History Main / NonActionSnarker

%% * Any Creator/JossWhedon work ever:
%% ** Xander, from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

%% ** Wash, from ''Series/{{Firefly}}''.

* Peeta Mellark from ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.

* Any Creator/JossWhedon work ever:
** Xander, from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** Doyle, from ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Also Cordelia, who's one of the rare female examples of this trope. Subverted with Wesley in later seasons, though.
** Lorne. The man is made out of pure lounge music and snark.
** Topher, from ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.
** Wash, from ''Series/{{Firefly}}''.

* Seamus Zelazny Harper from ''Series/{{Andromeda}}''.
* Timothy [=McGee=] from ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.
** [=McGee=] subverts this, really. While he's not as action-oriented as Tony or Ziva, he's fully capable of handling himself, not even remotely a non-action guy. And on the other side, Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs are all snarky as well.

* Asuma from ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}''.

* Shaun Hastings in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''. He's even called out on it by Desmond.

* Miles Upshur from ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}''

* Tucker Foley from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''.

* Pretty much Jamie's character in ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.

* Joker in ''Franchise/MassEffect''.

* Noah in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' might be the king of this trope, to the point where he was eliminated very early in season one just because [[SeriousBusiness he wouldn't play dodgeball]]. Fortunately, [[CharacterDevelopment he becomes far more active]] in ''World Tour'' but retains his signature snarker nature.

-->'''Guru:''' Did you tell him to [[ADateWithRosiePalms work the shaft?]]

This trope is more likely to be male than female. A non-action-oriented girl may get this treatment, but more likely she will be a more feminine character type, such as TheChick, TheFashionista, the DamselInDistress, the TeamMom, or {{Moe}}.

* Kyon, from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. The rest of the club fights in some form in some way, while he comments from the sidelines.

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** There's also Ponder Stibbons, a snarky HypercompetentSidekick to the rest of the Unseen University faculty. Ironically, though still a NonActionGuy by virtue of ''being'' a wizard, he's a lot more intellectually and organizationally active than the rest. In fact, by ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'' he says "I just pull my weight, like the rest of the faculty" in "a way that indicates the rest of the faculty had [[BigEater too much weight]] and [[BrilliantButLazy not enough pull]]."
** And, of course, Vetinari (who overlaps with GentlemanSnarker). Except in ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', where the "non-action" part is thrown aside, not the "snarker" one. In most of the other books he's a PenPushingPresident whose opportunities and inclination for action are somewhat limited, but whose opportunities for snarking are anything but.[[note]]This is partially by design- he seems to prefer to let a crisis sort itself out, while limiting his own (visible) efforts to the equivalent of 'the right word in the right place'. This way he appears in charge, and any fallback happens to other people, while letting people worry what would happen if he decides to be more proactive... potentially with ''knives''.[[/note]]

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** [=McGee=] subverts this, really. While he's not as action-oriented as Tony or Ziva, he's fully capable of handling himself, not even remotely a non-action guy. And on the other side, Tony, Ziva and Gibbs are all snarky as well.
* Daniel Jackson in ''Series/StargateSG1'', although he becomes an action-guy after the first few seasons, and he is definitely not the only snarker on the show.

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* Dr. Shelton from ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers''' is close to if not the purest example (There's a reason he used to be the TropeNamer). Almost every other character is firearm proficient, MadeOfIron and has NervesOfSteel. Shelton can't shoot a gun, does the [[TheSmartGuy tech stuff]], and snarkily [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] every [[ActionAdventureTropes action trope]] that comes his way. As the series progressed, a few more [[NonActionGuy non-action]] characters were introduced, but none were as bad as him.

--> '''Guru:''' Nail, what does he want?
--> '''Nail:''' He's asking how to use the Dragon Balls!
--> '''Guru:''' Did you tell him to [[ADateWithRosiePalms work the shaft?]]
--> '''Nail:''' Yes, Lord Guru!
--> '''Guru:''' Good work, Nail.
--> '''Freeza:''' I have the distinct impression you're going to be difficult.
--> '''Nail:''' Well sir, if you're having a problem with our customer support, you can call 1-800-EAT-A-D*CK.
--> '''Guru:''' [[RunningGag We]] [[AnalogyBackfire don't]] [[BizarreAlienBiology even]] ''[[OneGenderRace have]]'' [[NonHumansLackAttributes those]]!

** Dave of the ''Pahkitew Island'' season counts too. He constantly gripes about his teammates' weirdness and eccentricity, but is incapable of contributing much to challenges due to his NeatFreak tendencies and just lacking any particular strengths.
* While [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers Dr. Hartford]] is quite capable with fisticuffs, a blaster, and a sword, he is a PlayfulHacker and BadassNormal who is grossly underpowered compared to his more combat-oriented teamates. Doc's snark, however, could be licenced as a deadly weapon.

* Ai Haibara from ''Manga/DetectiveConan''. In a series where most women are at least adept at some form of martial arts, she stands out as having very little means of self-defense.

The tendency in fiction for a NonActionGuy to also be a DeadpanSnarker. Often, a character who displays this trait is one of the few non-action-oriented characters in a show full of {{Action Girl}}s and {{Big Guy}}s. One possible explanation for this trope is that sarcasm is one way to show that a character is dissatisfied with his life, and of course no guy could be happy if he isn't [[{{MANLINESS}} MANLY]] enough. Another explanation might be that Non Action Guys tend to be {{geek}}s, and geeks [[MostTropersAreYoungNerds tend to be snarky]].

* Chisame in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' is physically useless in combat; her abilities are completely tactical.

--->Kija: That's odd. He punched me.
--->Yun: No, I would've punched you, too.

* Kazi from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''. He, like most ice characters is the most cynical member of his [[BadassNormal team]]. He also doesn't have a proper role within the team (scout,inventor, spy), unlike the rest. He's mostly there to snark at the oddball inventor Velika's [[ProverbialWisdom confusing yet helpful riddles]]. Make no mistake, he's still a heroic character at heart, saving his friend from a destructive storm in the prologue, but that's really all he ends up doing.

* Kazi from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''. He, like most ice characters is the most cynical member of his team of [[BadassNormal badass normals]] and doesn't even have a proper role within the team, unlike the rest. He's mostly there to snark at the oddball inventor Velika's [[ProverbialWisdom confusing yet helpful riddles]].

* Kazi from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''.

** There's also Ponder Stibbons, a snarky HypercompetentSidekick to the rest of the Unseen University faculty. Ironically, though still a NonActionGuy by virtue of ''being'' a wizard, he's a lot more intellectually and organizationally active than the rest. In fact, by ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'' he says "I just pull my weight, like the rest of the faculty" in "a way that indicates the rest of the faculty had [[BigEater too much weight]] and [[BrilliantButLazy not enough pull]]."
** And, of course, Vetinari (who overlaps with GentlemanSnarker). Except in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', where the "non-action" part is thrown aside, not the "snarker" one. In most of the other books he's a PenPushingPresident whose opportunities and inclination for action are somewhat limited, but whose opportunities for snarking are anything but.[[note]]This is partially by design- he seems to prefer to let a crisis sort itself out, while limiting his own (visible) efforts to the equivalent of 'the right word in the right place'. This way he appears in charge, and any fallback happens to other people, while letting people worry what would happen if he decides to be more proactive... potentially with ''knives''.[[/note]]

** And, of course, Vetinari (who overlaps with GentlemanSnarker). Except in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', where the "non-action" part is thrown aside, not the "snarker" one. In most of the other books he's a PenPushingPresident whose opportunities and inclination for action are somewhat limited, but whose opportunities for snarking are anything but.