A wick check for another occupation trope, despite not being categorized as such, that's just "this job exists" without any meaning. Bouncer is defined as "a character whose job is to prevent people from entering an establishment where they are not allowed, as well as to throw out disruptive patrons of said establishment."
Wicks checked: 60/60.
- Quick wick check results:
- 38/60 or 63% are zero-context examples of bouncers just existing or someone working as one.
- 13/60 or 22% are examples with varied useful context but mostly about a specific stereotypical portrayal of bouncers.
- 9/60 or 15% are misuse and other unsorted examples.
- Final Verdict: More than half of the wicks are ZCEs that don't add anything new or describe something noteworthy. Nearly a quarter of the wicks have useful context beyond "this job exists/a character works as a bouncer" with 8 examples all being about bouncers being depicted as huge and beefy/burly.
- Solutions:
- Get the choppers!
- Or retool it into a Burly Bouncer trope regarding bouncers who are portrayed as huge and muscular and search for more examples (there are 8 examples of this; there could be more!), or send it to TLP to gather more examples.
- Yard the concept if there's no one to sponsor it.
open/close all folders
ZCE & contextless potholes — "bouncers exist/X works as a bouncer/etc." (38/60)
- Belly Dancer: "Stop, Stop, Stop" by The Hollies is about a man who is so obsessed by a belly dancer that he grabs her in the middle of her performance, naturally getting thrown out by the bouncer. Now with its own animated music video!
- Minor with Fake I.D.: 3rd Rock from the Sun: Tommy and his friends create fake IDs to get into a popular local nightclub. The friends succeed but Tommy is stopped at the door because Don Orville is the bouncer and knows perfectly well that Tommy is underage because "I used to date your sister!"
- Not on the List: When a Bouncer is controlling access to a high-end restaurant, the Coolest Club Ever, or private party, a person attempting to enter from the Wannabe Line will not be on the list of guests authorized for admittance. The doorman will deny them entry, and wacky antics usually ensue in an effort to convince the guard to let them in. — Just a bouncer doing their job
- The Bouncer: For bouncers.
- This Index Is in the Way: A person who's job is to prevent people from entering an establishment where they are not allowed, as well as to throw out disruptive patrons of said establishment. Just explains the job, which isn't meaningful or noteworthy
- Characters.Avatar The Last Airbender Comic Characters: (San), Throws out any customers his boss does not like.
- Characters.Big Hero 6 Family And Friends: (Carl), His job, as seen in "Food Fight" and "Mr. Sparkles Loses His Sparkles".
- Characters.Cyberpunk Edgerunners Main Characters: (David), Under Mundane Utility: He uses his Sandevistan implant, a military-grade piece of cyberware that grants the user Super-Speed, to sneak Rebecca past a Bouncer at the Afterlife bar after she gets stopped at the entrance for looking too young.
- Characters.Drunkn Bar Fight: It's in the name, and he even looks almost exactly like the page image for the Bouncer entry.
- Characters.Infinity Train Boiling Point Boiling Isles: (Wrath), He acts as this for the Blight Ball, not that it stops him from letting Luz and the twins inside.
- Characters.Nightwing: (Stallion), Worked as a bouncer for Penguin before Penguin helped him discover the money he could make as a contract killer.
- Characters.Saints Row The Third Street Saints: (Oleg), He apparently acts as one by the time of IV, as we see him kicking a Loony Fan who tries running towards the Boss/President.
- Characters.Va 11 Hall A: (Dana), Serves as the bar's bouncer, in addition to being the owner. Dana singlehandedly makes sure that VA-11 Hall-A is protected from looters during a city-wide riot, relying on nothing more than her spiked bat.
- Ensemble Dark Horse.Literature: Terry Pratchett, the author of the Discworld series, claims that this is the greatest danger when you create a throwaway character. And Detritus, who started as a "splatter" and became Sergeant and head of the Watch's training academy, married to Ruby, and "adopted" Brick.
- Fanfic.Four Deadly Secrets: Junior employs several. After firing the Malachite twins, he hires Coco Adel as a replacement.
- Film.After Hours: He only lets people with Mohawks into Club Berlin.
- Film.From Justin To Kelly: Under Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Alexa orders a Bouncer to let her skip the line for the Margarita Madness party, on the ground that she is "friends with the promoters." — A random scene with an unnamed bouncer
- Film/Striptease: Under Faked Food Contaminant: In one scene, Shad the Bouncer is seen carefully tampering with a yogurt container so he can slip in a cockroach, which he will then use to file a Frivolous Lawsuit on the yogurt's manufacturer. It ends up going wrong for Shad, though, because in a latter scene where he meets a lawyer to file it, the lawyer's secretary eats the yogurt, dead cockroach and all while they weren't looking. — A wild bouncer appears ~
- Literature.Children Of The Red King: Norton Cross is a sort-of bouncer for the Pets' Cafe.
- Music.Whatever People Say I Am Thats What Im Not: The narrator gets into a fight with one in "From the Ritz to the Rubble".
- Radar.Odd Squad: "Oscar and the Oscarbots" introduces Club 24, which has the typical feel and look of your average adult-oriented nightclub, complete with a Bouncer whom Olive is friendly with. The line seen in the episode is full of adults, with no kids in sight save for Olive and Otto, who pull out Oscarbot 24 out of the Club in a similar manner as someone who would take an overserved or unruly patron out.
- Recap.Jellystone S 1 E 5 VIP Baby You Know Me El Kabongs Kabong Is Gone: Ruff and Reddy serve as the bouncers for the club.
- Series.Minder: One of Terry's regular forms of employment.
- TearJerker.Pyre: Ignarius was just doing his job when he confronted wrong Commonwealth officer. This can possibly ends with him trapped in Downside for the rest of his life if he isn't liberated.
- VideoGame.Mother 3: Neckbeard and Skinhead won't let a kid and some dog-like kid get into Club Titiboo that easily.
- VideoGame.The Matrix Path Of Neo: The Club Hel bouncer.
- VideoGame.Virtual Nightclub: Cyberon acts as this for the Gallery and won't let you pass without an invitation. Another bouncer guards the metal detector to the Def Jam club, but this one at least gives you the code to the outer door.
- VisualNovel.Moonlight Lovers: The Moondance's one, Gaston, is very well acquainted with Beliath and Ethan, and also becomes Eloise's friend.
- WeAreNotAlone.Tropes Zero To D: Link to the Wikipedia article
- WebAnimation.Nightmares In The Dark: Donovan works a second job as one of these at the Local Hangout, owned by his godfather. He lives in a loft apartment overtop.
- Literature.Suzys Strange Saga: Mel can get a job as a bouncer at the strip clup where Tina works. This leads to some conflict when some rude patrons are involved.
- Webcomic.Bleach Happy To Serve You: The job Zaraki takes at the restaurant. Even though it's not a night club, it's still an important job considering the types of waitresses there...
- Webcomic.Lil Formers: The Energon Club has one. — Commented out example
- WesternAnimation.Batman Soul Of The Dragon: Under Shout-Out: The Bouncer Richard encounters outside Wayne's casino has his appearance based on Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon. Richard also deals with him in a similar manner that Bruce Lee's character did with another arrogant guy Bullying a Dragon in Enter the Dragon: by tricking them into an area on the pretense that they'd fight there and then just leaving them trapped in it instead of kicking their asses.
- WesternAnimation.Bounty Hamster: There is one as a supporting character in "Fashion Victim", who goes Sweet on Polly Oliver.
- WesternAnimation.The Tick: Under Something Person: There is even a superhero named "Door Man", although he's more of a Bouncer.
- Wrestling.Bad Luck Fale: His Underboss gimmick, particularly as the second of Prince Devitt.
- Wrestling.Olde Wrestling: "Burly" Bill Taylor
Useful context (e.g. a stereotypical depiction or specific situations) (13/60)
- A Round of Drinks for the House: If a huge tab is run up, and the person who offered free drinks won't pay, two fridge-sized bouncers may accompany the person to an ATM to "encourage" them to settle up. — Bouncers are depicted as huge
- Feghoot: 4chan:
- A considerably raunchier greentext is about a young tourist in Freestate Amsterdam losing his virginity to a Swedish New-Age Retro Hippie named Sky. While the narrator is tonguing Sky's ass in a nightclub bathroom, a burly bouncer (also Scandinavian) interrupts them, then starts performing the same sex act on Sky and declares: "Sky's rim belongs to the Nords." — Beefy bouncer
- Characters.The Sound Designer The Motorvators: (Rick), His fitness is telling enough, and given how he mentioned training Milo, he trains other bouncers in the Pink Elephant Pub. — Beefy bouncer
- ComicBook.Civil War 2006: The disco has a bouncer ready to let Johnny Storm ignore the waiting line and get inside, as usual. He doesn't do much of a good job when the guys get violent and beat Johnny into a coma. — Incompetent worker?
- ComicBook.Wonder Woman Charles Moulton: A rather large bouncer tries to keep Wonder Woman from entering a man's only club where she, correctly, thinks someone is about to attempt a murder. She throws the bulky doorman aside with ease. — Beefy bouncer
- Funny.The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You 02: The Gal restaurant is guarded by a Gal Bouncer who's huge and muscular. — Huge, muscular bouncer
- Literature.Forbidden Valley: Clanton's henchman Monk Kincaid is a burly and mean-spirited bar bouncer. — Beefy + mean bouncer
- Music.La Regina Del Celebrita: Not mentioned in the lyrics but prominent in the animation is a bald, hulking bouncer with sunglasses and a gold tooth. His key role is getting the blond patron away from the go-go dancer, because it's against the rules to get that close to the dancers. The patron's friends plead with the bouncer to let the guy stay, which he probably did seeing as the patron and dancer later get married.
- PlayingWith.Fighting Irish: The local nightclub owner is thinking to hire Patrick as a Bouncer for his reputed prowess and temper. — A strong, fighting + short-tempered bouncer
- Recap.Samurai Jack S 5 E 6 XCVII: Scaramouche has to deal with a very stubborn one who refuses to let him onboard the boat without compliance of the dress code. Trying to pull rank on the guy doesn't help, as it seems two of Aku's other assassins have higher standing. — A stubborn bouncer
- Series.Abbys: Under Gentle Giant: James, which is inconvenient as he’s supposed to be the bouncer. Huge bouncer?
- VisualNovel.Idol Hakkenden: Zanshine Building's top floor has a burly guard blocking entrance to the show to those without a ticket. Erika tries to get past him by singing, which initially doesn't work, but she succeeds later on. — Beefy bouncer
- WesternAnimation.Treasure: In "Night Club", the bouncers at the The Strobe are described by one the parents Treasure's mother talks to as being very strict when it comes to drugs and the like, and by another as being "ex-riot police, used to handling rebellious youths". Mrs. Perez, on the other hand, imagines them as stereotypical drug dealers. In reality, they just appear to be ordinary men in suits and sunglasses, who refuse to let Brian into the club because he's "too old". — Strict bouncers
Uncertain/misuse/other (9/60)
- Mook Bouncer: This is not about when a Mook is a bouncer of a shady nightclub. — Just a clarification
- Animation.Technotise Edit I Ja: Edit and Vu are allowed to enter a nightclub after listening to his giftedly bad poem. — Irrelevant context
- Frozen - Magical Creatures: It's his job to keep people out of Elsa's castle. — Elsa's castle isn't an establishment or public place so this is misuse
- Characters.Police Quest: (Danny, in Open Season's folder), Works as one for Yo Money. He doesn't let John into his villa unless the detective shows his badge, plus he may throw John out if he sees him stealing things. — Misuse — villas aren't public spaces
- Characters.TFS At The Table Natural Oneders: If he catches you cheating, he's kicking you out. Preferably through the window. ?
- Screen One S 3 E 5 Dancin Thru The Dark: The girls spend a few minutes winding up the bouncer at Bransky's before they go in. I don't get this one
- Series.The King Of Queens: It is revealed that Doug Heffernan's main job when he first met Carrie Spooner was that of nightclub bouncer. Doug was pretty much of the non-violent fast-talking kind who would try to defuse trouble rather than invite it, but it cannot be denied that he could let the power of running the door, and deciding who got in, go to his head.
- VideoGame.Bar Oasis: This bar doesn't have one. Which doesn't help when you're attempting to kick out patrons who had one too many. — Aversions aren't notable in this trope
- VideoGame.Conkers Bad Fur Day: The guard who protects the entrance to the "Rock Solid" dance club, where everyone in it (including the bouncer himself) is a rock monster. You can't get in without the password, but Conker befriends some cavemen who know it. — I don't know if this is literal or metaphorical
