Line #67 Main/GreaseMonkey


1	%% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions69
2	%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/Borderlands2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2338125_borderlands2_2012_09_22_18_50_04_78.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:Don't judge! If you worked with oily machines you'd look just the same!]]
6
7	A character that likes to play around with machines and usually gets filthy doing so. A side effect of his grunginess is that he often turns out to be MrFixit in some way, shape or form.
8
9	These characters usually work with mundane objects like cars or stereos or fuse boxes. If they show up in a fantastic setting, they'll often mistrust technology and favor elbow grease to solve a problem. Their way of speech will also make their spaceships sound like normal motor vehicles.
10
11	In other words, this is a mechanic, be he mundane or fantastic, with a lot of similar threads regardless of the type.
12
13	See WrenchWench for the DistaffCounterpart to this trope.
14
15	Not to be confused with the name of the comic book by Tim Eldred or the Firefox app enabling custom scripting.
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* Sparky from ''Anime/SpeedRacer''.
23	* Keiichi from ''Manga/AhMyGoddess!''
24	* Yusei from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. You try making motorcycles from scrap parts. THREE TIMES!
25	* The father and son team in ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' who rebuild the Spaceshuttle Columbia. After the Columbia disaster some fans theory that they rebuilt it from the pieces making them even more awesome mechanics.
26	* Duo from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' is the resident tinkerer on the team, working for a salvage organization called The Sweepers. Eventually, he runs his own junkyard with his girlfriend [[spoiler: who eventually becomes his wife...and later his ex-wife]], Hilde. Unlike most examples, Duo rarely gets dirty.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* "Tank" Tinker, mechanic to pilot ComicBook/HopHarrigan in Franchise/TheDCU. He also appeared in the Hop Harrigan radio show and movie serial.
31	* Wrench from the Thunderiders in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.
32	* Slic, Chassis [=McBain=]'s robotic mechanic from ''ComicBook/{{Chassis}}''.
33	* The titular character of ''Grease Monkey''. Also a pun, since the character in question is a gorilla.
34	** The pun is turned into a [[HurricaneOfPuns hurricane of them]] when the gorilla instructs his human buddy to use the word "monkey" as often as possible during a visit from a senior inspector. The human does so. Gorilla demands his toolkit-human hand him a monkey wrench. Gorilla sits down to do paperwork, human says he'd like to join in the monkey business. Gorilla polishes the brightwork, human remarks on how happy he looks when engaging in monkey shine. [[spoiler: it's a setup. The inspector is the politically correct type, and chews the human out for engaging in racial slurs.]]
35	* Johnny Storm, the Human Torch from the ComicBook/FantasticFour, is an avid racer and tinkerer on cars. In his [[EstablishingCharacterMoment very first appearance]], he says that flying around as the Torch is the only thing he loves more than cars.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
39	* ''Film/{{Alien}}'': Parker, the Chief Engineer, and Brett, the Engineering Technician.
40	* In ''Film/AssaultOnAQueen'', Tony Moreno is an ex-Navy marine mechanic brought in to get the sub's engine's operational again. Eric describes him as a whiz with anything marine mechanics; able to fix anything from a yacht to a liner.
41	* Machinist Johann (Creator/ErwinLeder) in ''Film/DasBoot''. He is in charge of the submarine's engines and spends most of his time in the engines room. He doesn't like to go outside and take fresh air, and the first thing he does when getting his head out of the sub is spitting in the sea, then going back in.
42	* ''Film/DriveACrookedRoad'': As well as being a BadassDriver, Eddie is a master mechanic who personally strips down and rebuilds the getaway car for the robbery.
43	* Ed and his fellow auto mechanics in ''Film/{{IQ\|1994}}''.
44	* ''Film/KongSkullIsland'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseSkullIslandExpedition Slivko]] was taught the trade of being a mechanic by his father, who he comments would disown him if he couldn't get Hank Marlow's health-and-safety hazard of a boat-plane jury-rigged hybrid seaworthy.
45	* Chalky is the main mechanic who keeps the squadron flying in ''Film/SkyBandits''. Fritz, the other mechanic of note, is closer to a GadgeteerGenius.
46	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Han Solo and Chewbacca, although not because they like it but because they have no choice if they want to keep the Millennium Falcon running.
47	-->'''Luke:''' [on first seeing the Millenium Falcon] What a piece of junk!
48	-->'''Han Solo:''' She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.
49	** From the FanFic ''Soft Wars'':
50	--->'''Mac Logo:''' It may not look like much, but she'll make point five past light speed. I've made some special modifications to her. See. (he points at the side of the ship.)
51	--->'''Fluke Codewriter:''' What?
52	--->'''Mac Logo:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_stripe#Go-faster_stripes The stripe! It's red. Makes it go faster. Really]]. The Falcon will outrun anything the empire has.
53	** ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIThePhantomMenace'' has Anakin as one of these. Oddly, he apparently gave up this hobby once he became a Jedi, and especially by the original trilogy.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
57	* Andy Micklin and Hutch from ''Series/BlackSheepSquadron''.
58	* Scotty and '''every''' engineer in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Which kind of makes sense, since why else would you pick that job if you didn't like to play with machines?
59	** ''Star Trek'' also has Tom Paris, who isn't an engineer in any shape or form ? except on the holodeck, where he loves to tinker around with antique (read: 20th-century) cars and actually calls his program Grease Monkey.
60	*** Actually, he did rebuild an entire shuttle [[spoiler: with an obsessive girlfriend for an AI]] from scrap.
61	* Rizzo from ''Series/{{Mash}}''.
62	* Cooter Davenport from ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.
63	* Henry from ''{{Series/Eureka}}'' is the (only) resident grease monkey. He's actually a literal rocket scientist; he just fixes cars for fun.
64	* Kurt from ''Series/{{Glee}}'' is implied to be a Grease Monkey despite his CampGay tendencies. He's the son of a mechanic and apparently has his own coveralls at the shop. One moment ended with him going to change out of his ridiculously expensive sweater for some father-son car fixin'.
65	* Damon from ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy''
66	* Kaylee from ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' has strong elements of this. Simon even told her she's pretty, even when, no, ''especially'' when she's covered in engine grease.
67	* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Dean can take on this role when his baby, the Impala, needs him.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Radio]]
71	* Ichabod "Ikky" Mudd from the ''Captain Midnight'' radio show and its spinoff comics, comic strip and TV show. The TV show later changed its name to ''Jet Jackson, Flying Commando''.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
75	* ''TabletopGame/SystemsFailure'' has a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Grease Monkey]] O.C.C. that specializes in mechanics. They gets bonuses to scavenging and have jury-rigging as a special ability.
76	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
77	** Ork mekboyz, and to a lesser extent grot riggers. The former are orks with genetic knowledge of physics and engineering dedicated to building vehicles, HumongousMecha and starships that are bigger, faster and uglier than the last one (and by dedicated we mean "other orks think they aren't right in the head"), while the latter are sent to perform emergency repairs in the bowels of said vehicles, HumongousMecha and starships with nothing but oilcans, wrenches, hammers, and dirty rags.
78	** Averted for the most part with members of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who view science as a religion (although mention is sometimes made of Mechanicus lay brothers, who are presumably less interested in the theological aspect).
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* Any character named "Cid" in a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' game will be a technical wizard of some sort, but the one from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' fits this trope the best. The dude even fights [[ImprobableWeaponUser with a wrench]] in battle.
83	* Dwarf Engineers from ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline''. Complete with wrench to beat people with.
84	* [[VideoGame/NintendoWars Andy]] carries around a giant wrench, [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080617193741/advancewars/images/thumb/6/62/Orange_Star_CO_Andy.jpg/200px-Orange_Star_CO_Andy.jpg dresses like this]], his CO power is fixing things, and he has lines like "I haven't even cranked the engine yet!"
85	* Scooter in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' has the stereotypical accent and manners of a redneck but when it comes to vehicles and machines he's a savant, to the point where he could be considered a MrFixit. This is due to him being a member of the Hodunk clan, who are all rednecks with a talent for mechanics.
86	* Eva Navarro of ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} 2: World In Flames''. She'll build any number of custom PMC vehicles for you, for a price.
87	* Sunny Gurlukovich/[[spoiler:Emmerich]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' who's a capable and confident engineer who helped develop the fastest suborbital thruster the world has ever seen[[note]]Capable of reaching speeds in ''excess'' of '''Mach 23'''[[/note]] and is actively working on a spacecraft able to make the journey to Jupiter within her guardian's lifetime.
88	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has Moira Brown. You, yourself, qualify as well if you're the female version of the Lone Wanderer and spend up on Repair skill points.
89	* In ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', Avril Mead is known to the prisoners of the 444th Squadron (a penal squadron that she is assigned to be the mechanic for) as the 'Scrap Queen', as she's an incredible mechanic who can, with enough airplane pieces from wrecked jets, assemble and improve jet fighters. With some help from her grandfather and his old war buddies, she even salvaged enough pieces from a scrap yard to assemble a working fighter jet that she took off in. (Unfortunately, she took off just as Erusea launched a drone-fighter surprise attack across Osea, one of which was being chased right by her when she was in the sky... and she had neglected to install an IFF that would identify her to the Osean pilots. She was shot down, but survived- and was thrown in jail for her trouble.)
90	* ''VideoGame/{{Spacelords}}'' has Mika, who even has a mechanic outfit shown [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRVHs9yuCRE here]].
91	* ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' has Jules as a mechanic complete with gloves, a grease stained uniform and many tools!
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
95	* When the protagonist of ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'' can’t make a repair to something mechanical in his diner, you know it’s a serious problem.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Western Animation]]
99	* Monkey from ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} in Paradise''.
100	* Clutch from ''Franchise/GIJoe''.
101	* Coop from ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.
102	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "Envoys", Ensign Sam Rutherford is covered in black stains after working on the EPS conduits. He enjoys completing arduous tasks that other people would find extremely unpleasant.
103	-->'''Rutherford''': Well, if you see an unaligned EPS conduit, don't call me. Mine are aligned as hell.\
104	'''Tendi''': Wait, aren't there like a hundred of those? How long have you been in there?\
105	'''Rutherford''': A solid week. Crawling through cramped ducts, prying open panels and adjusting red-hot power cables. Look, look, look, I've got blisters on my blisters.\
106	'''Tendi''': Oh wow, you must be so relieved to be done.\
107	'''Rutherford''': Oh, I'm not done. Now I get to recalibrate everything. That's another three, four days in the tubes!
108	* Wildcat from ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin''
109	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrampTwins'': In one episode, Wayne develops feelings for Joanne, a girl who works for the Winkles as a mechanic and is usually dirty because of this. Once Wendy helps Joanne [[SheCleansUpNicely dress up]], Wayne loses all interest in her.
110	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GreaseMonkey