History Main / SeniorSleepCycle

[[TheSimpsons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grampa_sleeping.jpg]]

Huh? Wha? Oh, right. There are some elders who can escape this inconvenience. EvilOldFolks tend to be exempt from this rule, as are women in general. Maybe they just [[MustHaveCaffeine drink a lot of coffee]]. Needless to say, this is an [[{{Elders}} Elderly Trope]]. It is also more likely to appear in a [[ComedyTrope comedy]].

* In ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', during a few of the murders, Nanjo's alibi is that he was asleep at the time.
* In ''OnePiece'' Vice-Admiral Garp is about to punch Luffy when both suddenly fell asleep. Portgaz D. Ace [[spoiler:was]] also prone to this when he's eating.
* Carlos of [[GunXSword El Dorado V]] is ''always'' asleep when he's on screen, save for two occasions.
* Crux from ''FairyTail''.

* In [[HeraldsOfValdemar "Exile's Honor"]], one of Alberich's undercover identities is an old man who lives this trope. "Falling asleep" after dinner lets Alberich eavesdrop on the upper classes safely.

* "Old Man" of PawnStars had been shown to be flat out asleep when he was at work. He is co-owner of the place and so he's allowed to do that.

* The old man [[spoiler:Yanni Yogi]] in ''PhoenixWright: AceAttorney'' kept falling asleep in the middle of conversations, and even the trial, and awakened when his SnotBubble popped.
* Ellen from HarvestMoon 64 has this generally, and it's also notably subverted once, [[spoiler:[[TearJerker when she dies]]]].
* The Old Man at the End of Time in ''ChronoTrigger'' ([[spoiler:aka Gaspar, the Guru of Time]]), has almost always fallen asleep against a streetlamp when the heroes visit him, and has to be woken up to start a conversation. Then again, being at [[PhantomZone the End of Time]] doesn't usually give him very much to do.

* AnnoyingOrange's Grandpa Lemon. He falls asleep in the middle of conversations and [[BeyondTheImpossible even while being chopped in half.]]

* In ''{{Rugrats}}'', whenever Grandpa Lou is put in charge of the babies, he is always asleep within a matter of seconds, a fact that the babies always use to their advantage.
* [[TheSimpsons Abraham J. Simpson]] is constantly falling asleep, often in the middle of sentences. It's possible he's narcoleptic (especially on the season nine episode "Lisa's Sax" where, after he tried to sing "The Funky Grampa," Grampa ended up falling asleep standing up).
* On ''{{Arthur}}'', Grandma Thora averts this, but Grandpa Dave plays it straight.
* Happens in ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' with Mermaid Man.
* Professor Farnsworth in ''{{Futurama}}'' once fell asleep while skiing and woke up at the lodge with a bronze medal around his neck.

* Parodied on ''PhineasAndFerb''. Linda's mother appears to be succumbing, but she was playfully teasing Lawrence about his boring thimble story.

A sub-trope of GrandparentalObliviousness. Basically, if you see a senior citizen in a TV show, most likely, he's either already napping or going to be in a few minutes. And, due to FinaglesLaw, it will always be right when he's supposed to be keeping an eye on something or about to tell you... zzz... Huh? Wha? Oh, right. There are some elders who can escape this inconvenience. EvilOldFolks tend to be exempt from this rule, as are women in general. Maybe they just [[MustHaveCaffeine drink a lot of coffee]]. Needless to say, this is an [[{{Elders}} Elderly Trope]]. It is also more likely to appear in a [[ComedyTrope comedy]].

* The wise old man in ''{{Labyrinth}}'', much to the chagrin of his hat.

* The wise old man in ''{{Labyrinth}}'', much to the changrin of his hat.

* The old man [[spoiler:Yanni Yogi]] in ''PhoenixWright: AceAttorney'' kept falling asleep in the middle of conversations, and even the trial, and awakened when its SnotBubble popped.

* [[TheSimpsons Abraham J. Simpson]] is constantly falling asleep, often in the middle of sentences. It's possible he's narcoleptic (especially on the season nine episode "Lisa's Sax where, after he tried to sing "The Funky Grampa," Grampa ended up falling asleep standing up).

* The wise old man in ''{{Labyrinth}''}, much to the changrin of his hat.

!!Examples:

* The wise old man in {{Labryrinth}}, much to the changrin of his hat.

* In ''OnePiece'' Vice-Admiral Garp is about to punch Luffy when both suddenly fell asleep. Portgaz D. Ace is also prone to this when he's eating.

In real life, several studies have suggested that people actually need ''less'' sleep as they grow older. This trope does reflect TruthInTelevision to a certain extent, though, as older people often tend to go to sleep earlier than younger adults, and some sleep disorders that can cause daytime dozing, such as sleep apnea and insomnia, are more likely to gradually develop over the course of a lifetime.

In real life, several studies have suggested that people actually need ''less'' sleep as they grow older; this trope does reflect TruthInTelevision to some extent, though, as older people often tend to go to sleep earlier than younger adults, and some sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and insomnia, are more likely to gradually develop over the course of a lifetime.

A sub-trope of GrandparentalObliviousness. Basically, if you see a senior citizen in a TV show, most likely, he's either already napping or going to be in a few minutes. And, due to FinaglesLaw, it will always be right when he's supposed to be keeping an eye on something or about to tell you... zzz... Huh? Wha? Oh, right. There are some elders who can escape this inconvenience. EvilOldFolks tend to be exempt from this rule, as are women in general. Maybe they just [[MustHaveCaffeine drink a lot of coffee]]. Needless to say, this is an [[{{Elders}} Elderly Trope]]. It is also more likely to appear in a [[ComedyTrope comedy]]. In real life, several studies have suggested that people actually need ''less'' sleep as they grow older; this trope does reflect TruthInTelevision to some extent, though, as older people often tend to go to sleep earlier than younger adults, and some sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and insomnia, are more likely to gradually develop over the course of a lifetime.

* The Old Man at the End of Time in ''ChronoTrigger'' ([[spoiler:aka Gaspar, the Guru of Time]]), has almost always fallen asleep against the streetlamp when the heroes visit him, and has to be woken up to start a conversation. Then again, being at [[PhantomZone the End of Time]] doesn't usually give him very much to do.

* The Old Man at the End of Time in ''ChronoTrigger'' ([[spoiler:aka Gaspar, the Guru of Time]]), has almost always fallen asleep against the streetlamp when the heroes visit him, and has to be woken up to start a conversation. Then again, being at the End of Time doesn't usually give him very much to do.

* The Old Man at the End of Time in ''ChronoTrigger'' ([[spoiler:aka Gasper, the Guru of Time]]), has almost always fallen asleep against the streetlamp when the heroes visit him, and has to be woken up to start a conversation. Then again, being at the End of Time doesn't usually give him very much to do.

A sub-trope of GrandparentalObliviousness. Basically, if you see a senior citizen in a TV show, most likely, he's either already napping or going to be in a few minutes. And, due to FinaglesLaw, it will always be right when he's supposed to be keeping an eye on something or about to tell you... zzz... Huh? Wha? Oh, right. There are some elders who can escape this inconvenience. EvilOldFolks tend to be exempt from this rule, as are women in general. Maybe they just [[MustHaveCaffeine drink a lot of coffee]]. Needless to say, this is an [[{{Elders}} Elderly Trope]]. It is also more likely to appear in a [[ComedyTrope comedy]]. However, it is a TruthInTelevision to some extent older people do tend to go to sleep earlier than younger adults.

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''{{Rugrats}}'', whenever Grandpa Lou is put in charge of the babies, he is always asleep within a matter of seconds, a fact that the babies always use to their advantage.
* [[TheSimpsons Abraham J. Simpson]] is constantly falling asleep, often in the middle of sentences. It's possible he's narcoleptic (especially on the season nine episode "Lisa's Sax where, after he tried to sing "The Funky Grampa," Grampa ended up falling asleep standing up).
* On ''{{Arthur}}'', Grandma Thora averts this, but Grandpa Dave plays it straight.
* Happens in ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' with Mermaid Man.
* Professor Farnsworth in ''{{Futurama}}'' once fell asleep while skiing and woke up at the lodge with a bronze medal around his neck.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* The old man [[spoiler:Yanni Yogi]] in ''PhoenixWright: AceAttorney'' kept falling asleep in the middle of conversations, and even the trial, and awakened when its SnotBubble popped.
* Ellen from HarvestMoon 64 has this generally, and it's also notably subverted once, [[spoiler:[[TearJerker when she dies]]]].

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Live Action Television}}]]

[[AC:Literature]]
* In [[HeraldsOfValdemar "Exile's Honor"]], one of Alberich's undercover identities is an old man who lives this trope. "Falling asleep" after dinner lets Alberich eavesdrop on the upper classes safely.

* [[TheSimpsons Grandpa Simpson]] is constantly falling asleep, often in the middle of sentences. It's possible he's narcoleptic (especially on the season nine episode "Lisa's Sax where, after he tried to sing "The Funky Grampa," Grampa ended up falling asleep standing up).

* In OnePiece, Monkey D. Garp is about to punch his grandson Luffy when he fell asleep. Take note it runs in the family or in the case of [[spoiler: Portgas D. Ace]], highly influential.

* Professor Farnsworth in ''{{Futurama}}'' once fell asleep while skiing and woke up at the lodge with a gold medal around his neck.