History Main / EccentricExterminator

* Mr. Lance in the ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' episode "Awesome Ants" is ''way'' too into his work, hunting bugs with steely determination and gleeful enjoyment, admiring the ants for their craftiness. He calls the protagonist a liar for claiming the ants from his ant farm grew to 3 inches, larger than any real-life ants. [[spoiler:Subverted at the end when everything turns out to be a dream by a man living in a world where [[HumansAreNotTheDominantSpecies giant ants rule the Earth]]. Mr. Lance reflects how things might have been different for humans, and warns the protagonist not to let the ants know that he dreamed that it was Mr. Lance's job to kill them.]]

Sister Trope to DiabolicalDogCatcher, who thinks dogs and cats are pests to be exterminated. Not to be confused with PestController.

* Delbert [=McClintock=] in ''Film/{{Arachnophobia}}'' has various quirks but seems like a nice guy. He also has a bit of an inflated opinion of himself, but he does come in handy [[spoiler:when he kills most of the drone spiders at the end]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': The exterminator seen in "Along Came a Sister" takes great joy in his work, even taking a moment to gas two harmless caterpillars on the Louds' front lawn.

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-->--'''Bill Lee''', ''Film/NakedLunch''

[[folder:Advertising]]
* The Orkin Man is depicted this way in a few commercials, like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDipCSWPm8k this one in 1990]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4-e_tDW6Bw this one in 1998.]]
* Terminix too, taking their job ''very'' seriously in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON4PPJ9n2jA this 2017 commercial]].
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicBook/TheExterminators'' is a Vertigo comic book with an entire cast of eccentric exterminators. As in using the chemical fumes to get high and some ''really'' weird sex drives.
* In ''ComicBook/DylanDog'', some occasionally show up to deal with immense infestations. The strangest are the two cockroach exterminators that turn out to be [[spoiler:[[TheWormThatWalks thousands of sentient cockroaches]] in hazmat suits]].
* Minor ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain Ratcatcher is a [[MisanthropeSupreme severely misanthropic]] exterminator who gradually became [[{{Idiosyncrazy}} a lot more fascinated with rats than is strictly professional]], eventually going insane and deciding to destroy humanity for the sake of rats to atone for exterminating so many. It's hard to get more eccentric than that.
* The ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' universe has the Verminators. Because aliens and mutated animals are so common in this universe, they are incredibly well-armed and are sometimes hired by Judges as backup. They've even taken on [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]].

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' gives us the Verminator, Dwayne [=LaFontant=], whose personality puts the "Franchise/{{Terminator}}" in "exterminator". Although a bit jumpy - he shoots the heads off plastic flamingos, as he keeps mistaking them for real birds - he has an innate ability to detect which animals have recently been in the area (a skill acquired while studying for an associate's degree from [=VermTech=]), and sells Homeowner's Association president Gladys Sharp a "Depelter Turbo", a supercharged ([[spoiler:as in, it can kill satellites]]) animal trap that is illegal in every state (except Texas).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAntBully'' has exterminator Stan Beals as the villain. He basically bullies Lucas, a 10-year-old kid, into illegally signing a contract with him for exterminating the ants and wasps in the backyard, he clearly takes a lot of pleasure out of his job, and is overall a jerk.

* Delbert [=McClintock=] in ''Film/{{Arachnophobia}}'' has various quirks, but seems like a nice guy. He also has a bit of an inflated opinion of himself, but he does come in handy [[spoiler:when he kills most of the drone spiders at the end.]]

* ''Film/FoodOfTheGods2'' gives us two: Jacques and Louis from Rat-A-Tak Pest Control. Complete with their own theme music.

* ''Film/MenInBlack'' gives us Ed, who is a pretty normal guy (or as normal as someone played by Creator/VincentDOnofrio can be) until a giant bug from outer space [[HughMann uses his body as disguise]] and steals an exterminator's van, giving us quite a bit of this vibe.
* Ceasar from ''Film/MouseHunt'', played by Creator/ChristopherWalken of all people. He has an almost supernatural intuition about his prey, and maintains an overly dramatic log report about his work. [[spoiler:Eventually he gets DrivenToMadness by the mouse he's trying to catch.]]

* Jeff in ''Film/TheBorrowers1997'' is a mild case of this. His cheerful demeanor annoys Potter to no end, which he [[ObliviousToHatred completely fails to pick up on]], and his sniffer dog suffers from chronic flatulence and apparently lives on a steady diet of cheese. And even after learning to his fascination that his quarry is not rodents but a family of tiny people, [[PunchClockVillain he carries on with the task]] of trying to kill them.

* The men who get stuck killing rats in Creator/StephenKing's ''Night Crew''.
* ''Any'' rat catcher in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novels. And it seems the job is TheVerse equivalent to a RedShirt by the way, unless you're a [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnome]] of course. And sometimes it's even better than RedShirt. At least one of these guys upon dying was [[spoiler:greeted with "Squeak!" and... reincarnated. No prize for guessing into ''what'' exactly.]]

* In the ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' season five episode "Hello, Bandit" the titular Dexter tracks down an exterminator who is also a serial killer.
* ''Series/{{Martin}}'': Music/LittleRichard plays one.
* ''Series/BillyTheExterminator'': Besides dressing in goth clothing as a substitute for more practical protection, he is perpetually excited about pretty much everything.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': In "War of the Coprophages", a cockroach exterminator opens the episode with a heartfelt ode to roaches before finishing it with "But to them, we humans are gods and should act accordingly" and stomping a particularly unlucky specimen on the floor. It doesn't end well for him.
* Mr. Lance in the ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' episode "Awesome Ants" is ''way'' too into his work, hunting bugs with steely determination and gleeful enjoyment, admiring the ants for their craftiness. He calls the protagonist a liar for claiming the ants from his ant farm grew to 3 inches, larger than any real life ants. [[spoiler:Subverted at the end when everything turns out to be a dream by a man living in a world where [[HumansAreNotTheDominantSpecies giant ants rule the Earth]]. Mr. Lance reflects how things might have been different for humans, and warns the protagonist not to let the ants know that he dreamed that it was Mr. Lance's job to kill them.]]
* Vasily Fet of ''Series/TheStrain'' works for the NYC Health Department, and treats his job with a swagger-and-badge attitude more befitting a homicide detective in a 90s action movie. Fittingly, when the vampire apocalypse begins, that turns out to be an apt description.
* ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'': A couple of times in the "Scenes From A Hat" segment, the comedians were asked to be exterminators with weird gimmicks like interrogating the home owner in GoodCopBadCop fashion about the infestation.
* In ''Series/TheGoodLife'' episode "Whose Fleas Are These?", an outbreak of fleas at the Good house is treated by professional pest expert P.V. Bulstrode, who loves his work so much that Tom and Barbara find him a bit unsettling. He gains entry to the Good house by pretending to be an encyclopaedia salesman who would particularly like to draw Tom's attention to the entries under "F" for "fleas", explaining that his customers find it less embarrassing for the neighbours to overhear, and proudly declares that his family have been in the "infestation" business since the bubonic plague was sweeping across Britain.[[note]] Whether this was the plague in the 1340s or the 1660s is not specified.[[/note]]
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', the anti-heroes use a pest control company as a cover to cook meth while the houses are tented. The actual exterminators aren't much more upstanding, because they use their business as a cover to rob houses.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'': His arch nemesis, Johnny Bugz, is a pathetic man obsessed with taking out Gary. He also has a very strange relationship with his cat Boots, begging for his approval.
* Zigzagged with X in ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'': his eccentricities have less to do with his exterminating of bugs and more of his increasingly failed attempts to exterminate ''Harvey''. In fact, he isn't even really an exterminator...but Debbie had mistaken him for one and put him to work on getting rid of the bugs.
* Dale Gribble from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', if we consider being a ConspiracyTheorist eccentric. He makes mention of doing stuff in order to be a more efficient exterminator like doing his own chemical mixes at home. At one point he quits the exterminator job and becomes an office drone (with a specialty of being the company's firing guy), but a cockroach infestation not only gives him the exhilaration he needs to go back to exterminating, he kills the bugs by crawling through the air vents and ''crushing them all with his body''.

* Dale Gribble from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', If we consider being a ConspiracyTheorist eccentric. He makes mention of doing stuff in order to be a more efficient exterminator like doing his own chemical mixes at home. At one point he quits the exterminator job and becomes an office drone (with a specialty of being the company's firing guy), but a cockroach infestation not only gives him the exhilaration he needs to go back to exterminating, he kills the bugs by crawling through the air vents and ''crushing them all with his body''.

In fiction, this is not the case. Perhaps it is the morbid or sometimes-disgusting nature of the work, or that it is not a job conducive to making friendships, but there's something in the image of the exterminator that makes them an {{Acceptable Professional Target|s}} ripe for caricature. These depictions turn a quirky profession into an [[HumansAreCthulhu eldritch terror for pests]].

* ''Billy The Exterminator'': Besides dressing in goth clothing as a substitute for more practical protection, he is perpetually excited about pretty much everything.

In RealLife, a practitioner of pest control is much like any trained professional. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and those who do are mostly ordinary people. Some even show ethical concern for pests, and attempt to minimize suffering or environmental harm caused by removing them.

They are usually PlayedForLaughs. Unfortunately for their prey, [[CreepyCockroach insects]] and [[YouDirtyRat rats]] are [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute not typically considered cute]], so the prospect of them getting killed in over-the-top ways can still be funny. More importantly, there is nothing bold or heroic about exterminating small creatures who cannot fight back, so the idea that this character considers themself some sort of GreatWhiteHunter is ridiculous. If the character unexpectedly faces BigCreepyCrawlies, maybe they [[TookALevelInBadass prove their mettle]]. Or [[MilesGloriosus maybe not]].

In RealLife, a practitioner of pest control is much like any trained professional. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and those who do are mostly ordinary people. Some even regard pests with ethical concern, and attempt to minimize suffering or environmental harm caused by removing them.

In fiction, this is not the case. Perhaps it is the morbid or sometimes-disgusting nature of the work, or that it is not a job conducive to making friendships, but there's something in the image of the exterminator that has turned it from a quirky profession to [[HumansAreCthulhu eldritch terror]] of pests.

Exterminators in fiction are often portrayed as sadistic or unstable individuals who [[CruellaToAnimals enjoy killing animals]]. They might give an EvilLaugh while fumigating a house for insects, or drive around in a truck with a giant sculpture of a dead bug on top. From their perspective, they are a HunterOfMonsters, and those monsters scurry behind every wall and crawl under every floorboard. In short, they are the slightly more eccentric and benign version of the EgomaniacHunter.

They are usually PlayedForLaughs. Unfortunately for their prey, insects and rats [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute are not typically considered "cute"]], so the prospect of them getting killed in over-the-top ways is still considered funny. More importantly, there is nothing bold or heroic about exterminating small creatures who cannot fight back, so the idea that this character considers themself some sort of GreatWhiteHunter is ridiculous. If this character unexpectedly faces BigCreepyCrawlies, maybe they [[TookALevelInBadass prove their mettle]]. Or [[MilesGloriosus maybe not]].

* ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'': A central joke is that the eponymous Ghostbusters resemble supernatural exterminators. They are {{Blue Collar Warlock}}s who face down {{Eldritch Abomination}}s without any of the mysticism that accompanies it in other genres.

* ''Film/MenInBlack'' gives us Ed, who is a pretty normal guy (or as normal as someone played by Creator/VincentDOnofrio can be) until a giant bug from outer space uses his body as disguise and steals an exterminator's van, giving us quite a bit of this vibe.
* Ceasar from ''Film/MouseHunt'', played by Creator/ChristopherWalken of all people. He has an almost supernatural intuition to pests, and maintains an overly dramatic log report about his work. [[spoiler:Eventually he gets DrivenToMadness by the mouse he's trying to catch.]]

* ''Any'' rat catcher in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novels so far. And it seems the job is TheVerse equivalent to a RedShirt by the way, unless you're a [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnome]] of course. And sometimes it's even better than RedShirt. At least one of these guys upon dying was [[spoiler:greeted with "[[AC:Squeak!]]" and... reincarnated. No prize for guessing into ''what'' exactly.]]

* Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin is a rat-catcher, a very competent one -- and [[MagicalFlutist uses magic for the job]]. [[DisproportionateRetribution He's also very vindictive]].

In RealLife, a practitioner of pest control is much like any trained professional. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and those who do are mostly ordinary people.

* Some show up once in a while in ''ComicBook/DylanDog'', usually to deal with immense infestations. The strangest are the two cockroach exterminators that turned out to be [[spoiler:thousand of ''sentient cockroaches in hazmat suits'']].

* The Comicbook/JudgeDredd universe has the Verminators. Because aliens and mutated animals are so common in this universe, they are incredibly well-armed and are sometimes hired by Judges as backup. They've even taken on [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]].

* John Goodman's character Delbert [=McClintock=] in ''Film/{{Arachnophobia}}'' has various quirks, but seems like a nice guy. He also has a bit of an inflated opinion of himself, but he does come in handy [[spoiler:when he kills most of the drone spiders at the end.]]
* ''Mostly'' averted by the protagonist Alex in ''Film/BigAssSpider''. He's obsessed with pests of all kinds to the point he can rattle off information about them in the blink of an eye, but is pretty professional regardless.

* The ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' franchise is basically the story of a ''group'' of Eccentric Exterminators. There are only two differences: A) they are the first and only exterminators in the world for the kind of pests they handle, and B) these pests can (and do eventually) get... out of hand.

* The first ''Film/MenInBlack'' movie gives us Ed, who is a pretty normal fella (or as normal as someone played by Vincent D'Onofrio can be...) until a giant bug from outer space uses his body as disguise and steals an exterminator's van, giving us quite a bit of this vibe.

* Jeff in ''Film/TheBorrowers1997'' is a mild case of this. His cheerful demeanor annoys Potter to no end, which he [[ObliviousToHatred completely fails to pick up on]], and his sniffer dog suffers from chronic flatulence and apparently lives on a steady diet of cheese. And even after learning to his fascination that his quarry is not rodents but a family of tiny people, [[PunchClockVillain he carries on with the task of trying to kill them]].

* The page image provider is Nikki's father from ''Literature/DorkDiaries'', who's this in spades. He drives to the job in a van with a giant roach (affectionately named Max) on top, dances while fumigating his daughter's school, and even once tried to land himself a TV role as an exterminating superhero.
* Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin is a rat-catcher, a very competent one--and [[MagicalFlutist uses magic for the job]]. [[DisproportionateRetribution He's also very vindictive]].

* Music/LittleRichard plays one in a episode of ''Series/{{Martin}}''
* Reality TV example: A&E's Billy The Exterminator. Besides dressing in goth clothing as a substitute for more practical protection, he is perpetually excited about pretty much everything.
* In ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "War of the Coprophages", a cockroach exterminator opens the episode with a heartfelt ode to roaches before finishing it with "But to them, we humans are gods and should act accordingly" and stomping a particularly unlucky specimen on the floor. It doesn't end well for him.

* In the final season of ''Series/BreakingBad'', our anti-heroes use a pest control company as a cover to cook meth while the houses are tented. The actual exterminators aren't much more upstanding.

* WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat's arch nemesis, Johnny Bugz, is a pathetic man obsessed with taking out Gary. He also has a very strange relationship with his cat Boots, begging for his approval.

* Dale Gribble from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. If we consider being a ConspiracyTheorist "eccentric". He makes mention of doing stuff in order to be a more efficient exterminator like doing his own chemical mixes at home. At one point he quits the exterminator job and becomes an office drone (with a specialty of being the company's firing guy), but a cockroach infestation not only gives him the exhilaration he needs to go back to exterminating, he kills the bugs ''by crawling through the air vents and crushing them all with his body''.

In RealLife, practitioners of pest control are usually like any trained professional -- it's a dirty job, but the people who do it are fine. I'm fiction, this is not the case. Perhaps it is the sinister or disgusting nature of the job, or that it is not a job conducive to making friendships, but there's something in the image of the exterminator that has turned it from quirky to [[HumansAreCthulhu living Cthulhu of the pests]].

Therefore, exterminators in fiction are often portrayed as sadistic or unstable individuals who [[CruellaToAnimals enjoy killing animals]]. They might give an EvilLaugh while fumigating a house for insects, or drive around in a truck with a giant sculpture of a dead bug on top. In short, they're the slightly more eccentric and benign version of the EgomaniacHunter.

They are usually PlayedForLaughs, because there is nothing dangerous or heroic about exterminating small creatures who cannot fight back, so the idea that this character considers themself some sort of GreatWhiteHunter is ridiculous. And unfortunately for their prey, [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute insects and rats aren't typically considered "cute"]] and therefore the prospect of them getting killed in over-the-top ways is still considered funny.

In RealLife, practitioners of pest control are usually like any professional who practices a job, but such is not the case in fiction. Perhaps it is the sinister nature of the job, or the fact that it's not a job conducive to making friendships, but there's something in the image of the exterminator that has turned it from quirky to [[HumansAreCthulhu living Cthulhu of the pests]].

Therefore, exterminators in fiction are often portrayed as sadistic or unstable individuals who enjoy killing animals. They might give an EvilLaugh while fumigating a house for insects, or drive around in a truck with a giant sculpture of a dead bug on top. In short, they're the slightly more eccentric and benign version of the EgomaniacHunter. They're usually PlayedForLaughs, because [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute insects and rats aren't typically considered "cute"]] and therefore the idea of them being killed in over-the-top ways is still considered funny.

* The Comicbook/JudgeDredd has the Verminators. Because aliens and mutated animals are so common in this universe, they are incredibly well-armed and are sometimes hired by Judges as backup. They've even taken on [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]].

%%* The pest control guy from ''WesternAnimation/TheItsyBitsySpider'' animated series.

* Nikki's father in ''Literature/DorkDiaries'' is this in spades. He drives to the job in a van with a giant roach (affectionately named Max) on top, dances while fumigating his daughter's school, and even once tried to land himself a TV role as an exterminating superhero.

%%* ''Film/GraveyardShift''

* Literature/DorkDiaries provides the page image, as Nikki's father is this in spades. He drives to the job in a van with a giant roach (affectionately named Max) on top, dances while fumigating his daughter's school, and even once tried to land himself a TV role as an exterminating superhero.