| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[folder:Peter Gibbons]] |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_02_at_92543_am.png]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"I did absolutely nothing and it was everything I thought it could be."'']] |
| 6 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/RonLivingston |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Peter Gibbons is a computer programmer at Initech whose main task is to convert units in file dates to the 2000 switch. He absolutely hates his job, but after an encounter with a hypnotherapist, Pete stops caring as much about his work and decides to just do what he wants. |
| 9 | ---- |
| 10 | !!Tropes that apply to Peter: |
| 11 | * BerserkButton: Basically everything he hears in the office, from the woman answering phones a cubicle over, to hearing all eight of his bosses comment on something he messes up, to being told he has a case of the Mondays. |
| 12 | * ButtMonkey: Sees himself as this, claiming that every day is the worst day of his life because every day since he started working at Initech has managed to be even worse than the one before it. |
| 13 | * BrilliantButLazy: As Peter Says: "It's not that I'm lazy. It's just that I don't care". A mixture of pointless busy work, lack of advancement and poor compensation have left Peter utterly demotivated. |
| 14 | * ComedicSociopathy: Due to his hypnotherapist dying mid-session, Peter is left seeing no reason to care about his work, which hilariously ends up getting him promoted instead of anything karmic. |
| 15 | * DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: When Peter stops caring about the consequences of his actions, he starts breaking rules just because they feel good, such as parking in Lumbergh's spot and gutting his fish over TPS reports. |
| 16 | * TheDogBitesBack: The whole "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangster" sequence shows him nonchalantly standing up to all the mundane things in the office that made him so miserable to begin with, and it is ''glorious''. |
| 17 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Ends up getting a job at Lawrence's construction company after Milton destroys any evidence of his crimes. Somewhat {{subverted|Trope}}, of course, due to the fact that [[KarmaHoudini Peter avoided prosecution for fraud]], albeit inadvertently, given that his attempt to confess was foiled by the fire set by Milton]]. |
| 18 | * FoeCooties: He's horrified when he mistakenly thinks that Joanna had had sex with his boss, Bill Lumbergh, before meeting him. |
| 19 | * GodwinsLaw: When talking to Joanna about how much he thinks she should hate her job. |
| 20 | -->'''Peter:''' You know, the Nazis had little pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear. |
| 21 | * HappinessInMinimumWage: In the epilogue, he finds more happiness doing construction work than he did being a programmer. As he puts it, [[TheSimpleLifeIsSimple he gets lots of exercise and works outside during nice days]], so why worry? [[spoiler:Subverted in the deleted scene that extends it though, in which his new boss, [[MeetTheNewBoss who]] [[AllForNothing behaves]] [[HereWeGoAgain exactly like Lumbergh]], comes to supervise his work.]] |
| 22 | * HeelRealization: He eventually comes to realize what he did was wrong with the embezzlement and that other people felt worse about their jobs, yet did them anyway. By that point, however, things have already been set into motion and it looks too late to recover. |
| 23 | * HypnoFool: He goes from a giant ball of stress to a carefree worker thanks to a hypnotic trance. It lasts far longer than it should have because the hypnotherapist who employed it died before he could bring Peter out of the trance. The effect eventually goes away on its own, though. |
| 24 | * HypocriticalHumor: When he realizes that Michael's program is taking far more money than they intended, he and Samir take turns yelling at him over it, until Michael points out that the plan was Peter's idea. Peter quickly suggests that they avoid getting angry at each other in favor of figuring out how to deal with the problem. |
| 25 | * IKnewIt: Suspects that his girlfriend was cheating on him, only for her to admit it after he stops caring. [[invoked]] |
| 26 | * IfIWereARichMan: Peter states that if he had a million dollars, he would just sit on his ass and do nothing due to no longer having to worry about financial security. |
| 27 | * KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Somewhat. Peter makes a written confession of his crimes and puts it in Lumbergh's office overnight with checks containing the money that he and the guys stole. When Milton sets Initech on fire and finds the checks, any evidence that the guys even committed a crime disappears, albeit unintentionally. It's hard to feel bad for [[AssholeVictim Lumbergh and Initech]] though.]] |
| 28 | * KickedUpstairs: Instead of facing punishment for starting to flake on work and diss his responsibilities, the Bobs recommend Peter be considered for an upper-management position due to his insightful attitude on office motivation. |
| 29 | * LameComeback: He has one of these when Joanna starts calling him a criminal. |
| 30 | -->'''Peter:''' That may be. But at least I never slept with Lumbergh. |
| 31 | * MaddenIntoMisanthropy: Peter gets so fed up with his job that he stops caring. When it still doesn't end, he decides that he's in the moral right even as he plans to steal money from Initech. |
| 32 | * NeverMyFault: He points his finger at Michael for creating the virus, but when Mike and Samir point theirs back at him for coming up with the idea to begin with, [[HypocriticalHumor he says that they shouldn't turn against each other.]] |
| 33 | * OnlySaneEmployee: He shares this with Michael and Samir. |
| 34 | * PhraseCatcher: "Did you get that memo?" |
| 35 | * PromotionNotPunishment: Instead of getting sacked, when Peter tells the truth about how pointless and unsatisfying his job is, the Bobs put him on the promotion fast-track. |
| 36 | * RefugeInAudacity: His candid "I don't give a damn if you fire me" attitude straight to the faces of the people who could cost him his job. If he'd been less over-the-top, Peter could have been canned on the spot. |
| 37 | * RunningGag: Constantly being reminded of his screw up on the TPS reports. |
| 38 | * {{Salaryman}}: Along with Samir and Michael. |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Michael Bolton]] |
| 42 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_bolton.jpg]] |
| 43 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"PC LOAD LETTER? What the fuck does that mean?"'']] |
| 44 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/DavidHerman |
| 45 | |
| 46 | Michael Bolton works at Initech as a computer programmer. He appreciates his job despite his distaste for the company, and swears he has a virus at his disposal that could rip them off if he ever wanted to. |
| 47 | ---- |
| 48 | !!Tropes applying to Michael |
| 49 | |
| 50 | * AlmostFamousName: Shares his name with the famous pop singer. |
| 51 | * AMFMCharacterization: Hilariously subverted when he's seen listening to bad-ass rap music in his car and then almost wetting himself when a street vendor approaches. |
| 52 | * AtrociousAlias: He refuses to go by "Mike" despite his constant annoyance at people bringing up Music/MichaelBolton when they first meet him. |
| 53 | -->'''Michael:''' Why should I change? He's the one who sucks! |
| 54 | * BerserkButton: Do ''not'' bring up the similarity in his name and a certain famous power ballad singer. |
| 55 | * TheDogBitesBack: He's perfectly okay with stealing money from the company once he learns that he was going to be fired. |
| 56 | * FictionalFanRealCelebrity: Zigzagged. He coincidentally shares a name with Music/MichaelBolton, but he cannot stand said singer, in part because he's tired of the name always being pointed out. That being said, he will pretend to be a fan around others if he thinks it will benefit him[[note]]which it does, when he has his interview with The Bobs, until he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero inadvertently lets it slip that he was faking the whole thing for their approval]][[/note]]. |
| 57 | * GoneHorriblyRight: {{Subverted|Trope}}. His virus works like a complete charm except for the fact that a decimal point was off a digit or two, incriminating him and his buddies in some very noticeable account loss. |
| 58 | * InherentlyFunnyWords: He thinks "occupational hypnotherapist" sounds more cheesy than professional. |
| 59 | * {{Irony}}: Michael, one of the two self-proclaimed best programmers at Initech (the other being Samir) crafts a virus to siphon off fractions of a cent from every financial transaction by Initech. His code is missing a decimal place or two causing the virus to steal a very large amount of money. He later admits he is always messing up some mundane detail like this. Makes you wonder how good he actually is. |
| 60 | * KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:He never faces the music after his virus steals over $300,000 from the company due to Milton burning it to the ground and destroying any evidence that it actually happened. Like Peter, however, this was more DeusExMachina.]] |
| 61 | * NamedLikeMyName: His name was unremarkable until age 12 when the musician Michael Bolton became famous. |
| 62 | * NerdGlasses: Has glasses that just appear to be like this. |
| 63 | * NeverHeardThatOneBefore: "Michael … Bolton? Any relation to the pop singer?" |
| 64 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: His interview with the Bobs starts off well when he lies and says he likes the singer's music. Then he says they can call him "Mike" instead of "Michael" ([[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom something Samir suggested he could do]]), which inadvertently reveals to The Bobs that he feigned his fandom for Michael Bolton's music as a way to suck up to them. They quickly decide that he's a ProfessionalButtKisser (a trait they clearly do not favor, given how much they admire Peter for his brutal honesty) and have him fired as a result. |
| 65 | * OnlySaneEmployee: Shares this with Peter and Samir. |
| 66 | * PhraseCatcher: "Is that your real name?" and "Any relation to the singer?" |
| 67 | * {{Salaryman}}: Along with Peter and Samir. |
| 68 | * {{Tuckerization}}: Parodied. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Samir Nagheenanajar]] |
| 72 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_02_at_93332_am.png]] |
| 73 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Mother shitter, son of an ass! You, I just!"'']] |
| 74 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/AjayNaidu |
| 75 | |
| 76 | Samir [[RunningGag Nagan... Nagheney... Nagheenanajar]] is a programmer at Initech who moved to America for better opportunities and job security. |
| 77 | ---- |
| 78 | !!Tropes applying to Samir: |
| 79 | * {{Angrish}}: Samir, caught in traffic in the opening. He gives the impression of having not quite mastered English-language swearing. |
| 80 | -->'''Samir:''' This is a f-fuck! |
| 81 | * AtrociousAlias: Go ahead and give his last name your best shot. |
| 82 | * TheDogBitesBack: Though it takes a little warming up to the idea, Samir hops on board with Peter and Michael's scheme to steal from the company after he's informed that he's going to be fired. |
| 83 | * FunnyForeigner: His lack of familiarity with swearing in English is played for laughs throughout most of the film. |
| 84 | * KarmaHoudini: Just like the rest of the film's protagonists, [[spoiler:Samir gets off with Michael and Peter after Milton burns Initech to the ground, destroying all evidence of their crime, albeit unintentionally given the nature of the circumstances.]] |
| 85 | * OnlySaneEmployee: Despite his eccentricities, he, Peter, and Michael are the only ones around the office who seem to have a clue. |
| 86 | * RunningGag: |
| 87 | ** The pronunciation of his last name. |
| 88 | --->'''Samir:''' No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It's not that hard: Na-ghee-na-na-jar. Nagheenanajar. |
| 89 | ** How he doesn't quite get how English swearing works. His very first line is "Mother shitter son of a...ass," and he later gives us stuff like "This is a fuck." |
| 90 | * {{Salaryman}}: Along with Peter and Michael. |
| 91 | * TheUnpronounceable: His last name, at least, leading to the famous Bobs quote, "Samir Na..Naga..Na Not gonna work here anymore" |
| 92 | [[/folder]] |
| 93 | |
| 94 | [[folder:Bill Lumbergh]] |
| 95 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_02_at_93535_am.png]] |
| 96 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Hello, Peter. Whaaat's happening?"''']] |
| 97 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/GaryCole |
| 98 | |
| 99 | Bill Lumbergh is the smarmy Vice President of Initech, and Peter's PointyHairedBoss. He talks in a monotone, passive aggressive way with lots of "yeahs" and "okays" littered throughout his sentences, and doesn't care about the well-being of his employees despite constantly promoting office morale. |
| 100 | ---- |
| 101 | !!Tropes applying to Lumbergh: |
| 102 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: Is the recipient of one from the Bobs, when asked if he actually reads the TPS reports after he complains about Peter not completing them properly. |
| 103 | * BadNewsInAGoodWay: Being a PointyHairedBoss who's nonchalant about ''everything'', this is his specialty. |
| 104 | -->'''Bill:''' I almost forgot, um, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday too. We, um, lost some people this week and we need to sort of play catch-up. Thaaaanks. |
| 105 | * TheComicallySerious: He's an unemotional and stoic boss with a monotone voice and a tendency to demean and overwork his employees that it comes across as weirdly hilarious. |
| 106 | * CondescendingCalmness: Never raises his voice, he somehow retains the ability to remain calm and measured even when acting like an asshole. |
| 107 | * ControlFreak: Lumbergh micromanages his employees to an insane degree. When Peter decides to skip going to work on Saturday after his hypnosis, Lumbergh calls him ''seventeen times'' throughout the day. |
| 108 | * FatalFlaw: His need to bully and push people around. Trying to do this to a hypnotized Peter not only fails but draws the ire of the Bobs who look into his poor record as a manager. His mistreatment of Milton [[spoiler:drives the guy to burn the building down]]. |
| 109 | * FauxAffablyEvil: He acts like he's everyone's pal at Initech, but nobody really buys it. It accentuates just how excruciatingly smug, arrogant and condescending he is. Milton gets the worst of it, with Lumbergh nonchalantly asking him to constantly move around and taking his red Swingline stapler. |
| 110 | * FourEyesZeroSoul: Played completely straight. Peter even describes Lumbergh as representing "all that is soulless and wrong." |
| 111 | * HateSink: As evidenced by many of the tropes on this very page, Lumbergh is a passive-aggressive asshole, constantly using buzzwords and measured tones to bully people. The viewers will have a very strong inclination to punch him in the face. Is it any wonder that three of his employees [[spoiler:embezzled the company]], and another one [[spoiler:burned it down]]? |
| 112 | * HatedByAll: None of his employees particularly care for him. Even the Bobs come to the realization he is a poor manager and [[LaserGuidedKarma start grilling him on his job]]. |
| 113 | * InsufferableGenius: In a FreezeFrameBonus, according to his employee records, he has a BS in Physics from MIT. |
| 114 | * {{Jerkass}}: He has no regard for the well-being of his employees and continually belittles Peter for messing up one thing on his TPS reports. He's especially dickish towards Milton, and [[spoiler:cancels his paycheck without telling him when it's revealed that Milton was laid off years before and just never informed]]. |
| 115 | %% JerkassHasAPoint: He's a JerkAss, but he pointed Peter wasn't really trying to do his work that hard and was trying to get fire. |
| 116 | * JerkassToOne: A soulless boss to everyone, but a complete asshole to Milton. |
| 117 | * KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:A deleted scene reveals that he died in the fire Milton started. However, it's unknown if this is still considered canon]]. |
| 118 | * KnowNothingKnowItAll: He thinks he's an InsufferableGenius, but he's just as incompetent and is hypocritical as well as it's shown in the film. |
| 119 | * KarmicDeath:[[spoiler: If you consider the deleted funeral scene to be canon, then Lumbergh is ultimately killed in a fire caused by Milton, the same employee who he went out of his way to mistreat and bully]]. |
| 120 | * KickTheDog: Whenever you might start to think that Lumbergh is just a guy trying to do his job in a company that [[IncompetenceInc happens to be bogged down with stupid and inane policies]], he starts kicking Milton around for no apparent reason other than [[ForTheEvulz because he can]]. When he finds out that Milton technically doesn't have a job at Initech, he gets even worse, seemingly going out of his way to think of new ways to demean the guy [[spoiler:while deliberately withholding the information that Milton's "missing" paycheck doesn't exist and never will again]], cementing for the audience that he's every bit the soulless monster Peter and his friends claim he is. |
| 121 | * LaughablyEvil: He's a nasty human being, but his smug personality is so over the top it becomes hilarious. |
| 122 | * MeanBoss[=/=]PointyHairedBoss: Bill Lumbergh, a passive-aggressive SmugSnake who always speaks in measured tones, comes up with silly ways of motivating employees (ie. "Hawaiian Shirt Day"), and uses a lot of stereotypical corporate euphemisms and buzzwords, which for a manager is often TruthInTelevision. |
| 123 | ** He might genuinely believe that never raising your voice is all it takes to be considered "nice" by the rules of divine judgment. |
| 124 | * OneSteveLimit: Shares a name with a man who moved away years before the story began who [[spoiler:Joanna slept with]]. |
| 125 | * PaperTiger: As much he uses his position to bully and micromanage others, when someone like Peter stands up to him or starts brushing him off he doesn't seem to know how to react. [[OhCrap Then there's his reaction]] to being grilled by the Bobs. It's telling that when Peter starts standing up to him he doubles down on mistreating Milton since the latter doesn't fight back. [[spoiler:Initially, anyway.]] |
| 126 | * SatanicArchetype: To his employees, anyway. And they're probably right, seeing how he drove three of them to embezzlement and one to [[spoiler:arson.]] Peter outright calls him "unholy". |
| 127 | -->'''Michael:''' (about Joanna sleeping with Ron Lumbergh) Who did you think I meant, Bill? Their children would have hooves! |
| 128 | * VerbalTic: He constantly repeats words like "yeah," "hi," "um," and "that would be great" in the most annoyingly mundane way possible. |
| 129 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:No mention of him is made after Initech burns down, but in a deleted scene, Peter asks Samir and Michael if they're going to Lumbergh's funeral, revealing that he died in the fire.]] |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Joanna]] |
| 133 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_05_at_15740_pm.png]] |
| 134 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"You think you're some kind of, like, angel here? No, you're just this penny-stealing... wannabe criminal... man."'']] |
| 135 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/JenniferAniston |
| 136 | |
| 137 | Joanna is a cute waiter who works at Chotchkie's who Peter has a crush on. He asks her out after his hypnotherapy, and the two begin a relationship over the course of the movie. |
| 138 | ---- |
| 139 | !!Tropes applying to Joanna: |
| 140 | * BadJobWorseUniform: Her uniform mandates a minimum of fifteen "pieces of flair" that make it look like she pinned a thrift store's bargain bin to herself. What's worse, her wearing only fifteen causes her boss to passive-aggressively imply that she needs to wear more, because wearing the minimum implies she doesn't care that much about the job. (Yes, their solution to an unenthusiastic and miserable employee is to tell them that if they ''don't'' act performatively excited, they'll probably get fired.) |
| 141 | * BerserkButton: She ''really'' doesn't like talking about her flair. |
| 142 | * BuffySpeak: When she and Peter get into an argument, she calls him "penny-stealing … wannabe criminal … man!" |
| 143 | * TheDogBitesBack: After being chewed out by her boss for only wearing the minimum required amount of flair on her uniform, she decides to flip him off and quit. |
| 144 | * FlippingTheBird: Her reaction to her boss [[TemptingFate insisting that she "express herself".]] |
| 145 | * ReallyGetsAround: According to Drew, who warns Peter to wear a condom and lists Lumbergh among the guys she's done it with. [[spoiler:He fails to mention that the Lumbergh in question moved away years ago and in fact only shares a name with Peter's boss with an apparent lack of relation]]. |
| 146 | * WhatTheHellHero: Gives one of these to Peter late in the film, informing him that it's not okay to commit embezzlement just because you hate your job. |
| 147 | [[/folder]] |
| 148 | |
| 149 | [[folder:Milton Waddams]] |
| 150 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_05_at_20702_pm.png]] |
| 151 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"I believe you have my stapler."'']] |
| 152 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/StephenRoot |
| 153 | |
| 154 | Milton Waddams is an oddball employee at Initech who mumbles all of his words and is constantly asked to move desks by his bosses. Milton also has a strange obsession with his red Swingline stapler. |
| 155 | ---- |
| 156 | !!Tropes applying to Milton: |
| 157 | * BerserkButton: A combination of his desk constantly getting moved and his stapler getting taken away drive him to [[spoiler:arson]]. |
| 158 | * BewareTheQuietOnes: He may only be mumbling his threats, but he'll go through with them, [[spoiler:especially when he says he'll burn the building down]]. |
| 159 | * BosssUnfavoriteEmployee: Lumbergh makes Milton move his desk three times a week and takes his stapler. When Milton is laid off, Lumbergh doesn't tell him; instead he cuts off his paycheck, moves him to the basement, and makes him hunt cockroaches. |
| 160 | * ButtMonkey: [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking He is told to move his desk around at least three times a week, Lumbergh takes his stapler for no reason, and he doesn't even get a piece of cake when Lumbergh's birthday rolls around.]] [[spoiler:It turns out he was laid off five years prior to the film, but no one ever told him and the payroll was never updated, meaning he kept getting a paycheck. Lumbergh decides not only to continue not telling him about his lack of employment but cut him from payroll and move him to the basement. All the while Milton keeps coming in, wondering about his missing paycheck, and Lumbergh keeps on being an ass to him and not telling him any of the above.]] |
| 161 | * ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Ends up fixing things for Peter and the boys when he burns the office building to the ground, destroying any evidence of their crime]]. |
| 162 | * ComedicSociopathy: Constantly threatening to burn down the building and eventually [[spoiler:doing it and killing Lumbergh in a DeletedScene is all PlayedForLaughs]]. |
| 163 | * TheDogBitesBack: After spending the whole film as the ButtMonkey, [[spoiler:Milton burns the company to the ground]]. |
| 164 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:He's never caught for burning Initech to the ground, and instead escapes to a tropical paradise. Except he's also miserable there.]] |
| 165 | * ExtremeDoormat: Endures bullying and mistreatment from basically every aspect of his job. [[spoiler:And tropical resorts too.]] |
| 166 | * ForgettableCharacter: Milton is a mousy office drone who is so inconspicuous that several years before the movie [[spoiler:he was actually fired from the company, and everybody forgot to tell him about it. He continued to work there with no employment file because a glitch in the payroll system continued to send him a monthly salary, which nobody noticed either. Once the bosses find out, they decide it's not even worth telling him]]. |
| 167 | * PassiveAggressiveKombat: A downplayed example, but when Peter asks him to turn his radio down a little, he just repeats that he's allowed to listen to it at a reasonable volume from 9 to 11 until Peter relents. |
| 168 | * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Or [[TheDogBitesBack office buildings]], at the very least. |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 | |
| 171 | [[folder:Lawrence]] |
| 172 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_05_at_20930_pm.png]] |
| 173 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Fuckin' A."'']] |
| 174 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/DiedrichBader |
| 175 | |
| 176 | Lawrence is Peter's neighbor who talks to him through the walls of their apartment building. He works for a construction company and regularly tries scheduling fishing dates with his neighbor. |
| 177 | ---- |
| 178 | !!Tropes applying to Lawrence |
| 179 | * CharacterCatchphrase: Seems to be "Fuckin' A." |
| 180 | * DropInCharacter: Peter actually has to remind him that he can just come over to Peter's apartment to chat instead of just talking through the walls of their building. |
| 181 | * HappinessInMinimumWage: In contrast to Peter being miserable at Initech, Lawrence is perfectly content with his life as a construction worker and is ''offended'' when he hears about the lame office jokes Peter has to deal with. |
| 182 | * IfIWereARichMan: When Peter asks him what he'd do with a million dollars, Lawrence unflinchingly responds with "two girls at the same time." |
| 183 | -->'''Lawrence:''' I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; 'cause chicks dig dudes with money.\ |
| 184 | '''Peter:''' Well, not ''all'' chicks.\ |
| 185 | '''Lawrence:''' Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do.\ |
| 186 | '''Peter:''' Good point. |
| 187 | * NeverSayThatAgain: He wouldn't do very well working in an office setting. |
| 188 | -->'''Peter:''' When you come in on Monday and you're not feeling real well, does anyone ever say to you, "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays"?\ |
| 189 | '''Lawrence:''' No. No, man. ''Shit'', no, man! I believe you'd get your ass kicked saying something like that, man. |
| 190 | * SeriousBusiness: Peter laughs off Lawrence's insistence that he'd have sex with two chicks at once if he had a million dollars. Lawrence doesn't seem to find it the least bit funny. |
| 191 | * VerbalTic: It goes with his [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents Texas accent]], man. |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:Tom Smykowski]] |
| 195 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_08_05_at_21132_pm.png]] |
| 196 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that?!"'']] |
| 197 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/RichardRiehle |
| 198 | |
| 199 | Tom Smykowski is an employee at Initech with Peter, Michael, and Samir. He often latches on to their friend group to spout about his fears of getting laid off and lame eccentricities outside of the company. |
| 200 | ---- |
| 201 | !!Tropes applying to Tom: |
| 202 | * AngstWhatAngst: Deliberately {{invoked|Trope}}. [[spoiler:Tom is left paralyzed after a car accident, but he retires with a huge sum of money due to the court settlement. When Peter sees him again, he's ecstatic, and doesn't even ''mention'' his paralysis.]] |
| 203 | * BrickJoke: He mentions his "jump to conclusions mat" idea early on in the film. Later at his retirement party, he shows Peter a prototype he made. |
| 204 | * DrivenToSuicide: Attempts it after his layoff via carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage. His wife obliviously walks in on the attempt, and seeing her changes his mind. |
| 205 | * DumbassHasAPoint: Really, the "job" he seems to be describing is a legitimate one (relaying information back and forth between customers and engineers, and managing the engineers themselves), but it probably isn't one that warrants having a secretary. He doesn't help his case by being completely unable to explain the finer points of his role[[note]]to be fair, he was obviously very nervous during his interview, but still...[[/note]]. |
| 206 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: PlayedWith. [[spoiler:Tom gets laid off and is DrivenToSuicide, but decides to live upon seeing his wife's face. Immediately after this, he's paralyzed in a car accident, but the settlement gives him seven figures to retire on, which everyone envies despite his condition. Even Tom suffers a complete AngstAversion.]] |
| 207 | * HypocriticalHumor: When he's asked by the Bobs what exactly he does at Initech, he becomes increasingly agitated as he tries to convince them he has good people skills. |
| 208 | * IKnewIt: Predicted that he would be fired before it actually happened, but it doesn't make it sting any less. [[invoked]] |
| 209 | * InventorOfTheMundane: He eventually goes on to create a prototype of his "jump to conclusions mat" [[spoiler:using the money he gained from his court settlement]]. |
| 210 | * NervousWreck: Easily agitated. Justified, considering he is fearing for his job. |
| 211 | * NotHelpingYourCase: He angrily insults the Bobs to their faces while trying to explain to them that they should keep him on because of his good people skills. |
| 212 | * ProperlyParanoid: Suspects he's going to be fired based solely off of a staff meeting memo. He's right. |
| 213 | * {{Salaryman}}: Along with Peter, Michael, and Samir. |
| 214 | * SelfFulfillingProphecy: As Michael puts it, Tom worries that he's going to lose his job every week despite having worked at Initech at years. Since he apparently spent more time being scared of something that ''could'' happen instead of getting ready for the interview with the Bobs he knew ''was'' happening, he's a bundle of frayed nerves by the time he's in front of them. Not helping matters is that his job duties are so nebulous and vaguely defined that he can barely describe them in terms that make it sound like he does any actual work, and he completely falls apart and starts shouting at the Bobs after just a few questions anyone else might have had no trouble answering. Needless to say, they assume his job isn't that important and he's the first person on their chopping block. |
| 215 | * WhatExactlyIsHisJob: The Bobs say this almost word for word a few times when interviewing him. As far as can be determined, his job on paper is to relay instructions between customers and engineers, but his secretary handles most of that stuff, leaving it decidedly vague as to what he actually ''does'' on an average work day. Indeed, whatever duty his job describes, it doesn't seem that he'd be any good at performing it--he claims it requires good people skills and the ability to easily communicate concepts, but he has neither. |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:The Bobs]] |
| 219 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9cvug3zqxxkmgdctzwychra1c_9el_qfjfmfwyjlgte.jpg]] |
| 220 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"What would you say you do here?"'']] |
| 221 | ->'''Played by:''' Creator/JohnCMcGinley (Slydell) and Creator/PaulWillson (Porter) |
| 222 | |
| 223 | A pair of consultants who are brought in to help downsize the company. |
| 224 | ---- |
| 225 | !!Tropes applying to the Bobs: |
| 226 | * AffablyEvil: While heartless hatchet men who aren't above trimming the fat, they can be polite and rewarding to people who genuinely impress them. |
| 227 | * AntiVillain: They're quite callous towards the people they fire and jerks in their own right, they're the only somewhat reasonable members of Initech's top brass and legitimately seem to want to help the company's problems. As well, they sincerely reward Peter for being honest and accurately summing up the company's problems and Lumbergh's mismanagement. |
| 228 | * EveryoneHasStandards: The two aren't exactly nice, but they do genuinely dislike office mismanagement. They are astonished when Peter tells them about how bloated and sclerotic the hierarchy at the company is. And they also look down at [[PointyHairedBoss Lumbergh]] for his poor management, even giving HIM their usual treatment. |
| 229 | * InhumanResources: The "hatchet man" variety. |
| 230 | * {{Jerkass}}: While not as bad as [[BadBoss Lumbergh]], they can also be quite callous. They even gave Lumbergh the advice of [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom not telling Milton about his lack of employment]]]]. |
| 231 | * LackOfEmpathy: If you don't meet their standards, they will have no problem firing you and mocking you behind your back. [[spoiler:They actively encourage Lumbergh to gaslight Milton instead of simply firing him]]. |
| 232 | * ALighterShadeOfBlack: They're certainly jerks and generally quite callous, but out of all the antagonists they're some of the few to genuinely want to improve the company and don't mismanaged and bully their employees for the sake of it. They're not exactly nice and just as capable of being a bad boss as everyone else (as demonstrated by [[spoiler:their treatment of Milton]]), but they're at least willing to reward honesty and shy away from people like Lumbergh's incompetence and pointless cruelty. |
| 233 | * PetTheDog: While they're pretty callous overall, they genuinely take a liking to Peter after he tells them the reality of Initech's poor work environment and feel he should be rewarded for being the only person willing to tell the truth. |
| 234 | * ProfessionalButtKisser: Surprisingly subverted. Their initial impression makes it seem like they're just lackeys for Lumbergh but they later show they're not afraid to start grilling ''him'' either. |
| 235 | * PunchClockVillain: Ultimately they're just doing their jobs as downsizing specialists. Though this lapses into AffablyEvil when you consider their lack of any empathy towards people who they lay off. To their credit, they do scrutinize Lumbergh when they get a taste of how rotten of a manager he is, showing they take their jobs seriously. |
| 236 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Bobs are a downplayed version of this. They do go about firing people in a heartless matter, [[spoiler:even advising Lumbergh to passive-aggressively torment Milton instead of confronting him about his lack of employment]]. But they are willing to give the employees a chance to explain their jobs, and when Peter speaks candidly with them about Initech's problems, they not only push for Peter's promotion, they start grilling Lumbergh about his incompetence. |
| 237 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Literally -- they are together in every scene they are in. |
| 238 | * TranquilFury: While he doesn't open his mouth, younger Bob looks like he's about to [[DeathGlare kick Lumbergh's teeth in]] when the latter starts going off on how much Peter definitely requires his micro-management. Older Bob steps in to play the diplomat. |
| 239 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: They disappear from the movie entirely after Peter's promotion. |
| 240 | [[/folder]] |
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