History Main / TheGump

Not to be confused with a certain piece of animal-headed flying furniture of the same name from [[TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the second and subsequent "Oz" books]].

Nor the scratchy-voiced elf in ''{{Legend}},'' the unicorn movie starring Tom Cruise as a [[RaisedByWolves raised by a forest]] guy and Tim Curry as the Devil.

-->-- '''ForrestGump''', on a disturbance at the Watergate complex.

* Both main characters in Robert Merle's Fortune de France series. They interact with an lot of historical figures, and are parts of important events during XVI and XVIIth centuries.

* ''[[http://dig1000holes.wordpress.com/time-temp/ Time and Temp]]'' lets the time-traveling PCs do this if they do a good enough job.

* ''QuantumLeap''. While in the guise of various people, Sam Beckett has taught The Twist to Chubby Checker, performed the Heimlich Maneuver on Dr. Heimlich, told Stephen King scary stories, encouraged Buddy Holly to continue with music (even helping him write "Peggy Sue" by trying to catch a pig), had a dance-off with a young MichaelJackson, and prevented the assassination of Jackie Onassis Kennedy.

[[AC:Music]]
* In Australian singer-songwriter Iain Campbell-Smith's song, ''Century Girl'', the narrator (possibly the "Spirit of the 20th Century", see Jenny Sparks above) describes his life of having participated in every important moment of the 20th century, from fighting in Gallipoli to being a hippie. [-My ass got burned when Saigon fell, re-education was another kind of hell, uh huh!-]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* In the [[http://everything2.com/title/SPECWEAPS SPECWEAPS]] story series, a lot of events throughout history and the modern day have apparently been caused by weaponization of and warfare between {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Specifically, [[HPLovecraft the originals]].
* The collective story of the [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=85097 AH.com Eternals]] strays into this. The immortal named Gregorios has so far [[spoiler:served as an ambassador for the Emperor Anastasius, been a trader on the Silk Road, lived as a farmer (and charged as a witch) in Anglo-Saxon England, been "executed" by the Sassanids, fought in the Battle of Septimania, inspired the writing of ''Beowulf,'' worked as a merchant in Tang China, lived as a Yakut nomad, served in the Byzantine navy, defended Paris against a Viking invasion, circumnavigated medieval Ireland, fought in the Welsh armies against the invading Anglo-Saxons, went with Lief Ericsson to discover Vinland, became a tribal chief in the Miqmaq nation, served as an interpreter in the Crusader States, became Balian of Ibelin, was sold as a slave after the Venetians sacked Constantinople, served as interpreter and guide for Marco Polo, inspired the image of the Grim Reaper, fathered the Romanov dynasty, fought at the final fall of Constantinople, sailed with Columbus to the New World, got painted into "The Last Judgement Day," fought with the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion, took part in the first production of ''Romeo and Juliet,'' became one of the founding members of the Plymouth Colony, served as a professor or languages at Harvard, rode circuit as a doctor in colonial Virginia, dumped tea at the Boston Tea Party, and fought in both the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.]] And he's only told his story up to 1827.
* In The comic ''TheDreamer'', Bea has dreams that she is in the American Revolution, and meets some very important people along the way.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* ''MillenniumActress''. During an interview, the eponymous actress leads a film crew through all the various historical epics she starred in over the years, covering 600 years of Japanese history, where they turn up as characters.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''{{The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen}}'' features Orlando, a gender-changing Immortal who fights in every major war from Troy to World War II, as well as causing the rift between Romulus and Remus and posing for the Mona Lisa. Also, he started the Renaissance.
* ''TheSandman'' occasionally features Morpheus becoming involved with or perpetuating some of history's biggest legends. Throughout the Fables and Reflections trade paperback, he is the catalyst behind the City of Glass myth, as well as giving Joshua Norton the dream to become the Emperor of the United States on a bet with his siblings. He also made an arrangement with Shakespeare, giving him the stories and the immortality he wanted in return for two plays: ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' as a gift to Oberon and Titania, and ''The Tempest'' for himself.
** The Greek poet Orpheus was also suitably retconned into becoming Morpheus' son, with many of the Endless helping to perpetuate his famous descent into the Underworld to retrieve his dead wife. For that matter, many of Apollo's deeds are explained as Morpheus' doing, with him explaining that Apollo was a god of storytellers and legends; aspects which fall under Dream's purview and confuse casual listeners.
* ''AtomicRobo'' alternately averts this trope and plays it straight. Robo participates in World War II in a story where Robo is off on a side mission while real-life soldiers are fighting real-life battles; goes along for the ride for the first Mars probe mission but does not contribute anything to the actual accomplishments of NASA; and he declares himself neutral during the Cold War. He has, however, been to the moon, but probably well after humans had already made it. Essentially, Atomic Robo is TheGump in that he's around for all sorts of historical events, but he's an aversion because he never takes away from what was done by historical human beings.
* In Marvel Comics, Rick Jones even recognized in his autobiography he was "Gumping" the Marvel Universe.
* DonRosa likes to do this too. In ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', Scrooge is shown to be the reason Theodore Roosevelt went back into politics (and the origin of some of Roosevelt's famous quotes). Scrooge also gave Buffalo Bill the idea to do Wild West shows, and was a major influence on Jack London's ''TheCallOfTheWild''. He also meets Wyatt Earp, sails on the Cutty Sark and witnesses the eruption of Krakatoa, nearly became the owner of the real world Anaconda Copper Mine, etc. etc. etc.
* Being "The Spirit of the 20th Century", Jenny Sparks from the Wildstorm Universe was a part of every major event from 1900 to 2000, including the Titanic and "Shagging the three main players in World War Two". The most outrageous of these was when she was living in Vienna and [[CrossesTheLineTwice told a local struggling artist to give up, because his paintings were no good. But he was a good public speaker, so maybe he should consider going into politics. But first he'd have to change his name, because nobody was going to vote for somebody named Adolf Schicklegruber.]]
** Which is a YouFailHistoryForever moment- Adolf was always a Hitler; Schicklegruber was his fathers name, and his father changed it before Adolf was born. Oh, and Hitler made a decent living off his art. Not a fortune, but enough to get by on with a small but loyal cliental (including, of course, a few well off Jews).
* In Alan Moore's {{Watchmen}}, the Comedian is heavily, heavily implied to have assassinated not only JFK, but also Woodword and Burnstein, both on orders from Nixon.
** In the opening montage of the film, it actually shows the former.
* In Tag And Bink Are Dead, the title characters are inept padawans turned rebels who are responsible for several things in the Star Wars series, such as helping a young Anakin Skywalker romance Padme.

* Aldo Trapani, the main character from ''Game/TheGodfather: The Game'',' serves as the Corleone Family's personal Gump. He is responsible for helping Rocco in removing Khartoum's head and placing it in Woltz's bed, beating the two kids who raped the Bonasera's daughter, assassinating both Paulie Gatto and Salvatore Tessio for betraying the Family, hiding the pistol Michael would use to kill Solozzo and [=McCluskey=], and participating in the assassination of the heads of the Five Families.

* Aldo Trapani, the main character from ''[[TheGodfather The Godfather: The Game]],'' serves as the Corleone Family's personal Gump. He is responsible for helping Rocco in removing Khartoum's head and placing it in Woltz's bed, beating the two kids who raped the Bonasera's daughter, assassinating both Paulie Gatto and Salvatore Tessio for betraying the Family, hiding the pistol Michael would use to kill Solozzo and [=McCluskey=], and participating in the assassination of the heads of the Five Families.

* [[Just Shoot Me Nina Van Horn's]] A&E Biography had her responsible for busting Studio 54, breaking up the Eagles, and a historic answer to Wheel of Fortune, among other things.

* [[Just Shoot Me! Nina Van Horn's]] A&E Biography had her responsible for busting Studio 54, breaking up the Eagles, and a historic answer to Wheel of Fortune, among other things.

** Plus there's Van Gogh.

-->''"Yeah, sir, you might want to send a maintenance man over to that office across the way. The lights are off, and they must be looking for a fuse box, 'cause them flashlights, they keep me awake."''
-->--'''ForrestGump''', on a disturbance at the Watergate complex.

Creating an original character is hard work. First you have to come up with a decent backstory and personality. Then you have to go and put them in these really tedious plots and situations where they, you know, have to interact with people and do things. More of a hassle than it's worth, really. So many people are doing the same thing all the time. How do you make a character really stand out?

* The RecycledTheSeries of Disney's ''{{Hercules}}'' essentially turned Hercules into TheGump of Greek mythology. The plots of the series consisted largely of dropping Hercules into every major myth, such as taking the place of Phaeton and accompanying Jason and the Argonauts when they find the {{Golden Fleece}}.

* In the [[http://everything2.com/title/SPECWEAPS SPECWEAPS]] story series, a lot of events throughout history and the modern day have apparently been caused by weaponization of and warfare between EldritchAbomination[=s=]. Specifically, [[HPLovecraft the originals]].
* The collective story of the [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=85097 AH.com Eternals]] strays into this. The immortal named Gregorios has so far [[spoiler: served as an ambassador for the Emperor Anastasius, been a trader on the Silk Road, lived as a farmer (and charged as a witch) in Anglo-Saxon England, been "executed" by the Sassanids, fought in the Battle of Septimania, inspired the writing of ''Beowulf,'' worked as a merchant in Tang China, lived as a Yakut nomad, served in the Byzantine navy, defended Paris against a Viking invasion, circumnavigated medieval Ireland, fought in the Welsh armies against the invading Anglo-Saxons, went with Lief Ericsson to discover Vinland, became a tribal chief in the Miqmaq nation, served as an interpreter in the Crusader States, became Balian of Ibelin, was sold as a slave after the Venetians sacked Constantinople, served as interpreter and guide for Marco Polo, inspired the image of the Grim Reaper, fathered the Romanov dynasty, fought at the final fall of Constantinople, sailed with Columbus to the New World, got painted into "The Last Judgement Day," fought with the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion, took part in the first production of ''Romeo and Juliet,'' became one of the founding members of the Plymouth Colony, served as a professor or languages at Harvard, rode circuit as a doctor in colonial Virginia, dumped tea at the Boston Tea Party, and fought in both the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.]] And he's only told his story up to 1827.

<<|TimeTravelTropes|>>

* Both main characters in Robert Merle's [[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_de_France_(s%C3%A9rie) Fortune de France]] series. They interact with an lot of historical figures, and are parts of important events during XVI and XVIIth centuries.

* Both main characters in Robert Merle's Fortune de France series. They interact with an lot of historical figures, and are parts of important events during XVI and XVIIth centuries.

* Variation occurs in ''TheLionKing 1 1/2'', where main characters Timon and Pumbaa cause events of the original film without knowing.

* Done hilariously in ''PinkyAndTheBrain.'' When Pinky runs for President, his small third party only has one guy on the staff: a nervous, sweaty guy who takes credit for many major ''failures'' of US Presidents and their campaigns. He claims to have suggested Nixon's nervousness on camera, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the infamously dorky shot of Dukakis poking his head out of a tank. He is seemingly oblivious to how badly all of these things backfired.

* ''SpaceJam'' posits that Michael Jordan was persuaded to unretire from basketball by the LooneyTunes and evil cartoon aliens. One suspects they were not involved in real life.

* Brazilian miniseries ''Copas de Mel'' had the titular character and her husband helping Brazil conquer most of its FIFA World Cups.