Basic Trope: An elderly Motormouth character gives a Character Filibuster.
- Straight: Grandpa Bob tells his grandchildren what life was like When I Was Your Age...
- Exaggerated:
- Grandpa Bob's long-winded story includes events and concepts that don't seem to connect to one another.
- Grandpa Bob's monologue lasts for several years.
- Downplayed: Grandpa Bob gives a long speech, but rarely goes off topic and there is a decent moral to the story.
- Justified:
- Grandpa Bob's stories seem rather nonsensical and jumbled up because he has Alzheimer's or other dementia.
- Grandpa Bob is lonely and just wants someone to talk to, but his Motormouth tendencies are misinterpreted as having No Social Skills.
- Grandpa Bob's brain is fine, but he's decided Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!, and if he wants to ramble, he will ramble.
- We see a flashback to when Grandpa Bob when he was young. Turns out he was always a Cloud Cuckoo Lander Motor Mouth.
- Inverted:
- Grandpa Bob listens to a rambling Character Filibuster from his grandchild.
- Grandpa Bob doesn't speak, or gives only the occasional one-liner.
- Gender Inverted: Grandma Alice gives a Character Filibuster.
- Subverted:
- Grandpa Bob tells a short bedtime story to his grandkids.
- Grandpa Bob gives an organized speech that has a good point and/or moral.
- Alice warns her boyfriend Charlie that Bob, who's prone to rambling, lives with her for whatever reason. Cut to Bob rambling on about something and both Alice and Charlie looking bored. Turns out he is her dad.
- Double Subverted:
- But bringing up a particular Berserk Button (such as how the government is handling/should handle the national budget crisis) is a rant-inducing slight.
- When someone questions him about the point, he goes into a long, rambling speech about why he is right.
- ...Except Alice's real father, Dan, comes into the room soon afterward, and Bob is revealed to be Older Than They Look.
- Parodied:
- A listening character progresses from listening intently, to eyes glazing over, to struggling to stay awake, to trying to commit homicide and/or suicide so they don't have to listen to this ramble.
- A Funny Background Event happens while Grandpa Bob rambles on.
- Zig-Zagged: Grandpa has Alzheimer's and is giving a long ramble, but when big brother leaves the home, he suddenly gets very coherent. It turns out the Alzheimer's was a lie. Then, he smokes some of the good stuff while he has a chance and starts rambling again. ... Until he gets a moment of clarity and resumes making sense. HOWEVER, when big brother leaves the next day, Grandpa starts rambling for no reason...
- Averted:
- No elderly characters appear in this story.
- The stories are short and have a point.
- Enforced:
- Truth in Television, Rule of Funny.
- Sometimes used as an Author Filibuster.
- Lampshaded: "Oh, great. Now Grandpa's gonna tell us one of his stories!"
- Invoked: Grandpa Bob is looking through the Nostalgia Filter.
- Exploited:
- The listener decides to torture one of their enemies, by inviting them in when Grandpa goes on one of his rants.
- The (usual) listener needs a distraction. "QUICK! Get Grandpa!"
- Alice gets Grandpa Bob on her podcast to attract viewers.
- Defied:
- Grandpa Bob (for whatever reason) doesn't bring up the past.
- Or when he seems about to start ranting, the others interrupt him, and he shuts up.
- Discussed: "Why does Grandpa do that? I know he's still quick-witted!"
- Conversed: "Why do old people on television have to ramble?"
- Implied: "You know how Grandpa gets, right? Remember last time?"
- Deconstructed: People find Grandpa so boring that they avoid him and he ends up alone.
- Reconstructed: Then someone actually listens to him and realizes how wise Grandpa is. Even if there is no point to the story, the history and the journey are what matter.
- Plotted a Good Waste: As Grandpa's long boring story goes on, it is obvious there is some truth to the story. Eventually, he starts talking about where he hid his stash of Nazi Gold from the war (he is too screwy to realize that telling people that can get it stolen). The thing is, the family is short on cash and in desperate need of aid. But they never check up on this and just put him in the retirement home.
- Played for Laughs: The listener keeps trying to leave, but is too polite just to tell Grandpa that he's boring them.
- Played for Drama:
- Grandpa Bob's family realizes he has some serious problems, and he doesn't.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right.
- Grandpa Bob is really cool guy, and tells many amazing stories of his life in The Roaring '20s to his grandchildren. One day, little Alice asks about his role in World War Two. Grandpa freezes...
- Grandpa's speech inadvertently summons an Eldritch Abomination.
- Smack dab in the middle of Grandpa's overlong but otherwise innocuous speech is a lucid espousal of horrible bigotry and a casual confession that he's acted on it — recently.
- Grandpa casually admits to his guilt in a decades old murder.
Back in my day, we didn't have links back to Rambling Old Man Monologue. Nope, first we had to Blah, Blah, Blah...
