Basic Trope: A black character as a stereotypical comic relief.
- Straight: Jamal is a Cloud Cuckoolander and a Large Ham at that.
- Exaggerated: Jamal is Chaotic Stupid.
- Downplayed: Jamal is an otherwise serious character, who likes to crack some Crosses the Line Twice jokes from time to time to (try to) ease tense situations.
- Justified:
- Jamal likes to be the center of attention.
- Jamal is a Bunny-Ears Lawyer, Eccentric Mentor, or something along those lines.
- Jamal is an aspiring comedian, and he's always working on his material.
- Jamal is the Pollyanna who always tries to find ways to cheer people up.
- Inverted:
- Jamal is the Straight Man.
- Jamal is the Eeyore.
- Jamal is a Flawless Token who doesn't have any quirks or much of a stand-out personality at all.
- Bob, the White Male Lead, is the silly one, contrasted to his black friend Jamal, who is more serious and/or outwardly intelligent.
- Gender Inverted: Shaniqua is the silly one in the group.
- Subverted:
- Jamal knows when it's important to be serious and focused.
- Jamal is Obfuscating Stupidity, for one reason or another.
- Tom Jamal is the original Uncle Tom, not one of the countless parodies that named this trope.
- Jamal is not Black at all, but a racist White man in Blackface.
- Double Subverted:
- But he's better at being silly.
- Jamal is The Comically Serious.
- Jamal is a Black man wearing Blackface.
- Parodied: Jamal has an, also black, sidekick whose job is to stop him whenever he does it.
- Zig Zagged: Depending on the Writer, Jamal may or may not be a stereotype.
- Averted:
- No black characters in this work.
- Or the black characters are portrayed just as serious or comedic as the others.
- Jamal doesn't crack a single joke.
- Enforced: "We need a character that will be perceived as "cool" by our mainly-white target audience."
- Jamal is played by a famous Black comedian and the comedian decided to add some of his own humor to spice his role up a bit.
- Lampshaded: "UNCLE TOM WILL THINK YOU ARE FOOLISH!"
- Invoked: Jamal does it because he likes to make people laugh.
- Exploited: The heroes need to put on a comedy, everyone looks to Jamal, who has been serious the whole time. He plays the comic relief very well.
- Defied:
- Jamal is asked to do something funny. He glares.
- Jamal is introduced as Large Ham. He is almost immediately told to Stop Being Stereotypical, and knocks it off.
- Discussed: "Why did they have to play Jamal like a ripoff of a Chris Tucker character? How is this shit STILL okay?"
- Conversed: "Heard you turned down the role of Jamal in the adaptation of The Tropers." "Dude. Don't even get me started. The minute I started reading the script, I was actually, legitimately irate." "I had heard that it was not a good take on the character, but damn." "'Bad take' doesn't cut it, this was fucking coonery. They sold it to me as a deconstructive take on the character - he was supposed to look like a stereotypical buffoonish, 'urban' black comic relief character, but actually be a deep and multifaceted person beneath the clownish facade. I would say they lied to me, but I can't actually tell if it was deliberate or if they were so out of touch that they actually believed their own words. Now, I've played hood niggas before who actually were competent, intelligent, and deep characters, and he was none of these things. He was dumb as fuck, loud and obnoxious and never shut up, constantly got himself into trouble and made stupid choices that he needed to be bailed out of, and his big moment to shine was mostly just him fumbling his way through to an accidentally spectacular outcome. I wouldn't have even been surprised if they had him start tapdancing or wax poetic on his love for fried chicken, watermelon, and Koolaid, that's where it was at."
- Deconstructed: As with all stereotypes, it can create a serious amount of
Unfortunate Implications and backlash if done poorly.- Jamal has a Dark and Troubled Past and is a very depressed man. For him, making others laugh through being silly is the only thing that gives his own life any meaning.
- Jamal lives in an extremely racist environment and his goofy behavior is a defense mechanism to let the White people there know he isn't a Scary Black Man.
- Jamal's teammates get really annoyed with his antics and they decide to abandon him.
- Reconstructed: ...However, Jamal strikes a good balance between silly and serious, reacts believably to situations and people, and has a fair amount of Hidden Depths; so he's a well-rounded and likable character who most fans genuinely like.
A few people might react negatively to him, sure, but that's the inevitable baggage that comes due to people's inherent racism/bitterness, not an intended reaction engineered by the creators themselves, who just want to create a fun and charming character.- Jamal's friends help him through his depression. He still likes to crack a good joke or two, but he no longer feel he has to in order to give his life meaning.
- After leaving behind that environment, Jamal realizes he's Actually Pretty Funny, so he decides to repurpose his defense mechanism as a way to make himself some money as a comedian.
- Jamal and his teammates live in a Crapsack World and they are going up against an all powerful Evil Empire. Jamal tells jokes and acts silly, not to demean himself, but to make sure the morale of his teammates stays high with laughter. In addition, he knows when to be silly to lighten the mood and to be dead serious. Not to mention, he's a a total badass who is definitely a valuable asset to the team. His teammates appreciate him dearly for this.
- Played For Drama: Jamal has Hidden Depths, but no one is willing (or able) to look past his silliness and antics.
- Gender Inverted: Aunt Jemimalarkey: Shaniqua is a Sassy Black Woman used for comic relief.
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