History Main / NoSenseOfHumor

** Teal'c almost never tells a joke or laughs (unless you count his occasional plays on Earth idioms), with one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka6tvlewO3c exception]]. It turns out the Jaffa sense of humor just doesn't translate through cultures well.

* Narumi from ''Manga/KarakuriCircus'' -- which proves problematic because the only way to stop his IncurableCoughOfDeath is to make him laugh.

* Agent K in ''Film/MenInBlack'' quips (deadpan) that "we at the FBI do not have a sense of humor we are aware of."

** Some Champions just refuse to joke when you order them to. If you read their backstories, it was implied that a traumatic event from their past prevent them from making jokes and take things in utter seriousness.
-->'''Vayne:''' I have no time for nonsense. / ''Joke''? What do you mean?
** Poppy was ''formerly'' this before her rework. ("Jokes? I don't know any jokes.") The updated version CannotTellAJoke -- entering her joke command repeatedly starts a rambling "Three people walk into a bar"-type joke that she never finishes because he can't remember how it goes.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' has a few people who don't joke around, though perhaps the most commonly recurring one is Sub-Zero, whose PreBattleBanter reveals that he is always serious and constantly frustrated by antics of the rest of the cast, especially Johnny Cage. Even Sub-Zero's evil undead older brother Noob Saibot cracks more jokes than he does.

* Lithuania from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia''. ([[GermanicDepressives Germany]] is at least a DeadpanSnarker sometimes) This does not mix well with [[CloudCuckooLander Poland]].

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Judge Doom from ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''. [[spoiler:A very serious case, considering he's a toon.]]

* Sgt. Major Dickerson in ''Film/GoodMorningVietnam''.
-->'''Sgt. Major Dickerson''': That is humor. I recognize that.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CaptainUnderpantsTheFirstEpicMovie'', Melvin is unable to laugh or understand anything humorous. Professor Poopypants soon discovers that it's because Melvin completely lacks the (made-up) part of the brain that contains the sense of humor. Initially, the character trait is used to make Melvin a {{foil}} to pranksters George and Harold. [[spoiler:Poopypants then uses Melvin's unique physiology as a basis for a device that removes other people's senses of humor, thus inflicting this trope on everyone who crosses his path.]]

--->''The Archchancellor gave him a look so old-fashioned it might have belonged to an ammonite.\\
"That a joke?" he said, in the suspicious tones of someone who wouldn't really understand the term "sense of humour" even if you sat down for an hour and explained it to him with diagrams.''
** Dwarves are known for their sense of humor. In a way. People point them out and say "Those little buggers haven't got a sense of humor."
** Sergeant Detritus, a troll on the A-M City Watch, "treats humor as a human aberration" to be overcome by talking slowly and patiently.

* Brother-sergeant Priad of ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'' doesn't understand that someone's joking even when it seems obvious, like when Petrok says that he's already killed four or five annying equerries.
-->'''Petrok''': Funny, you can spot a tracer round flying over your head in time to duck it, but a joke...\\
'''Priad''': That was a joke?\\
'''Petrok''': I haven't killed any equerries. It's frowned upon.
** Petrok, on the other hand, is an inversion - sometimes he seems like the only Iron Snake with ''any'' sense of humor at all.

--->'''Ce'Nedra''':Don't you ever smile?
--->'''Brendig''':(perfectly straight face) I am smiling.

--> '''Stannis:''' ...Then we ate the cats; Never liked cats, so fine. I do like dogs, good animals, loyal. But we ate them...
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''

---> '''Quark''': And they say you have no sense of humor.

-->'''Dean:''' ''(referring to Uriel)'' You know, I'm starting to think junkless has a better sense of humor than you do.
-->'''Castiel:''' ''[[TheComicallySerious (utterly serious)]]'' Uriel's the funniest angel in the garrison. Ask anyone.

-->"Now, nobody likes a good laugh more than I do... except perhaps my wife and some of her friends... oh yes and Captain Johnston. Come to think of it most people likes a good laugh more than I do."

* Played with in ''Series/StargateSG1'', Colonel O'Neill has very specifically stated that [[SpellMyNameWithAnS his name is spelled with two Ls]] on several occasions; this is because there's another Colonel Jack O'Neil in the fictional version of the USAF, one with No Sense Of Humor. This is an in-joke and lampshading of the fact that Kurt Russell's version of the character in the movie (spelled with one L in the credits) was significantly less funny.
** Teal'c almost never tells a joke or laughs (unless you count his occasional plays on earth idioms), with one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka6tvlewO3c exception]]. It turns out his sense of humor just doesn't translate cultures well.

-->'''Admiral Brovo''': Don't worry, Teddy. Junior officers get thrown to the sharks first. And lieutenant Rabb is the one who's sailing into harm's way.
-->'''Commander Lindsey''': Yes, sir.
-->'''Admiral Brovo''': Harm's way? Lieutenant Rabb's first name is Harm.
-->'''Commander Lindsey''': Oh! Oh, yes, sir.
-->'''Admiral Brovo''': You need a sense of humor, Teddy, otherwise people are gonna think you're a [[AcceptableTargets lawyer]].
-->'''Commander Lindsey''': I am a lawyer, sir.
* People who don't "get" ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' - a show that plays bad movies and heckles them as they play - sometimes are dealing with this. They find the riffing gets in the way of their enjoyment of the movie being played. Not everyone has this issue though - some people have a good sense of humor but it's hard for them to follow two things - the movie ''and'' the riffing.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* [[http://www.gocomics.com/barneyandclyde/2012/05/30 Harold]] in ''ComicStrip/BarneyAndClyde''. So far, that's his sole character trait.

* Any being with the disadvantage "No Sense Of Humor" in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''.

* Some Champions in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' just refuse to joke when you order them to. If you read their backstories, it was implied that a traumatic event from their past prevent them from making jokes and take things in utter seriousness.
-->'''Vayne''': I have no time for nonsense. / ''Joke''? What do you mean?

* [[TheComicallySerious Frank]] from Webcomic/TwoGuysAndGuy.

-->''"I had fun once, and it was awful."''

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [=CivGeneral=] of ''Webcomic/DrawYourOwnStory'', but only towards jokes directed towards him.
* ''Podcast/TheJohnDredgeNothingToDoWithAnythingShow's'' version of Hans Keller:
--> '''Hans Keller''': Before we continue further, I must give a special mention to Radio 3's very own "Smiley Miley", who buried my car in ze sand yesterday as a so called "prank". Needless to say, I immediately contacted ze police und expect ze subsequent court proceedings to result in a custodial sentence. I bet he isn't smiling now.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Kai is ''very'' serious, and he doesn't like it when others make a game out of serious situations either.
** [[{{Jerkass}} Aseir]] can NOT take a joke, and Nik wonders if he knows what a joke even is.
[[/folder]]

* Optimus Prime in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. It's stated that all Primes are like this -- the Matrix of Leadership, which contains the accumulated wisdom of all past Primes, gives them a sense of responsibility, dignity and gravitas that leaves little room for goofing around.
** Optimus notably wasn't like this in the original series. While usually serious he was not above playing a game of basketball with his men, or cracking a joke or two, or mocking Megatron. However as the years and series went on his characterisation became more and more about being a no-nonsense messiah type figure.

--> '''Lemongrab:''' "Ha. Ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Twelve years Dungeon! All of you! Dungeon! Seven years, no trial!

* [[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy Mandy]], full stop. She never smiles, much less laugh, but is capable of snark.

** This trope was parodied by UN Ambassador [[http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/391553/july-11-2011/tip-wag---john-lennon---german-humor Hans Beinholtz]] whose sense of humour was...dry, to say the least.
*** In Greece, if someone tells a joke that completely fails to amuse, people are likely to comment 'That's an English joke'.

** He was well-known for having the sense of humor of an under-ripe potato. They used to use him as a sort of barometer for the quality of their ideas; if he liked it, they were off the mark. Selzer was, in fact, the specific genesis of the cartoon "WesternAnimation/BullyForBugs", when he barged into a brainstorming session between Creator/ChuckJones and Michael Maltese and declared, sans all provocation, that bullfights weren't funny, and there were to be no cartoons about them. They made the cartoon anyway, the argument being that Selzer had, in Chuck's words, "never been right about anything yet." Selzer's edict that "camels aren't funny" inspired Creator/FrizFreleng to disprove him by making "Sahara Hare". And although he loudly (and indelicately) declared that there was nothing funny about [[WesternAnimation/PepeLePew a skunk speaking French]], Selzer proudly accepted the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1949 – for "WesternAnimation/ForScentimentalReasons", a Pepé Le Pew cartoon.

* The Islamic tyrant Ruhollah Khomeini is famous for this, one even claiming "[[{{Jerkass}} There is no room for play in Islam, there are no jokes, there is no fun, there is no humour]]."
** Which is rather odd, considering that there are quite a few hadiths about Muhammed himself cracking [[http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/prophet-muhammad-pbuh-sense-of-humor/ jokes]].
* Attila the Hun is reputed to have had no sense of humour. Allegedly an envoy from the Eastern Roman empire who met with Attila once at dinner described it as follows: “By mixing up the languages of the Italians with those of the Huns and Goths, [an entertainer] fascinated everyone and made them break out into uncontrollable laughter, all that is except Attila. He remained impassive, without any change of expression, and neither by word or gesture did he seem to share in the merriment ….” The impression left was that Attila lacked a sense of humor and cared about nothing but power.

* Feminists are often accused of this. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment This is not the place to do it]].

** Granny Weatherwax understands humor on a conceptual level, but has absolutely no sense of humor and has no understanding of how or why jokes work. Illustrated well in ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'', where she repeatedly tries to tell the "alligator sandwich" joke but always bungles the punchline with something like "And be quick about it!"[[labelnote:Actual punchline]]"And make it snappy!"[[/labelnote]]

** In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Adora Belle Dearheart tells Moist Von Lipwig that she has no sense of humour due to her embarrassing name.
** In ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', the head bank clerk, Mavolio Bent, has "no sense of humour whatsoever. It has been proven by phrenology." It becomes more apparent when one considers [[spoiler:his background as the child of a clown, being laughed out of the arena during his first performance (which failed), fleeing from the circus and vowing never to laugh again]].
** Archchancellor Ridcully has a similar lack as Granny, with the result that his jokes are one of many aspects of his personality that grate on the Bursar, who ''also'' has no sense of humour, but at least understands how jokes are supposed to work. In fact, when Ridcully first appears in ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', the Bursar (who has not yet been driven completely insane by the man) attempts a joke himself:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* A common misconception of Creator/AynRand is that she had no comprehension of humor, despite [[DeadpanSnarker a talent for devastatingly on-target satire]]. She was sometimes LateToThePunchline, perhaps as a result of early trauma, and part of it could have been that she was a native Russian-speaker operating in an English-speaking environment; plays on words and things like that may have just sailed right past her. She was prone to quips however and sometimes demonstrated a biting sardonic wit. For instance, whilst being pestered by a fly on a talk show, she commented "[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Perhaps it's protesting]]."

* Almost all of the big villains in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}''.

Arguably a subtrope of NoSocialSkills depending on the culture. May overlap with EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor and SarcasmBlind. Also see LateToThePunchline, DontExplainTheJoke and CannotTellAJoke. DudeNotFunny is a completely different trope, but in-universe, one ''can'' be confused for the other depending on the character.

** Death also has NoSenseOfHumor, being an anthropomorphic personification who doesn't understand human emotions. His brief attempts to inject humor into his work [[CannotTellAJoke failed spectacularly]].

* In ''Literature/TheDeedOfPaksenarrion'', gnomes are absolute LawfulNeutral with NoSenseOfHumor, believing that only they know and follow the true laws laid down at creation by the High Lord.

* Germans are often stereotyped as having NoSenseOfHumor. In reality, GermanHumour is a bit more complicated; Germans definitely do have a sense of humour, and enjoy comedy, but their ideas about what is funny and what isn't can vary greatly from those of English speakers. Adding to the confusion is the tendency of German people to smile at a joke instead of laugh, making foreigners think that they didn't get it and are just being polite.

** He was well-known for having the sense of humor of an under-ripe potato. They used to use him as a sort of barometer for the quality of their ideas; if he liked it, they were off the mark. Selzer was, in fact, the specific genesis of the cartoon "WesternAnimation/BullyForBugs", when he barged into a brainstorming session and declared, sans all provocation, that bullfights weren't funny, and there were to be no cartoons about them. They made the cartoon anyway, the argument being that Selzer had, in Creator/ChuckJones' words, "never been right about anything yet." Selzer's edict that "camels aren't funny" inspired Friz Freleng to disprove him by making "Sahara Hare". And although he loudly (and indelicately) declared that there was nothing funny about a skunk speaking French, Selzer proudly accepted the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1949 – for "For Scent-imental Reasons", a Pepé Le Pew cartoon.

* Lunge from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is laser-focused on catching Dr. Tenma at all costs--he subsequently has no time for comedy. He does lighten up a bit at the end though.

* Owing to his status as the world's most successful {{Troll}}, part of Creator/AndyKaufman's bizarre [[AntiHumor schtick]] was a complete lack of understanding as to what a joke was. In interviews, he'd respond to humorous remarks with a mystified "What?" or even go as far as to [[DontExplainTheJoke explain why the comment didn't make any sense as a statement]].

** He was well-known for having the sense of humor of an underripe potato. They used to use him as a sort of barometer for the quality of their ideas; if he liked it, they were off the mark. Selzer was, in fact, the specific genesis of the cartoon "WesternAnimation/BullyForBugs", when he barged into a brainstorming session and declared, sans all provocation, that bullfights weren't funny, and there were to be no cartoons about them. They made the cartoon anyway, the argument being that Selzer had, in Creator/ChuckJones' words, "never been right about anything yet." Selzer's edict that "camels aren't funny" inspired Friz Freleng to disprove him by making "Sahara Hare". And although he loudly (and indelicately) declared that there was nothing funny about a skunk who spoke French, Selzer proudly accepted the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1949 – for "For Scent-imental Reasons", a Pepé Le Pew cartoon.

** Which is rather odd considering that there are quite a few hadiths about Muhammed himself cracking [[http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/prophet-muhammad-pbuh-sense-of-humor/ jokes]].

[[caption-width-right:250:[-This beak was [[StealthPun not made for smiling.]]-] ]]

* Benito Juárez is treated in this fashion by [[http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=309 this]] ''Webcomic/HarkAVagrant'' strip.
-->''"I had fun once, and it was awful."''

A character with No Sense of Humor is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin incapable of enjoying jokes, comedy, or humor]] of any sort. Maybe the character is TheStoic [[TheSpock turned]] UpToEleven, or an otherworldly being with no notion of comedy, or the victim of a traumatizing accident -- whatever it is, this person is unwilling (or ''unable'') to respond to humor, [[CannotTellAJoke tell jokes]], or even recognize when something is funny at all.

A character with No Sense of Humor is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin incapable of enjoying jokes, comedy, or humor]] of any sort. Maybe the character is TheStoic turned UpToEleven, or an otherworldly being with no notion of comedy, or the victim of a traumatizing accident -- whatever it is, this person is unwilling (or ''unable'') to respond to humor, [[CannotTellAJoke tell jokes]], or even recognize when something is funny at all.

* No-nonsense badass soldier Giroro of ''Manga/SgtFrog''.

* Feminists are often accused of this. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment This is not the place to do it]].