Line #19 Main/SternOldJudge


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7	Being a judge requires both the ability to keep order in a courtroom and significant legal experience. Because of this, fictional judges--at least in the Western world--tend to be stern and fairly old. The British tradition of judges and barristers wearing [[JudicialWig powdered wigs]] automatically makes them look extra stern and old.
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9	In American works, this archetype is generally either a [[BlackBossLady no-nonsense black woman]] or a gruff white man. When there's a tribunal or another situation with more than one judge, both may appear in the role. Sometimes, these templates are mixed, resulting in a black man (often with BaldOfAuthority) or a white woman playing the part. American Judges are often stereotyped as being from either New England (due to many renowned law schools there) or the South (as an extension of the SimpleCountryLawyer archetype). British judges, meanwhile, tend to be stereotyped as rather posh, as a legacy of how the British class system worked until the 1980s. [[note]]The shift towards neoliberalism under UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher caused significant changes to the British class system, [[TwoDecadesBehind but old stereotypes still persist today]], at least to an extent.[[/note]] The stereotyped British judge is probably also rather out-of-date, having to ask the clerk of the court to explain things such as "rock music" and "the internet". Very unlikely to be black or female.
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11	The Stern Old Judge is generally a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, though this is by no means guaranteed. May overlap with GrumpyOldMan. When the judge isn't just strict but actively out to get the defendant, see HangingJudge. Not to be confused with HarshTalentShowJudge, who is mean to contestants, not people in a courtroom.
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14	!!Examples:
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17	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18	* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Darius Zackly is an old, bearded white man who wears glasses. He is responsible for passing judgements on conflicts between the military branches and does so with an incredibly impartial demeanor. Later played with, though, as [[spoiler:he actually gleefully tortures his captured nobles.]]
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21	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
22	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame\|Disney}}'' has the elderly Judge Claude Frollo, with a stern demeanor and a gaunt face-- as well as an incredibly cruel and evil personality.
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25	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
26	* ''Film/GhostbustersII'': After accidentally causing a major New York blackout, the Ghostbusters are very dismayed to learn their case will be heard by the Honorable Judge Stephen Wexler. ("They call him 'The Hammer.'") He's a fire-and-brimstone older man who takes sadistic glee in sentencing them to jail (until he's interrupted by a couple old defendants with a grudge, that is).
27	* ''Film/GoodWillHunting'' has Will attempt to weasel his way out of court, only for the judge, named in the credits as George H. Malone, to sentence him to jail anyway based upon his outstanding record of previous crimes that he managed to get overturned.
28	* ''Film/MyCousinVinny'': The murder trial central to the plot is being presided over by Judge Chamberlain Haller, a stickler for proper procedure who repeatedly jails the title character (a lawyer who needed six tries to pass the bar exam) for contempt of court due to his failure to follow said rules. But there are several differences here from the stereotype:
29	** His requests are never unreasonable (i.e. know proper court procedure, be professional and respectful, and dress properly), especially to an experienced trial lawyer (which Vinny [[BlatantLies insisted he was]]), and he warned Vinny beforehand about his judging style and potential contempt charges if he does not stop, which is proper form for a judge.
30	** His, and everyone else's, conduct for a proper trial, unlike other comedic examples, is absolutely called for...the defendants are accused of first-degree murder, [[FelonyMisdemeanor not some minor charge taken seriously for laughs]]. The charges and the consequences of a false conviction are extremely serious.
31	** Even with his impatience and mannerisms that might remind someone of a HangingJudge at first, he wants to get to justice just as much as everyone else there, and never once has resentment towards Vinny's clients and has absolutely no desire to falsely convict the defendants no matter what antics Vinny is doing.
32	** Once Vinny shapes up, gets properly dressed, and starts following the rules, Haller turns out to be perfectly fair and reasonable (with one major exception of overruling an objection so obviously valid, likely out of exasperation with Vinny). Despite this, Vinny wins the case anyway with flying colors, with the prosecutor, Jim Trotter, dropping the charges, and both Trotter and Haller completely warm up to him, seeing him as a very competent trial lawyer, wishing him well and saying he's welcome to come back to visit whenever.
33	* ''Film/NothingButTrouble'': Exaggerated with Justice of the Peace Alvin Valkenheiser, a 106-year-old HangingJudge who fought in World War I and maintains a medieval brand of justice in the small town of Valkenvania, NJ. [[AllCrimesAreEqual All crimes]] from speeding, drug possession, and ''running a stop sign'' are [[DisproportionateRetribution punishable by death]] (in this case performed by the JP's personal torture machine, Mr. Bonestripper).
34	* ''Film/ThePeopleVsLarryFlynt'' has the founder of ''Hustler'' magazine being sued for libel by Reverend Falwell in a Cincinnati court. The presiding judge is a corpulent and taciturn fellow, [[RealPersonCameo played by the actual Larry Flynt]].
35	* Judge Gardner in ''Film/{{Rimfire}}''. Very much a hardliner on the importance of law and order, and on citizens doing their civic duty, he is nonetheless not a HangingJudge. It is obvious that he is dissatisfied when the KangarooCourt hands down a guilty verdict in the Abilene Kid's trial, but a legal verdict has been returned and he has no choice but to see it carried out.
36	* In ''Film/TheTrialOfTheChicago7'' the proceedings are dominated by the rule of Judge Julius Hoffman, a corpulent old white man who is a stickler for propriety. [[HangingJudge He seems predisposed against the defendants from the beginning]] due to his respect for authority -- the countercultural values professed by the hippie defendants seem to viscerally offend him, and the proceedings veer into KangarooCourt territory at times due to his respect for authority. At one point the defense wonders if the judge is senile due to some of the odd decisions he makes. Also, there's the problem of him [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain having a black defendant beaten up and gagged for showing contempt of court]].
37	* ''Film/UsedCars'' has Judge H.H. Harrison, who is played by Al "[[Series/TheMunsters Grandpa Munster]]" Lewis. He is one of the oldest members of the cast and a well-known (and feared) HangingJudge who nearly puts the heroes in jail for a false advertisement complaint filed by the villains that said they had at least one mile's worth of cars in their lot ([[DisproportionateRetribution the measurement came six inches short]]… [[DeusExMachina for a moment]]).
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40	[[folder:Literature]]
41	* Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'': Judge Lawrence Wargrave is a retired HangingJudge with a no-nonsense attitude; he is accused of steering a jury into sentencing an accused murderer to death in spite of evidence supporting the accused man's innocence. Some of the characters wonder if he's the murderer due to a lifetime of punishing crimes while convinced he's right, but is proven innocent when [[spoiler:he's murdered]] as well. [[spoiler:Except he ''is'' the murderer, and faked his death to continue his self-appointed task of killing people who were acquitted of their crimes.]]
42	* In ''Literature/TheStand'' by Creator/StephenKing, Lloyd Henreid, a small-time crook who got in way over his head and is on trial for multiple murders, is told by his lawyer that the judge he's going to draw is a career judge who is over 70 years old. Lloyd is very upset because he knows such a judge is pretty much going to be this trope. The lawyer also informs Lloyd that judges like this, in their younger days, used to make the rounds of their territories on horseback, and standard operating procedure was to have a speedy trial and then break out the rope. Sure enough, Lloyd gets sentenced to the electric chair.
43	* ''Literature/TheWestingGame'': Josie-Jo Ford is the black and female variety of this trope. In fact, it's stated that her strict, serious demeanor helped to make her the first black female judge in her state's history.
44	* ''The Book of Utterly Ridiculous Stupid Lists'' by the authors of ''Literature/HowToBeASuperhero'' included a list of things you don't associate with British judges, which leaned very heavily into the UK version of the trope (or, rather, the opposite of the trope). One of them was the song "Young, Gifted and Black".
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47	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
48	* ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' inverts this with Judge Trudy, a stern ''child'' judge who angrily (and [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionately]]) punishes adults who discipline their children and refuses to hear out their side.
49	* ''Series/AndThenThereWereNone2015'':
50	** Judge Wargrave is just as stern as his book counterpart (amusingly enough, given [[Creator/CharlesDance his actor's]] more famous [[Series/GameOfThrones role]], the judge is of the opinion that the man who passes the sentence should attend its execution), as he methodically [[spoiler:plans the murder of other murderers who escaped justice]].
51	** The series adds a final confrontation at the end between [[spoiler:Judge Wargrave and Vera Claythorne]] where their respective crimes are admitted. [[spoiler:Wargrave pulls the chair out from under Vera]] after she confirms her guilt for the audience, then goes to the dining room [[spoiler:to shoot himself, his job done]].
52	* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'': In episode 14 of season 4, Cory is arraigned for speeding but doesn't panic when he is told that the judge that will be preceding over his case has the last name "Lamb". [[FluffyTheTerrible However, the judge in question turns out to be a very strict and intimidating man despite what his name implies]].
53	* ''Series/TheCrowdedRoom'': The judge in Danny's case is an older black man who is gray-haired, gruff, and will brook no nonsense from anyone, scoffing when Rya can't back her assertion of Danny having split personalities up at first.
54	* Discussed and subverted on ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' in "The Burrito". Tahani says that all judges are extremely serious people who wear long robes and the JudicialWig. But the Judge turns out to be a flighty, approachable, and dorky woman.
55	* ''Series/HandOfGod'': Main character Pernell Harris is a state criminal court judge. He fits the gruff older white man model.
56	* ''Series/HardcastleAndMcCormick'' centers on a retired judge and a race car driver. Judge Milton Hardcastle aims to incarcerate criminals who weaseled out of a conviction on technicalities, and Mark [=McCormick=] was convicted of stealing a prototype race car (from its designer's murderer). [=McCormick=] ends up in the custody of Judge "Hard-case" Hardcastle, where he puts his talents and wits to use as an ersatz detective. Judge Hardcastle is a stickler for the law, even keeping a copy of the Miranda Rights in his boxer shorts.
57	* ''Series/JudgeJohnDeed'': Although John is more middle-aged than elderly, he tolerates no nonsense in his court.
58	* ''Series/JudgeJudy'' is the poster child for this trope. Judge Judy is a woman on the higher end of middle age who takes ''zero'' crap from any of the parties on her show and is quick to snarkily chew out anyone who she thinks is being dumb.
59	* In ''Series/LawAndOrder'', Judge Walter Bradley is the toughest judge the Manhattan DA's office has to deal with. He's also among the oldest shown in the series.
60	* In ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', Judge Lena Petrovsky usually serves as the series' designated hardass, although she's not the series' oldest judge.
61	* The title character on ''Series/{{Matlock}}'' sometimes runs afoul of older judges who are harsh sticklers for procedure that hamstring him at every turn. This is especially true on the rare times a judge is also the murderer, an example being Carter Addison in the episode "The Judge."
62	* ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'': In the episode "The Nightmare of Milky Joe", Howard and Vince go on trial for murder in a society composed of puppets made from coconuts (ItMakesSenseInContext). The judge at their trial is a stern old coconut man with a deep, sonorous voice and posh accent, who wears a "judicial wig" made from a white piece of rope.
63	* Subverted for comedy in one ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' sketch, where two judges who appear old and stern on the surface are revealed to be CampGay once they get out of the courtroom. They exchange stories of gavel-banging and stern telling-offs they delivered, reframing the classic stern judge schtick as catty gay sassiness instead.
64	* The judges on the 1950s-1960s ''Franchise/PerryMason'' television show are almost always older (usually male) and (except when the plot requires a [[ThePerryMasonMethod Perry Mason Method]] style denouement) keep a tight rein on the court proceedings.
65	* In an episode of ''Series/WorzelGummidge'', Worzel is put into a KangarooCourt with the Crow Man, who's already a serious, somewhat cranky ([[JerkWithAHeartOfGold but decent]]) old man being the judge.
66	* In ''Series/{{JAG}}'' this role belongs to Rear Admiral Lower Half Morris and increasingly, Captain Seabring played by Corbin Benson. Subverted by Admiral Chegwidden who is old and stern, and despite having the position of US Navy Judge Advocate General, is never seen adjudicating a case.
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69	[[folder:Music]]
70	* Music/PinkFloyd: In "The Trial", the penultimate track and climax of ''Music/TheWall'', Pink is placed on trial before Judge Worm, an anthropomorphic butt in a JudicialWig (with the attitude and language to match) who sentences Pink to be "exposed before [his] peers" before ordering that the titular wall be torn down. Whether he's Pink's distorted perception of an actual judge or all in Pink's head is left [[AmbiguousSituation deliberately ambiguous]].
71	* The music video for Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" features an older white man as a judge who has absolutely no tolerance for Sammy's antics.
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74	[[folder:Video Games]]
75	* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Neuvillette has been Chief Justice of Fontaine for centuries and maintains a firm but never overreaching order of the court during trials with an ever-stoic expression. Befitting Fontaine's theme of "justice", [[ConsummateProfessional he remains impartial to any trial, no matter the deliberation]].
76	* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'': The judge presiding over [[BloodKnight Johnny Gat]]'s appeal is an older black woman with absolutely no patience for Gat's blatant disregard of court decorum.
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79	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
80	* Subverted with the Judge from the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series. While he certainly looks the part, he's pretty indecisive, easily swayed, and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} very eccentric]]. That said, [[TheFettered he will not tolerate anyone making a mockery of the court]], and he knows how to assert his dominance in the courtroom when the need arises. It should be noted that judges have a different set of stereotypes in Japan from the ones they have in the West.
81	* In ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', the demeanor of the judge at [[spoiler:the protagonist's trial]] stands in stark contrast to Cecilia’s hysteria, Mortelli’s intentional buffoonery, and the over-the-top questions and reactions of the prosecutors.
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84	[[folder:Web Videos]]
85	* In ''WebVideo/CGPGrey'', the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification personification]] of the American Supreme Court always has a deadpan facial expression, a JudicialWig, and a gavel. He is also [[TheComicallySerious comically serious]]. Sometimes there are nine of them to represent the nine justices on the Supreme Court.
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88	[[folder:Western Animation]]
89	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Parodied with Judge Whitey, an elderly white man who speaks in a posh New England accent and is a parody of the stereotypical WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant rich guy who is clueless about anyone under his income bracket. Among other things, he has declared poverty a mental illness.
90	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Judge Roy Spleen is a grumpy old monster judge in the Underworld. In "[[Recap/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandyS6E2KeeperOfTheReaper Keeper of the Reaper]]," Judge Spleen becomes TheComicallySerious as he gets increasingly fed up with Fred Fredburger's immature behavior and constant interruptions.
91	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
92	** Judge Roy Snyder is a gruff-voiced, middle-aged black man with a stern and dignified demeanor, who is nevertheless generally reasonable -- in fact, he's one of the very few authority figures in the show to be competent at his job.
93	** The show's other recurring judge character is Constance Harm, a parody of the above-mentioned ''Series/JudgeJudy''. She is [[HangingJudge not as reasonable as Snyder]]; in her first appearance, she sentences Homer and Bart to be [[ChainedHeat handcuffed to each other]].
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