| Role/Occupation Teacher |
| Total Entries 43 |
| Representative Ichabod Crane |
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Despite its importance, teaching isn’t seen as a very prestigious job. Teachers don’t get paid well and don’t get much respect either. So it’s notable when an exceptionally skilled person ‘settles’ for a lame old teaching job. This character is a high school teacher or college professor who has skills beyond their job that are more relevant to the plot. If they’re a science teacher, they might have invented the cure for cancer. Or they’re a music teacher who was once a world-class concert pianist. Or maybe their talent is in something completely unrelated to the subject they teach, like treasure hunting, demon-slaying, or martial arts. Regardless, the teacher is a “Hidden Badass” who has hidden their badassery behind a desk. Reasons for spending their days in the humble art of education vary. The teacher might be keeping their skills a secret, “Living a Double Life” where they moonlight as something much cooler. They might have been a “Veteran Instructor” who was disgraced or otherwise forced out of their previous profession. Or they may simply have a passion for teaching. This character archetype is frequently paired with a particular stock scene where an important figure drops by their classroom unannounced, often in the middle of a lesson, to request use of said talents in a more high-stakes setting. Typically, and especially when they are the protagonist, this character does very little actual teaching that the audience gets to see. This trope does not discriminate between personality types or teaching styles. A teacher can fit into this trope whether they are a “Cool Teacher”, a “Stern Teacher”, a “Sadist Teacher”, an “Absent-Minded Professor”, or a “Badass Teacher”… ~ More Than Just A Teacher – TV Tropes
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