History Main / JohnBarleycornAndFriends

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A sub-trope of AnthropomorphicPersonification, this is the representation of vices that are drunk, smoked, snorted, ingested, injected, or even gambled as people or animated anthropomorphized objects.

This trope is frequently done for the purpose of [[AnAesop warning]] about addictions, and the depiction can often come across as {{Anvilicious}}. Other times, this trope will be employed in a less serious and [[PlayedForLaughs more light-hearted fashion.]]

Can also apply to situations where a vice that's named after a person is used in a sentence as if it were a person. As in "My friends Jack [Daniels], Joe [Camel], and Jim [Beam]." Additionally, a woman may invoke the HeartbreakAndIceCream trope by saying she has new boyfriends, Ben and Jerry.

Compare FoodGod, who embodies fertility instead of vice, and EmbodimentOfVice, an otherwise normal character who [[AllegoricalCharacter represents]] a [[FatalFlaw negative quality]].
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* An anti-smoking PSA done in limited animation (more a series of still drawings) featured a character "Johnny Smoke", an anthropomorphic cigarette as a ruthless Western killer.
* ''Advertising/SupermanVsNickOTeen'' pitted ComicBook/{{Superman}} against a villain called [[PunnyName Nick O'Teen]] who acted like TheAggressiveDrugDealer in trying to get kids to smoke cigs. He had a top hat coloured to look like a cigarette butt and yellow teeth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comedy]]
* Creator/DenisLeary anthropomorphizes beer, cigarettes, and coffee in one routine.
-->'''Denis:''' I love him (''indicates beer''). He's hops, he's barley, he's protein; he's a meal. But without him (''indicates cigarettes'') he's NOTHIIIIING!!! And I love the two of them together, they're great. Maybe their cousin coffee comes over on the weekends, but otherwise it's just him and him. And as much as I love him (beer), I love him (cigarettes) even more, because I. Love. To. Smoke!
* Jim Breuer has a well-known bit where he describes drinking as having a party in your stomach and the drinks as guests, so you have to only invite guests who get along. Beer is a regular dude, scotch is a potentially-ViolentGlaswegian, tequila is a {{Bandito}}, and your stomach is the bouncer who throws everyone out when he's had enough.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In the [[VerySpecialEpisode Very Special Comic Book]] ''Spider-Man, Storm, Power Man'' the trio battle Smokescreen, who is a villain making kids smoke (and destroying one kid's track career) and is made of pure smoke.
* Nick O'Teen was a villain in a series of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' [=PSAs=].
* In the second issue of ''Mr. T and the T-Force'', Mr. T is forcibly injected with a needle full of drugs of some kind and ends up cast into a surreal world of demonic creatures insisting he give up in terms of "[forgetting] the pain", giving in and enjoying the ride, and being his new best friends, leading to the visual of Mr. T ''fighting'' these things, declaring no one takes away his pain.
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[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', there's Mr. Butts, a giant talking cigarette used to represent the tobacco industry. Occasionally, he's joined by his friend Mr. Jay, who is a giant anthropomorphized joint. One other strip features a giant talking beer can, Brewski.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/6220663 Ten Alternate Universes: Havelock Vetinari]]" by pedanther, the Western fic describes Sheriff Vimes as spending a lot of time "in conference with his good friend Jimkin Bearhugger". Bearhugger's is the Literature/{{Discworld}}'s main whisky brand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'', about [[AnimateInanimateObject anthropomorphic food products at a grocery store]], includes a bottle of whiskey named "Firewater" as the leader of the Non-Perishables. And yes, as evidenced by the name, he's depicted as your stereotypical MagicalNativeAmerican.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* As seen in ''Film/MoulinRouge'', absinthe has been long anthropomorphized as "the green fairy."
* In ''Film/MacAndDevinGoToHighSchool'' there's an anthropomorphic CG joint that narrates the film and then filibusters about why weed should be legalized. It was made to be one of [[WatchItStoned those]] movies.
* The 1964 Creator/RatPack musical ''Film/RobinAndTheSevenHoods'' features the "Mr. Booze" number which takes place at a phony temperance meeting where the participants testify to the evils caused by the title character of the song. (This scene was later paid homage to in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.)
* At the end of ''Film/HalfBaked'', when Thurgood stands on the bridge with his last joint in his hand, intending to throw it in the water so he can be with his love Mary Jane, he imagines the joint as having the face of a black woman who begs him to smoke her/it.
* Kumar is trying to liberate Harold from jail in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' when he is distracted by a giant bag of weed at the police station. Kumar immediately forgets about Harold and has an elaborate DreamSequence where he falls in love with the anthropomorphized bag of weed, makes love to said anthropomorphized bag of weed, marries the bag of weed and then is stuck in a miserable marriage with the bag of weed.
-->'''Harold:''' Kumar! Still in jail, asshole! Come here!
* The commentary for ''The Jackhammer Massacre'' had the director mention he wanted to have the junkie VillainProtagonist hallucinate some kind of "Lord Meth" character. The idea was ultimately reduced to just having him hallucinate that a man has giant syringes for arms.
* ''Film/GetCrazy'' centers around a big New Years party concert where there's a big anthropomorphized marijuana cigarettein the audience who ends up smoked down to a stub.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/JackLondon titled his autobiography, which described his struggles with alcohol, ''John Barleycorn''.
* John Barleycorn is briefly mentioned in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' when Susan finds the area of the lifetimer room reserved for anthropomorphic personifications. The Oh God of Hangovers might count as well.
* In Creator/SimonRGreen's ''Hawk & Fisher'' novel ''The God Killer'', the medieval-fantasy beat cops stop off at the Temple of John Barleycorn for a refreshing libation after a hard day of investigating a crime spree in the religious district.
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/FatherTed'', when the priests give up their various vices for Lent, they start hallucinating, seeing each other as personifications of those vices - Ted appears to Jack as a pint of Guinness and to Dougal as a giant rollerblade, while Dougal appears to Ted as a huge talking cigarette.
* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Sam claims that his father John has gone hunting "with Jim, Jack and José", meaning Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and José Cuervo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The MoralityBallad parody "Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild Wild Women" features a spoken word introduction intoning, "A preachment, dear friends, you're about to receive on John Barleycorn, Nick O'Teen, and the temptations of Eve." The Hombres later did a ShoutOut to this at the beginning of their single "Let It All Hang Out".
* The British folk song "John Barleycorn" (that's been performed by many artists including {{Music/Traffic}} - appropriately, in their album that's actually called ''John Barleycorn Must Die'' - Music/JethroTull, and Music/FairportConvention) describes the apparent [[MurderBallad "murder" of the title character]] as a way of depicting the planting, harvesting, and distilling or fermentation of grains into alcoholic beverages. Folk duo The Wild Oats, noticing they were performing in more cafes than alehouses, parodied the song as [[MustHaveCaffeine "Juan Coffeebean"]].
* Another name well known from British folk songs is Nancy Whiskey. She personifies whiskey as an alluring femme fatale.
* In "I Drink Alone" by Music/GeorgeThorogood, the singer refers to his "friends," which are actually brand names for beer and liquor. These include "his good buddy Weiser," "Jack Daniels and his partner Jimmy Beam," and his "dear Old Grand-Dad."
* "They'll Need a Crane" by Music/TheyMightBeGiants also personifies a whiskey brand:
-->Lad looks at other gals\\
Gal thinks Jim Beam is handsomer than lad\\
He isn't bad
* The title character of "Panama Red" by New Riders of the Purple Sage is a particularly strong strain of marijuana who'll "steal your woman" and "rob your head."
* The spoken-word recording "King Heroin" by Music/JamesBrown is a first-person narrative from the drug's point-of-view on the damage he causes to people who use him.
* The Music/{{WASP}} song "Thunderhead" depicts heroin as a demon who demands that his followers ruin themselves and their families in his service, namely the title character, a man who's hopelessly addicted to it, dying of withdrawal in a detox clinic.
* "That Smell" by Music/LynyrdSkynyrd, an anti-drug song from the 70s, uses the phrase "monkey on your back", a common idiom for drug addiction, usually to heroin.
-->One little problem that confronts you\\
Got a monkey on your back\\
Just one more fix, Lord, might do the trick\\
One hell of a price for you to get your kicks
* The Music/DropkickMurphys song "dirty glass" personifies the neighborhood pub as a quarrelsome girlfriend.
* "Sister Morphine" by Music/TheRollingStones, which is actually a song about lying in a hospital bed drugged up:
-->Here I lie in my hospital bed\\
Tell me, Sister Morphine, when are you coming round again?
* "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" by Music/TheBeatles is widely interpreted as an anthropomorphism for LSD. ([[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs It ain't]], it was actually inspired by a drawing John Lennon's son made about his classmate Lucy O'Donnell.) Doesn't mean that [[DeathOfTheAuthor people don't take it that way anyway]] or that the song isn't [[WordSaladLyrics pretty damn trippy]]:
-->Picture yourself in a boat on a river\\
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies\\
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly\\
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes
* The song "Ebeneezer Goode" by The Shamen had people singing the chorus "-eezer Goode, -eezer Goode, he's Ebeneezer Goode" (which sounds exactly like "Es are good, Es are good...") and was filled with oblique references to taking the drug Ecstasy. Ironically, it was number 1 during the BBC's Drug Awareness Week, and even appeared on the popular BBC music show ''Top Of The Pops'' at the time. The song described Ebeneezer as "A gentleman of leisure, he's there for your pleasure" but warned that "He's the kind of geezer who must never be abused".
* The Neil Diamond song "Crackling Rosie" is about a poor drifter who sings an ode to his "store-bought woman," which is commonly believed to be a variety of fortified wine (a likely suspect being Wild Irish Rose).
* In the eponymous song, Marius Müller-Westernhagen refers to a certain Johnnie Walker as his best friend without whom he just can't get along.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* In Myth/ClassicalMythology, Bacchus -- also known as Dionysus in Greece and Liber in Rome -- was the god of winemaking and wine. Eventually, he became the personification of wine itself along with its positive and negative effects upon drinkers. In some later depictions, [[http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/011tnast.jpg like this 1870 cartoon by Thomas Nast]], he is shown as the embodiment of alcohol-caused human misery.
* John Barleycorn is a character from British folklore who in some form, represents barley and the alcoholic beverages made from it (e.g., beer and whiskey). His character goes back as far as the Middle Ages. [[DryCrusader Temperance advocates]] would later use John Barleycorn to personify the social evils caused by alcoholic beverages.
* In Myth/MesopotamianMythology, Ninkasi and Siduri were the goddesses of beer and wine. [[http://www.piney.com/BabNinkasi.html "The Hymn to Ninkasi"]] is, in part, a recipe for beer.
* Another OlderThanDirt example is the Myth/{{Egyptian|Mythology}} Hathor, goddess of intoxication, love, and festivity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* Subverted in the NoirEpisode of ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'', Finnemore repeatedly says the only partner he needs is Jack Daniels, who lives in a bottle in his desk. It turns out that, while his desk does indeed contain a bottle of whiskey, it also contains his partner, a little man named Jack Daniels (no relation).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' module [=UK1=] ''Beyond The Crystal Cave''. The {{PC}}s may encounter a deity named the Green Man, who is involved with (among other things) the production of alcoholic beverages. His breath causes intoxication in any creature who breathes it. One of the names he goes by is (wait for it!) John Barleycorn.
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[[folder:Theater]]
* Modern updates of the 15th Century morality play ''Everyman'' (which ordinarily features characters which are AnthropomorphicPersonifications of various vices and virtues) will often include these among Everyman's temptations.
* In Terence [=McNally's=] play ''Whiskey'', different brands of whiskey are anthropomorphized as performing circus cowboys who have an act together: I. W. Harper, Tia Maria, Johnny Walker, Southern Comfort, and Jack Daniels (and their horse "Whiskey"). The personality of each is based on the branding of the liquors.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot'' has protagonist Ethan Thomas experience hallucinations of his addiction appearing as "the alcohol demon," who sometimes gives him in-game hints. Ethan later cures his alcoholism by slaying the demon, who gets replaced by another personal demon called "Acceptance."
* The King's Court bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' are anthropomorphic representations of various vices. Most of them represent gambling addiction, but there's the Tipsy Troop, a trio of alcoholic beverages, and Mr. Wheezy, a giant fire-breathing cigar, that represent alcohol and tobacco addiction.
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[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Creator/BradJones' ''Lloyd'' features this exchange in an episode:
-->'''Glynis''': Do you have any friends, Lloyd?\\
'''Lloyd''': Well, of course I do! There's Chloe, and bartender, and... Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker...\\
'''Glynis''': Those last three are whiskeys.\\
'''Lloyd''': At least I'm on a first and last name basis with them! Which is more than I can say about Chloe and bartender, and bartender is the one who introduced me to those three!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* The Absinthe Fairy from ''Webcomic/{{Chimneyspeak}}'', which represents Elgie's love of the beverage.
* The Tequila Monster in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', when Squigley swears off alcohol and other drugs, he begins to [[ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere hallucinate animated joints, beer cans, and booze bottles]] in [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2006-11-08 this]] strip.
* From ''Webcomic/NobodyScores'': [[http://nobodyscores.loosenutstudio.com/index.php?id=352 Puckish Mr. Jack]], [[LampshadeHanging obviating the need for plot mechanics since 1957]].
* One ''Webcomic/{{Wondermark}}'' [[http://wondermark.com/c1438/ strip]] features a booze dragon who tempts a recovering alcoholic. The dragon's actually a hallucination that has nothing to do with alcohol.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* There's Smoke from ''WesternAnimation/CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue'', who represents drug addiction.
* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventuresHowISpentMyVacation'': When Fowlmouth and Shirley the Loon go to the movies there's an announcement "no smoking cigarettes in the theater." Cut to a disappointed anthropomorphic lit cigarette being booed and forced to leave. He just wanted to see the movie!
* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where Barney sees his addiction as a ''Theatre/{{Harvey}}''-esque white rabbit who he treats as a sponsor that keeps him drinking.
** Also played for laughs in "D'oh-in' in the Wind", where Barney experiences a MushroomSamba from the episode's hallucinogenic juice that involves a 3-eyed monster appearing before him. He quickly downs a Duff Beer, causing "Pinky, the [[PinkElephants Pink Elephant]]" to show up and kill the monster.
* In the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short ''WesternAnimation/WhollySmoke'', a young WesternAnimation/PorkyPig gets sick smoking a cigar and [[DisneyAcidSequence hallucinates]] being taunted, teased, and chased by a tobacco shop full of anthropomorphized cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and tobacco accessories led by a smoky spectre named Nick O' Teen (a different Nick O' Teen than the one that appeared in Superman anti-smoking [=PSAs=]).
* One of the sequels, ''Pipe Dreams'', to the MGM short ''WesternAnimation/GoodLittleMonkeys'' has the three title monkeys smoking and then encountering several anthropomorphic cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco products.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Tooth and Nail," Rocko goes to rehab for nail-biting. The Chameleon Brothers tell him they can't treat him at their facility (because he doesn't have much money), but they do send him away with a bag containing their "outpatient" treatment. Rocko opens it, and it turns out to be the 12 steps. Each is a personification of some vice or problem (drinking, gambling, bedwetting, among others.)
-->'''The Twelve Steps:''' Nail biting?! Is that ''all?!'' You'll only need ''six'' of us. The rest of us are going to [[VivaLasVegas Vegas.]]
* A food-based example occurs in ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' when [[FatSlob Pete]] must abstain from eating for a certain period of time. The Chickens stand up in the fridge and sing, causing him to cover his ears and roll around on the couch.
-->'''Chickens:''' We are calling Peeete to get something to EAAAAAAT!
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' Has an example in the form of Starla. She decides that she and Muscleman need some time apart and wants to test the strength of their love. As a result, Muscleman sees her face everywhere. His chicken nuggets turn into her along with almost everything else and they all beg that he call her.
* ''WesternAnimation/OzzyAndDrix:''
** "Where There's Smoke" pitted the eponymous duo against the demonic Nicotine (voiced by Creator/TimCurry) and his henchmen [[PlayingWithFire Butane]], [[BlowYouAway Carbon Monoxide]], and [[MuckMonster Tar]].
** Stickety Lipid (anthropomorphic bad cholesterol) was the villain of the overeating-themed episode "A Growing Problem."
[[/folder]]
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* From British folklore there's the aforementioned John Barleycorn who, in some form, goes back as far as the Middle Ages.

A sub-trope of AnthropomorphicPersonification, this is the representation of vices that are drunk, smoked, snorted, ingested, or injected as people or animated anthropomorphized objects.

The TropeNamer, John Barleycorn, is a character from British folklore who represents barley and the alcoholic beverages made from it (e.g., beer and whiskey). [[DryCrusader Temperance advocates]] would later use John Barleycorn to personify the social evils caused by alcoholic beverages.

This trope is frequently done for the purpose of [[AnAesop warning]] about [[DrugsAreBad drinking, smoking, or using other drugs]] and the depiction can often come across as {{Anvilicious}}. Other times, the John Barleycorn and Friends trope will be employed in a less serious and [[PlayedForLaughs more light-hearted fashion.]]

Can also apply to situations where a liquor that's named after a person is used in a sentence as if it were a person. As in "My friends Jack [Daniels] and Jim [Beam]." Additionally, if we expand "vice" to include unhealthy food, a woman may invoke the HeartbreakAndIceCream trope by saying she has new boyfriends, Ben and Jerry.

Compare FoodGod, who embodies fertility instead of vice.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', there's Mr. Butts, a giant talking cigarette used to represent the tobacco industry. Occasionally, he's joined by his friend Mr. Jay, who is a giant anthropomorphized joint.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1605555313054166500 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1605555313054166500 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]