Line #90 Main/UnluckyEverydude


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17	->''"They were not smart enough to get good grades''"
18	->''"No jobs are reserved for their caste''"
19	->''"They do not have enough money to bribe anyone''"
20	->''"They do not know any Minister to influence anyone''"
21	-->-- ''Danda Pindagallu'' (A controversial South Indian comedy series that lampooned unemployable people with [[ADegreeInUseless BA, BSc and BComm degrees]])
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23
24	The Unlucky Everydude is the OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, grown up and with adult problems. He is not so much average as ''below'' average in some notable way, and [[GenreSavvy aware of his mediocrity]]. But as unlucky as he is, he never quite reaches ButtMonkey status, remaining solidly TheEveryman. His exact problems vary quite widely depending on the comedic or dramatic mood of the series. He may be BookDumb, stuck in PerpetualPoverty, or just suffer from anxiety unrelated to his external circumstances. But by far the most common one is [[CannotTalkToWomen an inability to deal with women]].
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26	On the bright side, though, he almost always has a deep sense of decency--typically what gets him involved in the plot in the first place--often alloyed with a level of persistence that borders on inappropriate. He will try to help people, and keep helping long after everyone else has given up on them. In anime, especially, this can make him a CluelessChickMagnet, which is why he's a staple in BishoujoSeries, especially love/[[HaremComedy harem comedies]]. Although you could argue that anybody who's the focus of a [[HaremGenre harem]] is [[WishFulfillment the opposite of unlucky]].
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28	The depth of his flaws varies wildly from series to series, and being an AudienceSurrogate, how likeable he is often depends on his chemistry with the other characters. In a MagicalGirlfriend series, his personality tends to be more moderate since he'll inevitably get together with the lead. But in a HaremSeries, his haplessness makes him appealingly harmless to the girls. He will also [[LovingAShadow fill any basic role they project on him]]. His inexperience with girls is a constant source of humor, but since they usually won't have much experience with guys either (save the HardDrinkingPartyGirl, who finds him a source of amusement), the awkwardness is mutual.
29
30	His parents [[ParentalAbandonment will not be around, for whatever reason]]; more distant relatives may be featured. If he has siblings, it will be a cute little sister or [[CoolBigSis sexy big sister]].
31
32	His design should ideally be muted to a basic outfit and a realistic hair color, although he'll sometimes be a {{bishonen}} simply due to being [[GenericCuteness drawn in an appealing artstyle]].
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34	A poorly done case will result in MartyStu--his only flaws are informed ones and he fixes other people's problems easily.
35
36	Compare: TheEveryman. See also: the female counterpart to Unlucky Everydude, the NaiveEverygirl. If this character is gay, he is likely to be TheTwink. No connection to [[Film/TheBigLebowski The Dude]].
37	----
38	!!Examples
39
40	[[foldercontrol]]
41
42	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
43	* ''Manga/AbsoluteBoyfriend'': Riiko is an Unlucky Everydud''ette'', she has a string of rejections and doesn't seem to realize that her UnluckyChildhoodFriend has a crush on her (that or his teasing her simply puts her off).
44	* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'': Keiichi Morisato had trouble with girls due to his short height, which affected his self-confidence, but he is otherwise a moderate character; he has friends, went to a decent college, and has a knack for auto mechanics. His real problem is that he has absurdly terrible luck, to the point that even when things go his way, they do so via something else going horribly wrong.
45	* ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'': Kaoru Hanabishi had no real obvious issues (and was considered attractive) until his "unluckiness" was revealed as being the victim of orphanhood ''and'' repeated [[AbusiveParents child abuse]] from his grandfather.
46	%%* Manga/{{Beelzebub}}: Furuichi.
47	* Kouta from ''Manga/ElfenLied''. He is constantly found in [[AccidentalPervert compromising positions with female characters]] by... [[PrettyFreeloaders other female characters]], and is given a lot of flack for this by [[ClingyJealousGirl Yuka]]. Not to mention [[spoiler: his entire family ends up being killed]] because of one white lie.
48	* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' features Hayate, a debt-ridden butler who has poverty and bad luck written all over his face. Note that his parents named him Hayate (wind) so he could run fast as the wind from the debt-collectors and other "[[{{Yakuza}} very nice people]]".
49	* ''Manga/HereIsGreenwood'': Kazuya Hasukawa of is prone to nosebleeds whenever he's stressed (like around his first crush, who ended up marrying his brother), attracts the kind of people who pick on him, is prone to illness, and has such bad luck that he was hit by a car on his way to his new school, delaying his entry by a month. He's also extremely fast, reasonably athletic, and at least decent in his studies.
50	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Jean Havoc is relatively attractive, an army officer, and generally a nice guy. Despite this, his bad luck with women is notorious among his friends and colleagues, who often add insult to injury by making fun of him for it. There's also the time his new girlfriend turns out to be [[spoiler:Lust]], who proceeds to [[spoiler:''stab him'' in the abdomen, effectively [[HandicappedBadass paralyzing him]] from the waist down]]. Poor, poor Havoc... [[spoiler: But he gets his leg mobility back in the end.]]
51	%%* Tomoki from ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty''.
52	* ''Manga/LoveHina'':
53	** Keitaro Urashima was a victim of low self-esteem, bad grades and terrible luck with girls, and was initially only kept afloat by [[PollyAnna a near-irrational optimism]].
54	** [[DistaffCounterpart Ema Maeda]] from the epilogue. Low self-esteem, [[BookDumb bad grades,]] [[{{Meganekko}} wears glasses,]] small breasts, [[CuteClumsyGirl klutzy?]] All check.
55	* ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'': Akito Tenkawa of is traumatized (and continues to be so) to the point of actual Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But, for whatever reason, he still attracts a sizable UnwantedHarem.
56	* Daikichi from ''Manga/MyLovelyGhostKana'' ends up in the haunted apartment after losing his job and his previous residence. Even a chapter after he meets [[CuteGhostGirl Kana]], some of the residual bad luck shows back up, with over half his belongings being destroyed before he got them back from the moving company.
57	* Fujiki in ''Manga/CheekyAngel'' is constantly [[LampshadeHanging commenting on]] just how overwhelmingly average he is.
58	* Rito, the protagonist of ''Manga/ToLoveRu'', has trouble confessing his love to Haruna, then after Lala comes along, he seems unable to go through a day without being an AccidentalPervert and chastised by any girl he happens to fall on.
59	* ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' has Ikuya Asano (Youko's best friend), and Suzu as the RareFemaleExample. [[spoiler: Asano falls into despair, loses his sanity and dies, Suzu has to [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn her happy ending]].]]
60	* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': Ataru was born on Friday [[FourIsDeath April]] 13th, during an earthquake, under a full moon, after his mother walked under a ladder and a black cat crossed her path, etc. He's so unlucky that the sole attempt to exorcise his bad luck backfired on him while simultaneously accidentally helping the {{Miko}} who attempted the exorcism. He falls behind in the "everydude" part, though, seeing as how he's a {{Determinator}} and LovableSexManiac of such intense perversion he's outright stated to be ''the'' most concentrated source of lust in the known universe. He comes off as average because everyone else he hangs out with is even more bizarre...
61	* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': Karino ''is'' [[DoggedNiceGuy a nice guy]] and he's a reasonably good [[OccultDetective detective]]. The problem is, he's a bit of a bumbler, who's usually buried under a mountain of paperwork, due to the department he works for ([[ReassignedToAntarctica U Division]]) being severely understaffed.[[note]]As in, only ''three people'' work there; including himself.[[/note]] To say nothing of his attempts to hook up with [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Ayaka Kisaragi]], who he assigns his extra cases to, as a personal favor. Which she appreciates and knows he's a good man... it's just [[PlayingHardToGet she prefers to play hard to get.]]
62	* ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'': Shu Ouma is this. As if getting powers from the Void Genome is bad enough, he has to go through a lot of trouble from getting involved with freedom fighters, to becoming a student council president later on [[spoiler:(not to mention a tyrant after Hare’s death)]]. Mostly he did this to impress Inori.
63	* Ryuuji from ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' has the FaceOfAThug, but people seem to get over that early into the anime to instead spread the SheIsNotMyGirlfriend rumor.
64	* ''Manga/TheUnpopularMangakaAndTheHelpfulOnryoSan'': As you might guess from the title, Senai isn't very successful as a mangaka and has to work a part-time job to make ends meet. He doesn't seem to have many friends either, only really spending time with Onryo-san and Hakuu.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Comic Books]]
68	* ComicBook/SpiderMan's first incarnation is a standard, if nerdy and weak, high school student, who just happens be at the right place at the right time. Creator/SteveDitko forgot this and turned it into an Objectivist AuthorTract. Then he turned college-age Peter into a [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Badboy]]. It continues to fluctuate DependingOnTheWriter.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Fan Works]]
72	* In ''Fanfic/RiskItAll'', Ren is friendless, has middling grades, and lives in [[WretchedHive Gotham City]] of all places while his parents struggle to make ends meet. To try and ease their burden, he uses his gambling talent to make money as a "part-time job", but it ends up biting him in the rear when Black Mask shoots him, leaving him in a six-month coma that forces his dad to reach out to Ren's estranged uncle for financial support.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
76	* ''Pervert!'': James is established as this from the beginning, though he seems to become a ChickMagnet for any of his father's lovers. It turns out voodoo powers have made him sexually irresistible to women and [[spoiler: the voodoo curse has given his penis a life, and monstrous personality, of its own]].
77	* Scott Summers from the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''. Beaten down by Deathstrike, and his relationship with Jean ends up in the worst way possible.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Literature]]
81	%%* Nate Tucker from ''[[Literature/FourteenPeterClines 14]]'' by Peter Clines is more or less this in spades. That's before he goes to live at the [[EldritchLocation Kavach Building]].
82	* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' gives us protagonist Kamijou Touma, who has a tendency to get into various scraps because of his ChronicHeroSyndrome. Compounded even worse because of his ability [[AntiMagic Imagine Breaker]], which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] to even negate his [[CosmicPlaything luck]]! This ability also justifies the light novel's HaremGenre, as his Imagine Breaker is even thought to be able to cancel the Red String of Fate. No fated lover means plenty of available options...
83	* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' stars Richard Mayhew, an ordinary bloke in an ordinary London desk job. In one afternoon, he decides to be a GoodSamaritan which both alienates his fiancee and gets him pulled into the DarkWorld of London Below somehow, making him a complete {{Unperson}} to everyone up above.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
87	* In the early aughts, there was a short lived Carnatic language controversial comedy series called ''Danda Pindagallu'', whose name transliterates to “lumps of waste”. The show poked fun at three guys who had earned only a three year Bachelor of Arts (humanities), Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce degree respectively. Episode after episode featured these guys trying to get a job and failing because their degrees on their own are insufficient to get a job, their grades were average, they couldn’t qualify for affirmative action benefits and they had neither the wealth or connections to get them opportunities. The show came off as elitist and needless to say, [[DudeNotFunny very few people were laughing along with it]].
88	* Franchise/KamenRider has three unlucky everydudes, and they are all from shows written by the [[Creator/YasukoKobayashi same writer]]. [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Shinji Kido]] (who shares the same first name as the well-known Anime ButtMonkey) [[Series/KamenRiderDenO Ryotaro Nogami]] (who is so unlucky it makes WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck look like Lady Fortune's favorite boy) and [[Series/KamenRiderOOO Eiji Hino]] ([[HiddenDepths who hides a]] DarkAndTroubledPast).
89	* Cory in ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' doesn't like being the middle child and he's insecure about his looks.
90	* Dobie Gillis of ''Series/TheManyLovesOfDobieGillis'' is an average guy in every way, which isn't much help for trying to get with girls that are out of his league. The one girl who ''does'' like him, Zelda, is an InsufferableGenius who's more than a bit [[SelfProclaimedLoveInterest pushy]].
91	* The hosts of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' are described as being not too different from the average person. However, they're all being held captive by mad scientists and subjected to cruel experiments.
92	%%* Joe in ''Series/{{Wishbone}}''.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Manhwa]]
96	* ''Manhwa/FaeriesLanding'': Ryang Jegal is cursed to suffer 108 doomed relationships. This is [[PlayedForLaughs played up for comedy]].
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Video Games]]
100	* Larry Butz in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series. He can't hold a girlfriend or a job and almost falls under ditz status. His friends mock his troubles by saying "When something smells, it's usually the Butz." Not to mention his annoying, unlucky and dumb-witted personality gets some of the characters in the 3rd game to point out just how much of a menace he is to society. Still, he's pretty cute, and even though he gets in the way, he always has good intentions and does his best to help his friends out however he can.
101	%%* The ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series has Desmond Miles.
102	* [[Characters/DanganronpaMakotoNaegi Makoto Naegi]] from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' presents himself as this, claiming his Super High School Level Good Luck is actually Bad Luck. [[spoiler: Until he gets re-titled as Super High School Level Hope, that is.]]
103	* Almaz from ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3\|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' is pretty normal except for low courage (gets better in chapter 4) and his [[{{ChewToy}} extremely awful luck]].
104	* Kouno Takaaki from ''VisualNovel/ToHeart2'' outright states in the third episode that he has problems in dealing with women, by virtue of growing up with an Imouto and CoolBigSis childhood friends.
105	* Nishiki from ''VideoGame/WhenYanderesCry''. He starts the game by dating his ChildhoodFriend, but the vacation they attempt to share alone is changed when four girls "coincidentally" run into them. What follows is his girlfriend getting killed and him running around an abandoned mansion to hide from them.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Web Comics]]
109	* ''Webcomic/DICETheCubeThatChangesEverything'':
110	** Dongtae was very unfortunate at the start of the story -- beaten, abused by his classmates and having his crush fall for his [[TheRival rival]]. However, as time passes and he continues to use the Dice, he manages to move from this territory and become strong enough to shake off all his bullying.
111	** While Byungchul used to live a rather peaceful life with the bullies preferring to torture Dongtae, that all changes as Dongtae becomes stronger and bullies switch their attention to him.
112	* ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'': It's a wonder Ace doesn't simply ask, [[DudeWheresMyRespect "Why me?"]], 'cuz he's almost always [[ButtMonkey given the short end of the stick]] no matter the situation. His chance at setting a new school track record? Taken from him, [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/hello_self-esteem! right at the finish line]], due to a meddling little girl, while the two [[JerkJock school jerks]] mock him. At the end of [[GenderBender the Tiresias Orb incident]], everyone was returned to normal... [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/what_was_that%EF%BC%9F except him.]] Leaving him stuck in a girl's body for the entirety of vol.1, until he finally got [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/kiss_boys his own body back.]] Ace's one and ''only'' bout of ''[[ThrowTheDogABone good fortune]]'', was when he [[spoiler:[[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/puppy_puppy_puppy got together]] [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/move-it-around_powers with Brooke]]]], [[YankTheDogsChain which wasn't allowed to last]], thanks to Tia and Melissa's interference.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Western Animation]]
116	%%* WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}: Doug Funnie.
117	* The titular trio from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' are textbook examples of this. Eddy in particular was this [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in the earliest episodes]] before he was turned into his better-known con-man persona.
118	* WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}: [[Characters/FuturamaPhilipJFry Philip J. Fry]].
119	--> "I've run over black cats who were luckier than me."
120	* WesternAnimation/KimPossible: [[Characters/KimPossibleRonStoppable Ron Stoppable]]. His parents almost [[ParentalNeglect never seem to be around]], their approach to moving to Norway or adopting a baby is to present him with the outcome, he can never get a date, he's constantly picked on and considered a loser (despite being the valued {{sidekick}} [[DudeWheresMyRespect to a world-saving heroine]]), '''and''' is the ne'er-do-well sidekick to the main character. This seems to [[SpannerInTheWorks act]] [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo in]] [[AccidentalAthlete his]] [[AreTheseWiresImportant favor]] occasionally. It's dropped in the fourth season.
121	%%* WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}: Gus Griswald.
122	* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Amongst his whole family which includes a MadScientist, [[Characters/RickAndMortyJerrySmith Jerry Smith's]] skills seem very mediocre on paper, and because of this he gets little respect from others. Rick and Beth (mostly the former) constantly belittle his intellect and spinelessness, and he's rarely the one to save the day when the family is in danger. "Total Rickall" for example has him mostly clinging to parasite-disguised-as-a-lover Sleepy Gary, and he gets stuck in a unseen side plot through most of "Solaricks" [[spoiler:because he's been sent back to the universe he was swapped from]].
123	* For the title character of ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', every day is a very dangerous day... Especially if this involves sentient vacuum cleaners, runaway laundromat machines, messy hair, crazy friends and the like.
124	[[/folder]]

Context Main / UnluckyEverydude