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Classy Cane - TV Tropes

  • ️Mon Apr 21 2014

Classy Cane (trope)

Art by Jennifer Gleu. Used with permission.

Sometimes characters will carry around an accessory. For pirates it's a parrot. Ninjas have swords. But stylish and sophisticated characters often have canes. Either because they actually need it due to a disability or just want to show off how classy they are.

Pimps are almost always shown with blinged-out (gold and diamond-encrusted) "pimp canes" in fiction, a standard component of Pimp Duds. Though used by all types of characters, Classy Canes typically fall into the hands of villains.

Naturally this tends to overlap with Cane Fu if said person carrying the classy cane is more than willing and capable of getting into a scuffle, and are not afraid to make use of their cane as their weapon. Due to the elegance often associated with canes, there's heavy overlap between this trope and Elegant Character, Elegant Weapon if used in combat.

The cane might be a Sword Cane, Martial Arts Staff, Staff of Authority or Magic Staff. This often overlaps with Evil Cripple, Genius Cripple, Evil Sorcerer, Handicapped Badass. Sometimes falls under Carry a Big Stick or Weapon Specialization. It is often wielded by formidable old people, such as the Grand Dame, Old Master or the Old Soldier.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga 

  • Aldnoah.Zero: being a noble, Cruhteo carries around a cane. His happens to contain a whip.
  • In the manga Alice in the Country of Hearts the Mad Hatter character, Blood, has a cane that magically transforms into a machine gun.
  • The Ancient Magus' Bride: Elias typically has his (wand) in hand, though he can make it vanish when it's convenient.
  • Aura Battler Dunbine: The Evil Overlord Drake Luft has a dragon shaped cane that seems to possess a mind of its own. Drake even uses it at one point to backhand an assassin as they tried to shoot him.
  • John Silver, the main villain of Doraemon: Nobita's Treasure Island, carries a cane whose tip ends with avian-like talons. It really makes him stick out in terms of authority over his minions.
  • In the manga Blue Exorcist, the demon and exorcist Mephisto Pheles dresses as a pimp complete with a cane of evil.
  • Gankutsuou: The Count
  • Moriarty the Patriot: While William's Sword Cane is his weapon of choice, it also functions as a stylish accessory for a young nobleman.
  • Brook's weapon of choice in One Piece is a Sword Cane can he carries around to go along with his gentlemanly image. It also doubles as his violin bow.

Arts 

Comic Books 

Fan Works 

  • Here We Are In The Future: Steven Universe has to use a cane after smashing his car into a tree trying to kill himself.
  • If Wishes Were Ponies...: Prince Blueblood sports one of these while on Earth in Human form, Harry suggested it since they were short on time to help him adjust to bipedal stance, and to help him stand out more for his class and sophistication. Bluebloods' cane becomes his most outstanding feature.
  • Pokémon Reset Bloodlines: As seen below in the Videogame folder, Blaine sports a cane when Ash comes to challenge him at the Cinnabar Gym. It has a Keystone embedded on the tip for Mega Evolution.
  • Roanapur Connection: OC Nathan Andre carries himself one around (which is hinted to help him stim). Which Ganabati and Madam Norwood note to be a Regiment of Sussex cane. Which for someone that is heavily implied to be from the North of England to be carrying around raises further questions about Nathan in Ganabati's mind.
  • Tales of the Hunger Games: Mayor Dalton of District Two carries a golden cane beneath his cloak. He uses it to point at younger-aged children when reaping a pair of teenagers for the District Two Hunger Games.
  • In the Turning Red fic Turning Red: Secrets of the Panda, Catherine Moore has an ornate cane with red panda carvings, as well as a gem at the top. It also contains her red panda spirit.

Films — Animation 

  • The Princess and the Frog. Doctor Facilier. He carries around a cane with him that is also a Magic Staff.
  • Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear, the main antagonist in Toy Story 3, is often seen using a wooden mallet as a cane.
  • In Up, Carl Fredrickson uses a cane (a tennis ball walker) for the majority of the movie. In one point of the movie, he uses it to hit a construction worker fiddling with his cherished mailbox and it comes handy as a Sword Cane in another scene when he fights Charles Muntz during the climax of the film.
  • Wreck-It Ralph: Candy King with a literal candy cane.

Films — Live-Action 

Literature 

  • Alex Rider. Major Winston Yu has a cane, although it's not for style or class, but simply because he's an Evil Cripple can't walk without it.
  • In The Alice Network, René Bordelon's elegant cane serves both as an accessory and to highlight the age difference between him and Eve.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row: Watchers Council member Trevor Kensington is an elderly gentleman with a brass wolf's head cane that he often taps on the floor to make people yield a conversation to him.
  • Resident Magnificent Bastard of the Discworld, Lord Vetinari, carries a cane after being shot in the leg in Men at Arms; as of Going Postal (Discworld) it's described as having a silver skull-shaped knob on top, not unlike the cane carried by a certain knighted author.
  • In the Rivers of London series, Nightingale's silver-tipped cane is also his Magic Staff.
  • Sherlock Holmes, being a Victorian gentleman, would almost never leave home without his walking stick. Ditto his faithful friend and companion Dr. Watson, who actually needed his cane as a result of the wound he suffered in Afghanistan.
  • In Six of Crows Kaz Brekker carries a perfectly weighted black cane with a crows' head emblem. He needs it to walk, but it's also unashamedly a style accessory. And a weapon.

Live-Action TV 

  • Our Miss Brooks: In "Blind Date", Mr. Boynton carries a classy cane so his blind date will recognize him; he had broken up with Miss Brooks after an argument. Unbeknownst to Boynton (and Miss Brooks), the blind date was scheme to get the two back together, and Boynton's date is Miss Brooks. Mr. Conklin, in a case of Exact Eavesdropping, overhears Boynton's blind date calling on the phone (actually his daughter, Harriet, speaking with a Southern accent). Conklin and mistakes it for an old college flame, Lula May Calhoun, whom Conklins wants out of town and away from his wife. Mr. Conklin shows up with cane in hand to beg her to leave; again, it's actually Miss Brooks, carrying a parasol.
  • Eventual main character Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows has a silver cane which later comes in handy for beating the crap out of a werewolf.
  • Doctor Who:
    • The First Doctor carried a distinctive walking stick that was a gift from Kublai Khan, no less.
    • In "Let's Kill Hitler", the Eleventh Doctor dresses in a suit complete with top hat and Sonic Cane (as opposed to his Sonic Screwdriver which Amy was using at the time). Played with in that the real purpose, other than to look cool, was to help keep him on his feet as he was dying from poison.
  • Grimm season 2 ends with an appearance by Baron Samedi who carries a stylish cane.
  • On Hannibal, Dr. Chilton survives a vivisection that leaves him needing a cane to walk. Somehow, it is hilariously fitting to the character that he begins toting a pimp cane.
  • Highlander:
    • In the season 2 episode "The Vampire", during the 1840 flashbacks, Immortal lawyer Nicholas Ward carries an ornate cane which happens to also contain his sword.
    • In "Double Eagle", one of the ways that down-on-his-luck gambler Kit O'Brady tries to look high-class is by carrying a fancy sword-cane.
  • While House actually does need the cane, he occasionally upgrades it for a short period of time for effect.
  • The Fat, Sweaty Southerner in a White Suit villain in the Mission: Impossible episode "Bayou" walked with a cane because a gator had bitten his leg off. The cane also served as the hidden place for the documents detailing his white slavery operation.
  • Bill from NewsRadio affects a cane for a more dandyish appearance for the space of one episode. Matthew is wowed, Catherine is indifferent, and Dave is annoyed enough to steal it and break it.
  • Once Upon a Time (2011). Mr. Gold, the cursed form of Rumpelstiltskin, carries a cane around, and uses it for more than walking once. It shows up less often as he progresses more toward Anti-Villain than outright villain. He notably tosses the cane away when a return to Storybrooke restores his power and motility.
  • Nog of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine walks with a plain, utilitarian cane when he experiences phantom pain in an injured leg even after it's physically healed. In an effort to "wean him off the stick" and prove that it's all in his head, Vic Fontaine gives him a Classy Cane which can't bear his full weight as a gift, and warns him to go easy on it as it's mostly for show.

Music 

  • In the music video for The Chalkeaters' "It Just Works", Todd Howard dances on stage wearing a tuxedo and carrying a Wabbajack staff.
  • R. Kelly's rap opera series "Trapped in the Closet" has a character named Pimp Lucius, who while dressed as a pimp actually carries a rather nondescript derby cane.

Myths & Religion 

Radio 

  • Our Miss Brooks: In the episode "Mr. Boynton's Mustache", Mr. Boynton tells Miss Brooks he's considering buying a cane and invoking this trope.

Theater 

  • In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Enfield carries a walking stick he acquired on his world travels, which he freely admits serves no purpose other than to make him look dignified. Hyde later attacks and kills him with it.

Video Games 

  • Battleborn's Marquis d'Calibre wields one as his weapon of choice. Strangely, it's held in Reverse Grip when he isn't aiming down the sights, with the back end functioning as a pistol. When he aims it, he flips it around and uses it as a Sniper Rifle. His Ultimate, Bindleblast, takes it one step further and turns it into a very large bazooka.
  • Bravely Default: The Merchant Erutus Profiteur's outfit includes a stylish top hat and cane to emphasize how rich and sophisticated he is. He uses his cane as a weapon too. He's also an exploitive profiteer, and French Jerk who buys up Alcheim's water and sells it back to Alcheim's citizens at exorbitant prices.
  • Ceville. The eponymous Ceville has a cane.
  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: "Shivering Isles" expansion has Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. He's depicted as a bearded man wearing a classy (albeit weird) suit and using a cane with an eyeball at the top.
  • Frédéric François Chopin in Eternal Sonata uses one as his weapon of choice. He wields it much like a saber, though it lacks an actual blade, and also uses it as a medium for casting magic.
  • The White Glove Society (a bunch of former cannibals turned classy restaurant owners) in Fallout: New Vegas. Specifically the goons of Mortimer, who is still a cannibal and wants the society to return to its old ways. The society members all dress in tailcoats and fancy dresses and carry canes, with which two goons try to beat the Courier when they start to ask too many questions.
  • The obscenely rich Don Genie from the F-Zero franchise is usually seen with an expensive looking cane.
  • Last Word: The Contest version of the game has Judge Boasting's jewel-topped cane, as seen in this official screenshot.
  • Ghetsis from Pokémon Black and White has one he stomps the ground with in his battle animation.
  • In Remember Me Madame carries around a cane, although she doesn't seem to need it. She is a very powerful manipulator of memories, and the Big Bad of La Bastille.
  • Saints Row and Saints Row 2 feature the Pimp Cane, a blinged-out cane that doubles as one of the hardest-hitting shotguns in both games. It even changes your character's walk animation to a smug swagger.
  • Mayor Lewis in Stardew Valley picks one out as part of his fancy new outfit during the "Clothing Therapy" event.
  • Count Bleck, the antagonist of Super Paper Mario, has a cane (and a Monocle Of Evil, too). The character design seems to be based rather loosely on Baron Samedi of Voudoun.

Visual Novels 

Web Animation 

  • The Amazing Digital Circus: Caine carries a cane with a gold top, befitting his status as the ringmaster of the Digital Circus.
  • Hazbin Hotel: Alastor sports one with an old-timey radio mic at the top. Fitting for someone alternatively called "The Radio Demon."
  • RWBY:
    • Professor Ozpin is the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and the most politically powerful Huntsman in Vale; he accordingly dresses the part, wearing a very smart dark green suit and carrying a dark, silver-topped cane called The Long Memory. The silver handle of the cane has a delicate vine-like pattern flowing down it. Where the handle joins the shaft, there are cogs and a silver lever. Although it complements his appearance, he can also use it in battle, wielding it like a rapier and using it as a focus to produce a barrier that can even stop the full force of a Maiden's power. This kind of use does not require activating either the lever or cogs. His original form favored a magic staff but one of his later incarnations decided to modernise the weapon into its cane form; it has remained with him through thousands of years of reincarnation.
    • Roman is a well-known petty crime lord of the Kingdom of Vale, who is dragged into the schemes of the Big Bad because of his local knowledge. He is always smartly dressed in black trousers and a red-lined white overcoat. He accessorises with black gloves, a grey neckerchief and a red-banded black Derby hat. To finish off the look, he carries a hook-handled cane that is designed to fit in with his clothing: the handle is white, the staff is black, and there is red finishing where the handle meets the staff and at the base of the staff. Its name is Melodic Cudgel. The staff is designed to be a weapon; he usually fences with it or uses it as a gun, but he can also use it as a club where necessary. The weapon is designed to suit his style and his classy appearance.

Web Comics 

Web Videos 

Western Animation 

  • For a heroic example, in Around the World with Willy Fog, Mr Fog wears a cane, showing he is a Quintessential British Gentleman. On several occasions he also uses his cane as a weapon.
  • In The Boondocks, A Pimp Named Slickback has a cane.
  • In Defenders of the Earth, Mandrake carries a black cane topped with what appears to be a diamond, though the exact nature of this stone is never specified. This cane both reflects Mandrake's gentlemanly demeanour and serves as a conduit for his magical powers, though he can use his powers without it.
  • Bill Cipher, the Big Bad of Gravity Falls, sometimes manifests a cane, as part of him "dressing for the job he wants".
  • Valmont from Jackie Chan Adventures carries around a black cane. It's revealed in the Season 1 finale that it actually conceals some type of energy blade, which he uses to slice his way out of a prison cell. The cane then essentially vanishes after its big moment.
  • Hawk Moth, the Big Bad of Miraculous Ladybug, carries a cane when transformed, representing how he commands all the other villains in the show. "Volpina" reveals that the cane comes with the power of the Butterfly Miraculous; "Robostus" further reveals that it is actually a Sword Cane.
  • Xiaolin Showdown. Jack Spicer's favorite Shen Gong Wu is the Monkey Staff, which he loves so much that he trades every single one of his Shen Gong Wu for robot parts-except for the Monkey Staff.