History Main / TheSnarkKnight

* Mandy from ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', also with HeroicComedicSociopath elements.
* Lydia Deetz in ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}''.
* Cassandra from ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', even more so than Megara.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Kyon is this trope in spades. Most of his dialogue revolves around him snarking about how the world literally revolves around Haruhi's whims.

* On ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'', Danny is often this to Arin's more "colorful" outbursts to doing badly at games. Like quipping "Yeah, that's what bullets are" to Arin after he complains about the {{One Hit Kill}}s in ''VideoGame/MadDogMccree'', or saying "What did you ''think'' would happen?" when Arin jumped to his death on ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', or the scolding mother tone he uses when he says "...''Arin''" after Arin realizes the mistake he's been making that's been making him struggle at the game they've been playing. In fact, there is ''specifically'' a "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG0HJZG2aMc Dan Says 'Arin' Like a Disappointed Mother]]" compilation on Youtube that is a half-hour long.

* Wednesday Addams, in ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' films. Complete with a never-changing expression and a taste for sadism.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': This ''is'' Church. He even crosses into outright ([[FailureIsTheOnlyOption attempts at]]) heroism sometimes, but never ceases pointing out how stupid everyone around him is, [[TheDitz especially Caboose]]. He also has a strange sort of enduring optimism, in that he can be compelled to genuinely try to help people he likes. Washington from ''Reconstruction'' almost fits too, but...

* In ''Manga/VirginLove'', Kaoru's default mode is disdain, which includes disdain for himself whenever he fails to live up to his own standards.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ryuuken Ishida [[HiddenHeartOfGold appears to be]] a bitterly sarcastic individual who is hypercritical of his son's desire and ability to be a Quincy, causing the pair to dissolve into SnarkToSnarkCombat whenever they're in the same room together. Isshin Kurosaki, [[OddFriendship who knows Ryuuken's secret]], implies that Ryuuken is trying to help his son in some very specific way. Flashbacks revealing the beginning of Ryuuken's problems with Quincies show no-one in the world is a harsher critic of Ryuuken than Ryuuken himself. He's clearly a StepfordSnarker, but the link between the start of his problems and his current situation has [[MysteriousPast yet to be fully revealed]].

* In ''[[ComicStrip/{{Retail}} Pretending You Care: The Retail Employee Handbook]]'', one of the co-worker archetypes you can expect to work with fits this to a T and then some, known as "The Curmudgeon". They're described as an employee who has worked there for so long and dealt with the crap that comes with retail like [[PointyHairedBoss idiotic bosses]], [[UnsatisfiableCustomer awful customers]], and the [[SoulSuckingRetailJob overall inanity]] of it so much that they've basically become a mouthy, miserable, snarky jackass to everyone. The book cautions against spending time around them as they are ''always'' jerks even to the customers and coworkers they are dealing with don't deserve it, but acknowledges that they generally are ''very'' competent at the ins and outs of the job (specifically at ''avoiding'' the lousier aspects of the job) and thus are good to study from afar.

* [[http://dcnation.wetpaint.com/page/Green+Shield+Tara+Strong Green Shield/Tara Strong]] of ''Roleplay/DCNation''; her genius-level IQ, photographic memory and dedication to her medical studies fulfills the genius requirement and the ridiculously high standards. She's also quicker with the snark than she is with her bow.

* Ever since he regenerates from a mild-mannered, slightly eccentric old man into a steely-eyed adventurer, the Doctor from ''Fanfic/TheRoadToShalka'' snarks at stupid humans, including his companions, incessantly. He is, however, quite quick to admit his own mistakes. This is probably best showcased in ''Children of the Sanctum'', where he's companionless, but putting the moves on Angela - the Doctor is visibly disapointed in her when the prospective companion doesn't own up to something she's done, but just as visibly proud when she saves the day. His BrutalHonesty is part of why Angela finally decides to ditch her job and leave with the Doctor - he treats her as an equal.

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Londo's first wife [[SdrawkcabName Timov]] falls into this. Even though she's constantly (and justifiably) berating him, he chooses to keep her over all his other wives. He's suspicious of all flattery, but he knows her contempt is genuine. What he doesn't know that Timov is secretly charmed by that respect for her honesty.

** August Leffler, Tommy's ex. August either went through character decay (or development; as a teenager, such a change in personality isn't unrealistic), becoming rather hypocritical and just liking to look down at everyone. Her initial appearance portrayed her as a more well-adjusted and pleasant person (At least, as well adjusted as The Snark Knight can get).

* Malcolm from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' takes the cake. Always, ''always'' snidely fuming at everyone and everything. A couple episodes try to tackle this directly (with him trying to suppress his desire to grumble and condescend for various reasons) but ends up blowing up in his face (he gave himself an ulcer once by swallowing down too much snark).

* The title character of ''Series/{{Fleabag}}'' is the black sheep of her family and has difficulty holding down jobs or forming relationships so she's got the outsider part down pat and in addition to this she narrates her life in the most beautifully snarky manner you can imagine. No-one, least of all she, is safe from her barbed wit.

* The title character of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' in every respect, from the outsider status, the virulent self-contempt and of course the bitterly sardonic wit.

* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' Canach, his [[https://youtu.be/HcHsORZN8CA comments]] are the highlight of every episode he is taking part of.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Qrow's entire character revolves around this with his cynical yet laid back attitude, always favors a drink and actually fights WHILE drunk, and angrily calls out his "partners" for idiotic decisions, though [[CoolUncle he takes a more playful attitude towards his nieces Ruby and Yang.]]

* LetsPlay/{{Pwnage}}: Kyle Addams acts world-weary and throws plenty of his biting and bitter wit. His snark is near-constant in their videos, not to mention, he won't exempt himself from his own disdainful comments. This quote shows one of his quotes where he insults himself, Damian and the game they're playing.
-->Kyle: This will be like a mystery- like anthropologists will somehow find this shitty video and just be like: Oh! Well appears to be some loud-mouthed white trash degenerate and some simpleton gap-toothed autistic kid who wandered around playing, uhh, what appears to be some simulation built to make people want to end their own lives!
* On ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'', Danny is often this to Arin's more "colorful" outbursts to doing badly at games. Like quipping "Yeah, that's what bullets are" to Arin after he complains about the {{One Hit Kill}}s in ''VideoGame/MadDogMccree'', or saying "What did you ''think'' would happen?" when Arin jumped to his death on ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', or the solding mother tone he uses when he says "...''Arin''" after Arin realizes the mistake he's been making that's been making him struggle at the game they've been playing. In fact, there is ''specifically'' a "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG0HJZG2aMc Dan Says 'Arin' Like a Disappointed Mother]]" compilation on Youtube that is a half-hour long.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Squidward makes a snarky remark almost every time he's on screen. This attitude seems to largely come from his belief that the citizens of Bikini Bottom are all well below him culturally and intellectually, which they are for the most part, especially [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick. He's also prone to making deadpan comments about his own misfortunes. Ex: after nearly getting impaled to death in Band Geeks, he makes the following comment as though he were disappointed: "To bad that didn't kill me."

* Huey from ''ComicStrip/TheBoondocks'', whose high standards for everything cause him tons of stress, since he's also a miniature AngryBlackMan.

* Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} is this in spades often. Wolvie, [[CharacterDevelopment for the longest time]], rivaled the Comicbook/IncredibleHulk for "angriest character" in Marvel; he would make snarky or snide remarks to just about everyone, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold though he does have a soft]] [[PapaWolf spot for kids]], and generally got angry at the drop of the hat. But the person he hates the most is himself. It's been suggested that one of the biggest reasons he hates Sabretooth so deeply is because he sees too much of himself in Victor - what Wolverine himself could become if he lost all his morals and let "The Animal" take over.

* ''Manga/BlackClover'' gives us Zora. Whether you're an ally or enemy, start any level of conversation with him and he'll definitely have a nice serving of sharply worded insults and/or critique ready for you. Given his disillusionment with the Magic Knights and how [[FantasticCasteSystem many of them operate]], he has a very [[KnightInSourArmor dreary and realistic outlook on the world despite being a Magic Knight himself]] quips at anything he can]]. He particularly loves doing this to his opponents after he's beaten them. He'll give them a potent ReasonYouSuckSpeech in regards to why they lost or why they should have done better. And he does not exempt ''himself'' from the snark. After criticizing everyone else at the end of a Royal Knights match, he then criticizes himself for not having more faith in his comrades.

To the "herd followers" they deprecate, this makes them a mild {{Jerkass}}. The sympathetic see their antisocial behavior as a sort of personal crusade against idiocy. The AlphaBitch and JerkJock are their mortal enemies. If they have any positive interaction with the BigManOnCampus, then they are also a CoolLoser, teaching him not to be a self-satisfied twit while he teaches them to be less haughty and smile a little.

The key element that differentiates the Snark Knight from a normal DeadpanSnarker, a SmugSnake, or a plain old {{jerkass}} is that the Snark Knight holds themselves to their own impossibly high standards. This means that they will [[SelfDeprecation throw barbs at themselves]] as often as they [[TakeThat throw them at others]], [[SincerityMode with the exact same level of vitriol]]. And because of these high standards, you can bet they won't be EasilyImpressed.

* On ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'', Danny is often this to Arin's more "colorful" outbursts to doing badly at games. Like quipping "Yeah, that's what bullets are" to Arin after he complains about the {{One Hit Kill}}s in ''VideoGame/MadDogMccree'', or saying "What did you ''think'' would happen?" when Arin jumped to his death on ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', or the solding mother tone he uses when he says "...''Arin''" after Arin realizes the mistake he's been making that's been making him struggle at the game they've been playing.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* UsefulNotes/JohnAdams and his son, UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams, both fit this trope to a T. Considering that both were believed to struggle with depression in addition to IntelligenceEqualsIsolation, this makes sense.
* Creator/DorothyParker qualified, at least during her Vicious Circle period. Snarky, sour, misanthropic, cynical, self-flagellating... even if she did seem to have great sympathy for the Virgin Mary.
* Creator/AlfredHitchcock seems to be this in his [[Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents television persona]].
* Both Creator/FriedrichNietzsche and Søren Kierkegaard were this in spades.
* The late author Creator/ChristopherHitchens.
* The years since the break-up of Music/TheBeatles and especially since his murder have revealed Music/JohnLennon to be an example of this.
* American feminist writer Camille Paglia, especially as regards other feminists.
* Britain is [[NationalStereotypes perceived]] as this by the rest of the world.
** But they're known for [[{{SelfDeprecation}} self-deprecating humor]] and charm along with their wit. [[FrenchJerk The French]], however, are not.
** Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh was a ''{{literal|Metaphor}}'' Snark Knight.
* Creator/GeorgeCarlin. This personality trait was exaggerated in his stage persona, but those close to him say the real Carlin shared most of his character's views, he just wasn't as much of a jerk about it.
* Florence King. What else can you call someone who's magazine column was titled "The Misanthrope's Corner" and whose book titles include "With Charity Towards None."
* Music/WarrenZevon was one. In his final appearance on Letterman, having discussed Zevon's recent diagnosis of terminal cancer, the host said: "To me, you look and seem remarkably healthy." Zevon replied: "Well, don't be fooled."
* Creator/AmbroseBierce. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' is pretty much ''the Bible'' of this trope.
* Creator/AynRand, especially when it came to conservatives and other people she didn't think represented capitalism properly.
[[/folder]]

--> "I'm not hostile, I'm annoyed."

--> '''[[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/6163-Wreckateer-and-Deadlight Yahtzee:]]''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext Tony Hawk's head isn't even particularly big]], and he can hardly be said to be exploring [[CrapsackWorld a big, scary world]]; he's just farting about on a bit of wood, [[TakeThat being paid too much money to not get a proper job]]. ([[LampshadeHanging Yeah, all right,]] [[HypocriticalHumor glass houses.]])

-->'''Randal''': That guy's an asshole. Everybody that comes in here is way too uptight. This job would be great if it wasn't for the fucking customers.

* ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'': Pam Beasley as she says things that offend her and sometimes towards Michael.

-->'''Xayah''': "I'm so tired... "
-->'''Rakan:''': "You gotta rest, honey."
-->'''Xayah''': "Everyone is depending on me."
-->'''Rakan''': "''Everyone'' can wait."

SubTrope of DeadpanSnarker. Contrast LonersAreFreaks. Often the opposite of the StepfordSmiler. If their sarcasm is revealed to be a similar mask, they're a StepfordSnarker. See also KnightInSourArmor and CoolLoser.

* ''Literature/TheRulesOfSupervillainy'' stars Gary Karkofsky, who is the titular and seemingly light-hearted supervillain. Then you realize he's carrying an immense amount of Bruce Wayne-meets-Peter Parker-sized baggage.

%%* [[AloofBigBrother Sesshomaru]] from ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' really comes across as this.

* Ambrose Bierce. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' is pretty much ''the Bible'' of this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Squidward makes a snarky remark almost everytime he's on screen. This attitude seems to largely come from his belief that the citizens of Bikini Bottom are all well below him culturally and intellectually, which they are for the most part especially Spongebob and Patrick. He's also prone to making deadpan comments about his own misfortunes. Ex: after nearly getting impaled to death in Band Geeks, he makes the following comment as though he were disappointed: "To bad that didn't kill me."

* ''Manga/BlackClover'' gives us Zora. Whether your an ally or enemy, start any level of conversation with him and he'll definitely have a nice serving of sharply worded insults and/or critique ready for you. Given his dillusionment with the Magic Knights and how [[FantasticCasteSystem many of them operate]], he has a very [[KnightInSourArmor dreary and realistic outlook on the world despite being a Magic Knight himself]] quips at anything he can]]. He particularly loves doing this to his opponents after he's beaten them. He'll give them a potent ReasonYouSuckSpeech in regards to why they lost or why they should have done better. And he does not exempt ''himself'' from the snark. After criticizing everyone else at the end of a Royal Knights match, he then criticizes himself for not having more faith in his comrades.

** Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is a {{literal|Metaphor}} Snark Knight.

* Florence King. What else can you call someone who's magazine column was titled "The Misanthrope's Corner" and whose book titles include "With Charity Towards None"

* ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'' features an above it all space dragon named Aurelion Sol, who is the closest the game has to a god, he likes to make fun of everyone he comes in contact with. There's also the fact that some space spartans enslaved him so he's rather bitter about humanity in general.

* Megara from Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''. She later becomes a DefrostingIceQueen. She's also voiced by the same actress who voices Rin in the English dub of ''Anime/Spirited Away''. Coincidence? We think not.