Very Punchable Man
"I've always wanted to uppercut a punkass. And send him flying onto a table, preferably with a cake or a bowl of punch on it."—Dane Cook, who, in an ironic twist, can easily be characterized as one of these people
A Bit Character whose only purpose is to deserve a beating, and get it from the hero.
People love to be Badass, and people love badasses. But if you try to be a badass when there's no bad around, you're just an ass. You see?
But don't worry, someone will come along any minute now to pick a fight with you, mug you, threaten you, or something like that. It doesn't matter how long you stay manfully stoic in the face of their crap, they'll keep at it until whatever you want to do to them looks completely justified.
Hey, someone's getting beaten up! Why? Because! Clearly, that poor guy isn't as badass as the hero. Have at them!
This is very common in the superhero narrative, where heroes do tend to witness terrible crimes even when they're just wandering around. It can also be used in a casual, less idealistic way, when a guy in a bar is obnoxious, and your Badass can wipe them out (see the quote above). If you need people to bond over a rescue, a bad guy can provide a handy bit of danger.
A common variation is to have a woman get sexually harassed, and kick the guy in the crotch, to show that she's tough and empowered.
It can even be used with a villain, if you think they're a bit too calm and collected to Kick the Dog for no reason.
See also Mugging the Monster, Batman Cold Open and Bit Part Badguys.
Anime
- Nearly every arc in Fist of the North Star has at least one person play this role. Usually the first guy who starts harassing Kenshiro.
Comic Books
- Many years ago, The Vision was walking through Central Park one night, lost in thought. He was wearing a trench coat and hat over his costume, so as to not attract attention. A pair of muggers tried to mug him. As the narration put it, "They made the mistake of getting his attention".
- In the graphic novel Watchmen, Rorschach deals with these kinds of characters by breaking their fingers, or in at least one case, throwing them down an elevator shaft. Though he'll just resort to breaking random criminal's fingers if no one punchable is around.
Film
- In Star Wars Episode 4, a guy in Mos Eisley threatens Luke and gets his arm cut off by Obi-Wan.
- Robot Chicken posits that he was actually just a very nice guy who didn't speak the common galactic language, while his friend was just drunk and being pushy and deluded.
- Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio Playing Against Type as a misogynistic wife-beater) appears very briefly at the beginning of Men in Black just to become an alien bug's new outerwear.
- In Men in Black II, a mugger appears in front of the villain the instant she lands on Earth, getting killed messily as a result.
- In Star Trek, Kirk gets a random bar fight with some Starfleet recruits before he joins. They turn up later as part of the Enterprise's crew and get revenge.
Literature
- Twilight has Edward swoop in to save Bella from an attempted rape, among other things.
- It wasn't an attempted rape, they just wanted to know where Bella was going, that's all.
- In the Red Dwarf book Backwards, Ace became one just long enough to give a failing pilot some self-confidence (by letting himself get beat up).
- Jack Woodley in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Solitary Cyclist," who has the bad judgement to pick a bar fight with a Badass Bookworm.
"He ended a string of abuse by a vicious back-hander which I failed to entirely avoid. The next few minutes were delicious. It was a straight left against a slogging ruffian. I emerged as you see me. Mr. Woodley went home in a cart. So ended my country trip, and it must be confessed that, however enjoyable, my day on the Surrey border has not been much more profitable than your own."
Live Action TV
- In The Wire, Omar observed "Bird sure do know how to bring it out of people, don't he?"
- A sketch on The Kids in The Hall featured a literal Very Punchable Man who was getting divorced from his wife because she abused him. Her defense was that she's not a violent person by nature and he must emit something like a pheromone that makes people want to hit him.
Video Game
- Khalisah Al-Jilani in Mass Effect makes a lot of false accusations against you that you can respond by punching her in the face. The Shadow Broker videos showcases Shepard isn't the only one to have this reaction to her.
Western Animation
- In The Venture Brothers, Doctor Orpheus meets two annoying rednecks in a diner, and imprisons their souls in a pair of Homies figurines.
- And you know someone's a Very Punchable Man when someone as nice as Dr. Orpheus has to punch them.
- Brainy in Hey Arnold!.
- Parodied in the Futurama episode "Less Than Hero":
Mugger: Excuse me, hi! Do you have a minute? I live in Jersey City and my car broke down and I need to get back because my Aunt's real sick and she needs this medicine, but I need money for the bus. So I'm mugging you. Hand over your wallets.
Leela: I don't believe that story for a second.
Mugger: It doesn't matter; I'm mugging you.
Fry: There's no bus to Jersey City.