Line #25 ComicBook/TheMan


1	[[quoteright:302:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_man_9807.png]]
2	->'''Boy''': ''This is a dream. Yes, I know I'm dreaming. There's no such thing as people six inches tall!''\
3	'''Man''': ''Seven inches, thank you very much! Just over seven to be precise. 18 centimetres exactly.''
4
5	A 1992 GraphicNovel for children, written by Creator/RaymondBriggs, who also wrote ''ComicBook/TheSnowman''.
6
7	A 12-year-old boy named John wakes up one morning and finds a [[{{Lilliputians}} tiny man]] in his bedroom. Known only as Man, he insists on staying, so John finds himself grudgingly taking care of his guest. The Man is opinionated, messy, demanding, quick to get into arguments, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative, and intolerant at his worst]], with a fondness for specific brands of [[PickyEater tea bags, milk, bread and especially marmalade]].
8
9	The Man soon begins to outstay his welcome, but he and John nevertheless form an OddFriendship. All the while, John tries to keep his guest a secret from his parents, who blame him for the Man's antics, and are bemused by their son's recent odd behaviour; buying his own expensive food, singing along to the morning service, arguing with himself, and coating the house with marmalade.
10
11	It was later released as an audiobook, with Creator/MichaelPalin voicing the title character. It was adapted into an Afternoon Play for BBC Radio 4 in 2006, featuring Creator/BernardCribbins in the title role.
12	----
13	!!Tropes:
14	* ActorAllusion: In the 2006 adaptation, the Man was voiced by Creator/BernardCribbins. This wasn't the first time that Cribbins played a [[Series/FawltyTowers demanding and argumentative guest.]]
15	* AdaptedOut: John's father does not appear in the BBC adaptation. Instead, he just lives with his mother.
16	* AsTheGoodBookSays: The Man reads Literature/TheBible and quotes verses from [[Literature/BookOfJob Job]].
17	* BatmanInMyBasement: A 7-inch-high man hiding in my bedroom.
18	* BerserkButton: The Man is prickly about being called little, but really snaps when John threatens to phone the authorities and have him put in a care home, which could ruin him.
19	* BigWhat: This is the Man's reaction when John asks if he's a fairy.
20	* BlatantLies: John's flimsy excuses to his parents when he gets blamed for the Man's antics.
21	* BloodOath: The Man pricks John's finger, as he swears John to secrecy about his existence.
22	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The BBC adaptation removes the Man's remark: "so the wogs begin at the front door do they?"
23	* BrickJoke: To explain the voices coming from his bedroom, John tells his mother that he's writing a play, and has to try out the lines out loud. Later, after his heated argument with the Man:
24	--> '''John's mother''': John! How's the play going?
25	--> '''John''': Play?
26	--> '''John's mother''': It sounds like you've got half a dozen people in your room sometimes, shouting, and carrying on.
27	--> '''John''': Oh, the play! Yes, there's a lot of arguing in it. Mr Timpson says [[{{Conflict}} conflict is the essence of drama.]]
28	* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: The Man does this a lot, particularly when John questions him about his species.
29	%%* CharacterTitle
30	* DeadpanSnarker: The Man, when he's not outright shouting.
31	--> '''The Man''': You think I'm a pet, a human hamster... why don't you buy me a little plastic wheel to run around on?
32	* DeathWorld: The world is this for the Man and his kind. They are too small to lead normal lives, and almost everything is hazardous, from curious babies and attacking birds to falling hazards galore. Even making a cup of tea almost costs him his life.
33	--> '''The Man:''' It's a dangerous place - the world - for us, people like me. Cats, dogs, birds, foxes, young children, rats, drain holes, lavatories, feet. You see we can't lead a normal life, can't go to work, can't get on the train or bus, can't go about in crowds. Can't even post a letter.
34	* {{Determinator}}: Whenever one of the Man's demands is met with a "no", he just keeps asking until he gets his way.
35	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:John looks heartbroken when he awakens to find the Man has gone. There is no text to show this, but a final picture of John looking sad - though he does not look ''so'' sad in that The Man's goodbye letter has given him hope that the Man has found a place where he will be happier.]]
36	* FailedASpotCheck / DidntThinkThisThrough: The Man reveals that he secretly spent Christmas at John's house and loved the turkey and Christmas pudding ("no health muck then!"). He may have failed to anticipate that the family would eat healthier food the rest of the year.
37	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Soon after arriving the Man casually mentions "three days... that's about the limit." [[spoiler:He suddenly leaves on his fourth day.]]
38	* FullNameUltimatum: A variant, leading to an OhCrap moment for John.
39	--> '''John's mother''': Talking of drama, your ''father'' wants to talk to you. Now. At once.
40	--> '''John''': (to himself) Uh oh. It's bad when she calls him Father.
41	* TheGhost: John's parents and sister are not seen in person, only heard; although they are visible in a framed family photo.
42	* {{God}}: The Man likes to pray sometimes, to sing hymns, and to read the Bible. When John wonders what to do with the Man, the Man angrily asks the boy if he thinks he is God.
43	* HangingByTheFingers: Left to make his own breakfast on the kitchen worktop, the Man opens his marmalade jar, which is as tall as he is. The jar then topples on to the floor, knocking the Man over, who ends up hanging by his fingers from the worktop, above the shattered glass of the jar, with [[LosingAShoeInTheStruggle one of his boots falling off]]. Fortunately, John rescues him. John had [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] this incident, saying "just eat your marmalade, try not to let it get out of control".
44	* {{Hypocrite}}: The Man lectures John on the importance of hygiene and cleanliness, but goes two days without bathing and begins to smell.
45	* ImprovisedClothes: The Man wears a tunic made out of a sock, with an elastic band for a belt. He makes underpants and boots out of the fingers from a glove.
46	* IronicEcho: When John is fed up with being blamed by his parents for everything The Man does, he says "you've got the perfect alibi: no one knows you exist". Later, when The Man threatens to burn the house, he throws this quote straight back at John.
47	--> '''The Man:''' You said I'd got the perfect alibi, remember? No one knows I exist! So, watch it, boy. You are "at risk"!!
48	* JarPotty: The Man uses John's paint water jar, soon after his arrival.
49	--> '''The Man''': Aah! Bliss.
50	--> '''John''': (to himself) I'm too old to believe in this kind of thing.
51	* JerkassHasAPoint: The Man, for all of his behavior as such leaning towards the jerk territory, does have a point when he suggests that John took him in and cared for him not out of kindness, but because he is small and a novelty (which is what he says children really care about), like a pet.
52	--> '''The Man''': A pet rat has more dignity that its keeper!
53	* LastOfHisKind: The Man remarks that there are “not many of us left” and implies that there are [[DyingRace just two]].
54	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: The two main characters frequently bicker and set each other off, with evidence that, overall, neither is completely correct or wrong.
55	* {{Lilliputians}}: The Man is 7" tall.
56	* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The Man tells the boy of a long list of busy-bodies that, upon finding the Man, would exploit him and ruin his life as well as John's.
57	* ManipulativeBastard: The Man acts like one, at least: he knows how to exploit his size and get what he wants. John even points this out. Several times the Man starts sobbing while they are arguing, only to immediately perk up again when John backs down and apologizes.
58	* MatchstickWeapon: When John threatens to call the authorities to have The Man taken into care, The Man counters this threat by holding up a match, threatening to burn the house down at night.
59	* MenAreUncultured: The Man is scornful of John's interest in art and poetry and his dislike of sport.
60	* MinimalistCast: There are only four speaking characters, with the other two being John's parents.
61	* MisanthropeSupreme: The Man dislikes vegetarians, health food, foreigners, wine drinkers, art, stories, films, and even human beings as a whole - at least claiming so when he feels riled up and discriminated against, citing humans as "great big monsters barging about bashing up the world".
62	* MysteriousPast: Very few details are revealed about the Man, like where he came from or how many of his kind exist, and even then, it's left ambiguous.
63	* NakedOnArrival: The Man turns up stark naked.
64	* NobodyPoops: Averted here, as one of the first things the Man does is have a pee. He later asks for a sheet of toilet paper and they discuss what his lavatorial arrangements will be.
65	* NoNameGiven: The Man's real name is never revealed. He claims [[NeverGivenAName not to have one]].
66	* NoodleIncident: At some point before the story begins, the Man had an emergency which entailed losing his clothes, but doesn't go into specifics.
67	* ObfuscatingDisability: There are signs that the Man is not as helpless as he appears. When John refuses to lift him down from the windowsill, he climbs down by himself.
68	* PetTheDog: Despite the Man's constant sneering at many things John does, there are moments when he shows some genuine appreciation. When John builds him a lavatory seat, which turns out to be no use to The Man, he seems to appreciate the thought, saying "you are a good bloke". Also, The Man's childishly written departing note to John:
69	--> Dear Boy, time to moov on. Thanks for putting up with me, sory I stayed to long, 3 days is our rool. You wer mor kind to me than anny won els in the hole of my life. You are a God bloke, yor old mate, Man. P.S. She brought my clothes.
70	* PickyEater: The Man dislikes most of the food in the house, dismissing it as "health muck." He insists on John buying his preferred brands of milk, bread, sugar, marmalade and tea bags.
71	* PottyEmergency: The Man claims that wholemeal bread "gives me the trots".
72	* ProductPlacement: A lot of British brand names are mentioned: Coco Pops, Bran Flakes, Mother's Pride, Frank Cooper's Oxford Marmalade, After Eights, Guinness, and PG Tips.
73	* ThePromise: As well as the BloodOath above, John is able to hide The Man in a small "secrets" cupboard in his bedside table, because his mother has promised never to look there.
74	* ProverbialWisdom: At the very beginning of the book, the following Chinese proverb is quoted: "After three days, fish and visitors begin to stink".
75	* TheReasonYouSuck: John and The Man have a heated exchange on the fourth day, when they list each other's faults.
76	* RunningGag: The Man's marmalade ending up everywhere: on the phone, on the telly control, and finally the whole jar is smashed on the kitchen floor.
77	* ScavengedPunk: A variant of this. The Man wears clothes made out of a sock with an elastic band for a belt, sleeps in a hammock made from a table tennis net, and uses a toothbrush made from a stylus brush from a record player.
78	* ShoutOut:
79	** John serves tea in a ''[[ComicBook/TheSnowman Snowman]]'' cup.
80	** John wonders whether the Man is a [[Literature/TheBorrowers Borrower]].
81	** He also wonders if The Man is from space, like ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''
82	---> '''John:''' Are you from space? Like [=ET=]?
83	---> '''The Man:''' Eetee? Never heard of it.
84	---> '''John:''' It's a famous film.
85	---> '''The Man:''' I don't like films. Too big.
86	* SittingOnTheRoof: As shown on the cover of the book, the Man goes up on the roof when he wants some fresh air, and to pray a bit.
87	* ThermostatTamperTantrum: John's father is furious when the title character turns up the thermostat. Lampshaded by John saying "I hope Dad doesn't notice".
88	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: John starts to feel this way about the Man. [[spoiler:But he's still upset when the Man suddenly leaves.]]
89	* TookALevelInJerkass: The Man is curmudgeonly throughout, but one argument with John takes a nastier turn when the Man threatens to burn down the house.
90	* ToxicFriendInfluence: The Man asks John to steal some beer and place a bet for him.
91	* TwoFacedAside: The Man wants an egg for breakfast:
92	--> '''The Man''': Are they new laid?
93	--> '''John''': They are. Honeysuckle Farm fresh free range organic fed.
94	--> '''The Man''': (muttering) Health muck again.
95	--> '''John''': What?
96	--> '''The Man''': Nice. Very nice.
97	* UnsatisfiableCustomer: The Man is a serial complainer.
98	--> "No pongy old socks, thank you very much!"
99	* VisualPun: When the Man uses tissues, the box is labelled "Mansize".
100	* VolleyingInsults:
101	--> '''The Man''': Can't stand soppy art!
102	--> '''John''': Can't stand stupid sport!
103	--> '''The Man''': SISSY!
104	--> '''John''': DUMBO!
105	* WeirdWorldWeirdFood: Subverted. When the title character arrives demanding food, John assumes that he comes from a mysterious place, and must eat mysterious food; but he eats the same food as humans, especially junk food, instead of "health muck".
106	--> '''The Man:''' Any grub going? I'm starving.
107	--> '''John:''' Well... what sort of things do you eat?
108	--> '''The Man:''' (Angrily) What kind of question is that? What do you think I am, some sort of animal?
109	* YourSizeMayVary: Usually, The Man stands about the size of John's head in height. However, this trope is played straight at times, such as during their huge argument on Day 4. With no explanation, The Man goes from being significantly smaller than John's head is in one illustration, to significantly taller by comparison in the next, all while both characters are seen directly across from each other.
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Context ComicBook / TheMan