History Main / BlitheSpirit

%* Mr. Dark in ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes''

** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Aang acts as one of these in "The Headband" when he becomes accidentally enrolled in a straight-laced Fire Nation school. And being the friendly, world-traveling free spirit he is, he won't settle for anything less than throwing everyone a dance party. Yes, it's a WholePlotReference to ''Film/{{Footloose}}''.
** His successor in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is quite blithe herself. She waltzes into Republic City, trashes a street corner dispensing with some triad thugs, then trashes up some more street, fleeing the cops when they try to arrest her, and thinks she can get out of it all with just "I'm the avatar!"

* Fry in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' unwittingly acts as one of these, when his twentieth-century outlook persuades Leela and Bender to abandon their thirtieth-century ruts and follow him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Upon arriving in the Boiling Isles, Luz quickly begins shaking things up by being an AllLovingHero in a world where everyone believes that MightMakesRight and that you should screw over as many people as possible, with her causing more and more people to change their views or stand up for themselves against the corrupt system. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Emperor Belos]] is later revealed to have been an inversion, as he ended up turning the Boiling Isles into the CrapsackWorld it is today out of a desire to make himself into a hero for defeating it's "evil" inhabitants.]]

* ''Film/HollySleptOver'': Chill, uninhibited, cheerfully promiscuous Holly visits Audra and Noel, shaking up their straitlaced suburban life. She is a black bisexual Englishwoman who's there in an all white area of the US and definitely stands out. A carefree marijuana edibles baker, she casually agrees to Noel's idea they have a threesome when he learns she once dated Holly. Despite the initial mixed feelings the two have, both seem much happier in the wake of her visit as her free-spiritedness has rubbed off on them at least somewhat.

* In ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'', [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Aer/Ael/]][[BuffySpeak That blond girl with the]] OdangoHair [[BuffySpeak and the music box]] is this, to an insane degree. Coupled with her [[GenkiGirl endless enthusiasm]] and her total lack of tact, she causes no end of frustration (or, in some cases, bringing up terrible memories) to the more straight-laced Sybilla, particularly Paraietta [[SpellMyNameWithAnS and Neviril/Neville/]][[BuffySpeak that pink-haired girl who doesn't smile]].

[[folder:Evil Counterpart Trope]]
Sometimes, the shaker is a villainous character, causing trouble for their own ends and means which might not be in the target's best interests. Sometimes involves a DealWithTheDevil with them as the Devil. Examples include:

%%* Mr. Dark in ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes''
%%* Leland Gaunt in ''[[Creator/StephenKing Needfull Things]]''
%%* Haruko Haruhara in ''{{FLCL}}''
* The original Dr. Lao in ''Literature/TheCircusOfDoctorLao'' came more as a punisher of wicked deeds than an aid.
%%* "Professor" Harold Hill of ''Film/TheMusicMan'' starts as one of these, but [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]].
* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesGrimm'', who transforms the SickeninglySweet [[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfied]] fairy tale worlds, [[{{Grimmification}} returning them]] to their CrapsackWorld roots.
* There's a term for this in the international tourism industry: "Walking Talking American Flag." One of the most offensive things a group of American tourists can do is break into a [[PatrioticFervour fervent chant of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"]] while visiting another country.
[[/folder]]

* ''Anime/TweenyWitches'': [[GenkiGirl Arusu]] acts one of these in the magical world. She refuses to rob the sprites of their freedom, uses GoroawaseNumber to cast magic, and gives those with little magical power a second chance.
%%* Judai of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''. [[HeroicBSOD Then the plot happened]]...
%%* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': Onizuka Eikichi, 22 years old. Virgin. And very available.
%%* The titular Manabi from ''Anime/ManabiStraight''.

* Rosette from ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' has a tendency to rush into people's lives and change them for the better. This is lampshaded at the end of the manga when Azmaria, [[spoiler: looking back at things [[DistantFinale from when she was a kid]], says "[[TheHeroDies It was a time that Rosette ran her way through]] [[ForegoneConclusion all too quickly.]] But the course her life took wasn't all sad. Rosette was always filled with a powerful light. That light was so strong...it lit up an era blackened by the darkness of night.]]

* Sometimes averted and sometimes played straight in ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'': Tylor is made skipper of a starship, despite no training, no military or space experience, and a penchant for nonsensical and irresponsible schemes. On the other hand, he is given command of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits, half of whom are on the verge of mutiny anyway. Still, near the series' conclusion, one of Tylor's ObstructiveBureaucrat antagonists admits Tylor's adherence to this trope is the likely factor of his success.
* This is the very reason not-so-evil Oni-baba of [[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Hinamizawa]] agreed to sell land to Keiichi's family; she figured that the time for prejudice against the Houjou family had passed, and thought that new blood would shake things up enough to help that process along. Rika also comments that [[spoiler:[[GroundhogDayLoop the few worlds]] where Keiichi never moved to Hinamizawa were the saddest of all]]. Keiichi acts this way most prominently in the first half of Minagoroshi-hen.
* Shiro in ''Anime/{{K}}'', and also Neko, particularly in season 2. Not that [[BunnyEarsLawyer Scepter 4]] and [[NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters HOMRA]] were all that strait-laced before he came along, but they did see themselves as perpetual enemies until [[spoiler: Shiro's clan leads them into an alliance]] in season 2.
* In ''Manga/{{ReLIFE}}'', due to Kaizaki's high emotional intelligence, he usually sets off character development for the other characters by giving them advice.
* Harshly {{deconstruct|ion}}ed in ''[[Anime/FLCLProgressiveAndAlternative FLCL Alternative]]'': Kana is unerringly positive and acts out of an earnest desire to fix her friends' problems, but her immature worldview and total lack of subtlety usually means she has a rough time of it. [[spoiler:Pets finally gets fed up with her meddling in episode 5, screaming that Kana's desire to "help" is really about her own ego and breaking off her friendship with Kana, seemingly for good.]]
* In ''Manga/GourmetGirlGraffiti'', Kirin's [[GenkiGirl energy]] brought Ryou out of the latter's depressive rut[[note]]Caused by ParentalAbandonment.[[/note]] in the beginning of the series, starting with [[TastesLikeFriendship food sharing]]. This was [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Shiina in Chapter 24:
-->''[Ryou] has changed a lot since [Kirin] came... in a good way... I couldn't say it, but if I had a personality more like [Kirin], [Ryou] would have been happier now.''

* Creator/RobinWilliams usually plays blithe spirit characters. ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'' (1989), ''Film/GoodMorningVietnam'' (1987), ''Film/PatchAdams'' (1998), and even ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'' (2005), ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'' (2007) and ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' (2007) have heavy doses of this. Apparently, just having Creator/RobinWilliams appear in your movie at all causes Blithe Spirit. Doesn't even have to be Robin's character.
* Played with in the film ''Film/{{Doubt}}''. Father Flynn is a Catholic priest who brings a fun modern way of teaching to a Roman Catholic school. While most people are happy with the his new approach, he clashes with Sister Aloysius who values the old fashioned ways and still has a lot of power and influence in the school. She eventually accuses him of molesting a vulnerable boy which forces him to resign. [[spoiler: However, the question remains: was he guilty? Or did Sister Aloysius use her position in the school to force someone out she didn't like?]]
%%** ''Film/{{Popeye}}'' (1980) has traces of this as well. As does ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' (1978-1982)

%%* The live-action Film/{{Bratz}} movie puts the four main girls in this type of role. (2004)

* Elle Woods from Film/LegallyBlonde, who shakes up Harvard Law school by proving she can be bright and intelligent despite being a stereotypically fashion-obsessed blonde.

%%* Leslie in ''Film/TheHouseOfYes'' fits the ManicPixieDreamGirl example of this trope.

* [=MacMurphy=] in ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' challenges Nurse Ratched's unfair rule over the hospital and its sheepish patients, teaching them how to take back their individuality and bend or break the often arbitrary rules they live under. [[spoiler:Other than the Chief, [[BittersweetEnding it's debatable how much good this does them in the end, though.]]]]
* ''Film/SchoolOfRock'': Creator/JackBlack introduces an upscale private school class to ALittleSomethingWeCallRockAndRoll.
--> "Don't tell me you guys never got [[Music/LedZeppelin the led]] out. Jimmy Page? Robert Plant? Ring any bells? (blank stares) What about [[Music/BlackSabbath Sabbath?]] Music/{{ACDC}}? ''Music/{{Motorhead}}?'' '''OH, WHAT DO THEY TEACH IN THIS PLACE?????'''"
* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': Wonder Woman comes to Man's World to put an end to World War I, {{obstructive bureaucrat}}s be damned.
* ''Film/TheWorldUnseen'': Amina is a free spirited young woman who dresses in masculine clothing, runs a business and violates the apartheid laws (while also secretly being a lesbian). She stands out completely in the insular, conservative South African Indian community, and shakes up Miriam's life drastically.

* ''Literature/ColdComfortFarm'': Flora is a sort of inversion. She comes to the wild countryside to impose order and modern ideals, and do away with 'mess,' but she's still a fish out of water who solves everyone's problems, and her attitude about the more ''gothic'' elements of the setting is extremely blithe.

%%* Michael Smith in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand''

* The main character of ''Literature/PippiLongstocking'' stirs up just about any situation, and is quite popular in the town for it, with some exceptions who prefer that people behave in a more orderly fashion.
* Caitlín Mulryan, [[spoiler:the eponymous character]] of Creator/PoulAnderson's ''The Avatar''. She's an exuberant and eloquent EthicalSlut musician who joins the crew of a starship to keep up morale, and quickly becomes TheHeart and soul of the crew.
%%* ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', where [=McMurphy=] shakes up an asylum.

* ''Literature/ASuddenWildMagic'' by Creator/DianaWynneJones - the women who survive the trip to Arth start trying to deliberately upset 'the balance'. Except a few of them are quite mean-spirited about it - the people of Arth have been essentially robbing earth for centuries.

%%* Leslie Burke from ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'' seems to fit this trope.
%%* The eponymous protagonist of ''Literature/{{Heidi}}''.
* Anne of ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'', Which makes [[spoiler:her married name]] all the more fitting.
%%* Innocent Smith from Creator/GKChesterton's ''Manalive''.
* Abby, the latecomer who replaces Dawn from ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'', is noticeably sassier and more irreverent than the other girls, particularly where (post-{{Flanderization}}) Kristy's rules and bossiness are concerned.
* While Jenny from ''Literature/TheTruthOfRockAndRoll'' has lived in the same town her whole life, she may still count as Johnny never really got to know her before the beginning of the story. She certainly has this effect on his life.
* Subverted in ''Literature/ThePrimeOfMissJeanBrodie'', which initially makes the title character seem like the typical kooky free spirit who teaches the kids to break out of their shells to find happiness, but soon reveals that she refuses to accept any idea about what that happiness should consist of other than her own. Eventually many of the children meet tragic fates due to her meddling in their lives. She's also a fascist, though fascism ''was'' considered "cool" and "cutting-edge" by quite a few intellectuals in the 1930s, just as communism was. It was democracy (or constitutional monarchy) that was viewed as old-fashioned and repressive.

* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' novel ''Faith of the Fallen'', Richard is this to the city of Altur'Rang. [[spoiler: Nicci kidnaps him and drags him down there, intending to "educate" him about the superiority of the Imperial Order. Instead, Richard arrives, sees how drab and suppressed the population is, and immediately sets about making his corner of the world a better place by helping with repairs to keep up the apartment building, essentially starting a black market trade for goods (particularly ''food'') the citizens are deprived of by the government for "the greater good," and creating artwork that shows man as ''beautiful'' and not a twisted and wicked creature inferior to the Creator. His actions lead to a city-wide revolt against the Order when they force him to demolish his artwork prior to his execution, and triggers Nicci's HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'': Hank Morgan, a 19th century Yankee, goes back to the Middle Ages and industrializes King Arthur's court.
* Raoden in ''Literature/{{Elantris}}'' takes this trope to a downright heroic level, as he spends most of the novel getting the people of Elantris - who are undying abominations imprisoned in a ruined city to await the point when they inevitably snap from the pain of their never-healing wounds and go catatonic - to cheer up and start showing some initiative.
* Innocent Smith, of GK Chesterton's Manalive. The whole first half of the novel is his shaking up the lives of the other lodgers, and the second half recounts his previous outings.
* Clarisse [=McClellan=] of ''Literature/Fahrenheit451'' is one of the few people who view the world with all it's beauty, in contrast to all the people who engage in [[{{Dystopia}} crimes]], [[NewMediaAreEvil mindless and shallow entertainment]], and enjoy illiteracy. She is the main reason why [[PunchClockVillain Montag]] [[spoiler:Changes his mind about books]]. [[spoiler:[[KillTheCutie She is promptly killed for her troubles]]]].
* Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya tries really, ''really'' hard to be one of these, hence the whole SOS Brigade thing, explicitly created to "fill the world with fun!". Actually a subversion, as should the world be shaken up as she would want it to be, it could very well be the end of reality as we know it. [[spoiler: [[ApocalypseHow Again.]]]] The FishOutOfTemporalWater Mikuru does a better job of this, as TheWoobie.
* The premise of ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' is that a bitchy otome game villain girl suddenly gets the personality and [[PastLifeMemories memories]] of a cheery tomboy and morphs into a SpotlightStealingSquad instead, stealing the protagonist role in the process. She accidentally fixes everyone's problems with her stupid optimism and friendliness, accidentally seducing all the game's love interests, rival characters, side characters and even the game's heroine herself. People are attracted to her not just because she's nice, but also because she's so damn ''weird'' and out of place that they have no clue what she's going to do.

* ''Series/SantaClaritaDiet'': The main character, Sheila, is a deconstruction. Turned into a zombie, she has less mental restraint than ever, and becomes chirpy, lively, fun and encourages everyone to get whatever they want and not think about the consequences, to the point of saying that, if her daughter wants it, she should quit school and become a poet. By the end of a season one episode, she realizes she can't keep doing this, as her encouragement has caused one of her friends to start an affair and strained the marriage of their neighbors when she told the husband to buy a new car without consulting his wife while telling the wife to go follow a musician on tour for almost a month and let her husband take care of their newborn twins.

%%* Lwaxana Troi in [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG's]] "Cost of Living."
* Accounting Prof. Whitman on ''Series/{{Community}}'' thinks he's Creator/RobinWilliams in ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety''.
* Subverted on an episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', in which the eponymous psychiatrist is hired to testify on behalf of an elderly philanthropist whose son is trying to have him declared mentally incompetent. After meeting with him, Frasier becomes convinced that the man is just a blithe spirit trying to enrich the lives of those around him...and is humiliated when he has a complete breakdown in the middle of Frasier's testimony.
** Inverted in another episode: Frasier hires [[TheJeeves a butler]], who doesn't directly change the characters lives in any significant way, but has his own revelation that his BritishStuffiness and class-consciousness may have been getting in the way of being with his OneTrueLove. This, [[StatusQuoIsGod conveniently enough]], means [[ResetButton he quits his post.]]
%%* Fran Fine in ''Series/TheNanny'' ''is'' this trope.
* Barney Stinson in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' ''thinks'' he's this trope, gracing his friends with his presence to guide them through life and make them "awesome" like him. He refuses to acknowledge the fact that his friends all actually consider him a walking, batshit insane, YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame generator, and only indulge his ridiculous shenanigans out of loyalty to him (and on occasion, amusement).
%%* Michelle in ''Series/{{Bunheads}}''.
* To his companions, [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] can be this. One day this crazy man just falls out of the sky to whisk you away on an adventure and show you the wonders (and dangers) of the universe. Those who survive find themselves forever changed by the experience, and many have gone on to becomes heroes in their own right. [[OmnicidalManiac Davros]] mocks this as one meaning of his name: "The man who makes people ''better''".
* Campbell Bain (played by the future Tenth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'', Creator/DavidTennant), of the 1994 British miniseries ''Series/TakinOverTheAsylum'', is an exuberant, hyper, bipolar (then known as manic depression...though he's heavier on the 'manic' part) young man who shakes things up in the mental hospital as a budding Disc Jockey and has a [[{{Keet}} very chirpy]], optimistic, [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], [[TheDeterminator can-do]] demeanor.
%%** One could say his role in the ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' episode "Authority" is a dark version of this.

* ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful:'' This is one of the primary hats of the Court of Spades, whose philosophy revolves around laughter and surprise.

* Terry Bogard from ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', who spends his non-fighting days going from one temporary job to another and travelling through the world without settling down anywhere, save for coming back to South Town regularly. In ''XIII'' he turns down offers from a prestigious Taekwondo dojo run by his friend Kim and from the Ikari Warriors group, explicitly telling them that he hates being tied down to a regular schedule.

--> "It's funny, you live in the universe, but you never do these things until someone comes to visit."

* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Aang acts as one of these in "The Headband" when he becomes accidentally enrolled in a straight-laced Fire Nation school. And being the friendly, world-traveling free spirit he is, he won't settle for anything less than throwing everyone a dance party. Yes, it's a WholePlotReference to ''Film/{{Footloose}}''.
** His successor in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is quite blithe herself. She waltzes into Republic City, trashes a street corner dispensing with some triad thugs, then trashes up some more street, fleeing the cops when they try to arrest her, and thinks she can get out of it all with just "I'm the avatar!"
* Jane Lane in ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' doesn't care that she's a social outcast and a misfit and generally breezes her way through it, side-stepping or accepting the inanities of teenage life at Lawndale High and rising above it. This makes her the perfect foil for the DeadpanSnarker Daria Morgendorffer, who ''does'' tend to feel these things acutely and adopts a cynical shell of armour.
* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'': While Kipo does come to acknowledge how dangerous life is for surface-dwelling humans, she still constantly insists on going around to talk it out with and/or help the various mutants who want to capture or kill her. Her friendly actions are so unlikely and her confidence so self-assured that this often ''works'', even with more feral creatures. It's one of the reasons why, when planning to interact with the Newton Wolves, Wolf intended for her to play the role of pack leader.

* Elle Woods from Film/LegallyBlonde, who shakes up Harvard Law school by proving she can be bright and intelligent despite being a stereotypically fashion-obsessed blonde.
* Played with in the film ''Film/{{Doubt}}''. Father Flynn is a Catholic priest who brings a fun modern way of teaching to a Roman Catholic school. And while most people are happy with the his new approach, he clashes with Sister Aloysius who values the old fashion ways and still has a lot of power and influence in the school. She eventually accuses him of molesting a vulnerable boy which forces him to resign. [[spoiler: However, the question remains: Was he guilty? Or did Sister Aloysius use her position in the school to force someone out she didn't like?]]

* Campbell Bain (played by the future Tenth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'', Creator/DavidTennant) of the 1994 British miniseries Series/TakinOverTheAsylum, is an exuberant, hyper, Bi-Polar (then known as Manic-Depression...though he's heavier on the 'Manic' part) young man who shakes things up in the mental hospital as a budding Disc Jockey and has a [[{{Keet}} very chirpy]], optimistic, [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], [[TheDeterminator can-do]] demeanor.

* Caitlín Mulryan, [[spoiler:the eponymous character]] of Creator/PoulAnderson's ''The Avatar''. She's an exuberant and eloquent EthicalSlut and singer who joins the crew of a starship to keep up morale, and quickly becomes TheHeart and soul of the crew.

%%* Caitlín Mulryan, [[spoiler:the eponymous character]] of Creator/PoulAnderson's ''The Avatar''.

* The premise of ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' is that a bitchy otome game villain girl suddenly gets the personality and [[PastLifeMemories memories]] of a cheery tomboy and morphs into a SpotlightStealingSquad instead, stealing the protagonist role in the process. She accidentally fixes everyone's problems with her stupid optimism and friendliness, accidentally seducing all the game's love interests, rival characters, side characters and even the game's heroine herself. People are attracted to her not just because she's nice, but also because she's so damn ''weird'' and out of place that they have no clue what she's going to do.