54iI PONES]]
160	* ''Series/TheWestWing'' had an episode dedicated to Toby arranging a military funeral for a homeless Korean War veteran who happened to buy a coat which he donated to Goodwill, and then die in it on Christmas Eve. His brother fits the "crazy" trope nicely.
161	* In the last season of ''Series/TheWire'', Jimmy has to interrogate a bunch of homeless. One is an unstable ex-military veteran and another likes collecting business cards. [[spoiler:The second guy turned out to be the copycat serial killer.]]
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Music]]
165	* Music/GeorgeMichael's "Crazy Man Dance" from the "Too Funky" maxi-single (and on the 2017 reissue of ''Music/ListenWithoutPrejudiceVolume1'') sings about these kind of people being in New York.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
169	* Homeless Jimmy of Wrestling/{{CZW}}, formerly XPW, where he got the "gimmick" because for him, [[WrestlingDoesntPay wrestling really didn't pay(yet)]]. Although given both were {{garbage\|wrestler}} feds, one could argue the homeless wrestlers weren't the only crazy ones.
170	* This is how Wrestling/JimmyJacobs referred to the FIP members of The Age Of The Fall who had never officially debuted for Wrestling/RingOfHonor. Especially Milo Beasley, who had interfered with a match on behalf of the ROH Age Of The Fall.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
174	* ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'': A surprising number of Crazy Homeless People are also [[MagicalHomelessPerson powerful wizards.]] The most likely reason for this is that you need to go crazy to become a magickal adept, and clinically insane people have difficulty maintaining homes and jobs. So when people on the street ask for change, give it to them, or they might trap you in some kind of dark alternate-reality Minneapolis. One of these is canon NPC Jeeter.
175	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', Flagellants basically combine this with ChurchMilitant. They're folks who have lost everything and are convinced TheEndIsNigh and the Empire is about to collapse, so they want to die gloriously fighting mankind's enemies. Very fond of EpicFlail.
176	[[/folder]]
177
178	[[folder:Theatre]]
179	* The Beggar Woman in ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd'' can go from a kindly old woman to a bawdy prostitute in two seconds flat. She carries around a rag doll and sings nursery rhymes to it and essentially stalks and sexually harasses Anthony. Justified, [[spoiler: as she went insane after attempting suicide with arsenic following her rape and her husband's deportation]].
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Video Games]]
183	* The Lost from ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' are [[LowerClassLout a villain group consisting of homeless people]] who are in varying stages of being mutated into [[spoiler:Rikti]]. In the lower levels, they talk like the typical portrayal, ranting about "the Change", but as their levels and rank increase, the Lost start to bear a closer resemblance to them in powers, weaponry, and speech patterns, and at about Lv. 30, the transformation is complete and the Lost faction is completely replaced by them.
184	* ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot'' are all about beating up crazy homeless people.
185	* ''Videogame/Cyberpunk2077'' has Garry the Prophet, a homeless guy hanging out near Misty's Esoterica (meaning that you're bound to meet him early on in the game) ranting about various conspiracy theories that typically involve werewolves, vampires and aliens from Alpha Centauri. V can converse with him and support him by either donating some money or protecting him from hecklers. Eventually he reveals that he's been picking up messages due to one of his implants and leads V to the location of the meeting site between the Maelstrom and some corpos. When you get back to him, he's been replaced by one of his followers who claimed that he was kidnapped by guys in suits, with Johnny theorizing that he most likely [[HeKnowsTooMuch got disappeared for listening in on corpo secrets]].
186	* Several in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', one of whom lives well within earshot of your apartment.
187	* The hobos in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', especially their TalkativeLoon leader, Hodgman the Hoboverlord.
188	* Ollie the Bum from ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater''.
189	* Crazy Dave in ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies''. Maybe. He calls himself your neighbor, which suggests that he has a home, but he runs a shop out of his car, wears a pot on his head, and speaks in gibberish. If the ThirdPersonShooter [[VideoGame/PlantsVsZombiesGardenWarfare Garden Warfare]] is to be believed (assuming it's canon), he actually owns a mansion. There's even a fountain statue of him!
190	* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'''s [[CloudCuckoolander Soldier]] has taken a turn for the crazy and hobo-esque as of the Pyromania update. The item set from that update casts him as a questionably paranoid ConspiracyTheorist living off expired soup and killing people with weapons made of junk metal after [[ItMakesSenseInContext being kicked out of the apartment he shared with MERASMUS!]]. He's already had situations in the past where he doesn't have the luxury of eating, so this trope is a pathetically hilarious continuation of his circumstances and his extant lack of grip on reality.
191	* The very first enemies that Johnny fights in ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld'' are the belligerent bums inhabiting the abandoned Erick Theatre.
192	* Used cunningly in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' where there are lots of crazy hobos walking around muttering about everything from government conspiracies to having seen aliens in the sewers and all in between. Most of them are just nuts but a few of them are telling the truth.
193	* A homeless person is the protagonist in ''Crazy Old Bag Lady''.
194	* Uncle Sensei from ''VideoGame/DiveKick'' mixes this with WisdomFromTheGutter. He's this due to poor skills in money management [[spoiler:and Mr. N's actions of bribing his way through.]]
195	* The man that became the Gibbering Prophet in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' was never exactly mentally healthy, but being exposed to the eldritch horrors that the Ancestor was trying to summon [[GoMadFromTheRevelation broke his mind completely]].
196	* Spamton G. Spamton from ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' was the [[HonestJohnsDealership number-one rated salesman]] back in the day [[spoiler: with the help of a [[DealWithTheDevil mysterious voice]] on the telephone.]] But after trying to "[[LonelyAtTheTop see too far]]" for his own good, [[RichesToRags everything crashed and burned around him]]. By the time the player first meets him, he's been reduced to living inside a dumpster, still [[TalkativeLoon babbling about the glory days]] and trying to strike deals even as he tries to [[YourSoulIsMine take Kris's soul]] for himself. [[spoiler: And as the {{superboss}} of Chapter 2, he manages to become ''[[AxCrazy even less lucid]]''.]]
197	* Reoccuring driver Marcus Kane from ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' plays with this trope as a diagnosed schizophrenic living in his car for 10 years. He isn't exactly sane: having entered a death contest, thinks all of the world is a delusion, and has a split-personality of [[spoiler:a certain ice cream truck driving MonsterClown]], but outside of all that, he is one of the more sympathetic and benevolent drivers. He does have a family and seems genuinely concerned over the other contestants in his OrWasItADream ending in the second game.
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder:Web Animation]]
201	* Senor Cardgage from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', who lives in a shrub, carries a plastic grocery bag of half-melted candy bars around with him, and is prone to malapropisms and [[AccidentalMisnaming calling people weird names]]. "Alonzo Mourning to you, Myrtlebeth. Say hello to my tackle box!"
202	* In the ''WebAnimation/SagaTheYoungin'' video "A Hobo Caught Me Lackin At Taco Bell", Saga gets chased by a hobo who stalks him when he goes to Taco Bell at 4 A.M. Thankfully, he managed to get away. His roommate also almost got jumped by a homeless guy who used a public electric scooter[[note]]Saga and his roommate charged these for money and had to collect them late at night[[/note]] as bait.
203	[[/folder]]
204
205	[[folder:Web Comics]]
206	* There's a recurring, homeless, black man in ''Webcomic/PolkOut''. He's a murdering, drug-dealing rapist.
207	* The [[UnexplainedRecovery formerly]] late [[BackAlleyDoctor Doctor Hobo]] in ''Webcomic/VGCats''. His speech was an endless stream of word salad, and his behavior ranged from "erratic" to "incomprehensible". He refers to a dead rodent as his cell phone and seems to have convinced himself that he was a doctor.
208	* The AuthorAvatar of ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'''s current artist is a fat homeless guy who draws for food.
209	* Melody from ''Webcomic/SoundsLikeAMelody'' is a rare webcomics example of an aversion/sympathetic version.
210	* ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' has [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/2113033/yeah-what-she-said/ Scary Mary.]] She is definitely crazy but has lately shown signs of being on to something.
211	* ''Webcomic/TheWordWeary'' features a recurring homeless character named "Robert." Though sometimes the [[http://www.wordwearycomic.com/2011/12/3-december-2011.html butt of jokes]] and occasionally wildly inappropriate, he's treated relatively sympathetically.
212	* Nigel in ''Webcomic/SchwarzKreuz'' is a [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight perceptive]], nerdy [[HeartwarmingOrphan thirteen years old kid]] who JumpedAtTheCall. He's a huge asset to the team, at the same time being quite nutty.
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Web Original]]
216	* Chuck Sonnenburg of WebSite/SFDebris [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation re-interprets]] Captain Jonathan Archer of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' as this. From his review of [[http://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/e104.asp "Strange New World"]]:
217	--> '''Chuck:''' [Archer] rants at the drop of a hat, listens to things that aren't there, talks to dogs, gives rambling speeches, and does things without thinking about whether people will live or die. In other words, someone found him sleeping under a pile of newspapers in an alley muttering about putting cameras in his eyeballs, took off his tinfoil hat, and put him in charge of a starship.
218	* [[http://notalwaysfriendly.com/i-have-no-words/33796 This girl]] on ''[[Website/NotAlwaysRight Not Always Friendly]]'' [[SuddenlyFluentInGibberish speaks their language]].
219	* CreepyPasta:
220	** One has the narrator be not-so-nice to the local babbling hobo. That night, he has a nightmare (implied to be supernaturally imposed upon him somehow) of the night the homeless guy lost his mind: [[ForcedToWatch Witnessing his family being horribly killed in a car accident after their vehicle was hit by a drunk driver]], leaving him unable to utter anything but insane gibberish.
221	** Another has a woman suddenly begin fighting with empty air, screaming at nothing to "Fuck off! Leave me alone!" After a TimeSkip of a year or so, the narrator sees her in the park, tiredly muttering "Leave me alone..." at nothing and looking way worse than the day she lost it, implying she also lost her home along with her mind. [[RealAfterAll When he turns to leave, he catches sight of]] ''[[RealAfterAll something]]'' [[RealAfterAll hovering near her...]]
222	[[/folder]]
223
224	[[folder:Web Videos]]
225	* ''Website/ChannelAwesome'':
226	** It features ''WebVideo/BumReviews'', starring Chester A. Bum, who talks extremely fast, goes off on bizarre tangents, and says of every movie [[spoiler:(except ''Film/CitizenKane'')]], "OH MY GOD THIS IS THE GREATEST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!" Because during the movie, he gets to be inside "a warm, warm building!" With Chester's popularity over the years, various knockoffs across the internet (especially from the various producers from Channel Awesome) have arisen:
227	** Lester B. Bum (played by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Lewis Lovhaug]]) is essentially the same as Chester, but he is blonde and instead of movies, he reviews comic books.
228	** The Spoony Bum is a clone of [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] made by Doctor Insano that lives with them as a roommate. He behaves just like Chester, but he [[VideoGame/DirtyHarry hangs around in the sewers where he finds his chili dogs]].
229	** The Cinema Bum (played by Creator/BradJones) is not the happy-go-lucky coked-up weirdo that Chester is. Instead, he is depressed, bringing up the fact that he is homeless and begging for food. He eventually is killed by Travis Crabtree during the WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob's review of ''Film/TheLegendOfBoggyCreek'' during a psychotic break.
230	** To be extremely original, WebVideo/{{Phelous}} in his review of the comedy-horror film ''Film/{{Thankskilling}}'' introduced Pester Z. Bum. He saves Phelous from a foul-mouthed sock-puppet and vomits a copious amount into a bag after asking if he has booze before dying on the spot from alcohol poisoning.
231	** Aleister D. Homelesssb'sterrd is a crazy homeless actor that lives in Haganistan within WebVideo/DiamandaHagan's compound, reviewing famous plays and just making a general nuisance of himself. It takes a lot to make Chester A. Bum look normal by comparison, with Aleister having a long-distance relationship with Shark Wayne, he has failed to get several roles in cinema due to either his dopey acting, not acting dopey enough or comedically weak reasons and for just being a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. Hagan tries to kill him, [[RunningGag but can't because of the reason.]]
232	* Michael Swaim of Agents of Cracked has not one, but two homeless wives. (One for the house, one for his car, you see) Both of them are appropriately nutty.
233	* In ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'', we have the drunken hobo who made his first appearance in "Mario's Hobo Problem!".
234	[[/folder]]
235
236	[[folder:Western Animation]]
237	* Assuming that ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' 's crazy old Royal Tart-Toter is a homeless drifter who spends his days wandering around and hurting himself, he definitely qualifies as this trope. Averted in a later episode, where he's seen living in a mental hospital and is doing a bit better.
238	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' had a babbling homeless man as a recurring minor character.
239	* The [=STD=]-ridden, so-called "Werewolf" from the very first revival episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead''.
240	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS5E7NoPlaceLikeHome No Place Like Home]]", Dr. Blight lures Gaia away from Hope Island and is able to neutralize her powers. The disoriented newly-mortal wanders into a homeless community containing mostly sane people now down on their luck but a few of the crazy variety as well, including a man who thinks he's Creator/WilliamShakespeare. An employee at the homeless shelter mentions two men who think they are the Red Baron.
241	-->'''Gaia:''' Where am I?\
242	'''Marge:''' You got Alzheimer's or something? You know who y'are, don't ya'?\
243	'''Gaia:''' I... I think so... I... I mean... yes! I'm Gaia, the Spirit of the Earth!\
244	''[beat]''\
245	'''Marge:''' She'll fit right in.
246	* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "That's Using Your Head", Dexter meets a crazy old man who [[TalkativeLoon babbles nonsense]] ("Since you no doubt have your own of walnuts, pictures of birds, butterflies, brick brick brick, et cetera!") and wears a pile of electronics on his head. Dexter [[SeeminglyProfoundFool mistakes him]] for a MadScientist trying to make contact with aliens ("Why stock three-wheels when the P-p-p-p-power Wheels outperform the rest? It's real simple, folks: we are not alone!") and tries to help him with his "invention", which does lead to him being accidentally transported to an alien world.
247	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had Peter briefly convert to Mormonism. One of his wives was Tiffany, the filthy woman who stands downtown and screams at traffic.
248	--> "I ate a tube of Crest for dinner!"
249	* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', we have Old Man [=McGucket=], a MadScientist who lives in a garbage dump and who even introduces himself as the "local kook" in one episode. His introduction in the episode "The Legend of the Gobblewonker" [[EstablishingCharacterMoment says it all]]. Plot relevant explanation is eventually given for both his madness and homelessness; [[spoiler:he fried his brain with an experimental LaserGuidedAmnesia device trying to forget various things he'd seen and done, most notably scientific experiments he had been involved in which nearly ended the world and caused him to be briefly sucked into the [[EldritchLocation Nightmare]] [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Realm]], and also including everything from car accidents to demons. The more things he forgot, the less stable and functional he became until his downward spiral caused him to lose everything and live in the dump with no memory of his life before he became the local kook.]] He eventually gets somewhat better [[spoiler:after regaining his memories]], and gets a new home in the finale.
250	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'':
251	** "The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot" has a crazy old man standing in a fast food restaurant, arguing [[OverlyLongGag for an inordinately long time]] with the ApatheticClerk behind the counter that they forgot his coleslaw, [[UnsatisfiableCustomer when he's holding it in his hand]].
252	--->'''Crazy Old Man:''' I want my slaw!\
253	'''Clerk:''' You have your slaw, sir.\
254	'''Crazy Old Man:''' ''I want my slaw!''\
255	'''Clerk:''' You have your slaw, sir.
256	** [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] also has a conversation with a hobo in a burger joint in "Gaz, Taster of Pork." As the homeless man leaves he suddenly [[BlackComedy kidnaps another patron]] and runs off without anyone noticing.
257	* Spongy from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. Been on the streets "Since Reagan kicked me out of my mental hospital." "Now, Spongy, you know he had a good reason for doing that." His portrayal, oddly enough, is fairly sympathetic, as Hank and his friends sympathize with Spongy and help him when some "cool" teenagers bully him off of his panhandling [[spoiler: so they can do it themselves]].
258	* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' loves this trope. In one episode, they have their own airline, complete with in-flight movie performed by "Crazy John" ("You ain't got no legs, Lt. Dan!"). In another, a man navigates his daily life as if it were ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' complete with dodging a homeless man spouting lines like "Hey, boogie boogie, my brain is an antelope! Have some mustard cause it's Easter in your face!" Yet another episode involved a number of insane homeless people wearing Clark Kent's discarded suits from when he changed into Franchise/{{Superman}}, and Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson and Franchise/{{Batman}} at first think it's really Clark.
259	--> "They're in your head if you look inside a microscope or a Q-Tip you're bound to find them because they're so prevalent I'M MADE OF CHOCOLATE!"
260	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
261	** The CrazyCatLady. Subverted in that she does have a house and when Marge mentions she gave her money, the Cat lady pulls out a bundle of cash and asks how much she owed her again. She is just really crazy.
262	** Homer pretends to be one of these for money and pulls it off surprisingly well.
263	** In one episode, the family meets a hobo while riding a freight train. He assures them that he's "a singing hobo, not a stabbing hobo", before launching into a song about "stabbing people with his hobo knife".
264	** Chief Wiggum takes his son Ralph with him to "talk sense into this raving derelict".
265	--->'''Wiggum:''' Whoa, slow down sir, slow down ...Who's stealing your thought?
266	* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/SmilingFriends'' by Gwimbly, an AbandonedMascot left homeless and destitute. He's certainly eccentric and off-putting, but he's mostly rational and amicable. He does have loud bursts of anger and attempted violence, but only in situations where ''anyone'' would be angry, such as being sprayed with a hose or brazenly insulted, and the only person he attempts to attack is his murderous {{Jerkass}} of a former boss.
267	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
268	** Hilariously parodied in the episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS11E7NightOfTheLivingHomeless Night of the Living Homeless]]". At first, the sudden influx of homeless into the town is treated as a ZombieApocalypse, though they moan for "change" rather than brains. Randy Marsh even kills one of his friends when it's revealed he lost his home, and [[ZombieInfectee is slowly turning into one of them]]. Later in the episode, the boys go to a town that destroyed itself over the situation. You see, eventually some of them (somehow) amassed enough change to buy houses. The citizens of the town were freaked [[InsaneTrollLogic ("The person living right next door to you could be homeless and you wouldn't even know it!")]] and treating the homeless as something other than human, purged their town to devastation.
269	** Played straight with [[FatBastard Eric Cartman]] at the end of ''[[WesternAnimation/SouthParkPostCovidTheReturnOfCovid Post Covid: The Return Of Covid]]''. In the revised future, Cartman spends his time living on the street, drinking alcohol, and screaming obscenities at people.
270	* ''WesternAnimation/ToddMcFarlanesSpawn'' features the eponymous hero often conversing with, protecting, and living with the homeless. The portrayal of them varied. Often they were alcoholics and drug addicts, or at least mentally unhinged, but good people. The irony being that the homeless were often more morally grounded than the show's other characters who lived in relative wealth.
271	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CrazyHomelessPeople