Nearly everyone has had an experience where they've dozed off, or almost dozed off, at an inopportune moment. However, a select few of us, both in real life and in fiction, raise this odd habit to an art form, becoming the official Sleepyhead of their social circle.
These characters have a habit of nodding off anywhere, at any time. They constantly end up at the last stop on the train/bus because they fell asleep on the journey, the teacher routinely throws things at them because their snoring is getting in the way of the lesson, and their friends spend half their lives prodding them awake...or at least hauling them into a vertical position so that no one notices that they're actually unconscious.
There are two main character types that are prone to having the sleepyhead trait. The first is the
Cloud Cuckoolander, and it's part of their social inappropriateness schtick. They couldn't care less if they get caught sleeping, and may complain about being disturbed. Other characters, however, often yell at them and tell them to be more responsible.
The other sleepyhead is the hardworking-but-kinda-dim character, and unlike their more eccentric cousins, this is a source of major embarrassment for them. They'll blush and stammer when woken up, but by contrast, other characters usually see it as an endearing trait. Unlike the
Cloud Cuckoolander, whose snoozle-fits reflect their dissatisfaction with/divorce from reality, the implication with an earnest character is that they put so much of themselves into everything they do that they wear themselves out.
Both types will have exaggerated reactions to the things that naturally cause sleepiness, like a full stomach or a warm day. In anime at least, this character tends to be female.
These characters actually seem to sleep pretty well at night. Characters who pull all-nighters and then go thwump at an inopportune time don't come under this trope — that's just exhaustion, while a sleepyhead will get a good eight hours and still doze off in Biology class. The sleepyhead really likes their bedtime, and under times of stress will usually be heard complaining that they're tired, or longing aloud for a pillow. Their bedroom is often filled with creature comforts, tons of stuffed toys, and the world's comfiest bed.
Occasionally they will actually have narcolepsy, or another real-life medical condition causing
excessive daytime sleepiness
. Usually not, though.
A Sleepyhead may or may not be a
Heavy Sleeper. They're probably
Not a Morning Person as well — the eccentric type will be grumpy, and the earnest type completely out of it when the alarm clock goes.
Examples:
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Anime
Comic Books
- In Marvel Adventures Avengers, Iron Man was once caught sleeping during a Captain America movie. He wasn't caught until the end because of his helmet. The only reason that anyone noticed was because of his snoring.
Film
- Sleepy, in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is an obvious example.
- Steve-O from the Jackass and Wildboyz movies and TV show fits this as well. He was attacked by the "Black Mamba," hair trimmers, and thrown from a moving boat due to this.
Literature
- The Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland, natch.
- Clovis and his half-siblings in The Heroes of Olympus. Justified as they're children of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep.
- Lieutenant Mercadet, from Fred Vargas's thriller novels, is hypersomniac and frequently sleeps at work ; at one point, he even put pillows on his desk to make his naps more comfortable, since he cannot stay awake more than six hours in a row. His hypersomnia is used as a plot point in L'Armée Furieuse, when Commissaire Adamsberg makes everybody (Mercadet himself included) believe that he fell asleep while watching Momo-Mèche-Courte, in order to let him escape from the police station.
Live Action TV
- Patrick Jane from The Mentalist takes frequent naps, even while on duty. However, it's implied that these are practically the only times he sleeps.
- Sgt. Rizzo from M*A*S*H was often observed under the carriage of a jeep; however, he was rarely working on them as using them as an excuse to get a secret nap in.
- Noob has Ivy, who frequently falls asleep in front of her computer and always sounds tired when she's awake. A recent episode revealed that she acutally suffers from narcolepsy.
Newspaper Comics
Video Games
- Cammy Meele of the Ace Attorney: Investigations game, has the horse-like ability to sleep while standing up, and has to be constantly prodded into consciousness when you interview her. This is particularly annoying, even more so when you realize she's faking it. Yanni Yogi pulls this off as well and again, he's faking it - Phoenix and Edgeworth seem to be able to summon faux-sleepyheads on command.
- The Main Character of Persona 3 has the option of dozing off during a good portion of his classes. Upsides include improving your condition and recovering from sickness faster. Downsides include the possibility of missing information that comes up during exams (and don't think you can use the Internet to get the exam answers: if you didn't hear it in the game, you don't get the option of answering it).
- General Haar from Fire Emblem Tellius, and also Treck from Fire Emblem Elibe and Forde from Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones.
- Siegmeyer of Catarina from Dark Souls can be found asleep (while standing up, no less) in several improbable and dangerous places. Kingseeker Frampt also enjoys the occasional power nap, requiring you to hit him once to wake him up(but only once).
- Skyward Sword's Link apparently always had to be woken up by Zelda, and his sleepiness is actually incorporated in gameplay, as he will start to nod off if you have him sit down for too long.
Webcomics
- In Grey is... Black frequently calls White this. He sleeps in late(in comparison to Black) and is always ready to take a nap during the day if he can find the time.
- Lillian Tallis of Go Get A Roomie. She is a recluse who love nothing more in the world than sleeping and dreaming. She is SUCH a sleepyhead, it's implied she forgets to eat because she's spending all of her time sleeping. Her brother calls her Lazy Tyke. A nickname Roomie took next to no time to adopt.
Western Animation
