Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / TheScrooge

Go To

1%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=ju8ngqwd
2[[quoteright:320:[[WesternAnimation/MickeysChristmasCarol https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Scrooge_in_Mickeys_Christmas_Carol_7470.jpg]]]]
3[[caption-width-right:320:''"Bah, humbug!"'']]
4
5->''"I spent my life on foolish quests for gold and riches I confess\
6And now I'm left with just regrets, too late to change my ways\
7It seems my life has slipped away, I leave no legacy to praise\
8Nothing more for me to say, my life has been a waste"''
9-->-- '''Music/AmonAmarth''', "Doom Over Dead Man"
10
11Traditionally, misers are portrayed in media as grasping, penny-pinching people who live in squalor and who never spend money despite being quite wealthy. Some are [[CorruptCorporateExecutive businessmen]], some are [[LoanShark loan sharks]], moneylenders or {{Morally Bankrupt Banker}}s, some are pawnbrokers, some are [[AmoralAttorney lawyers]]... but regardless of how they made their money, the Scrooge is sitting on a pile of it. But getting him to spend it is... difficult to say the least.
12
13In real life, [[RagsToRiches many rich people became rich in the first place by saving their money and spending only the minimum they needed to, and by only putting their money where it was guaranteed to make them more]]. Not all wealthy people in real life are like this, but it is worth noting that this is where the image of stereotypical misers came from. It is also worth noting that some of history's biggest misers ''started out'' wealthy.
14
15[[ValuesDissonance In previous eras]], it was common to portray [[AllJewsAreCheapskates pretty much all]] [[GreedyJew Jewish characters]] like this. The [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Scottish]] were traditionally subject to [[ThriftyScot this stereotype]] as well. In India, it was the Marwari community of pawnbrokers and money lenders based mostly in present day Gujarat. And in Germany, it's the Swabian people.
16
17The Scrooge is a clear [[EmbodimentOfVice embodiment of greed]]. Sometimes overlaps with GrumpyOldMan and is a sub-trope of AffluentAscetic. See also MrViceGuy, a trope that heroic-leaning Scrooges also qualify as, and MiserAdvisor. One of these will also partake in CuttingCorners to save money. May also suffer from LovesOnlyGold. Expect him to have contempt for ConspicuousConsumption, which he thinks is a stupid use of money and a great way to eventually run out of it. Contrast WickedWastefulness, where a character has wastefulness as a flaw.
18
19Not to be confused with TheGrinch, even though [[Literature/AChristmasCarol the namer for this trope]] also hated Christmas. That said, the name is often used as a distinction between someone who simply hates Christmas vs. one who actively ruins the holiday for others.
20
21----
22!!Examples:
23
24[[foldercontrol]]
25
26[[folder:Art]]
27* ''Art/MarriageALaMode'': "The Lady's Death" reveals that for all the money his family brought to the marriage, the alderman lives a very frugal existence, though this may also be a result of his daughter having spent and/or lost access to the money from her dowry after the Earl's murder. His house is in an unfashionable part of London Bridge (the houses seen through the window look to be one stiff breeze from falling over into the Thames), his furniture is shabby, he eats pig's head, and his dog is desperately underfed. He seems more interested in getting the Countess' wedding ring off her finger before rigor mortis sets in so that he can sell it than in the fact that his ''daughter'' has just poisoned herself.
28[[/folder]]
29
30[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
31* In the [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa manga adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', Linebeck is reluctant to buy a cannon, even to keep his ship safe from monsters.
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Comic Books]]
35* In ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'', Vladek Spiegelman is incredibly miserly. His son wonders what people will make of a person who is [[StopBeingStereotypical advancing that particular stereotype]] about [[AllJewsAreCheapskates Jews]].
36* ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse:
37** Scrooge [=McDuck=], pictured above, is as big a skinflint as his namesake from ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''... though that doesn't mean he's not an admirable member of the NonIdleRich. For bonus points, the picture is from ''WesternAnimation/MickeysChristmasCarol'', in which [[UniversalAdaptorCast Scrooge McDuck plays Ebenezer Scrooge]], so you get twice the Scrooge in one.
38** Scrooge's {{Archenemy}} is Flintheart Glomgold, who's an even ''bigger'' Scrooge. (And unlike Scrooge himself, dishonest. He's willing to do any corrupt, immoral, or illegal act or any dirty trick in order to make more money.)
39** Averted by Scrooge's ''other'' archenemy (mostly featured in the comics), John D. Rockerduck. While not an Evil Counterpart (he's pretty moral), his philosophy is "buying the best money can buy." This sometimes helps John and other times he goes too far.
40** In ''Around the World in Eighty Daze'', Scrooge challenges John D. Rockerduck to a race around the world, and the traveler who spends the least amount of money will win the contest. Scrooge enlists Donald's assistance, noting that he will charge Donald later for any incurred expenses. Rockerduck displays one of his most notorious performances of Dick Dastardly-style cheating, as he steals a steamship, a passenger train, a motorcycle, and an airplane, forging Scrooge's name to the bill and sticking Scrooge with the expenses. In the end, Scrooge's expenses are 2 cents shorter than Rockerduck's, and he ends up winning the trophy at his own expense; as a result of Scrooge sponsoring the race, he ends up paying the trophy's manufacturing costs.
41** ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' shows that being a tightwad runs in the family. When the [=McDuck=] ancestors take a peek at Scrooge's future and learn that he'll go down in history as one of the most infamous skinflints, they ''celebrate.'' His ancestor Sir Eider [=McDuck=] lost a battle because he tried paying his entire army only 30 copper pieces for all and they deserted him. He also didn't buy his archers arrows because he felt it was too much of an expense.
42* Cénile from ''ComicBook/DeCapeEtDeCrocs''. His son's servant has seen ''Theatre/TheMiser'' and tries the same trick -- asking for gold for the life of his son, supposedly kidnapped by Turks. In the play, Harpagon did pay, with much tears. Cénile refuses.
43* ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'':
44** First, there is their tight-fisted boss, Vicente. If he gives them any money at all, it doesn't even come close to covering their expenses (they were once expected to travel around the globe on $10), and it often turns out to be fake.
45** During their adventure in Germany, they visit Swabenland, and the Swabians they encounter manage to make Vicente look generous in comparison: They drink only when it rains, read their palms to save on a newspaper, train passengers are expected to push or pull the train themselves, and they have a stroke when asked to give something, even if it's just the time or directions.
46** During the world championship soccer episode, a Scottish player refuses to kick the ball with his new shoes, and Mortadelo makes another one faint by disguising himself as a charity fundraiser.
47* ''ComicBook/{{Condorito}}'' has Don Máximo Tacaño (his name in Spanish means Mr. Maximum Miser). All his jokes are greed-related.
48* [[DaEditor J. Jonah Jameson]] from the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics is a classic example. He constantly tries to nickel-and-dime photographers like Peter Parker, skimps on unnecessary building maintenance (he turns off the stairway lights to save electricity and never oiled his building's service elevator), cheaps out on both office and house parties, and flips out at employees who charge too many expenses. That said, he'll cool off pretty quickly if the employees bring him articles and photos that actually justify the expenses.
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Comic Strips]]
52* The title character of Bill Hoest's ''ComicStrip/AgathaCrumm'' was a rare female example of this.
53* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin's Dad likes to tease Calvin like this. Notably by suggesting they get a Christmas Tree at New Year's by picking up one sitting by the trash. Since it may still have tinsel on, they'll save money and time on decorations.
54* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Roger can be notoriously cheap. He tips the paperboy five cents a month (and then fails to realize why the guy never hits the front steps). He once offered to pay Peter five cents a hole for caddying at golf (resulting in Peter angrily confronting his own father with a golf club), and another time a dollar for mowing the lawn (which took six hours, because they still have a manual lawnmower).
55* Manolito in ''ComicStrip/{{Mafalda}}'' even when he's just a little boy he's already a miser.
56* Frank from ''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}'' is like this. He balks at the price of nearly everything, yet had the money to purchase an abandoned warehouse on a whim in order to start his own business. Then when a woman offered to work there ''for free'', he still wanted to charge her rent for living in his house. On the other hand, he's perfectly happy to spend others' money; when his dishwasher Les asked him to a business dinner to discuss how to expand, not only did he not offer to cover the expense as the owner/employer (which could then be written off as a business expense), he invited his entire family to the dinner and ended up spending $300 of his own employee's money.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
60* Bob's MeanBoss Gilbert Huph in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', a CorruptCorporateExecutive and ObstructiveBureaucrat who's made it his mission in life to protect Insuricare's bottom line by denying as many insurance claims as he can, regardless of how legitimate they are as per their customers' contracts. His reaction to seeing a man getting mugged is to [[LackOfEmpathy say he hopes the company doesn't cover him]]. A FreezeFrameBonus shows that not even his employees were spared from his profit-minded cruelty, as he planned to make them pay for their own office supplies, parking, and ''electricity usage''. Bob did his community a favor by [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom putting the guy in traction]].
61* ''WesternAnimation/TopCatTheMovie'': After becoming Chief of Police, Lou Strickland fires all police officers and replaces them with robots except for Officer Dibble, who's allowed to keep his job because Dibble and Strickland share birthdays and Strickland doesn't want to pay for the party.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
65* In ''Film/AllTheMoneyInTheWorld'', J. Paul Getty is the wealthiest man in the history of the world, but also infamously tightfisted. Besides refusing to pay his grandson’s ransom, he also washes his clothes by hand (instead of paying for a laundering service) and makes his houseguests use a coin-operated pay phone. [[KickTheDog To make things even worse]], the one time we see him sparing no expense for anything, it's [[SkewedPriorities to purchase a painting]], a moment intercut with his grandson [[FingerInTheMail being tortured]].
66* In ''Film/TradingPlaces'', Randolph and Mortimer Duke, despite being multi-millionaires, hand out "Christmas bonuses" of $5 to their employees (''total''--that is $2.5 each) and make wagers that ruin other people's lives all over a stake of $1.
67* Mister Potter, from ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''. The AlternateUniverse that is formed out of George Bailey's wish to have never been born cements what is foreshadowed from the very first second he's on screen, and that is that the man has no problem bringing endless misery to Bedford Falls for the sake of making and saving money (charging top dollar for crappy shacks that could become death traps at the drop of a hat, for example). Aside from looking sinister, it's also possible he prefers to use a carriage to move around because he thinks it's cheaper.
68* Paul-Louis Courier in ''La Ferme des Sept Péchés'', at least in the servants' memories.
69* In ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation'', Clark Griswold's boss Mr. Shirley decides to cut back on company expenses by removing Christmas bonuses to his employees and instead giving them yearly memberships to the Jelly of the Month Club. This decision he did without warning anybody in advance, leading Clark (and maybe other employees of the company) to become broke from their Christmas expenses, and this bombshell leads to Clark reaching his RageBreakingPoint which leads to the film's climax when Eddie kidnaps Mr. Shirley so Clark can give him what-for. [[EveryoneHasStandards Nobody]], not even Mr. Shirley's wife or the commander of the SWAT team that kicked down the Griswolds' door to rescue Shirley, are happy with what he did.
70-->'''Mr. Shirley:''' Remember how I was toying with the notion of suspending Christmas bonuses?\
71'''Mrs. Shirley:''' You didn't. Of all the cheap, lousy ways to save a buck!\
72'''SWAT commander:''' That's pretty low, mister. If I had a rubber hose...
73* ''Film/SecretsInTheHotSpring'': [[TheProtagonist Qie]]'s grandparents are shown to be this in the way they run the hotel. They refuse to hire help because they would have to pay them, they filled the hotel with coin-operated devices, and they charge exorbitant prices for things that would otherwise be free, like towels and bathrobes.
74* J. Jonah Jameson in the Film/SpiderManTrilogy directed by Creator/SamRaimi -- he is an enormous miser, even as the editor-in-chief of the ''Daily Bugle'', seeking to cut on costs in any way imaginable, from paychecks to organizing his own son's wedding.
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Jokes]]
78* A joke: Marvin prays to God one evening and says "God, I have never asked you for anything before tonight, but please may I win this week's $10 million jackpot lottery?" He hears nothing, and the week comes and goes without him winning. So he prays again; "God, I prayed to you humbly, but my prayer was unanswered. Please, Lord, I have never asked for anything before. So if you are truly just and merciful, please may I win ''this'' week's $20 million jackpot lottery?" But once again the lottery comes and goes, and once again Marvin does not win. So he tries praying once more: "Lord, I beg of you. I have never asked for anything before! Please, I pray, one last time, while I still have faith: may I win ''this'' week's $30 million lottery jackpot?" But once again, the lottery comes and goes and Marvin does not win. Infuriated, he goes to the tallest peak he can find and screams at the heavens: "Damn you, God! What have I done for you to reject me so? Why do you ignore and mock my pleas?" At which point, the heavens open, a beam of light settles on Marvin, and a divine voice rings out:\
79\
80'''MARVIN. MEET ME HALFWAY. BUY A TICKET.'''
81
82* Another joke: A [[ThriftyScot Scotsman]] is given a new wallet with a velcro closure. He opens it up, hears the ripping sound, and exclaims, "Aye, that's a proper wallet. It screams when you open it!"
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Literature]]
86* Ebenezer Scrooge from ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' is the TropeNamer. In addition to being a tight-fisted miser, he's a cold-hearted, selfish man, who despises anything that engenders happiness. One telling of the story literally has him take the coins off the deceased Marley's eyes. It takes three ghosts to do it (four if you count Marley), but [[CharacterDevelopment he gets better]]. An UnbuiltTrope: he's [[HonestCorporateExecutive honest]] despite his ruthlessness and stinginess, and [[JerkassWoobie it's taken a lot of suffering to make him what he is]].
87* ''Literature/ASagaOfTheReindeerPeople'': In ''Wolf's Brother'' by Creator/MeganLindholm, the wedding gifts from the richer members of the tribe were far less generous than the poorer members.
88* David Sedaris' essay ''The Great Leap Forward'' details his working as a personal assistant for an eccentric, wealthy heiress who had a small publishing company. Though loaded, she acted like money embarrassed her and would haggle and be stingy as though she had nothing.
89* The titular character from Creator/GeorgeEliot's ''Literature/SilasMarner'' is an unpleasant, misanthropic skinflint at the beginning of the story. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, [[CharacterDevelopment he gets better]].
90%%* Mr. Banks in ''Literature/TheMysteriousDisappearanceOfLeonIMeanNoel''.
91* Plyushkin in ''Literature/DeadSouls''. He owns several hundred souls but lives as cheap as a beggar. Chichikov, the protagonist, also doesn't like giving away money.
92* Séraphin Poudrier from the French-Canadian novel ''Un homme et son péché''[[note]](lit. "A man and his sin")[[/note]] and its many adaptations in other media. His name is the Québécois equivalent of Scrooge or Harpagon, though it is normally used as an adjective rather than a noun ("être séraphin" = to be avaricious).
93* Henry VIII in ''Literature/WolfHall'' spends a lot on his wars, but he can be much stingier with the women in his life. When his first wife Katherine passes, he tells them to bury her in Peterborough rather than St. Paul's because it will be cheaper and reclaims her fur and plate. And while courting Jane Seymour, he gives her a prayerbook with the letters "H" and "''A''" on the cover. Cromwell tries to make excuses and says it can be redone, but he also notices that you can still see traces of the ''K'' under that--Henry has used the same gift for three different women.
94* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' dwarfs can be like this. If a highwayman says to a group of dwarfs "Your money or your life!" he'd better bring a book to read while they discuss it. Though at one point a dwarf comments that since dwarfs ''aren't'' human, slapping labels like "miser" on them might be missing the point.
95* In ''Literature/WyldersHand'', the lawyer Josiah Larkin lives comfortably enough at home. But when he's undertaking work on a client's behalf, he lives with the utmost frugality -- while charging the client top rates for lodgings, food, transport, and so on, and pocketing the difference.
96* Ok's mom in ''Literature/ImOk2018'' is all about saving money. Be it by stuffing her pockets with condiments and napkins from [=McDonald's=] or by [[{{Squick}} flushing the toilet only once a week]].
97* Widow Mac'Miche from ''Literature/AGoodLittleDevil'' by Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of Ségur. Although very wealthy, she is obsessed with not spending money and even keeps her nephew's inheritance from him, leaving him undernourished and in rags. Even when she is sick and delirious later in the story, she grows suspicious when Charles offers her a glass of water with sugar mixed in, asking him where he got the sugar because she doesn't want to pay for it.
98* ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'': A member of Lucifera's court named [[{{Greed}} Auarice]] is a childless old man who carries overflowing sacks of silver and gold at his side. Despite this, his clothes are frayed, he's starving, and it's clear he isn't even spending money on his health, since he so refuses to give up a single coin when he could hoard it.
99* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'':
100** Manny Kaminsky from ''Death of a Bachelorette'' feeds the crew and cast cheap airline food, while he gets damn good food for himself.
101** Ironically for a man who played Tiny Tim as a child, Scotty Parker from ''Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge'' was a very cheap man.
102* Mr. Mean in ''Literature/MrMen'' lives in a squalid house, eats very meagre meals, and spends every evening counting his money in a big box in the kitchen.
103* In ''[[Literature/JoesWorld The Philosophical Strangler]]'' the narrator and co-protagonist Ignace starts out life dirt-poor, but makes a literal pile of money by managing his foster-brother Greyboar's professional strangling career. He stores said pile under Greyboar's bed and pretty much has to be physically forced to ever spend any of it.
104* In ''Literature/{{Spoonbenders}}'', Teddy Telemachus is a firm believer in making one's own fortune, having grown up in poverty before becoming independently well-off, and has tried enforcing that idea onto his kids. Irene blames this for her brother Frankie's "crooked little heart".
105--> '''Teddy:''' Never lend chips to someone who can't buy their way into the pot.
106* ''Literature/{{Transpecial}}'': Suza's mother hoards money and takes anything Suza manages to earn. If she ever buys anything for herself, her mother screams at her about all the food that money could have bought.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
110* The fictionalized Larry David in ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' seems to be made of this trope. Like Jack Benny, the real Larry David isn't like this at all.
111* Milburn Drysdale, from ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' became more and more miserly as the series progressed. This was PlayedForLaughs, of course.
112* Another comedy example is Fred Mertz from ''Series/ILoveLucy''.
113* Paulie Walnuts from ''Series/TheSopranos'' fits this trope to a T. This is not his only personality quirk, it should be noted.
114* Ben Weaver, from ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'', though he's actually a JerkWithAHeartOfGold when he sees the consequences of his actions.
115* Homer Bedloe, from ''Series/PetticoatJunction''.
116** Once he even [[VillainTeamup teamed with Drysdale]] on a Crossover with ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies''
117* The Merchant Banker in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.
118* Rimmer in ''Series/RedDwarf'' has twenty-five thousand [[GlobalCurrency dollarpounds]] (in cash!), but borrowed $£15 from Lister to buy Lister's own birthday present. And then gave him a $£5 booktoken. And never paid him back.
119* The main character of the ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' episode "Cheap is Cheap" is a penny-pinching miser who reads other people's newspapers. In reality, he had quite a bit of money saved up.
120* Kazran Sardick, in a ''Series/DoctorWho'' Christmas special. The whole episode is basically an AffectionateParody of Literature/AChristmasCarol.
121* ''Series/{{Matlock}}'' is a cheapskate. At first, it was out of necessity after some bad investments but, by the time he became wealthy again, he remained thrifty.
122* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Frank Reynolds is incredibly wealthy (having obtained it through multiple unscrupulous means,) but instead chooses to live in squalor with his possible son/bar janitor Charlie, only ever spending money on schemes that will make him more money or to spite someone he dislikes. This is lampshaded in the ChristmasSpecial when his children try to show him how horrible of a person he is (so that he will actually give them gifts) by tracking down his former business partner to portray the Ghosts of Christmas.
123* Averted by, of all people, Jack Benny from ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram''. Jack may be cheap, but he buys Christmas presents for his employees, and lives in quite a nice house. In a New Year's episode, he is shown in top hat and tails about to take his date out on the town!
124* Alan on ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen''. Usually he is just portrayed as being broke from his divorce and bad at making financial decisions, but a couple of episodes have shown that he does actually have quite a bit of money saved up, he'd rather just mooch off Charlie.
125* Brazilian sitcom ''Sai de Baixo'' had Pereira, who at times would faint only at the mention of spending money. He would hardly hire anyone other than his ProfessionalButtKisser, gave the same wedding ring to all his wives, would offer dinners from food offerings and flower bouquets taken from graveyards...
126* The actor who played Pereira had also played another scrooge in TheEighties: Nonô Correia, from the soap ''Amor com Amor se Paga'' ("Love pays love", in a rough translation). He controlled food (locking the fridge and forbidding his guests to help themselves more than once per meal) and electricity (keeping lights off some days a week). For some years, his name became a Brazilian synonym for scrooge/penny-pincher people. The character had some HiddenDepths, however, including a tragic past.
127* A third outstanding Brazilian case was Count Klaus from ''Series/ChocolateComPimenta'', whose cheapskate tendencies were one of the many things that displeased the woman who was forced to marry him. For bonus points, his {{Leitmotif}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypYD1TZ57ak had cash register sounds!]]
128* Subverted in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. Sheldon Cooper is anal and obsessive about every aspect of his life, except money. He makes more than enough to pay for food, shelter and whatever geeky trinket catches his eye, and beyond that he really doesn't care, to the point he doesn't even cash his paychecks, and will hand hundreds of dollars over to his friends without a second thought.
129* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Norm Peterson is a much more cheerful example, but an example nonetheless. He is almost ''never'' shown paying for drinks at Cheers, and it’s implied he only stays there because they allow him a tab. The fact is, [[BarredFromEveryBar he’s outright BANNED from several bars in Boston for not paying]] (in one episode, he walks into a bar and the owner point-blank yells "GET OUT, PETERSON!"). Paul, a recurring character actually says of him "Norm Peterson has a tab the size of his pants." His tab is so large it’s joked that if he ever got around to paying it, Cheers would be the wealthiest bar in Boston. Jokes aside, his Scrooge tendencies are so bad at one point even SAM loses his patience with Norm when Norm comes into money.
130* ''Series/KenanAndKel'': Roger Rockmore (Kenan's father) hates spending money and often cuts corners, specifically shown in the MadeForTVMovie.
131-->'''Kel:''' ''(to Kenan)'' [[DumbassHasAPoint Your dad's just too cheap to buy a room.]]
132* In ''Series/TheMillionaire'', each episode features somebody anonymously receiving a check for one million dollars from an EccentricMillionaire. One of the recipients, Quentin Harwood, was excessively frugal before he had a million dollars, and continues to be so even when he's wealthy, causing friction with his wife.
133[[/folder]]
134
135[[folder:Music]]
136* "Mean Mr. Mustard" by Music/TheBeatles, from ''Music/AbbeyRoad''.
137* "Silas Stingy" by Music/TheWho, from ''Music/TheWhoSellOut''.
138* "Doom Over Dead Man", by Music/AmonAmarth
139[[/folder]]
140
141[[folder:Radio]]
142* [[Radio/TheJackBennyProgram Jack Benny]] [[PlayedForLaughs used this trope for comedic effect]] on his radio show (and later, his television show) to the point that his fans came to assume he was a miser in real life. On the contrary, he was actually a kind, generous, and very giving man.
143-->'''Robber:''' Your money or your life.\
144''{{beat}}''\
145'''Robber:''' I said, your money or your life!\
146'''Jack Benny:''' ''ImThinkingItOver!''
147** It's probably worth noting that before Benny, most jokes about misers and skinflints were about Scotsmen or Jews. Afterwards, they were mostly about Jack Benny.
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Theater]]
151* Euclion in Plaute's ''Aulularia'', making it OlderThanFeudalism.
152* Shylock, from Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'', is one of the best (or worst, depending) examples of the [[ValuesDissonance "traditional incarnations"]] of this trope.
153* Creator/ChristopherMarlowe's ''Theatre/TheJewOfMalta'' even more so.
154* Harpagon, the main character in ''L'Avare'' (''Theatre/TheMiser'') by Creator/{{Moliere}} (to the extent that "un harpagon" is practically synonymous with "un avare", i.e. "a miser.", in the French language)
155* Rudolph, the titular character of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Theatre/TheGrandDuke'' is a master of thrift; along with his love interest, Caroline. His opening IAmSong is even based entirely around this theme.
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Video Games]]
159* Marcus Kincaid of ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}''. Would rather shoot you than give you a refund, and in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', he gives the wrong change to a customer and sends you on a mission to get the excess change back. How much change? ''Nine dollars''. (and this is for a sale where he conned the guy out of ''two million'' dollars!) He pays you tons of money to get his nine dollars back, but that's business. He also sends you on a mission to reclaim refund checks he wrote while drunk before they're sent.\
160This is GameplayAndStoryIntegration: towards the end of the second game, you can go around and speak to many of the other characters before facing Handsome Jack. Each will encourage you, and give you a useful item to aid you. [[PetTheDog This includes Marcus]], who doesn't just want you to win because Jack is bad for his business, but because he's a "greedy murdering sonofabitch who needs to die screaming". He then gives you an assault rifle... several levels lower in power than what everyone else gives you.
161* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII Reaper of Souls'' one of the locations in Westmarch is the Miser's Hovel. The titular miser died there and left a note for any relatives telling them he'd rather see them dead than inherit any of his money, so he booby-trapped three chests with only one containing his fortune. His corpse is notable for spawning a large amount of gold all on its own.
162* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': One of the targets of Lester's assassination missions is a tight-fisted billionaire venture capitalist of the "corporate raider" variety, who, despite planning to acquire a controlling stake in a major automotive company, takes the same bus to and from work every day. When you impersonate the driver to get close to him, he balks when he thinks the fares have been raised to ''$1.50'' and steals a pedestrian's bicycle instead.
163* VideoGame/{{Wario}} of ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]'' refuses to pay any of his employees in the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, and most of his adventures in the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games are all motivated by greed and profit. He also refuses to let anyone touch his treasure.
164* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', once you've reached Hardmode you can get the Tax Collector NPC which will collect coins from other [=NPCs=]. Aside from his personality and demeanor, you get the NPC by throwing Purification Powder at a Tortured Soul enemy in the Underworld (the soul even has chains to complete the JacobMarleyApparel look). He's not entirely greedy, though, considering he'll (begrudgingly) give the coins he's collected to you.
165[[/folder]]
166
167[[folder:Visual Novels]]
168* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and its assorted spin-offs, Rin Tohsaka is quite wealthy, owning a large Western-style house filled with ornate furniture in the midst of a crowded Japanese city. Aside from the fortune she inherited from her father, the Tohsaka family also owns a number of magical patents that bring in tens of millions of yen per year. Despite all this, Rin is often portrayed as a penny-pincher, always going for the cheapest option available, even occasionally working part-time jobs for extra cash even though she really has no need for it. Part of this is justified by her family's particular brand of magic requiring the use of large jewels as catalysts, which are, of course, expensive, but she's rarely portrayed as being under genuine financial duress even with this taken into account.
169** It's mentioned a few times in the extended universe that Rin isn't as rich as she implies, as after her mother died, the Tohsaka properties were placed in the hands of Kirei Kotomine, her legal guardian, and through some level of mismanagement on his part the more valuable ones were lost An an offical encyclopeida on Fate zero notes it was due to his his "naïve honesty and crude management" but notes it might have been wilfully inflicted by the priest to teach her humility. And that rin should wollap him for it.
170[[/folder]]
171
172[[folder:Web Original]]
173* ''WebAnimation/MoniRobo'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9-do9Qa_8 Itetsu]] hates wasting money and puts half of his paycheck into savings. He took it too far when his wife Hanayo got pregnant and cut her food expenses from 30,000 yen even after the baby is born. His mother forced him to live on 10,000 yen but he struggled to live with the amount of money and quit. He apologized to his wife and he increased the budget to 70,000 yen.
174* According to her actress, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick is too cheap and miserly to give anyone money. She's also notable for being TheGrinch as well.
175* Gaea from ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' gets lots of money and precious items from her ManipulativeBastard activities, doesn't contribute to her guild's common fund, and acts as if she were in PerpetualPoverty, including using the guild's fund for her own expenses.
176* In many of the ''Platform/GoAnimate'' videos using the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' characters, Fred Jones is made out to be this as he absolutely hates spending money for anything and tries to handle various repairs on his own. Sometimes he ends up acting like a hypocrite as he'll tell someone "no" on doing something, but turn around and do it himself, but in his defense, virtually everything done is done because the rest of the gang would happily break him financially -- Daphne would happily buy any and everything she can find while Shaggy and Scooby would happily eat restaurants out of business if they got a hold of the money.
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Western Animation]]
180* Obviously Scrooge [=McDuck=] in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987''. His rival Flintheart Glomgold is even worse.
181** In the [[Westernanimation/DuckTales2017 reboot]], Scrooge's Board of Directors are a group of buzzards hired because they're even more penny-pinching than Scrooge himself. Their collective EstablishingCharacterMoment is complaining about Scrooge's "waste" of a few thousand dollars (which, comparatively speaking, is pocket change) on a cushion for his NumberOneDime. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed they are F.O.W.L. High Command, which puts a darker spin on their greed; they don't want Scrooge spending money because it's less money for them to use in their schemes to steal even more money]].
182* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Grunkle Stan is shown to be like this. Although he is greedy because [[spoiler:he wants to bring his brother back from AnotherDimension and needs money to survive in the meantime.]]
183* ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'': The cruel greedy aardvark Cyril Sneer lives to embody this trope, although he mellowed a little as the show progressed.
184* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'':
185** The villain in the episode "You Can't Take It With You" is a miserly old billionaire who had built a device that would send his wealth to the afterlife, in effect, allowing him to take it with him. ("I didn't spend my whole life becoming rich just to leave it all to charity!" he rants.) Naturally, he doesn't give a damn about the adverse effects the device will have on the environment; and this isn't a case of a villain just not knowing it's dangerous either, he made sure that he was well protected. When the machine causes an endless mob of ghosts to spill out and Egon discovers that it will cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, the heroes are forced to confront him and fool him into taking himself out.
186** "X-Mas Marks the Spot" has the Ghostbusters accidentally time travel back to Victorian England and meet the ''real'' Ebenezer Scrooge. When Peter tries to bill him for busting the Christmas ghosts, Scrooge balks. He gets out of it by using the lines he tried to pull on Jacob Marley, basically saying he doesn't owe the Ghostbusters anything because he hallucinated the ghosts.
187* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Charles Montgomery Burns]] is the very definition of this trope.
188-->'''Mr. Burns:''' Anybody have change for a button?
189** Also [[Characters/TheSimpsonsMargeSimpson Marge Simpson]], DependingOnTheWriter. Oftentimes the fact Homer is an uninsurable WalkingDisasterArea and money-wasting jerk is brought up (and even then the rest of the family make a point to mention that she's taking it ''way'' too far), but on many episodes the reason she tries to save is out of pure jerkassery of her own, risking things like multi-thousand-dollar car repairs or life and limb for the sake of saving so much as a dime.
190* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs Eugene Krabs]] is a miser with a heart of... well, not gold, but certainly bronze... possibly tin. Or some other metal common enough to make pawning it off not quite worth the effort.
191** Two early examples of this are the episodes "Squid on Strike" and "Born Again Krabs". In the former, Squidward goes on strike when Mr. Krabs starts charging him and [=SpongeBob=] for things such as ''existing''. In the latter, a near-death experience leads Mr. Krabs to try and change his greedy ways, but the fact that he's losing money freaks him out so badly that he ''forces a man watching TV to unwatch it''.
192** In the episode "[=SpongeBob=], You're Fired", he decides [=SpongeBob=] is redundant and lets him go...to save ''five cents'' on his budget. And when [[LethalChef Krabs' attempt at stepping into SpongeBob's shoes is a complete disaster]] and [[LaserGuidedKarma nearly forces him to close the restaurant]], he re-hires [=SpongeBob=]... but [[IgnoredEpiphany installs a coin-operated lock on the bathroom]] so he, Squidward and all customers now need to pay five cents every time they need to go.
193* Ruel Stroud of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}''. Despite his hoards of gold, he's reluctant to part with a single kama.
194* ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' had an uncle named Scrooge like this, although while clearly a miserly old curmudgeon, he was presented somewhat contradictory. To emphasize he was a miser, he reused sugar cubes and clubbed his hapless butler for wasting them, but on the other hand, he seemed to spend a lot more on home security than even the typical Scrooge, having a moat full of alligators to keep annoying relatives away. (His poor butler had to rescue him from said moat several times in his efforts to keep Woody out, to the point where he went nuts and quit [[DrivenToSuicide before throwing himself to them]].)
195[[/folder]]

Top