"I’m tired of being a wannabe league bowler. I wanna be a league bowler!"
— Homer Simpson, The Simpsons, "Team Homer"
An index of character types who, as the name implies, aspire to be something or someone that they're very often not. In some characters, this is cute, while for others, it's annoying. In others it's hilarious, or even heartbreaking, depending on how their character arc generally plays out. Some wannabes outright pretend to be what they are not — these are generally treated with no small amount of scorn.
Tropes:
- Big Bad Wannabe: A villain who wants to be seen as the most important threat, but is too incompetent and/or vulnerable to pull it off.
- Casanova Wannabe: A man wants to sleep with as many women as he can, but gets rejected by every single female he tries to seduce.
- The Chosen Wannabe: Wants to be The Chosen One, and often resents whoever winds up with the actual title.
- Dreaded Kids' Table: A child who's getting older doesn't want to sit at the kids' table anymore.
- The Gunfighter Wannabe: Wants to be a gunslinger, but is woefully unsuited to the job.
- Heroic Wannabe: Someone who wants to be a hero, but often has no clue about what being a hero actually entails or means.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: A wimp wants to be cool.
- I Just Want to Be Beautiful: An unattractive person wants to be better-looking.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: A lonely person wants to be loved.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: An unusual person or superhero wishes that they could have a normal life.
- I Just Want to Be Special: An ordinary person wishes that their life was extraordinary.
- Leader Wannabe
- The Obi-Wannabe: A "mentor" whose advice turns out to be terrible.
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy
- Prince Charming Wannabe: He thinks he'll sweep her off her feet. She wants nothing to do with him.
- Small Name, Big Ego: An egotistical twit who gravely overestimates their less than stellar skills.
- Social Climber
- Tagalong Kid: A child who wishes that the older people would let them join the adventure.
- The Team Wannabe: A person who desperately wants to be part of a group that refuses to allow them membership.
- Vampire Vannabe: A person who wants to become a vampire.
- Wannabe Line
- Wannabe Secret Agent
