History TheComicallySerious / AnimeAndManga

* The entirety of ''Manga/PrisonSchool'' can be summed up as this. The realistic and serious art style is juxtaposed with the absurdity of the premise and plot.

** When [[BadassCrew Squad Zero]] drops into the Soul Society after its surprise attack by the Vandenreich, Shutara is playing several instruments with her extra arms, while she herself has a completely deadpan expression.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': In the omakes, the first time Byakuya makes a joke, Renji freaks out. Ignoring Renji's advice, Byakuya decides to do a comedy routine on stage. As Renji expected, the audience is deeply disturbed. His artwork is as bad as Rukia's, but whereas Rukia is obsessed with bunnies, Byakuya is obsessed with something of his own creation - a childishly drawn... thing he calls Ambassador Seaweed. The Ambassador Seaweed freaks everyone out.

* ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'': Sana Sunomiya, aka the Arts Club President, as she treats everything seriously while everyone else is flustered, intimidated or otherwise taking it more lightly, especially when it comes to art. Her cousin Hana takes over the role after she graduates, having very similar wacky perceptions about art.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Twilight, AKA Loid Forger, has the ability to drop into spy mode to seriously analyze every possible facet of whatever situation he's in, even if it's something extremely mundane (trying to convince his daughter to study) or extremely ridiculous (Anya trying to convince him to try on every available outfit in a store ''at the same time'').

** One of the few fillers generally considered worth watching [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAO0E69-EgI has Neji spazzing out when he eats curry]]. Were it anyone else making those expression, it wouldn't be as funny. This trope is probably why Episode 101 is so popular despite being filler.

** And Kakashi. Remember his reaction when Lee [[Funny/{{Naruto}} takes off his heavy wrist/leg bands upon Guy's request?]] As everyone is all OMG WTF BBQ, he just covers his masked face and thinks "Guy, you are too much..." To enjoy a true "what the?" reaction from Kakashi, see [[http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=kakashi+shippuuden#/d1imui7 the beginning of his fight against Naruto and Sakura]] in ''Shippuuden''.

** The Team Rocket trio themselves in the "Best Wishes" arc. One episode had them break from their serious dispositions when their life forces were being drained by Litwick. They attempt to menace the twerps, but they are exhausted and gasping for air even while reciting their motto.

** One of the few fillers worth watching [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAO0E69-EgI has Neji spazzing out when he eats curry]]. Were it anyone else making those expression, it wouldn't be as funny. This trope is probably why Episode 101 is so popular despite being filler.

* Accelerator of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''. He's a former serial killer and child soldier now undertaking a long and painful path to redemption. [[GoodIsNotNice He only ever laughs and smiles when he's brutally killing people]]. Therefore watching him get tackled to the ground and hit on by a drunken Misaka Misuzu near the end of season 2 was absolutely hilarious.

* [[EmotionlessGirl Origami]] in ''LightNovel/DateAlive'' refuses to smile, laugh, cry or anything no matter what situation she's in, resulting in a lot of this. For example, in the first OVA, she barely responds to Shido claiming to be a mom-con/sis-con/pedo (he was attempting, and miserably failing to make her fall out of love with him) and later, with a completely straight face, dresses up in a school swimsuit and dog ears and tail then puts Shido's belt around her neck like a collar after he orders her to. Shido, the crew of [[MissionControl the Fraxinus]], and the crowd are completely freaked out, but Origami just doesn't care.
* ''Anime/DeathNote'': L can sometimes lapse into this, such as a random moment when he gravely tells a detective, "I'm going to give you this strawberry. Please keep it secret." The detective dutifully slips the strawberry into his pocket.

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Sousuke Sagara. At least it tends to actually be his fault, though. He eventually plays the straight man ''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments to his own mecha]]''.

* The title character of ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer''. In a blood and violence soaked series full of rape Goblins, 90% of the rare humor comes from Goblin Slayer acting like a borderline automaton. Especially in regards to how food just passes through the slots in his helmet.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':

* Laura from ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'' takes everything seriously. Whether it be an IS battle or trying to find a pair of "hot panties" to flash Ichika with, she will treat it all the same. Bonus for her being [[GermanicEfficiency German]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Shimoneta}}'': Oboro is head of the Decency Prefects, which makes it [[DudeLooksLikeALady "her"]] job to crackdown on SOX's ero terrorist activity... by confiscating the school's basketball hoop and volleyball net for even ''[[PoliticalOvercorrectness vaguely resembling]]'' a condom and fishnet stockings. Yes, you read that right.
* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'': Zelgadis shifts between this and being the group's OnlySaneMan. Which naturally makes him [[ButtMonkey the whipping boy]] whenever Lina needs a diversion, or a scapegoat to vent her frustrations on.

* ''Manga/InTheClearMoonlitDusk'': In addition to her [[{{Bifauxnen chaste and princely behavior]], Yoi is in general a serious, straight-forward, and somewhat dense person, leading her to react to even the lightest of ribbings and teasings with bewilderment and getting flustered. For example, she takes Ichimura's suggestion to test date as SeriousBusiness, producing a ComicallyWordyContract at school to go over how the arrangement should be. One of Ichimura's friends asks Yoi's friend Nobara if she's always like this, to which she replies "[[TheComicallySerious Well, relatively.]]"

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has Commander Levi, who doesn't crack a smile ever. He's also the best at what he does (killing Titans) despite being one of the shortest males in the series. He's also ''deadly serious'' about cleaning, wears an apron and a dust mask and it just looks hilarious.

** In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], Roy Mustang is like this up until he's confronted with [[TeamPet Black Hayate]] and gives a speech about how much he loves dogs! Later in the episode, he reveals that his first executive order as Fuhrer President would be to make all female army personnel wear... ''tiny miniskirts!''

** Shoto Todoroki will occasionally say or do seemingly absurd things with complete seriousness and sincerity. After the Stain arc he muses about whether, between Midoriya and Ida, he had some curse that causes people to maim their hands around him. It takes a moment for the other two to realize he's serious. Later, when everyone sees he apparently '''rebuilt''' his dorm room with tatami mats in a single day, his only response is he worked hard. Indeed, he's noticeably more tired than the others.

** His father, Endeavor, is this as well albeit in a different way. He's not as LiteralMinded as his son, but he does tend to comically overreact to certain situations, particularly [[StraightManAndWiseGuy in his dynamic with #2 hero Hawks]]. Also, because of his GoodIsNotNice attitude, he tends to freak people out when he tries to genuinely act nice and goes completely LargeHam when it comes to dealing with things involving Shoto.

** Tenya Ida is somewhat more lighthearted than Todoroki, but he still takes most things very seriously, resulting in plenty of comedic moments, such as his reactions to his classmates goofing off, or Izuku getting [[GroinAttack punched in the balls]] by Kota at the training camp. His status as the class representative only amplifies this.

** One of the few fillers worth watching [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAO0E69-EgI has Neji spazzing out when he eats curry.]] Were it anyone else making those expression, it wouldn't be as funny. This trope is probably why Episode 101 is so popular despite being filler.

** All Might's former sidekick, Sir Nighteye, places high value on humor but you wouldn't know it to look at him. He's a stern man whose hero costume is literally just a suit and tie. He will, without a change in expression, put his own sidekicks in a tickle torture machine if he thinks they aren't being funny enough and uses seals, stamps used in Japan in place of signatures, as his WeaponOfChoice, noting the humor of how it goes along with his "salaryman" look.

* All the girls of Kuromorimine from ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' are shown to be this. Best exemplified in the ''Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu'' manga where Maho invites them to a Christmas party at her house but they assume it's a performance review and panic until she arrives. This is not helped by the fact that Miho is a stoic IceQueen who has no idea how to organize a Christmas party because it was usually her younger sister, Miho, that handled it.

* ''LightNovel/{{Shimoneta}}'': Oboro is head of the Decency Prefects, which makes it [[DudeLooksLikeALady "her"]] job to crackdown on SOX's ero terrorist activity... by confiscating the school's basketball hoop and volleyball net for even ''[[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad vaguely resembling]]'' a condom and fishnet stockings. Yes, you read that right.

[[quoteright:250:[[Manga/JuujikaNoRokunin https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/763b1105_f0ce_4d3f_aaf4_e680cb574766.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250: [[DeadpanSnarker Very charming indeed]]]]

[[Manga/JuujikaNoRokunin https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/763b1105_f0ce_4d3f_aaf4_e680cb574766.jpeg]][[caption-width-right:350:[[DeadpanSnarker Very charming indeed]]]]

%%* ''WebComic/OnePunchMan'': Saitama's student/sidekick Genos is hilariously serious about ''everything''.