History Main / ObsessivelyNormal

A single-family house behind a white picket fence. In it lives a man, his wife, [[ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily their son, their daughter, and their baby of either sex]] with their dog and maybe cat in their own corner of StepfordSuburbia. The husband reads his paper in the morning, the wife fixes pancakes for the boy before he listens to [[MoralSubstitute parent-approved Christian rock]] and the girl goes on her not-date with her platonic male friend. And if any of them step out of line, they will be shamed and berated by the others.

The Obsessively Normal strive to be normal in every way. Because of this, they dislike weird and unusual things at best, and will harshly stamp them out at worst. In fantastic settings, their disdain may be aimed at [[DoesNotLikeMagic magic]], mutants, aliens. In more mundane settings, it is likely to be [[HeteronormativeCrusader homosexuals]] and other gender non-conformists, new brand products, street performers, and anything that disrupts the orderly, predictable world they want to see around them. In the darkest interpretations, their obsession with stamping out anything they deem "deviant" can manifest as [[ANaziByAnyOtherName sympathy for fascism]].

* This is part of the plot twist to ''Film/HotFuzz'': [[spoiler: Anything and everything (and ''everyone'') that is a threat to Sandford's normalcy and its chance of winning the annual "Village of the Year" award is swiftly and unequivocally killed by the Neighborhood Watch. Their targets include graffiti artists, street performers, underage drinkers, a wannabe tabloid reporter who can't spell, a dreadful actor and his mistress with an annoying laugh, and a ''nouveau-riche'' businessman who lives in a tacky mansion. Their first victims were entire families of [[TrashyTrailerPark travelers]].]]

* This is part of the plot twist to ''Film/HotFuzz'': [[spoiler: Anything and everything (and ''everyone'') that is a threat to Sandford's normalcy and its chance of winning the annual "Village of the Year" award is swiftly and unequivocally killed by the Neighborhood Watch. Their targets include graffiti artists, street performers, underage drinkers, a wannabe tabloid reporter who can't spell, a dreadful actor and his mistress with an annoying laugh, and a ''nouveau-riche'' businessman who lives in a tacky mansion.]]

* Memorably subverted by ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''. A major part of the joke with the Addamses is that they thought that ''they'' were the normal ones, and that it was everybody else who was weird. The joke, of course, is that they're a family of {{Nightmare Fetishist}}s with a {{goth}}ic fashion sense straight out of old Franchise/UniversalHorror movies and Creator/EdgarAllanPoe stories.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', [[spoiler:Bradford Buzzard]] is the antithesis of Scrooge, having a hatred of adventure and seeking to impose what he deems "normal" upon the world initially through bureaucratic means before outright becoming a supervillain and finishing with [[spoiler:forcing Scrooge to sign a MagicallyBindingContract in which Scrooge renounces being an adventurer forevermore [[IHaveYourWife at figurative gunpoint]]]]. The fact that by the end he's as far from normal as possible is something that's lampshaded and definitely irks him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'', [[spoiler:Bradford Buzzard]] is the antithesis of Scrooge, having a hatred of adventure and seeking to impose what he deems "normal" upon the world initially through bureaucratic means before outright becoming a supervillain and finishing with [[spoiler:forcing Scrooge to sign a MagicallyBindingContract in which Scrooge renounces being an adventurer forevermore [[IHaveYourWife at figurative gunpoint]]]]. The fact that by the end he's as far from normal as possible is something that's lampshaded and definitely irks him.

* In ''Videogame/DiscoElysium'', it's possible to play the Detective as a "Boring Cop" who goes out of his way to avoid saying anything particularly bizarre or have any particularly strong opinions (which usually means that [[UnconventionalAlignment their political alignment]] will likely be "Moralism" [[note]]The setting's version of Neoliberalism[[/note]]). It's also noted however that doing so is something that goes against [[BunnyEarsLawyer the Detective's]] very nature, requires a large amount of willpower from his part, and sometimes results in him insisting he is normal directly after doing blatantly ''abnormal'' things.

The Obsessively Normal strive to be normal in every way. Because of this, they dislike weird and unusual things at best, and will harshly stamp them out at worst. In fantastic settings, their disdain may be aimed at [[DoesNotLikeMagic magic]], mutants, aliens. In more mundane settings, it is likely to be [[HeteronormativeCrusader homosexuals]] and other gender non-conformists, new brand products, street performers, and anything that disrupts the orderly, predictable world they want to see around them.

* Col. Strickland, the villain of ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'', lives his life completely by the book, following orders, starting a family he doesn't love, and being mean and condescending to everyone who doesn't fit into his view of "normal" (read: everyone who isn't a straight white man), and being [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence morally offended by the very existence]] of the [[FishPeople Amphibian Man]] - a beautiful, magical creature he can only perceive as a monstrous freak. In one scene, a canny car salesman talks Strickland into buying a car he doesn't really like by convincing him that the colour is actually an extremely cool and manly status symbol. As with most of Creator/GuillermoDelToro's villains, BeingEvilSucks and Strickland is a deeply unhappy man.

* In the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', the Group of Interest SAPPHIRE (Society of Atheists for the Protection from the Perilous and Hindering Institutionalized Religions Everywhere) are in a way since they want to destroy what they don't understand

* In the song "Subdivisions" by Music/{{Rush}}, you got "In the high school halls, In the shopping malls, Conform or be cast out."

And even within their community, the paradox these people face is that the more they strive to be “normal”, the less normal they will be, since everyone deviates from the norm in some respect, and being perfectly “normal” is statistically very abnormal.

* The town of Seabrook from ''Film/Zombies2018'' happens to be the best example of this trope -- the people there hate ''anything'' that's different. This is displayed by the only wallpaper, toiletries and [[LimitedWardrobe clothing colors]] sold there are pastel pink and blue (sometimes green), and all the houses have basically the same architecture and design. They also reject any abnormal hair color, such as Addison's natural white hair which she has to keep hidden under a blonde wig.

* In ''Film/Zombies2018'', the humans of Seabrook are like this, being ridiculously conformist and opposed to anything abnormal. This is likely done to oppose zombies and it mellows out from the second movie on as zombies and the other monster races start gaining acceptance.

See also AbsoluteXenophobe, TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence, and MuggleFosterParents. Not to be confused with the CreatureOfHabit, who sticks to their routine even if they know it looks strange to others. Also not to be confused with IJustWantToBeNormal, which is about characters who would rather not have the unique powers or situation they live with (although the two tropes ''can'' overlap if a character who Just Wants To Be Normal then extends their dislike of their own abnormality to external things that have nothing to do with them - perhaps thanks to [[BoomerangBigot Boomerang Bigotry]] or InternalizedCategorism).

* ''Series/WandaVision'' begins with Wanda and Vision starring in a 50's sitcom in which everything is as pristinely normal as it can possibly be... mostly. Wanda is a housewife, Vision works a corporate job and has to have his boss over for dinner, HijinksEnsue. But even in the first episode, there are hints that [[spoiler: Wanda hexed an entire town into a sitcom fantasy because she wants [[IJustWantToBeNormal so desperately]] to escape the extraordinary circumstances that killed Peitro and Vision. She forces everyone to embody rigid sitcom roles so she can live out her fantasy of a "normal" domestic life.]]

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* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': One of the [=NPCs=] of the ''TabletopGame/FreedomCity'' settings is an Expy of Samantha Stephens of ''Bewitched'' that had this happening to her UpToEleven on her backstory -- her Darren Expy was so driven to not have magic in his life that he managed to cajole her Aunt Clara Expy into ''committing suicide'' and mistreated her. One thing led to another, and well... she now has more in similarity with ''ComicBook/NickFury'' than Samantha Stephens.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'', [[spoiler:Bradford Buzzard]] is the antithesis of Scrooge, having a hatred of adventure and seeking to impose what he deems "normal" upon the world initially through bureaucratic means before outright becoming a supervillain and finishing with [[spoiler:forcing Scrooge to sign a DealWithTheDevil in which Scrooge renounces being an adventurer forevermore [[IHaveYourWife at figurative gunpoint]]]]. The fact that by the end he's as far from normal as possible is something that's lampshaded and definitely irks him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'', [[spoiler:Bradford Buzzard]] is the antithesis of Scrooge, having a hatred of adventure and seeking to impose what he deems "normal" upon the world initially through bureaucratic means before outright becoming a supervillain. The fact that by the end he's as far as normal as possible is something that's lampshaded and definitely irks him.

* In ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'', Joe Wright is a married man who chalks up anything that happens in his Wisconsin suburb that doesn't fall within his narrow idea of what's acceptable to sinister alien "Normalcy Invaders." He becomes both super-empowered and more insane when the American Scream uses him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAddamsFamily1992'': Norman and Normina Normanmeyer strive to be as normal as possible. Because of this, they despise their abnormal neighbors the Addams for this very reason. They expect the same from their more open-minded son, N.J. Ironically, some would say that the Normanmeyers are the most ''abnormal'' characters on their show due to their obsession with underwear, Norman being the CEO of a large underwear manufacturing corporation.

* The Covenant in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' is a walled-off city that consists of normal people doing normal[[note]]However, the Fallout universe got stuck in the '50s up until the bombs dropped in 2077[[/note]] activities in normal houses... 200 years after everything was eradicated by a nuclear war. Heck, their houses are the only ones in the entire commonwealth that are still in perfect condition! They do interview everyone who wishes to enter, although [[EverythingTryingToKillYou even it is justified given the situation]]. [[spoiler: You find out that they use the test to determine if you're a human or not, and everyone they deem suspicious is sent in a hideaway for testing (read: tortured). Not agreeing with their methods results in the entire town trying to gun you down, and once it's emptied you can build your own settlement inside the walls. Alternatively, you can side with them and use their settlement.]]

* The titular character of ''Manga''/TheDisasterousLifeOfSaikiK'', Saiki Kusuo, just wants to live a simple life, being left alone by others to enjoy the quiet and his coffee jellies, but due to being an unwilling MagneticHero for his eccentric classmates and winner of the SuperpowerLottery as the world's most powerful psychic, he's constantly being dragged into comedic scenarios that drag him out of that normality. Throughout the series, he's doing his best to be good enough to succeed, but bad enough that he doesn't stand out.

* In ''Videogame/DiscoElysium'', it's possible to play the Detective as a "Boring Cop" who goes out of his way to avoid saying anything particularly bizarre or have any particularly strong opinions (which usually means that [[UnconventionalAlignment their political alignment]] will likely be "Moralism" [[note]]The setting's version of Neoliberalism[[/note]]). It's also noted however that doing so is something that goes against [[BunnyEarsLawyer the Detective's]] very nature and is something that requires a large amount of willpower from his part.

See also AbsoluteXenophobe, TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence, and MuggleFosterParents. Not to be confused with the CreatureOfHabit, who sticks to their routine even if they know it looks strange to others.

* Maya Matsumoto from ''Manga/{{Working}}'' has a deep obsession to be a normal person. She often claims she is the only normal worker of the restaurant and her workmates are a bunch of freaks.