Line #43 Main/RaginCajun


1	%%%
2	%%
3	%%
4	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
5	%%
6	%%
7	%%%
8
9	%% Image chosen per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1593100189054287400
10	%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
11	%%
12	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bayoubillycomic.png]]]]
13	[[caption-width-right:350:Between wrestling 'gators and catching crooks, he'll definitely [[{{Pun}} do right bayou]].]]
14	%%
15	%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread:
16	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900
17	%%
18	->''"Now, Amos Moses was a Cajun. He lived by hisself in the swamp.\
19	He hunted alligator for a livin; he just knocked 'em in the head with a stump!"''
20	-->-- '''Jerry Reed''', "Amos Moses"
21
22	One of many ways to make a character more badass: Make him from UsefulNotes/NewOrleans (or at least somewhere in Louisiana). Maybe he honed his skills wrestling alligators in the bayou like his counterpart from Down Under the AwesomeAussie does with crocodiles, maybe he has [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo powers]], but he's a native of TheBigEasy and he's gonna let you know it.
23
24	This character is [[strike:guaranteed]] gerr-on-''teed'' to have a thick accent, usually a mixture of [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents Southern]] and French, even if the actual Cajun accent sounds nothing like this. A common expression is "Where y'at?" ("Where are you?"), which also lends its name to the native dialect of New Orleans, "Yat", characterized among other peculiarities by the vowel sounds "ur" and "oy" being swapped (yes, just like in the Brooklynese New York dialect).
25
26	Note that Cajun does not mean from UsefulNotes/NewOrleans. In fact, New Orleans is specifically ''not'' Cajun, as the culture exists in the Acadiana region, whose urban center is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette,_Louisiana Lafayette.]] {{The Big Easy}}'s specific ethnic group is known as Creole. The word itself is a corruption of "Acadian", the term for the French-speaking settlers of UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}'s [[UsefulNotes/CanadianProvincesAndTerritories Maritime Provinces, particularly New Brunswick and, in the 18th century, Nova Scotia]]. That's right -- the Cajuns' ancestors are from regions that are part of Canada. They trekked down to Louisiana by several routes after the UsefulNotes/FrenchAndIndianWar resulted in the transfer of Canada to British rule and the subsequent Acadian deportation. As a result, the Cajuns have a Southern U.S. culture with Acadian roots. Cajuns are also an ethnic group mainly living in southwestern Louisiana, but many creators can't tell the difference. See Website/TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun for further details.]] Hint: New Orleans is more metropolitan/city, and Cajun is more pastoral/country (except the aforementioned Lafayette).
27
28	Of course, characters don't have to be Cajun -- or even French -- to qualify. All they have to do is be from Louisiana -- or somewhere near Louisiana -- and fit the stereotype. And they can be from any part of the Gulf Coast, which stretches from southeastern Texas to Florida. Many people don't realize this, but the UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} area has the largest number of Cajuns outside Louisiana,[[note]]Music/{{Beyonce}} is probably the best-known Houstonian of Cajun descent[[/note]] especially after Hurricane Katrina (leading to some bitter irony when Harvey hit Houston), and there are significant Cajun and Louisiana Creole communities across much of Texas.
29
30	----
31	!!Examples:
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Comic Books]]
35	* For some, ComicBook/{{Gambit}} of the Comicbook/XMen is nothing more than a collection of various stereotypes about thieves and Cajuns all rolled into one that has only recently been given any major CharacterDevelopment. He was raised by your run-of-the-mill Cajun ThievesGuild after being kidnapped at birth, and their leader was advised by a black Catholic [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo priestess]] type! He has a Cajun accent so hardcore that even the writers of the ''X-Men'' books can't help parodying it now and then! Every time Gambit has a few issues in New Orleans, he ''will'' have scenes in the swamps, the French Quarter or both, and some mention of gumbo or jambalaya ''will'' be made, I gerr-on-tee it. One of his taunts in the game ''Videogame/XMenLegends'' even is "Watch out for ragin' Cajun!"
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
39	* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', [[spoiler:the protagonists dispose of Randall by stranding him in a trailer in the Louisiana bayou, where he is [[ShovelStrike beaten with a shovel]] by an old Cajun woman who thinks he's an alligator]].
40	* Ray the Cajun firefly in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' is usually just a big goofball, but proves to be a PintsizedPowerhouse when fighting Dr. Facilier's {{living shadow}} minions.
41	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' has the Devil's Bayou-dwelling {{Funny Animal}}s, led by the muskrat couple Ellie Mae and Luke, who are of great help to the protagonists against Medusa in the climax.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
45	* There was a little-seen film from 1986 called ''Film/BelizaireTheCajun'', with Creator/ArmandAssante in the title role. It's set just before the (American) Civil War, and shows Cajuns to be superstitious, crafty, and [[MuggingTheMonster very, very dangerous if you discriminate against them too much]].
46	* Many of the New Orleans natives in ''Film/TheBigEasy'', particularly Remy [=McSwain=] (Creator/DennisQuaid).
47	* An authentic example can be found in the film version of ''Literature/TheBlindSide'', focusing on the high school and UsefulNotes/{{colleg\|iateAmericanFootball}}e career of future NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher. Ed Orgeron, a Cajun who was Oher's head coach at Ole Miss, played himself, complete with his very thick accent. (In the original book, only Oher's adoptive father Sean Tuohy, a New Orleans native, could understand him.)
48	* Desiree Thibodeau in ''Film/GatorBait'' is a rare female example.
49	* Goodnight Robicheaux in ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven2016'', known as the "Angel of Death" for his exploits as a sharpshooter in the Civil War. Even hardened gamblers turn horrified and submissive when they realize who they're talking to.
50	* One of the {{Mooks}} in Wrestling/JohnCena's debut movie ''Film/TheMarine'' is from the Louisiana bayous, so he's more at home in the swamps of South Carolina (where the bad guys have fled with a kidnapped hostage in tow) than the rest of the gang. John Triton still manages to kill him with little trouble, though.
51	* The movie ''Film/SouthernComfort'' is about a bunch of Southern city boy National Guardsmen who make the mistake of stealing some boats from some swamp-dwelling Cajuns.
52	* The NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent page notes that ActionHero Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme has been given a Cajun background in several of his movies, such as ''Film/UniversalSoldier'' and ''Film/HardTarget''. Technically an example, even though it's just a HandWave for his Belgian accent?
53	** Likely so, since if you've only heard a Cajun accent on movies and TV, you probably wouldn't know what a real one sounds like anyhow. Most writers certainly don't.
54	* Now, sure, Bobby Boucher from ''Film/TheWaterboy'' may be a soft spoken mama's boy -- but let's just say that when he gets mad, it ain't pretty.
55	* In one of the made-up critical blurbs used to promote ''Film/TheRoom2003'', Creator/TommyWiseau is referred to as a "true Ragin' Cajun", and he has occasionally claimed to be from New Orleans in interviews and claim that his distinctive accent is a Cajun one. This is clearly not true; he's actually Polish, his birth name being Tomasz Wieczorkiewicz, and his accent isn't even in the town of the neighborhood of the ballpark of passing for authentically Cajun.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Literature]]
59	* Edward S. Aarons' Assignment / Sam Durell series. Fictional CIA agent Sam Durell is the hero for all of the stories in this series. He has the nickname "The Cajun". He grew up in the swamps of Louisiana. Note that he was trained to have an "average" U.S. accent by the CIA, so he does not have the thick accent.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
63	* Inverted with [[TheMedic Doc Roe]] in ''Series/BandOfBrothers'': he's one of the few [[NonActionGuy non-action guys]] in the cast, and one of the quietest and gentlest characters. Then again, he's only half-Cajun.
64	* Paul 'Gumbo' Beausoleil from ''Series/KeyWest''. He's a bar owner and former circus clown who owns a pet alligator and refuses to allow his strippers to take off all their clothes.
65	* This is a given for officers Cobb and Boulet from ''Series/{{Kville}}'', as the show is set in post-Katrina New Orleans.
66	* On ''Series/LambChopsPlayAlong'', Lamb Chop's buddy Hush Puppy had an all-purpose Southern accent that could shade into the Cajun dialect whenever he got excited.
67	* Dwayne Pride from ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'' is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed version]]. While he's not exactly hunting gators, his pride in his New Orleans heritage is matched only by his [[BewareTheNiceOnes badassery and his willingness to protect the city]]. Notably, he does genuinely enjoy any chance he gets during his job to travel through the wetlands on the airboats.
68	* Snafu Shelton from ''Series/ThePacific''.
69	* Creator/AdamSandler's Cajun Man character from ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' fits this stereotype.
70	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Meet [[CommandingCoolness Commander]] and [[RankUp later]] [[TheCaptain Captain]] Benjamin Lafayette Sisko! Born and raised in New Orleans, he is as good a gourmet Cajun / Creole chef as his restauranteur father Joseph. His badasserry is beyond reproach - he was the one captain who did more than most to defeat the Dominion. And when he is pissed off, he scares the crap out of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Worf]], stares down Picard and even punches out Q!
71	* Benny Lafitte in Season 8 of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.
72	* Gator hunter Troy Landry and his gang on ''Series/SwampPeople'' are this by default; hunting giant, carnivorous reptiles for a living will do that. They're also something of an annoyance to Louisianians who have a hard enough time convincing the rest of the country that the whole state population isn't like that.
73	* [[spoiler:René]] on ''Series/TrueBlood'' could count as an aversion, since he [[spoiler:wasn't really Cajun but faked the accent]].
74	** [[spoiler:He was Cajun but "he let his heritage go."]]
75	* The late TV Chef and humorist Justin Wilson (or, as he pronounced it, Zhustehn Wihssohn) had the accent if not the attitude (he was authentically Cajun, but he played it up a good bit for the cameras). While he didn't ''fight'' alligators, he was known to ''cook'' them (and turtle, and crawfish), ah gahr-on-TEE.
76	* On ''Series/GoodEats'', in the gumbo episode, Alton is sharing a set with a Cajun chef (a parody of Justin Wilson's cooking show). At the end, it's revealed that the "Cajun" chef isn't Cajun, or even Southern, at all; he's from Boston.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Music]]
80	* Music/LilWayne’s music uniquely combines GangstaRap with references to life in Wayne’s native New Orleans. Wayne’s mentor, gangsta rapper Bryan “Birdman” Adams, is also a Louisiana native, but this doesn’t really come up in his music.
81	* "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" by Music/TheOakRidgeBoys.
82	-->Did you ever see a Cajun when he really got mad?\
83	When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad?\
84	It gets real hot down in Louisiana.
85	* As featured in the page quote, Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses".
86	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF5GVedC1TU Adalida]], from the Music/GeorgeStrait song of the same name, is what happens when this trope meets SpiritedYoungLady.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
90	* In the early '90s, there was a heel character by the name of Skinner who was [[InformedAbility (supposedly) renowned as an alligator hunter]]. He was from the Florida Everglades rather than Louisiana, but he still fit the trope.
91	* ZZ from the 2015 series of ''Wrestling/WWEToughEnough'' was pretty much this is real life, being a Louisiana boy who worked on an alligator farm. He naturally played it up during the show and placed second out of the male contestants (largely due to his popularity with the fans).
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
95	* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' adventure ''C.L.O.W.N.'': A New Orleans based superhero team called the Bayou Brigade fought with the eponymous villain group. One of its members, the Cajun Commando, "gay-ron-teed" to bring C.L.O.W.N. to justice.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Video Games]]
99	* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly''. A game this NintendoHard truly ''needs'' a badass like Bayou Billy. The story of the game is that Billy's girlfriend Annabelle has been kidnapped by an evil FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit and Billy has to leave his BubblegloopSwamp home to travel to TheBigEasy and rescue her.
100	* ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'': If entered from the stairways, a cajun alligator cook is at work and they consider Lance a brilliant surprise ingredient. Lance can either escape or get his head chopped off with a meat cleaver.
101	* ''VideoGame/CrimsonSkies'' has an entire ''gang'' from New Orleans, called the Ragin Cajuns.
102	* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has Virgil. The lone captain of a tugboat that marks your getaway in ''Swamp Fever'' and the beginning of ''The Parish''. Though you never see his face, his cheery personality in the heat of a zombie apocalypse surely accounts for some points of badassery.
103	* The central antagonist of ''Videogame/{{Maneater}}'' is Pierre "Scaly Pete" [=LeBlanc=], a Cajun shark hunter with a [[AnimalNemesis personal vendetta against the titular Shark]].
104	* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Double Agent'', [[WesternTerrorists Emile Dufraisne]], is from Louisiana and has both the name and thick Yat accent to prove it. He takes the 'ragin' part a great deal further than most examples on this page, though, considering his short temper, [[BadBoss flagrant disregard for the lives of his own people]], and his plan to [[spoiler: blow up New York City with a FantasticNuke]].
105	-->'''Emile:''' "Ah don't care if it ''wuhhhhs'' poyfict, it ''esn't'' woykin', which means ''you'' screw'd up!"
106	* The [[Main/HaikuWiki haiku-speaking]] fireflies from the ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'' level [[BubblegloopSwamp Spooky Swamp]] all speak with a Cajun accent.
107	* Freddie from ''VideoGame/ValiantHearts'' is a Louisiana Creole who is one of the playable protagonists. He's ''introduced'' when he launches a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the Germans in retaliation for killing his fiancée when the church they were to be wedded in was bombed.
108	* ''Videogame/Infamous2'' has Nix, a black Cajun woman with [[PlayingWithFire powers over napalm]] who serves as the TokenEvilTeammate and voice for Evil Karma. Being a violent maniac, she often advocates for the most destructive actions and will even cheer Cole on the more his KarmaMeter plummets.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
112	* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': [[LovableSexManiac Teruteru Hanamura]], the [[SupremeChef Ultimate Cook]], slips into a very thick country dialect of Japanese when he becomes agitated. In the English dub, it's rendered as a Cajun accent in the vein of the late [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Wilson_(chef) Justin Wilson]].
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Web Comics]]
116	* Siblings Serafine and Nicodeme Savoy from ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'', the Marigold gang's main thugs.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Web Original]]
120	* Detective Martin of ''AudioPlay/BelowBoard'' inverts this, since while Cajun, he's usually the quiet, reserved type.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Western Animation]]
124	* Killer Croc is this in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman''.
125	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' villain Jambalaya Jake.
126	* Gung Ho from ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'' is probably the single most badass Joe of all. His real name's Etienne R. Lafitte and he loves him some gumbo.
127	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Bill Dauterive comes from an upper-class Cajun family, can speak fluent Cajun French, and serves in the US Army. For the most part, he's a [[TheEeyore depressed sad-sack who's been beaten down by life]] and a total ButtMonkey, but if anyone manages to really piss him off, it ain't gonna be pretty. Even Dale is wary about provoking him because of this.
128	* A villainous example from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. In the episode where Jack meets the Scotsman for the first time, the two men end up in a Louisiana-esque swamp and get chased by bounty hunters and/or deputies consisting of a hilbilly-looking humanoid and a bunch of robotic alligators piloting heavily armed airboats. They're leader is a pig sheriff who [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa-lmcdlq4A speaks]] in an [[TheUnintelligible incomprehensible]] Cajun inspired dialect courtesy of Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson. All while intense [[FrenchAccordion accordion music]] plays.
129	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" satirically re-imagines Chief Wiggum and Principal Skinner as hard-living New Orleans private detectives. Wiggum is still from Springfield in this continuity (having fled town because of "massive corruption" on his part), but Skinner claims to have actually been born and raised in N'awlins. Their nemesis is the [[LargeAndInCharge corpulent crime boss]] Big Daddy, who is voiced by Gailard Sartain -- who with his French last name could possibly be a real-life Cajun, despite hailing from Oklahoma.
130	* Leatherhead from the 80s ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon. Voice actor [[Creator/JimCummings1952 Jim Cummings]] based Leatherhead's accent on an old Cajun deckhand he met when working on the barges in New Orleans one summer.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Real Life]]
134	* James Carville, a U.S. political pundit with an accent, temperament, and badass cueball to match, and is even called "the [[TropeNamer Ragin' Cajun]]".
135	** He didn't invent the SublimeRhyme, but he's the most prominent example of it.
136	* Possible TropeNamer is the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where it was a long time unofficial nickname and, since the early 70s, the official name of their sports teams.
137	** It's made even more amusing by the fact that its mascot is a Cayenne Pepper.
138	* CoolOldGuy [[TheGunslinger Jerry Miculek]] was born in Texas but has spent most of his life in Southern Louisiana, and has the accent to prove it. He's also held to the greatest known sport shooter ''in the world.''
139	* In the last few decades, Cajun has gone from being swept under the rug to being celebrated. Even in non-Cajun areas, like Baton Rouge (actually a generic Southern city) and New Orleans (has plenty of its own culture, despite "New Orleans" and "Cajun" being treated as synonymous in public consciousness). Not to say that there ''aren't'' plenty of Cajuns in those cities, mind you.
140	* An old joke:
141	-->If an [[FightingIrish Irishman]] wants to fight you, get a [[CarryABigStick stick]].\
142	If a [[SouthOfTheBorder Mex]][[DashingHispanic ican]] wants to fight you, get a knife.\
143	If an [[TheMafia Italian]] wants to fight you, get a [[MoreDakka gun]].\
144	If a [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong Russian]] wants to fight you, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill get a]] [[StuffBlowingUp grenade]].\
145	''[[MemeticBadass Don't fight a Cajun.]]''
146	* At one time in 2018, Lafayette natives Daniel Cormier and Dustin Poirier were simultaneously UFC champions in their respective weight classes. Poirier is Cajun and has his own brand of hot sauce.
147	* The publicity material for ''Film/TheRoom2003'' used the term "ragin' Cajun" several times to describe Creator/TommyWiseau, who's actually a Polish immigrant who lived in Louisiana at some point in his past and referred to himself as a Cajun to obfuscate his past.
148	* Musician Doug Kershaw, who happens to be a Louisiana native, is also called the "Ragin' Cajun."
149	* [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball LSU football]] coach Ed Orgeron, who has a thick accent, a low voice, and a fiery demeanor on the sideline, though in interviews he comes across fairly composed and polite.
150	[[/folder]]
151

Context Main / RaginCajun