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The opposite of Villain By Default - some occupations are just expected to be good and well-meaning and lovely.
- Holy People - priests and vicars, usually, but if a rabbi shows up, he'll be the same - wise, willing to dispense advice and help out anyone, whether or not the person in need of help is part of their "flock". I'm mostly knowledgeable about Western media, I don't know if Middle Eastern stuff applies the same goodliness to imams or Shinto, Taoist, Hindu and Buddhist priests get the same deal in Asia. Monks and Nuns are also Inherently Good, and most Buddhists in Western representations come under that umbrella.
- Example: in Charmed, all priests were good and nice and occasionally even fought demons, even though the sisters were Wiccan and the show generally operated under All Myths Are True
- Aversion: in Father Ted almost all the characters are priests or nuns. Because of the kind of show it is, most of them are unsympathetic, or just idiots.
- Aversion: Nowadays, a religious figure in a dramatic work has a significant chance of being a Sinister Minister of a Corrupt Church. Or just a pedophile.
- Robin Hood: Men In Tights. Mel Brooks' character.
- Vegetarians - possibly because they show a willingness to practice what they preach? If this character is willing to give up sweet, delicious chicken for the rest of their lives, then why the heck wouldn't they help out Steven Ulysses Perhero on his adventures?
- Example: Penny from Dr Horribles Sing Along Blog "works with the homeless, and doesn't eat meat" and is an all-round wholesome and goodly character.
- Eragon and the elves from The Inheritance Cycle. Some would say otherwise, but let's not go there.
- He wasn't a vegetarian.
- Since when is sugar classified as a meat?
- To clarify he did eat meat during diplomatic dinners and the like, but apparently he didn't like to and was a vegetarian in private, at least according to his personal physician.
- According to his personal cook, he loved Bavarian sausage and ham, but had to cut back on meat because of stomach problems later in life.
- For that matter, while certain ideologies love to co-opt every famous historical figure into their ranks, neither was He.
- A recent Exterminatus Now villain also averted it. Sure, he's a vegetarian who wouldn't hurt a fly. He's also an agent of the dark powers.
- Schoolteachers - anyone who works with children is lovely. I suppose because they've devoted their lives to helping little people grow up, accumulate knowledge, etc. In a slightly more cynical sense, it could be that anybody willing to put up with children (especially teenagers) all the time has got to be some kind of saint.
- Happy-Go-Lucky.
- Medical Professionals - for some odd reason, nurses are more goodly than doctors, in general. Possibly because doctors get paid so much, whereas nurses are equally famous for being paid so little (despite the reality that nurses are well-paid, highly in-demand professionals). On the other hand, doctors are considered ideal boyfriend material by every female character ever. The automatic niceness of these figures is obviously averted by EVERY MEDICAL DRAMA EVER, because, of course, a show about nothing but nice people would be boring to watch. House gets bonus points.
- In the Pokemon cartoon, the Nurse Joys are all sweet as pie, and the one human-treating doctor we ever see is also self-sacrificing and goodly.
- Scrubs, as a result of eventual Character Development. The worst doctors get is rude; even Dr. Bob Kelso is eventually revealed to only seem evil as a facade to keep the hospital running smoothly. the new Dean of Medicine, however...
- Who was fired in about a week, a good thing too she was clearly a Villain Sue
- And because it can't be mentioned enough: The inversion of this trope personified: House MD
- Dr. Tenma. Dr. friggin' Tenma.
- If a protagonist hides from an antagonist by disguising themselves as one of these, if it continues long enough, inevitably they end up committing an act of good which builds character (and helps their coworkers become better too), so that they go from Designated Hero to Hero.
- In a music video, fanservice, dating simulation, etc., where everyone is a pervert, the Naughty Nuns, Night Nurse, etc. will inevitably be:
These days, this trope is one of the most subverted/averted ones. Priest? Corrupt power-grubber (and that's being KIND). Teacher? Questionable methods, up to and including pretending to be a legendary octopus-monster. Vegetarian? Often they are the bad kind of humanitarian, or at least extremely obnoxious and attacking anyone who eats meat. Medical Professionals? Well... House but broader than that is the tendency of surgeons to be walking God Complexes with scalples.
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