Top 10 Characters in the Butt-Monkey Trope
A butt-monkey or punching bag is a characters who is always the subject of ridicule and abuse, taking some or most of the slapstick pain, sometimes for no reason, and often played for laughs. Meg Griffin and Squidward Tentacles are primary examples with my favorite being Rocko (who gets more than Squidward). Just because someone is a butt-monkey doesn't mean they are worthless or unlucky, they just get abused for ridiculous things or no reason. Some characters do have a rare chance of being in a episode without any unusual slapstick harm to them.Mainly applies to cartoons, comics and TV shows, so be free to add some more from cartoons, comics, movies, TV shows, and even video games (must be about the character, not how yours is defeated).
Squidward Tentacles is your average man. He's grumpy at work and has to deal with the two most annoying people in the world but is happy when he gets to enjoy his hobbies and talents: art and jazz.
He is the anti-hero of the series and usually exemplifies the "butt-monkey" trope, with some cartoon logic and slapstick humor mixed in for laughs, unlike the more realistic portrayal of Meg Griffin. Even though he deals with SpongeBob and Patrick, he does care about them and even saves their lives at times.
Meg Griffin is an important example of the Butt-Monkey trope, with these types of moments becoming running gags in Family Guy.
For instance, I remember one clip where Stewie got shot in the arm and landed on Meg's head, killing her, while the rest of the family focused on Stewie instead of Meg. How ridiculous is that?
People say she's bullied, "she's not hot" (like, what?), and there's that one episode where Meg got out of jail. At least she doesn't get all the pain in every episode, even in some episodes in a row.
I don't know. I don't watch Family Guy much, other than sometimes watching some clips for fun.
Charlie Brown tries to be confident but struggles to reach it. "Life is like a box of chocolates, y'know, you never know what you're gonna get" (just a pun for that).
Now, onto the butt-monkey moments. You remember them: Lucy wants Charlie Brown to kick the football, but whenever he tries, Lucy pulls it away, making him fall onto the ground, often among tree leaves.
In an unofficial revenge clip, Peter Griffin appears, beats up Lucy after she tricks Charlie Brown, and forces her to let him kick the ball. That was a crazy clip. Despite these things, Charlie Brown does experience happy moments, including the ending of A Charlie Brown Christmas. This means he has the fewest "punching bag" moments compared to the rest, but he's notable for the football moments.
Why does he get clumsy a lot, and why does he always get beat up, have black eyes, and torn clothes? Why did Chris Savino make it this way? I wish Chris Savino came back to the show. It makes no sense. There is no creator without him.
Tom Cat is a very notable example, but he is not usually listed as a main butt-monkey. A Tom and Jerry short is supposed to revolve around the cat and mouse fighting their way to justice, which means Tom is often in an unlucky or punching bag situation, usually letting Jerry win and Tom lose.
Sometimes it gets reversed, but they can both achieve justice, even with Spike in a few episodes. You've just got to find out. Tom and Jerry always get into cartoony violent situations every five seconds, and that's what it's supposed to be.
Based on the childhood of iconic comedian Chris Rock, the show is set from 1982 to 1987, even though Rock was a teenager from 1978 to 1983.
Why is he a "butt-monkey" example? Well, read the show's title yourself and you'll get the answer. Does it mean "Everyone Hates Chris"? No, he is caring towards his family and friends, and they care about him too.
However, Chris often goes down the wrong path and learns his lesson but refuses to give up on life. Sure, in Chris' life, many people can hate or disrespect him for no reason, but he still treats them with respect. There will be people you may not like or who are rude to you, but just follow the right path. It's okay to make mistakes in life because that's part of being human.
Kenny is a very good example of a "butt-monkey." He gets most of the pain out of all the characters. In every episode in the early seasons, he gets killed in the most violent ways you can imagine.
However, that doesn't happen as often as it did back then, but it still appears once or a few times per season today.
Greg Heffley is just an average middle school student trying to make his way through life, like everyone else, experiencing both successes and failures. He deals with Rodrick's antics, gets bad grades, faces sudden embarrassment, and even gets banned from Rowley's house for foolish behavior.
But sometimes, he gets lucky and achieves something. I don't know a lot about Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Compared to Leonard, Sheldon, and Raj, Howard does not have a doctoral degree, is short, and is often made fun of by Sheldon and everyone else. The best part is when his unseen Jewish mother yells at him from far away, not noticing that Howard is an adult, embarrassing him in front of his friends.
In one episode, his mother is concerned if his girlfriend is Jewish. I've been binge-watching The Big Bang Theory with my family, so I know a lot about it.
I remember Rocko's "butt-monkey" moments more than most characters because I've seen Rocko recently compared to SpongeBob, even though he's the main character.
Watch every episode and you can predict Rocko being beaten up like a punching bag, run over, or sent "up bombs away," among many other ways. Rocko is also known to be paranoid sometimes.
I think the only episode without any of these examples is "Rocko's Modern Christmas" or maybe that Thanksgiving episode I haven't seen. Rocko is my favorite out of everyone on the list, and I relate to his fondness for comic books.
Compared to Mordecai, Rigby is shorter, more immature, hyperactive, irresponsible, and more prone to bad habits. This is known for one of the show's running gags where Rigby gets punched by Mordecai (and punches him back in a few episodes).
He's sort of in the balance where he kind of deserves it but not quite.