History Main / RuleOfFunny

* SquishTheCheeks

->'''Eddie:''' You mean you could have taken your hand out of that cuff at any time?!\\

* WorldofHam

* The CutawayGag moments in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' often show bizarre things. Their prevalence amped greatly following the series' return, which attracted criticism from various other cartoonists and comedians and was parodied in the "Cartoons Wars" episodes of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. [[Creator/SethMacFarlane MacFarlane's]] response was:

Rule of Funny is not a superpower. One of the characteristics of the rule of funny is that it can give some abilities to a character to the sole purpose of a gag, which means the character just CAN'T do that when it's not funny. For instance, [[{{WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner}} Wile E. Coyote]] frequently walks on thin air because he hasn't noticed that he's at the edge of a cliff, and he falls when he notices it. It is Rule of Funny: Wile E. can't walk on thin air as a previewed part of a scheme.

%%* ''Manga/BinboGamiGa'' practically runs on it- particularly everything [[{{Troll}} Momiji]] does.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has a few examples. After the first few seasons, the premise that it was simply an "animated sitcom" began to be interpreted a lot more loosely, with much more stereotypically "cartoon logic."

Rule of Funny is not a superpower. One of the characteristics of the rule of funny is that it can give some abilities to a character to the sole purpose of a gag, which means the character just CAN'T do that when it's not funny. For instance, [[{{WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes}} Wile E. Coyote]] frequently walks on thin air because he hasn't noticed that he's at the edge of a cliff, and he falls when he notices it. It is Rule of Funny: Wile E. can't walk on thin air as a previewed part of a scheme.

Rule of Funny is not a superpower. One of the characteristics of the rule of funny is that it can give some abilities to a character to the sole purpose of a gag, which means the character just CAN'T do that when it's not funny. For instance, Wile E. Coyote frequently walks on thin air because he hasn't noticed that he's at the edge of a cliff, and he falls when he notices it. It is Rule of Funny: Wile E. can't walk on thin air as a previewed part of a scheme.

* UsefulNotes/RussianHumour has a bunch of invocations of this. One of the more significant, however, is the portrayal of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin in line with Russian (and, to be frank, pan-Soviet) stereotypes of Georgians, down to a thick Georgian accent when speaking Russian and a love of red wine and brandy in addition to vodka. It helps that Stalin really did have a noticeable Georgian accent in Russian and really did love Georgian wine and brandy (though he loved vodka more, which is probably what killed him).

* This is the main reason why anything happens in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' and its sequels. The number of {{Contrived Coincidence}}s and [[RandomEventsPlot random events]] the protagonists go through would be absurdly improbable in RealLife, but the films' inability to take anything seriously [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal allows the audience to accept the absurdity.]]

%%*** [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/c338/19.html After Negi goes Raiten Sousou while sneezing and blows Chisame's clothes]]:
-->'''Chisame:''' Why the hell are you transforming with a sneeze?! That makes no sense!!

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Pinkie's evolved Fullbring weaponizes this. Whenever she strikes something with the hammer, it reacts in a hilarious way, like forming a springboard under someone's feet or absorbing an energy blast with a loud belching sound. It pretty much [[ RealityWarper lets her warp reality on a limited scale as long as the result can be considered a gag...such as forcing the fight between her and Cheese Sandwich to literally function by 2D fighting game mechanics.]] Cheese notes that it's only half of her power and sure enough with time she begins combining [[RuleOfFunny Funny]] with [[RuleOfScary Horror]]...

** Arguably one of the most polarizing points in the show's evolution for fans was when the characterizations became dependant on the trope. Depending on the gag, the entire cast can switch between likable yet wacky characters akin to the original episodes or FauxAffablyEvil psychopaths taking part in high order ComedicSociopathy. This is even more jarring when originally [[OnlySaneMan level headed and more humanized]] characters such as Lois and Brian [[{{Flanderization}} join in on]] [[NotSoDifferent the sadism]] [[ComedicSociopathy of a gag]].

* ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', in a nutshell.

* In general, this trope applies to how the titular character beats enemies in ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo''.
* Pretty much everything in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' that isn't covered by RuleOfCool probably falls under this.
** Still both cool and funny parts are usually completely logical. When they're not, it's heavily [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]].
*** [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/c338/19.html After Negi goes Raiten Sousou while sneezing and blows Chisame's clothes]]:

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': The English Dub originally liked to tie in some puns now and then, but has since gone on a more faithful adaptation of the scripts once it passed out of 4kid's hands.

* ''Manga/BinboGamiGa'' practically runs on it- particularly everything [[{{Troll}} Momiji]] does.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': ...narrow it down to ''one'' example? Um.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' movies follow [=RoF=] to an increasing degree with every movie.

* Any given Creator/JackieChan fight sequence.
* This is the entire point of ''Film/JesusChristVampireHunter''.

* ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}''. BellisariosMaxim is writ '''LARGE''' across every element.

* Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg aim for this trope... with unfortunate results.

* Music/DevinTownsend
** Ziltoid the Omniscient in particular.
* Music/FrankZappa
* Music/{{Primus}}
* Music/{{Megadeth}} has The Chosen Ones, based on ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'''s Rabbit of Caerbannog.

* Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} Pro Wrestling, Incredibly Strange Wrestling, and Lucha Va-Voom practically run on it.