Brains and Brawn...

November 3, 2008 3:19 PM

Character Study. The mean little weakling mastermind and the big tough goon who does the dirty work. I need film reference or specific TV episodes.

Kinda blocked and need inspiration for these archetypes. Can you think of a movie that contains this pair of characters? Was there a relationship like this in the Sopranos at any point? A good example would be maybe an older more powerful mob-boss and the younger, bigger, dumber brute that beats people up for him. It seems like a common thing but for the life of me I cant come up with any other specific movies Ive seen this in.

posted by ElmerFishpaw to grab bag (29 comments total)

"On The Waterfront"
The Dane from "Miller's Crossing"
Bill Gates on The Simpsons ("Buy him out, boys!")
"My Bodyguard"
posted by rhizome at 3:26 PM on November 3, 2008

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

"Who...run...Bartertown? Master Blaster runs Bartertown!"
posted by muddgirl at 3:26 PM on November 3, 2008

The Princess Bride - Vizzini and Fezzik
posted by artychoke at 3:27 PM on November 3, 2008 [3 favorites]

Pinky and The Brain?
posted by Solomon at 3:36 PM on November 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

The Asphalt Jungle
posted by canoehead at 3:37 PM on November 3, 2008

Fargo, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare.
posted by Free word order! at 3:41 PM on November 3, 2008

Brains and Brawn entry at TV Tropes.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:46 PM on November 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

Also in Miller's Crossing, there's the guy who says, "Jesus, Tom" when get gets whapped in the face with a chair. He was also the muscle in Mad Dog and Glory. In fact, Di Niro and Caruso were also meek and muscle in that movie.

There were two Bugs Bunny cartoons with the Big Goon and the Small Boss.
posted by stubby phillips at 3:48 PM on November 3, 2008

Lenny and George are the archetypes, I guess.
posted by stubby phillips at 3:50 PM on November 3, 2008

Gort and Klaatu
posted by stubby phillips at 3:51 PM on November 3, 2008

The brain in the jar with his henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady, I think from the cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (though I could be wrong.)
posted by np312 at 3:59 PM on November 3, 2008

The ventriliquist and the gangster dummy from Batman, the Animated Series. Not that the ventriliquist was the goon, but that there were usually goons working for him.

(Dammit, muddgirl...)
posted by Ghidorah at 4:02 PM on November 3, 2008

here is bugsy and mugsy.
posted by stubby phillips at 4:03 PM on November 3, 2008

Prince John and his henchmen from Robin Hood.
posted by amicamentis at 4:03 PM on November 3, 2008

Hot Fuzz has something like this.
posted by nz_kyle at 4:05 PM on November 3, 2008

here is bugs and thugs.
posted by stubby phillips at 4:08 PM on November 3, 2008

This is going to be a loooong list, because the idea goes back quite a ways and turns up in any number of places.

The Joker and his henchmen

Robin Hood and Little John

Hans Gruber and Karl from Die Hard

Big Figure from the Watchmen

The Emperor and Darth Vader

Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:17 PM on November 3, 2008

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dad: The Man With the Plan and his henchmen
posted by K.P. at 4:47 PM on November 3, 2008

Croup and Vandermar from Neil Gaiman's TV series Neverwhere.
posted by xchmp at 4:52 PM on November 3, 2008

Pinky and the Brain
posted by jamaro at 4:53 PM on November 3, 2008

Poison Ivy and Bane

(From Batman and Robin)
posted by Zarya at 4:58 PM on November 3, 2008

Oops, and since Solomon beat me to my beloved P&theB over an hour ago: Draco Malfoy and Goyle/Crabbe from Harry Potter.
posted by jamaro at 5:02 PM on November 3, 2008

Murky & Lurky from Rainbow Brite, if you want a G-rated example.
posted by lilac girl at 7:48 PM on November 3, 2008

np312: You're thinking of Krang (who was, literally, just a brain), though I would probably pair him with Shredder as the brawn.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:53 PM on November 3, 2008

Brains and Brawn at TV Tropes
posted by the latin mouse at 6:32 AM on November 4, 2008

Many Bond villains - Goldfinger and Oddjob, Stromberg and Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me, Drax and Jaws again in Moonraker
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:30 PM on November 4, 2008

Gort and Klaatu are not a good example. Gort is both the muscle and the brain. Klaatu is mostly his cats paw. Even moreso in the story (Farewell to the Master).

Does it have to be a one-to-one mapping? Because there are many examples of one-to-many mappings in fiction (Dr. Fu Manchu, Professor Moriarty, etc).
posted by Crosius at 3:02 PM on November 4, 2008

Little Fauss and Big Halsy gives an alternate to your initial condition.
posted by ptm at 6:10 AM on November 5, 2008

The brain in the jar with his henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady, I think from the cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (though I could be wrong.)

That's General Krang.

Mr. Big, the diminutive KAOS agent on the pilot of Get Smart fits that description.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 9:16 AM on November 5, 2008