History Main / OnlySaneMan

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Sally seems to be the only denizen of HalloweenTown who even approaches the realization that people don't want to be scared or attacked on Christmas.

Picture this: Alice is the StupidEvil PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Karl is [[StupidGood too nice for his own good]], Daniel is Charlotte's AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk shallow]] {{sociopath}}, Maria often RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a LawfulStupid {{Fundamentalist}}, Jacob thinks [[WindmillCrusader he's a hero on a grand quest]], and Lily is a MadArtist who's obsessed with her [[{{WaxMuseumMorgue}} wax "statues."]] Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger and eyeball collection, Gardenia's tendency to attack anyone not believing in her religion, Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Or reacts with either annoyance or bewilderment to things like Bob's [[InsaneTrollLogic warped logic]], Karl's HonorBeforeReason mindset (honor being always thought first in his case), Maria's insistence to rhyme all the time, and Jacob's [[HeroicWannabe delusions of being a hero]]. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

** The Only Sane Prosecutor prize goes to Klavier Gavin (with post-timeskip Edgeworth as a runner-up). Yes, he has a second career as a rock star, and yes, he air guitars in court, which is kind of weird. He's also the ''only'' prosecutor you face to be a GracefulLoser with no baggage regarding his win record, completely non-corrupt, and have no grudge against any main characters. He's also fairly good at keeping quirky witnesses on-task (compare Edgeworth, who can never get them to even say their ''names'' on the first go) and is the only prosecutor to think of issuing a gag order surrounding a high-profile crime. Being called "Herr Forehead" and lightly teased/flirted with is ''tame'' compared to what other prosecutors get away with.

Picture this: Alice is the StupidEvil PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Karl is [[StupidGood too nice for his own good]], Daniel is Charlotte's AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk shallow]] {{sociopath}}, Maria often RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a LawfulStupid {{Fundamentalist}}, Jacob thinks [[WindmillCrusader he's a hero on a grand quest]], and Lily is a MadArtist who's obsessed with her [[{{WaxMuseumMorgue}} wax 'statues']] . Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger and eyeball collection, Gardenia's tendency to attack anyone not believing in her religion, Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Or reacts with either annoyance or bewilderment to things like Bob's [[InsaneTrollLogic warped logic]], Karl's HonorBeforeReason mindset (honor being always thought first in his case), Maria's insistence to rhyme all the time, and Jacob's [[HeroicWannabe delusions of being a hero]]. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

** {{Subverted}} with Monika: In the first act, when everyone else's problems are still relatively normal (so Natsuki, for example, is suffering from lack of respect, poor self-esteem, and [[{{Tsundere}} anger management issues]]), it seems Monika is the only one who's totally fine and stable. [[spoiler: It turns out she's worse than any of the others and the cause of all the insanity going on since the end of the first act.]]

** As a general rule, the vast majority of ''Danganronpa'' characters are a massive DysfunctionJunction [[ThereAreNoTherapists who seriously needs therapy]][[note]]especially the more unstable characters like [[TheSociopath Togami]], [[DefectiveDetective Kyoko]], [[ShrinkingViolet Chihiro]], [[CainAndAbel Mondo]], [[FragileFlower Mikan]], [[SourOutsideSadInside Hiyoko]], [[AxCrazy Nagito]]...[[/note]], but outside of the painfully normal main protagonists, there are two exceptions overall: [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc Leon Kuwata]] and [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair Sonia Nevermind]]; Leon's CasanovaWannabe and {{Keet}} tendencies aside, the former had a pretty normal upbringing due to getting his talent through TheGift and implied to come from a rich family (his cousin, Kanon, has her parent as the executive of a TV company) [[StraightMan and thus is pretty quick to point out a lot of the cast's zanier behavior]]. Sonia is largely the same way, who's generally speaking a SpoiledSweet NiceGirl who, outside of being a NightmareFetishist and CovertPervert, doesn't have nearly as many issues as her friends do. Interestingly, [[spoiler:Leon had the rotten luck of being attacked by Sayaka and killing her in impulse that he justified as self-defense, resulting in his execution. Meanwhile, Sonia had no such incidents and it's her friendly personality that helped her survive to the end of the game]].

* A lot of characters from ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' are this but the biggest ones are the three main playable protagonists (Makoto Naegi, Hajime Hinata, and Kaede Akamatsu [[spoiler:[[DecoyProtagonist until her death and her role was taken over by Shuichi Saihara]]]]. All of these characters play the role as the voice of reason among the characters that is always trying to prevent any killings from going on. Points go more toward Hajime who is a lot more snarkier than the other protagonists and will often get verbal when a situation gets too far.

* ''Wiki/RationalWiki'': The category [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Category:Right_of_reason Right of Reason]] is for conservatives with enough reasonable viewpoints that they can be taken seriously[[note]]Gerald Ford, Robert Taft, T.Boone Pickens, etc.[[/note]]. The leftist version is called [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Category:Left_of_reason Left of Reason]][[note]]Oscar Wilde, George Orwell, Bernie Sanders, etc.[[/note]].

Picture this: Alice is the StupidEvil PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Karl is [[StupidGood too nice for his own good]], Daniel is Charlotte's AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk shallow jerk]], Maria often RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a LawfulStupid {{Fundamentalist}}, Jacob thinks [[WindmillCrusader he's a hero on a grand quest]], and Lily is a MadArtist who's obsessed with her [[{{WaxMuseumMorgue}} wax 'statues']] . Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

Picture this: Alice is the StupidEvil PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is Charlotte's AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk shallow jerk]], Maria often RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a LawfulStupid {{Fundamentalist}}, Jacob thinks [[WindmillCrusader he's a hero on a grand quest]], and Lily is a MadArtist who's obsessed with her [[{{WaxMuseumMorgue}} wax 'statues']] . Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

Picture this: Alice is a PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is the AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, Maria often RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a LawfulStupid {{Fundamentalist}}, and Lily is a MadArtist who's obsessed with her [[{{WaxMuseumMorgue}} wax 'statues']] . Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

Picture this: Alice is a PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is the AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, Maria RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a HolierThanThou LawfulStupid, and Lily is a MadArtist who's obsessed with her [[{{WaxMuseumMorgue}} wax 'statues']] . Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

* The US ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem 7]]'' commercial has several barbarian kings all eating and laughing around a table (the gist was that they'd all just agreed to be allies). One of the men suddenly keels over, dead. There were many confused faces and cries of alarm, prompting one of the kings to shrug and say, "I put poison in his mutton." After a pause, the kings laugh and continue eating... except for one, whose facial expression clearly communicates that he knows that he's the Only Sane Man in the room.

* Unlike [[WickedCultured Rire]] and [[SerialKiller Strade]], [[MadDoctor Sano]] in ''VisualNovel/BoyfriendToDeath'' isn't as gung-ho to kickstart the ColdBloodedTorture, and is considerably kinder ''if'' he warms up to you. It says something about how utterly ''fucked up in the head'' the [[BastardBoyfriend "boyfriends"]] are when the MadDoctor is the closest to a sane man.

Picture this: Alice is a PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is the AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, Maria RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, Gardenia is a HolierThanThou LawfulStupid, and Lily is a MadArtist. Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

Picture this: Alice is a PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is the AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, Maria RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, and Gardenia is a HolierThanThou LawfulStupid. Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only Sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

* GBW in ''Script/AHDotComTheSeries''. About half the time this is played straight, while the other half it's subverted as the universe is so chaotic that a rational approach never yields the right answers.

Picture this: Alice is a PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is the AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, Maria RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, and Gardenia is a HolierThanThou LawfulStupid. Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Emily calls pets. Isaac is the Only sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

If several characters take turns being the Only Sane Man, they're playing with a SanityBall. If it's a two-person show, with one person playing the Only Sane Man to the other's wackiness, it's a StraightManAndWiseGuy scenario. This trope is the savvy half of a SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl duo, one third of a ComicTrio, and part of the FourManBand.

* These hilarious [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR71GnQ4CU4 commercials of CareerBuilder.com]]. Of course, EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys.

-->-- '''Creator/WilliamSBurroughs'''

Usually, but not always, a CastFullOfCrazy contains an Only Sane Man. Usually, he's prone to SanitySlippage.

* In Wrestling/{{WWE}}, it was pretty common for play-by-play guys on commentary to do this (Especially if their were {{Face}}). Wrestling/JimRoss did this on RAW while Wrestling/MichaelCole was the same on SmackDown!.

* Wrestling/JimRoss was this in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, and Wrestling/MichaelCole did as a face on Smackdown. Pretty common for play-by-play guys to do this.

Picture this: Alice is a PsychoForHire, Bob is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Henry is an EmptyShell, Charlotte is a ChaoticStupid [[ThePrankster prankster]], Daniel is the AnnoyingYoungerSibling, Emily is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, Maria RhymesOnADime, Franklin is a MadScientist, and Gardenia is a HolierThanThou LawfulStupid. Looks like your standard DysfunctionJunction. But then you have Isaac. Isaac is actually a very well-adjusted individual. He reacts with appropriate horror to things like Alice's finger collection or Franklin's experiments to revive the dead with science, and the crimes against nature that Gardenia calls pets. Isaac is the Only sane Man and The Only Voice Of Reason in the room.

** {{Subverted}} with Monika: In the first act, when everyone else's problems are still relatively normal (so Natsuki, for example, is suffering from lack of respect, poor self-esteem, and [[{{Tsundere}} anger management issues]]), it seems Monika is the only one who's totally fine and stable. [[spoiler: It turns out she's worse than any of the others, having GoneMadFromTheRevelation and only putting on an act all the time while being behind practically all the insanity in the game.]]

* Natsuki from ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' is the only member of the titular club who keeps her head throughout the entire game, even as [[spoiler:the game starts to show its true psychological horror colors]]. She even writes a letter begging the player to help [[ShrinkingViolet Yuri]] with her SelfHarm problem and is the only member of the group who [[spoiler:doesn't commit suicide when she dies]].