History Main / WeirdnessCoupon

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' uses a similar tactic.

* As shown in the page quote, the ''Series/MythBusters'' can get away with a wide variety of bizarre requests and actions by virtue of their reputation at this point. It's a far cry from when they started out; the group originally had to jury-rig a rocket together due to the difficulty of obtaining one legitimately. Hilariously, when they first attempted to obtain a JATO rocket, the Air Force sent not one, but two letters of denial. The [=MythBusters=] interpreted this as a literal NoJustNoReaction -- the second letter was just to reinforce just how denied their request was.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s persona as a white outsider, a ShockJock and [[PissTakeRap the class clown of rap]] lets him get away with things that no other rapper would get away with. He's used this for noble goals like accusing MTV out on racism for celebrating him far more than black rappers (while [[VisualPun eating crackers while staring the camera dead in the eye]]), to go against the company line (in the documentary ''The Defiant Ones'', he's the only person willing to call out "the Beats thing" as bullshit) and to get away with things that would get other rappers murdered (such as accusing Music/PDiddy of having killed Music/TupacShakur). He starts his verse on "Bitch Please II" by ripping off Music/SnoopDogg's lyrics and flow, with Snoop's response just being to metaphorically shake his head and say, "he's so crazy". Many of the female celebrities he's savaged in his songs were delighted by the shoutouts.

-> ''"They... They killed everyone. My parents. My husband. My son. They all died... for nothing. For being in the way. People with Crests do whatever they want. No one even tries to stop them. [[CorruptChurch Especially not the church]]..."''
-->-- '''An unnamed commoner in Chapter 7'''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Exploited by Starfire in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. She invents a holiday from her home planet to cover up the half-eaten curtains from [[ExtremeOmnivore the mutant larvae she was hiding]], and earns nothing more than a dismissive comment from Raven due to her previous FishOutOfWater antics.
* Similar to ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' above, Helga Pataki of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' fame gets away with some pretty risque stuff for what's nominally a kid's show, but depicting tortured adolescent female sexuality just doesn't have the same impact coming from a hilarious cartoon character who kind of looks like a billy goat.
* For similar reasons, Tina Belcher from ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' was actually changed from a boy in early production into a girl because the creators realized that what came off as disturbing coming from a male character simply became funny when said by a female one.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': In a crew deliberately built with BunnyEarsLawyer in mind, Lalli accumulates mage powers that let him see things InvisibleToNormals, appears to have a mental disorder, NoSocialSkills, a solitary nature and a very lackluster education, which results in a pass to act even more strangely than everyone else. The downside to this is tha Lalli's cousin and CloudcuckoolandersMinder, already guilty of getting TactfulTranslation and TranslationWithAnAgenda mixed up, sometimes ends up not paying much attention to something Lalli is saying when she should be.

* Done by Creator/StudioGainax: Instant pass on MindScrew, WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs, and just about any other form of absurdity you can imagine.
* Also applies to Creator/StudioShaft, especially in terms of just plain ''strange'' choices when it comes to art direction and [[CouchGag background]] [[FunnyBackgroundEvent gags]].

* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': Catarina's mother is about the only person who tries to rein in Catarina's eccentricities, with little to no success; her suitors just watch her drift off into Council of Catarinas meetings inside her head, ramble about doom flags, dragoon them into harvesting her crops or otherwise be a total CloudCuckoolander without more than a wry comment or gentle smile. Presumably most of them are used to it after knowing her for eight years, and Maria is such a NiceGirl that it would honestly feel out-of-character for her ''not'' to just roll with it.

* The Internet and the users who dwell online. It's a place where a man in his forties and a teenager can become FireForgedFriends or [[ArchEnemy Arch-Enemies]] after a passionate comparison and discussion of whether an [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic adorkable bookworm winged unicorn princess]] or a [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog chili-dog eating hedgehog faster than the speed of sound]] would be best suited to [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty infiltrate the Big Shell and save the hostages]], while {{Troll}}s suggest sending either [[TheScrappy Flash Sentry or Big the Cat]], someone else asks [[CrossoverShip "can't we ship them instead"]], and others still argue that it's a stupid discussion because either of those two [[ComicallyMissingThePoint would be better suited]] for [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity The Luxembourg Palace assassination]] instead, yet it's the guy who ''calls them out for their weirdness'' who will be singled out as the strange one and spammed with pictures of [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory Willy Wonka]] insisting [[MemeticMutation he must be new there]].

->'''Jamie:''' Did you get any looks driving a truck full of pig corpses around?\\
'''Adam:''' A few people did slow down and stare; then they looked in the cabin, and went "Oh. It's just ''Series/MythBusters''."

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': In a crew deliberately built with BunnyEarsLawyer in mind, Lalli accumulates mage powers that let him see things InvisibleToNormals, an AmbiguousDisorder, NoSocialSkills, a solitary nature and a very lackluster education, which results in a pass to act even more strangely than everyone else. The downside to this is tha Lalli's cousin and CloudcuckoolandersMinder, already guilty of getting TactfulTranslation and TranslationWithAnAgenda mixed up, sometimes ends up not paying much attention to something Lalli is saying when she should be.

* The ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series has a HoYay coupon that its fanbase either completely embraces and revels in or at the ''very'' least complacently tolerates. Similarly the plots, which usually start out somewhat grounded and straight-faced (rescue the hostages of terrorists from an offshore oil-cleaning facility) and gradually turn ''completely bonkers'' (sword fight the former President who's also your adopted dad who's also your former superior from when you were a ChildSoldier who's also a clone of your mentor on the roof of Federal Hall, which he's just crashed a giant mech into, at the behest of the AI conspiracy controlling America that's been impersonating both your girlfriend and your commander for an unspecified amount of time).

* Similar to the ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' above, Helga Pataki of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' fame gets away with some pretty risque stuff for what's nominally a kid's show, but depicting tortured adolescent female sexuality just doesn't have the same impact coming from a hilarious cartoon character who kind of looks like a billy goat.

Contrast HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster RefugeInAudacity is a closely related trope that involves someone behaving so far outside of accepted norms that everyone else is too stunned to stop them, but this trope tends to be recurring with a character to the point that everyone is just used to it while RefugeInAudacity is usually a one-time action. See also UnusuallyUninterestingSight, a potential reaction (or lack thereof) to the shenanigans of the Weirdness Coupon holder. Coupon not valid for those acting WeirderThanUsual. See also ItsForABook.

** Pinkie Pie. In a show where weather-controlling pegasi and magical unicorns are the norm, she regularly does things [[UpToEleven even more outrageous]] [[RuleOfFunny as long as it's funny]]. Examples include popping out of locations [[BehindAStick she could not possibly fit inside of]], [[OffscreenTeleportation arriving at a destination ahead of characters flying at MACH 3]], and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall fighting the show's closing iris to complain to the audience.]]

* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', the MadOracle Malkavian player characters can get away with behaviour (using potentially insulting nicknames, suggesting you might know about things worth killing to keep hidden) which... granted, you're already being sent to get killed, but this ought to be hastening the process considerably.
* Like the Creator/{{CLAMP}} example above, the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series has a HoYay coupon that its fanbase either completely embraces and revels in or at the ''very'' least complacently tolerates. Similarly the plots, which usually start out somewhat grounded and straight-faced (rescue the hostages of terrorists from an offshore oil-cleaning facility) and gradually turn ''completely bonkers'' (sword fight the former President who's also your adopted dad who's also your former superior from when you were a ChildSoldier who's also a clone of your mentor on the roof of Federal Hall, which he's just crashed a giant mech into, at the behest of the AI conspiracy controlling America that's been impersonating both your girlfriend and your commander for an unspecified amount of time).

* The other leaders cut Cyrus in ''Civilization 6'' some slack when he declares surprise wars. After all, it's Cyrus. It's what he does.

Contrast HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster RefugeInAudacity is a closely related trope that involves someone behaving so far outside of accepted norms that everyone else is too stunned to stop them, but this trope tends to be recurring with a character to the point that everyone is just used to it while RefugeInAudacity is usually a one-time action. See also UnusuallyUninterestingSight, a potential reaction (or lack thereof) to the shenaningans of the Weirdness Coupon holder. Coupon not valid for those acting WeirderThanUsual. See also ItsForABook.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s persona as a white outsider, a ShockJock and [[PissTakeRap the class clown of rap]] lets him [[ActuallyPrettyFunny get away with things that no other rapper would get away with]]. He's used this for noble goals like accusing MTV out on racism for celebrating him far more than black rappers (while [[VisualPun eating crackers while staring the camera dead in the eye]]), to go against the company line (in the documentary ''The Defiant Ones'', he's the only person willing to call out "the Beats thing" as bullshit) and to get away with things that would get other rappers murdered (such as accusing Music/PDiddy of having killed Music/TupacShakur). He starts his verse on "Bitch Please II" by ripping off Music/SnoopDogg's lyrics and flow, with Snoop's response just being to metaphorically shake his head and say, "he's so crazy". Many of the female celebrities he's savaged in his songs were delighted by the shoutouts.

* Like the Creator/{{CLAMP}} example above, the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series has a HoYay coupon that its fanbase either completely embraces and revels in or at the ''very'' least complacently tolerates. Similarly the plots, which usually start out somewhat grounded and straight-faced (rescue the hostages of terrorists from an offshore oil-cleaning facility) and gradually turn ''completely bonkers'' (sword fight the former President who's also your adopted dad on the roof of Federal Hall at the behest of the AI conspiracy controlling America, who've been impersonating both your girlfriend and your commander for an unspecified amount of time).

** Pinkie Pie. In a show where weather-controlling pegasi and magical unicorns are the norm, she regularly does things [[UpToEleven even more outrageous]] [[RuleOfFunny as long as it's funny]]. Examples include popping out of locations [[BehindAStick she could not possibly fit inside of]], [[OffscreenTeleportation arriving at a destination ahead of characters flying at MACH 3]], and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall fighting the show's closing iris to argue with the audience.]]

Contrast HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster. RefugeInAudacity is a closely related trope that involves someone behaving so far outside of accepted norms that everyone else is too stunned to stop them, but this trope tends to be recurring with a character to the point that everyone is just used to it while RefugeInAudacity is usually a one-time action. See also UnusuallyUninterestingSight, a potential reaction (or lack thereof) to the shenaningans of the Weirdness Coupon holder. Coupon not valid for those acting WeirderThanUsual.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s persona as a white outsider, a ShockJock and [[PissTakeRap the class clown of rap]] lets him [[ActuallyPrettyFunny get away with things that no other rapper would get away with]]. He's used this for noble goals like accusing MTV out on racism for celebrating him far more than black rappers (while [[VisualPun eating crackers while staring the camera dead in the eye]]), to go against the company line (in the documentary ''The Defiant Ones'', he's the only person willing to call out "the Beats thing" as bullshit) and to get away with things that would get other rappers murdered (such as accusing Music/PDiddy of having killed Music/TupacShakur). He starts his verse on "Bitch Please II" by ripping off Music/SnoopDogg's lyrics and flow, with Snoop's response just being to metaphorically shake his head and say, "he's so crazy".

* The phenomenon has even earned itself a proverb/rhyme in the [[UsefulNotes/GermanHumour Germanosphere]]:
-->Ist der Ruf erstmal ruiniert, lebt sich's völlig ungeniert.[[note]]Once your reputation is ruined, you can live your life freely.[[/note]]

* Like the Creator/{{CLAMP}} example above, the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series has a HoYay coupon that its fanbase either completely embraces and revels in or at the ''very'' least complacently tolerates. Similarly the plots, which usually start out somewhat grounded and straight-faced (rescue hostages from an offshore oil-cleaning facility) and gradually turn ''completely bonkers'' (sword fight your adopted dad and the former President on the roof of Federal Hall at the behest of the AI conspiracy controlling America).

* On a meta level, this is a frequent aspect of games involving players of ChaoticStupid characters, particularly TheLoony. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools If it fits the tone of the game]], the rest of the table may be happy to grant such [=PCs=] Weirdness Coupons, but if not it can cause tension if the GM permits "wacky" characters to get away with stuff others would [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome suffer consequences for]].

* On a meta level, this is a frequent aspect of games involving players of ChaoticStupid characters, particularly TheLoony. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools If it fits the tone of the game]], the rest of the table may be happy to grant such [=PCs=] Weirdness Coupons, but if not it can cause tension if the GM permits "wacky" characters to get away with stuff others would [[RealityEnsues suffer consequences for]].

* Like the Creator/{{CLAMP}} example above, the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series has a HoYay coupon that its fanbase either completely embraces and revels in or at the ''very'' least complacently tolerates.