Line #55 Main/CrustyCaretaker


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5	[[quoteright:280:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crusty-caretaker_the-simpsons_2992.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:280:"Willie hears ya, Willie don't care!"]]
7	%%
8	->''"[=I aM ToRgo. I tAkE CAre of ThE plAce whiLe the MasTeR is aWay.=]"''
9	-->-- '''Torgo''', ''Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate''
10
11	He -- [[AlwaysMale and it is always he]] -- is a caretaker, janitor, groundskeeper, or better yet, gravekeeper, who is crusty, uncouth, or otherwise lacking in people skills.
12
13	Popular in horror, because there's a lot of overlap with TheIgor, SycophanticServant, and TheRenfield.
14
15	Then, may also be the OldRetainer, in which case he is often the JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Expect the children of the house to love him despite his rough exterior.
16
17	His female counterpart is the CreepyHousekeeper. Compare CreepyGasStationAttendant.
18
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22	[[folder:Anime]]
23	* ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}'': Earl, the alien from Helios, is this to the IdiotHero Kento after his cryo-sleep device goes horribly wrong. With [[spoiler:Prince Harlin]] missing, Kento is the only [[AlienPrince Heliosian Prince]] left, and Earl desperately nags at him to get on with his dutes, only to be rebuffed and insulted instead. In many episodes, he asks why Kento can't be different.
24	* ''Anime/TheSecretGarden'': Ben Weatherstaff has been this ever since Lilias died. A meeting with Mary reveals his HiddenHeartOfGold, and he comes a TeamDad to Mary, Colin and Dickon.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Advertising]]
28	* A TV spot for Verizon Wireless has a creepy motel night clerk inform a guest that there's only one room left, and one he probably won't want anyway: "It's a dead zone. Can't get your calls, your precious e-mails. It's like you don't even exist." When the customer points out that he has the Verizon network, the nonplussed manager ripostes, "Towels are kinda scratchy!" (Cue ScareChord.)
29	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsxbHveje-I "He stands behind every home he builds."]]
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* Mr. Smitty from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics''
34	* Cain from DC's The House of Mystery. His brother, Abel, who is caretaker of The House of Secrets, may also qualify, though perhaps he's more "chubby" than crusty.
35	* ''The Caretaker'', who shows up in Comicbook/GhostRider comics (and the movie) and related stories from Creator/MarvelComics. In the books, he fills this trope to a tee. He guards the graveyard that much canon-scariness spills forth from. He's able to defend himself quite ably, often giving the main characters a literal smackdown when they are being stupid and or annoying. Enjoys scaring the naive by taking them through detours past some of the ickier bits of graveyard existence.
36	* The cemetery caretaker Becca meets when she sneaks in Darkmoor Academy on a dare in ''ComicBook/AllGhoulsSchool'' (who might have been the headmaster in disguise).
37	* ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': "Creeper" Jackson is a bitter elderly man who looks after some property near Washington DC, and who is secretly growing {{Man Eating Plant}}s which he tries to have eat Franchise/WonderWoman when she goes to save some of his victims.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Fan Works]]
41
42	* The janitor who takes care of [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys Freddy Fazbear's Pizza]] in ''Fanfic/SomethingAlwaysRemains''. He's pretty blunt in his belief that he thinks Mike won't last the week, as he's seen security guards come and go, refers to him as "[[HeyYou kid]]" instead of by his name, and overall has a callous attitude. [[spoiler: He eventually warms up to Mike, and reveals they've both suffered personal tragedies that keeps them coming back to Freddy's]].
43
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
47	* Among ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' classics:
48	** ''Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate'': Torgo. A twitchy, bearded man who may or may not be a [[FaunsAndSatyrs satyr]] and becomes an AbhorrentAdmirer to the movie's heroine.
49	** ''Film/Werewolf1996'' had a similar character in Sam "the Keeper", a strange old biker-looking guy who looks after the apartment where Paul moves in. He's seen lovingly fondling a shotgun and makes unprompted and confusing homophobic comments about {{Dracula}}. He has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and seems to exist only for atmosphere.
50	** Mickey from ''Film/TheScreamingSkull''. Mickey is the gardener at the OldDarkHouse where the movie is set. Mickey shows signs of SanitySlippage and has the mental capacity of a child, was devoted to the late mistress of the house, and has a hard time understanding that she is dead. He turns out to be [[spoiler: a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold.]]
51	** ''Film/EarthVsTheSpider'' has Hugo, the janitor at the local high school. He's a little unkempt and speaks in a peculiar rural accent, but the "[[DawsonCasting teens]]" seem to like him. Unfortunately for him, he is eaten by a GiantSpider.
52	** ''Film/TeenAgeStrangler'' has an unnamed but quietly creepy high school janitor who is a lot less charming than Hugo. [[spoiler: He is [[TheButlerDidIt eventually revealed]] as the [[SerialKiller strangler]] of the title.]]
53	** In ''Film/IWasATeenageWerewolf'', the sheriff's department employs Pepi, a quiet fellow who seems like he wandered in out of a Franchise/UniversalHorror movie set in the Middle Ages, as their office janitor. Because he is from [[{{Uberwald}} an unspecified country in the Carpathian Mountains]], he is apparently the only person in town who has ever heard of a werewolf, and becomes MrExposition on the subject.
54	%%** Also present in ''Film/TerrorFromTheYear5000.''%%
55	%%* ''Film/ScaryMovie2'' has one with a deformed hand.%%
56	* Riff Raff, Frank N. Furter's "faithful handyman" from ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', lacks in people skills. Also incorporates heavy elements of TheIgor, as he is given a fake hump and seems to help Frank in the lab.
57	* Francesco Dellamorte the Gravekeeper (''Film/CemeteryMan''), while elegantly handsome (he's played by Creator/RupertEverett), is gloomy, socially awkward and misanthropic. ("Go away. I have no time for the living.") The only people he tolerates are his mute assistant, an administrative secretary he sometimes telephones and the beautiful woman he [[StalkingIsLove relentlessly pursues]]. Sometimes [[MisanthropeSupreme no-one is lucky]].
58	%%* The recent ''Film/NancyDrew'' movie has a creepy one.%%Administrivia/ExamplesAreNotRecent. Also a ZCE%%
59	* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'': Freddy Krueger used to work as a janitor at a high school when he was still human and living a double life as a serial killer. Thus his fondness for shaping his nightmare realm like a boiler room.
60	* In a spot of SelfReferentialHumor, the film ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'' features a cameo by director Wes Craven as a crusty janitor called [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Fred, who wears a battered fedora and red/green striped sweater]].
61	* The ''Film/SilentHill'' film features Colin the Janitor, who is transformed into a contorted monster after being pulled into the Otherworld. Is is later strongly implied that he sexually assaulted Alessa prior to her burning.
62	* The 2002 version of ''Film/DarkWater'' has Kamiya, who doesn't seem to care for Yoshimi's concerns about the damp, leaky patches on her ceiling. The rest of the building seems to be falling into disrepair as well, and the water tank hasn't been cleaned for years (this becomes a relevant plot point). The 2005 [[ForeignRemake remake]] also features a Crusty Caretaker, who is much more of a {{Jerkass}}.
63	* The strange janitor in ''Film/{{Famine}}'' is constantly fingering [[Literature/{{Crash}} the vagina-shaped scar]] on his face.
64	* The murderous Cropsy in ''Film/TheBurning'' was one in a summer camp who hated kids, and after one burned him badly in a prank gone wrong, hates them even more.
65	* The graveyard where the wrestling tournament in ''Film/MonsterBrawl'' takes place is overseen by its odd caretaker Cyril, whose warnings about a curse (of the living dead) falls on deaf ears.
66	* ''Film/PromNight1980'': Mr. Sykes, the janitor of Hamilton High is a weird guy who stares at the girls creepily, and is close at hand when many of the strange events occur.
67	* In ''Film/CurseOfTheCrimsonAltar'', Elder is the stuttering, seemingly mentally deficient, majordomo of Craxted Lodge; shuffling around the place, and appearing unnervingly behind people.
68	* Claus is the caretaker of the cemetery in ''Film/TheHollow'', who staggers through the film uttering dire warnings and generally being taken for a crank and a drunk. He also serves as a HauntedHouseHistorian for all matters related to the Headless Horseman.
69	* Fisk the butler in ''Film/WhatACarveUp'' (brilliantly played by Creator/MichaelGough), moves around the OldDarkHouse silently--despite having a limp--and generally comes across as [[Franchise/TheAddamsFamily Lurch's]] shorter, slightly more talkative cousin.
70	* In ''Film/TheGhoul'', Professor Morlant's manservant Laing shuffles around the OldDarkHouse with a clubfoot, carrying out his master's spooky instructions for his internment while all the time muttering about what a dark business it is in a thick Scottish accent.
71	* In ''Film/TheInitiation'', the badly burned Jason Randall is an inmate groundskeeper at the BedlamHouse sanitarium the killer escapes from.
72	* In ''Film/WhenEvilCalls'', Sean Pertwee plays the embittered school janitor who narrates this lurid of doom. Twenty years of cleaning up after students have left him with an abiding hatred of all kids.
73	* In ''Film/TheGravedancers'', the cemetery caretaker lurks around in the background of many scenes, looking threatening but not otherwise doing anything. However, at the very end of the film, [[spoiler:it is revealed that he is the one leaving the incantation on graves]].
74	* In ''Film/CurseOfTheHeadlessHorseman'', Solomon is the disfigured caretaker who stands to inherit the ranch if Mark cannot make it turn a profit in six months. He skulks around the ranch, spying on people and making cryptic utterances about the Headless Horseman.
75	* In ''Film/{{Sheitan}}'', Joseph--the caretaker of Eve's country house--initially comes across as a slightly dim-witted and eccentric farmer. Slowly, the visitors discover that Joseph is a devil worshiper, and he has something sinister planned for them.
76	* ''Film/EvilBreedTheLegendOfSamhain'': Gary, the caretaker at the cottage, is younger than the traditional crusty caretaker, but was born on Samhain and has psychic visions. He keeps lunging out unexpectedly at people to warn them in the most cryptic and ominous way to stay on the paths.
77	* ''Film/CountYorga'': Brudah in both films of the series is a deformed servant of Count Yorga and looks after the manor while Yorga sleeps during the daytime. Likewise taking care of any dirty work as well.
78	* In ''Film/TruthOrDare2012'', Woodbridge is the grumpy groundskeeper at the family estate. He is the one who sends the guests tramping through the woods to the keeper's cottage, and is later revealed to be in league with Justin and his scheme of revenge.
79	* In ''Film/MurderSheSaid'', the gardener Hillman is a surly devil who skulks about the estate and acts as Luther Ackenthorpe's enforcer and spy.
80	* Frank, the school custodian in '' Film/SerialKilling4Dummys'', is a creepy individual who hits on the senior girls and is suspected of being the SerialKiller.
81	* In ''Film/SatansCheerleaders'', Billy is the grumpy high school janitor. He is also a pervert who spies on the cheer squad while they are showering. He is also a Satanist who kidnaps the cheerleaders intending to rape them and them hand them over to the cult for HumanSacrifice.
82	* ''Film/DeathWalksOnHighHeels'': Hallory, the caretaker of Robert's cottage on the coast, is a strange, disheveled looking man, who has prosthetic hand constantly covered with a [[ConspicuousGloves single black glove]]. He is mostly silent, and spends much of his time onscreen staring lecherously at Nicole. He is later revealed to be a CreepyCrossdresser as well.
83	* In ''Film/TheManWhoChangedHisMind'', Dr. Laurience's assistant is a wheelchair-bound bitter old man named Clayton who looks after the doctor's house and the doctor himself. Often verges into ServileSnarker territory.
84	* In ''Film/CemeteryGates'', John Martin is the groundskeeper at the Southern Cross Cemetery. He allows Hunter and his friends to film there, but then sends his sons to rob and, if necessary, murder them. From the conversation with his sons and the loot stashed in the caves, this is not the first time this has happened.
85	* ''Film/TerrorAtBloodFartLake'' has Caspian, whose testicles are in his calves and who cheerfully admits to watching pornographic snuff films and generally behaves extremely inappropriately.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Literature]]
89	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
90	** Hogwarts has two: Hagrid the groundskeeper ([[TheEeyore good crusty]]) and Filch the caretaker (bad crusty). Interestingly, for [[BanOnMagic two entirely]] [[MuggleBornOfMages different reasons]], they're the only members of staff not to be practicing wizards.
91	** Frank Bryce, in the first chapter of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire fourth book]], is this (good crusty) for the old crumbling house of the Riddle family, even though they're all dead. The townsfolk all falsely believe he murdered the Riddles, though he was never charged with the crime.
92	** Kreacher, the Black family's house-elf, is another example of the bad type. [[spoiler:Until he makes a HeelFaceTurn.]]
93	* Watson, the Overlook Hotel's maintenance man in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheShining'' is aging and foul-mouthed.
94	* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' novel ''Shakedown'', Harry Worthington is a suspicious cemetery groundskeeper who carries a shotgun with bullets mixed with communion bread to put down undead creatures.
95	* ''Literature/ColdComfortFarm'' has the dour and cryptic Adam Lambsbreath -- although to be fair, his employers, the Starkadders, are mostly pretty dour and cryptic themselves.
96	* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has Albert, [[TheGrimReaper Death's]] manservant. Keeps up a haughty demeanor in general, but especially towards young folks.
97	-->'''Albert:''' It's no good thinking you can appeal to my better nature under this here crusty exterior, 'cos my interior's pretty damn crusty as well.
98	* ''Literature/TheGoblinEmperor'': Haru does the outside work at the Edonomee lodge, such as gardening, and is a knowledgable yet standoffish man who inadvertently taught Maia several swear words during his angrier moments.
99	* ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'' has Ben Weatherstaff, the gardener.
100	* Joseph in ''Literature/WutheringHeights''.
101	* The Gardener in Creator/LewisCarroll's ''Literature/SylvieAndBruno''.
102	* Beetle in ''An Evening at The Larches'' by Harry Hearson and J. C. Trewin is the epitome of Crusty Caretaker. Jusitified, since the entire book is one long parody of thrillers.
103	* In Shirley Jackson's ''Literature/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'', Mr. Dudley is one of these, while his wife is a CreepyHousekeeper.
104	* Head gardener Angus [=McAllister=] from Creator/PGWodehouse's ''Literature/BlandingsCastle'' series.
105	--> Honesty Angus [=McAllister=]'s face had in full measure, and also intelligence; but it was a bit short on sweetness and light.
106	* ''Literature/TheMadScientistsClub'': The club spends much of ''The Big Chunk of Ice'' staying at an Austrian castle, whose caretaker Axel is a DepravedDwarf who has been barred from the local village and lives for little more than a chance to terrorize the visitors who come every decade or so (and the villagers, who he disturbs with constant organ music that echoes through the valley). He likes to play painful pranks, insult and threaten people, and spy on them in exchange for money. When the group leaves the castle, Axel even shoots at them with a crossbow and kicks boulders down at them.
107	* Catchpole in ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity: Snowbound]]''. Also an OldRetainer for the previous owner who can [[MrExposition fill in some of the details of Lucasta [=DeClerke's=] life]].
108	* In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheFourLoves'', he discusses how affection turns on familiarity: the children can love the crusty old gardener and fear the stranger who wants to win their regard.
109	* Pylum, the Master of Cerements in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: City of the Dead''. He's the one person who still loudly believes that the old sacraments must be maintained to prevent the dead from rising... [[spoiler: but actually he lost his faith and is helping a MadScientist create zombies.]]
110	* Ben Weatherstaff of ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'' -- good crusty. He and the young heroine Mary have trouble getting along with most people, which is exactly why they get all along fairly well with each other almost from the start.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
114	* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': In "The Loaded Custodians", Mr. Barlow is portrayed as a rather crusty old man.
115	* Boothby, the groundskeeper of Star Fleet Academy from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''
116	** Ned Quint, the groundskeeper in the episode "Sub Rosa" (definitely a tribute to this trope, complete with a Scottish accent that's a wee bit thick).
117	* In ''{{Series/CSI}}'', it turned out that [[spoiler: the miniature killer]] had been working as the lab's janitor for 6 months.
118	* One episode of ''Series/ThisIsWonderland'' had an Afghan refugee-turned-janitor, who had post-traumatic stress disorder.
119	* The janitor from ''{{Series/Scrubs}}'' fits this trope.
120	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Invoked when the Twelfth Doctor decides to go undercover at Coal Hill School and ends up posing as a caretaker. Much to [[ControlFreak Clara]]'s dismay, his [[PaperThinDisguise "disguise"]] consists only of a scruffier looking coat, but given his [[GrumpyOldMan personality]], he fits the bill perfectly...
121	* ''Series/FatherBrown'': When a schoolgirl is attacked in "The Cat of Mastigatus", the aggressive, stuttering gardener with metal prostheses on his crippled hands looks a likely suspect, [[spoiler:until he [[AcquittedTooLate turns up dead]].]]
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
125	* Subverted with The Caretaker from {{Ride/Universal Studios}}' Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights. While he looks creepy, he's actually perfectly well dressed, soft spoken, and polite. Too bad it's [[SoftSpokenSadist the wrong kind of soft spoken and polite]] and that he's a MadDoctor with a penchant for live autopsies.
126	* Disney's {{Ride/The Haunted Mansion}} has a Caretaker who serves as the only living person in a mansion inhabited by 999 happy haunts. In the ride itself, he appears just before guests enter the graveyard, where he stares at them with a look of fright, implying that when they descended from the balcony, the guests have died and are now ghosts as well, and his elderly look suggests that he's been working at the mansion for many years, and yet has always been freaked out by ghosts.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Video Games]]
130	* Dampé the grave keeper from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. He's one of the characters with an almost exact {{Expy}} (personality and job as well as model) in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', too.
131	* There's one of these, Saturnin, wandering around Cloux Manor in ''VideoGame/SecretsOfDaVinciTheForbiddenManuscript'', though it's not clear for most of the game whether he's the good kind or the bad kind.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Web Comics]]
135	* Blockhead from ''Webcomic/TheKingfisher'' is too defiant to be a true SycophanticServant, but has plenty of crust in his caretaking duties.
136	* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000413c Cutman was originally intended as the gardener.]] Took a veer off into minion territory though.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Western Animation]]
140	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Springfield Elementary's Groundskeeper Willie. He has a crustier, creepier, crazier cousin, Gravedigger Billy, who only showed up in one episode and looked exactly like Willie except with white hair.
141	* Scruffy ("the janitor") in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''.
142	* Crops up quite often in ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''.
143	** A good way to pick out the villain half the time, come to think of it.
144	** Gravedigger Evallo von Meanskrieg [[spoiler:a.k.a the Graveyard Ghoul]] in the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' episode "The Gathering Gloom".
145	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' debut episode "A Hard Day's Night", the boys encounter a figure emerging from a grave at a haunted castle.
146	-->'''Caretaker:''' Being a caretaker here is a lonely lot.\
147	'''John:''' ''[relieved]'' Caretaker?\
148	'''George:''' Then you're not...\
149	'''Caretaker:''' One of "them"? Shucks, no. That's just where I keep my office. It's real cool.\
150	'''Ringo:''' Cool? It's altogether daft.
151	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CrustyCaretaker