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1%%
2%%
3%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
4%%
5%%
6->''"Easy for you to say, Mr. Under Thirty. I'm old, I take naps."''
7-->-- '''Serini Toormuck''', ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
8
9If you see a senior citizen in a TV show, most likely, they're either already napping or going to be in a few minutes. And, due to FinaglesLaw, it will always be right when they're supposed to be keeping an eye, on something, or about [[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle to ...]]
10[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle tell]]
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12[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle ...]]
13
14[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle ...]]
15
16[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle you]]
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18[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle ...]]
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20[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle zzz]]
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22[[Main/SelfDemonstratingArticle ...]]
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24Huh? Wha? Oh, right. There are some elders who can escape this inconvenience. EvilOldFolks tend to be exempt from this rule, as are women in general. Maybe they just [[MustHaveCaffeine drink a lot of coffee]]. Needless to say, this is an [[{{Elders}} Elderly Trope]]. It is also more likely to appear in a {{comedy|Trope}}.
25
26In real life, several studies have suggested that people actually need ''less'' sleep as they grow older; and the portrayal of this trope in media matches the symptoms of narcolepsy, a neurological disorder unrelated to age. [[TruthInTelevision However, older people often tend to go to sleep earlier than younger adults]], and since the elderly are usually retired, they generally have nothing in their schedule to prevent them from napping whenever they feel like it. Furthermore, some sleep disorders that can cause daytime dozing, such as sleep apnea and insomnia, are more likely to gradually develop over the course of a lifetime.
27
28See also ScatterbrainedSenior.
29
30----
31!!Examples:
32
33[[foldercontrol]]
34
35[[folder:Animation]]
36* One of the recurring background extras in ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' is a wheelchair-using senior citizen who tends to fall asleep during conversations. According to Dhokla in "Moong Fu Samosa", he alternates between spending six hours awake and six hours sleeping.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
40%% * Crux from ''Manga/FairyTail''. However he can also use "sleep" to gather up information about other Celestial Spirits.
41* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Vice-Admiral Garp is about to punch Luffy when both suddenly fall asleep. It's less that Garp is old than that he comes from a family of [[SleepyHead narcoleptics.]]
42* ''Anime/GunXSword'': Carlos of El Dorado V is ''always'' asleep when he's on screen, save for two occasions.
43* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', during a few of the murders, Nanjo's alibi is that he was asleep at the time.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Comic Strips]]
47* In one ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS'' strip, Dennis finds Mr. Wilson asleep in front of his television set, and tells Mrs. Wilson that her husband always gets tired before the TV does.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
51* ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvaniaTransformania'' has Murray's human transformation consist of becoming [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens a tiny elderly Egyptian man]] with a tendency to fall asleep at the worst times.
52* Old Jack keeps falling asleep in the middle of his conversation with the title character in ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots''.
53* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', Woody calls Andy's dog Buster to help him save his friends from the trash. In waddles an elderly, obese Buster, who then falls asleep on top of the cowboy.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
57* ''Film/TheCityOfEmber'': Sul is an 80-year-old man who falls asleep almost every time he sits down in his work chair.
58* In ''Film/DadsArmy1971'', General Wilkinson is fast asleep in a chair when the Local Defense Volunteers believe that the Germans have begun the invasion, allowing Sergeant Wilson to take his gun for Captain Mainwaring to use.
59* Bernard, one member of the Neighborhood Watch Alliance in ''Film/HotFuzz'', spends most of his onscreen time asleep, except for about a minute during the final confrontation.
60* The wise old man in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' randomly falls asleep, much to the chagrin of his hat.
61* According to the DVD commentary for ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation,'' the grandparents had a side bet going during filming as to who could appear asleep on screen most often.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Jokes]]
65* One joke adds a bit of GallowsHumor to the phenomenon:
66-->When I die, I want to go the same way my grandfather did: [[PassedInTheirSleep peacefully and in his sleep]]... and not screaming in terror like his passengers.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Literature]]
70* ''Literature/AngelaNicely'': “Blooming Gardens!” has an old lady, who randomly falls asleep in the middle of a conversation.
71* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': In ''Exile's Honor'', one of Alberich's undercover identities is an old man who lives this trope. "Falling asleep" after dinner lets Alberich eavesdrop on the upper classes safely.
72* Bilbo Baggins, in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Used to show Bilbo's age catching up with him [[spoiler:after he gives up the One Ring.]]
73* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Averted with [[OldMaster Ser Barristan Selmy]] who recalls how as a young squire he'd stumble still yawning onto the training ground every morning, whereas now he hardly gets any sleep. As he's old and full of regrets, it's not a good thing to be awake in the wolf hour.
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
77* In ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'', here is [[RunningGag the only way]] to wake up a sleeping Mr. Grainger:
78-->'''Mr. Humphries:''' Mr. Grainger, are you free?\
79'''Mr. Grainger:''' Er, yes, I'm free!
80* Father Jack Hackett on ''Series/FatherTed'' seemingly spends his entire life sleeping when he isn't drinking or yelling obscenities.
81* Old from ''Series/TheGnomesOfDulwich'' is constantly fast asleep holding his spade.
82* "Old Man" of ''Series/PawnStars'' had been shown to be flat out asleep when he was at work. He is co-owner of the place and so he's allowed to do that. Chumlee has rudely lampshaded this fact on more than one occasion. You gotta admire a man who keeps his resumé up to date.
83* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Deadly Years", RapidAging caused Captain Kirk to doze off in the command chair.
84* The Netflix series ''Series/{{Travelers}}'' has a variation. Trevor, or rather the traveler currently inhabiting Trevor, was one of the first test subjects for [[GrandTheftMe consciousness-transfer technology]] and consequently has lived far longer than a normal human lifetime. Turns out there's a side effect: a mind that old starts to suffer from "[[FictionalDisability temporal aphasia]]," randomly freezing up for longer and longer periods until eventually he'll go permanently catatonic.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
88* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'': In "[[Recap/DinosaursS03E06GermWarfare Germ Warfare]]", Grandma Ethyl falls asleep while reading Baby the story of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs''. Baby impatiently waits for her to wake up so she can tell him what happens after the wolf huffs and puffs. [[BrickJoke In a later scene]], when he sneezes his pacifier at her, she wakes up and says ''"And blew the house down."''
89* Pops, the elderly doorman, from ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' can often be seen sleeping before someone interrupts him.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Video Games]]
93* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': [[OldMaster Gehrman]] slept for... a week? A year? A decade? '''''[[FridgeHorror God knows how long he's been dreaming?]]''''' [[spoiler: It was justified however, he's been stuck in his own dream unwillingly after all.]]
94* The Old Man at the End of Time in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' ([[spoiler:aka Gaspar, the Guru of Time]]), has always fallen asleep against a streetlamp when the heroes visit him, and has to be woken up to start a conversation. Then again, being at [[PhantomZone the End of Time]] doesn't usually give him very much to do.
95* Cid Highwind of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is depicted as having one in the original game, apparently as part of his portrayal as a GrumpyOldMan, despite really not being that old.
96%% * Professor Binns from the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' series is portrayed to have this in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor adaptation of ''LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4''.
97%% * Ellen from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon64'' has this generally, and it's also notably subverted once, [[spoiler:[[TearJerker when she dies]]]].
98* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' has Dr Snoozemore, who falls asleep mid conversation at semi random. This makes his speeches take a fair bit longer than they would otherwise.
99* There are sleeping old men in some of the apartments in ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne''. They're heavy sleepers, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO9ZZhCxtic this]] video demonstrates.
100* ''VideoGame/RugratsCastleCapers'': In the game's opening cutscene, Stu asks Grandpa Lou to look after the babies while he goes to the store to buy more paper clips for his latest invention, an enormous kiddie playset for the Reptar Storytime Pizza Parlor. Lou says, "I'll watch em' like a hawk!" and falls asleep immediately afterwards.
101* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'':
102** Old Joe is prone to nodding off in his chair when he's not giving you mission briefings; on top of being quite elderly, he's also in the middle of an island-wide ZombieApocalypse, and he's taking as many opportunities to sleep as possible.
103** Taken to extremes with [[ElderlyImmortal Octavian the Eagle]], who spends ''all'' of his time asleep, and insists on '' '''continuing''' '' in his attempts to sleep even as [[MysticalPlague Filth-infected]] fauns amass in the forest outside his home and vampires get ready for an apocalyptic war against humanity. It's eventually made clear that Octavian has actually been in his seventies for the last two thousand years, and by now [[WhoWantsToLiveForever wants nothing more than to die]]: until something actually manages to bring about the end of the world, the best he can do is sleep. The only way to rouse him is to put his MoralityPet in harm's way.
104* Averted in ''VideoGame/TheSims2''. In fact, elders are the only life stage who automatically awaken when they reach a full energy bar (all other Sims will sleep in until morning). The cycle this inevitably creates (given the steady decline of the energy bar over time) is that it simulates the "early to bed, early to rise" sleeping pattern for which many RealLife elderly people are known.
105* Inverted in ''VideoGame/SurvivorFire'', where instead of falling asleep during the day, Gran wakes up at night.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Visual Novels]]
109* The old man [[spoiler:Yanni Yogi]] in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' constantly falls asleep in the middle of conversations, and even the trial, and only wakes up when his SnotBubble pops. [[spoiler: This is all part of his act, however]].
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Web Animation]]
113* ''WebAnimation/TheAnnoyingOrange''[='s=] Grandpa Lemon. He falls asleep in the middle of conversations and even while being chopped in half.
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Webcomics]]
117* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': In present times, Serini is an old halfling and tends to take naps at inopportune moments, such as during the Order's brainstorming for defeating Team Evil.
118[[/folder]]
119
120[[folder:Western Animation]]
121* WesternAnimation/Alphablocks has Z, the oldest living character who acts like a veteran and has a badge… and always falls asleep.
122* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
123** One episode has Steve [[ItMakesSenseInContext age up to an eighty year old due to an experimental CIA serum]]. Despite this, he still triesーand failsーto go on a date with the AlphaBitch of the school, who had given his teenage self a chance. At the diner, she leaves him in disgust as said old man, and, in the midst of protesting, he falls asleep mid-sentence. Shortly thereafter, another elder walks by and gleefully declares, "They brought back the old napping booth!" She proceeds to sit down and fall asleep as well.
124** In "Old Stan of the Mountain" after Stan gets cursed for mocking the elderly causing him to turn into an old man, after misunderstanding a conversation between Steve and Hayley he thinks they want him to die, he then becomes paranoid and repeatedly tries to kill them but keeps falling asleep in the process of doing so.
125%% * On ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Grandma Thora averts this, but Grandpa Dave plays it straight.
126* Referenced, if not actually present, in the Avatar Extras in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. When Bumi welcomes the Gaang to "Old People Camp", the Extras pop on screen to declare, "Dinner at 4 o' candle and bedtime at 6:30 o' candle."
127* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' has Bobby and Ronnie Anne's grandfather, Hector Casagrande, doze off at various times. One of the first episodes has him napping in the same spot where a narcoleptic St. Bernard is sleeping.
128* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Elderly Numbuh Two in the final episode, "Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S." In the Live-Action segments, despite not looking like a year over his 50s, he's almost always falling asleep, and is shown to have become somewhat senile with age.
129* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', Mr. Peggs, the elderly teacher who is meant to be supervising detention but always sleeps on the job instead. He will not wake up for ''anything'', as demonstrated when Biffy yells, “YOUR FACE IS ON FIRE”, while standing right in front of him and doesn't get as much as a peep. This is very convenient for Lee considering how often he has to sneak out for some reason or another. [[spoiler:Of course, this being ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', this turns out to not be what it seems and is actually important to the plotーwe find out in Season 3 that Mr. Peggs once tried to open the [[PyramidPower mysterious pyramid]] beneath the school, but he didn't have all the instructions so he missed the part that tells you when you can do so, and, as a result, was zapped by a beam of magic and fell into a permanent sleep-like coma, no cure for which is yet known.]]
130* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' special "Timmy's Secret Wish" has Timmy fall asleep mid-sentence after discovering that he's aged 50 years as a result of all the wishes his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda granted being undone.
131* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
132** Professor Farnsworth once fell asleep while skiing and woke up at the lodge with a bronze medal around his neck.
133** "Less than Hero" has this gem:
134--->'''Leela:''' Professor, isn't it time for your nap?\
135'''Farnsworth:''' Yes, dammit! ''[instantly falls asleep]''
136* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', as both grandparents are quite hyperactive, and awake almost all of the time. Almost inverted with Grandma Gertie, since she seems to even be awake at odd hours in the night.
137* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' dealt with Hank and the gang befriending the elderly school groundskeeper Smitty, who keeps falling asleep every time he tries to fix up the football field.
138* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterLovingManiacs'': Arthur Van Alten is prone to randomly falling asleep, meaning his grandkids often have to pull their weight in the event he suddenly falls asleep in the middle of hunting monsters.
139* Granny Smith of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' seems to doze off easily. In "Luna Eclipsed", when she takes some fillies out Trick-or-Treating, she states that she should have been asleep five hours ago. It's a trait that appears less and less as the cartoon goes and she gets a more energetic personality.
140* The ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short "Youngstar 3" starts with [[OldSuperhero Old Man]] falling asleep, prompting his grandson Youngstar and Shero to go ahead and face a giant monster without his help. Once he wakes up and follows them, Old Man isn't happy about his teammates facing the threat without him.
141-->'''Old Man:''' Where do you think you two are going without ''me'' to save the day?\
142'''Youngstar:''' But Grandpa, you were napping!\
143'''Old Man:''' ''[mocking tone]'' But Grandpa...
144* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. Linda's mother appears to be succumbing, but she was playfully teasing Lawrence about his boring thimble story.
145* Cohort of the Ministry of Pain (a trio of elderly supervillains) from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Powerpuff Girls|1998}}'' episode "Fallen Arches" is shown to have fallen asleep in the midst of a bank heist.
146* Suga Mama on ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' always falls asleep while watching wrestling or when she is supposed to be chaperoning Penny or babysitting the twins. Turn it off and she immediately wakes up to tell you to turn it back on, then goes back to sleep once it's back on.
147* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'':
148** Whenever Grandpa Lou is put in charge of the babies, he is always asleep within a matter of seconds, a fact that the babies always use to their advantage. ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie'' hints that age has nothing to do with this however and that he's been this way his whole life (likely alluding to narcolepsy). Didi mentions that he slept through [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Pearl Harbor]].
149** When he leaves in "[[Recap/RugratsS3E4GrandpaMovesOutTheLegendOfSatchmo Grandpa Moves Out]]", the family visits him at the retirement home. Tommy and Angelica are watched over by the surrogate grandmother. She shows pictures of her grandchildren while listing the names of [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs the seven dwarfs.]] When she can't remember the name of the last one, and Angelica suggests "Sleepy", she says she could use a nap and instantly falls asleep. Angelica also believes that the seniors went to a "Tired Center" because they're all too tired to play with their grandchildren, and she and Tommy get the idea to wake up all the seniors.
150** Invoked as a plot point in [[Recap/RugratsS4E1Chanukah the Chanukah episode]]; when the babies mishear "the meaning of Chanukah" as "the meanie of Chanukah," they decide to put him down for a nap. First, they try blankets and a pillow, then they try using a portable TV (which breaks). Finally, the "meanie", Shlomo, takes his nap as Boris tells the Chanukah story.
151** In "Fall Stinks" (Part 2 of the "[[Recap/RugratsS7E1AcornNutsAndDiapeyButts Acorn Nuts and Diapey Butts]]" saga), while Grandpa is absent, Tommy tries acting like him so Dil won't miss him. This includes "reading" a storybook before falling asleep.
152* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Abraham J. Simpson is constantly falling asleep, often in the middle of sentences. It's possible he's narcoleptic (especially on the season nine episode "Lisa's Sax" where, after he tried to sing "The Funky Grampa", Grampa ended up falling asleep standing up).
153* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' with Mermaid Man, who will keep randomly dozing off while standing and when woken up he'll start acting like he's about to go into a mission.
154* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' episode "Days, Nights, and Weekends of Future Past!" had Falcon and H.E.R.B.I.E. end up in an alternate reality where Scarlet Empress (an older Scarlet Witch) has taken over the world with an army of Sentinels. The heroes encounter an elderly Magneto who frequently falls asleep before finishing his sentences.
155[[/folder]]
156----
157->[[SelfDemonstratingArticle ...zzz...]]what the? [[TheStinger The Trope's over already?? Aw nuts.]]

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