This is a wick check for The Bartender.
- Why?: The Bartender, judging from the laconic, is likely supposed to mean 'Bartender gives life advice', but often gets misused to refer to bartenders existing.
- Wicks checked: 50/50
- Final verdict: Almost all of the wicks are describing that a character is a bartender, which isn't a trope on its own. It also has a lot of Zero Context Examples, and the single correct wick indicated that 'Bartender gives life advice' might be Too Rare to Trope'.
- Solutions
- Nuke trope and yard tropable concepts.
- Rename trope to something like Life Advice Giving Bartender and redefine it to be specifically about life advice giving bartenders.
Bartender gives life advice (Correct) (1/50)
- Boldores And Boomsticks: The Bartender: Oranguru moonlights as one, advising Blake in her issues with Adam. This is correct, if a bit ZCE-y, as it states that the bartender gives life advice.
Bartenders exist (32/50)
- Characters.Nijisanji Seeds: The Bartender: Owns a bar as part of his character setting. It states that he owns a bar, but says nothing about life advice.
- Characters.Overlord: The Bartender: Though he's also the mayor now, he much prefers his bartending job. There will always be beer ready for your minions whenever you drop into the town. Same as above.
- Characters.Arthur King Of Time And Space: The Bartender: He's a saloon keeper in the western arc. Same as above, also barely has any context.
- Characters.Lackadaisy: The Bartender: He tends bar at the speakeasy. No context about life advice, only about him being a bartender.
- The King of Fighters: Bar Brawl: The Women Fighters Team's ending in XIII is a particularly catty example. At the Pao Pao Café, King, Mai, and Yuri, all smashed from their victory celebration, start bickering with each other over who's the best fighter on the team, which in turn strikes a nerve with B. Jenet, Kasumi, Malin, and Xiangfei. This leads to a free-for-all overlooked by an amused Vanessa (who muses to herself that "it's nice to be young"), the worried pair of Hotaru and Hinako, and an utterly distraught Richard. This is only a pothole describing Richard being a bartender.
- Recap.Criminal Case Mysteries Of The Past Case 41 Talk Of The Town: The Bartender: Bert Tucker, the bartender from the Grand Concordia Hotel bar, appears as a suspect. Same as all the above.
- Double Decker: The Bartender: Derick Ross resigned as member of Seven-O to become a bartender. Has no context other than 'Character is a bartender'.
- Carry On Cruising: The Bartender: Sam Turner is the barman, who turns out to be a replacement as well. Again, only about bartenders existing.
- Characters.Anton: The Bartender: He mans the bar in addition to running the casino, putting up with Anton's and Annie's wisecracks all the while. Still complete chairs
- Characters.Drawga Other Non Player Characters: The Bartender: Serves this role here, running the Hungry Goat bar. Another instance of 'Bartenders Exist' being used.
- Characters.John Wick The Continental Hotels: The Bartender: Addy tends bar for Winston. Again, chairs
- Characters.One Piece 2023: The Bartender: Makino has been serving brews to the locals and seafarers ever since Luffy was a tyke. No life advice. Just chairs.
- MundaneMadeAwesome.Webcomics: The Slice of Life webcomic Nectar of the Gods has these kinds of moments throughout the entire comic
, considering it's just a comic about bartenders and mixing drinks. The writer uses a bunch of plots, some evil corporation, rivalries and drama that might make the comic slightly stray from its Slice of Life setting just enough to make it interesting. These bartenders are just mixing drinks, no life advice mentioned. - MassEffect2.Tropes A To F: A few of them. One is a turian in the Dark Star on the Citadel, not really that memorable except for the fact that he subverts the whole "collector of gossip" trope, and that he provides Shepard with a Gargle Blaster. Another is a batarian in Afterlife on Omega who tries to kill you. But the best is Matriach Aethyta, found in Eternity on Illium, who provides a memorable The Reason We Suck Speech against her entire species. And she's remembered for other things as well. "The Reason You Suck" Speech is quite the opposite of life advice.
- MsFanservice.Video Games: Tifa is one of the most iconic Ms Fanservices in all video games, a bartender who wears a very tight, sleeveless white shirt that exposes her midriff and places a lot of emphasis on her famous bust. She also wears a tight black miniskirt that shows off a killer pair of legs. Finally, her victory pose is full Male Gaze, with Tifa stretched her arms over her head and then behind her back, putting her chest out. Dissidia Final Fantasy goes the extra step of giving her Jiggle Physics during the animation, and allows a Panty Shot from certain camera angles. The remake of VII tones her breast size down to something more reasonable, but they're still very large and the rest of her design is virtually unchanged, but for covering up her legs in leggings for Zettai Ryouiki. However the dress remake Tifa wears at Don Corneos’s is definitely Ms Fanservice material with ample cleavage and Sideboob. No mention of life advice.
- The Red Strings Club: The Bartender: You play most of the game as Donovan, mixing cocktails and extracting information from your patrons. Still no life advice.
- SunDog: Frozen Legacy: Not fleshed-out as individuals, but bartenders are how the player accesses the Black Market, in addition to selling food and drink. This is still about bartenders existing.
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: The Bartender: Several of them. In a shining display of creativity, the bartender at the 100 Rads Bar (the bar in Rostok, the main Stalker settlement in the Zone) is called 'Barkeep'. These bartenders don't give life advice either.
- Paradise Killer: The Bartender: Sam Day Break is one of these, and he's very good at his job. His hang outs involve him waxing slightly poetic about ideal ways to mix drinks and how to treat his customers. He even kept Lady Love Dies' usual glass and has been transporting it between islands, and he eventually returns it to her if she hangs out with him enough. Once again, chairs.
- Characters.Meme House Other Characters: The Bartender: Works at Oasis Springs' local bar. He's not very good at his job, though. No life advice. And still chairs-y.
- I Shot Jesse James: The Bartender: There’s one in the hotel in Creede, and it’s he who gives Kelley his Town Marshal badge. Another Chairs example.
- The Dark Queen: The Bartender: Izumo is the owner of the bar that serves as the base for HOMRA. Once again. This example lacks life advice.
- LastStand.Western Animation: In The Simpsons couch gag where the couches come to life and start killing people, Moe downs an entire bottle of (presumably) quality liquor before taking his shotgun and firing at all of the bar stools and booths that had come to life. It cuts to the next scene before showing what happened in the end. Still only about him being a bartender.
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin: The Bartender: The series establishes that Clamp, the main lieutenant under Ramba Ral, was the bartender at Hamon's club before the war. When Ral needs to show a group of drunk soldiers the business, Clamp wraps his hands for the upcoming fight and reassures him that he'll clean up the mess that will probably be made. Only about a bartender. No life advice.
- Quotes.Cleanup Crew: ->"Who else cleans up the dead like they never died?"
- ALZI Production Batgirl: Overworked Sleep: A criminal, while drinking a can of Coca-Cola in a bar, bemoans about getting tired at his job. The Bartender upon hearing this offers the man Vodka. '''Another 'Bartenders exist' example.
- Recap.Babylon Five S 02 E 10 GROPOS: Bar Brawl: A massive one in the Casino just before the Marines are told they are going to war. Includes almost every trope mentioned on that page's description, plus The Bartender beaning a belligerent drunk with a bottle. This is still only about a bartender.
- Recap.Community S 6 E 04 Queer Studies And Advanced Waxing: The Bartender: This episode is the first time Britta is shown in her bartending job. Barely any context. Also only about bartenders existing.
- Recap.Cheers S 3 E 3 I Call Your Name: Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) comes into Cheers and, because Sam is The Bartender, asks for advice. Frasier claims that a client he calls "Thor" told Frasier that Thor's girlfriend, "Electra", called out the name of an old boyfriend during sex. Sam is not fooled, of course. While he gives Frasier some genuinely good-intentioned advice, he mercilessly teases Diane, until she finally makes him admit what he knows. When Frasier shows up at the bar again, Diane lowers the boom on the both of them. No life advice. Only a bartender.
- Recap.Criminal Case Mysteries Of The Past Case 41 Talk Of The Town: The Bartender: Bert Tucker, the bartender from the Grand Concordia Hotel bar, appears as a suspect. One of the suspects is a bartender. But that is not a trope.
- The Simpsons - Nuclear Power Plant, Shopkeepers: The Bartender: It's his job. We all know Moe's a bartender. But that alone is not a trope.
- Tenrou Sirius the Jaeger: The Bartender: Willard has a friend named Akimoto who works in a bar at Japan. He is also the agent of the V Shipping Company which the Jaegers currently collaborate with. Once again. Only about bartenders existing.
Other misuse (3/50)
- Hard Boiled: The Bartender: John Woo plays one who gives Tequila advice. He mentions at one point that he also was a cop. This is advice, but doesn't state anything about life advice.
- Skyrim.Tropes 0 To C: The Bartender: Each tavern and inn has a non-generic NPC filling this role. Beside selling food and drinks, they can be asked for rumors (sometimes related to local quests) and work (official bounty hunting quest). This is rumors, not life advice.
- Don't Bother to Knock: The Bartender: Joe, the bartender at the club, is a sympathetic ear for Lyn’s troubles. He also gives Jed some friendly advice. The troubles and advice are unrelated here.
ZCE and Unclear use (12/50)
- Callahan's Crosstime Saloon: The Bartender: Mike Callahan, and then Jake Stonebender. Tom Hauptman sometimes fills in when they need a break. Doesn't even mention the characters owning a bar.
- Deadwood: The Bartender: Swearengen, unless he's busy killin' hooples. Dan and Johnny when Al is busy with more important things. This example doesn't give context about him owning a bar, yet alone giving life advice.
- Shadowhunters: All the legends are true.note This doesn't give any context about life advice or bars, though it makes sense, as it's from an image caption explaining what the characters are. Even so, this is still concerning.
- Awesome.Shadowpact: Eddie Deacon puts a stop to Zauriel and Blue Devil's fight by telekinetically squeezing their wind pipes. Just a zero-context pothole explaining that he's a bartender. Nothing else.
- Characters.Promise Of Wizard: The Bartender: For his own bar. Still, another ZCE describing the fact that he's a bartender, nothing else.
- Characters.Earth Twenty Seven Hunters: The Bartender: Her job at the Roundhouse. Again. ZCE.
- Characters.Truberbrook: The Bartender Not even a description.
- Characters.Survivor Marquesas: The Bartender: His job at the time. This also lacks context
- Reality-On-The-Norm: The Bartender: George Watstatt and his occasional replacement, Dave Nihilist. Another ZCE.
- Total Xtreme Island: The Bartender: His job on Loser Isle. Complete lack of context.
- Quotes.Becoming The Mask: *Kira* Miki: Hey Jill, have you ever lost your identity?
Jill: I've lost my ID card a couple of times, yeah.
*Kira* Miki: No, I mean... your identity. Forgotten who you are.
Jill: (What's with the change in expression!?) N-No, not really...
*Kira* Miki: I did.
Jill: Eh?
*Kira* Miki: *Kira* Miki is just an artist name. At first, it was hard for me to play the part, you know? But I gained so much satisfaction from the concerts that I decided to invest myself. ...And I overdid it.
Jill: How so?
*Kira* Miki: I became so invested in the character that I forgot who I was. Who was I before I became *Kira* Miki? What did I like? Where does *Kira* Miki end and I begin? I ... just don't know anymore.
- Quotes.Disproportionate Retribution: ->Brotherhood bar patron: note Hey, Barry, turn this shit off!
Player Character: I was watching that!
Brotherhood bar patron: I guess you're not anymore, are ya, bitch!
Player Character: [grabs a bottle and hits him with it, breaking it] Could you turn the TV back on?
Non-tropes (1/50)
- Pantheon.Gameplay: The Bartender, Can change your deck's performance, Non-Action Guy, Secret Shop, Nice Guy This is from a pantheon page, and thus doesn't really describe the trope.
Miscellaneous examples (1/50)
- Hear the Wind Sing: The Bartender: J, who runs the aptly-named J's Bar and tries to steer the kids in the right direction. I can't figure out what the example means by 'Steer the kids in the right direction', so I'm putting it here.
