[[AzumangaDaioh http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/az_osa_0.jpg]]
[[caption-width:281:Osaka is not like you.]]

->''You know when you're sitting in a chair, and you lean back so you're just on two legs, and then you lean too far and you almost fall over, but just at the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time.''
-->-- '''Steven Wright'''

A character with their head in the clouds. They aren't quite [[TooDumbToLive stupid]], and they aren't quite insane, but they [[TalkativeLoons lapse into non sequitur a lot]] and are strangely oblivious to things that everyone else takes for granted, such as whether it is okay to turn their suitemate's room into a landfill and board it up. They are still, somehow, able to function day to day.

Sometimes also called "Space Case" or "Space Cadet", or plain old "[[StrangeGirl Strange]]".

One mark of a Cloudcuckoolander is when, 90% of the time, you think the character is just plain nuts, but 10% of the time, you suspect that the character is in fact the [[OnlySaneMan only truly sane person]] on the show. In other words, a Cloudcuckoolander has massive knowledge and understanding of the [[GenreSavvy workings of the universe]]... too bad it's [[WrongGenreSavvy not the one they live in]]. [[{{CloudCuckooland}} Sometimes it's the one they came from, though.]] In any event, they can be oddly endearing, if not downright [[CrazyAwesome awesome]].

When they are given a specific disorder, it is often [=~Attention Deficit... ooh, shiny!~=], despite the fact that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder another lesser-known disorder actually fits much better.]] When their weirdness delves into disturbing territory, they become a NightmareFuelStationAttendant.

On rare occasion, a Cloudcuckoolander may become BoredWithInsanity and become more normal. If this happens, sometimes it sticks, and sometimes a [[WeWantOurJerkBack "we want our Cloudcuckoolander back" movement]], subsequently getting bored with ''sanity'' too, or some other means of inducing insanity will make him or her a Cloudcuckoolander again (since, after all, StatusQuoIsGod).

Frequently clips entire stacks of {{Weirdness Coupon}}s from the paper. Certainly, many of them get away with a good deal no one else would be allowed.

This kind of character has a weakness for falling into a WikiWalk.

The name of the trope comes from the city built on air above the Greek plain in {{Aristophanes}}' play ''The Birds'', 414 B.C., whose ruler had quite a large mental disconnect between the dreamy, idealistic {{Utopia}} that he imagined his city to be and the brutal totalitarian regime that he had actually imposed on it. He also came up with brilliant ideas like keeping people out of his city -- a city you could only reach through flight -- by building a really, really tall wall around it. ([[FridgeLogic We'll give you a minute to figure out why that wouldn't have worked so well]].)

If you've ever had a thought like this, please feel free to contribute to our intellectual coal mine of {{Musings}}. For various variants and overlapping tropes see TheFool, ManicPixieDreamGirl, TheWonka, TheOphelia and AxCrazy.

Lastly, when dealing with Cloudcuckoolanders, always remember that [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight sometimes their ramblings aren't just ramblings]].
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!!!Now divided into:
*[[{{CloudCuckoolander/Anime}} Anime and Manga]]
*{{CloudCuckoolander/Comics}}
*{{CloudCuckoolander/Film}}
*{{CloudCuckoolander/Literature}}
*CloudCuckoolander/LiveActionTV
*CloudCuckoolander/VideoGames
*CloudCuckoolander/WebOriginal
*CloudCuckoolander/WesternAnimation
*{{CloudCuckoolander/Others}}
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