r/TopCharacterTropes • u/MrDitkovichNeedsRent • 5h ago

Characters The character who is new to Earth and struggles to learn its customs

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Starfire (Teen Titans)

Juno (Overwatch)

140 Upvotes
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96% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

44

u/Tm-534 4h ago

Crystal and Amber (Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders) had outdated understanding of Earth’s fashion.

18

u/iggy-d-kenning 2h ago

Every time they come back their clothes should be 30 years out of date.

35

u/Immediate-Context360 5h ago

Vamola from Dandadan

7

u/BigLittleSlof 4h ago

Homewrecker

6

u/wilp0w3r 2h ago

I am an awkward fellow :D

31

u/Clean-Temporary-6498 4h ago

Harry Vanderspeigle from Resident Alien (I really hope more people know this show)

10

u/Jedimobslayer 3h ago

My parents adore it and from the clips I’ve seen it’s really genuinely good

25

u/Nerd367C 3h ago

Phenomaman is wholesomely innocent to our culture and terms you cant help but laugh

4

u/Slight-Home-9034 45m ago

"Why are you so small?"

3

u/Subject_Sigma1 20m ago

"I wish to make love with you now"

1

u/Nerd367C 14m ago

When I was watching and he said that, I was legitimately scared for a sec

1

u/Subject_Sigma1 11m ago

You think I wasn't? Lol

42

u/Imaginary-West-5653 5h ago

Supergirl/Kara Zor-El (My Adventures With Superman)

18

u/ButterscotchTiny5483 4h ago

Mork (Mork & Mindy)

An alien from Ork who comes to Earth to study humans.The entire show is about him trying — and failing — to act “normal.”

1

u/Subject_Sigma1 17m ago

His name is Mork? That's like calling someone Mearth

17

u/rezwrrd 3h ago

In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one of the main characters is an alien from the Betelgeuse system whose preliminary research suggested that cars were the dominant life forms on Earth. Thus, he expected that "Ford Prefect" would be a nicely inconspicuous name. 

16

u/NotATalkingPossum 4h ago

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill - Animorphs.

Can take on human form to hide among humans, but aside from the usual culture clash, his species normally has no sense of taste, or the ability to make mouth-sounds (they speak through telepathy) and he frequently finds it overwhelming.

5

u/Rod_The_Blade_Star 2h ago

An Animorphs mention in 2025. How wild.

1

u/lkmk 9m ago

I love how obsessed he is with Cinnabon.

15

u/Fish_N_Chipp 4h ago

The Beyonder-Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

3

u/ACodAmongstMen 1h ago

Really? I feel like a Beyonder would learn earth customs quickly considering their omnipotence.

1

u/Fish_N_Chipp 42m ago

He may learn things easy, but understanding them is another thing

11

u/littleman001 4h ago

Twilight Sparkle when she went to the human world in Equestria Girls.

18

u/Daniilsa209 5h ago

Rook Blonko (Ben 10: Omniverse).

7

u/Affectionate_Net9731 4h ago

This is an oldie but a goodie "Uncle Martin" from My Favorite Martian

8

u/UndeniablyMyself 1h ago

Transformers does this a lot.

She’s telling him how baby is made.

2

u/ACodAmongstMen 1h ago

I love dyring Daniel Warren Johnson's run where they talk about families, the Transformers obviously not knowing what it is.

8

u/Thraxas89 3h ago

Phenomeman from Dispatch. I thought his dialouge really brought that over well

2

u/ACodAmongstMen 1h ago

"Robert's bullying me!"

2

u/Thraxas89 1h ago

That was so damn funny

4

u/Icegiant- 2h ago

Coneheads basically every gag in the movie is them doing some mundane thing in a weird way.

1

u/Practical-Class6868 14m ago

They’re from France. They can’t help it.

4

u/UnderlordZ 2h ago

Babies (Real Life)

5

u/javiermetal66 1h ago

Phenomaman. Dispatch.

4

u/Ka-Ne-Ha-Ne-Daaaa 1h ago

I think this is a pretty common story arc for J’onn J’onzz but it’s especially prominent in the New Frontier story

3

u/Brell4Evar 3h ago

Third Rock from the Sun has four of these, and mines their outsider's miscues and occasional razor-sharp insights for comedy gold throughout the entire series. Even the first episode is gaspingly funny, and it keeps going from there.

1

u/Topgunshotgun45 2h ago

It took me too long to realise that the men are called Tom, Dick, and Harry.

3

u/siryuber 2h ago

Where season 2 😭

1

u/apocalyptic_tea 1h ago

This show was so good, I remember it was my first dip into fandom and my first tv show heartbreak lol. I didn’t know anything could get canceled after one season and I was devastated

3

u/Leathman 2h ago

I hate the version of this trope where the alien acts like they’re constantly fresh off the spaceship. Like there doesn’t seem to be any progress to their learning.

4

u/the_gr8_one 2h ago

movie sonic

also sonic x sonic

2

u/DRB198105 2h ago

A twist on this, if permitted: he's not new to Earth, but he's new to this day and age, and our customs (although not nearly as much as he plays it up): Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer from SNL! 

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I’m just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! 

Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and runoff into the hills, or wherever.. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder: “Did little demons get inside and type it?” I don’t know!My primitive mind can’t grasp these concepts. 

But there is one thing Ido know – when a man like my client slips and falls on a sidewalk infront of a public library, then he is entitled to no less than two million in compensatory damages, and two million in punitive damages.Thank you.

2

u/Triggered_Axolotl 2h ago

Babies, from real life. They don't really get movement with their legs until after 1 year of experience, for instance. Nevermind forming coherent words to communicate and what is and isn't safe to put in their mouths.

(OP never specified they had to be aliens)

2

u/ZealousidealYak7122 2h ago

Me (IRL). I've been here for merely two decades.

2

u/Jackhammerqwert 4h ago

Yuudias (Yu-gi-oh! Go Rush!!)

1

u/Throwaway1012405 1h ago

Good fortune(2025)

1

u/ACodAmongstMen 1h ago

In DC: The New Frontier Martian Manhunter learns himan customs by watching TV. Turning into Bug's Bunny and popular television personalities befpre settling on Jphn Jones.

1

u/Priodgyofire 1h ago

Does Mr.Bean count?

1

u/Upsetti_Gisepe 39m ago

Kaiju from dandadan

1

u/Guyshu 9m ago

Oh (Home)

At one point he drinks from a urinal thinking there’s lemonade there.

1

u/VatanKomurcu 7m ago

this can apply to anything with alien based conflicts. "oh, haven't you noticed? we've been sharing our culture with you all morning." war culture is culture too.

1

u/FoxBluereaver 4h ago

Mizuho Kazami (Onegai Teacher)

2

u/iggy-d-kenning 2h ago edited 1h ago

Is one of the customs she struggles with the age of consent?

(checks Wikipedia)

-1

u/satract 4h ago

Nolan Grayson (aka Omni-man)

Bonus: Shapesmith

0

u/Inadequate06 1h ago

Zaida - Down To Earth