Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context OnlySaneMan / AnimeAndManga

Go To

1%%%
2%%
3%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4%%
5%%%
6
7----
8
9* ''Manga/AnimalCrossingNewHorizonsDesertedIslandDiary'': Tom Nook fills this role in the manga, often being quite surprised and stressed by the antics of the islanders.
10* Kou of ''Manga/ArakawaUnderTheBridge'' perceives himself to be this, and has decided it is his job to restore some measure of sanity to the other people living under the bridge. However, his sanity is largely relative to the residents living under the bridge...
11* In the ''Manga/Area88'' manga, Mickey tries to be a voice of reason to others. When the lost soul with PTSD is the sane man of the story, it really highlights how unstable and reckless the other characters are.
12** During his meeting with Rishar, he tries to give the idealistic Rishar a dose of reality by reminding him of how many people have been killed by Asran's civil war. When Rishar waxes poetic about the will of the Asranian people, Mickey warns Rishar that the people may call for Rishar's execution after the war.
13** Mickey tries (and fails) to convince Saki that Rishar's peace conference proposal was genuine. He also talks at length with Saki about Asran's poverty, but Saki is unwilling to consider selling Asranian oil. Later, Mickey reacts with understandable horror when Saki proposes using nuclear weapons against the anti-government forces.
14** In a manga issue published in ''Animerica'', he flies after a distraught Greg following the deaths of Jensen and Campbell and tries to talk him down, seeing as Greg has flown off into a war zone.
15* ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'':
16** When she's still in high school, [[{{Tsundere}} Mikage Sakura]] takes this position in the [[ClubStub Earth Sciences Club]] since she's the only one who can think rationally at all times.
17** After Mikage GraduateFromTheStory, this role is played by [[TheQuietOne Ao Manaka]]; despite her [[DitzyGenius occational lapse of sense]], she's the most logical of the cast. The most evident of it is in Chapter 45, when she took over the place of handing "Rejected" responses to Mira's plans, like what Mikage did in Chapter 3.
18* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh''. Yomi is probably the most sane person in her group, followed by Chiyo.
19* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'''s Firo Prochainezo acts like this quite a bit in the LightNovels, as sometimes he just can't help but realize that his friends are really, ''really'' weird. The saner ones include a 200-year-old man with BigBrotherInstinct the size of the continental US and the [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Scientist's]] [[ObliviousToLove Love-Oblivious]] [[ArtificialHuman Lab-Grown Servant]] [[TheAtoner With A Troubled Conscience]]. The loony side of the spectrum includes Claire Stanfield, who is...well, ''[[AxCrazy Cla]][[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} ire]] [[HeroicComedicSociopath Friggin]] [[AGodAmI Stan]][[PsychoForHire field]]''.
20* Rock in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' is the one character in the show who isn't a hardened criminal, and as such he's constantly questioning the sanity or morality of the actions of his shipmates. Since he's such a lousy criminal, he ends up taking care of mundane affairs and running errands.
21** When even Rock is becoming reckless the role typically goes to Dutch. He's the first one to tell off Revy if she starts slaughtering noncombatants, and was the voice of reason among Lagoon Company before Rock came around.
22* ''Anime/BeastWarsII'' has Scuba, the voice of reason among the Maximal cast. He serves as a direct counter to his hot-blooded teammate Tasmania Kid.
23* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has surprising few examples that truly fit this trope, despite all the crazy situations that happen throughout the course of the story.
24** The main manga example is the very dark Chapter 453, where Ichigo becomes this. [[spoiler:As [[DissonantSerenity Tsukishima]] uses a [[CareBearStare mysterious power]] to [[FakeMemories convince]] almost everyone in Ichigo's life that he's [[{{Brainwashed}} their best friend or relative]], Ichigo's left feeling like [[WorldGoneMad the whole world has gone utterly insane]]... but to everyone else, it's Ichigo who's behaving oddly.]]
25** Very early on, Ichigo sees himself as this when literally everyone around him gets caught up in Don Kanonji hype enough to mimic the celebrity's signature laugh. Even Rukia, who doesn't actually know what's going on and is just joining the fun.
26** In [[{{Filler}} Episode 303]], the shinigami play a New Year's [[{{Calvinball}} karuta card game]]. It's originally supposed to be based on a real game but [[KillerRabbit Yachiru]] doesn't bother explaining the rules. Players get ejected on the basis of made-up rules and things quickly degenerate into chaos with [[FunctionalMagic kidou]] and [[PersonalityPowers shikai]] being liberally thrown around. And then [[FinishingMove bankai]] reduces everything to [[LawOfDisproportionateResponse rubble]]. Hitsugaya is the only sane man.
27** In [[{{Filler}} Episode 335]], Kira GotVolunteered by Hisagi to host an New Year's divisional kite-flying bonding exercise, but Hisagi sabotages it to spice things up. Things [[{{Calvinball}} escalate]] from gentle bonding to all-out war. Only sane man Kira attempts to end it but accidentally destroys Yamamoto's barracks. Yamamoto's UnstoppableRage ends the chaos with the effectiveness of a FantasticNuke.
28* In ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'', Beauty (and occasionally Gasser) seems to be the only one capable of noticing how strange everyone else is acting, despite a few rare occurrences where she acts strange as well. Softon applies too, being slightly more serious than everyone else, but when your head is shaped like poop/chocolate ice cream, it's hard to be taken seriously.
29* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Saizo and Rokuro divide this position as amongst the Braves they are the most reasonable and down-to-earth ones, but both can be egged on to join in the shenanigans at different times, Saizo most likely by [[TokenEvilTeammate Kamanosuke]] or an opponent, and Rokuro by [[HandsomeLech Yukimura]].
30* There are seven [[PowerLevels Level 5 espers]] in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''. Accelerator is an AxeCrazy sociopath obsessed with becoming strong enough so that no one will ever even challenge him (and even after his HeelFaceTurn is still violently antisocial), Kakine is basically Accelerator with [[EvenEvilHasStandards fewer standards]], Mugino is an arrogant elitist with a penchant for DisproportionateRetribution, Shokuhou is a paranoid mind-controller, [[TheGhost the sixth is always missing]], and Gunha thinks he's the protagonist of a shonen manga, complete with HotBlooded speeches. Mikoto Misaka, the third-ranked Level 5, is the OnlySaneMan of the group, and is thus the unofficial poster girl for Academy City. Of course, she isn't exactly a paragon of mental health either, being a {{tsundere}} BullyHunter [[OneOfTheKids with some really childish tastes]], but the administration of the city can hide those things easier than the rest.
31* ''Manga/CityHunter'':
32** The typical reaction of one-shot characters to Ryo and Kaori's antics. Even Saeko, who has known Ryo for a long time, tends to get these...
33** When charged with guarding actress Yumiko Sato against life-threatening 'accidents', Ryo found himself the Only Sane Man when compared to Yumiko: she's even loonier than him. Between the two of them, the poor director was getting crazy even before Umibozu replaced all the fake guns used in the movie with actual ones (including a bazooka)...
34** Sayaka Ryujin's arc featured a free for all for the title, due the crazyness of all characters: Sayaka is left speechless at Ryo's antics (and her own inability to get rid of him) and at Kaori kidnapping the guys she had sent to kidnap her, Ryo and Kaori are unable to tell who's crazier between Sayaka (who tried everything to rid herself of Ryo) and her father (his reaction to Sayaka faking to seduce Ryo to get him in trouble with Kaori was crying: "Saeba! Why did you refuse my daughter?!"), and all of them look positively sane when Torakichi Seiken shows up with enormous platform boots and tries to pass himself as a much bigger man (Sayaka actually facepalmed when she realized the biker gang giving her trouble worked for Torakichi, and continued facepalming until Ryo recovered from the shock of having to deal with that idiot and his gang and mopped the floor with them).
35** Kaori found herself in this position when Mick Angel showed up, as Mick is practically an American version of Ryo, just whackier and more perverted.
36* Toki in ''Manga/CodeBreaker'', almost exclusively around {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Yuuki; apparently Oogami, CrazyPrepared and Sakura, a CuteBruiser [[{{Determinator}} Determinatrix]] don't (usually) push the boundaries of {{Shonen}} sanity enough to bother him.
37* Hilariously, ''Ein the dog'' is heavily implied to be the only sane being aboard the [[Anime/CowboyBebop Bebop.]]
38** Jet as well, to some extent.
39* Though not intended to give this effect, Prince Odysseus in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' appears to be the only sane man in [[WorldOfHam all of Britannia]]. Though frequently called "mediocre" and depicted as indecisive and having a flat, unexcitable temperament, these aren't necessarily bad things in governance, he's only indecisive insofar as that he is basically the only character who is open to more than one possibility while dealing with complex, volatile geopolitical situations (nobody in this world ever thinks to abandon or even amend their absurdly convoluted plans when [[OhCrap everything falls apart]], despite millions of lives and entire economies often being at stake contingencies plans are completely unheard of) and reacts to things in a calm, reasonable manner rather than standing up, screaming and launching into a silly hand movement. He acts like a normal politician in world-power that's seemingly run entirely by supervillains. He's always the voice of reason, he's never paralysed with shock and never raises his voice. He may very well be the only reason the Holy Empire of Britannia hasn't destroyed the world in a barrage of explosive shells, off-model faces and ridiculous poses.
40** Euphemia also has this effect being one of few major characters whose solution to everything isn't mecha, morally ambiguous to evil schemes, and costumes. Her tendencies are only less than her older brother mentioned above because she is a bit reckless and naive. [[spoiler:At least until Lelouch Geassed her by mistake...]]
41* In ''Corseltel no Ryuujitsushi'' and sequels, Nata the darkness dragon is this to the other baby dragons. In terms of older dragons and mages, he's still just a baby, though.
42* Takeshi Kamiyama from ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool''. Though, perhaps, he's best labeled "Only Sane-ish Man."
43** Although Maeda seems to get this kind of treatment somewhat too, seeing how he is the only one of the main cast who seems to care about stuff like that you need nine players to play baseball, AND that gorillas and motorcycles don't count as players, something Kamiyama seems to completely ignore at that point.
44* In ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'', there's Tadakuni towards Hidenori and Yoshitake, Tadakuni's DistaffCounterpart Habara towards Yanagin and Ikushima, and, on top of all, Karasawa.
45* In ''[[Manga/DeathNote How to Read 13]]'', (the ''Manga/DeathNote'' encyclopedia), after the quiz, it shows that Soichiro Yagami is the only one with common sense.
46* Marcille from ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' is the only one to point out how outlandish or dangerous Laios and Senshi's plans are. Chilchuck feels the same way, but is more resigned and goes along with it.
47* Juu from ''Literature/DenpaTekiNaKanojo'' is this in a more literal sense: he's one of the few characters who can claim a clean bill of mental health.
48* The Budokai announcer and dog king of the world in ''Manga/DragonBall'' are probably the only persons in the world not connected to the main cast to realize that Mr. Satan's claims of beating Cell are nonsensical and that it was much more likely he was defeated by one of those super powerful people who had fought in the previous Budokais and defeated Demon King Piccolo.
49** General Blue during the Dr. Slump crossover is the only one, including Goku, to notice how totally insane the world of Dr. Slump and its people are. They both nearly go mad from the craziness.
50** Piccolo becomes this when he's around Goku, Goten, Trunks, and especially Gotenks. You have to feel sorry for the guy when he had to deal with Gotenks' ego trips when the fate of the universe lays in his hands.
51** Bulma thinks she's this to the main cast. In some areas she is since she tends to point out the practical solution to a bunch of {{Blood Knight}}s. However, [[NotSoAboveItAll she can become just as goofy and out there as the rest of the characters, especially when she's around Vegeta]].
52** Tagoma in ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection 'F']]'' is the only one to point out to Frieza post-revival that simply ignoring Earth and the Saiyans and resuming business as normal, [[RevengeBeforeReason instead of being so focused on getting revenge]], would be the best course of action. [[spoiler:Tagoma is [[KickTheDog thrown out an airlock as a result]], but by the end of the film, he turns out to have been right.]]
53** Future Trunks stands out as a contrast to the other Z-Fighters by being the only one to know the consequences of letting an enemy live. As a result, whenever he comes across an enemy, he tends to finish them off as fast as possible where if someone else is in a similar position, they would probably stall until it's too late. Given the BadFuture that Future Trunks came from, where such stalling frequently got them killed against the ruthless enemies Trunks has fought, he is very, very justified in this.
54* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' has the main protagonist Celty Sturluson, who happens to be a [[HeadlessHorseman dullahan]] that doubles as a BadassBiker. To put this in perspective, the sanest person in the entire main cast happens to be a headless, amnesiac psychopomp. That alone should tell you what kind of series this is.
55** Kyohei Kadota is this for the van gang.
56* [[DarkActionGirl Re-l]] from ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' to the point of being TheComicallySerious. This is, however, mostly due to her lack of social interaction with regular people, and she eventually comes to realise that everybody has flaws, and sometimes it's best to just accept it and go with the flow.
57* In ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', Watanabe was at first the only one who complained about working for the Department of City Security, the absurd situations they were put in, how ridiculous their equipment was, while everyone else kept quiet because his co-workers were either idiots or were just okay with getting work. Then things got more dangerous and Watanabe went insane, and for a while Sumiyoshi was the only one upset at how unstable everything had gotten. He calmed down once Matsuya started working to keep everyone out of danger.
58* Lucy is pretty much the only sane person in the guild in ''Manga/FairyTail''. When she points out what's wrong people act like she's a loony. Later she is joined by Max, Warren, Carla and Pantherlily.
59* Kitsurubami is easily the most sane person in ''Anime/{{FLCL}}''... not that that really says much.
60** It certainly didn't stop her from falling in love with a flying robot with a TV for a head. Yeah...
61** You're probably forgetting [[LittleMissSnarker Ninamori]]...
62* ''Anime/{{Free}}'': Tachibana Makoto, the [[TeamMom mother-hen]] of the team, takes up this role. On top of that he has the rather exhausting job of CloudcuckoolandersMinder to his [[HeterosexualLifepartners closest]] [[HoYay friend]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Haruka]] but he takes it all in stride though not without throwing in a comment or two from time to time...
63* Hatori from ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' seems to be the only sane one in his group of friends (the other two are Shigure and Ayame) Whenever they start their antics, he chimes in with a line like "How could anyone sleep with all this noise?" or "Don't the two of you ever stop?"
64* Yukiteru of ''Manga/FutureDiary'' ''was'' the OnlySaneMan until his parents died and he was convinced he could make things right by becoming God; "sane" being defined as "not a homicidal maniac". He may have a FreudianExcuse, but when you massacre orphans in the name of becoming God, you lose your "sane" title[[note]]Though it should be noted said orphans were trained combatants and better organized than most child soldiers[[/note]].
65** ''Very'' ironically, the end reveals that Yuno was the only "true" sane person all along (yes you read that right), especially when the various reasons for her actions ([[spoiler:her inability to save the First World Yukiteru and the fact everyone in the Second World was as good as dead anyway]]) are brought to light. Indeed, ''Mirai Nikki'' is one of the rare cases where it's not the [[AxCrazy ax wielding]] {{Yandere}} that's nuts, but the world around her with its warped metaphysical laws and facade of "normal" society.
66* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'':
67** [[StraightMan Shinpachi]], even though [[NotSoAboveItAll he sometimes get carried away by his friends' weirdness]].
68** Tsukuyo, as well ([[CantHoldHerLiquor when she's sober, anyway]]).
69* {{Zigzagged|Trope}} by Shiina from ''Manga/GourmetGirlGraffiti''. While in her family she is seen to be aloof and does not adhere to social norm much, when grouped with Ryou and Kirin, she seems to be the only one that doesn't make rash decisions or do spur of the moment things as the other two girls have a habit of doing, particularly Kirin.
70* ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'''s Kodaka Hasegawa serves as this to the Neighbors Club, a school club ostensibly aiming to help its members make friends -- and he shares the clubroom with an [[{{Jerkass}} abrasive]] [[AloofDarkHairedGirl brunette]], a [[MsFanservice ridiculously sexy]] [[RichBitch high-class brat]], an [[DudeLooksLikeALady effeminate]] [[WholesomeCrossdresser crossdresser]], a [[LovableSexManiac perverted]] [[TeenGenius teenage prodigy]], his little sister [[ElegantGothicLolita under a constant self-delusion of being a vampire-loli]], and a [[HollywoodNuns ten-year-old nun]] with [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} serious reality-checking issues]]. The only reason he's even with the Club is because his [[FaceOfAThug facial structure]] and naturally-blond hair makes him pass up for some {{delinquent}}.
71* Haré often takes this role in ''Anime/HareGuu''. Sometimes his desire for normalcy makes him abnormal.
72* Integra ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' comes to mind. Despite a relatively DarkAndTroubledPast involving her EvilUncle, she's the ''only'' character in the series who's not a SociopathicHero, BloodKnight, or AxCrazy. She also appears to be the most balanced and stable out of all the characters, which is probably why she's so good at dealing with [[VillainProtagonist Alucard]].
73%%** Some would say that Seras Victoria is one of these as well.
74* ''Anime/HenkeiShoujo'': Hiromi, the protagonist of the shorts, seems to be the only person in the shorts' universe who reacts in any way to the titular transforming girls.
75* ''Manga/HenZemi'': Nanako is often the butt of everyone's odd fetishes, although she does have her own, hers are just overshadowed by the others.
76* When you consider the story of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', you'll learn to understand that [[DrillSergeantNasty Germany]] is played out as the only sane man when it comes to the Axis Powers, while England takes up this role for the Allies. However, you really have to stretch the definition of "sane" to an extreme. [[CassandraTruth Especially with England's ability to see magical creatures]].
77** Depending on who you ask, England could be replaced in this trope by [[ImmortalImmaturity China]].
78** Ukraine is the least crazy out of her siblings... But that isn't saying much considering her brother is [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]] and her sister is [[{{Yandere}} Bel]][[BigBrotherAttraction arus]], and she comes off as quite spacey herself. When the rest of the Eastern European Soap Opera is considered, Estonia and Lithuania seem to play this, though even ''that'' is questionable at best. Especially if you put Belarus in front of the latter.
79** Iceland considers himself to be the most sane and mature of the Nordics, but his [[HiddenDepths hidden]] [[HotBlooded hot-blooded side]] and slightly bratty nature often belies it. Amusingly, at one point he is horrified to consider that ''he'' may be the strange one of the group.
80** Cyprus is the peace-loving NiceGuy among the [[SitcomArchnemesis constant conflict between Turkey and Greece]], and has tried to get them to stop fighting several times, to no avail.
81* Male lead Arima provides this role in ''Manga/HighSchoolNinjaGirlOtonashiSan'' by virtue of being an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent in a series with a ninja girl leaping around and other oddities.
82* In the first arc of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', Keiichi appears to be the only one to realize how bizarre and sinister the town is getting while all his friends start acting hostile and suspicious, [[SubvertedTrope but later arcs make it clear]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he was the crazy one.]] However, in other arcs just about everyone seems to be crazy at one point or another, but throughout the story, we never see [[spoiler:Mion Sonozaki]] snap [[spoiler:though her sister does and starts pretending to be her.]] Even the center of the events, [[spoiler:Rika Furude]], went crazy a few times, even if she never accomplished anything.
83* ''Manga/IgaNoKabamaru'': Mai Ookumo. Between her absent minded and near-senile grandmother, the ObviouslyEvil StudentCouncilPresident and belligerent idiot Kabamaru, Mai is the only main character with any common sense.
84* Variation of ED's henchmen in ''Anime/IxionSagaDT'' is relatively normal, while the others sometimes seem to be born in {{Cloudcuckooland}}.
85* Moa Minami in ''Manga/KaijuGirlCaramelise''. The other characters include Kuroe Akaishi, who can secretly turn into the {{Kaiju}} Harugon, {{Secret Keeper}}s of her's such as her mother Rinko and her HonoraryUncle Koutarou, {{Cloud Cuckoolander}}s like Manatsu who relish the idea of a real Kaiju, and Kuroe's boyfriend Arata Minami, who doesn't know the full story of Harugon's real identity but is [[DissonantSerenity remarkably unbothered by the existence of a real Kaiju]]. Moa, in contrast, has a more realistic attitude toward the whole situation, calling out her brother for his lack of concern over Harugon walking past their apartment and being more startled than he is over Manatsu's abrupt [[PeopleInRubberSuits "Harugon suit"]] visit.
86* Hyuga Koushiro is more or less this in ''Manga/KamisamaDolls'', especially among the Seki. Utao and Kirio are [[BrattyHalfPint just children]], Aki's a homicidal maniac and Mahiru is... not all together there. Kyouhei ''tries'' to be this but still has lingering, unresolved issues from the same event that broke Mahiru and contributed to Aki's issues.
87* Tomoe from ''Manga/KamisamaKiss'' is probably the most grounded, pragmatic, realistic and level-headed character in the show. At least compared to Nanami, a Type B {{Tsundere}} LargeHam with ChronicHeroSyndrome, or BunnyEarsLawyer Otohiko.
88* ''Manga/KatteNiKaizo'' gives us Umi and Suzu, subverted with Umi though as it turns out [[spoiler: she's just as [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} zant]] as Kaizo, but better at keeping a lid on it.]]
89* Sanpeita from ''Manga/KemekoDeluxe'' is apparently the only sane man left on the planet. While his classmates have a problem with their short, {{Gonk}}-ish, supernaturally powerful and totally insane teacher insisting she's married to him, their problem is generally jealousy. His childhood friend, who is aware that the teacher is a cyborg suit containing a hot girl, tends to ignore this in favour of protesting to the impropriety of the relationship. His sister is in raptures over her cool "onee-sama". His mother is totally oblivious. Meanwhile Sanpeita cries about how his normal life is being totally destroyed...
90* ''Manga/KOn'':
91** Azusa appears to be this at first, and rails on the other members of the band for not being what she expected (in the respect that they rarely practiced, and sat around eating cake and drinking tea), but eventually accepts that their own quirks are what makes them what they are, and later on gets shocked when it gets pointed out to her how she became just as quirky as them through association.
92** Nodoka is the real only sane woman. She's the only one that does not fall to the other girls antics.
93** There was also Mio Akiyama, who keeps the Light Music Club in check. Unfortunately she is overpowered by {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s and [[GenkiGirl Genki Girls]]. This was until Azusa Nakano came in and shared that position.
94* Taizo in ''Manga/TheLegendOfKoizumi'' is the only one to realize the patent absurdity of a world where politics are decided by mahjong, [[WeCanRebuildHim they really can rebuild him]], and the Nazi high command not only survived WWII, but have been living on a moon base this entire time.
95* ''Literature/LogHorizon:''
96** Shiroe, Nyanta and Tohya usually end up in this position when faced with the antics of the rest of the guild.
97** The West Wind Brigade is essentially an one-guild harem comedy. The only sane member is Dolce, who is actually an inversion of {{GIRL}} (woman playing as a male character) and makes no effort to hide her true gender, resulting in looking as weird as the rest.
98** Exaggerated with Kanami's party. It really says something when the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' cosplayer feels like "the project manager of a dumpster fire" compared to his teammates. And then Chun Lun, who simply tags along until she gets to her destination, tries to keep her distance from the party because she thinks they're '''all''' crazy.
99* Kagami from ''Anime/LuckyStar'' is the most sane person of the main cast.
100** Mr. and Mrs. Hiiragi both qualify for this as well, especially compared to the [[OneOfTheKids other adults on the show]].
101* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'': [[spoiler:High Priest Zagato]] was the only one who questioned the Pillar System--with one person, Emeraude, focusing her entire will to make sure Cephiro was prosperous and peaceful. Everyone else, Emeraude included, accepted it as a fact of life until Part II forced them to question its rightness.
102* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Professor Yumi, Shiro and sometimes Boss alternated in filling the role. The first one was the director of a research lab where {{Mad Scientist}}s (the funny version) and {{Hotblooded}}, hardheaded teenagers ran around. The second one was [[HotBlooded Kouji]] [[IdiotHero Kabuto]] little brother, and often showed more brains than his rash, loudmouthed, tactless older brother. And Boss... well, even though he was PluckyComicRelief, often he was the one had to talk Kouji or Sayaka into reason.
103** A more serious example happened in Episode 7: while Sayaka was going through a HeroicBSOD, thus losing her will to fight, and Kouji was playing AchillesInHisTent, Boss was trying to remind them repeatedly a Mechanical Beast was coming and all of them would '''die''' if they didn't fight back! Later, as Kouji and Sayaka were apologizing to each other, Shiro noted boss was the only one in that situation with his head on straight.
104* The cameraman in ''Anime/MillenniumActress'' is the only person to notice that they are acting out scenes from old movies.
105* He's a cold-blooded SociopathicSoldier, but when compared to his lunatic partners, [[AxeCrazy Auel]], and [[PsychopathicManchild Stella]], Sting Oakley of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' is a pillar of stability and reasonableness. He's the only one to KnowWhenToFoldEm, and he typically acts as the brains of the outfit, keeping the other two from going totally over the edge. When they die, he finally snaps.
106** Sting owes something to Gates Capa of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'', the only remotely sane Cyber-Newtype, whose job seems to have been keeping Rosamia stable. ''Zeta'' also features Emma Sheen and Henken Bekkener whose EnsembleDarkhorse status is owed almost entirely to their being a pair of reasonable, rational, competent adults in the childish DysfunctionJunction that is the AEUG.
107* ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'': Asahi is pretty much the only character who actually realizes the absurdity of what the rest of the cast gets up to. Mikan ''sometimes'' functions in this capacity (usually when the Gods of (Mis)Fortune are involved), but she's much more prone to [[NotSoAboveItAll get dragged into the insanity.]] Similarly, Akari ''tries'' to fit this role (usually when dealing with [[TheGadfly Akane]]), but has a tendency to occasionally succumb to whatever craziness is going on around her.
108* Ikuto of ''Manga/NagasareteAirantou'' is convinced (for a while, at least) that he is the OnlySaneMan on the Airantou. He is certainly [[AdamAndEvePlot the only man.]] After a while, he decides that there's little point in taking issue with all the crazy, and just rolls with it. Still doesn't believe in ghosts (despite meeting one or two) and insists on calling the local kappa a turtle.
109* Konan from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is arguably this when it comes to the Akatsuki.
110** She's the sanest individually. If we are going by pairs, arguably the most normal (and by default, sanest) is Itachi (who would have also been an individual OnlySaneMan if it weren't for his messed up plan involving Sasuke) and Kisame (who doesn't count individually because he's extremely bloodthirsty). This is because Konan is loyal to and the partner of a guy with a massive [[AGodAmI God complex]], and the other pairs include a pair of immortals who argue all the time, with one being greedy as hell and the other a sadomasochist with an extremely foul mouth, and two artists who argue over philosophies over art (one who likes to blow stuff up and the other likes to make human puppets). Then there's the last pair, which includes a plant guy with a likely schizophrenia disorder, and the PluckyComicRelief [[spoiler:who's really the mastermind of the entire organization and actually willing to plunge the entire world in LotusEaterMachine because he decided that [[CrapsackWorld current reality is hell]] and the only way to avoid it is create a dream world.]]
111* Chisame from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''. At the beginning of the series, she is apparently the only one to notice, or care, that the students of Class 3A are... a little on the odd side. Not odd as in 'a little eccentric', odd as in 'that girl is obviously a robot!'. On the bright side, she noticed that Negi seemed to have an unusual respect for her[[spoiler:, which proved useful when [[SuperpoweredEvilSide he]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge goes]] [[BerserkButton berserk]] and she [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan has to snap him out of it]].]]
112* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
113** Dr. Fuyutsuki. Compared to the various psychological problems that afflict almost everyone else in NERV, Fuyutsuki is a bastion of sanity, with his only real issues being lingering attraction to Yui Ikari and regrets about his involvement in Gendo's plans.
114** Mari in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' was this to the other EVA pilots, as despite being a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} BloodKnight she was ironically [[WarriorTherapist the only one emotionally stable enough to help them move past their traumas]].
115* In ''Anime/NerimaDaikonBrothers'' Hideki is the only one who reacts to the craziness around him the way a normal person would. Subverted with Ichiro, who appears calm and composed but whose behavior is often downright weird.
116* Kaede of ''Manga/NinjaNonsense''. Also Miyabi, although she contributes to the madness.
117* ''Manga/OnePiece''. When the antics get too crazy, Nami or Zoro will yell at the crew about the absurdity of whatever is happening.
118** Robin to a somewhat lighter degree. She usually just smiles and admires their free spirits, but she once outright refused to go with a stupid battle formation because it looked too silly, much to the crew's surprise.
119** Vivi, when she was still a part of the crew, was often one of the voices of reason alongside Nami and Zoro.
120** Usopp is also a bit of this too. While he may easily be carried away due to Luffy's antics, he's been frequently shown to be around as sane as, say, Sanji ([[ChivalrousPervert when he's not fawning over a girl, anyway]]).
121** One Piece somewhat subverts this trope, as there are plenty of OnlySaneMan situations, but the actual crew member playing the sane man varies wildly -- depending on the situation it could be any of them. Even Luffy had one once (Chapter 166 or Episode 104).
122** Less humorously, this is what Coby, Smoker, and Tashigi are when they realize that the marines have pretty much lost it and are going on a petty massacre of pirates when they could be saving lives. At the time, their initial goal of killing Ace was already completed, and Whitebeard was dead as well, plus there was Blackbeard who was going on a straight out rampage and was threatening to destroy Marineford. Instead of helping with ''that'', they (along with a bunch of high-ranking officers such as [[GeneralRipper Akainu]]) instead start killing pirates who don't want to fight anymore (or have any reason to) all in the name of ''justice''. Coby [[WhatTheHellHero calls them out on it]], which nearly gets him '''killed'''.
123** After their captain Fisher Tiger's death, Jimbei, Aladdin and Hatchi are the only ones to be the voice of reason for the Sun Pirates as every other crewmember, particularly Arlong and his group, becomes fixated on waging war against humans for their crimes against the Fishmen, despite committing the very same crimes towards innocent humans.
124** [[spoiler:Trafalgar Law automatically became this once he allied with the Straw Hats. While it may seem that Law could manipulate the crew easily, especially given the massive {{Chessmaster}} credentials he got during the Punk Hazard arc, the truth of the matter is he was never in control of the alliance to begin with. Any attempts to make them his [[UnwittingPawn Unwitting Pawns]] were pretty much nil, seeing as he did not account for their antics or Luffy's "I do whatever the hell I want" attitude. That's the downside of being the normal (or at least closest to normal) side of the alliance]].
125** Thanks his upbringing, Sabo was this in regards to Luffy (an idiot) and Ace (broody and confrontational) when they were children. While he shared some of their quirks and their love of adventure, there was no question he was the most rational of the three. As an adult, though, he seems to have lost a good deal of this.
126* Compared to everyone else in the ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', Haruhi's the "normal" one. She learns to adjust, though.
127** Kyoya is certainly more sane than the rest of the Host Club. In any case, [[HyperCompetentSidekick He's the only one who knows who to get anything done.]]
128* Jim Hawking from ''Manga/OutlawStar'' is frequently the only one to see the insanity in Gene's incessant IndyPloy's.
129* ''Literature/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'': Poor Sorata, having to deal with the crazies in his dorm (including the landlady, no less). The only reason he's even in Sakurasou is because the regular dorms won't let him [[KindHeartedCatLover keep all the cats he collects]].
130* There is at least one sane man among every Dex Holder group in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'':
131** Stoic trainer Green compared to nice guy Red, flirty ex-thief Blue, and shy girl Yellow.
132** Aloof Silver or strict Crystal compared to hotblooded troublemaker Gold.
133** Bratty midget Emerald can't stand prissy Ruby's and wild Sapphire's endless bickering.
134** Impatient straight man Pearl, spoiled heiress Platinum, and cheerful glutton Diamond have all had a chance to be the normal one among the trio during their journey.
135** Snarky Cheren or responsible White compared to ditzy Bianca and loudmouthed dreamer Black.
136* ''Manga/{{Poyopoyo}}'' has Hide, who also serves as the ButtMonkey. After receiving many random photos from his classmates in Episode 5, he gives up and says "I'm surrounded by idiots..."
137* In ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', poor Ashitaka just can't get the humans and animals to stop fighting each other before [[DeusExMachina the great forest spirit is killed but reborn.]]
138* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' has a mild version of this trope: Ahiru, as a duck who used to live outside of the story, is the only one at first to notice the odd things that happen in town, like a cat being a ballet instructor and an anteater being one of the students. She quickly gets used to the oddities of the town, however. Autor might also qualify -- he's the only character to realize that he's living inside of a fairytale that ''isn't'' a character in the story.
139* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', Madoka is the only main character who's emotionally healthy, and the only one who [[DealWithTheDevil contracts]] because she ''wants'' to. Everyone else is coerced into it by impending death ([[spoiler:Mami and Kyouko]]) or severe trauma ([[spoiler:Homura and Sayaka]]).
140* While multiple characters in ''Manga/RaveMaster'' posses common sense, the vast majority quickly turn out to be NotSoAboveItAll and will join the wackiness as soon as someone more serious than them temporarily joins the team. The only person who can make everyone else take on a comic relief role is Sieg Hart, who's [[IsItALwaysLikeThis somewhat exasperated]] when he realizes that the two most important people needed to stop Demon Card are also the two flakiest members of the cast.
141* Tsuna from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' -- though as the series goes on, less so, since the insanity is apparently contagious.
142* In ''Manga/TheRedRangerBecomesAnAdventurerInAnotherWorld'', Idola is by far the most "normal" member of the party in terms of personality and the first one to snark at the zaniness around her. She's particularly flabbergasted when Red, Teltina, and Rosie decide to work out their differences while they're under attack from Lurguat's monsters, all while she's maintaining the slowly cracking barrier preventing them from getting pummeled.
143* Tsukune often has to take this role in ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire''.
144* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
145** Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury) serves this role to the Inner Guardians. In contrast to Usagi and Minako's ditziness, Rei's abrasiveness, and Makoto's boy-crazy tendencies, she is the most rational of the group with her BookSmart demeanor. Of course not even Ami is ''always'' immune either
146** Of the Outer Guardians, Setsuna Meiou (Sailor Pluto) serves this role, as she makes wise choices in contrast to Haruka and Michiru who often have rather questionable methods in saving the universe.
147* Hito Nami from ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'', due to her excessive normalness. Harumi and Abiru are close behind, though still fall prey to their eccentricities (former is a YaoiFangirl with an ear fetish and the latter has a lot of bandages due to a severe tail fetish).
148* ''Manga/ScienceFellInLoveSoITriedToProveIt'': Kanade serves this role in the cast, with her EstablishingCharacterMoment being dumbfounded by Himuro and Yukimura's inital attempts to define "love" through equations. She tries to explain that love is not something easily proven with numbers and facts, but her attempt only prompts Yukimura to try looking for commonalities between her experiences and Himuro's.
149* Homura from ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' is often stuck as this, among Minato's BattleHarem. One of the other rare male Sekirei, Mutsu, seems to be cursed to be this wherever he goes. When the two meet briefly, the later realizes the former lives at Izumo Inn and as such is dealing with [[DemonHead his]] old [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl comrades]]. He expresses his sympathy and wishes the other good luck in dealing with "those witches".
150* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Either Giroro or Dororo, depending on the situation. While Giroro is violent and impolite, he is very competent, and is usually set on the orders of conquering the Earth like he was told. His love for Natsumi is usually the only thing capable of making him slip up. Meanwhile, Dororo is the most level-headed and rational of the Platoon. However, he's got his own vices, such as his trauma concerning his childhood friendships with Giroro and Keroro.
151* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Maka. She's the only one of the three main meisters who's practical, mature and focused. Black Star is incredibly arrogant, self centered, obnoxious and loud, while Kid is an obsessive freak about everything being symmetrical. Among the staff, Yumi counts as a sensible voice amongst her rather more eccentric colleagues, ''especially'' [[CloudCuckooLander Lord Death]].
152* Koushi Inuzuka of ''Manga/SumomoMoMomoMo'' is the only one aware that there are laws against the types of shenanigans that regularly break out, and he regularly quotes them for good measure. He also initially objects to the impossibility of some actions, but eventually just settles into being a DeadpanSnarker about it.
153
154* In ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'', out of the three main characters, Memetchi fits this role. Mametchi tends to overthink while Kuchipatchi tends not to take things seriously, usually leaving Memetchi to set them both straight.
155* Kanzaki in ''Tears of a Lamb''. Other characters even acknowledge it.
156* Rossiu from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Unfortunately for him, this is a universe that runs on RuleOfCool, so the OnlySaneMan becomes an ObstructiveBureaucrat.
157* Yui in ''Manga/ToLoveRu''. As the class morals officer she's the other side of Rito's [[AccidentalPervert accidental perversion]]. However the more she fights it, the more the universe decides to screw with her. Eventually her tolerance for the antics of day to day life with Rito and his friends increases quite a bit, but that doesn't mean [[{{Tsundere}} she won't hit and yell at Rito when he does something perverted.]]
158* Ami in ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' is the Only Sane ''Girl''. Sure, she lacks tact, but if you actually listen, you realize what she says makes a lot of sense. Plus, considering her company is Minori and Taiga, it's hard not to look sane by comparison.
159* In ''Anime/{{Tsuritama}}'' Natsuki is this when you look at the other main characters: a ShrinkingViolet who accidentally pulls a FaceOfAThug whenever anxious (which is often), a [[TheMenInBlack M.I.B.]] obsessed with his pet duck, and a {{Keet}} HumanAlien trying to save the world. Natsuki's quirks, [[{{JerkWithAHeartOfGold}} acting kinda aloof]] and being ''really'' into fishing, pale in comparison.
160* Battler in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' never actually moved away from the second stage of this syndrome and, from the second arc on, makes the purpose of his existence proving that magic had nothing to do with [[TenLittleMurderVictims his and everyone else's murders]]. As the series progress however, even he shows signs of SanitySlippage as the truth slowly comes out in every games he participates in. But compared to his family members who are part of a BigScrewedUpFamily, he's clearly a downplayed version of this trope considering his eventual fate in the real world.
161* Shuichi, Kirie's boyfriend in Junji Ito's horror manga ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'', is often the only person who sees the spiral phenomena happening all over town as bizarre, and who realizes the danger the town's in. He sometimes slips into spouting [[CassandraTruth Cassandra Truths]] in a [[YouHaveToBelieveMe "You Have to Believe Me!"]] voice, though by the manga's start, he's largely given up on trying to convince the public and focuses instead on just protecting Kirie.
162* Compared to [[ChaoticStupid Tanaka]]'s wackiness and Shiori's rather [[EmotionlessGirl detached personality]], Akane "{{Ota|ku}}" Kikuchi of ''Manga/WastefulDaysOfHighSchoolGirls'' is the most grounded of the main trio.
163* ''Anime/VoltesV'':[[spoiler: Between Heinel (a warmongering, bloodthirsty knight), Jangal (a honour-obsessed jingoist), Zuhl and Belgan (turncoats interested in their own agendas), Katherine wants nothing more than her and Heinel to be safe. After she witnessed the atrocities of war firsthand, including the Execution of Beast Knight Girion and the {{seppuku}} of her comrade Jangal, she began having second thoughts about the war. This is further exacerbated after the humans gain advantages over the Boazanian's forces. The final straw is witnessing Heinel's uncontrollable desire for victory at the cost of his own safety, realizing that it will eventually get him killed, and she shoots him with a tranquilizer before he can do anything drastic.]]
164* In ''Manga/YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches'':
165** Even though the titular character can be quite dumb at times, he often shows surprising degrees of common sense and tends to play the StraightMan.
166** When Odagiri's feelings and temper don't get the better of her, she has more common sense than most of the characters and will not hesitate to sigh or point it out when her surroundings are acting ridiculous or idiotic. Ultimately, she is a downplayed example, since her feelings and temper ''do'' get the better of her a lot of the time.
167** Even Yamada and Odagiri get to play the weirdos to Tamaki's only sane man, given that Tamaki is smarter than Yamada, less hot-tempered than Odagiri, and less impulsive than both of them. This continues in the student council as the other members are Yamada, Odagiri, a pervert, an anti-social jerk, and an airhead.
168* Asuka frequently has to take this role on ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''.
169** Jim 'Crocodile' Cook takes up the mantle in season 3 of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''.
170* Anzu plays this role in the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' when Dark Yugi isn't.
171* Takamine Kiyomaro from ''Manga/ZatchBell'' often takes this role, especially when Kanchome, Folgore, or Riddle professor are around. One particularly hilarious occasion was in his dream [[spoiler: after which he loses Answer Talker.]]
172

Top