History DeadpanSnarker / Literature

* Despite having a [[TheEeyore different trope named for him]], Eeyore in Creator/AAMilne's original ''{{Winnie the Pooh}}'' books is very much a DeadpanSnarker; only his Disney-fied film version is the sort of lovable depressive that can grace so many pastel-colored sweatshirts.

* In TerryPratchett's ''{{Discworld}}'':

* Would you believe HPLovecraft? From "The Dunwich Horror": "But then, the homes and sheds of Dunwich's folk have never been remarkable for [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness olfactory immaculateness]]."

* Despite having a [[TheEeyore different trope named for him]], Eeyore in AAMilne's original ''{{Winnie the Pooh}}'' books is very much a DeadpanSnarker; only his Disney-fied film version is the sort of lovable depressive that can grace so many pastel-colored sweatshirts.

--> One of the squires observed in his mixture of Gascon and Catalan, [[GentlemanBandit "This captain of ours would make a better friar than highwayman]]; [[JustLikeRobinHood if he wants to be so generous another time, let it be with his own property and not ours.]]"

* Basically everyone in ''{{Percy Jackson and the Olympians}}''. (Heck, even the ''chapter titles'' are snarked.)

* Elizabeth Bennet of JaneAusten's ''{{Pride and Prejudice}}'': "I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person."
** She gets it from her [[InTheBlood father]]:

* Vlad, Kragar, and Loiosh from Steven Brust's ''[[{{Dragaera}} Taltos]]'' series all fit this one.
** Pel in the ''Khaavren Romances'', too.

* DarknessVisible takes place in a Victorian WorldOfSnark, so it's hardly surprising that many characters qualify. Lewis probably snarks the most, being the narrator, but Marsh, Spangler, [[ServileSnarker George]] and even Wilson get in on the fun:

* Levi, AKA Biff, from ''Literature/LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff'' is snarky enough to have invented the word Sarcasm. [[ItWillNeverCatchOn Literally.]]

** Should be noted that deadpan humor seems to be by far the most prevalent kind in the EU; nearly all named characters of note (and there are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters plenty]]) will throw out a snarky line at least once.

* Gerald Morris' ''[[TheSquiresTales The Squire's Tales]]'' turns many of {{King Arthur}}'s knights into this. Particularly notable are Gawain and Gaheris, Rhience, and even Arthur himself when he allows himself.
* Pretty much everything DouglasAdams writes is bound to have a deadpan snarker in it somewhere, but the most well known are [[TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Marvin and Arthur]]. Actually, apart from being fantastically and intrinsically linked to the events of the Earth blowing up (repeatedly) and wondering where the tea is, that's pretty much all Arthur does, although everyone gets in on the act at some point. Even the narrative. Constantly. Then again, it is DouglasAdams.

** One time a student of Lovecraft's mistook the common notation ''Ibid'' for the name of some ancient Roman fellow--which to be fair it does sound like. Lovecraft loved that so much that he wrote a story called "Ibid" about such a fellow in mockery.
*** What kind of humour would you expect from a guy who thought that the universe was a harsh, hostile place where humans were basically fucked?

* Micheal "Mickey" Flynn from H. Turtledove's ''Colonization'' series seems to get at least one line a section, and often rather more common (half his lines to Johnson on occasion seem to be deadpan snarks), at least in the proximity of Glen Johnson. Runners up are Glen Johnson himself, and Charles Healey. Of course, pretty much all the Americans get at least one line in, as well as a few of the Lizards (especially Atvar).

* DonQuixote: Deconstructed by Sancho Panza: What happens in RealLife to those who cannot say anything without being sarcastic? Why, Sancho is beaten by Don Quixote and a lot of other people. The problem is that a lot of people enjoys Sancho’s sarcasm (he is good at it) and so he feels compelled to say it, even when he is in perilous situations, like when he denied payment to a Innkeeper (Chapter XVII part I), and he mocked the entire people of the Braying Town or the highwaymen of Barcelona (Chapters XXVII and LX of the part II) The first give him a beating, the highwaymen almost kill him. And everyone still thinks he is a fool:
-->'''The Housekeeper:''' ''...you bag of mischief and sack of knavery...''

'''Religious literature in particular''':
* It tends to get lost in translation, but the gospels often portray Jesus as quite the DeadpanSnarker.
-->'''Jesus:''' Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
** There's also his interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well:
--->Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"
** Other than him, Paul of Tarsus loved to deal some snark in his epistles. In one instance, mediating an argument amongst the Galatians about circumcision, he helpfully recommends to the conservative Jewish converts agitating against the pagan converts that they "go the whole way and cut the entire thing off!"
*** Actually, a more accurate translation is, "I wish those [agitating for the circumcision of the Gentiles] would castrate themselves," which is arguably even snarkier.
** Another example: As the Roman guard tie Paul up to beat him, Paul casually asks if it's actually legal to beat a Roman citizen (it's not). The guard captain, upon hearing that Paul is a citizen says, "With a great price I obtained this citizenship" to which Paul simply replies, "I was born a citizen."
** In I Samuel 21, David is brought before King Achish, and fearing for his life he feigns insanity. When Achish sees him, he sarcastically asks his servants if he has a shortage of madmen, that they need to bring him another.
** In 1 Kings 18, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a showdown, to see whose god could ignite a sacrifice. After what must be hours of calling for Baal:
-->'''Elijah:''' Call at the top of your voice, for he is a god; for he must be concerned with a matter, and he has excrement and has to go to the privy. Or maybe he is asleep and ought to wake up.
** In the Hebrew, Elijah uses a euphemism for the bathroom part (i.e. "busy with something", or the way an English speaker might say it, "on high"). Ultimately, one wonders if he was given any prophetic foresight that the ultimate fate of the temple of Baal would be as a public toilet (2 Kings 10:27).
** What do you expect? TheBible ''was'' written by Jews wasn't it? A people famed for snarkiness and black humor -- and getting into situations that required it.
*** Plus, when you think about it, {{God}} is the ''ultimate'' KnightInSourArmor.
** Jeremiah's sidekick Baruch, a scribe:
--> They asked Baruch, saying, "How did you write all these words at [Jeremiah's] instruction?
--> Baruch: "He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book."
* Buddha, reportedly,but it's all in good fun for Buddha.
* The mark of a genuine prophet is a tendency to snark -- sometimes at God.

* {{Deconstructed}} in SaulBellow's ''Him with His Foot in His Mouth'', where the narrator is, in essence, a deadpan-snark addict. He couldn't resist any opening for snide remarks and comitted countless faux pas that eventually contributed in ruining his life.

** And his protégée and later [[MarySue wife, Mary Russell]], in the ''MaryRussell'' books is just as deadpan a snarker as Holmes.

{{Deadpan Snarker}}s in {{Literature}}.

* Every main character in TheCornersvilleTraceMythos, ever.

* Jeeves, the valet from PGWodehouse's novels, was famous for his incredibly diplomatic portrayals of this trope:

--->''Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"''

* [[{{Buddenbrooks}} Hanno and Kai]], who "nickname" their teachers not "the spider" or "the cockatoo" as their classmates do, but rather "[[SarcasmMode Herr X]]". Also, Hanno's geography teacher, who's a big fan of satirist Heinrich Heine, tries to be this.

* Marco from ''{{Animorphs}}''.

* Despite having a [[TheEeyore different trope named for him]], Eeyore in [=~A. A. Milne~=]'s original ''{{Winnie the Pooh}}'' books is very much a DeadpanSnarker; only his Disney-fied film version is the sort of lovable depressive that can grace so many pastel-colored sweatshirts.

** The New International Version presents it well in Mark 9:23:
-->'''Father of boy possessed by evil spirit:''' But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.\\
'''Jesus:''' ''... "If you can"?'' Everything is possible for he that believes.