Line #65 Main/MeritBadgesForEverything


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7	->'''Carl:''' If you don't hurry up, the tigers will eat you!\
8	'''Russell:''' There's no tigers in South America. ''[points to badge]'' Zoology!
9	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}''
10
11	Primarily in comedy: With groups that are [[ScoutOut based on the Boy Scouts and what have you]], you can name virtually anything, and odds are, there'll be a merit badge for it.
12
13	Hopping On One Foot While Singing Music/LedZeppelin Tunes And Drinking Chocolate Milk Badge? Yep. [[CelebrityResemblance Bruce Campbell Lookalike]] Badge? Check. [[ArrowCatch Catching Arrows]] [[BlindSeer Blindfolded]] Badge? You know it! And many, many more.
14
15	Sometimes this concept is used [[HandWave as a throw away line]] to explain some (suddenly essential) esoteric knowledge held by one of the heroes (particularly if [[SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat they have not been set up as having those skills]] as part of their character):
16	--> "Bob, when did you learn to [[MacGyvering make a Ham Radio]] out [[BambooTechnology of toothpicks]] [[HomemadeInventions and tinfoil]]?"
17	--> "Oh you know, I got my [[MacGyvering Amateur Radio Building]] Merit Badge when I was a Boy Scout -- never had any use for it until now."
18
19	Might even be an Aesop of some kind about how Boy Scouts might be geeky or nerdy, but they do have some skills that come in handy at times, and maybe they are masculine after all.
20
21	'''Probably inspired by the RealLife Merit badges of:'''
22	* Basketry-- Weaving baskets (presumably not [[ExpertInUnderwaterBasketWeaving underwater]]).
23	* Leatherwork
24	* Wood Carving
25	* Mammal Study
26	* Fingerprinting-- Usually finished off in about half an hour at the craft hut during scout camp. Or five minutes if the instructor is bored enough.
27	* Metalwork-- A great excuse to produce one's very own ninja stars. Alternately, remember: It's not a sword, it's a really long, really sharp letter opener.
28
29	Those six merit badges were the favorites of Boy Scouts at Scout Camp who needed an extra merit badge but didn't want to work too hard.
30
31	Then there were also the weird ones like Masonry which involved building your very own outdoors fireplace/brick barbecue.
32
33	Sadly most of the really odd ball ones were eliminated in the 90's (rabbit breeding, anyone?).
34
35	It's worth noting that many sources use "getting a merit badge" like winning an award, when the actual process involves meeting with an approved merit badge counselor, showing achievement of a specific set of criteria, and producing a formal writeup of the process for approval by said counselor and the relevant troop leaders -- it's more like a short hands-on class (occasionally with homework) than it is a trophy.
36
37	Related to MacGyvering. (Boy Scouts is an organization dedicated to producing those guys with skills!) See also IMinoredInTropology.
38
39	----
40	!!Examples:
41
42	[[foldercontrol]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Books]]
45	* The Junior Woodchucks in ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' are like this, sometimes using buckets to collect their badges and medals.
46	* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', Rodimus invented Rodimus Stars as a little morale-booster, and hands them out for almost any reason. Even ''Whirl'' has one, showing how meaningless they are.
47	* ''ComicBook/{{Lumberjanes}}'' have shown unusual merit badges including "Everything Under the Sum" for mathematics, "Friendship to the Craft" for making friendship bracelets, "Up All Night" for staying up late and "PungeonMaster" for telling bad puns.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Fan Works]]
51	* ''FanFic/BoyScoutsOneHalf'', an ElsewhereFic of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' that follows a group of Jusenkyo cursed Boy Scouts living in Western Massachusetts, mostly avoids this trope. Several actual merit badges are mentioned, such as Archery, Citizenship In the Community, Collections, Communications, Farm Mechanics, Pioneering, and Theater. However, on one occasion a character (who happens to be a [[{{Main/SuperIntelligence}} super genius]]) mentions working on the Advanced Theoretical Quantum Astrophysics merit badge. This immediately [[{{LampshadeHanging}} lampshaded]] by one of the other characters, suspicious of such a badge actually existing.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Film - Animation]]
55	* Russell from ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' is a member of the Wilderness Explorers and has a ChestOfMedals from all the badges he's collected. He's introduced approaching Carl Frederickson to offer help and earn his "Assisting the Elderly" badge. Other badges mentioned are "Extreme Mountaineering Lore" and "Wild Animal Defensive Arts", and the credits include several strange-looking ones, featuring such things as a radiation hazard symbol and a mushroom cloud.
56	** Those possibly reference [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn David Hahn,]] "The Radioactive Boy Scout". Having received a Eagle Scout merit badge in Atomic Energy (presumably a "displaying understanding" project) he went on try building himself a breeder reactor. This never achieved critical mass, but did produce a dangerous amount of radiation.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
60	* ''Film/TroopBeverlyHills'' has some fun with this one. Phyllis and her troop find no value in most of the traditionally woodsy official Wilderness Girl patches, but then Phyllis discovers a {{loophole\|Abuse}}: she can custom-design her ''own'' patches! Soon the entire troop is decked out in merit patches for things like jewelry appraisal and "gardening with glamour." Naturally, the evil council leader declares all of these patches invalid when she finds out about it.
61	-->'''Rosa:''' Patches! [[Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre We don't need no stinking patches!]]
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Literature]]
65	* ''[[Series/TheRedGreenShow The Red Green Book]]: Wit and Wisdom of Possum Lodge'' has a set of badges which parody the Boy Scouts one. The more advanced ones, starting with Bowling and Fishing, require developing an obsession about the content, including dreaming about it. After a few other examples, it terminates with "Anything men enjoy", which can be used for practically anything.
66	* The Literature/{{Discworld}} Emporium sold limited edition Discworld Scout Insignia cards for the 2007 Discworld Jamboree. These suggest that the Ankh-Morpork Scouting and Urban Survival Association offers merit badges in such skills as leech wrangling, corset lacing and barber-surgery.
67	* The cover of the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' novella ''What Abigail Did That Summer'' shows a merit badge for "Fox Whisperer -- Grade 1".
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
71	* The "Scoutrageous!" episode of ''Series/TheGoodies'' features the World Domination badge (up to that point only ever awarded to Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and David Frost. But Frost stole his.).
72	** It also features a montage of two of the characters earning badges they are blatantly making up as they go, including the Wig Spotters Badge, the Stealing A Pair Of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher's Bloomers Badge, and the [[CheatingWithTheMilkman Cheering Up Lonely Housewives Whose Husbands Are Away At Work]] badge.
73	* When Debbie Harry, of the musical group "Blondie," appeared on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', she was helping a Frog Scout troop get their "Punk Badges."
74	* Invoked on ads for ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything''. Adam wears a sash full of merit badges pertaining to topics he covered in Season 1, and topics to be covered in Season 2.
75	* ''Series/OneHundredThingsToDoBeforeHighSchool'': In "Be A Fairy Godmother Thing!", CJ asks Scout what merit badges she is currently working on. The response: Love Poet, Necklace Wizard, Scone Chef, and Crowbar Master.
76	-->'''CJ:''' I can work with that.
77	* Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete: Monica is always working to earn a new merit badge. Some of the badges are "ethnic dance", "kung fu", and "cafeteria lady".
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Theater]]
81	* A Scout Camp sketch references this, as the campfire is interrupted by an old former Scout [[WhenIWasYourAge who complained about how easy things are now]].
82	-->Why in my day, we only had one badge: Coal Mining.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Video Games]]
86	* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', you get new abilities by earning their merit badge, so you end up with a whole bunch of merit badges in things like Invisibility, Clairvoyance, and Levitation.
87	* In ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing: New Leaf'', Phineas the sea lion gives you [[CosmeticAward badges]] for things like catching bugs and fish, saving money in the bank, getting a high score from the Happy Home Association, and helping the neighbors. They all exist in Bronze, Silver and Gold versions. This doubles as an in-game AchievementSystem.
88	* In ''VideoGame/TheDarksideDetective'', the local scouting organization is the Bloodwolves, and it's a running gag that whenever Dooley's Bloodwolf pack are in a potentially dangerous or frightening situation (such as "lurking outside a dark, spooky cave" or "abandoned in the snow on Christmas Eve") one of them will note that there's a merit badge for that.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Webcomics]]
92	* ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'' [[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/boy-scouts/ does its usual humorous variety]] by having a merit badge for having protected sex with a prostitute.
93	* ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}''. Leveling up in God Tiers no longer awards Boondollars [[MoneyForNothing (that shit is for babies)]]. They now get ACHIEVEMENT BADGES sewn on their KIDDY CAMPER HANDYSASH, like [[YouHaveResearchedBreathing being able to talk face to face without any gimmicks]].
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Web Original]]
97	* This exchange from ''Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous'':
98	-->"There are no merit badges for infanticide!"
99	-->"Well maybe there should be! It's a skill!"
100	* There's a ''WebAnimation/GothamGirls'' webisode that has Harley Quinn and Batgirl use this gag for extreme humor value. Somehow a knot-tying merit badge in their world allows you to restrain an opponent head to toe in seconds.
101	** Well, if the younger scouts would PAY ATTENTION during Pioneering merit badge, (The real life equivalent) this might be closer to TruthInTelevision.
102	* The Boy Scouts, like everything else in Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale, eccentric at best and a force of pure evil at worst. Therefore, its not really a surprise that Cecil is able to keep the radio broadcast coming after nearly being shut down using his "Subversive Radio Host Badge".
103	** Incidentally, you can actually buy that patch on their official website.
104	** At one point, Cecil uses the skills he learned earning the "Advanced Siege Tactics Badge" to bust into a armored bunker.
105	** While no specific badges are named, the mentions we've got of the NV Girl Scouts suggests they're no different.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Western Animation]]
109	* The Fireside Girls of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', whose exploits can be as insanely overambitious as the title characters' schemes and so earned them all kinds of bizarre badges, often [[ContrivedCoincidence related to the boys' latest scheme]]. Once, Isabella casually mentions that they just earned their Mountain Moving badge, and we see the hole where it used to be, and the mountain in its new setting. Other times, they're trying to get badges in aeronautics or [[BadassAdorable alligator wrestling]].
110	** How about the "Reckless Disregard for Life and Limb" patch? (Though Isabella could have made that one up.) There's also the "I Saw a Cute Boy" patch, which Ginger awards herself upon seeing Baljeet. Another scout rescinds it, as she doesn't believe he counts.
111	** Notably, they don't have patches for ''everything''. There are no patches for persistence or underwater horseback riding. You know, [[DontExplainTheJoke because seahorses are too small to ride.]]
112	** There are apparently different badges available for different continents; when the gang goes to Africa, Isabella is determined to get all the African-exclusive badges. One of them is for eating a bug, which one of the local women doesn't remember needing to do when ''she'' was a Fireside Girl, so it might have been a prank or joke that the overachieving Isabella took seriously.
113	* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987''. Most merit badges the Junior Woodchucks receive are ordinary ones, although they earn one for Law Enforcement by helping their uncle apprehend the Beagle Boys. One episode shows Webby - who has only one, Swimming - admiring all of Launchpad's badges, but noticing he lacks the Swimming one. Naturally, this is a ChekhovsGun. He can't swim, and she has to rescue him from drowning later.
114	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' had Cosmo getting various weird merit badges, such as the "Maul an Old Lady with a Cat" badge.
115	** Another had Timmy's scout troop escape from a pack of hungry coyotes by using Chester as a distraction. The mauled Chester sarcastically tells the troop he'll be taking his "Eaten by Coyotes Badge". Later in the same episode, Chester runs into the coyotes again and tells them they're about to earn their "Beaten by Chester Badge".
116	* The Urban Rangers of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' have, among many others, a Lard Bringing Badge and a Microwave Burrito Badge, as well as a Bringing Me My Badge Badge.
117	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'''s central premise involves Bessie having to gain every single merit badge as a Honeybee Scout, all of which are exaggerations of this trope.
118	* There's that old ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon where Porky Pig has licenses to do ridiculous things culminating in "permit to use Daffy Duck as motor". Though he doesn't have a marriage license, not being married. This isn't a merit badge, but it's gotta be related.
119	** He also has a License to Sell Hair Tonic to Bald Eagles in Omaha, Nebraska.
120	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Jewbilee", there are apparently two ways to get a Chutzpah badge: babysit the "Squirts" (the Jew Scouts' Cub Scout equivalent) OR capture a bear.
121	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'', the Junior Chipmunks seemed to have a patch for almost everything. Naturally, Kuzco failed to achieve even one, meaning he had to obtain the highly-dangerous Condor Patch to avoid flunking out of school (ItMakesSenseInContext). [[spoiler:He fails to get even that one, but guess what? He gets to get the [[MedalOfDishonor "I Failed To Get Every Single Patch" Patch]]...]]
122	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Boy Scoutz 'n the Hood", Bart join the [[ScoutOut Junior Campers]] and earns various patches to sew onto his uniform. Some of them are for dubiously fantastic feats, the punchline being a shot of his "Patch Forgery" patch.
123	** In "Papa Don't Leech," Lisa is part of a Girl Scout-like organization and delivers an order of cookies to Mayor Quimby, who tries to fib his way out of paying after realizing how expensive they are. In response, Lisa points out her "Skepticism" patch.
124	* The Little Amazons from ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'' had a hygiene badge (which Helga could not, in good conscience, accept).
125	--->'''Head Den Mother''': [''while confiscating a merit badge from Creepy Susie''] You are ''not'' certified to drink your own urine!
126	* In ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'', the Bandicoot scouts seemed to have badges for everything. For example, Taz's brother had a merit badge in swinging from vines to save people from falling off waterfalls.
127	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProblemSolverz'' episode "K-999 and Da Little Explorerz", the trio encounters a young scout who needs to earn a badge for semaphore, which the characters define as "a system of flag communication famous for people not knowing what it is." Alfe then [[DisguisedInDrag dresses as a scout]] and obtains every Little Explorer badge in order to get the badge for her.
128	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', Scoutmaster Lumpus bemoans the failure of any of the Bean Scouts to achieve a single merit badge. Edward thens reveals that he has full set (having dishonestly bought them). We never find out a full list but it does include 'Motorcycle Maintenance'. Another episode mentions the 'Taxidermy' badge.
129	* Done in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' where the duo join up a Barrette Girls camp (despite being boys), where they're treated to a series of {{Amusing Injury}}s to gain badges for the most insane merits, such as (1) catching a snipe (which happens to be real, and extremely vicious), (2) flying (by falling over a gorge), falling on jacked rocks (while falling from said gorge), (3) drowning, (4) mutilation, (5) collecting badger eggs, and (5) bravery in the face of certain doom (done by Ren popping out of an ice-box of food yelling "ta-da!" while surrounded by a group of Angry Elk bear Club members, who were [[BearsAreBadNews actually bears.]])
130	* In "Franklin's Badge" on ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'', Franklin wants to earn a badge for the local scout group, the Woodland Trailblazers, but his efforts keep getting interrupted by his little sister, who wants to join the group that he's in, but isn't old enough. He decides to [[StartMyOwn create his own group]] called "Turtle Trackers" and eventually earns the "Caring Brother" badge for doing this for his sister.
131	* Handing out merit badges at the drop of hat (which would probably earn you your 'Hat Dropping' merit badge) seems to be Gazpacho's leadership style in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' episode "The Apprentice Scouts".
132	* This is pretty much the basis of the Nick Jr. preschooler series ''WesternAnimation/HeyDuggee'', in which the IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming is always based on these. "The Super Squirrel Badge" and "The Drawing Badge" are just a couple of examples of installments of the show.
133	* The Junior Woodchucks continue to impress in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017''. It doesn't come up as much, but badges include Sickle Sharpening, and Cartography, which doesn't sound like much except it requires you to map a location that has never been mapped by anybody before. Huey's opening short implies (but never states) that Bigfoot Catching is also a merit badge. They even have a merit badge for ''Failing'', of which Launchpad has several.
134	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'': The Sparrow Scouts have their share of badges, most of them quite ordinary like "Friends of the Park" and "Level Three Friendly and Helpful badge". Near the end of episode 4, the trope is actually averted. When Frida and David successfully rescue Hilda and the last Vittra (a race of underground creatures) from [[ConveyorBeltOfDoom Big Chipper,]] Frida cheers that this must be worth a 100 points for the 'Catch A Falling Friend' badge…only to admit that there isn't really such a badge (Hilda thinks there should be, though). Hilda also suggests they deserve a "Friend of the Vittras" badge, which doesn't exist either.
135	* As members of an AlwaysChaoticEvil alien species, young Omicronian Scouts in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' can earn merit badges in bone whittling, skull arranging, planetary invasion and [[SelfMadeOrphan patricide.]]
136	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'' special "Into the Wild" has Jon's nieces Drusilla and Minerva dress Garfield, Odie and Nermal in scout uniforms. After the twins state that the pets should get a merit badge just for being adorable, Nermal retorts that he already has six.
137	* The ''WesternAnimation/BunsenIsABeast'' episode "Amanda Gets Schooled" has Mikey mention that he earned a merit badge for helping his grandma out of the bathtub.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Real Life]]
141	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morale_patch Morale patches]] have a long tradition of being surreptitiously worn by military members as humorous images on their uniforms. While wearing them entails a risk of getting reprimanded by a particularly un-humorous officer, some of them have eventually found their way into actual army protocols on account of being actually capable of keeping their wearers motivated and proud. [[https://www.businessinsider.com/13-of-the-best-military-morale-patches-2015-8#the-patches-often-not-always-make-fun-of-a-depressing-boring-or-otherwise-specific-part-of-the-job-1 Their designs]] have included anything from references to cartoons and pop culture icons, darkly humorous depictions of the wearer's job, crass drawings involving human genitalia, and more recently, [[GirlsWithGuns anime girls with guns]].
142	* The Cub Scouts Of America [[http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0428/Boy-Scouts-of-America-offers-pins-loops-for-video-game-prowess now offers pins and loops]] in VideoGames. The [[http://uk.gamespy.com/articles/108/1086555p1.html response]] of the Gamespy website's Mike Starkey also fits this trope:
143	-->[[WhenIWasYourAge Back in my day]], we had to walk nine miles to get to school every morning, and nine miles to get back home -- uphill both ways. And we didn't have these fancy Videogame Belt Loops or Pins in the Cub Scouts. If we were lucky, [[TheSpartanWay we'd get sent into bear country alone for a week with no food or water]]. [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood And if we made it out in one piece]], the troop leader would ask us why we weren't man enough to earn the Eaten Alive badge.
144	* The Boy Scouts of America now have a UsefulNotes/{{Geocaching}} Merit Badge.
145	** Honorable mentions go to Truck Transportation, Farm Mechanics, Pulp and Paper, and the politically questionable Indian Lore.
146	** They still have a Nuclear Science badge, although they stopped advertising the fact after an overly enthusiastic Scout got arrested for building a nuclear reactor in his parents' garage.
147	* British Scouts can also earn a Geocaching badge, in addition to badges for Circus Skills and Pulling (fixed-seat rowing, as opposed to what most British teenagers might think [[note]]in British slang, "pulling" means kissing or seducing someone, hence "going out on the pull" which means going out with the intention of kissing or seducing someone[[/note]]). The Public Relations badge, much mocked when it was introduced in the 1990s, is now called the Media Relations & Marketing badge. There's now a Sports Enthusiast badge for those who ''follow'' a sport rather than participate in it, while the Skin Diver badge (for snorkelling and breath-held diving, as opposed to SkinnyDipping) is no more - the activities for that badge are nowadays covered by the Water Activities badge instead.
148	* UK Girl Guides have the option to work towards their [[http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/guides/gfibadge/badges/chocolate.html chocolate badge.]]
149	* American Boy and Girl Scouts can earn religious emblems as they move through each section.
150	* Creator/AlexDay's Life Scouts was a program getting people inspired to do actual RealLife exploring things. Like learning how to juggle and giving blood. And stuff.
151	[[/folder]]
152	----
153	->[[SelfDemonstratingArticle Do I get my Merit Badge in Troping now?]]

Context Main / MeritBadgesForEverything