Unlucky Everydude

A staple role in Bishoujo Series, especially love/harem comedies.

The Unlucky Everydude is similar to the Ordinary High School Student but has some overt problem(s), which he usually points out in the first episode. He is not so much average as below average concerning some trait, possibily Book Dumb. The extent of this issue varies quite widely depending on the comedic or dramatic mood of the series. The most common one is, naturally, an inability to deal with women, for various reasons. As unlucky as he is he's more The Everyman than The Unfavourite or the Butt Monkey. You could say that his lack of luck is more in his head than real.

How effective and likeable his personality is often depends on the other characters' personalities. In a Magical Girlfriend series, their personality tends to be more moderate since they will inevitably get together with the lead. In a Harem Series, the extremity of his character is needed to make him appealingly harmless to the other girls. His most important trait, weirdly enough, is intrusiveness. He will try to help people long after everyone else has given up or declared things "private matters". He will also fill any basic role the girls project on him.

The Unlucky Everydude is also usually the source of humor. The most basic kind often comes from the fact he doesn't have much experience with girls, but the girls -- who don't even have brothers -- also don't have much experience with guys (save Bottle Fairies, who of course feel perfectly comfortable around him).

His parents will not be around, for whatever reason; more distant relatives may be featured. If he has siblings, it will be a cute little sister or sexy big sister.

His design should ideally be muted to a basic outfit and a realistic hair color, although he is sometimes a Bishonen simply by being drawn in the same style as the girls.

The Unlucky Everydude is more often than not a Marty Stu; because of Double Standards they are very prolific without complaint, especially within the Shonen Demographic. Like The Everyman, the Unlucky Everydude has the tendency of becoming impossibly lucky and successful from the offset of the story despite the audience being told that his life prior was either average or dismal. They often are also Sympathetic Sues and tend to suffer from Designated Protagonist Syndrome. Expect him to show his MartyStuness through minimal to non-existent character development, the tendency to fix other characters' (especially female characters) problems and personality flaws, and a general lack of flaws entirely.

Compare: The Everyman. See also: the female counterpart to Unlucky Everydude, the Naive Everygirl. No connection to The Dude.

Anime and Manga

 * Riiko in Absolute Boyfriend is an Unlucky Everydudette, she has a string of rejections and doesn't seem to realize that her Unlucky Childhood Friend has a crush on her (that or his teasing her simply puts her off).
 * Keiichi Morisato in Ah! My Goddess had trouble with girls due to his short height, which affected his self-confidence, but he is otherwise a moderate character; he has friends, went to a decent college, and has a knack for auto mechanics.
 * Similarly, Kaoru Hanabishi in Ai Yori Aoshi had no real obvious issues (and was considered attractive) until his "unluckiness" was revealed as being the victim of orphanhood AND repeated child abuse from his grandfather.
 * Another Rare Female Example is Minako Aino, better known as Sailor Venus. Especially in Codename: Sailor V where her multiple crushes and rejections are a running joke
 * There is also an element of Irony with Minako. Her own series states early on she's an incarnation of Venus/Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Her senshi title is also the "Soldier of Love and Beauty" and she will play up the goddess of love angle when trying to get people together. And of course, since she's on this page, she is entirely unsuccessful herself in every pursuit. It's also stated at the end of her series that this is pretty much her fate as she's going to choose duty over love.
 * Kouta from Elfen Lied. He is constantly found in compromising positions with female characters by... other female characters, and is given a lot of flack for this by Yuka. Not to mention  because of one white lie.
 * Ryang Jegal of Faeries Landing is actually cursed to suffer 108 doomed relationships. This is played up for comedy, of course.
 * Hayate the Combat Butler features Hayate, a debt-ridden butler who has poverty and bad luck written all over his face. Note that his parents named him Hayate (wind) so he could run fast as the wind from the debt-collectors and other "very nice people".
 * Hayate is a subversion: despite being Born Unlucky, his  cast a spell on him to unleash his true potential, which lets him survive being hit by a car after riding a bike fast enough to catch up with it.
 * Kazuya Hasukawa of Here Is Greenwood is prone to nosebleeds whenever he's stressed (like around his first crush, who ended up marrying his brother), attracts the kind of people who pick on him, is prone to illness, and has such bad luck that he was hit by a car on his way to his new school, delaying his entry by a month. That said, he's extremely fast, reasonably athletic, and at least decent in his studies.
 * Jean Havoc from Fullmetal Alchemist is relatively attractive, an army officer, and generally a nice guy. Despite this, his bad luck with women is notorious among his friends and colleagues, who often add insult to injury by making fun of him for it. Not only that, but let's not forget the time his new girlfriend turned out to be, who proceeded to . Poor, poor Havoc...
 * Rock from Black Lagoon is a bit of a subversion since he has proven to be a stone cold Badass whenever he has to. If he had been a standard squeemish Unlucky Everydude, Revy would have gotten rid of him long ago. With a bullet.
 * Sawada Tsunayoshi aka "Dame Tsuna" (useless Tsuna) from Katekyo Hitman Reborn before he Took a Level In Badass. Unfortunately (or not), the family harem setup for him by his Sidekick Ex Machina consists of more Bishonen than girls.
 * At the other extreme, Keitaro Urashima in Love Hina was a victim of low self-esteem, bad grades and terrible luck with girls, and was initially only kept afloat by a near-irrational optimism.
 * Also, Ema Maeda from the epilogue. Low self-esteem, bad grades, wears glasses, small breasts, klutzy? All check.
 * Akito Tenkawa of Martian Successor Nadesico is traumatized (and continues to be so) to the point of actual Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But, for whatever reason, he still attracts a sizable Unwanted Harem.
 * Tenchi...Tenchi...Tenchi.
 * ... has nothing on Seina Yamada from GXP, who is so unlucky, it actually bleeds into the people around him. The first episode contains a scene of him walking to school, and bad things start happening to the people around him just as he walks by. He meets up with a friend carrying an umbrella (on a clear day), who says he brought the umbrella because he had a feeling he would run into Seina that day. Sure enough, he opens it just in time to shield himself as a car comes by and splashes mud on them. He puts it away, feeling good about himself... just in time for another car to get him. Seina puts the "UN" in Unlucky.
 * His bad luck is so bad, it's the reason why Fuku has that name instead of "Kou." Even though both can mean luck, "Kou" is also used in "fukou," which means "unlucky."
 * Fujiki in Tenshi na Konamaiki is constantly commenting on just how overwhelmingly average he is.
 * Touma from To Aru Majutsu no Index's power is that his right hand actually generates bad luck. Or to specify, his luck is sometimes implied to be a disposable resource, meaning it will eventually run out. A manga called 'Luck Stealer' demonstrates just how fatal this will be.
 * Well, as Index puts it, by his right hand coming in contact with the air, it eliminates things like good luck and blessings from God (and of course, as seen in the series, it stops pretty much anything supernatural), so it's not so much that he has bad luck but rather that his right hand eliminates his good luck - the result being that he has no good luck (which could be considered bad luck, so it's arguably a case of semantics). However, as the preceding troper pointed out, there are times when Touma has referred to a good event using up what good luck he had.
 * Rito, the protagonist of To Love Ru, while attracting several females to his side, also has to bear the brunt of their antics. As his best friend explains, he's so nervous that he turns into a spluttering mess when he pictures Haruna in a swimsuit. He's improved at least a little bit since the adventures began, but his true nature can't change.
 * The Twelve Kingdoms has Ikuya Asano (Youko's best friend), and Suzu as the Rare Female Example.
 * Ataru from Urusei Yatsura takes unlucky to new levels, having been born on Friday April 13th, during an earthquake, under a full moon, after his mother walked under a ladder and a black cat crossed her path, etc.
 * He somewhat falls behind in the "Everydude" part, though, seeing as how he's a Determinator and Loveable Sex Maniac of such intense perversion he's outright stated to be the most concentrated source of lust in the known universe. He comes off as average mainly because everyone else he hangs out with is even more bizarre... including a Tsundere with Super Strength... his "wife", an Ancient Astronauts Cute Monster Girl... a Royal Brat/Kid Samurai who routinely carries live steel and owns practically the entire country... said Royal Brat's arch-rival, who is just as rich but spends most of his life dressed in rags and practising baseball... an unwilling Bifauxnen who is so good at being a Wholesome Crossdresser that she's more popular with the girls than the actual guys are, despite them knowing she's a woman... and Cherry.
 * He's so unlucky that the sole attempt to exorcise his bad luck backfired on him while simultaneously accidentally helping the Miko who attempted the exorcism.
 * Ryuuji from Toradora! has the Face of a Thug, but people seem to get over that early into the anime to instead spread the She Is Not My Girlfriend rumor.
 * Furuichi. Full stop.

Comic Books

 * Peter Parker's first incarnation counts. A normal, if nerdy and weak high school student, who just happened be at the right place at the right time. Of course, Steve Ditko forgot this and turned it into an Objectivist Author Tract. And he turned college age Peter into a Badboy. It continues to fluctuate Depending on the Writer.

Film

 * James is established as this from the beginning of Pervert!, though he seems to become a Chick Magnet for any of his father's lovers. Subverted in that it turns out voodoo powers have made him sexually irresistible to women, Double Subverted in that.
 * Although not with women, Louis in Kangaroo Jack is a cross between this, The Ditz and Born Unlucky.

Live-Action TV

 * Xander Harris even.
 * Kamen Rider has three unlucky everydudes, and they are all from shows written by the same writer. Shinji Kido (who shares the same first name as the the well-known Anime Butt Monkey) Ryotaro Nogami (who is so unlucky it makes Donald Duck look like Lady Fortune's favorite boy) and Eiji Hino (who hides a Dark and Troubled Past).
 * Cory in Boy Meets World doesn't like being the middle child and he's insecure about his looks.
 * Joe in Wishbone

Video Games

 * Almaz from Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice is pretty normal except for low courage (gets better in chapter 4) and his extremely awful luck.
 * Larry Butz in the Phoenix Wright series. He can't hold a girlfriend or a job and almost falls under ditz status. His friends mock his troubles by saying "When something smells, it's usually the Butz." Not to mention his annoying unlucky and dumb-witted personality gets some of the characters in the 3rd game to point out just how much of a menace he is to society. Still, he's pretty cute, and even though he gets in the way, he always has good intentions and does his best to help his friends out however he can.
 * Kouno Takaaki from To Heart 2 outright states in the third episode that he has problems in dealing with women, by virtue of growing up with an Imouto and Cool Big Sis childhood friends.
 * The Assassin's Creed series has Desmond Miles.

Western Animation

 * Doug Funnie
 * Gus Griswald
 * Philip J. Fry. "I've run over black cats who were luckier than me."