Bones: Hey Lumpy, you know how we were talking about the other day how we're in every single solitary movie ever, the fat guy and the skinny guy who are both thugs?
Lumpy: Yeah?
Bones: Do you think that's a throwback to classic character development, or just really shitty writing?
Lumpy: I pick the latter.
This is where a fat and a skinny character make up a two-character ensemble. This is usually a comedy trope, usually with the skinny character being the Straight Man, although inversions of this are seen as well. Sometimes both characters are silly and this is often seen in the Terrible Trio type of villains, although there are also examples of heroic, or at least not villainous, pairs who fit this description. They often fit into the tropes of Those Two Guys or Those Two Bad Guys.
These two guys usually (but not always) have some specific characteristics that tropify their relationship: The fat one is usually a dopey optimist, while the skinny one is cynical and refined. This pair, even in villain form, are devoted to each other. The skinny one has all of the ideas, and the fat one is also the strong man. If on the rare occasion the fat guy has a brilliant idea, either the skinny guy will express extreme surprise at the fat guy's ability to rub two brain cells together or the idea will be waved away as unworkable, and then re-appropriated two seconds later as the skinny guy's idea.
If these characteristics are not followed, then it's usually because the fat one is a brute who beats up the whiny skinny dude a lot. This behavior is rarely seen in protagonist pairings of fat and skinny.
Compare Big Guy, Little Guy.
Lumpy: Yeah?
Bones: Do you think that's a throwback to classic character development, or just really shitty writing?
Lumpy: I pick the latter.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
- Tonzler and Boyacky, Doronjo's henchmen from Yatterman. Well, strictly speaking, Tonzler is a muscular Top-Heavy Guy, but the effect is the same. Ditto their many Expy counterparts from the other Time Bokan series.
- Nuk and Mok in Kemono no Souja Erin.
- Horizontal Guy and Vertical Guy, who appear in Comic Party.
- Moyashimon has Tadayasu's upperclassmen friends Misato (skinny) and Kawahama (fat).
- Eyeshield 21 has Hiruma (Skinny) and Kurita (Fat), two of the founding members of the Deimon Devil Bats and the only ones left when Sena ends up joining the team.
- Sanson and Hanson, Grandis' cronies in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, invert the mold. The tall, skinny Sanson is incredibly strong (because he's named after the biblical Samson), while the short, rotund Hanson is a peerless genius.
- Decoe and Bocoe in Sonic X.
- Tom and Tab from Kimba the White Lion.
- Dia and Pearl from the Pokémon Adventures manga. Pearl is the scrawny fast-talking idea man, and Dia is the chubby good-natured dimwit buffoon. Slight subversion in that Dia is revealed to be only Obfuscating Stupidity and sometimes makes borderline snark comments that Pearl chooses to ignore. (In one scene, Platinum observes the boys practicing and asks if the Dope Slap hurt Dia. Pearl insists that he has to brutally slap Dia so the audience will hear the smack-like sound effect, and this is necessary to convey emotion. Dia then mutters that Pearl could hit him a little softer, and still get the message across.) May also be somewhat inverted in that Pearl is physically the stronger of the two boys (even capable of having the heavier Dia stand on his shoulders throughout an entire gym match when they covertly help Platinum. Pearl does finally pass out from exhaustion a short while later.) Played straight in their manzai comedy routines, all of which are written by Pearl.
- Leeva and Gula in Doki Doki Pretty Cure. They even have Ho Yay moments.
- Lumis and Umbra from the Battle City arc of Yu-Gi-Oh!; Umbra is tall and thin, Lumis is short, squat, and chubby (but actually a rather good runner and jumper).
- The Aldini twins from Shokugeki no Soma. It's the fat one (Isami) who's the calm, stabilizing factor to his Hot-Blooded brother Takumi, but otherwise they follow the trope pretty spot on.
- Odoren (thin) and Utaen (fat) from the Pretty Cure All Stars Spring Carnival movie.
Comic Books
- Invoked in The Sandman, with Cain and Abel possessing a contract from Dream to serve as "the thin one and the fat one". They're also the In-Universe Trope Codifier for murderer and victim, among others.
- Astérix and Obelix, though Obelix insists his chest has just slipped a bit.
- Douglas Klump and Burt Shlubb, "Fat Man and Little Boy" from Sin City
- Plastic Man and Woozy Winks.
- Kel-Matu and Ko-Chonu in Les Légendaires. A rare example to not be played for comedy.
- Zelda and Hilda from Sabrina the Teenage Witch are traditionally this. Since the 1990s show, Archie Comics has been making Zelda skinnier.
- In Noob, the actors playing The Dividual Bartémulius and Nostariat in the webseries are a man of normal size and a woman that is little on the heavy side. When the webseries got its Comic-Book Adaptation, the characters got turned into this trope. Note that the comic's illustrator and colorist are the actors in question.
- Kajko i Kokosz, a pair of classic Polish comic characters. Kajko is the short, brainy one, and Kokosz is the giant, brawny foil. Because of this, they occasionally get criticized for being too similar to Asterix and Obelix.
Comic Strips
- Hägar the Horrible and Lucky Eddie.
- Mutt and Jeff, in syndication from 1907 until 1982
.
- Garfield and Odie. Also Garfield and Jon to a degree, as well as Garfield and Arlene.
- Uncle Sam◊ and John Bull, the personifications of North America and England, respectively, when they are portrayed together in political cartoons.
Fan Works
- In Ask Hoops and Dumbbell, the titual characters fit the bill - though Dumbbell, the 'fat' of th two, is less fat and more just stocky. they also invert the typical dynamic with Dumbbell(usually) playing the Straight Man.
Films — Animation
- Horace and Jasper (101 Dalmatians).
- Gus and Jaq; King and Grand Duke (Cinderella).
- Pain and Panic (Hercules).
- Napoleon and Lafayette (The Aristocats)
- Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King. Pumbaa is a warthog so his size comes with the package. They're best friends who raise Simba together after he runs away from home.
- In Lilo & Stitch, Jumba and Pleakley.
- Maurice (fat) and King Julien (skinny) from the Madagascar films and The Penguins of Madagascar. Maurice is of the "fat Straight Man" variety.
- The Walrus (fat) and the Carpenter (skinny) from Alice in Wonderland. The usual roles are inverted: the Walrus is the smart and double-crossing one while the Carpenter is more dim-witted and honest.
- Grundel (fat) and Beetle (skinny) in Don Bluth's Thumbelina.
- Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles in The Boxtrolls.
- Tony and Joe the Italian chefs from Lady and the Tramp.
- Charlie and Chhainu from Roadside Romeo.
- Kings Stefan (Princess Aurora's father) and Hubert (Prince Phillip's father) from Sleeping Beauty.
- Sisters Ursula and Morgana from The Little Mermaid and its sequel, respectively.
- The mice Fat and Tall in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Films — Live-Action
- Laurel and Hardy, the Trope Maker, sometimes known by fans as "the Fiddle and the Bow". In many countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany, they are actually known as "Fat and Skinny". They also defy the usual stereotypes in that Hardy is the smart one and Laurel the fool. Of course, interpretations of this can vary.
- John Bunny and Flora Finch played a husband-and-wife variant on this trope in A Cure for Pokeritis and at least a hundred more short comedy films, made over a decade before Laurel and Hardy. As usual, it's the skinny one (here Finch, who played the shrewish wife) who dominates the fat one {her fat Henpecked Husband, played by Bunny).
- Abbott and Costello.
- Bud Spencer and Terence Hill.
- A gender inversion is Tracy Turnblad and Penny Pingleton from Hairspray.
- Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Spaced...
- Sky High (2005): Speed, the fat guy, actually has Super Speed, but Lash, the skinny guy, has stretching powers.
- C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars.
- Marv and Harry in Home Alone (although in this case, "fat" and "skinny" are inverted from their normal personalities)
- Jay and Silent Bob, with the fat Silent Bob as the Straight Man.
- Pirates of the Caribbean has two sets, two Royal Marines based on Abbott & Costello and two pirates based on Laurel & Hardy. The pairs meet a few times.
- David Spade and Chris Farley in Tommy Boy and Black Sheep (1996).
- The Blues Brothers. Perhaps explained by their Trademark Favorite Foods; Jake's "four fried chickens" (yes, whole ones) and Elwood's "dry white toast".
- Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi again, in Neighbors.
- Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet in a number of 1940s films, starting with The Maltese Falcon. They were often, though not always, a villainous pair. This was lampshaded during their cameo in Hollywood Canteen, when a soldier thinks they're threatening him. They were actually offering him a cigarette.
- Jolly U and Rat in Guest from the Future.
- Max and Thor in the film version of George of the Jungle.
- Evan and Seth from Superbad
- Komatsu and Oyama from the 1950s Japanese family film, Chibideka Monogatari, known better by it's English title Skinny and Fatty, which apparently cemented itself permanently in the minds of those who grew up in Japan in the late '50s.
- Moe and/or Larry and Curley or Joe or Curly Joe.
- In Batman Returns, the Penguin's circus-themed gang includes the Fat Clown and the Thin Clown. As usual, the Thin Clown is a genius (Penguin has him install a jamming device inside the Batmobile) while the Fat Clown is pretty dense.
- Shannon Mullins and Sarah Ashburn from The Heat.
- The Mexican comedy duo Viruto (skinny) y Capulina (fat).
- The two male leads of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are the slender Newt Scamander and the chubby Jacob Kowalski.
Literature
- Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
- Fred and Nobby, from the Discworld books. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg offer a female version, when they aren't being The Three Faces of Eve with Magrat.
- From the related books, the rat catchers from The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. This is lampshaded by Malicia.
- They're not really a double act, but Spelter and Carding from Sourcery at one point stand next to each other and are described as "looking exactly like the number 10".
- Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip, Those Two Bad Guys in The Truth.
- Croup and Vandemar, the Old Firm, in Neverwhere.
- Lenny and George from Of Mice and Men
- Bragg and Larkin certainly count. Although that's more Freakishly Huge and Skinny than Fat and Skinny. (Bragg is at least 8 feet 8 inches and probably bigger.)
- Finney and Mudd from Tad Williams' Otherland sci-fi series. Servants to the main villain, the skinny one, Finney, is brilliant and manipulative, and Mudd, the fat one, is described as "Almost subhuman". Copies of them exist within a massive VR simulation network where these characteristics are played up even more by the intelligence controlling the system, which essentially constructs it's understanding of the universe from stories, almost making these copies a reference to the trope itself..
- Depending on the artist◊ or screen portrayal◊, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson sometimes get this treatment.
- It's canonically true of Sherlock and Mycroft.
- The lazy and horrid Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge of James and the Giant Peach who both have Meaningful Names.
- Locke Lamora (Skinny) and Jean Tannen (Fat) from Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series. While Lamora embodies the classic 'brains and sarcasm' role of the skinny one (and main protagonist), Tannen is, somewhat unusually for the fat one, the voice of reason, the conscience, and the badass, instead of merely the foil.
- Fattypuffs & Thinifers begins with Edmund's skinny brother Terry calling him a Fattypuff. They then ride down a long escalator to a fantasy world which is entirely divided between a fat half and a thin half.
- The main characters of the Italian novel for children Sussi e Biribissi by Paolo Lorenzini (aka Collodi Nipote). Sussi is rosy and short, with blond curly hair, and looks like a lump of butter, Biribissi is tall, skinny, dark haired and quite dirty. Later in the novel, they swap roles.
- Donegan Bane and Gracious O'Callahan, the Monster Hunters, in The Maleficent Seven. Donegan is described as a "tall, skinny Englishman" while Gracious is "the short, powerfully built Irishman".
- In Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Christopher Drawlight and Henry Lascelles seem to fit this trope, with Drawlight being plump and rather dim-witted, while Lascelles (the taller of the two) is brutally sarcastic and, in a darker take on the trope manages to effectively scheme against Norrell and Strange, and murders Drawlight. Based on body type alone, Norrell and Strange themselves fit this trope, but do not qualify in other ways.
- Lyle and Lloyd from Geoph Essex's Lovely Assistant are practically an off-model Laurel and Hardy mixed with Threepio and Artoo. They don't just fit tropes, though: They know tropes, which actually helps to save the day.
- Anne Shirley (Skinny) and her best friend Diana Barry (Fat) from the Anne of Green Gables series.
- Fat Kid Rules The World has best friends and bandmates Troy and Curt. Troy is a depressed, nearly 300 pound teenager while Curt is very scrawny guy who gets mistaken for a drug user due to his looks. They form a punk band together (with Troy on drums).
Live-Action TV
- Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel (and later, Richard Roeper) from Siskel & Ebert.
- Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street.
- Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show, and maybe Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker as well.
- Don't tell this to Miss Piggy, but both she and Kermit the Frog are also an example.
"An example?! I'll show YOU an example! Hi-YAH!!"- Also, Kermit and Fozzie Bear.
- Kenan & Kel, with fat Kenan as the Straight Man to skinny Kel.
- Yick and Arthur from Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High
- Drake & Josh, until Josh lost his puppy fat.
- Their characters, Tony Pajamas and his sidekick Paulie, from Spiritual Predecessor The Amanda Show.
- El Chompiras and El Botija from Chespirito.
- El Chavo and Señor Barriga, as well as Señor Barriga and Don Ramón.
- Manolo and Benito from Manos a la Obra. Benito may not be that skinny, but he's obviously not as fat as Manolo.
- The Mexican entertainers Viruta and Capulina.
- Bulk and Skull from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and the following seasons; in this case, however, the fat one is The Schemer.
- In Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, it's Bulk and Professor Phenomenus. In Power Rangers Samurai, Bulk forms a similar pair with Skull's son Spike.
- Also Squatt and Baboo from Mighty Morphin.
- Barney and Junior from Far Out Space Nuts.
- Jamie and Vicki from Small Wonder.
- Earl and Randy from My Name Is Earl.
- Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton on The Honeymooners.
- Hurley and various skinny partners (most commonly Charlie, now Miles, occasionally Sawyer) from Lost.
- Even more so with Hurley's old buddy on the mainland, Johnny, aka DJ Quallis.
- Even more so with Hurley's old buddy on the mainland, Johnny, aka DJ Quallis
- Ace Of Cakes has Duff Goldman and Geof Manthorne, two Heterosexual Life-Partners who make cakes and take names. Inverted, however, in that Duff is the brazen one of the two, while Geof tends to sit back and spout wisdom/ineffably dry humor for the most part.
- Penn & Teller
- Jake and the Fatman.
- Gilligan... the Skipper too. Another case where the usual roles are reversed, the fat guy being the Straight Man (usually) and the skinny one the dimwit.
- Nico and Grady from Sonny with a Chance.
- Filmation's Ghostbusters (the original live-action series) featured two gangsters called Fat Man and The Rabbit in the episode, "The Maltese Monkey." This example goes one further in that The Rabbit is played by dwarf actor Billy Barty.
- Doctor Who:
- Mr Oak and Mr Quill in "Fury From the Deep".
- The episode "A Good Man Goes to War" brought us the thin and fat (and tall and short) gay married Anglican Marines. The characters themselves claimed that with a title like that, they don't even need names.
- Noah's Arc: Alex and Noah when they're seen one on one; their personalities also fit the silly vs. Straight Man (no pun intended) qualities of the trope.
- Presumably the Spanish-language show El Gordo y la Flaca.
- Penhall and Hanson toward the end of their partnership in 21 Jump Street.
- R.J. and Miles in The Hard Times of RJ Berger.
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Crow is all articulated lamp arms, and Tom Servo is barrel-shaped, literally.
- David Mitchell and Robert Webb - one bit, for instance, has Rob mocking David for asking whether a shirt made him look fat.
- James Corden and Mathew Horne, in Gavin and Stacey and "Horne and Corden".
- Shultz and Klink from Hogan's Heroes
- Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter, although Andy Richter is the straight man.
- Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon were the prototype they were following.
- UK 1980s comedy duo Syd Little and Eddie Large (not their real names).
- Bert and Al from Doc Martin. Bert being the short Fat Idiot and his son Al is the sensible Straight Man.
- From Heroes, Hiro is short, goofy, optimistically idealistic, and a little on the chubby side, while his best friend Ando is more serious, worldly, and taller and thinner; they're only rarely seen apart from each other. They seem to be on equal footing as far as intelligence goes, though, and take turns being the one who actually comes up with an idea.
- Justified has Harlan County gangsters Dickie and Coover Bennett. Dickie's an all but emaciated marijuana dealer with a caustic sense of humour, an unpredictable temper, and a penchant for underhanded, half-thought out scheming. His younger brother, Coover, is a colossal, overweight, thug who acts as Dickie's muscle, loses his mind in fights, and lets Dickie do most of the thinking. They live in the same house, operate an ATV front-business together, and despite the fact that neither one is especially bright, are two of Harlan County's most dangerous criminals.
Music
- Williams and Ree.
- The faces of Barenaked Ladies, Steven Page and Ed Robertson.
- Insane Clown Posse, Violent J (fat) and Shaggy 2 Dope (skinny).
- Johns Linnell and Flansburgh, pretty consistently throughout their career. Linnell has always been terribly scrawny, whereas Flansburgh has evolved from being ridiculously buff to rather pudgy, and of course several inches taller. Inverted, however, in that Flansburgh is the idea man, while Linnell broods in the background and plays music, sometimes on stage when you poke him into it.
- Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., when they were friends.
- Trout Fishing In America has 7-foot, moderately built Keith Grimwood and 5-foot-5, thicker-built Ezra Idlet.
- Twiztid from 1997 until 2012 was identifiable thusly: Jamie Madrox was the fat one, and Monoxide was the skinny one. However, Jamie lost a lot of weight and is skinny now.
- Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) of The Turtles and Mothers of Invention fame.
- Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and Papas. (a rare female example)
Pro Wrestling
- Kane and pretty much every wrestler he's teamed with, except when he pairs with other big men (The Undertaker, Mankind, and The Big Show).
- Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley during their time teaming without D'Von in 2002.
- Too Cool's 2003/04 incarnation of Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty.
- V-Squared - Val Venis and Viscera.
- Owen Hart and Yokozuna.
- Team IWS, Kevin Steen and El Generico. Equally, Willie Mack and El Generico.
- TNA Frontline leaders AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
- Mark Henry and Montel Vontavious Porter, Mark Henry and Evan Bourne, Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu.
- Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) and ShowMiz (The Big Show and The Miz).
- Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty.
- OVW tag team "The Fat And The Furious", Mr. Black being the fat and Trailer Park Trash being the skinny, though they're both heavyweights, fat Black weighs over twice as much as Trash.
- The Beer City Bruiser and The Last Real Man Silas Young
Radio
- The Navy Lark has skinny and vulture-like C.P.O. Pertwee and Able Seaman "Fatso" Johnson who often pair up on nefarious schemes with poor Johnson usually the butt of the joke or Pertwee's fall guy.
Theater
- Finian's Rainbow has Shears and Robust. The former is tall and lean, the latter short and squat.
Video Games
- Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario Bros. games after Luigi's Divergent Character Evolutionnote . Wario and Waluigi as well, but on a much grander scale.
- Chrono Cross has Solt and Peppor.
- And Fat and Slim.
- Logos and Ormi from Final Fantasy X-2.
- Team Fortress 2's Heavy and Scout, whenever together, tend to make this kind of pairing.
- Heavy/Medic pairs.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has Tenpenny and Pulaski, as well as CJ's former friends Big Smoke and Ryder.
- Portal 2's co-op robots Atlas and P-body. The developer commentary notes that this was inspired by other instances of this trope.
- The Komodo Brothers from the Crash Bandicoot series.
- ToeJam & Earl.
- Killik Hardtack and Murkel Tranchfoot from Tales of Monkey Island.
- Skinhead and Neckbeard, the security guards of Club Titiboo in MOTHER 3.
- The game also has Bud and Lou, the two would-be comedians and manzai duo.
- Jill and The Queen from Mighty Jill Off.
- The protagonists of Bonanza Bros.
- Executioner Smough and Dragon Slayer Ornstein from Dark Souls are a decidedly non-comedic example - unless you consider dying over and over again to be funny.
- Actually a subversion, since according to the game's official concept art, Smough's armor makes him look fat, but underneath it◊ he's positively ripped.
- Actually a subversion, since according to the game's official concept art, Smough's armor makes him look fat, but underneath it
- The two brothers Edgar and Wally from The Act
- Kraid and Ridley from the Metroid series are a rare villainous example, both of them being fierce adversaries of protagonist Bounty Hunter Samus Aran.
- Clueless Deputies Eli and Jonah from Red Dead Redemption. Here, the fatter Eli is the (marginally) more intelligent and competent one.
- Sans and Papyrus from Undertale, though only in figure, since (being skeletons) they have no actual fat to speak of. To some degree they fit the stereotype, with tall, skinny Papyrus being extremely self-important and quick to announce his genius, whereas short, wide Sans is laid back, very jokey, lazy, and secretly incredibly competent. Bratty and Catty, two Valley Girl vendors, also qualify.
- The title characters Moigle (fat) and Hoigle (skinny) from the late-era Sega Dreamcast game Floigan Brothers.
- Those Two Bad Guys Junkrat and Roadhog from Overwatch are partners in crime.
Web Comics
- One of the main characters in Furthia High is Bruce, a fat red fox, whose best friend is a skinny rabbit named Campy. Both are friends with the last human in the world.
- Jack Delitt and Mortimer Jones from Newheimburg
- The first two trolls in "Tails Gets Trolled" are a particularly hilarious example
- In Sinfest, two bullies like this show up to harrass Crimney.
- Schlock from Schlock Mercenary and whoever is pairing off with him at the time. The only thing concrete about this is Schlock being the fat one (unless he's with Brad, Elizabeth or Chisulo), since with Schlock's partner almost always being an officer there's the almost inevitable clash of Schlock's street-smart quick-wittedness vs the partner's genuine (although not always particularly great) intelligence.
- Jon and Seth, the two main characters of Waste Of Timeare this.
Web Original
- That Guy with the Glasses:
- Sean Fausz and Paw.
- Rob Walker and Doug Walker. To explain, Rob is basically Hollywood Pudgy and has had his own moments of scary-thin. It's just next to Doug, who has got very rail-like over the years, he comes off looking worse than he should. Lampshaded in The Monster Squad review, where he says he's of "considerable girth".
- The Nostalgia Chick and her BFF, Nella.
- Simon Lane and Lewis Brindley.
- Even though they don't normally work together, and the latter isn't skinny as a rail, This video shows that Jesse Cox is visibly rounder than TotalBiscuit, enough to imply this trope when they do work together.
- Linkara and Spoony, critics, collaborators, and good friends. Though not quite as extreme as other examples, Linkara is notably heavier-set than when he started AT4W, and Spoony has lost weight in the past due to a number of factors; side by side, their size difference is easily visible.
- The Vlogbrothers: despite Hank's self-deprecation, he really is quite skinny, compared to his brother, fat enough at his worst that there was at one point a Facebook group was made dedicated to it.
- JonTron and Egoraptor of the Game Grumps. And since Danny Sexbang took over for Jon, Arin seems to have assumed the role of the fat guy, personality and all.
- Slowbeef and Diabetus of Retsupurae.
- RedLetterMedia:
- Mike (chubby) and Jay (skinny) from Half in the Bag. Jay plays the Straight Man. This is lampshaded in their review of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and That's My Boy, Lucas' hitmen call them "Hans Klopek" and "Fat Guy".
- Rich and Jack, respectively, from Previously Recorded, another RLM show.
Western Animation
- Nickelodeon has many examples, usually of the "both are silly" variety. In chronological order:
- Ren and Stimpy.
- Fraz and Guapo, The Brothers Flub.
- SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star. There's also Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
- Sheen and Carl from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
- Spectra and Bertrand from Danny Phantom.
- Bessie and Penny from The Mighty B!
- Fanboy and Chum Chum.
- SwaySway and Buhdeuce, the Breadwinners.
- The Loud House has Clyde's fathers, Harold and Howard McBride.
- Mauve Shirts 21 and 24 from The Venture Bros..
- Scratch and Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Jeannie and Babu.
- Tennessee Tuxedo and Chumley from Tennessee Tuxedo And His Tales.
- Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber from VeggieTales.
- Billy and Fred from Transformers Armada.
- In the party scene from Walt Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow cartoon, Brom Bones wants to invoke this trope when he repeatedly attempts to get tall, skinny Ichabod Crane to dance with a short, fat girl instead of with Katrina.
- Mr. Nosy and Mr. Small from The Mr. Men Show.
- Bobble and Clank from the Tinker Bell movie.
- Coop and Jamie from Megas XLR.
- Pinky and the Brain.
- Katie and Sadie from Total Drama Island.
- Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race has returning players Owen and Noah, and cop duo MacArthur and Sanders.
- Jimbo and Ned from South Park.
- SWAT Kats has four such pairs: T-Bone and Razor, Mac and Molly Mange, Burke and Murray, and Mayor Manx and Callie Briggs.
- Guapo and Fraz, the title characters in The Brothers Flub. A bit unusually for this trope, neither could really be considered a Straight Man.
- Thunder and Lightning from the Teen Titans episode "Forces of Nature". This is a rare case where the Fat one, Thunder, is smarter and more sensible than the his foolish and Thin brother Lightning.
- Jake and Eddie, Filmation's Ghostbusters. Then again, Eddie and Futura may also count, if one is so inclined.
- Recess gives you any combination of Mikey and T.J. with Vince and Gus.
- Reeka and Draggle (My Little Pony: The Movie; also appeared in the 10 part pilot of the series).
- Snips and Snails (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic).
- Mondo and Woody (Good Vibes).
- Rocky and Mugsy from "Bugs n' Thugs" (Looney Tunes).
- Rocko and Heffer from Rocko's Modern Life.
- Jetlag Productions used this twice in two of their fairy tale adaptations. First with Pauline and Alicia (Beauty and the Beast) and later the two wicked stepsisters (Cinderella).
- Goof Troop:
- The fathers, Pete and Goofy. Pete (who is fat) is the idea man and the cynic, while Goofy (who is skinny) is the goofy optimist who is just along for the ride, and neither one qualifies as an actual Straight Man (though Pete is closer).
- The sons, Max and PJ. Max (who is skinny) is the idea man and the optimist, while PJ (who is fat) is a pessimistic critic of Max's plans and The Drag-Along, and they have a mutual Straight Man and Wise Guy partnership where PJ is, as a pattern, more likely to be the straight man than Max is.
- Those Two Bad Guys, Spud and Wally. Though they are minor enough that their roles are unclear, it seems to follow the show's "fat guy is straight(er) man" pattern.
- Florence and Dottie, two unlikely roommates, in Moral Orel.
- Crumden and Bumbler from the Around the World in 79 Days segment of The Cattanooga Cats.
- On The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, Penny Pillar and Wiggy Rockstone.
- On The Hair Bear Bunch, Botch and Mr. Peevly.
- Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland from Gravity Falls.
- Hoppopotamus and Butterbear, the two main girls in The Wuzzles.
- Butterbear isn't really skinny (she is a bear, after all), just short.
- Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day had a part where Pooh dreamed about being haunted by heffalumps (fat, elephant-like creatures) and woozles (skinny, weasel-like creatures).
- Jake and Butch, the two burglars, from Mr. Bogus.
- Victor & Hugo
- Entrée (fat) and Peri (skinny) on Spliced.
- The eponymous stars of Timon & Pumbaa (Timon the meerkat is the skinny one, and Pumbaa the warthog is the fat one).
- Amethyst, Steven, or Steven's father (fat) and Garnet, Pearl, or Connie (skinny) on Steven Universe.
- Kon and his gender opposite Konnie (fat) and Kin and his gender opposite Kim (skinny) on Grojband.
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil has Marco's friends Ferguson (fat) and Alfonzo (skinny).
- Star Wars Rebels has Those Two Bad Guys, Aresko (skinny) and Grint (fat).
- Robotomy has the main characters Thrasher (skinny) and Blastus (fat).
- The Littles has Grandpa Little note , and Cousin Dinky, who also act as Those Two Guys.
- In The Flintstones, Fred and Wilma tend to fall into this at times.
- Popeye and Bluto (especially in the 1960s TV shorts, where he was called "Brutus").
- Inspector Gadget and Chief Quimby.
- Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats gives us the latter characters, one fat one (Mungo) and two skinny ones (Hector and Wordsworth). It's unclear where Riff-Raff fits in, since he's just short.
- The classic Disney short, "The Karnival Kid" (1929) has the two cats that sing the (even by then) classic song Sweet Adeline (to help Mickey woo Minnie).
- Both the cat and mouse incarnations of "Babbitt and Catsello" from the classic Warner Bros. shorts, which were animated analogues to the previously mentioned Abbott and Costello.
- Both of the 2 Stupid Dogs.
- Toad Patrol has this in a pair of villainous weasels, Ollie and Snout.
Real Life
- G. K. Chesterton saw St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi this way, since, though they never met, they would have been perfect foils for one another—the one big, slow, methodical and focused on his books, the other skinny, active, fiery and not prone to reading. He compared them to both Falstaff and Slender and Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
- G. K. Chesterton was himself an example, with friend and fellow writer Bernard Shaw as the Skinny. However, they were both known for their wit, making it an atypical example. Worth mentioning just for this conversation:
Chesterton: To look at you, one would think there was a famine in the land!Shaw: To look at you, one would think you caused it! - Peggy Platt and Lisa Koch of Dos Fallopia, a Seattle-based comedic duo.
- Also from Seattle is Duo Finelli, a Vaudevillian entertainment act consisting of Luz Gaxiola (fat) and Molly Shannon (skinny).
- Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, longtime friends and business partners, have this dynamic in most of their collaborations. Even after Ricky lost a bit of weight in the 2010s, he still looks stout next to the beanpole Steve.
- Real Life bank robbers Larry Phillips Jr and Emil Matasareanu fit this trope. Phillips was a calculating planner type, fitting the skinny description. While Matasareanu was a jovial, Big Fun type, fitting the fat description.
