History Main / VeryPunchableMan

How do you show somebody is a {{badass}} without making him look like a {{jerkass}}? Why look, [[RandomEncounter here comes someone]] who richly deserves a punch upside the head! Maybe he's [[MuggingTheMonster a mugger]], maybe he's [[TheBully a bully]], maybe he's a {{slimeball}}, maybe he's [[ThePeepingTom acting like a creep to an innocent woman]], maybe he's picking on a defenseless bystander. Or maybe he's just [[HateSink a totally annoying jerk]]. Whatever the reason, this guy's role is to be so unlikeable that when our badass inevitably decides to clobber him in the face, everybody will cheer and agree he totally had it coming.

People love to be {{badass}}, and people love badasses. But if you try to be a badass when there's no bad around, you're just [[{{Jerkass}} an ass]].

So what's the solution? Why look, [[RandomEncounter here comes someone]] who richly deserves a punch upside the head! Maybe he's [[MuggingTheMonster a mugger]], maybe he's [[TheBully a bully]], maybe he's a {{slimeball}}, maybe he's picking on a defenseless bystander. Or maybe he's just [[HateSink a totally annoying jerk]]. Whatever the reason, this guy's role is to be so unlikeable that when our badass inevitably decides to clobber him in the face, everybody will cheer and agree he totally had it coming.

People love to be {{badass}}, and people love badasses. But if you try to be a badass when there's no bad around, you're just [[{{Jerkass}} an ass]]. You see?

But don't worry, [[RandomEncounter someone will come along any minute now]] to pick a fight with you, mug you, threaten you, or something like that. It doesn't matter how long you stay manfully stoic in the face of their crap, they'll keep at it until whatever you want to do to them looks completely justified.

Hey, someone's getting beaten up! Why? Because! Clearly, that poor guy isn't as badass as the hero. Have at them!

* ''Literature/AnansiBoys'': Grahame Coates is so annoying to his clerk Fat Charlie that Charlie has to continually talk himself down by reminding himself that he would probably go to jail if he punched his employer.

* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'': [[BearsAreBadNews Moneybags]] from the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]] games. He frequently blocks Spyro's path, requesting [[CashGate payment]] (in the form of the gems that the dragon had been collecting in his travels) to open the way forward, whether this be a bridge to be raised, a door to be unlocked, a portal to be activated, and so on. He isn't always honest as to whether his services are actually required, and he often assists the {{Big Bad}} of the game [[OnlyInItForTheMoney if they line his pockets]]. [[TakeThatScrappy Naturally, many players love to see him get his comeuppance.]] In ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', he gets attacked by each character he releases from imprisonment (after Spyro pays for their release, of course), and, in the post-game, [[spoiler:you can, at long last, chase him down and dole out punishment on him personally after he reveals that he was planning to sell the dragon egg he had found; [[CatharsisFactor probably one of the most satisfying things to happen in the entire series]]]].

* In the ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' series, street thugs basically exist to be this, unless you're playing on high difficulties where they can actually pose a challenge. Given their bullying and extortion of civilians, it is very satisfying to lay out {{Curb Stomp Battle}}s on them.

** Riften has Grelod the Kind, a rare case of this trope being applied to an elderly woman. She runs the Honorhall Orphanage, where she physically, verbally, and emotionally abuses all of the children there, not even allowing them to be adopted because she wants them to stay there so she can keep mistreating them for as long as possible. The only reason she exists is to be so horrible that the player will have zero qualms about killing her however they see fit, kickstarting the Dark Brotherhood questline if you did it for Aventus (or if you kill her for unrelated reasons and then speak to him afterward). Killing her isn't even a crime, you can do it in broad daylight while all of the orphans watch and the only response they'll have is to ''cheer''.

** There is Nazeem, a self-absorbed, condescending, wealthy Redguard who wanders around Whiterun, insulting everyone he comes across and acting like he's the most important person in Skyrim. Not only is he one of the people who the Companions can hire you to teach a lesson to, but ''nobody'' will miss him if you kill him, though you may have to pay a bounty. Similarly, in Riften there is Grelod the Kind, an incredibly evil old woman who runs an orphanage and who apparently gets off on tormenting the children there. There are zero repercussions for you walking in there and killing her where she stands in any number of hilarious ways [[spoiler:aside from being visited by Astrid if you did it on behalf of Aventus Aretino]].

* The titular character in [[Series/Sherlock]]. At least according to John Watson

* The titular character in Series/Sherlock. At least according to John Watson
-->""Sherlock (needing to look like he's been in a fight) - Punch me in the face""
-->""John - Punch you?""
-->""Sherlock - Yes. Punch me. In the face. Didn't you hear me?""
-->""John - I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you're speaking. But it's usually subtext.""

* The titular character in "Series/Sherlock". At least according to John Watson
Sherlock (needing to look like he's been in a fight) - "Punch me in the face"
John - "Punch you?"
Sherlock - "Yes. Punch me. In the face. Didn't you hear me?"
John - "I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you're speaking. But it's usually subtext."

* In ''Series/TheWire'', Omar observed, "Bird sure do know how to bring it out of people, don't he?"

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'':apparently, Jeremy Jamm has been the object of Ron's punching fantasies for many years. [[spoiler:eventually, Ron gives in to his rage and punches Jamm in the face on Leslie's wedding day]]

* TheSlapMaxwellStory featured a sportswriter (played by Creator/DabneyColeman) who got his nickname from being such an obnoxious jerk that people, frequently women, would slap him (usually in the episode teaser).

* A rare female example in the form of Hu Tao from ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' due to her prankster behavior who likes to get a rise out of everyone. Qiqi even refers to her as someone with a "very punchable face".
* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani is a rare female example who is not a major villainess, but just ''that annoying''. She makes a lot of false accusations against you that you can respond to by punching her in the face in all three games. The Shadow Broker videos showcase Shepard isn't the only one to have this reaction to her. In ''Mass Effect 3'', [[spoiler:it ''backfires'', in two separate ways. First of all, she dodges the punch, and if you don't take ''another'' Renegade interrupt to headbutt her, she knocks ''you'' out instead. Second of all, you can actually recruit Khalisah as a War Asset worth 10 points... Unless you punched her in either ''Mass Effect 1'' or ''Mass Effect 2'' or both, in which case she's only worth 5 points. Thus, the Very Punchable Man trope is ''subverted'' in this case.]]
** ''Mass Effect 2'' has another, even more blatant case - during Samara's loyalty mission you're in a bar and need to interact with a few characters to advance. One of your possible options is a turian who's drunkenly harassing an asari dancer. If you approach, the interaction prompt says [[LampshadeHanging "punch."]]

* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' has the recurring character Duccio in the Ezio Trilogy. In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' Claudia has Ezio beat him up in Florence for being unfaithful to her. In ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood Brotherhood]]'' he's an art dealer in Rome, and Ezio once again beats him up for badmouthing Claudia. Finally in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations Revelations]]'' in a fantastic coincidence, he's in Constantinople when Ezio arrives, and you can beat him up a third time just for grins, for which you get the "Bully" achievement.

* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', if you pursue friendship/romance with Leah, you get to hear about her spiteful ex Kel, who always hated Leah's artistic ambitions and constantly pushed her to give it up and start a more lucrative career. If you pursue the relationship all the way to ten hearts, Kel finally shows up in person, demanding Leah come back to the city with them now that she's a successful artist. If you don't punch them, Leah will do it herself. (Since Kel changes gender to match the player character, they can be a rare female example.)
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series, street thugs basically exist to be this unless you're playing on high difficulties where they can actually pose a challenge. Given their bullying and extortion of civilians, it is very satisfying to lay out {{Curb Stomp Battle}}s on them.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series, street thugs basically exist to be this unless you're playing on high difficulties where they can actually pose a challenge. Given their bullying and extortion of civilians, it is very satisfying to lay out {{CurbStompBattle}}s on them.

* In ''Manga/{{Arachnid}}'' and [[Manga/{{Caterpillar}} its]] [[Manga/{{Blattodea}} sequels]], [[AllMenArePerverts practically every male civilian in Japan is a rapist]] who threatens any of the heroines and quickly gets beaten or killed off. It's only in volume 6 of ''Blattodea'' that one of those, a [[{{Gonk}} comically ugly]] hobo, is convinced by Chiyuri to stop sexually harassing Alice with words alone.

[[folder:Film]]

* The German word ''Backpfeifengesicht'' supposedly translates to "A face badly in need of a fist."
* Similarly, the French ''tête à claques'' means literally "a head that calls for slaps"

[[AlwaysMale This trope is typically used with male characters]], due to the ([[DoubleStandard sexist]]) idea of men being more deserving of violence. Meanwhile, a woman experiencing violence makes audiences feel uncomfortable, even if she did the exact same thing that the male character did.

It can even be used with a villain, if you think they're a bit too calm and collected to KickTheDog for no reason.

** In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', a mugger appears attempts to sexually assault the villain the instant she lands on Earth since she's only in a BlackBraAndPanties, [[GoryDiscretionShot getting messily devoured]] as a result.
* In ''Film/StarTrek2009'', Kirk gets a random bar fight with some Starfleet recruits before he joins. [[spoiler:They turn up later as part of the Enterprise's crew and get revenge.]]

* ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' has Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot who lives next door to the Rodmans and exists only to be hatable and to have bad things happen to him. After his introduction, where he threatens Caesar the chimp with a baseball bat for trying to play with his kids' bicycle, he's next shown verbally assaulting the elderly, Alzheimers' riddled Charles Rodman after he gets into Hunsiker's car and damages it -- which causes Caesar to attack him in a protective fury and [[{{fingore}} bite off his right index finger]]. Finally, he verbally assaults Robert Franklin when the latter is trying to get help from the Rodmans, which leads to him becoming the first secondary infectee for the Simian Flu -- and instrumental in spreading it across the world and effectively destroying human civilization.

* ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse:'' On meeting Zarniwoop, Zaphod finds his smile so irritating he wants to hit him for it. Some time later, Zarniwoop makes the smile again. This time, Zaphod hits him.

* In ''Series/TheWire'', Omar observed, "Bird sure do know how to bring it out of people, don't he?"

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Thin Ice," Lord Sutcliffe earns the distinction of getting clobbered in the face by the Doctor within about ten seconds of his introduction. Apparently, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Sutcliffe's egregious racism toward Bill]] flipped the normally reasonable Doctor's BerserkButton.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' has Edward swoop in to save Bella from an {{attempted rape}}, among other things.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'', [[spoiler:the homophobe is this to Germany and Japan. They would have beaten the absolute crap out of him for nearly raping their precious Italy had Italy not begged them to stop.]]
* Artemis is introduced in ''Fanfic/{{Hinterlands}}'' by being accosted by a angry drunken mare, casually beating her up, and throwing her out of the bar. But as Bitterroot points out, she's drawn a lot of attention to herself, something she doesn't want as a bounty hunter, and could've easily avoided it all by stepping aside for a second to let the drunk pass. [[spoiler:It's the very first sign that Artemis isn't really a bounty hunter.]]

-->"The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating." -Proverbs 18:6

* In ''Series/TheWire'', Omar observed "Bird sure do know how to bring it out of people, don't he?"

See also KickTheSonOfABitch, PayEvilUntoEvil, MuggingTheMonster, BatmanColdOpen, BitPartBadGuys, {{Slimeball}}, and HateSink. Compare the {{Jobber}}, the ProfessionalWrestling equivalent.

* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'': [[BearsAreBadNews Moneybags]] from the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]] games. He frequently blocks Spyro's path, requesting [[CashGate payment]] (in the form of the gems that the dragon had been collecting in his travels) to open the way forward, whether this be a bridge to be raised, a door to be unlocked, a portal to be activated, and so on. He isn't always honest as to whether his services are actually required, and he often assists the {{Big Bad}} of the game [[OnlyInItForTheMoney if they line his pockets.]] [[KickTheSonOfABitch Naturally, many players love to see him get his comeuppance.]] In ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', he gets attacked by each character he releases from imprisonment (after Spyro pays for their release, of course), and, in the post-game, [[spoiler:you can, at long last, chase him down and dole out punishment on him personally after he reveals that he was planning to sell the dragon egg he had found; [[CatharsisFactor probably one of the most satisfying things to happen in the entire series]]]].

-->'''Mugger:''' Excuse me, hi! Do you have a minute? I live in Jersey City and my car broke down and I need to get back because my aunt's real sick and she needs this medicine, but I need money for the bus. So I'm mugging you. Hand over your wallets.\\

* [[BearsAreBadNews Moneybags]] from the [[UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} PS1]] ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' games. He frequently blocks Spyro's path, requesting [[CashGate payment]] (in the form of the gems that the dragon had been collecting in his travels) to open the way forward, whether this be a bridge to be raised, a door to be unlocked, a portal to be activated, and so on. He isn't always honest as to whether his services are actually required, and he often assists the {{Big Bad}} of the game [[OnlyInItForTheMoney if they line his pockets.]] [[KickTheSonOfABitch Naturally, many players love to see him get his comeuppance.]] In ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', he gets attacked by each character he releases from imprisonment (after Spyro pays for their release, of course), and, in the post-game, [[spoiler:you can, at long last, chase him down and dole out punishment on him personally after he reveals that he was planning to sell the dragon egg he had found; [[CatharsisFactor probably one of the most satisfying things to happen in the entire series]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', if you pursue friendship/romance with Leah, you get to hear about her perfectly [[SarcasmMode delightful]] ex Kel, who always hated Leah's artistic ambitions and constantly pushed her to give it up and take up a more lucrative career. If you pursue the relationship all the way to ten hearts, Kel finally shows up in person, demanding Leah come back to the city with them now that she's a successful artist. If you don't punch them, Leah will do it herself. (Since Kel changes gender to match the player character, they can be a rare female example.)
* In ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' the thugs basically exist to be this and, given their rude and unpleasant behavior that border on bullying, it's very satisfying to put them in their place through bloody, and extremely brutal CurbStompBattle.

** And you know someone's a VeryPunchableMan when someone as nice as Dr. Orpheus has to punch them.

* Allegedly, according to some psychologists, faces with certain physical characteristics may be perceived to lack qualities such as trustworthiness or dominance, which may make them seem more appropriate for a punching. However, they also argue that the phenomenon probably has more to do with projecting their character flaws onto their physical appearance, so that we feel less guilty about our angry response to them.