History Main / TheThingThatWouldNotLeave

** Bugs and Sam are court-ordered to share Sam's prairie home in ''Fair Haired Hare''--Sam builds this home over Bugs' hole in the ground. Sam does more than try to get Bugs to leave...he tries to kill him.
** ''From Hare to Heir'' has Bugs representing a firm awarding Duke Sam 1 million pounds under the provision he keeps his temper in check with Bugs deducting any amount he sees warrants whenever Sam blows up. Bugs spends the rest of the cartoon making Sam's life a living hell, just to see if and when he loses his temper.

** ''From Hare To Heir'' has Bugs representing a firm awarding Duke Sam 1 million pounds under the provision he keeps his temper in check with Bugs deducting any amount he sees warrants whenever Sam blows up. Bugs spends the rest of the cartoon making Sam's life a living hell, just to see if and when he loses his temper.

* Ed in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' appears to have shown up at his friend Shaun's place one night five years before the events of the movie and not left since, having reduced his living room to a slovenly heap and not budged from the sofa since. Played with in that while Shaun's quite happy to have him around (although it's also made clear that Ed's really a bad influence on him), Shaun's roommate Pete makes it more than clear that for him Ed wore out his welcome a long time ago.

* Invoked by Miki in ''Anime/MutekiKanbanMusume'' episode 7 A, “Peel Off the Fake Smile”, when BurgerFool Miki wants to expose TheRival Megumi true nature as a BitchInSheepsClothing. Miki goes to Megumi’s bakery as a client and stays there for hours, trying to get into Megumi’s nerves and make her drop her façade of TheFakeCutie in front of Megumi’s clients, ensuring they see BeneathTheMask and so they would not return to Megumi’s bakery.

* Invoked by Miki at MutekiKanbanMusume episode 7 A, “Peel Off the Fake Smile”, when BurgerFool Miki wants to expose TheRival Megumi true nature as a BitchInSheepsClothing. Miki goes to Megumi’s bakery as a client and stays there for hours, trying to get into Megumi’s nerves and make her drop her façade of TheFakeCutie in front of Megumi’s clients, ensuring they see BeneathTheMask and so they would not return to Megumi's bakery.
* RanmaOneHalf has Happosai, the greedy old lecher who trained Soun and Genma, and who now insists that he has a right to stay at Soun's house despite his constant sexual harassment of Soun's daughters. Every attempt to kick him out has failed, and has often led to comedic DisproportionateRetribution.

* An episode of the ''MrBean'' animated series had Bean's childhood friend staying with him and taking advantage of his hospitality, leaving him almost broke. Bean finally gets rid of him by ditching him at the restaurant, leaving him to [[WorkOffTheDebt work off the hefty bill]].

* ''Madhouse''

* Music/{{Immolation}} drummer Craig Smilowski got booted from the band due to his habit of crashing on Bob Vigna's couch for weeks on end without paying rent.

* Music/{{Immolation}} drummer Craig Smilowski actually got booted from the band due to his tendency to pull this on his bandmates, particularly lead guitarist Bob Vigna.

* ''TheManWhoCameToDinner'' is, if not the TropeMaker, the source of inspiration for a great many later examples of infuriating semi-permanent houseguests. In fact, for a time the play's title entered the vernacular as a shorthand term for anybody overstaying their welcome in this manner.

** Heep's behavior and scheming, meanwhile, were believed to have been based off of another freeloader by the name of Thomas Powell, who was an employee of one of Dickens' friends and who similarly took up roots at his house, where it was revealed that he was a forger and a thief who had stolen over £10,000 from his employer and who eventually turned on Dickens by way of a series of venomous pamphlets that called attention to Dickens' social class and background.

* All negative roommates in ''Chez Geek'' are impossible to get rid of except through some very specific cards (such as "Justifiable Homicide") or some lucky rolling. Several of them also follow this trope, such as the Choad Warrior.

* Arguably the HarryPotter fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5688056/1/On_a_Clear_Day On a Clear Day]]. Draco works for a charity organisation. When the organisation plans a gala to raise money for the children who lost their parents in the war against Voldemort, Draco's boss demands that he makes sure that the Great Harry Potter is in attendance. The problem is that since the war, Harry has turned agoraphobic and refuses to leave Grimmauld Place, which prompts Draco to intentionally invoke this trope. It's not that he never leaves, but he goes there every day, sits around for hours and tries to annoy Harry into agreeing to come to the gala. [[spoiler: He succeeds.]]

Everyone wants to be polite. Especially to a guest in your home. Unfortunately courtesy is not always reciprocated and to your horror you can find yourself trapped with ''The Thing That Wouldn't Leave''.

Many a DomCom has used the set-up of a house guest that simply will not leave. The put upon homeowners must find a way to remove this intruder without being rude. But no matter how many times they yawn, look at the clock or mention an early appointment for the next day, their guest remains an immovable fixture.

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', ParodySue Erika Furudo quickly wears out her welcome by her callous disregard for everyone else and her constant need to assert her intellectual superiority.

-->-- The Doubtful Guest, by Edward Gorey

* In ''EnsignSueMustDie'', the new ensign, MarySue, is so annoying that the entire senior crew of the ''Enterprise'' try to get rid of her. Making her fight a room full of Klingons? She kills every one of them. Transporting her off the ship? Scotty tried that twice and she inexplicably came back every time. Dumping her off on [[spoiler:the mirror universe ''Enterprise''?]] They want ''nothing'' to do with her. [[spoiler:Heck, she is actually ''[[NoSell immune]]'' to phaser blasts.]]

* One of the earliest examples is from ''ILoveLucy'' with guest-star Tennessee Ernie Ford as Lucy's "Cousin Ernie" who stays over for one episode and wears out his welcome by the next one.

->''It came seventeen years ago--and to this day''//

->''We thought he was gone, but he's come back again''\\
''Last week it was funny, but now the joke's wearing thin''\\
''Cos everyone knows now that every night now''\\
''Will be Stephen's last night in town.''
-->-- '''Ben Folds Five''', "Stephen's Last Night In Town"