Given that we have "The Pervert" covering both an actual pervert and/or a "comedic sociopath", would it be better to label this category "The Deviant" instead? It's more general, but still gives you an idea of what they're like, whether they're sexually perverse or have an abnormal set of ethics.
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I completely agree with you, buddy.
"We are the music makers, and the dreamers of the dream." Willy Wonka.
I agree with this. There are a lot of people who seem to take the word, "Pervert", way too seriously, thus resulting in arguments and possible Internet backlash. Might I suggest we change "The Pervert" to something like "The Jerk"? Think that might work?
I think "Jerk" is too narrow. It implies the person in the group must be mean spirited, when that isn't always the case.
I've also been thinking more about this, and am wondering if it'd be better to use something like "unhinged" or "unbalanced" when describing them. In a lot of these four-person groups, at least one of them acts even more unusual than the others, whether it's through odd social tics or even sociopathy. As an example, think of Kramer from Seinfeld, or Dale from King Of The Hill. None of these guys are really perverts or sociopaths, but they're always the goto guys when it comes to saying something completely off the wall. Penguins Of Madagascar has Rico, who barely talks and has an aura of "crazy" around him, and South Park has Cartman who can be set off by the silliest things and goes to insane lengths to accomplish his goals.
Edited by AnonymousMaterials
What I do think is that we should change the Pervert for another term that at least has an existing trope.
nothing makes sense to me
A similar but slightly different Four Man Band is displayed, with several examples, on this widely circulating image: http://www.ponibooru.org/post/view/187121?search=Osaka
(there are many versions of that chart, mostly involving Anime and Manga, but there's also one that adds South Park characters to the list at http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/501317 )
- Boke
- Tsukkomi (comparatively)
- Moe through helplessness
- Seemingly "perfect" at first glance
- Kagami is the Tsukkomi and the Only Sane Man
- Konata is the Boke and the Pervert
- Miyuki is Seemingly Perfect and the Smart Guy
- Tsukasa is Moe through Helpness and the Butt Monkey
- Stan is Seemingly Perfect and the Only Sane Man
- Kyle is the Tsukkomi and the Smart Guy
- Cartman is the Boke and the Pervert
- Kenny is Moe through Helplessness and... another Pervert (i guess Butters is an even bigger Butt Monkey)
Yeah, similar but not the same.
Edited by Locoluis You have nothing to be proud about!
Great idea, but in the comedic situation, the Smart Guy will inevitable also double up as the team nerd, making him more quirky and rule abiding, taking him out of Straight Guy territory, should we tweak the description?
Edited by TheGovernment Hide / Show Replies
Anybody in a comedic Four Man Band can be the Straight Man - it's a role that can switch between characters. Everybody gets a chance at sanity. That's the thing about Four Man Bands - the Butt Monkey and the Straight Man switch places a lot.
What we need to do is move the teams that are Four Man Bands out of the Five Man Band description, where many characters are being shoehorned into more than one role.
(not meant to be a reply, sorry)
Edited by Locoluis You have nothing to be proud about!
I was looking for this trope for a while, and though it's not exactly like I expected, I don't think it'd be a good idea to re-launch it. Just one thing, though - In the South Park example, Cartman and Kenny's roles are a bit mixed because of the show's continuity (heh, just like in the original pilot) - Cartman is more of a Butt-Monkey than Kenny nowadays, since Kenny doesn't die anymore, and he's been shown to be a Casanova Wannabe since the early seasons. And to top it all off, Butters can either be added as The Chick to make it a Five-Man Band, or replace Living Prop Kenny as the Butt-Monkey. I think it's worth discussing.