Line #24 Main/StrangerInAStrangeSchool


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/partnermonkey.png]]]]
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6	By mistake or some odd chain of events, an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent winds up attending an ExtranormalInstitute. Perhaps they're a human in an AllGhoulsSchool, or a {{muggle\|s}} in a WizardingSchool, but whichever it is, [[FishOutOfWater they clearly don't fit in]]. If the {{masquerade}} is in full effect, they'll probably have to try to blend in with the ''usual'' type of student, with the consequence of failure ranging from LaserGuidedAmnesia to CruelAndUnusualDeath [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade to uphold the masquerade]].
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8	Acts as a NaiveNewcomer. [[LevelGrinding After sufficient experience]], they may [[TookALevelInBadass upgrade]] to [[EmpoweredBadassNormal something]] that ''does'' fit in. Often a NewTransferStudent.
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10	!!Examples:
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12	[[foldercontrol]]
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14	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
15	* ''Manga/AfterschoolCharisma'': Shiro's the only non-clone in a school for clones. [[spoiler:Or Is He?]]
16	* ''Manga/AnimalAcademyHakobuneHakusho'': A BookDumb girl is mistakenly accepted to a school for animal shapeshifters and begs her way in (still not knowing what the school was) when the head faculty see that she's human because no other school will take her. The other students believe she's a cat, because her given name is--quite conveniently (and probably why she was first accepted)--''[[SpeciesSurname Neko]]''.
17	* ''Manga/HollowFields'': Lucy Snow is a fairly ordinary child in a school for the children of [[MadScientist mad scientists]].
18	* ''Literature/{{Kanokon}}'' is a borderline case, since the school is dedicated to rehabilitate youkai who have trouble integrating into human society, but at least some unwitting humans attend as well to provide an incentive to be more stealthy about their true natures.
19	* ''Manga/{{Mx0}}'': After failing to sneak ''into'' (unknown to him) a secret WizardingSchool, Taiga gets dragged though the school's barrier by a teacher mistaking him for a student trying to sneak ''out''. A sequence of unlikely events establishes him as a genius mage when he actually has no power at all--a reputation he is forced to uphold thereafter.
20	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Midoriya is one of the only people in his generation born [[UnSorcerer without a Quirk]], but manages to achieve his dream of attending the elite SuperheroSchool (and later gets [[SuperEmpowering Super Empowered]] by [[WorldsStrongestMan All Might]]).
21	* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' has a non-supernatural example, with the titular school being one for the [[ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount comically rich]]. Haruhi, who is ''already'' attending the school at the start of the story and has blended in so well that nobody's really noticed her yet, is from a working-class background and is there on scholarship. And while pre-series there's nothing at all secret about this (anybody whose business it is already knows and as long as she continued keeping to herself none of the students would care about her being there), when the plot kicks off it promptly gives her a secret to keep and a high-profile identity at the school.
22	* ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'': Jessie apparently attended one of these prior to joining Team Rocket - she wanted to become a Pokémon nurse, but somehow wound up at a school training Chansey as medical assistants.
23	* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': Tsukune accidentally gets accepted to AllGhoulsSchool in AnotherDimension and faces the death penalty for spying if discovered. [[spoiler:Turns out the BigBad of the second major arc is himself a [[EmpoweredBadassNormal former human]] who ended up at Youkai Academy under the same circumstances. And in both cases, their acceptance to the school wasn't an accident at all.]]
24	* ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': Nami Hitou, the normal girl in a DysfunctionJunction class. Ironically, she develops a complex about it, making her NotSoAboveItAll.
25	* ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'' is entirely based on a normal human boy who is so bad at saying no that he agrees to be adopted by a powerful demon, and his adventures attending demon school. While there, he must keep his humanity a secret - not only are [[FaeriesDontBelieveInHumansEither humans as mythical to most demons as demons are to humans]], but the [[AlmaMaterSong school song]] is about [[ToServeMan eating humans]]...
26	[[/folder]]
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28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* Angela, the protagonist of ''ComicBook/TheUnderburbs'' and her admirer, George, for entirely different reasons. (Angela has actually gotten turned into a witch by the time she enrolls a short time before.)
30	* The strip ''[[Series/GrangeHill Strange Hill]]'' in ''ComicBook/TheBeezer'' was a variation--an ordinary ''teacher'' stuck in a horror-themed school. On one occasion he was delighted when an apparently normal boy joined his class, but he turned out to be a MadScientist.
31	* In ''ComicBook/AllGhoulsSchool'', Becca Norman is suspended for cheating at her old school. Her only chance to pass is to attend summer school at the Darkmoor Academy boarding school. What she does not know is that darkmoor is an AllGhoulsSchool and her attendence there has been carefully orchestrated.
32	* Tyler Marlocke of ''ComicBook/PS238'' -- normal, unpowered child in a school for superkids. He doesn't pretend to be anything else, but between the fact that both his parents are legendary superheroes and the school being a constant WeirdnessMagnet, he has no choice but to become an ActionSurvivor in order to, well, survive. Currently in training to become BadassNormal.
33	[[/folder]]
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35	[[folder:Fan Works]]
36	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'' fan fic "FanFic/StrangerInAStrangeSchool" uses this exact trope as a title but for the most part it has to do with the main character, an OC, being a new student at A. Nigma.
37	* ''FanFic/TheMysteriousSchool'', as its name suggests, is all about four students who get accepted into a school... [[ExtranormalInstitute for people with magic.]]
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
41	* The protagonist of ''Film/SkyHigh2005'' is a regular boy who gets sent to a SuperheroSchool despite having no powers since [[MuggleBornOfMages both his parents are renowned superheroes.]] Thankfully, he develops superpowers later on.
42	* Inverted in ''[[Film/{{Halloweentown}} Halloweentown High]]'' where Aggie lets the students from Halloweentown High attend a mortal high school.
43	[[/folder]]
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45	[[folder:Literature]]
46	* The entire plot of ''Literature/VampireHigh'' is that Cody, as a newcomer to a small town in Massachusetts, is one of the few people unaware that there are vampires living there as well. As a result, he has no idea that the high school he attends is primarily intended for vampires (there are a few humans, but all are there through necessity and not choice).
47	* Kazuki from ''Literature/CerberusHigh'' is a human who is unexpectedly moved to the titular boarding school for canid breeds, [[LittleBitBeastly people with canine features]]. With zero means of defending himself against the delinquent beasts that run rampant in the school, Kazuki accepts his sorry fate. However, the longer he stays at the school, Kazuki begins to realize that [[AmbiguouslyHuman he may not be as human as he previously thought]].
48	** Blanc was the only canid breed when he attended his all-human private school. Despite being a frosthound, most the favored breed in human society, Blanc was still looked down on by his classmates and even by his so-called friends.
49	* Inverted in ''Literature/HOWLHigh'' - the protagonist is a half-warlock who attends a high school dedicated to Hollywood horror effects. Also played with in that the "normals" attending the school with him are weird enough to shake a guy with ''actual'' monsters in his family.
50	* Zigzagged in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', as it's unclear if Squibs (that is, non-magical people from magical families) actually get sent to Hogwarts or not. In the early books, Neville's apparent lack of magical abilities means he sometimes gets accused of being one, and the Squib caretaker Filch may have attended Hogwarts as a student, but no information is given either way.
51	* Alex feels this way initially in ''Literature/NinthHouse''.
52	* One ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book has this premise: a kid is accidentally sent first to a school for zombie kids, [[spoiler: and then, it's strongly implied, one for vampires]].
53	[[/folder]]
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55	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
56	* ''Series/TheOtherKingdom'' takes the usual setup and flips the players: The protagonist, Astral, is a young fairy girl who attends a regular human school.
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59	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
60	* The heroine of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' is a human teenager attending a prestigious private high school for birds. Going by the official manga, it's also a ''boys' school''. Added to that is the fact that she is a hunter-gatherer who lives in a cave.
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder:Video Games]]
64	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': A side quest involves a dwarven scholar who is fascinated with magic and desperately wishes to join the Circle of Magi. She's aware that as a dwarf, she'll never be able to ''use'' magic, but she's fine with simply studying it, and if the [[PlayerCharacter Grey Warden]] vouches for her, [[TheArchmage First]] [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Enchanter]] [[CoolOldGuy Irving]] will gladly accept her.
65	* Downplayed example in ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': everyone involved is human, but AudienceSurrogate Anzu is the sole girl and non-idol attending an otherwise all-male school for raising upcoming idols. This is because she entered as a single-student trial of the new producer course, so for practicality she attends class alongside the idols. The next year, the producer course is up and running so Anzu starts attending that new attached campus instead. Naturally, when she first starts school, word of the new ''female'' [[NewTransferStudent transfer student]] causes quite a buzz among the guys.
66	[[/folder]]
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68	[[folder:Web Comics]]
69	* A-san of ''Webcomic/OverlordAcademy'' is an accidentally transferred into the titular school. He's [[ButtMonkey an oboist]].
70	* Graham in ''Webcomic/WizardSchool'' is a rich, drunken jerk who replaces the "Chosen One" at a school for wizards.
71	* Cameron of ''Webcomic/{{Zoophobia}}'' is the Zoo-Phoenix Academy's new guidance counselor, and happens to be the only [[spoiler: fully]] human staff member.
72	* The Pink Girl in the appropriately named Webcomic/StrangeSchool.
73	[[/folder]]
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75	[[folder:Western Animation]]
76	* ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'':
77	** The basic premise is about Adam Lyon, a human boy accidentally sent to an animal school due to clerical error that misspelled his last name as "Lion." One episode actually has another character point out that there's nothing preventing him from [[JustEatGilligan easily transferring back to his old middle school]], since everyone is now aware of the obvious error. Adam's response is more-or-less that he's grown attached to his new classmates.
78	** One episode plays with this, where his monkey best friend is sent to a ''plant'' school when his last name is written as "Spiderplant" rather than "Spidermonkey."
79	* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheComicStrip Mini Monsters]]'' (aka ''Camp Mini-Mon'') had two normal kids accidentally be sent to a summer camp for movie monsters' ({{Dracula}}, FrankensteinsMonster, etc.) kids.
80	* ''WesternAnimation/GravedaleHigh'' featured Creator/RickMoranis as the only human ''teacher'' at an AllGhoulsSchool.
81	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'', Phoebe seems to be this trope. Her catchphrase is "At my old school..." while several of the other kids seem much more accustomed to the strange things Ms. Frizzle does.
82	** Eventually, Phoebe does seem to acclimate to the strangeness and finds her own niche, leading to the addition of Arnold's cousin Janet to the show as the new outsider.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/GalaxyHigh'' is about two normal teenagers who become the first Earthling students at the eponymous school for aliens.
84	* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool'' is a Scooby Doo movie about Scooby, Shaggy, and Scrappy becoming teachers at an ExtranormalInstitute full of {{Cute Monster Girl}}s. They are the only human staff members... well, Shaggy is.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'' has an episode where Wirt, Gregory, and Beatrice run into a schoolhouse of well-dressed animals.
86	* Part way through the first season of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz ends up as the first human at Hexside, a school for witches and demons. In a variation of the norm, she actually chose to attend rather than being enrolled by accident, and fits in rather well from the outset (she is targeted by the resident JerkJock, but that's more because she was already friends with their favorite bullying victim.)
87	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': In a TropesAreTools example of this trope, the original ''Literature/WaysideSchool'' book series was ''not'' this, as the students and staff always treated the fantastic elements of the school as mundane, so there was no chance of anyone of them being a FishOutOfWater. The AnimatedAdaptation ''became'' this trope by rewriting Todd's character to be a transfer student fresh to the school, making him the AudienceSurrogate.
88	[[/folder]]

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