Basic Trope: A Jerkass diplomat.
- Straight: Bob comes from Tropestan as an ambassador to Cloudcuckooland. He gets drunk and insults the Emperor, hits on the emperor's wife, and puts his elbows on the table.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob uses the flag of Cloudcuckooland as a napkin ''and'' a tissue at the dinner, as well as doing all of the above.
- Bob commits not only a faux pas, but a felony.
- Bob is a Serial Killer hiding behind Diplomatic Impunity.
- Numerous ambassadors gather for a conference, but spend more time arguing with and insulting each other than actually negotiating anything.
- Downplayed: Bob's not the easiest guy to get along with, but he's a nice person deep down
- Justified:
- Bob didn't think to study proper behavior; what to him is funny or a minor faux pas at worst is seen as extremely rude and threatening in Cloudcuckooland.
- Bob is simply a Jerkass, and/or Too Dumb to Live, regardless of where he is or whom he is with.
- Bob is actually trying to start a war or at least a scandal
- Bob's government is sending threats and he is not supposed to be polite.
- Bob is the first Ambassador ever sent to a newly discovered country. His intel botched the job and he doesn't know what is considered rude here.
- Inverted:
- Bob even delivers declarations of war politely. After all, a massive apocalypse is no excuse for rudeness, is it?
- Bob is a polite Ambadassador who defends Cloudcuckooland's king against potential assassins and rebels. After all, shouldn't he work for the nation he interacts with and not turn a blind eye to its woes?
- Cloudcuckooland treats foreign diplomats like crap, even those from extremely powerful nations.
- Subverted:
- Bob burps at the dinner table, but quickly excuses himself.
- In Cloudcuckooland, insulting authority figures is seen as a test of skill, flirting with a married woman is a custom to compliment them, and putting your elbows on the table a sign of respect to the chef. It seems Bob has done his homework, and only made to look otherwise.
- Double Subverted:
- Only to learn that "excuse me" is not the proper response to a burp in Cloudcuckooland.
- But these customs are not done among the nobility, thus being seen as an insult to the Emperor and Empress.
- Parodied: Tropestan and Cloudcuckooland are enemy nations, so Bob's rude behavior makes him a hero back home.
- Zig Zagged:
- Once the Tropestani government hear of Bob's boorishness abroad, they send in Alice, an Ambadassador who can defuse the situation. Bob stays around, but only as a gag.
- Bob is assigned to Troperia and he shows them his utmost respect. He then loses his favor among the Tropestan government and is reassigned to Cloudcuckooland. Annoyed at such an assignment, he generally acts like an annoying bore out of spite. Eventually he concludes that his attitude is only making things worse, so he cleans up is act. Once his government notices this, they finally give him his old post back at Troperia.
- Averted: Bob remains on his absolute best behavior while at the imperial palace of Cloudcuckooland.
- Enforced: "Let's have our Funny Foreigner be a diplomat who makes a Crazy Cultural Comparison thanks to Small Reference Pools."
- Lampshaded:
- *sigh* "Foreigners..."
- "For a diplomat, you're not very diplomatic."
- Invoked: Bob drinks a strong liquor offered to him at the dinner that does not exist in Tropestan, and loses his inhibitions and sense of appropriateness.
- Exploited: The emperor of Cloud Cuckooland had been looking for a reason to declare war on Tropestan before Bob came along, and used Bob's actions as a pretense for war.
- Defied:
- Bob (even despite being very drunk) remembers he's supposed to be impressing the emperor, and so does his best to remain on his best behavior. He also took the time to study up on etiquette in Cloud Cuckooland.
- Tropestan sends Alice along with Bob to make sure that he stays on his best behavior.
- Tropestan most definitely refuses to send Bob, or anybody else who does not passes the diplomatic corps' extremely strenuous and thorough training and screening processes.
- Discussed: "Remember what happened last time Bob went to another country? Is it really a good idea to send him to Cloudcuckooland?"
- Conversed: "Considering that an ambassador's job is to promote peace, you'd think they'd do a better job of not pissing others off."
- Implied: Bob isn't allowed in Cloudcuckooland. He won't say why, but it's easy enough to guess.
- Deconstructed:
- Obviously, not the best thing for foreign relations, or preventing Cultural Cringe.
- Bob gets recalled by his host country and loses his job, and the host country has to do damage control and send a new ambassador who's more tactful.
- Reconstructed: Bob publicly (and without making excuses) apologizes for his bad behavior. The emperor of Cloudcuckooland accepts the apology, and they start over.
- Played For Laughs: Bob gets booted out of the country by the emperor. Literally.
- Played For Drama:
- Bob's actions start a war.
- Bob's utter contempt of the people Cloudcuckooland is hardly his opinion alone. The entire Tropestan government views Cloudcuckooland as a joke of a nation, and sends a rude ambassador to show them how little they matter to the international community.
- Played For Horror:
- Bob spits on the carpet, puts his shoes on the table, and then shoves it to the floor. When demanded why he is acting this way, he casually explains that "everything here will be rubble tomorrow". Indeed, Tropestan begins a genocidal war campaign as soon as Bob leaves.
- Bob exploits his diplomatic immunity to be a Serial Killer on the side.
Back to "Ass" in Ambassador
