Stephen Merchant

They said if I had an All The Tropes page I would die!

Stephen Merchant (born in Bristol, England, in 1974) is an actor, comedian, radio host, writer and director. He is best known for his work writing The Office and Extras with Ricky Gervais, and playing a recurring character in the latter. He also has had a pretty successful career in voice acting, including voicing Paris in Gnomeo and Juliet and Wheatley in Portal 2.

Merchant often works with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington.

Stephen Merchant provides examples of the following tropes:

• Adorkable: Glasses? Check. Shy? Check. Gangly? Check. Nerdy? Check. Desire to be more rock and roll but never quite being able to pull it off? Double check.
• Berserk Button: He's pretty sensitive about his height and doesn't like people making such a big deal out of it. Likewise, he can get pretty bitter if he's reminded of how unsuccessful his love life has been.
  • He also seems to hate being called an "invalid" as one episode of The Ricky Gervais Show indicates.
    • For those who aren't familiar with the insult, being called an "invalid" is like being called "worthless" or a "moron". Yes, he hates being called a "moron".
    • It's also a gentle way of saying disabled. Makes that moment even more awkward...
• Bow Ties Are Cool: He wore a bow tie to school when he was a kid, entirely of his own volition. His opinion of them now is up in the air.
• Catch Phrase: Man alive!
• Fat and Skinny: He is often seen with fellow comedian and friend Ricky Gervais.
• Game Show Appearance: Was on Blockbusters before he made it big. It was incorporated into a scene in The Office with a character who had been on Blockbusters.
• Gentle Giant: He's 6 feet 7 inches tall, and yet he's said to be quite shy.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Chances are, each time you hear Merchant speak, you're going to be thinking of Wheatley.
• Motor Mouth: If he wants to, he can really let the words fly.
• Nerds Are Sexy
• Unlucky Everydude: He has poor luck with getting dates.