Trope Talk: Manly Men!

After my video on Strong Female Characters, I got a couple requests to do one on male protagonists as a way to sort of "balance things out." Initially I wasn't too interested, but after taking a closer look, I started noticing some interesting patterns in what otherwise appeared to be a totally blank slate character archetype. So that's what I've got here for you today!

Comments? Examples? Disagreements? Wanna bite my head off for not mentioning your favorite story? Hit up the comment section and give me a piece of your mind!

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[foxcatgaming]

I'm a man. A manly man. I wear tights and roam around the forest looking for fights.

[omegabet]

No, the default assumption about what a person is in ancient greece is a featherless biped.

[amosbirb]

I've always found it kinda weird that being a good cook isn't considered a manly trait when the culinary world can be one of the most difficult for women to get a foothold in due to it being such a dude-centric career for so many years. Ratatouille scratched the surface on this.

[theboyfriendsgamercouch]

I believe Markiplier to be the default human. That's why there's a character in every piece of media who looks like him.

[meganlange]

“Totally lovable, weedy nerds who never really saw the point in beefing up” you can say Blue, it’s okay.

[awkwardukulele]

“Making a mistake is like coughing; happens all the time in real life, not so much in movies”

I literally haven’t recovered from that truth bomb after 2 years. Send help

[Fangs]

Just a clarification from someone that spent 7 years in the army.
If someone is called something like "full metal bitch" then that is 100% meant as a compliment and not a pejorative.
It's like "tough bastard". My unit was nicknamed "the lousy mangy dogs" and we wore the name like a badge of honor.

[cherrypopscile]

The Virgin modern masculinity:
-"why would I read, that's nerd stuff bro"
-drinks beer
-only trait is being strong.
-chases women
- Just a farmer at best

The Chad Roman Masculinity:
- Owns a library
-Ingests wine
- Has a range of skills from running to sword fighting
- Has a wife, and a boyfriend.
- Owns a farm, is a senator, and had held a military position

[ShadowZealot]

"I could go the rest of my life without watching another forced romantic subplot"

Oh my god yes. Please stop forcing terrible romance into everything.

[xxProfessorWhatxx]

"It seems weird to me that fictional dudes are either in a relationship, trying to be in a relationship, or trying to get over a relationship. I mean, god don't you get tired?"

YES. YES I GET TIRED.

[lnt]

The coughing thing reminds me of the Witcher when everybody is like „Princess Pavetta threw up, she must be pregnant“ and nobody is like „Well, we’re literally at a banquette, maybe she’s drunk“

[meganbarhorst]

Red: "Being good at cooking is considered girly"
Brock: "Oh, so that's why none of the women I hit on seem interested."
Misty: "No, that's because you're a creep."

[sheevpalpatine]

0:34 concerning this I've once seen a interview where George RR Martin was asked why Loras and Renly were gay, or why there were gays in general in his story and he said "well i noticed that there are gay people in the world"

[sailordarty]

"Female mentors tend to have masculine traits."

That does explain Cooking Mama's five o' clock shadow.

[doom]

Goosebumps “My best friend is invisible” is actually a great story of how you perceive characters in your mind despite there being no factual evidence that they were ever that way.

[j.j.d]

For an example of what happens when a male hero makes a mistake, look no further than Star-Lord punching Thanos in Infinity War. I don't think his rep will ever recover.

[jamessmall]

"fictional dudes are in a relationship, getting a relationship, or getting over a relationship. Doesn't that get tiring?"

Yes, yes it does. For the fictional and real dudes both.

[wrenbeck]

We need more characters like the DOOM Eternal Doomguy, since he:
A. Has no canonical love interest;
B. Has several memorials for his late pet rabbit Daisy, including an adorable painting of the two together;
C. Collects action figures, comic books and records, has the shareware versions of the original Doom games, and
D. Considering the presence of the pun-filled cooking magazine, he can probably cook.

Also he has a mech designed by the bloke who created the Jaegers, which helps.

[jinglesbejankin]

I had a manly man(tm) in a game of Pathfinder once.

A Barbarian so lost in the manly trope that he wielded a magic mug in each hand that had infinite alcohol in them. As per his Drunken Rager archetype he got buffs for being shitfaced. He could use these mugs like maces in combat. So he never had a reason to put them down, and he never did. Real dudebro personality. Lumberjack's grit and Vikings stoicism, topped off with a frat boy's energy and a convict's patience.

I wanted to see where I could take him as a character. Efficient as he was in combat, even while concerningly sloshed, I wasn't blind to how one-note he was. At level seven I took the leadership feat. Who should pop up in a tavern other than his own nerdy wizard son. The exact opposite of his father in every way. Pale, weak, underspoken, studious, knowledgable, could read, so on and so forth.

I liked the dynamic between father and son. Throughout the adventure they changed each other. Manly man dad pushed his son, perhaps too hard, and often on purpose. His son began pushing back. Family means family, no matter what. By the end of the game manly man dad quit drinking and even grew more uh... personable. Meek son stayed a nerd, but learned to stand up for himself and be assertive, a simple act that made his father endlessly proud. In the end the greatest obstacle was for the Barb to accept his son for the nerd he was. A challenge made infinitely easier when he learned fireball and began nuking shit.

[AphaWolf]

The superior non-toxic manly man is Aragorn. Kicks ass, loves poetry, strong leader, good to his friends and family. S tier role model.