History Main / KafkaKomedy

* ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' has a lot of Kafkaesque elements, many of which are presented as comedy - even if they end up PlayedForDrama.

* The titular trio in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' suffer this constantly. While it is understandable why the kids dislike the Eds, what with what most of their scams have done to them (as well as Eddy being a complete {{Jerkass}} just for the heck of it, as shown in episodes like "If It Smells Like an Ed"), there are also moments where the Eds do nothing wrong and just simply want to join them in their friendly shindigs, yet the kids still exclude them from their hangout, and when they do invite them, it's mostly to get a good humiliation out of them, as shown in "Ed-N-Seek" and "Stiff Upper Ed". The one who takes this the worst, however, is Double D, who ends up on the short end of the stick whenever he tries to help the other kids (and even [[WithFriendsLikeThese his friends]]), and his attempts often backfire on him, as seen in "Dim Lit Ed" and "My Fair Ed". It wasn't until the movie finale, ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow'' where the Eds [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally gained the kids' respect]].

The trope is [[TropeNamer named]] after Creator/FranzKafka, whose characters are well-meaning, reasonable, and cautious, but horrible things happen to them not only despite but usually ''because'' of their perfectly-nice actions. Whether or not Kafka's work qualifies as ''funny'', on the other hand, is a matter of taste and [[SeriousBusiness serious academic debate]]. Kafka himself read chapters of his books to his close friends, and the comedy aspect was a big part of the readings.

* No matter how much Zoidberg from WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} tries to help someone, it always blows up in both his and their face somehow. Especially if he's trying to save their life.

-->-- '''Ray Magini''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Don't Fear The Roofer"

* The entire plot of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episodes "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E9HomerBadman Homer Badman]]" and "[[RecapTheSimpsonsS15E21BartMangledBanner Bart-Mangled Banner]]" revolve around Homer and Bart (later the whole family) respectively being publicly demonized for something they really didn't do. Thanks to any form of media assuming their guilt to keep with the public favor and maintain ratings, anything they say or do is [[TwistingTheWords twisted to be as incriminating as possible]] and [[TVNeverLies accepted as gospel truth by a credulous public]] even if it's obviously fake, like Homer's interview on "Rock Bottom" having sound-bites edited into a confession (even though you can see the clock and scenery in the background keeps jumping around).

* Basil Fawlty, John Cleese's character in the British sitcom ''Series/FawltyTowers'', embodies this trope. Despite being generally rude and sarcastic, he comes across as an otherwise sympathetic character who is always scheming to get himself out of a minor jam but only succeeds in making it increasingly worse.
* It's common in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', too; probably the best example would be poor Mr. Horton, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAoGf84-3A&NR=1&feature=fvwp who makes people laugh uncontrollably]] despite his attempts at being serious and miserable plight.

* Similarly, ''Series/PeepShow'' puts its UnsympatheticComedyProtagonists through much worse than they actually deserve (most of the time).

* Dr. Jekyll in ''WebVideo/DrJekyllAndMrHydeTheGameTheMovie'' is portrayed as nothing but a NiceGuy, but everyone seems to take his politeness as a personal insult to the point of absurdity. Over the course of the video, Jekyll is [[CosmicPlaything beaten-down by everyone and everything]] as he is slowly driven to the brink. It gets so bad, he take obscene pleasure when he manages to kill a bee that tried stinging him with his ClassyCane.

* A less positive example is Yuya Sakaki from ''Anime/YugiohArcV'', in which his dreams and desires just anger everyone around him for his naivete or ignorance to the problems at hand. While some duels are there to help improve Yuya's dueling (like against Jack) or his mindset (like against Reiji), the world(s) all seem set on kicking Yuya in the mouth. It can potentially lead to TooBleakStoppedCaring because it can really get uncomfortable watching a kid get dragged through the mud for just wanting people to enjoy a card game.

The subtrope of BlackComedy least likely to involve death. Contrast with PlagueOfGoodFortune, where ''good'' things keep inexplicably happening to the character's chagrin, and SpringtimeForHitler, where a character deliberately does something bad but is met with ''greatness'' for it, KarmaHoudini where the villain gets off scot-free, or KarmicMisfire where not only does the villain get off scot-free but an innocent party gets punished in his or her place. May occasionally overlap with SomebodyDoesntLoveRaymond and definitely ButtMonkey, NoRespectGuy, and SadistShow. See also CantGetAwayWithNuthin. A ReformedButRejected character living in one of these stories is a VillainBallMagnet.

* ''LightNovel/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'' - The boys (mostly Akihisa and Yuuji) will usually become [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale victims]] of the girls' [[DisproportionateRetribution wrath]] on a daily basis, either due to a misunderstanding, lack of communication, a bad day, jealousy, or a deceptively delicious-looking meal made by Mizuki. Despite being [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]] and times where it's deserved, [[InformedWrongness it can get uncomfortable to watch]], especially when most of the problems will stem from the girls' actions instead.

* The main protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'',11-year-old Lincoln Loud who is the middle child and only male child of a house and family of ten girls, sometimes (but not always) falls into this trope as he gets blamed by his family ([[JerkassBall even his parents took their daughters' side]]) and other characters for their actions and whenever something went wrong, even when he's trying to help, and suffers both physical and emotional abuse as a result. Examples of this include "Making the Grade", "Brawl in the Family", the infamous "No Such Luck", "The Taunting Hour", "Sleuth or Consequences", "Save the Date", etc. However, this can sometimes be justified as Lincoln can sometimes be selfish.

* ''Manga/ToLoveRu'' most certainly applies as Rito is often accused of being an infamous pervert despite evidence to the contrary. Usually, Yami beats him up, threatens to kill him, or both.

The afflicted characters are held to be entirely to blame for their own misfortune. Despite this, they are otherwise decent, nice and perfectly pleasant people who would be well-liked and respected... if they didn't have the misfortune to be living in a Kafka Komedy. Here, [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin the universe punishes]] even the whitest lie or mildest of indiscretions with [[DisproportionateRetribution completely out-of-proportion ruthlessness]].

* The main protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'',11-year-old Lincoln Loud who is the middle child and only male child of a house and family of ten girls, sometimes (but not always) falls into this trope as he gets blamed by his family (even his parents took their daughters' side) and other characters for their actions and whenever something went wrong, even when he's trying to help, and suffers both physical and emotional abuse as a result. Examples of this include "Making the Grade", "Brawl in the Family", the infamous "No Such Luck", "The Taunting Hour", "Sleuth or Consequences", "Save the Date", etc. However, this can sometimes be justified as Lincoln can sometimes be selfish.

* The main protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'',11-year-old Lincoln Loud who is the middle child and only male child of a house and family of ten girls, sometimes (but not always) falls into this trope as he gets blamed by his family and other characters for their actions and whenever something went wrong within the family, even when he's trying to help, and suffers abuse as a result. Examples of this include "Making the Grade", "Brawl in the Family", the infamous "No Such Luck", "The Taunting Hour", "Sleuth or Consequences", "Save the Date", etc. However, this can sometimes be justified as Lincoln can sometimes be selfish.

* The main protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'',11-year-old Lincoln Loud who is the middle child and only male child of a house and family of ten girls, sometimes (but not always) falls into this trope as he gets blamed by his family and other characters for their actions and whenever something went wrong within the family, even when he's trying to help, and suffers abuse as a result. Examples of this include "Making the Grade", "Brawl in the Family", the infamous "No Such Luck", "The Taunting Hour", "Wheel and Deal", "Save the Date", etc. However, this can sometimes be justified as Lincoln can sometimes be selfish.

* ''Literature/Catch-22'' is this to a T, even right down to the nightmarish bureaucracy. Every character is the butt of a loony, cosmic joke, and even those who think they’re above it inevitably have it loop right back around to them.

* ''LightNovel/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'' - The boys (mostly Akihisa and Yuuji) will usually become [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale victims]] of the girls' [[DisproportionateRetribution wrath]] on a daily basis, either due to a [[AllMenArePerverts misunderstanding]], [[HairTriggerTemper lack of communication]], [[BerserkButton a bad day]], [[ClingyJealousGirl jealousy]], or a [[LethalChef deceptively delicious-looking meal made by Mizuki]]. Despite being [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]] and times where it's deserved, [[InformedWrongness it can get uncomfortable to watch]], especially when most of the problems will stem from the [[NeverMyFault girls']] [[KarmaHoudini actions]] instead.