Line #27 Main/DumbassTeenageSon


1	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jimmy_de_santa_cropped.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:350: To the right of the BrattyTeenageDaughter.]]
2
3	->''"Dumbass!"''
4	-->-- '''Red Forman''' towards his son Eric (usually [[OncePerEpisode once per episode]]), ''Series/That70sShow''
5
6	A standard sitcom family usually has one or more of the following: the [[WomenAreWiser reasonable mom]], the [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling obnoxious little brother/sister]], the [[BrattyTeenageDaughter "misunderstood" teen girl]], and the [[BumblingDad stupid loser dad]]. Of course, to round out the [[NuclearFamily nuclear sitcom family]], there's one more element needed to balance out the 2.4 kids...
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8	...the ''Dumbass Teenage Son''.
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10	As the name suggests, the character is male, a teenager, and incredibly stupid. Growing up and hitting puberty appears to have caused him to sacrifice some IQ points for height and [[CarpetOfVirility hair]]. Often looked at with disdain by the rest of the family who view him as an annoyance at the worst of times, the Dumbass Teenage Son is often times easily tricked or manipulated by his other family members, even those younger than him.
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12	He has no aspirations of getting an education or a "real job", usually is TheSlacker who skips school and spends his time goofing off. He dreams about becoming TheRockStar despite [[DreadfulMusician lacking in musical talent]]. More modern versions will have him aspire to be a rapper, an e-sports video game pro, or a [=YouTube=] streamer instead, [[RapIsCrap typically]] with [[TheNewRockAndRoll aspersions cast]] on [[SocialMediaIsBad those occupations]]. Sometimes, this character tends to pepper his sentences with TotallyRadical phrases like "Dude!" or "Awesome!".
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14	Dumbass Teenage Sons are common in {{sitcom}}s but can be found in other genres as well. Sometimes they are shown to be BookDumb or knowledgeable about certain things others don't know, but not all the time. Other times, they're average or slightly above academically but naive at first, and then get [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] into a box 'o rocks. They are rarely if ever the Main Character or get focused on unless it's being viewed with contempt by the rest of the family. May overlap with DumbJock if said teenager is portrayed as dimwitted but athletically fit, or KiddieKid if he acts childish in addition to being stupid. If he grows up and doesn't grow out of it, he's likely to become a BasementDweller and/or a {{Manchild}}.
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16	[[noreallife]]
17	----
18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': Ataru Moroboshi starts off as this but as the series goes on, he becomes slightly smarter. He's still an HormoneAddledTeenager in the end chasing after teenage girls, regardless of species.
24	[[/folder]]
25	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
26	* Downplayed with Peter Fox of ''ComicStrip/{{Foxtrot}}''. While he does play his electric guitar at wall-blasting volumes, he's otherwise mostly intelligent, his life revolving mostly around [[BigEater food]] and the fact that he can't seem to grow facial hair, [[WeightWoe gain weight]] or [[MuscleAngst get muscles]]. A bad grade on a physics test was brought about by over-doodling on a diagram rather than a lack of brains. Mind you, being smarter than [[BumblingDad his dad]] isn't a real high hurdle to clear.
27	* Jeremy from ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'' comes off this way due to his lazy, selfish, slobbish nature; he can be brilliant if he actually applies himself.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
31	* Thunk the teenage son of the Croods from WesternAnimation/TheCroods is easily the least intelligent of the family, his idiocy often leads to him getting injured in a comedic fashion.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
35	* Iosef Tarasov in ''Film/JohnWick'' kicks off the plot of the entire franchise by breaking into John's house with his goons and trashing the place, leaving John for dead, and [[KickTheDog killing his dog]], all because he wanted John to sell him his CoolCar and [[EntitledBastard wouldn't take no for an answer]]. His father Viggo [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lets him have it]] when he finds out, realizing that Iosef just reawakened a RetiredBadass who now not only has a vendetta against him and, by extension (since he's the son of a [[TheDon mob boss]] who will, at the end of the day, still defend his family), Viggo's entire organization, but has the means to actually do serious damage.
36	-->'''Viggo:''' "John is a man of focus, commitment, sheer will... something you know very little about."
37	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: One of the stingers for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' features Groot as a Dumbass Teenage Tree-Being, complete with [[MenCantKeepHouse messy room]] and [[{{Jerkass}} exasperated attitude.]] This continues into ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder''.
38	-->'''Peter:''' Dude, seriously, you got to clean up your room. It's a complete mess.\
39	'''Groot:''' ''(mockingly)'' I am Groot.\
40	'''Peter:''' [[NoYou I'm not boring]], ''[[NoYou you're]]'' [[NoYou boring]]!
41	* Kyle Clayton from ''Film/WorldsGreatestDad'': not only is he lazy and stupid, he’s also a massive JerkAss. His stupidity eventually gets him killed: early on he’s seen asphyxiating himself while masturbating; despite his father’s warning he does it again, this time he doesn’t survive.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Literature]]
45	* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Opal Deception'', the title character plays this stereotype to a tee when out to steal a rare painting. He poses as the dim-witted, smart-mouthed, video game-obsessed son of his bodyguard, Butler, as a successful distraction to the fact that's really a TeenGenius who's about to pull off the theft of a unique painting that is highly celebrated in the criminal underworld.
46	* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' has Rodrick, who is portrayed as dimwitted, [[BookDumb especially when it comes to his schoolwork]].
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
50	* Eric Matthews from ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'', though like Brad he was a bit smarter than the rest of the examples here before becoming {{Flanderized}}.
51	* All over the place in the Franchise/DisneyChannelLiveActionUniverse:
52	** Cameron's probably the third dumbest person in ''Series/ANTFarm'', behind his BumblingDad & Paisley TheDitz.
53	** PJ in ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' is a GeniusDitz. A good example would be his boss putting him on the case to find out whose been stealing chicken from the restaurant. [[spoiler:It was the boss himself, and he put PJ on the case because he figured he was too stupid to work it out]].
54	** Jackson in ''Series/HannahMontana'' comes off as this frequently, though he's more BookDumb than anything.
55	** Zack from ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' was a BrattyHalfPint as well but got dumber as he got older. Averted with his twin brother, Cody, [[SiblingYinYang who became an]] InsufferableGenius.
56	** Like The Above In ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' Justin is always studying and top of the class in every Subject, Max on the other hand falls into this category. The beginning of the show had him as more of a CloudCuckooLander than a ditz, though he was {{Flanderized}} into being very ditzy.
57	** The Disney tradition continues with Logan on ''Series/IDidntDoIt''
58	** There's also Ernie from ''Series/KCUndercover'', though he's a slight subversion being a GeniusDitz.
59	* Drake from ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' is like this, but at times is shown to be BrilliantButLazy. He devises a plan that would enable him and Josh to ride a Roller Coaster and be able to get back in time to watch over their Grandfather before their parents got back. Josh is stunned he's failing classes after hearing that.
60	* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Max is depicted as being this, though he is later diagnosed with dyslexia. He also wasn't a teenager until the end of the show.
61	* Although he's smarter than most of those listed here, Brad from ''Series/HomeImprovement'' had his moments during the show's run.
62	* Reese from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. To quote his own mother: "some people have book smarts, some people have street smarts, you have ''neither''." To a lesser extent, Francis, who is sent to military school before the start of the series, though he's more a troublemaker than an idiot.
63	* David Smart from ''Series/{{Microsoap}}'' definitely qualifies. In his first appearance he falls hook, line and sinker for troublemaking protagonist Joe's tall tale about his father being an international criminal. Even his father Roger admits he's slow on the uptake.
64	* Axl from ''Series/TheMiddle''. He's both the oldest ''and'' the most immature of the Heck kids.
65	** Though Axl tends to fall heavily on the lazy side of the BrilliantButLazy scale. When challenged by his parents, Axl actually managed to maintain a 3.0 GPA in his first year of college, and an episode where he's paired with his sister for a class project shows him engineering a ''lot'' of events by using his social status and calling in favors to fix a mistake with it.
66	* Junior from ''Series/MyWifeAndKids'', {{Flanderiz\|ation}}ed to where even his little sister had to help him with his homework. Little sister is about ten years younger than him. He even once [[EpicFail forgot how to spell his own name.]]
67	* Averted with JJ from ''Series/{{Good Times}}''. Even though his "Dynomite" line tends to annoy James and his sister, he is beloved by the family, and sometimes the line makes Florida laugh.
68	* ''Series/That70sShow'': Eric is this in the eyes of his father Red, and while he's nowhere near as dumb as Kelso, neither is he a paragon of sensibleness. Then again, [[HatesEveryoneEqually everyone's]] a dumbass in Red's eyes.
69	* Jake from ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' was originally a BrattyHalfPint, but as the show went on he got older and... dumber. But he's still smarter than his best friend, Eldridge.
70	* Flashbacks in ''Series/{{Titus}}'' show the title character was this as a teenager. In every flashback, he's a stoned, drooling idiot reeled in by his tough, badass father.
71	* Theo Huxtable from ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' starts off like this, with the first episode in particular demonstrating a lack of intelligence when it comes to school. Later on in the show's run, he's eventually diagnosed with dyslexia and starts working to overcome it. By the end of the series, he's become a teacher.
72	** His character in the earlier seasons was criticized by African-American groups for perpetuating the idea that teenage black boys, unlike black teenage girls, like his sister, were academic underachievers.
73	* Eddie Winslow from ''Series/FamilyMatters'' starts as this but he grows out of it, though he occasionally has his moments even in later seasons. He's pretty much only BookDumb by season 2, especially after his best friend Waldo is introduced and becomes the show's resident idiot.
74	* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Carlton Banks is not dumb (he gets straight A's in school) but is still childish and naive, usually acting as a foil for Will and even his father Phil at times, who tells him to "Shut up" every now and then.
75	* JT from ''Series/StepByStep'' is portrayed as an academically challenged slacker. Like Theo, he later finds out he has dyslexia.
76	* From ''Series/TheSopranos'', we have Tony Soprano's son Anthony Junior (AJ), who is a lazy and spoiled kid without any real drive or ambitions in life. He frequently performed poorly in school, until eventually dropping out of college.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Video Games]]
80	* Pictured above is Jimmy, [[PlayerCharacter Michael de Santa]]'s 20-year-old son in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''. He isn't a teenager anymore, but otherwise fits every other beat of this trope: he's out of shape and [[BasementDweller still lives with his parents]], leeching off of them and doing nothing but sitting around all day playing video games, trash-talking the people he plays against (often with copious profanity and ethnic slurs), [[TheStoner smoking pot]], and [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy speaking in hip-hop slang]]. In short, he's [[ThisLoserIsYou every stereotype of young male gamers]] in the 2010s. He's [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold starting to grow out of it]] by the end of the game, however.
81	* Deconstructed with Inigo in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. During their B support his father accuses him of being a carefree fool who only cares about chasing skirts [[AngerBornOfWorry after Inigo is wounded in battle]], causing Inigo to promptly ''explode'' that no, that is ''not'' the case:
82	-->You may think me a dandy and a fool, but a lot of people depend on me in the future. Every day, I was out there fighting Risen and risking my life. With everyone looking to me to be strong, I had no choice. I HAD to be invincible. I couldn't complain or show any weakness. Not with everyone else struggling in that [[BadFuture damn war-torn wasteland]]... [[OrphansOrdeal Even with you and Mother gone]], I had to pretend I was fine. That I wasn't hurting. I had to fight every day of my sorry life and [[StepfordSmiler wear a smile while I did it]]!
83	** Even more so: [[spoiler: If Chrom is Inigo's father, Chrom's Future Past talk with the Inigo of the other world reveals that this version of Chrom!Inigo (and most likely the one you recruit) '''additionally''' has massive issues because he views himself [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter as inferior as his older sister Lucina]], and believes himself to be unworthy of holding up Chrom's legacy. But Chrom will tell him otherwise.]]
84	* ''{{VideoGame/Destiny}}'': You know the universe in general has problems with idiot teenagers when ''[[RefugeInAudacity the local alien]] GodOfEvil'' has one. [[TheDreaded Crota, Son of Oryx]], is good at killing... and not much else, he also being something of a reckless numbskull who is partially responsible for [[spoiler:accidentally releasing [[TimeMaster the Vex]] into the universe and letting them colonize his father's own pet universe for ''over a century'' to show off to his sisters]]. He was goaded into it, but ''come on.''
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Web Videos]]
88	* The Irish [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0SWYOuoEU short film]] ''WebVideo/{{Aaron}}'' subverts this. Adam is said to have been a reckless drinker in the past, but he is currently TheAtoner and trying to put his life back together.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Western Animation]]
92	* ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' has Raymond, Tim the Bear's stoner son.
93	* Ajax, the son of ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'', is the dumbest character in the show and his father once cracked a joke about his IQ being in the single digits.
94	* Chris Griffin of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' is one but due to [[OutOfFocus lack of focus]], the viewers don't really see him acting dumb. Also, given how monumentally stupid his father is he can't help but look smarter by comparison.
95	* Joseph Gribble, Dale's son from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. This can be partially attributed to Dale, a massive ConspiracyTheorist and general nutbar, being his primary parent. And unlike most examples, he loves his son and often works with him on various crazy projects.
96	* Junyer Bear from the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' Three Bears shorts. He appears to be a teenager, and yet he still wears diapers.
97	** In ''WesternAnimation/ABearForPunishment'', he says he is "age seven-and-a-half." Maybe he has gigantism along with his stupidity.
98	* Reggie [=DeBoar=] in ''WesternAnimation/PigCity''. He's not too bright and plays guitar in a rock band that he formed with his friends.
99	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart Simpson is often depicted as this during episodes that take place in {{the future}} when he and Lisa are growing up. Homer was one as well growing up.
100	* Kevin from ''WesternAnimation/FIsForFamily'' is a pretty standard example, being a BookDumb stoner with dreams of being a rock star. Unlike many examples though, he does get his own story-arcs and is shown to have a lot of emotional depth where his intellect lacks.
101	[[/folder]]

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