2/26/2024 0 Comments Moral dom synonymMay be the subject of Speaking Up for Another. If the Butt-Monkey is fat, they may or may not be a Fat Comic Relief, which often are Butt-Monkeys. ![]() However, if someone in the cast other than The Hero is going to Take a Level in Badass, it's almost invariably the Butt-Monkey who does it. If a plan requires someone to be The Bait, if the other members of the team don't volunteer, they'll usually get volunteered to do it. When a plan needs to be executed and others won't touch it, chances are they'll get the dirty job. If someone is Giving the Sword to a Noob, nine times out of ten this person is the noob. If every conceivable misfortune happens to the Butt-Monkey, regardless of its logic or lack thereof, you've got yourself a Cosmic Plaything. More commonly male, but female examples are not unheard of. While the trope is often played for laughs and we are encouraged to find the misery at least somewhat amusing, some portrayals go for a much darker presentation, deconstructing the idea and showing what an emotional and psychological wreck such a person may very well be in Real Life. However, if the audience relishes the character's misfortune and looks forward to seeing them suffer, congratulations your Butt-Monkey has devolved into The Chew Toy. ![]() The joke can also be dragged too far in other ways - to make a character a Butt-Monkey of fate is one thing to have them constantly taking the punishment for the misdeeds of an unsympathetic cast is another. Furthermore, if the audience begins to resent the "unfair" treatment of the character, they can become the Designated Monkey. If the audience sympathizes with them, they become a Woobie. The Butt-Monkey is occasionally dangerous if they're pushed too far. This can be counteracted if you occasionally Throw the Dog a Bone, though many writers just can't resist Yanking The Dog's Chain. If carried too far, may result in Deus Angst Machina. The direct opposite of a Karma Houdini (although technically the definition applies to those who escape from karma regardless of whether it's good or bad). Sometimes it's all the writers can think of to do with the character. They don't have to deserve what they go through, but they're an easy target. With tertiary characters, it must be their sole purpose to exist. With primary and secondary characters, it must be a regular occurrence. Simply having a character go through hell once or twice (no matter how severely) is not enough to be the Butt-Monkey. Long story short, it sucks to be a Butt-Monkey. Nothing ever goes right for this character, and if something bad is going to happen to someone, chances are it's going to happen to them. For whatever reason, the Butt-Monkey seems to walk through life with a permanent "Kick Me" sign attached to their backs, invisible to them, but all too visible to the rest of the world. The character who is always the butt of the demeaning joke or the "put them through hell" plotline. Send us feedback about these examples.- Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer ![]() These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thrall.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Tori Otten, The New Republic, 27 July 2023 The Stanford study adds weight to the perception that Trump and candidates in his thrall will suffer for perpetuating their con and corroding our system of democracy, and that’s a good thing. 2023 Half of Republicans don’t actually think that Donald Trump had hidden classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, a poll released Thursday found, a troubling sign that the party is still deeply in his thrall. 2023 Netanyahu has refashioned Likud from a hawkish yet liberal party into a populist party wholly in his thrall. 2023 The company had moved on from Trello and was now in the thrall of something called. 2023 For her, suspending judgment is a creative act, inviting the novel’s last and most important thrall, in which imagination fills the gaps left by knowledge. Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023 Now even the mighty entertainment industry is in their thrall. Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, 20 Aug. Trump to consider throwing its lot in with a fresh face in 2024. 2023 And the issue offered a way to persuade a Republican electorate still very much in the thrall of Mr. Noun The letters show an artist in the thrall of French Surrealism, art-house cinema, and New Wave music.
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