History Main / ScheduleFanatic

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* [[Anime/ALittleSnowFairySugar Saga]] lives her life under a very rigid schedule, and gets completely cheesed off at Sugar for turning her life upside down with assorted antics and misadventures, at least in the beginning.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', it is revealed in a backstory episode that Otofried I, the fourth kaiser of the Galactic Empire, was so bound to his daily schedule that he once dismissed an emergency report on a serious accident that caused thousands of casualties, declaring that it is not part of his schedule to attend to such a report.

[[folder:FanWorks]]
* [[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] shows signs of this in ''Fanfic/TwilightsList'', freaking out when everything doesn't go perfectly on the date, believing that anything going wrong will ruin the whole thing. Rainbow Dash helps break her out of it.

* Raymond Babbitt in ''Film/RainMan'', as a result of his condition.
* Harold Crick in ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'' is a slightly less extreme version.
* The SerialKiller [[spoiler: Lucas]] in ''Film/{{Mindhunters}}''.

-->I run my home precisely on schedule.
-->At 6:01, I march through my door.
-->My slippers, sherry, and pipe are due at 6:02.
-->Consistent is the life I lead!
* ''Clockwise'': Brian, played by Creator/JohnCleese, is a strictly punctual headmaster who holds everyone else to his own exacting standards. The whole plot of the movie is how a misunderstanding leads to him missing his train to an important event and how his life slowly unravels as he tries desperately to get there on time. In the end [[spoiler:he arrives exactly on time but with his life utterly ruined.]] Brian was chronically late and disorganized when he was younger, so his insane devotion to punctuality is likely overcompensation.
* The eponymous MadScientist in ''Film/TheBloodWatersOfDrZ'' has every stage of his EvilPlan on a huge chart on his wall. When he has completed each phase he crosses it out.

-->"At exactly half-past eleven Mr. Fogg would, according to his daily habit, quit Saville Row, and repair to the Reform...He breakfasted and dined at the club, at hours mathematically fixed...and went home at exactly midnight, only to retire at once to bed."
* The autistic hero of ''[[Literature/TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNightTime The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]''.

* The man at the start of the ''Literature/AlexRider'' novel ''Point Blanc'', [[spoiler: which leads to his death. An assassin hacks his private lift, sends it up one floor and leaves a hologram projection in its place.]]
* The rabbit from ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''.
* The One State in ''Literature/{{We}}'' is a PlanetOfHats of schedule freaks -- it's part of the effort to maintain their AssimilationPlot. All "[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans for their own good]]"...
* The post office cat in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', walks the exact same route every day, not even bothering trying to circumvent people standing in his way. If a door on the cat's route is closed, he will stand in front of it until somebody opens it, then continue the route.
* Creator/HarlanEllison's "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" depicts a future where ''everyone'' is a schedule fanatic, because if they aren't, the Ticktockman deducts their time late from their lifespan and kills them if it runs out. [[spoiler:After the Harlequin is captured and "dealt with", the sign that his actions have left a lasting effect is that the Ticktockman himself starts running late.]]
* While not quite the same thing, in the ''Series/RedDwarf'' novel, it's explained that Rimmer routinely fails the officer's exam because he spends so much time color-coding his study schedule he falls way behind in his studies and has to color-code an ''emergency'' study schedule. By the time he's done with ''that'', it's time to take the test.
* The book ''Triplets'' by Joyce Rebeta-Burditt has one of the triplets like this, which puts her in contestation with the protagonist, who is usually late.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Hermione turns into this when exams are nigh, making timetables for Ron and Harry, much to their amused exasperation. Goes even further in the third book, when Ron points out her schedule has an error, having two classes during the same period on several occasions [[spoiler: She's using TimeTravel to go to both]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* An episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement'' dealt with Tim's trying to adhere to a rigid schedule, while Jill espoused the virtues of being more flexible. They each had a dream of a future where they were awesome because they were consistent/flexible, while the other was demented/weak because of over-reliance on a schedule/being too easily pushed around.
* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Sheldon (with his OCPD) takes this to the extreme. When one of this 3 friends doesn't come to their weekly Thai dinner, he is unable to order anything because it would disrupt the routine - an order of dumplings comes with 4 and he refuses to cut up a dumpling or give someone an extra one. His issues with the main course are more complex.
* Special Agent Frank Lundy in ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' is a minor example in that, no matter what he happens to be doing at the time, he will always have lunch at one o'clock.
* This is the central defining character trait for Martin Bryce in ''Series/EverDecreasingCircles''.
* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Ross exhibits this tendency in "The One Where No One Is Ready". He invited his friends to an event related to his job that he was going to get honors for, but everyone was taking their sweet time and/or taking longer than it was needed to get ready, which caused Ross to get more frantic as time passed; Joey and Chandler were childishly fighting over who got to sit in a chair, Monica was obsessed with finding out if her ex-boyfriend wanted to get back with her, and Phoebe and Rachel took an extremely long time to decide what they wanted to wear. Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Ross' watch stopped working.]]

* Gary from ''Series/{{Alphas}}''. Justified in that he's autistic.
** Ghost, from the first episode, is also a Schedule Fanatic as part of his OCD, to the point where he [[YouHaveFailedMe kills a henchman]] [[DisproportionateRetribution for being four minutes late to a meeting]].

* Shirogane Sakuya, in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'', is not apparently bothered by unscheduled disruptions and events. An aristocrat is flexible, after all. However, he does also have his schedule planned down to the second. If he wants to meet you at exactly three and you show up at three and nineteen seconds, he starts chiding you for lateness.
* Meredith Huxley in ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles 14: Broken Hour'' has been like this since the death of her children, to the point where if guests in her hotel don't keep to the schedule themselves, [[DisproportionateRetribution she kills them]].
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman''. The wizard always does things at specific times and takes the same amount of time to do things, which allows Gwydion to know how long he has to carry out certain necessary tasks.

* Mikey from ''Webcomic/TheClassMenagerie'', though apparently [[spoiler: it's to distract him from his sexuality.]]
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Redcloak tortures a character who is immune to fear, even though he doesn't expect it to work, purely because it's written on his schedule.
** Though it was still on his schedule because he had to pretend to Xykon that it might work, in order to keep them at their current location for long enough for him to do what he wanted, which was not connected to their overall plan.

-->7:00AM: Wake Up
-->7:15AM-8:00AM: Post on productivity blogs about my schedule
-->8:00AM-Whenever: Fuck around

* [[http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/A_Perfect_Routine This]] creepypasta is an extreme example.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Bubble Boys", Baljeet tried this. It didn't work out so well.

* The episode "Foster's Goes To Europe" in ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' had Herriman be one of the ''many'' delays to the group setting out on their trip because Herriman ''insisted'' on making them a schedule and repeatedly making adjustments for things like time zones.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** A joke during the third season of has Sokka constructing a huge, complex, and somewhat squickily detailed schedule so they can arrive in time to carry out the invasion of the Fire Nation during a rare solar eclipse. For some odd reason, the suggestion about eating and going to the bathroom at the same time wasn't well received.
** "Sokka's Master" raises the valid point that he's nowhere near as useful as the other members of the Gaang (even the animals can at least fly). His usefulness is limited to... making schedules, without which the Gaang are apparently unable to function normally.
* Twilight Sparkle from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is like this at times.
** In "It's About Time", she nearly has a breakdown when she realizes her schedule for this month doesn't include enough time to make a schedule for ''next'' month.
** An earlier episode, "Lesson Zero", involved Twilight struggling to write ''something'' for her weekly friendship report to Princess Celestia. Her inherent perfectionism and insistence that the report needs to be sent that very day causes magic-induced mass hysteria when she tries to "make" a friendship lesson instead.
* Exaggerated in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'', where Yumi, tired of Ami's constant scheduling, sets her clock back by five seconds and everything Ami does is [[DelayedReaction delayed]] by five seconds, from laughing at a joke to crossing the street. When Yumi tries to correct the time, she sets the clock back years behind and Ami starts acting like a baby, and an old lady when she sets it forward.
* Gertie in ''WesternAnimation/HenryHugglemonster''. She plans out her whole day, even when playing with her friends.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Party Pooper Pants" features [=SpongeBob=] planning a party which follows a strict schedule in an attempt to keep it from going out of control, saving the actual fun parts for later. Of course, nobody wants to follow the schedule, and they lock [=SpongeBob=] out of his house as soon as he leaves.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'''s Courtney reveals, in a Season 2 [[ConfessionCam confessional spot]], that she schedules ordinary daily activities ''years'' in advance.
* Menlo from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. In one episode he temporarily turns Mikey into this too.

* Menlo from ''WesternAnimation/Recess''. In one episode he temporarily turns Mikey into this too.

-->--''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Catching Fire]]''

* Time Man, one of the two new Robot Masters from ''MegaManPoweredUp'', is obsessed with schedules, to the point where he berates others for being late or slowing him down (ironic, in that his special ability is to slow down time). This is also prevalent in his appearance in [[ComicBook/MegaMan the Archie comics series]], when he complains about having to revise his plans to rescue Dr. Wily multiple times on account of Oil Man messing him up.

* The man at the start of ''Literature/AlexRider'' novel ''Point Blanc'', [[spoiler:which leads to his death when he steps into an empty liftshaft]].

* Hell, practically everyone in the industrialised world; just a few centuries ago, it would have been mad to try and plan anything more precisely than 'morning', 'noon' or 'afternoon'! But with the GrandUnifiedTimeline/FirstIndustrialRevolution, precise round-the-clock factories meant a finer degree of time precision was necessary. Watches were more of a luxury for the aristocracy until the nineteenth century, at which point demand for cheaper timepieces rose; people actually ''needed'' them to be sure they weren't late for their shifts.

* The Postman from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask''. It gets rather sad on the Final Day after he finishes his normal daily routine. You can find him in the Post Office on his hands and knees, crying. He desperately wants to escape from the doomed town, but he feels as though he ''can't'' because "escape from falling moon" is ''not on the schedule''. If you have him deliver the Priority Letter to Kafei's mother (who is also his boss) rather than delivering it yourself, she will permit him to abandon his schedule and leave. Talk to him afterwards and he says "I'm free! Now I can set my ''own'' schedule!".

* Mikey from ''TheClassMenagerie'', though apparently [[spoiler: it's to distract him from his sexuality.]]

* Raymond Babbitt in ''RainMan'', as a result of his condition.

* In Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'', Phileas Fogg is this trope in action.

** Fogg was actually a flanderized version of Verne's father, who often acted like this in RealLife.

* Meredith in ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles 14: Broken Hour'' has been like this since the death of her children, to the point where if guests in her hotel don't keep to the schedule themselves, [[DisproportionateRetribution she kills them]].

* Exaggerated in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'', where Yumi, tired of Ami's constant scheduling, sets her clock back by five seconds and everything Ami does is [[DelayedReaction delayed]] by five seconds, from laughing at a joke to crossing the street. When Yumi tries to correct the time, she sets the clock back years behind and Ami starts acting like a baby, and and old lady when she sets it forward.
* Gertie in ''WesternAnimation/HenryHugglemonster'' She plans out her whole day, even when playing with her friends.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Party Pooper Pants" features [=SpongeBob=] planning a party which follows a strict schedule in an attempt to keep it from going out of control, saving the actual fun parts for later. Of course, nobody wants to follow the schedule, and lock [=SpongeBob=] out of his house as soon as he leaves.

* Hell, practically everyone in the Industrialised world; just a few centuries ago, it would have been mad to try and plan anything more precisely than 'morning', 'noon' or 'afternoon'! But with the GrandUnifiedTimeline/FirstIndustrialRevolution, precise round-the-clock factories meant a finer degree of time precision was necessary. Watches were more of a luxury for the aristocracy until the Nineteenth Century, at which point demand for cheaper timepieces rose; people actually ''needed'' them to be sure they weren't late for their shifts.

* Fay Weldon's ''Darcy's Utopia''--the main character leaves her husband for another man (or at least has an affair with him while the lovers stay in a hotel). Main character (I forget her name) learns her husband is having an affair with a Kirsty Bull. At the end, the main character returns to her husband--Kirsty bull says, in effect, "I can't stand your husband, he's crazy, he does everything on a schedule, even sex, you can have him."

* The book ''Triplets'' by Joyce Rebeta-Burditt has one of the triplets like this, which put her in contestation with the protagonist, who was usually late.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Hermion Turns into this when exams are nigh, making timetables for Ron and Harry, much to their amused exasperation. Goes even further in the third book, when Ron points out her schedule has an error, having two classes during the same period on several occasions [[spoiler:she's using TimeTravel to go to both]].

* Some smartphone navigation apps such as Google Maps and Waze have a feature to inform you when exactly to start driving so you can arrive at your destination at the desired time down to the minute.

* One episode of ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' has Chiri writing a giant book of a schedule for a field trip.

* Most military personnel. It's understood that when someone says, for example, oh-eight-hundred hours, they mean when the second hand goes by the twelve.

* Effie Trinket in TheHungerGames trilogy, who, as Katniss admits, was "the only reason we got anywhere on time in the Capitol".

** "Sokka's Master" raises the valid point that he's nowhere near as useful as the other members of the Gaang (even the animals can at least fly). His usefulness is limited to... making schedules, without which the Gaang are apparently unable to function onormally.

* Exaggerated in an episode of ''HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'', where Yumi, tired of Ami's constant scheduling, sets her clock back by five seconds and everything Ami does is [[DelayedReaction delayed]] by five seconds, from laughing at a joke to crossing the street. When Yumi tries to correct the time, she sets the clock back years behind and Ami starts acting like a baby, and and old lady when she sets it forward.

* In Creator/JulesVerne's ''AroundTheWorldIn80Days'', Phileas Fogg is this trope in action.

* A joke during the third season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has Sokka constructing a huge, complex, and somewhat squickily detailed schedule so they can arrive in time to carry out the invasion of the Fire Nation during a rare solar eclipse. For some odd reason, the suggestion about eating and going to the bathroom at the same time wasn't well received.

** But unless the syllabus changes very frequently, surely he can just re-take the exam using the original schedule he created?

* The One State in ''Literature/{{We}}'' is a PlanetOfHats of schedule freaks -- it's part of the effort to maintain {{Instrumentality}}. All "[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans for their own good]]"...