History Main / CharacterFilibuster

* Sister Benita gets one in ''Fanfic/SisterFloriana'', [[https://www.wattpad.com/955517539-sister-floriana-the-window Chapter 26]], talking about why she doesn't feel guilty celebrating the death of an enemy soldier despite being a nun.
--> "There's a difference between forgiveness and mercy. I pray for every man's soul on either side of the war. I pray that they could see the error of their ways and turn to Jesus. But at the end of the day, we're fighting this war for a reason. The death of this person means there is less sin and suffering in the world. It means that we're one step closer to ending this bloody war. And I don't think it's unchristian to celebrate that."

-->-- '''John Galt''', ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''

** Kyon himself also slips into this at times, though usually as the {{Narrator}} rather than in his actual actions.

* [[Manga/{{Hellsing}} The Major's]] famous speech in which he details how he [[BloodKnight loves every last aspect of war]]. The version in the OVA clocks in at more than six minutes long. Tends to be tolerated (if not outright enjoyed) due to how awesome it is.

* ''Series/SeventhHeaven''. OnceAnEpisode? Try once between every commercial break. Characters tend to alternate {{Character Filibuster}}s combined with ThatMakesMeFeelAngry, in which they analyze their own and others' emotions ad nauseum.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Hawkeye Pierce is occasionally prone to these. One episode in particular, simply titled "Hawkeye", features him as the only appearing regular from the cast and is essentially a 25-minute-long CharacterFilibuster (albeit justified in-universe, since he's sustained a concussion in a jeep accident and is babbling to keep himself from falling unconscious).

* ''Series/TopGear''. Presenter James May is basically the CharacterFilibuster made flesh. He often goes on rants so long-winded or into such meticulous detail about physics, they've actually [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] it by fading out between scenes, coming back later to find that he is ''still talking''.

** A CharacterFilibuster can take place in the Senate, however, when the Senator currently speaking simply does not stop, and no rule can make them, which is useful when those opposing a piece of legislation cannot muster the votes for the above method. Senator Strom Thurmond holds the record for the longest such filibuster at 24 hours and 18 minutes (Thurmond was filibustering in an attempt to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957, because Thurmond did not want black Americans to vote).

* Mr. Chatterbox and his sister Miss Chatterbox from the ''[[Literature/MrMen Mr. Men and Little Misses]]'' are known for talking a lot of stories and never stop talking about them. In fact, a screencap of Miss Chatterbox from ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' provides the page image.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f911cd37_e767_40a8_99e6_615972c5f724_0.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/misschatterboxtalking.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:...And that's just one of her stories...]]

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Joey talks about the wonders of thongs in the ColdOpen of "The one with the Thanksgiving flashbacks". He's still talking about it by the end of the opening credits.

This trope is often considered [[BadWritingIndex Bad Writing]], but [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools not always]]. After all, the opinion any specific reader has of any Character Filibuster is usually ([[DontShootTheMessage "usually" being the key word here]]) a product of [[ConfirmationBias whether or not the reader agrees with the point being made]], or if the point being made is petty enough to be funny.

* Judd Hirsch's character's rant in the teaser of the first episode of ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip''. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Justified,]] [[RuleOfCool though.]]

* Lucky's SuddenlyVoiced monologue in ''Theatre/WaitingForGodot''.

** ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'' features a brief rant from Malicia about how stupid and childish the Mr. Bunnsy books (Discworld's equivalent to the works of Beatrix Potter) are. But since Malicia is an unlikeable, WrongGenreSavvy know-it-all (not to mention she doesn't care that she's inadvertently dispirited a rat who regarded ''Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure'' as a Bible for rats), it comes off as a TakeThat towards ''[[StrawCritic the people]]'' who have that sort of attitude towards children's literature.
** Mr Nutt, from ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'', speaks in multi-paragraph lectures. There's even a bit of an explanation for why TalkingIsAFreeAction: people tend to get a bit dazed by it.
** Lord Vetinari gets a few big speeches himself, like his discussion with Drumknott on the nature of freedom ("Freedom may be the natural state of mankind, but so is sitting in a tree and eating your dinner while it's still wriggling.") in ''Discworld/GoingPostal''.
** Granny Weatherwax gets one in ''Discworld/AHatFullOfSky'', going on about how Miss Level helping people in need even when they're stupid and ungrateful is what witchcraft is all about, and not Mrs. Earwig's "wizard magic in a dress". She even admits afterwards [[LampshadeHanging she got a bit carried away]].

* Among the other examples in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' one of Vivianne's stands out as a well timed right wing assault on ISIS and the Arab Spring: her response to asking about mages fighting mages is; condensed and quoting directly, some have declared war on the entire free world, and those opposed to wholesale murder are forced to take up arms to defend themselves against these terrorists.

->''"For twelve years, you have been asking: Who is John Galt? This is John Galt speaking. I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who--''['''[[http://www.galtse.cx 63 pages]]''' of pure speech later]''-- will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."''

When the character is explaining the author's views, it's also an AuthorFilibuster. Compare SpeechCentricWork for works which feature a great amount of dialogue or monologue, and which may feature not just one but ''several'' of these. See also RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic and TalkingIsAFreeAction. And God help you if this trope overlaps with MotorMouth. When a character is filibustering for an in-universe reason, they are HoldingTheFloor. Usually becomes a WallOfText if used in a comic. Can be a FridgeLogic result of a story having an orally-based FramingDevice - 'Wait, is he still telling this tale to the guys round the campfire? [[BreakingTheFourthWall How did he pronounce the chapter breaks?]]'[[note]]One way would be that this would be a break for the storyteller/listeners to go to the bathroom, sleep, eat, etc., or that that was simply the amount of story told each evening--so the first campfire we see and the last are 30 chapters/days apart.[[/note]]

!!Examples include:

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington'' has an ''actual'' character filibuster in the senate. Never before has a political filibuster been so dramatic.
* The movie ''Film/TwelveAngryMen'' is full of these -- although some characters do show a few signs of semi-realistic dialogue when their speeches break down.

-->'''Headmaster''': ''[Completely deadpan]'' Mr. Madison, what you've just said... is [[StupidestThingIveEverHeard one of the most insanely idiotic things I've ever heard]]. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
* Peter Graves's speech at the end of ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld''. Became a running joke on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] after they riffed the movie. "He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature..."
* Played for laughs in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', where Robin of Loxley has a habit of filibustering, and gently lulling the townspeople to sleep in the process with his UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill impression. Then Ahchoo wakes them up again with a UsefulNotes/MalcolmX impression.
* Parodied in ''Film/ScaryMovie'' when [[spoiler: Ray]] states that "Watching TV shows doesn't create serial killers. ''Cancelling'' TV shows does!" He then states how ''Series/TheWayansBros'' was a good show that didn't get a proper final episode [[spoiler: while repeatedly stabbing Bobby with a knife.]]
* Jet Li's portrayal of Wong Fei Hung in ''[[Film/OnceUponATimeInChina Once Upon a Time in China and America]]'' shows him to be a sleep-inducing public speaker. (It doesn't help that his audience are miners just coming off a long shift, but still...) At the end of the movie, he offers to make speech at a dedication and is quickly turned down.

* In ''Film/TheMolePeople'', John Agar just will not shut up. Probably would have been more tolerable if they'd spread the speeches around more among the characters, instead of making ''one'' the know-it-all.
* In the execrable ''Horror of the Red Planet/The Wizard of Mars'' Creator/JohnCarradine appears at the end as a literal Talking Head. Which he does For about ''fifteen minutes'' of screen time, interrupted perhaps twice by questions from the remarkably dim cast. Proving once again that MoneyDearBoy triumphs over Art.
* V from ''Film/VForVendetta''. For some, though, his monologues and speeches are often the highlight of the film.
--> "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Verily, this vichyssoise]] of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OB6EsUP4tU verbiage]] [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal veers]] [[LampshadeHanging most verbose]]..."
* The protagonist of the UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film ''Guru'' has one of these at the end justifying his rapacious business practices. It wins over an initially hostile crowd, just like Howard Roarke's similar speech in ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' (both book and movie).

* Creator/PaddyChayefsky was in love with this trope. Howard Beale's multiple-page rants in ''Film/{{Network}}'' are the best example.
* The ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' NonSerialMovie used both recurring LittleMissSnarker Ai and one-off WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds [[spoiler:Hiroki]] to filibuster over the hereditary nature of Japanese society. It is sometimes quite jarring to see [[spoiler:Hiroki]] filibustering at around 30-35 minutes into the movie, while for the rest of it he was an extreme {{woobie}}.
* It's based on a true story, but we don't know how much is real: during the Clay Shaw trial in ''Film/{{JFK}}'', Jim Garrison talks for 8 minutes in final summation (that brought Kevin Costner [[ThrowItIn to real tears]]).
* Kevin Costner gives a rather epic off-the-cuff [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBfdl6hNZ9k speech]] in ''Film/BullDurham'' when asked, "well, what do you believe then?", though unlike most such examples it's very ribald. It's also HilariousInHindsight, because on the things he says in the speech is "I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone."
* In a RunningGag, Mr Smith of ''Film/ShootEmUp'' tends to rant about minor things that annoy him. In this case, it's excused for three reasons: One, either his rants or what he does after them tend to be funny and/or awesome; two, other characters frequently note that they neither know nor care what he's talking about; and three, it sets up his awesome verbal smackdown of the villain at the end.
* In ''Film/DonJuanDemarco'', the title character has a couple speeches explaining what it takes to be the World's Greatest Lover (it's very much to Depp's acting credit that he manages to deliver these convincingly.) His analyst Dr. Mickler does a more tongue-in-cheek one, complete with playful fake accent, about being the World's Greatest Psychiatrist.

* Unsurprisingly, the film version of ''Literature/TheFountainhead'', adapted for the screen by Creator/AynRand herself, has several of these.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', Melman goes into unnecessary details about leading up to an important discovery until Alex tells him to get to the point.
-->'''Melman:''' You know I have that bladder infection and I have to get up every two hours? Well, I got up to pee, um, and I looked over at Marty's pen, which, you know, I usually don't do. I don't know why, but I did. And this time, I looked over...
-->'''Alex:''' ''What'' Melman? What's going on?!
-->'''Melman:''' It's Marty! ''He's gone!''
* ''Film/AMatterOfFaith'': In the debate, after Portland takes over, he completely dominates it by a stream of long-refuted points against evolution, with the moderator just letting him do it. Kamen does not even attempt to answer them later when he's done.

* Julia "Terminator" Sugarbaker on ''Series/DesigningWomen'' is this trope personified. She does this on an almost OnceAnEpisode basis, preaching her liberal views to the other characters and the audience. Ironically, she was played by Dixie Carter, a staunch Republican who got so fed up with it that she cut a deal with the producers: every time they made her rant about something she didn't agree with, she got to do a musical number.

* ''Series/SeventhHeaven''. OnceAnEpisode? Try once between every commercial break. Characters tend to alternate {{Character Filibuster}}s combined with ThatMakesMeFeelAngry, in which they analyze their own and others' emotions ad nauseum.
* ''Series/TopGear''. Presenter James May is basically the CharacterFilibuster made flesh. He often goes on rants so long-winded or into such meticulous detail about physics, they've actually [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] it by fading out between scenes, coming back later to find that he is ''still talking''.
* One episode of ''Top Gear'''s SpiritualSuccessor ''Series/TheGrandTour'' has a segment in which Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond travel through an airport terminal while Clarkson rants, at length, about how much he hates travelling through airport terminals. While it's not quite the "twenty minutes" Hammond claims it is when introducing the segment, it does go on for several minutes, almost without pause. It's tolerable because a) it sets up the actual point of the segment, which is making airport travel more bearable by whizzing around on motorised luggage cases; b) much of what Clarkson says is either humorous, relatable, or both; and c) Hammond is shown growing increasingly bored and exasperated as the rant goes on.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Hawkeye Pierce is occasionally prone to these. One episode in particular, simply titled "Hawkeye", features him as the only appearing regular from the cast and is essentially a 25-minute-long CharacterFilibuster (albeit justified in-universe, since he's sustained a concussion in a jeep accident and is babbling to keep himself from falling unconscious).

* ''Series/MythBusters'': Jamie Hyneman often delves into his various strange occupations might actually be quite interesting if they weren't [[ExecutiveMeddling cut out for time]].
* Creator/{{David Mitchell|Actor}} launches into these on most comedy panel shows [[Series/MockTheWeek he]] [[Series/{{QI}} appears]] [[Series/WouldILieToYou on]].
** [[Creator/StephenFry "I've missed your angry logic, David!"]]
* Happens more than OnceAnEpisode in ''Series/GreysAnatomy''.
* Judd Hirsch's character's rant in the teaser of the first episode of ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip''. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Justified,]] [[RuleOfCool though.]]

* One Japanese variety show once had a segment in which a couple of highschool students did a movie parody of ''Charlie's Angels''. One of the students was so impressively good at this trope that at one point the camera (an industrial, movie-business type of camera, mind!) literally stopped working before he stopped.

---> '''Frasier:''' [[NeverMyFault You know, we wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you and your ridiculous birdcage!]]
---> '''Niles:''' *look of indignant outrage*
---> '''Frasier:''' Oh come on, I can only change one character flaw at a time!
* on ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Diane Chambers and Frasier have this in common, which might have helped them get together. Diane herself frequently made long-winded speeches, novels, and even answering machine messages.

* Mr. Smoke-Too-Much, in the "Travel Agent Sketch" on ''[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Monty Python's Flying Cirus]]'', takes this to perhaps its ultimate extreme.
* Series/{{Sherlock}}'s long and extremely detailed speeches of how he's figured something out take up a large portion of the show's running time.

* Sheldon in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is prone to this if anyone mentions something he has even the most remote knowledge in; more so if he ''does'' know. And when he tried to [[FateWorseThanDeath teach Penny physics...]]
* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': At least OncePerEpisode.
* A number of interviewees have tried to use ''Series/TheDailyShow'' as a simple podium for their ideas, talking down to or completely ignoring their comedian host. [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-20-2009/betsy-mccaughey-pt--1 It never goes well.]]

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' - Britta proudly announces to the study group that she has a lesbian friend – [[spoiler:actually a straight girl who thinks Britta is ''her'' lesbian friend]]. Everyone expects Pierce to make a comment - he tells them he has a prepared statement, pulls out a thick pile of notebook paper, full of writing on both sides, and starts in just as the opening titles roll.
-->'''Pierce''': [after titles]...and in summation, good luck, and ''Bon appetit.''
-->'''Jeff''': Many, many paragraphs of that were oddly supportive!
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Joey talks about the wonders of thongs in the ColdOpen of "The one with the Thanksgiving flashbacks". He's still talking about it by the end of the opening credits.

* In the zany British sitcom ''Series/TheGoodies'' Tim Brooke-Taylor's character often goes off into bombastic rants about British greatness, accompanied by the soundtrack to Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance Number 1" ("Land of Hope and Glory" as it is better known).
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Cracker}}'', forced by the court to attend Gamblers Anonymous, Fitz gives a self-justifying rant as the reason he is a compulsive gambler:
-->'''Fitz:''' I'll tell you why. Because when I win, when I'm holding my winnings in my hand, it proves one thing: that I WAS RIGHT! The teachers who said I would never amount to anything, the employers who told me I was lucky they let me have a job at all, the wife who belittled me for not earning as much as the man next door AND THEN SLEPT WITH HIM, they're all wrong, and I'm RIGHT! All those tut-tutting puritans who criticise you for having a bet, they're just gutless SHITES who don't have the spine to take a risk, who play safe and make a virtue out of their own COWARDICE, they're wrong and you're RIGHT! It's not us that has a problem, it's THEM!

[[folder:Professional wrestling]]

[[folder:Radio drama]]
* In the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho story ''Caerdroia'', there's a particularly odd example: the Doctor gets a LiteralSplitPersonality and, [[LiteralMinded bothered by the phrase "safe as houses"]], his CloudCuckoolander side explains that it probably comes from a 19th-century economic depression, in which only real estate didn't lose its value. In other words, houses were a safe investment. Now you know. It comes across as particularly silly because he's speaking in a slow, EruditeStoner-type voice (without all the EruditeStoner ''uh''s, ''like''s, and ''man''s), is freshly separated from two-thirds of himself, and just popped out of a weird time-space portal thing. But he's apparently too SidetrackedByTheAnalogy to notice he's literally beside himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has these often,usually in thought bubbles.

This trope is often considered [[BadWritingIndex Bad Writing]], but [[TropesAreTools not always]]. After all, the opinion any specific reader has of any Character Filibuster is usually ([[DontShootTheMessage "usually" being the key word here]]) a product of [[ConfirmationBias whether or not the reader agrees with the point being made]], or if the point being made is petty enough to be funny.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' contains a number of these due to its {{Doorstopper}} length. TropesAreNotBad, as characters often use the time to explain motives that otherwise [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters might have gotten lost in the shuffle]] or express [[DeliberateValuesDissonance views that readers will probably sympathize with]] to help prevent DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. Septon Meribald's 'Broken Man' speech (about military deserters) in ''A Feast for Crows'' is a notable example.

* In the Franchise/StarTrekNovelVerse, Federation Councillor Bera chim Gleer of Tellar is infamous for these. According to one novel, ''Literature/StarTrekArticlesOfTheFederation'', he's never had a speech on the council floor go shorter than forty-five minutes...and that was when he had a cold. Usually it's twice that, minimum.

* Creator/WilliamShakespeare does this a lot, [[JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples as expected]], usually justified, but occasionally to show a character is a pompous windbag, or to expound upon subjects close to him, like theater. For example, see ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', where the eponymous character launches into a lengthy rant about various forms of crappy acting, including MilkingTheGiantCow, after waylaying a group of players arriving to perform at the royal court.

* WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks has one delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., after he's revealed to have survived his assassination and was just in a coma the whole time. When he tries to give a speech later in the episode, he's horrified at his stereotypical black trailer trash/ghetto audience and how much of an embarrassment they're being, before launching into a long [[NWordPrivileges n-word]]-laden TakeThat rant against them, eventually wandering off into other topics like BET and SoulPlane.
** It probably doubles as an AuthorFilibuster as well, seeing as BET and SoulPlane are frequent targets on the show.

* A formation of enlisted men is a captive audience that some NCOs and officers just can't resist. There's probably also some "Let's see how long they can stand there" sadism behind it, but the content usually amounts to "See, I'm not such a bad guy!" or "I'm your worst hardass nightmare!"