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Basic Trope: A character from another country is a source of humor.

  • Straight: Alfonz, living in America with the Five-Man Band, hails from Ruritania. He speaks in a thick accent, is often shown snacking on Foreign Queasine, recites backstories from his homeland, and behaves rather buffoonish and eccentric.
  • Exaggerated: The customs in Alfonz’s homeland are so bizarre that they border on Blue-and-Orange Morality. The Five-Man Band wonder if he is actually from another galaxy.
  • Downplayed:
    • Alfonz’s behavior comes off as slightly out-of-place compared to his American friends.
    • Alfonz is a half-Ruritanian, half-American Cloud Cuckoo Lander.
  • Justified:
    • Society is not very advanced in Ruritania, so the citizens there tend to be more ignorant.
    • Ruritania is cut off from the rest of the world resulting in vastly different customs.
    • Alfonz’s family are overly patriotic and forbid Alfonz from adopting American customs during his stay in the U.S. out of fear he’ll lose his roots.
  • Inverted: In a US-created show which takes place in Europe, Alex is an American living in Europe and acts stereotypically American, making him stand out.
  • Subverted: Alfonz’s persona is just a ruse.
  • Double Subverted: He’s actually Canadian.
  • Parodied: Alfonz is from Clownsvania.
  • Zig-Zagged: Sometimes Alfonz is treated as walking comedic relief, sometimes his struggles as an immigrant are treated with a lot of drama.
  • Averted: Alfonz, despite being from another country, doesn’t stand out from any other character.
  • Enforced: Want comedy? Just add a character with a funny accent!
  • Lampshaded:
    Bob: Is anyone else getting offended just listening to Alfonz here?
  • Invoked: Alfonz deliberately invokes his country’s stereotypes for attention.
  • Exploited: Alfonz has lived in America for a long time, but will act as if he just moved there whenever it would aid in his schemes. (He just happens to be a Con Man.)
  • Defied: Alfonz doesn’t want to look like an idiot, so he does his best to research American customs before moving there.
  • Discussed: "Is everyone in Ruritania really like that or is it just Alfonz?"
  • Conversed: "Oh, great, another exaggerated caricature of our culture in foreign film." "Hey, at least he's not a real villain."
  • Deconstructed: Alfonz becomes the POV character for an episode. It turns out that he is Eloquent in My Native Tongue and getting increasingly frustrated by how nobody in America is taking him seriously.

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