History Main / TheGimmick

* Albert was one half of Wrestling/TrishStratus's [[FunWithAcronyms T&A]], then became the [[CarpetOfVirility disgustingly hairy]] A-Train, then went to Japan where he became the star Giant Bernard then returned the the US in an Akeem like fashion as Lord Tensai. He then tagged with the Funkasaurus and became {{disco dan}} Sweet Tea.

* JobberEntrance

* Franchise/{{Batman}}'s gimmick in the [[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]] is either his detective skills, or his sheer intellect.

* Albert was one half of Wrestling/TrishStratus's [[FunWithAcronyms T&A]], then became the disgustingly hairy A-Train, then went to Japan where he became the star Giant Bernard then returned the the US in an Akeem like fashion as Lord Tensai. He then tagged with the Funkasaurus and became {{disco dan}} Sweet Tea.

* Some commonly reoccurring gimmicks have pages on this wiki. They are not mutually exclusive to each other and many different variations of each are explained in more detail on each respective article.
** AllAmericanFace
** ForeignWrestlingHeel
** GarbageWrestler
** GorgeousGeorge
** {{Jobber}}
** MaskedLuchador
** RickyMorton
** TagTeamTwins
** TheGiant
** WorldsStrongestMan
** WrestlingMonster

** SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker provides an example of how far you can go without going outside your Gimmick: outside of the SilverAge, he defines the human version of the MonsterClown. Within the SilverAge and SilverAge styled settings, he's merely a prankster VillainousHarlequin. He and his minions generally just focus on the abstract theme of humor or play up the clown shtick for all it's worth: depending on the medium, they will style themselves as standard [[NonIronicClown circus-style clowns]], jesters, mimes, classic comedians of vaudeville and Hollywood, or on at least two occasions the Pierrot-type whiteface clown from Leoncavallo's ''I Pagliacci''. And this doesn't even include those non-Joker villains who occasionally disguise themselves or their henchmen as clowns for some reason, probably much to the Joker's annoyance. [[FridgeLogic You have to wonder]] why Gothamites [[GenreBlind haven't learned to react with screaming paranoia whenever a buffoonish character appears on the scene]].

* An example of a poorly implemented gimmick: Paste Pot Pete. (Pete later changed his name, because it was too silly, even for the SilverAge.)

** Similarly, the Mad Hatter's gimmick has vacillated between hats and ''AliceInWonderland''. Or sometimes [[TakeAThirdOption both at once]].

* SpiderMan's gimmick, in universe, is his spider theme (less important) and sharp wit (more important); but out of series, his gimmick is OneOfUs: he's an average person who got hit with the superpower stick, and now has an extra set of responsibilities.

* ComicBook/GreenArrow has a whole RobinHood and Bow And Arrow gimmick going.

* TheFlash's RoguesGallery was full of gimmick themes with obvious names: Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, Rainbow Raider, The Top (In that he spun like one).
* ThePunisher's willingness to kill and torture bad guys. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And having a skull on his tunic]].

* ''MysteryMen'' has dozens of gimmicky superheroes and supervillains, most of them second-rate at best (though the main characters eventually do [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]]. The Blue Rajah is notable in that he doesn't seem to know whether he's a British-sympathizing Indian prince or a guy who throws forks at people, and eventually settles on calling himself "a limey fork-flinger."
* The 2008 live-action film version of ''SpeedRacer'' is played almost like ''WackyRaces'', with all kinds of colorfully costumed race-car drivers fighting and plotting against each other in order to win. Noteworthy entrants include Snake Oiler, who is sort of a combination of a cowboy and a rock star, while another racing team consists of HornyVikings. It's interesting that the (non-racing) colorfully-suited Cruncher Block gang (a pastiche of all the different British and American [[TheMafia "Mob"]] stereotypes) looks downright non-gimmicky by comparison. The title character, of course, doesn't have a gimmick beyond the fact that, well, [[ShapedLikeItself he's a racer]] (not that he really had much choice in the matter, since [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep "Racer" is literally his family name]]). That, and he has a pet chimpanzee.

* In the musical {{Gypsy}}, the three strippers that Rose and Louise meet sing about how “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” in order to stand out from the crowd. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFRSawe33sA Electra covers herself in lights, Tessie Tura uses refined ballet moves, and Mazeppa uses a trumpet.]] Later, when Louise is more or less pushed into a stripper role, she takes their advice to heart. Her gimmick is speaking directly to the audience.

* ''TheWarriors''. Even more than in the 1979 movie that started it all, the 2005 game is jam-packed with [[GangOfHats colorful street gangs]] you won't be confusing for each other. Sometimes the gimmick is merely wearing a particular kind of clothing (the Jones Street Boys and their zebra-striped "referee" shirts, or the Saracens in their Adidas tank tops), or something having to do with race or sex (the Hurricanes are all Puerto Ricans, the Lizzies all girls). Beyond that, things start getting ''weird''. You have the Hi-Hats (clowns), the Boppers (1930s gangsters), the Savage Huns (kung-fu experts straight out of a BruceLee movie), and the Furies (who apparently can't decide whether they're baseball players or multicolored demons). Even the Warriors themselves have a well-defined gimmick, although it actually informs their character (they all dress vaguely or sometimes blatantly like American Indians, and indeed maintain a tribal form of government that is roughly egalitarian, with a "war chief" being informally designated as circumstances warrant).

* ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' differentiates itself from other MonsSeries in that you can create monsters to raise by "unlocking" them from [=CDs=] or [=DVDs=] that you already own.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warzone 2100}}'' has ''two'', the DesignItYourselfEquipment (which isn't all it's cracked up to be) and the unusually realistic artillery.

** ComicBook/TheRiddler, in some versions, is actually an interesting case, in that his gimmick is also explicitly his motivation and downfall: His superiority and inferiority complexes are such that he has to leave clues, to prove that he's smarter then everybody else.

* The Divas tend to have less well-defined gimmicks than the male wrestlers (their collective gimmick is "hotness", of course), but there are still some examples. MickieJames was a psychotic stalker (although she eventually grew out of it), MariaKanellis was retarded (although she ''somewhat'' grew out of it), Michelle [=McCool=] was a wrestling schoolteacher who eventually became an AlphaBitch, {{Victoria}} was a "Black Widow" (occasionally even dressing up spider-like), and AliciaFox was...a fox (the animal, that is).

* CaptainAmerica's gimmick is Patriotism and embodying the American Fighting Spirit.
* GreenArrow has a whole RobinHood and Bow And Arrow gimmick going.

** SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker provides an example of how far you can go without going outside your Gimmick: outside of the SilverAge, he defines the human version of the MonsterClown. Within the SilverAge and SilverAge styled settings, he's merely a prankster VillainousHarlequin.

Most common in ComicBooks and ProfessionalWrestling, but can show up elsewhere. See also {{Idiosyncrazy}}, for when a character's gimmick is driven by his insanity, rather than out of universe considerations. Compare the DancingBear.

* ''TheWarriors''. Even more than in the 1979 movie that started it all, the 2005 game is jam-packed with colorful street gangs you won't be confusing for each other. Sometimes the gimmick is merely wearing a particular kind of clothing (the Jones Street Boys and their zebra-striped "referee" shirts, or the Saracens in their Adidas tank tops), or something having to do with race or sex (the Hurricanes are all Puerto Ricans, the Lizzies all girls). Beyond that, things start getting ''weird''. You have the Hi-Hats (clowns), the Boppers (1930s gangsters), the Savage Huns (kung-fu experts straight out of a BruceLee movie), and the Furies (who apparently can't decide whether they're baseball players or multicolored demons). Even the Warriors themselves have a well-defined gimmick, although it actually informs their character (they all dress vaguely or sometimes blatantly like American Indians, and indeed maintain a tribal form of government that is roughly egalitarian, with a "war chief" being informally designated as circumstances warrant).

* ThePunisher's willingness to kill and torture bad guys.

* Wrestling/BrodusClay's gimmick was based on his real life job as a body guard but then he became a giant dancing DiscoDan and the only living, breathing Funkasaurus in captivity.

* Wrestling/{{Carl|itoColon}}y's gimmick was wearing a wife beater, [[SubvertedTrope not wrestling like his father]] and carrying a shovel. Then in Ohio Valley Wrestling his gimmick became being AmbiguouslyGay. Then he began to imitate Wrestling/RazorRamon's gimmick of speaking in third person and taking other people's things before settling on [[TrademarkFavoriteFood eating apples]], [[SpitefulSpit spitting on people]] and having an [[FunnyAfro afro]].

* Albert was one half of Wrestling/TrishStatus's [[FunWithAcronyms T&A]], then became the disgustingly hairy A-Train, then went to Japan where he became the star Giant Bernard then returned the the US in an Akeem like fashion as Lord Tensai. He then tagged with the Funkasaurus and became {{disco dan}} Sweet Tea.

* [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]], whose gimmick was being evil. And having a snake.
** However, he may end up being just as well known for his born-again Christian gimmick in the 90s, as it led to Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin delivering his Austin 3:16 promo, and the AttitudeEra at large.

* The leprechaun Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}}'s original gimmick was to be a [[FastballSpecial projectile]] for the fighting Irishman Finlay. After he got popular he became more of a prankster that lives under the WWE rings. [[spoiler: And was the anonymous Raw GM who only spoke through a computer.]]

* Wrestling/BrodusClay's gimmick was based on his real life job as a body guard but then he became a giant dancing DiscoDan and the only living, breathing Funkasaurus in captivity.

* [[Wrestling/RonKillings K-Kwik/Ron "The Truth" Killings]] was just a wrestling rapper but then was betrayed by Wrestling/JohnMorrison and became an insane conspiracy theorists who talks to people who are not really there and hates all you {{little Jimm|y}}ies. He also developed a fear of heights and spiders. He was also the bad toothed Pretty Ricky but most fans would rather forget that one.
* [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]'s gimmick was speaking in {{third person| person}} at all times and comically overselling.
* Wrestling/TheUndertaker's gimmick has switched between being a grave digging zombie, a wrestling evil in hearts of all men, a wrestling biker, a wrestling grim reaper and the last outlaw. Through it all, the gimmick of being unbeatable at Wrestlemania has been his only constant.
* Wrestling/TheOneManGang's gimmick was having a chain and {{squash| match}}ing {{jobber}}s, then he reappeared from an over seas trip to get in touch with his Deepest {{Darkest Africa}}n roots, becoming a {{pretty fly for a white guy}} Akeem the African dream.
* Albert was one half of Trish Status's [[FunWithAcronyms T&A]], then became the disgustingly hairy A-Train, then went to Japan where he became the star Giant Bernard then returned the the US in an Akeem like fashion as Lord Tensai. He then tagged with the Funkasaurus and became {{disco dan}} Sweet Tea.
* Wrestling/{{Goldust}}'s gimmick was being ambiguously gay and being a movie critic who took himself so seriously he dressed and painted his body to look like an Oscar award. Then he got sick of movies and became [[{{the X formerly known as Y}} The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust]], a gimmick which involved dressing in the most offensive manners possible (such as BlackFace) and reciting poetry. Then he returned to form as Goldust but got electrocuted by Wrestling/StevieRichards, adding a speech impediment to his gimmick. He popped up in TNA as Black Reign, whose gimmick was being Goldust without the gold and having a pet rat named Misty.
* Black Magic started out as a simple mat technician, then became the ForeignWrestlingHeel Lord Henry Norman, then became the dance battler Wrestling/NormanSmiley, then went to being the cowardly screaming Norman who was forced into WCW's hardcore division and would dress in the home team uniforms of the cities he wrestled in.
* Macaela Mercedes started out as an ill tempered narcissist before becoming the relentlessly cheery high flier Wrestling/JillianHall. But then Jillian got breast implants and became a malicious, vain bully. Then Jillian became "the fixer", a freelance consultant who needed a protective mask when she wrestled do to a giant mole that grew on her face. Then the Boogeyman bit the mole off Jillian's face and her biggest client fired her, seeing her slip closer to her cheery gimmick before becoming a narcissist again. Then she became convinced she could sing, [[HollywoodToneDeaf even though she couldn't]].
* Speaking of the Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}}, his gimmick was that he was an actor from a failed television program who got {{lost in character}}, believing he really was the Boogeyman. He also had the gimmick of randomly appearing to beat up people the fans did not like, talking to clocks, wrestling with glass from smashed clocks sticking out of his head and eating worms.
* [=LuFisto=]'s gimmick was started as [[{{Louis Cypher}} Lucifer]], then became a tease who tried to get men to drop their guard so she or her partners in crime could beat them up more easily. Then she became a Kawaii anime about {{garbage wrestling}}.

* The leprechaun Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}}'s original gimmick was to be a [[FastballSpecial projectile]] for the fighting Irishman Finley. After he got popular he became more of a prankster that lives under the WWE rings. [[spoiler: And was the anonymous Raw GM who only spoke through a computer.]]

** HulkingUp

*** WildSamoan

* Wrestling/{{Goldust}}'s gimmick was being ambiguously gay and being a movie critic who took himself so seriously he dressed and painted his body to look like an Oscar award. Then he got sick of movies and became [[{{the X formerly known as Y}} The artist formerly known as Goldust]], a gimmick which involved dressing in the most offensive manners possible (such as BlackFace) and reciting poetry. Then he Goldust returned to form but got electrocuted by Wrestling/StevieRichards, adding a speech impediment to his gimmick. He popped up in TNA as Black Reign, whose gimmick was being Goldust without the gold and having a pet rat named misty.

* [[JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]], whose gimmick was being evil. And having a snake.
** However, he may end up being just as well known for his born-again Christian gimmick in the 90s, as it led to StoneColdSteveAustin delivering his Austin 3:16 promo, and the AttitudeEra at large.

* The leprechaun Hornswoggle's original gimmick was to be a [[FastballSpecial projectile]] for the fighting Irishman Finley. After he got popular he became more of a prankster that lives under the WWE rings. [[spoiler: And was the anonymous Raw GM who only spoke through a computer.]]
* Charles Wright went from a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Charles Barkley, to Voodoo sorcerer, to ultimate fighter, to political revolutionary, to pimp, to moral guardian to pimp again.

* Wrestling/BryanDanielson started off as a bland vanilla midget who was picked up by Spanky because he needed a partner but then merged the ROH World and Pure wrestling titles and became an ArrogantKungFuGuy. Then he became the bland vanilla midget rookie Daniel Bryan until he won one of the ladder matches at ''Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank'', burnt his bridges and degraded into an insane SmallNameBigEgo who hates goats and the word yes. This was partially based on real life, where he was the very definition of vanilla midget before working on speaking.
* [[Wrestling/RonKillings K-Kwik/Ron "The Truth" Killings]] was just a wrestling rapper but then was betrayed by Wrestling/JohnMorrison and became an insane conspiracy theorists who talks to people who are not really there and hates all you all little Jimmies. He also developed a fear of heights and spiders. He was also the bad toothed Pretty Ricky but most fans would rather forget that one.