Dr. Jerk

Kerry: Did you even take the Hippocratic Oath?

Romano: I had my fingers crossed.
—ER

He's a very skilled doctor, so dedicated to his job he doesn't seem to have any other kind of life; but he appears to have little to no compassion, is often narcissistic, a maverick, rebuffs any friendly gesture, and speaks only in snide put-downs or irritable complaints about how stupid human beings generally are. He's an amusing subversion of the image of doctors as saintly humanitarians—but of course, he's so prevalent now that he's become a trope of his own. He is almost Always Male.

His attitude is often explained by the notion that, in order to become such a good physician, he's had to make a habit of treating people as machines and "never letting his feelings get in the way". In his worldview, it would be unthinkable to cut another human being open and tinker with their insides, so he forces himself to view others as if they are not people. (Despite this he still admits It Never Gets Any Easier; he just suppresses it.) In many ways, he's often the ultimate Jerk with a Heart of Gold, since he often demonstrates that he really does care about people deep down by doing whatever it takes to save their lives.

This character's attitude towards patient care can go two different ways: Either he will do anything within his power to heal the sick, or else he's in hospital administration and would shovel the patients into a furnace if it saved money. Either way, he's abnormally prone to Pet the Dog moments, so watch out. See also Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate and Mad Doctor, when you have to question who in their right mind would give this person a license in the first place.

Examples of Dr. Jerk include:

Anime & Manga

  • In One Piece, Dr. Kureha, a tough, sarcastic old lady, is the only doctor on a small island where the inhabitants all call her a witch for her strange, violent, and greedy behavior. She won't just ask for a set amount of bills, but 50% of your income for the month. If you tip her, she may lower it to 49%. She's also willing to injure patients who don't follow her orders.
    • Dr. Hogback is a much better, being probably the best surgeon in the world and an actual villain. Even with the love of his life, he only cares about her body and thus patches her corpse up and lets her be revived with another person's soul.
  • Dr. Black Jack is probably one of the first; generally more of the Dr. Jerk with a Heart of Gold variety.
    • Probably the original trope namer, considering he purposely plays himself as a devil, but gets repeated Pet the Dog moments, including how much he beats himself up for his mistakes. (He treats his patients like crap, and manipulates them, but angsts over every single death.) Plus, the Diabolus Ex Machinas that follow him...
  • Dr. Black Jack is parodied with Dr. Iwata in Excel Saga (complete with an x-shaped scar on his face, given to him by his cousin who he loves to exact horrible revenge on every opportunity he gets). Though he doesn't show up enough in the anime for his jerkassery to really shine through, in the manga he's a money-grubbing, skirt-chasing, selfish bastard. At one point, he's shown prescribing medication to people because the pharmaceutical company that makes it pays him for each patient he gets to take it, regardless of whether or not it will actually help them. Fortunately, he's usually accompanied by his nurse, who uses violence on him frequently to keep him in line. The sad part: he does actually show signs of competence—he just doesn't care.
  • Bleach has an interesting variety of medical personnel characters, but Ishida Ryuuken hits both the Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Obstructive Bureaucrat sides of this trope. An early scene in the manga suggests he does the right thing for his patients, but when it comes to the afterlife, he won't lift a finger without a damn good reason and proper compensation. Confirmed later in the series when his son ends up in hospital. His Jerkass nature seems reserved for his son and (to a lesser extent) Isshin. To other people, he's actually gentler. He even treats Ichigo and Orihime kindly, including offering to give Orihime a lift home because he knows her life is in danger.
  • Dr. Knox from Fullmetal Alchemist. He's quite a good man, though a bit grumpy.
  • Tenma's boss in Monster is the heartless administrator variety, until he gets killed. Tenma himself inverts this trope, as he's one of the nicest people imaginable.
  • Dr. Shamal from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Only towards men, though. And unfortunately for him (and them), 99% of the cast is comprised of Bishonen.
  • Fruits Basket has Hatori, who's more of The Woobie, but he's still grumpy.
  • Caren Ortensia from Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, an elementary school nurse who has the tendency to consider patient's injuries 'boring' and ask they get hurt much more badly next time they come to see her. To add insult to non-injury, the often tells visitors to get lost because "healthy people make her sick."


Comics

  • Dr Allison Mann in Y: The Last Man spends much of her time either belittling Yorick or threatening his pet monkey with dire fates. When they finally part ways Yorick's last request is to see her smile for the first time in four years ? Mann's response is to break down in tears of frustration instead. She angrily denies that love is anything but a biological reaction, but is clearly desperate for love herself eventually finding it with Australian spy Rose Copen.
  • Dr Large McHuge from Empowered, who the title character describes as '"Dr. House the size of a house", has a total lack of bedside manners and is quite adamant that Emp gets her normal friend out of the suprahuman-specific wing ASAP so he can deal with more important cases.
  • Dr. Stephen Strange was one before the car accident that crippled his hands. He was so hated that the only jobs he was offered were of the Kicked Upstairs variety, which he had too much pride to take. After becoming Master of the Mystic Arts, he mellowed out and lost most of his Jerkass qualities.
  • Scarecrow, AKA Dr. Jonathan Crane of Batman fame. An accomplished psychiatrist and former college professor. Now a supervillain and part of Batman's Rogues Gallery.


Film -- Animated


Film -- Live Action

  • Dr. Lazarus in Outland (1981) is a rare female example.
  • As is fitting for Lifetime Movie of the Week, any male doctor to ever walk in on screen will go out of his way to be a jerk, especially when it isn't beneficial for anyone, not even himself.
  • Ken Jeong's Doctor Kuni in Knocked Up is a bit of a jerk, and the couple don't like him, but ultimately he's all there is when the big moment comes.


Literature

  • Ton Phanan of the X Wing Series is this, sort of, by the time we see him. He once wanted to do everything in his power as a doctor, but after an Emergency Transformation he found that his extensive cybernetics ate his future, so he dropped out of medicine and became a pilot hoping to get back at those who had hurt him. Assigned as squadron medic, he had no bedside manner and snarked a lot - once his commander told him to see himself after an injury, and Phanan said "Oh no, I'm far too lowly a person to see myself"—but he was a very sympathetic character, all told.
    • Especially in The Reveal of his tragic past. And his subsequent death, which includes pushing Face off Phanan's path.
  • Dr James "Mossy" Lawn of Discworld has elements of this, especially in his first appearance in Night Watch. His deep cynicism comes, paradoxically, from the fact he seems to be the only doctor in Ankh-Morpork who cares if his patients get better, since the fee gets covered either way. Living under the regime of Lord Winder doesn't help; he's had to treat people questioned by the Cable Street Particulars, and when Vimes takes a CSP officer to have a broken arm treated, Lawn offers instead to point out some sensitive places Vimes could kick him.
    • According to Lawn, the Discworld version of Hippocrates is most famous for the quote "Am I going to get paid for this?"
  • Professor Nemur from Flowers for Algernon.
  • O'Mara, the chief psychologist at Sector General, is bad-tempered, cutting, and sarcastic to pretty much everyone he meets...except people he thinks are in actual need of his services, with whom he is quiet and considerate. The Dr. Jerk behavior is therefore sort of reassuring to the rest of the hospital staff, because they know that when he drops it, they're in serious trouble.
  • Jayfeather, a ThunderClan medicine cat from Warrior Cats, who even at one point proclaims, "I'm a medicine cat. If you want sympathy, go to the nursery."


Live Action TV

  • Dr. Gregory House is the poster boy for this trope. Or maybe even the exaggerated version.
    • House also has an excellent female version of this with "Cut Throat Bitch" Amber, who didn't make the final cut on House's team...but who was so memorable and delightful a character that when she returned as Wilson's girlfriend, and then cried when she died, and then rejoiced again when she returned as House's hallucination.
  • Dr. Romano in ER. Even though he died after a chopper crashed against him, nobody even seemed to notice his absence until they were told so by the authorities. Dr. Corday was the only person who seemed to get along with him, and she was the only one who attended his memorial service.
    • It's almost as though they wanted him to become The Woobie though. The poor man had his arm cut off by a helicopter in an earlier episode, spent some time trying to rehabilitate said arm, only to seriously burn it and need to have it properly amputated. And then the bloody chopper killed him. Probably the same helicopter, too. And they spent a long time showing him being afraid of it and putting him in a safer position out of fear. Where it managed to Crash. Then, when he gave all of his wealth to the Hospital in his will, they used it to fund the one thing he would not have wanted it spent on.
    • Peter Benton was Cook County's resident jerk before Romano got there, but they spent years making the audience know he was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in Chicago Hope.
  • Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere.
    • Also Dr. Victor Ehrlich, at least in the early seasons of the show, which makes sense as he's Craig's protege. Both characters softened somewhat as the series went on.
  • Scrubs interestingly has both kinds: Dr. Cox is the un-sociable sarcastic Jerk with a Heart of Gold who really does care about his patients, whereas Dr. Kelso is the sadistic asshole administrator. The show extracts a great deal of humor and drama from playing the two off each other.
    • Though not really the case, Turk does receive this exact nickname from his interns (mostly because it rhymes).

J.D.: The girl one just called you Dr. Jerk!
Dr. Turk: That's nothing, you should hear their nickname for Dr. Mickhead.
J.D.: ...What?

  • Dr. Harris in Mercy.
  • Charles Emerson Winchester III in M*A*S*H uses snobbery rather than snarkiness, but appropriate Pet the Dog moments show he is a good example of the first variety.
    • Frank Burns is a rare example of an asshole doctor who is really incompetent, and has a fool's gold heart (he openly admits he was just in it for the money, and is one of the biggest bigots in the series).
      • He also openly admitted (during the series that is) that he was in it for the skin care. (to get rid of his pimples)
      • He was worse in the original book. Burns was at the last era in history where a practicing physician could get a license without going to medical school. In Frank's case, he served an apprenticeship under his father.
      • In the TV series, he once stated that he flunked out of two medical schools and took twice the normal time to become a doctor. He was also tricked into admitting that he paid $400 dollars (a large sum at the time) for the answers for a critical exam.
      • In the film, he is extremely religious in public, hypocritical about it (see Ms O'Houlihan), and falsely blames a man's death on a very timid orderly...the TV version just is a snarky less-than-man who is about as obnoxious as the 'heroes' of the movie.
    • In the spin-off AfterMASH, the characters of Mike D'Angelo (season 1) and Wally Wainwright (season 2) were jerkass hospital administrators.
    • On Trapper John, M.D., Dr. Stanley Riverside II fit the arrogant-but-dedicated mold.
  • This trope is a daytime soap staple: David Hayward on All My Children, Chris Ramsey on Port Charles, probably lots of them on General Hospital.
    • Dr. Patrick Drake, son of Rick Springfield's character is the current one on GH.
  • The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. His creator, Dr. Zimmerman, is the original Dr Jerk and based the Doctor's personality on his own. Exactly why the Doctor himself was a Dr Jerk varied between seasons. At first, he was annoyed that people didn't treat him enough like a hologram; that is, being intended as a temporary supplement to a living doctor suddenly pressed into full service, he often found himself annoyed at being left on with nothing to do. Later, as he starts to develop more as a member of the crew, that reverses, making him more irritable because he wasn't treated equally.
    • Not helped by his social skills being programmed by Reginald Barclay.
    • His total lack of bedside manner may well have been justified - in the circumstances an EMH is usually required, the patients have bigger things to worry about than a bit of brusqueness, such as keeping at least one of their lungs.
  • Before the Doctor, there was Dr. Pulaski on Star Trek: The Next Generation, a one season Suspiciously Similar Substitute / Replacement Scrappy for Dr. Crusher. It's apparent from her character that they were trying to make her an Expy of Dr. McCoy below, but failed to consider that the characters McCoy played off of (Spock and Kirk) had no real analogue in TNG. Thus, she's abrasive, argued with everyone including the captain, and was about as fun as heart surgery.
    • It's worst with Data. Spock could strike back at McCoy via his Deadpan Snarker expertise. Data, with all that knowledge but little understanding of emotion, really couldn't understand why (or sometimes even understand that) he was being picked on, so Pulaski came off as an adult picking on a child who couldn't fight back (in addition to being abrasive, arguing with everyone including Picard, and being about as fun as heart surgery.) As for the "heart of gold" half of the equation, that was something we were told of but never, ever saw.
      • She even didn't understand why Data was correcting her about the correct pronunciation of his name (it's "Day-ta", not "Dah-ta"), when any normal person would take offence at that. Then again, Picard never complains that everybody (including him) pronounces his last name in an English manner (i.e. pronouncing the "d").
  • And of course, Star Trek: The Original Series has Dr. "Bones" McCoy, whose cantankerous reminders of his actual occupation qualify for this trope.
    • He certainly qualifies in "Friday's Child," where he persuades an obstinate, haughty patient to let him ease her pain... by slapping her in the face.

Kirk: Never seen that in a medical book.
McCoy: It's in mine from now on.

    • And in "This Side of Paradise."

Sandoval: We don't need you, not as a doctor.
Bones: Oh no? Would you like to see just how fast I can put you in a hospital?

      • To be fair, Bones had been under the influence of audio Applied Phlebotinum—specifically intended to provoke irritability and/or hostility—as an antidote to the spores which had been inducing delirious torpor in everyone (even Spock). Nevertheless, McCoy's rejoinder is perfectly in character: and, also, Crowningly Perfect in just about every manner imaginable.
    • Bones is an interesting example of simultaneous fulfillment and aversion, because his role in the Star Trek Power Trio generally is to be humanistic and compassionate to a fault, the very opposite of your standard Dr. Jerk—his most abrasive moments often involve accusing Spock of being the unfeeling, coldly scientific Dr. Jerk figure. And when we actually do see him with patients and not simply examining dead red shirts or snarking with his friends, he's usually sympathetic and professional (in the "Friday's Child" instance, the patient struck him twice first, and she ends up warming to him enough to name her child after him).
  • Even Deep Space Nine had the early Julian Bashir, though he was less mean and more completely tactless, calling Bajor 'the frontier' and 'wilderness' right to the face of the Bajoran who would be second in command of the station and didn't like the Federation being there. This was the first time they met. He gets better though.
  • Enterprise's Phlox is almost an aversion to this, being warm and friendly, and generally pleasant. The almost is to make room for the time he sorta committed genocide.
    • Technically, Archer made the final decision. Phlox had the option of not telling him, but that would go against his duty.
    • A good example of how pleasant and friendly Phlox was? When one of his wives came aboard the Enterprise, she immediately started hitting on Trip. Being a Southern Gentleman, he went to Phlox to tell him the truth. Phlox immediately encouraged Trip to go for a roll in the hay with his own wife. Of course, all Denobulans are polygamous, so it's natural for him. Trip is raised differently, though (so much for embracing alien cultures).
  • Dr. Cottle from the 2004 Battlestar Galactica series; The man is a wisecracking sarcastic jerk who actually smokes on the job. His catankerous attitude seems to be mostly related to authority figures trying to tell him what to do, making him a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, as he feels obligated to heal the sick, period, human or Cylon, regardless of what Adama's steely blue eyes would seem to dictate. Of course, he gets that sort of slack because he's just so damn good, as he managed to save Commander Adama's life from a pretty brutal assassination attempt despite what most would consider fatal amounts of internal bleeding. Not to mention that with humanity reduced to under 50,000 people after the Cylon assault, he might well be one of the only doctors left alive.
    • Gaius Baltar could also count as this, the best example being his blunt attitude towards Sharon Valerii while testing to see if she's a Cylon sleeper agent. "So now we'll find out whether you're a human or an evil Cylon." He's also an egomaniacal jerk with the poetic sarcasm of Gregory House.

Cottle: I don't like what you're doing. It's unnatural and damned dangerous.
Baltar: Yes well given the patient's current condition, I'm not sure I can see the downside.

      • There's also Nurse Bedside Manner, who informs Chief that he can't give blood to his son because he's not the biological father, and gets irritated when Starbuck is talking to her unconscious husband because brain dead people can't hear. I've heard she was originally a field medic and doesn't like being cooped up in Galactica's sickbay.
  • Jack Shepherd from Lost has a terrible bed-side manner and often brutally honest with his patients about their chances, but otherwise is a miracle-worker. His father Christian, on the other hand, was a snarky, condescending drunk that got a patient killed.
    • In one instance, Jack actually tells a paralyzed woman that she has absolutely no chance of regaining the use of her limbs. Then he attempts surgery and cures her anyway. She later becomes his wife. Who leaves him, I think, because of his "heroism addiction".
  • Dr. Owen Harper in Torchwood, though he mainly works with the corpses of aliens, and of victims of the paranormal so he has few patients to distress. He appeared to be soften a little in series 2. "Fragments" showed that prior to his fiancée's death, he was originally much less jerkish and got into medicine to save people and make the world a better place.
  • Dr. Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin, a top Harley Street surgeon who, after developing a fear of blood, retrains as a local G.P and moves to Cornwall. He's a brilliant doctor, but he's also a sour, pompous and miserable git almost entirely lacking in charm and bedside manner.
  • Dr. Jerome on Ed was one of the nastiest examples. In a way, he's a lesser-known precursor of both Cox and House, with none of their redeeming qualities. His cruelty to Dr. Burton was as over-the-top as anything on that show, which made over-the-top a regular feature.
  • Heston Carter in Doctors is of the pompous and arrogant variety, though he got better.
  • Grey's Anatomy: Hahn, Yang, Karev, Stark...
  • Firefly: In "Ariel", Mal and Zoe met a Dr. Jerk while looking for the "payment" for Simon's Burglary-with-good-intentions. Of course under the circumstances he had reason to be jerky. He just didn't know it.
    • Simon himself starts out like this before he trusts Reynolds.
  • Sort of deconstructed on Golden Girls. One episode has Dorothy convinced there's something wrong with her. She goes to a doctor but he can't figure what's wrong with her specifically and brushes her off, writing her claims as "you're old and senile." After a visit to another doctor or two, it's revealed that she was right, something IS wrong and it's treatable[1]]. As they're out to dinner to celebrate she runs into the first doctor again, and tells him off about not having compassion for his patients. Thank goodness SOMEONE on television had the brains to realize "doctor jerks aren't helpful."
  • Dr. Harry Harper of Casualty.
  • Dr. Connie Beauchamp of Holby City is a rare female version.
  • Dr. John Becker of Becker.
    • He's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, as he has stated the reason why his practice is in the crowded Bronx, is so he could provide medical care for people who normally wouldn't have access to it. Of course, because of that, a few of his patients are idiots...
    • Personality-wise, Becker pretty much is House in a sitcom.
  • In the And Now for Something Completely Different JAG episode "Each of Us Angels", the Actor that normally plays Bud plays as this.
  • Even though he isn't a medical doctor, Dr. Rush from Stargate Universe has a rather... abrasive personality.
    • Same with Dr. McKay from Stargate Atlantis, albeit McKay is more incredibly arrogant and bad with people than a deliberate jerk. And again, not a medical doctor.
  • Doctor Franklin of Babylon 5 becomes more and more of a jerk as his personal story arc plays out over the first few seasons. Of course, he was also battling a stimulant addiction, and losing.
  • The first and sixth incarnations of the Doctor in Doctor Who.
  • Doc Cochran in Deadwood is an alcoholic, partially shell-shocked Frontier Doctor who is as abrasive as he is intelligent. His conduct so alienates Alma Garret that he must beg her to accept his help in spite of his "defects of character" when her life is at risk.
  • Professor Richard Craig of All Saints. Thanks to his world-class surgical skills, he is able to get away with habitually disregarding the opinions of the nurses in spite of their proven diagnostic abilities, criticising his protege Luke for being willing to listen to them, regularly antagonising patients when they decide against his (usually experimental) treatment suggestions, and in one case lying to a patient about his wife surviving their car accident. It's hardly surprising that Bron conceals the fact that he's her father, especially after he blackmails her into leaving the hospital in exchange for him saving the life of a friend. (To his credit, it's actually Bron that holds herself to this agreement, even though Bob died in surgery and Craig left at the same time.)
  • Community has Professor Ian Duncan, an amoral psychologist who has used sessions to hit on clients and is more interested in getting paper in respectable journals than the well being of his patients..
  • Dr. Simon Hill in Combat Hospital. He's really a Jerk with a Heart of Gold though.
  • Dr. Wu from the first season of Glee comes off as a this, though it's probably because his patience with Terri and Kendra (who are batshit crazy) is wearing thin.
  • Dr. Bykov in the Russian show Interny ("Interns") is an Expy of House and Cox. He's a complete jerk to his patients and interns, as well as his boss and best friend. He often punishes the interns for slightest offences or even for no reason at all (this usually involves being given impromptu night shifts, especially if they have plans). Like House, he has a strenuous (sometimes romantic) relationship with his female boss, who only tolerates his antics because he does the job well. Also, for a bit of irony, Bykov is played by a priest, who took time off from the church to do the show.
  • Northern Exposure's Joel can be this, especially at the beginning of the series, but can also be very caring.

Video Games

  • Victor Niguel, of the Trauma Center series. He's genuinely dedicated to his medical research (as his character description in the manual and his reactions during the Pempti operations show); but he also apparently hates everybody, and is the only one to curse in written or spoken dialogue. Consider his description of Paraskevi: "This one is fibrous... which basically means it's a pain in the ass". Conveniently, that's what the player will be probably thinking in the following seconds.
  • Dr. Turner Grey from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All. One of his nurses is accused of malpractice, and dies in an auto accident a few weeks later. Upset that business at his clinic is bad, he wants to commission a spirit medium to call her back from the dead, so she signs a note admitting the incident was her fault. Oddly, neither Phoenix nor anyone at the medium's village sees anything wrong with this.
  • The Medic class in Team Fortress 2. He may be the team healer, but a vast majority of his lines include a word meant to insult the addressee, be it in English or German. Not only that, but apparently the healing is an unintended side-effect of his own morbid curiosity and an eagerness to rip apart people's chests. To top it off, it's heavily implied that he got his medical degree in Nazi Germany, though Word of God has explicitly stated that "he is not, and has never been, a Nazi". He can be friendly to his teammates (unless he thinks they're being stupid like ignoring the mission objective), though he still uses them for experiments. He also, to no one's surprise, lost his medical license.
  • In Myst: The Book of Ti'ana, Jarl of the Guild of Healers actually tells Ti'ana that it would be better for Gehn, who is only half Ronay, to die.
  • Dr. Kaufmann in Silent Hill.
    • Actually, serving as a supplier for a drug dealing cult that sacrifices children to their dark goddess probably puts him far enough across the Moral Event Horizon for him to be quite a bit more evil than a typical Dr. Jerk.
      • The Dr. Kaufmann in "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" fits this trope much better. He's an abrasive, condescending, manipulative therapist who is nonetheless trying to help the patient.
  • The possibly prejudiced Dr. Borville in The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.
    • If it's about the injured Zora, it's far more likely that the Doctor refused to treat Ralis because he was a quack who didn't know anything about Zora physiology, not because he was prejudiced.
      • Quack? The dude was Hylian and he was mostly around humans and other Hylians. Not understanding the biology of a species he probably doesn't interact with often, much less treat on very many occasions (if at all), does not make him a quack.
    • He still doesn't really care about Ralis' condition. He also has a tendency to charge large sums for his services and was planning to sell an important statue he stole from Ilia, which was only so he could pay the huge bar tab that he hadn't bothered with until Telma started pressuring him.
      • He's the only doctor in town, so he seems to be getting away with bad bedside manner, unethical practices, and general quackery through supply-and-demand alone.
  • Anders of Dragon Age II is an excellent Spirit Healer mage who goes out of his way to provide free medical care for the poor of Kirkwall despite his own fugitive status. He's also snarky, self-righteous, and always ready to go on insulting tirades against anybody who does not completely agree with his sometimes radical opinions. What's interesting about Anders, though, is that, unlike a typical example, he is never a jerk to his patients, to the point that many of the residents of Darktown are willing to risk their lives for him. Everyone else, though...


Web Comics

  • Lucid TV is an entire series of this, played for laughs. Very dark, very evil laughs. Think Scrubs in the style of Perry Bible Fellowship.
  • The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Dr. McNinja is normally a very good doctor, though he does occasionally punch out his patients. He has made fun of a diabetic, and on other occasions ignored his patients while possessed.
    • In the story that recently finished, when heading out to do plot instead of treating the patients who had appointments, he tells his patients, "There's a man outside who was murdered because he was a patient of mine," naturally causing all of his patients to hastily leave. Also, he is known to get very irate at anyone who questions his more outlandish diagnoses (such as the mother who was incredulous about "Paul Bunyan's Disease." Incredulous right up until her son transformed into a giant lumberjack).
  • Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name features Doc Worth, a chain-smoking med-school dropout who operates out of an alley and enjoys tormenting and shouting at anyone who makes him angry. However, he is solidly in the Jerk with a Heart of Gold category, since he seems pretty laid back when he's not screaming in Conrad's face, genuinely cares for Hanna, and doesn't appear to charge him for his frequent visits.
    • The good Doc actually subverts this a bit, since Tessa likes to point out that he is in fact not a skilled doctor - he's probably a mediocre one at best. Or he would be, if he had ever finished med school and actually become a doctor.
  • Fetch Quest: Saga of the Twelve Artifacts: Dr. Lindsay Troy crosses this with Jerk with a Heart of Gold; she is perpetually ill-tempered and shockingly efficient, yet she knows just what the purpose of a doctor is.
  • Doctor Sun of Girl Genius is a Deadpan Snarker who is infamous for his "Sun-ny bedside manner". He's also perfectly willing and able to beat his own patients unconscious if that is what it takes to get them some bedrest.


Web Original

Western Animation

  • Dr. Hofschneider in The Oblongs.
  • Ratchet, in almost every incarnation of the Transformers franchise.
    • G1 Ratchet is portrayed, especially in fanon, as a talented doctor who was also grouchy, constantly threatening his patients with various punishments, although some lore described him as something of a party animal who's known for making the best high-grade around.
    • Micron Legend (Armada) Ratchet, known to Western fans as Red Alert, is The Spock and thus seemed to be emotionally detached from his patients in the first episodes.
    • Film Ratchet is basically the same as G1 Ratchet, once even threatening to weld Jazz's vocal unit shut. Oddly, he fits definition one for this trope despite starting out as a politician in the UK comic.
    • Animated Ratchet is a crotchety old man due to his Shell Shocked Senior status. He's also the resident medic.
    • Prime Ratchet also has the old and crotchety thing going on ("My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!"), in addition to being a snarky scientist type who gets extremely annoyed whenever any of his equipment is damaged. Unfortunately for him, that tends to happen a lot. He starts to mellow out, but it's a slow process.
  • Dr. Ball on the second Star Wars Robot Chicken special.
  • One episode in King of the Hill has Bill be diagnosed with diabetes by a very cruel and uncaring doctor. The doctor tells the nurse that he has a medical degree while she has a lesser degree, thus he is more intelligent and important than she is and the doctor just blatantly assumes that Bill, like many other patients before him, is someone that just doesn't listens to a doctor's orders and feels he is just wasting time treating Bill. To make Bill feel even worse, the doctor tells Bill that he will just lose his legs in a year so he may as well get a wheelchair while his health insurance is still good. Bill accepts this fate but after a few positive events, Bill not only cured himself of diabetes, he also goes to confront the doctor that treated him like crap and kicks his ass.


Real Life

  • As Cracked.com explained in Famous Scientists Dismissed as Morons in Their Time and Incredible Scientific Innovations Held Back by Petty Feuds, the prevalence of this trope in the 19th century was the reason why it took so long for hygienic practices to catch on in hospitals. As medicine was seen as a gentlemanly profession at the time, doctors in that era ridiculed and attacked scientists like Ignaz Semmelweis who merely suggested that they wash their hands after handling corpses in the morgue, as it seemed to imply that they were unclean enough to kill people just by touching them. Before Louis Pasteur's germ theory proved once and for all that such basic hygiene was the right course of action, it was more dangerous to give birth in a hospital than in the street due to how rampant disease was within hospitals.
  1. ↑ for the record, the diagnosis was Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
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