A character who is egregiously obsessed with manners, politeness and/or (sometimes obscure) etiquette laws, and will do whatever it takes to fix the problem, be it harassment, legal intervention, or violence. Other characters must stay within this one's rules and expectations so as to not suffer the wrath of etiquette, thus this character becomes a crippling obstacle to the goal which would otherwise be easily attainable.
The intervention doesn't need to be violent since their targets often merely don't want to offend the character for various reasons. And it doesn't always have to be an unreasonable viewpoint, but it always comes out during a situation with a simple solution, which is then pointlessly over-complicated.
Note: as any modern etiquette book will tell you, the act of being an etiquette nazi is in itself an egregious violation of etiquette. The rules are there to smooth social interaction, not for some stuck-up bastard to use as an excuse to grind it to a screeching halt. See also Grammar Nazi. Compare the Haughty Help, a housekeeper or headwaiter who enforces etiquette on lower employees and guests.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Kaiketsu Zorori: When Zorori, Ishishi, and Noshishi try to help newbie wizard Nelly find the Grun Rod, Noshishi finds a juice dispenser that pours juice into your mouth as long as you stay under it with your mouth open. Naturally taking advantage of this, later he severely has to use the bathroom, and prepares to go behind a bush. Nelly is disgusted by this and demands that he find a bathroom. The only bathroom in the area is a stall in the middle of a bridge, and Noshishi goes into it, only to have the floor fall out, dropping him into the ravine below.
- One of the Spin Offs for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, features the mangaka Rohan Kishibe from Part 4 and his editor Kyoka Izumi having their manners tested by the gods of a local mountain range. Succeeding means Izumi will get ownership of a villa and become rich, but even the faintest breach of etiquette causes one of her loved ones to die on the spot. To make it even worse, they are tested on Japanese etiquette, which means sitting at the wrong seat, stepping on the edge of a tatami, or holding a teacup the wrong way counts as a breach.
Comic Books
- Ron Barrett's Politeness Man comic in the National Lampoon magazine. The character constantly got after people for not being polite, often forcing them to act politely even when it made no sense to do so.
Fan Works
- Where Talent Goes to Die has Reiko Mitamura, the Ultimate Proofreader, who's almost as much of a stickler for good manners as she is for good grammar. She addresses others formally, using their last names and "-san," on her classmates, as well as Monokuma, and insists on receiving the same courtesy. Over time, she mellows out a little, and while she's fairly strict with her rules in an etiquette seminar she holds for Iwasawa's sake, she makes it purely voluntary.
Films — Animation
- The matchmaker from Mulan marks down Mulan for everything she does. After calling for Mulan, the girl says "present" and yet the matchmaker mutters "speaking without permission". Even Mulan's own grandmother thinks this is too far and wonders "Who spit in her bean curd?"
Films — Live-Action
- Serial Mom: Kathleen Turner murders people for various offenses against etiquette, for example beating a woman to death for wearing white after Labor Day.
Literature
- In the Goosebumps book Chicken Chicken, the witch Vanessa turns the heroes into chickens for not apologizing after knocking her over. She only changes them back after they write her a Thank You note.
- In The Cinder Spires, one of the antagonists, Madame Sycorax Cavendish, is this to a literally insane degree. To the point of forcing one of her allies to claw his own eyes out for being rude to her.
- In The Wheel of Time, the Seanchan Empire has a very intricate and high-stakes code of etiquette. It is best exemplified by High Lady Suroth, who is disgusted to visit a military command center where the High Lord instructed his subordinates to ignore protocol rather than, for example, prostrate themselves in a lengthy formal audience before delivering urgent updates on an ongoing battle.
Live-Action TV
- Every "Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan" sketch on Almost Live! features martial artist Billy Quan (re-)encountering the same unrepentant Jerkass who violates some minor rule of etiquette (not returning a borrowed pen, speaking too loudly in the library, failing to tip a waitress...), followed by Billy beating the offender to a pulp in the style of a deliberately corny kung-fu movie. Viewers are then reminded to always follow said rule of etiquette on pain of Billy.
"Remember, kids: Be like Billy. Be polite."
- Get Smart: In one episode Maxwell Smart runs across a street while being shot at by KAOS agents, accidentally jaywalking. When he safely arrives at the other side, a police officer demands that he go back and re-cross the street, or else he'll give him a ticket. Naturally, Smart goes back and crosses the street properly, being shot at all the way and all the way back.
- Game of Thrones: Cersei is the curtsy police. She criticizes Shae's curtsy and forces her to do it again. Later, she snorts in derision when Brienne bows instead of curtsies, then proceeds to mock her by demonstrating it and noting how easy doing so is.
- The television adaptation's version of Hannibal Lecter emphasizes his character aspect of eating the rude.
- Star Trek: Picard: Mister Hospitality (the Emergency Hospitality Hologram on La Sirena) has zero tolerance for Emmet's (the Emergency Tactical Hologram) sloppy conduct. In "Broken Pieces", the former orders the latter to sit up straight on the couch, and after Emmet places his boots on the coffee table, Mr. Hospitality shoves his legs away.
Visual Novels
- Lion Ushiromiya from Umineko: When They Cry has a habit of giving people's butts a nasty pinch whenever they're being too blunt or informal. The most frequent victims are Willard H. Wright and Jessica.
Web Comics
- League of Super Redundant Heroes has Snob Goblin, a supervillain who attacks any offensive celebrities (extreme artist, trashy starlet, internet pornograph), objects to superheroines wearing sexualized outfits, and scolds you for harsh language while rampaging around.
Western Animation
- Miraculous Ladybug: In "Befana", Hawk Moth corrupts Marinette's grandmother into the titular villain and orders her to bring him the heroes' Miraculous. Befana immediately demands Hawk Moth suffix his demand with a please. He runs with it after an awkward moment.
- 2 Stupid Dogs: In the first episode where Little Red Riding Hood sees the bigger dog as her granny, she offers the dogs cheesecake, but only letting them eat it within granny's cottage. After finally arriving at the three bears' house (they assume it's granny's house) while the three bears are away, the dogs put the cheesecake up to their mouths when the clock suddenly strikes 9 PM. She takes the cheesecake away from them saying "You can't eat sweets after 9! That's what Granny ALWAYS says!", and makes the dogs go to sleep because 9 PM is bedtime, saying they can have the cheesecake in the morning. When they wake up, the three bears are home.
- The Rex Guardians in Storm Hawks, an old-fashioned squadron who adhere strictly to an ancient code.
