History Main / PreacherMan

* Father O'Hea fills this role in ''Film/NedKelly'', and Reverend Mitchell is a missionary in ''Film/DakotaHarris''.

In terms of rank, the [[AuthorityTropes authority tropes]] arguably equal are BadassPreacher, CorruptCorporateExecutive, IrishPriest, {{Landlord}}, PedophilePriest, {{Schoolteachers}}, SexyPriest, SinisterMinister and TheVicar. For the next step down, see StudentCouncilPresident. For the next step up, see DeanBitterman.

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl stole a church organ from a preacher many years ago...only to find that that preacher is on his list ''several'' times. Each instance makes the preacher angrier and angrier, but he does his best to forgive Earl. The last straw is during his sermon on forgiveness, when his wife admits that she cheated on him...and it turns out that she cheated on him with Earl. This causes the preacher to revert back to who he was before he had a HeelFaithTurn and became a preacher: a ScaryBlackMan gangster nicknamed "Hash Brown." (Because he had a reputation for chopping people up like hash browns.) He eventually finds out that (thanks to ''yet another'' item on Earl's ListOfTransgressions) Earl had indirectly saved his life. He always attributed that to divine intervention, and it was the reason he left his gangster life and became a minister in the first place. He decides that he's not going back to "Hash Brown," and [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming his congregation forgives him]].

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl stole a church organ from a preacher many years ago...only to find that that preacher is on his list ''several'' times. Each instance makes the preacher angrier and angrier, but he does his best to forgive Earl. The last straw is during his sermon on forgiveness, when his wife admits that she cheated on him...and it turns out that she cheated on him with Earl. This causes the preacher to revert back to who he was before he had a HeelFaithTurn and became a preacher: a ScaryBlackMan gangster nicknamed "Hash Brown." (Because he had a reputation for chopping people up like hash browns.) He eventually finds out that (thanks to ''yet another'' item on Earl's ListOfTransgressions) Earl had indirectly saved his life. He always attributed that to divine intervention, and it was the reason he left his gangster life and became a minister in the first place. He decides that he's not going back to "Hash Brown," and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming his congregation forgives him]].

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* The little frontier town in ''CaddieWoodlawn'' had a circuit rider.

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* The Whitmans

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* The horror-western RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' not only has these, but [[BadassPreacher some]] of them can perform [[WhiteMagic actual]] [[HolyHandGrenade miracles]]

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Most often spotted at weddings, funerals and town meetings.

* John Hammond in ''Film/TheManFromKangaroo''. After being forced to back down on delivering his first service in Kalmaroo when Braggan and his gang threaten to harm his congregants, he suffers a crisis of faith and abandons the cloth to become a station hand.

* John Hammond in ''Film/TheManFronKangaroo''. After being forced to back down on delivering his first service in Kalmaroo when Braggan and his gang threaten to harm his congregants, he suffers a crisis of faith and abandons the cloth to become a station hand.

When played straight (or [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistically]] if you happen to be a cynic), the preacher is a GoodShepherd, a force for reason and peace in the community. He usually understands that violence is an option the law has to take sometimes, but weighs heavily against it for civilians or for less-than-emergency situations. Don't think this makes the PreacherMan an easy target, though--when push comes to shove, they'll [[BadassPreacher fight]] for what's right with all their might. Even those who are [[ActualPacifist opposed to violence in all its forms]] can still [[BadassPacifist end a fight by putting themselves in the line of fire]], as few villains are either [[EvenEvilHasStandards impious enough to shoot a messenger of God]] or [[PragmaticVillainy stupid enough to shoot the one person in the town everyone would be willing to defend / avenge]].

* Reverend Samuels of ''Series/{{Kings}}'' plays PreacherMan to an entire kingdom.

* The only one who could reach and teach DustySpringfield was the ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjydOI4MEIw Son]]'' of a PreacherMan. Worth mentioning.

* Rev. Peabody in ''Film/BreakheartPass'' is a preacher being sent to minister to the men of Fort Humboldt.

* Shepherd Book of ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. Who was also remarkably accurate with firearms. Are you seeing a trend here?
** River even ''calls'' him "preacher-man" while 'fixing' his Bible.

* ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'': The Rev. Robert Alden, who was not only a voice of reason, reassurance and understanding but an active part in the lives of everyone in Walnut Grove. Usually a pacifist, you did not want to make him angry -- as the Gallander brothers found out when they finally pressed their luck with him (and he learns that two of them had gang-raped Caroline Ingalls).

** Don't forget [[ArethaFranklin Aretha]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD42WhNl9z0 Franklin]], and [[Music/JossStone Joss]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBH8o8XXnVM Stone]], [[CoveredUp and...and...and...]].

* A storyline in ''{{Latigo}}'' starting [[http://riphaywire.com/latigo/?p=3 here]] concerns an [[RetiredGunfighter ex-gunman]] who [[RetiredOutlaw goes straight]] after four years in prison, and becomes the preacher in the town of Rimfire. It originally ran in 1981.

* Father O'Hea fills this role in Film/NedKelly, and Reverend Mitchell is a missionary in Film/DakotaHarris.

* Father Mulcahy of ''Series/{{Mash}}''. Who was also an accomplished boxer, a go-between with the black market, and not opposed to raising orphanage money by gambling.

* Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG, Dr. Noomi Shaw is the closest person on the team to this sort of character. While not actually a priest, she does wear a cross and tries to use her faith as a means of comfort both for herself and those around her.

* The horror-western RPG TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}} not only has these, but [[BadassPreacher some]] of them can perform [[WhiteMagic actual]] [[HolyHandGrenade miracles]]

* Matthieu in ''TheSpiritEngine''.
* Sanctus in ''Devil May Cry 4''.

** Don't forget [[ArethaFranklin Aretha]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD42WhNl9z0 Franklin]], and [[JossStone Joss]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBH8o8XXnVM Stone]], [[CoveredUp and...and...and...]].

[[quoteright:300:[[SherlockHolmes http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PreacherMan.jpg]]]]

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* Reverend Samuels of ''{{Kings}}'' plays PreacherMan to an entire kingdom.

* ''ComicBook/{Preacher}}'': Rev. Jesse Custer.