History Main / SadClown

* The Music/WeirdAlYankovic song "Skipper Dan" features a wannabe performer whose grand plans all fell apart, and now their stuck working a miserable job.

->''"Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, 'Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.' Man bursts into tears. Says 'But, Doctor... I am Pagliacci.' Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains."''

** [[Characters/XMenTheOriginalTeam Iceman]]. He has had a difficult life, starting in his origin story. He first used his powers to save his girlfriend Judy Harmon from a would-be rapist. She was scared of him and ended their relationship. His status as a mutant became public knowledge and he was targeted by a mutant-hating mob. He has had a difficult relationship with his father William Drake, who does not trust mutants. He has had many love interests but his love tends to be unrequited. Even his most successful relationships have ended in sad notes. He feels insecure about his position in the X-Men since the once tight-knit is more recently filled with people he barely knows. He still faces life and dangers with a series of wisecracks.

Contrast NonIronicClown. See also GallowsHumor which is often used about a grim subject whenever someone wants to lighten up the mood, HurtingHero with heroes who suffer and deal with it in various ways, BrokenHero, InferioritySuperiorityComplex about people who mask their insecurities by acting self-assured in order to gain confidence, StepfordSmiler who pretend that they are happy with their lives often to themselves first and foremost and don't necessarily use humour, StepfordSnarker who has a lot of similarities but is more usually bitter at others and his remarks are generally more cutting, SourOutsideSadInside when the character masks their inner trauma with cynicism and snark rather than humor, TheUnwittingComedian, who doesn't even bother hiding their sadness but is seen as a straightforward jokester anyway, TheComicallySerious, where a character gets put in comedic situations but forces themselves to be serious, and DreadedKidsPartyEntertainerJob, when someone who performs for kids' parties is abused, which may make them depressed or anxious.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'''s Harry Dresden, who "follow[s] the tao of [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]]"; see the page quote. Everyone and everything in the universe [[HurtingHero appears to have it in for him]] because BeingGoodSucks; he responds by making terrible jokes, even when this is [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu not strictly in the interests of self-preservation]].

** Members of the guild are seen often forgetting if they're supposed to be "happy on the outside and crying on the inside, or the other way 'round." This is understandable since the Fools generally don't lead pleasant lives. Indeed, it is common knowledge on the Disc that Fools simply cannot be funny ("if it was funny, a clown wouldn't be doing it"), and clowns are regarded as inherently pitiful or scary, rather than comedic. Exemplifying this is the fact that the guildhall is often mistaken for that of the Assassins, which is actually the light, airy building next door. According to WordOfGod, it began as a monastery for a particularly sombre group of monks, and the founder of the Fools' Guild was shaped in his philosophy towards comedy by the fact that A: he was honestly nowhere near as funny as he believed himself to be, B: a mindset that convinced him that jokes and humor were SeriousBusiness and should be treated with great dignity and respect, and C: the very pronounced trait of Discwolders, especially those in Ankh-Morpork, to be realistic and literal-minded to the point of being deliberately obtuse, which doesn't make joking an easy matter. The result is that generations of Fools have had their emotions crushed and any actual knack for humor (not to mention desire to make people laugh) stamped out of them. No new material or humor is allows in the guild, only impossibly tired jokes and routines that are centuries old and things nobody would ever laugh at.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' spin-off ''ComicBook/BadGuys'', Fang is revealed to be a Sad Clown. He's just as shocked and horrified as everyone else to find out Tasha hung herself. He just dealt with it by making an inappropriate light bulb joke.

[[caption-width-right:270:[[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls "Oh, this...this is beautiful."]]]]

* Duo Maxwell from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' tries to be the mood maker for the Gundam pilots, and is certainly the cheeriest and goofiest of the group. He's also got a particularly tragic past (orphan, lost his best friend to disease because only the rich people got the vaccine, bounced between foster homes before settling in a church with a caring priest and sister, only to lose them to a pointless battle) and refers to himself as "{{Shinigami}}", not boasting about his ability to kill enemy pilots but because the specter of Death seems to hover around him at all times.
** A more literal example is Trowa Barton [[spoiler:Triton Bloom]], who works in a circus as a clown, but is as far from goofy as one can get.

* Polnareff from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' often plays the comic relief role, acting quite impulsive and has a running gag with toilets. He's also one of the characters who has the worst lives in the series. Before the story, [[spoiler:his little sister was raped and murdered, prompting him to go on a 10-year adventure to find the culprit. In Egypt, he was hypnotized and brainwashed into becoming DIO's minion.]] Within part 3, Polnareff [[spoiler:saw Avdol died trying to save him ''twice'', had to kill the reanimated image of his sister, then Iggy also died trying to save him. He developed Survivor's Guilt and wished the two had left him to die.]] After part 3, he returned to his hometown and lived alone... [[spoiler:or so we thought. In part 5, it was revealed that he was almost murdered by Diavolo, losing his eye, legs, and hand. He barely survived and had to hide for 14 years, cutting off all contacts with his last remaining friends Jotaro and Joseph.]]

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', though hammy and emotional on the outside, when one of Enmu's henchmen breached Zenitsu's subconscious, it was a pitch-black blank devoid of any hopes and dreams made manifest like the subconsciousness of Rengoku, Tanjiro and Inosuke's. A life of abandonment, loss & betrayal had left Zenitsu's heart so hollow and bereft of hope for the future, all he has to live for is the present; until he met Nezuko.

* Beast Boy/Changeling from ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', in both the comic and the [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003 animated series]]. An EmergencyTransformation turned him into a green shapeshifter. He watched his biological parents die in a boating accident. An EvilUncle got custody and abused him. He ran away and found the Comicbook/DoomPatrol, who were more than happy to show the EvilUncle why he ought to pick on someone his own size. [[TeamMom Rita Farr]] [[HappilyAdopted adopted him]], but she was (apparently) killed with the rest of the original Patrol, which made Mento (Gar's adopted father) even ''more'' mentally unstable. And his first serious girlfriend turns out to be [[PsychoExGirlfriend Terra]]. He fully admits that his options are "laugh or cry" and he's choosing the former.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** [[Characters/XMenTheOriginalTeam Iceman]]. He has had a difficult life, starting in his origin story. He first used his powers to save his girlfriend Judy Harmon from a would-be rapist. She was scared of him and ended their relationship. His status as a mutant became public knowledge and he was targeted by a mutant-hating mob. He has had a difficult relationship with his father William Drake, who does not trust mutants. He has had many love interests but his love tends to be unrequited. Even his most successful relationships have ended in sad notes. He feels insecure about his position in the X-Men since the once tight-knit is more recently filled with people he barely knows. He still faces life and dangers with a series of wisecracks.
** And from ''Comicbook/XFactor'' we have Guido (a.k.a. Strong Guy). Cracking dumb jokes helps ease the physical pain from his mutant powers.[[note]]Guido's [[TopHeavyGuy hulking, disproportionate physique]] is the result of him getting hit by a bus the same day his powers manifested, and thus not being aware that he [[EnergyAbsorption absorbs kinetic energy]], which enhances his strength but that energy needs to be expended via physical exertion very quickly afterward. Thus he has permanently enlarged musculature, especially in his upper body where the bus hit him, but since the human body isn't supposed to be shaped like that he's in constant agony.[[/note]] To say nothing of the problems that come from [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer just being a mutant]].
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]]. Despite being the ClassClown, he suffers from [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer being a mutant]] even more than most as a result of [[DarkIsNotEvil his demonic appearance]], and has [[TorchesAndPitchforks a depressing backstory]]. Where he falls on the FunPersonified to Sad Clown scale [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the writer]].
* [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Spider-Man]] himself is a rare example of a main character being the sad clown. At his healthiest, his notorious [[YouFightLikeACow mid-fight quips]] are still as much about coping with how scary his life is as distracting his enemy.
-->'''Iron Man:''' Have you noticed the closer we get to uncomfortable truths, the more jokes per minute you make?
** In ''Comicbook/MarvelZombies'', Spidey drives the other zombies crazy with the constant, irritating jokes he keeps making. When told to cut it out, he informs them that he makes jokes to help himself forget that he's become a flesh-eating evil lunatic.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane Watson]] was one of these in her backstory - she kept up a constant FunPersonified party-animal persona to cover up for how miserable her home life was.
* Comicbook/IronMan himself verges on this at times, especially when Matt Fraction writes him.
* ''Comicbook/{{Nova}}'' AKA Richard Rider, seventeen-year-old, definitely fits the bill here. Similarly to Spider-Man, he makes various quips with his enemies, but he is far more insecure, with failing school grades and his family's financial issues, and the fact that just about everyone in his family is some sort of punctual, successful go-getter except him. If not for his girlfriend, Ginger, who knows how mentally worse off he'd be?
* Mentioned in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' throughout flashbacks of Eddie Blake (a.k.a. The Comedian). "But Doctor...''I'' am Pagliacci!"
** Which is a quote from the poem "Reír llorando" ("To laugh while crying") by Juan de Dios Peza. The poem follows the same line in more detail, and the sad man is not "Pagliacci" (which means just "clown" in Italian) but David Garrick, a very famous English actor who existed. ''I am Garrick... change my prescription!''
* ComicBook/PlasticMan from Creator/DCComics is often accused of this, denying it every time. Whether he is lying or not depends on your interpretation.

*** If you feel a bit uncomfortable feeling that much ''sympathy'' for him, the comic allows you to play the MultipleChoicePast card and go on hating him. Joker himself doesn't know whether that's part of his real history Honestly, that's clever.

%%* Pol Pitron from ''ComicBook/YokoTsuno''.
* Although he is a genuinely happy-go-lucky person, Morph has instances of this in both his ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse and Comicbook/{{Exiles}} incarnations, which results in teammates telling him to shut up and be serious for once. When he does, it tends to be [[TearJerker heartbreaking]]. His original incarnation (at least, the first to use the name Morph) in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' was like this too, and it was just as sad to see his real psyche.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' spin-off ''ComicBook/BadGuys'', Fang is revealed to be a Sad Clown. He's just as shocked and horrified as everyone else to find out Tasha hung herself. He just dealt with it by making an inappropriate light bulb joke.
* The zombie-like Ghoul of ''ComicBook/TheUltraverse'', who does it to cope with being TheGrotesque.

* ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'': Skip from the ''Wish You Were'' arc is characterized as the dependable but somewhat laid0back and goofy Australian member of the group for the first volume, but is later shown to be experiencing deep inner hurt from abandoning his injured brother in order to get out with the rest of his family before the mob of psychotic infected could reach the pier where their boat was, and raising a child who isn't his own.
* Yorick from ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' continues to crack lame jokes despite being the only male survivor of the {{Gendercide}}, to the frustration of his traveling companions.

** It is mentioned in ''Literature/MenAtArms'' that the patrons of the Fools' Guild ''are'' genuinely good at their job in making people laugh. In the sense that talking to one is such a miserable, soul-crushing affair that by the time you're done literally anything will seem hysterical. Earlier in that same book, when a fool is murdered, he asks [[DontFearTheReaper Death]] if he will still need to do his clown act in the afterlife. When Death reassures him that no, he won't, the dead clown replies, "I like it better already."

** It is mentioned in one book that the patrons of the Fools' Guild ''are'' genuinely good at their job in making people laugh. In the sense that talking to one is such a miserable, soul-crushing affair that by the time you're done literally anything will seem hysterical.

* Members of the Fools' Guild in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' often lapse into this, sometimes forgetting if they're supposed to be "happy on the outside and crying on the inside, or the other way 'round." This is understandable since the Fools generally don't lead pleasant lives. Indeed, it is common knowledge on the Disc that Fools simply cannot be funny ("if it was funny, a clown wouldn't be doing it"), and clowns are regarded as inherently pitiful or scary, rather than comedic. Exemplifying this is the fact that the guildhall is often mistaken for that of the Assassins, which is actually the light, airy building next door. According to WordOfGod, it began as a monastery for a particularly sombre group of monks, and the founder of the Fools' Guild was shaped in his philosophy towards comedy by the fact that A: he was honestly nowhere near as funny as he believed himself to be, B: a mindset that convinced him that jokes and humor were SeriousBusiness and should be treated with great dignity and respect, and C: the very pronounced trait of Discwolders, especially those in Ankh-Morpork, to be realistic and literal-minded to the point of being deliberately obtuse, which doesn't make joking an easy matter. The result is that generations of Fools have had their emotions crushed and any actual knack for humor (not to mention desire to make people laugh) stamped out of them.\\\
The head of the Fool's Guild is Dr. Whiteface, whose makeup has a big painted smile... while his actual expression is "as cold and proud as a prince of Hell". And to top it off, we find out in ''Literature/MakingMoney'' that the clowns are still very much [[AllMonksKnowKungFu Monks]] when we see a former clown who ran away from the lifestyle as a boy, still retaining only the basics of the skills he'd been taught with. Eventually, he demonstrates EXACTLY why Ankh-Morporkians are right to feel nervous and creeped out by clowns, in a demonstration of Battle Clowning that would make the Joker green with envy.

** Jangles is a more literal example--a birthday party clown who's suffering conflicting emotions in the epilogue. It's made clear that while ''Riley'' has a fear of clowns, Jangles himself is [[NonIronicClown a normal guy who isn't trying to be scary]].