History Main / ButtMonkey

->''"You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's [[TropeNamers butt-monkey]]!"''

->''"You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt-monkey!"''

Simply having a character go through hell once or twice (no matter how severely) is not enough to be the Butt-Monkey. With primary and secondary characters, it must be a regular occurrence. With tertiary characters, it must be their sole purpose to exist. It's not necessarily karma. They don't have to deserve what they go through, but they're an easy target. Sometimes it's all the writers can think of to do with the character.

[[caption-width-right:338:Rinse and repeat ''ad nauseam''.]]

See also: BumblingSidekick, TheUnfavourite, GuiltByAssociationGag, HumiliationConga, MisplacedRetribution, IronButtMonkey. Is nearly always on the receiving end of ComedicSociopathy. When a character isn't a Butt-Monkey in the work itself, but gets treated as one in {{Fanon}}, that's MemeticLoser. If the Butt-Monkey is an OnlySaneMan, they're the NoRespectGuy; if it's a NiceGuy, it's a KafkaKomedy; and if the Monkey is a competent one, it's DudeWheresMyRespect. If the Butt-Monkey's suffering is a result of their bad deeds coming back to bite them, then they're a KarmicButtMonkey, which is also a SubTrope. See BareBottomedMonkey for actual moments about monkey butts.

See also: BumblingSidekick, TheUnfavourite, GuiltByAssociationGag, HumiliationConga, MisplacedRetribution, IronButtMonkey. Is nearly always on the receiving end of ComedicSociopathy. When a character isn't a Butt-Monkey in the work itself, but gets treated as one in {{Fanon}}, that's MemeticLoser. If the Butt-Monkey is a NiceGuy, they're the NoRespectGuy and KafkaKomedy. If the Butt-Monkey's suffering is a result of their bad deeds coming back to bite them, then they're a KarmicButtMonkey, which is also a SubTrope. See BareBottomedMonkey for actual moments about monkey butts.

In RealLife, every single one of us runs into bad luck now and then, [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease so said examples are not possible]].

See also: BumblingSidekick, TheUnfavourite, GuiltByAssociationGag, HumiliationConga, MisplacedRetribution, IronButtMonkey. Is nearly always on the receiving end of ComedicSociopathy. When a character isn't a Butt-Monkey in the work itself, but gets treated as one in {{Fanon}}, that's MemeticLoser. If the Butt-Monkey's suffering is a result of their bad deeds coming back to bite them, then they're a KarmicButtMonkey, which is also a SubTrope. See BareBottomedMonkey for actual moments about monkey butts.

** Shane Davis is knee deep in this trope. After he told the others that he had never finished watching ''Film/SchindlersList'', Cecil started a RunningGag where Shane is an anti-Semite. That gag has been running for more than a year, with no sign of stopping. As time went on, more and more Running Gags about Shane have been created, including that all of his stories are depressing and humiliating; that his wife (artist Yanzi Lin) controls their marriage with an iron fist; that his name is an anagram of "Shaved Anis"; that he has the facial expressions of a young child; that he lives in regret after failing to get in bed with porn star Riley Reid (whom he met at a convention); and that he clumsily destroys all of his expensive toys (after having dropped a $500 [[WesternAnimation/{{Transformers}} Soundwave]] statue). When Yanzi became pregnant, the Running Gag was that ''Shane'' is the one who's pregnant with the child. Though he reacts negatively to these jokes, Shane actively plays into them once in a while.

If someone is GivingTheSwordToANoob, nine times out of ten this person is the noob. When [[ThePlan a plan]] needs to be executed and others won't touch it, [[WhoWillBellTheCat chances are they'll get the dirty job]]. If a plan requires someone to be TheBait, if the other members of the team don't volunteer, they'll usually [[GotVolunteered get volunteered]] to do it. However, if someone in the cast other than TheHero is going to [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]], it's almost invariably the Butt-Monkey who does it. If the Butt-Monkey is fat, they may or may not be a FatComicRelief, which often are Butt-Monkeys.

!!Examples go in subpages:

* ButtMonkey/{{Pinball}}

Do note that the Butt-Monkey is often not meant to be ''hated'' by the ''audience''. For characters completely intended to be dislikable, contrast HateSink.

Almost AlwaysMale. If every conceivable misfortune happens to the Butt-Monkey, regardless of its logic or lack thereof, you've got yourself a CosmicPlaything.

Almost AlwaysMale. In cases that the Butt-Monkey is female, is regularly used for slapstick and it is PlayedForLaughs, she is probably also a case of SlapstickKnowsNoGender. If every conceivable misfortune happens to the Butt-Monkey, regardless of its logic or lack thereof, you've got yourself a CosmicPlaything.

* [[CorruptHick Constable Wiggs]] from ''Podcast/OnTheThreshold'' is repeatedly confounded and publicly embarrassed over the course of less than a week. [[TheStrongman Adaman]] evades his arrest in front of a crowd, and later wrestles him into unconsciousness in front of the town's children. [[spoiler: He's later tricked by Alexandra into letting the Traveler family go with legal nonsense, has his prisoner jail broken and money from his personal vault stolen, and finally is brutally burned to death after he attempts to arrest Adaman.]]

See also: BumblingSidekick, TheUnfavourite, GuiltByAssociationGag, HumiliationConga, MisplacedRetribution, IronButtMonkey. Is nearly always on the receiving end of ComedicSociopathy. When a character isn't a Butt-Monkey in the work itself, but gets treated as one in {{Fanon}}, that's MemeticLoser. If the Butt-Monkey's suffering is a result of their bad deeds coming back to bite them, then they're a KarmicButtMonkey, which is also a SubTrope.

While the trope is often played for laughs and we are encouraged to find the misery at least somewhat amusing, some portrayals go for a much darker presentation, deconstructing the idea and showing what an emotional and psychological wreck such a person would be like in RealLife.

In RealLife, everyone single one of us runs into bad luck now and then, [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease so said examples are not possible]].