The phrase "goody two-shoes" comes from The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, a children's book published in 1765. "Goody" was short for "Goodwife", a term used for a married woman at the time.
Over the years, the term has come to be used mostly as a pejorative, referring to someone who always sticks to the rules — often to the annoyance of their friends, who see them as resistant to having any sort of fun. The specific label "goody two-shoes" itself doesn't have to be used; there are other terms with similar meanings, like "stickler", "killjoy", etc., which all cover essentially the same concept. While the term "goodwife" has fallen out of usage, as has the slang "goody", there was a time when referring to a male character this way was not only an insult to his adherence to the rules, but also a means of mocking his masculinity.
Highlights common to such characters include:
- They don't drink or smoke, and tend to frown on those who do.
- They don't use profane or vulgar language, and will get upset or angry if others do so around them.
- If sex is a thing in the story, they don't partake in it — at least not of their own volition. (Married characters may make an exception for their spouses.)
- They fuss and fret about chores that others are either ignoring or taking slowly.
- They tend to dress modestly.
- They Will Not Tell a Lie.
- "That's against the rules!" could almost be their Catchphrase.
- They regularly get on everyone's nerves by Bothering by the Book.
A story featuring such a character will often feature one of two moral lessons:
- The Goody Two-Shoes will be subjected to strong peer pressure to stop adhering to the rules. If they give in, they will receive a swift rebuke and vow to never stray from the rules again. If they don't, the other characters will get in trouble and be subject to the same moral lesson: that rules are important and must be followed.
- The Goody Two-Shoes will learn that their adherence to the rules has made them stiff, inflexible, and unpopular with their friends. They will learn that while the rules are important, it is equally important not to be pedantic and inflexible, that the rules are merely guidelines, and that it's important to loosen up and have fun from time to time.
More obnoxious takes on this character may see them frequently being a tattletale on their peers, contributing to their negative perception. In a school setting, this is likely to overlap with Teacher's Pet or Class Representative, two archetypes known for not breaking rules. They might be an antagonist if Naughty Is Good.
It is, however, entirely possible to portray the Goody Two-Shoes character as sympathetic to the audience, if not to their In-Universe friends and acquaintances. Perhaps their insistence on following rules was built on an unfortunate incident, or maybe they suffer from a mental illness or disorder where they simply are not capable of processing anything without adhering to protocol. Sometimes they're really just trying to be a good person and don't understand why people don't adhere to the rules, feeling that being teased or belittled for doing so is highly unfair. Indeed, they tend to see the world through Black-and-White Morality.
Religious beliefs can also come into play. Some Goody Two-Shoes are highly motivated by adhering to their faith's beliefs of right and wrong, with a belief that if they violate the rules, they are hellbound. Of course, for every sincere believer, there are plenty of Hypocrites and those who engage in false piety who use the rules of the faith as a means of either manipulating others or covering their own misbehavior. The sincerely religious will often be viewed by the story narrative as sympathetic, whereas the insincere will often be a Hate Sink for the audience.
When Played for Laughs, the Goody Two-Shoes will often be told that "You Need to Get Laid".
Compare Honor Before Reason. Compare and contrast with Token Wholesome, in which some of the traits associated with the Goody Two-Shoes are treated as endearing rather than annoying. Can overlap with Stupid Good, Go-Getter Girl, By-the-Book Cop, Wet Blanket Wife, and Soapbox Sadie.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You:
- Chiyo is an Obsessively Organized class president who feels the need to have order whenever possible, which led to her trying to shoehorn her beliefs into the harem when she first joined. She soon comes to accept the others for who they are, with her need for order being directed strictly at things that warrant such a response.
- Kimari is the school guidance counselor who strictly adheres to and enforces the school rules, with her getting on the cases of several students for their unruly behavior. Rentarou figures out that she secretly desires to break rules, awakening her to her desire by entering a Teacher/Student Romance with her.
- Bad Girl (2021): Yuu's efforts to be a "bad girl" come off, at their worst, as Poke the Poodle; her dyed hair? Easily removable extensions. Pierced ears? Ear cuffs made from binder clips. Her effort to spy on her Love Interest in the bath? Even her Bad Angel in the Good Angel, Bad Angel pair tells her not to do it!
- Cowboy Bebop: Lin is The Only Believer for the Red Dragon's code of honor and duty, obeying the Van and his protectee Vicious without question, even though the present-day Red Dragon is an organization comprised mostly of Card-Carrying Villains who freely murder and deal drugs. It's all but stated that he's The Friend Nobody Likes because of this, and Vicious openly says such "old-fashioned thinking" makes him "nauseous."
- The Legend of Zelda (Akira Himekawa):
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Duology (2001): Link's grandfather talks left and right about the necessity of knightly behavior and how important it is to uphold the family tradition of serving Hyrule and the royal family, much to the exasperation of his grandson.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016): Played very darkly with Auru, who is a fanatic supporter of the Hylian Royal Family and takes the decree of the gods far more seriously than any other character. He broke up contact between a young Zelda and Midna for the crime of the latter being descended from a god-exiled tribe. The only thing that stops him from trying to kill Midna near the end of the story is Link holding him at sword point.
- My Hero Academia: Iida Tenya is supremely concerned with rules, school norms, and hero protocol. When he thinks others are failing to uphold these values, he's quick to reprimand them, especially because he's Class 1-A's representative. He constantly scolds Bakugou for "disrespecting U.A.'s property" and liberal swearing. Not even teachers are safe from his lectures, as he goes into full rant mode the moment he thinks Present Mic (one of the entrance exam's proctors) has failed to mention key information about the practical test. With time, he learns that there are some instances where you have to prioritize objective good over rules, but his characterization as an avid rule-abider remains.
- My-HiME:
- Haruka Suzushiro is the head of the school's Executive Committee. She got the job after she ran for the job of Student Council President, giving a rousing speech about fastidiously enforcing the rules and dealing with any students she deems "heretical". Her rival, Brilliant, but Lazy Shizuru Fujino, got 800 votes to Haruka's 12. And when Haruka was having the Executive Committee hunt for a Panty Thief, one of the male students suggested "She needs a guy!"
- Nao accuses Mai of being a "good girl", then calls her a Hypocrite who sacrifices her own happiness to get praise from others. Mikoto looks disturbed at the accusations, as Nao is basing it on Mikoto's complaints about Mai babying her. Natsuki, who has seen how Mai looks out for others, laughs off Nao's complaints about Mai and says it's her own right to dislike the things Nao does.
- Samurai 7: Katsushiro, the youngest of the samurai, is a wannabe Knight Errant who takes the importance of bushido and the associated code of conduct to the point of annoying his senior peers, who exist in a post-war environment and live from hand to mouth when they can get any work at all.
- School Rumble: Haruki Hanai is often the bane of his classmates, due to his Hot-Blooded insistence on rules and order. He has sparred with resident delinquent Kenji Harima over a mistaken belief that they were both after the same girlnote , gone after Camera Fiend Fuyuki when Hanai caught him taking "smutty pictures" of the girls in class, and confiscated Nishimoto's Porn Stash to haul it to the city dump. He also once got in a fight with Harima over the mistaken belief that Harima tried to force himself on Hanai's Childhood Friend Mikoto after Mikoto came home with ripped clothes and Harima showed up, saying she'd left her purse behind when she "ran off". He laments frequently that the others in class are constantly making fun of him.
- Soul Eater: Played with.
- Maka is a straight-laced Book Smart honor student who almost always behaves by the rules and frequently gets annoyed when her friends, especially Soul and Black☆Star, slack off or break rules. However, she very much has a punk streak that isn't initially apparent. When she encounters Crona for the second time, she outright disobeys Stein's orders so she can fight Crona 1v1 (or rather 2v2), to the point Black☆Star even comments that "miss goody two-shoes" is ignoring a teacher's orders.
- Death the Kid is this... in theory. Kid is incredibly straight-laced, is the son of the Big Good Death, and desires to do everything "perfectly." The problem? He is so SO obsessed with symmetry that, in practice, he's probably the most neurotic of the main cast. He somewhat gets better in this regard after coming to terms that his obsession with "symmetry" is because, as a Shinigami, it's in his nature to desire Order, but it never entirely goes away.
- Uta∽Kata: The series opens with Ichika's friends teasing her for being a "stickler" for the rules and a bit of a scaredy-cat when they tell her about The Seven Mysteries of their school. When Ichika is given the ability to summon twelve Djinn and use their powers, she finds herself beginning to do things like telling lies and keeping secrets from her parents, and begins to feel that she's a horrible person for it. By the end of the series, she's almost been driven over the Despair Event Horizon, and even nearly Driven to Suicide. At the climax, she decides that Humans Are Flawed, and that's alright, as long as they strive to improve themselves.
- Wasteful Days of High School Girls:
- Kanede "Majime" Ninomae is referred to by Nozumu "Baka" Tanaka as "straight-laced" after she learns that "Majime's" headphones aren't to look cool, but to keep up on news reports and the stock market. She also once turned down a love confession from another girl, not because she was a girl, but because she said she was committed to her studies. She's also the one to lecture "Baka" on the fact that trying to strip Minami "Yamai" Yamamoto naked could get her charged with the crime of indecency (though it was actually "Yamai's" Pointless Band Aids she wanted to remove).
- "Loli" is a downplayed example; while no one actually calls her a "Goody Two-Shoes", she is a girl who dotes on and is doted on by her grandmother. She still believes in Santa Claus, and tells "Baka" that if she keeps telling lies, Santa won't visit "Baka's" house for Christmas. And when she goes to see a teen romance film with "Majo" and her sister Kohaku, she is practically scandalized by the idea of an unwed couple kissing each other, skipping classes, and a "young maiden" being "corrupted" by a delinquent. She also refuses to hang out with her peers, like "Baka' because her grandmother told her not to talk to any strangers while out shopping.
Asian Animation
- BoBoiBoy: Yaya, as her class president, enforces the rules with an iron fist to the point Gopal tells BoBoiBoy that they can't arrive at school on time because "on time is late" to her. Even when she is nicer outside of school, she is still the one most likely to remind others to do the correct thing, even refusing to play a video game in a life-or-death situation simply because her given playing time is up.
Comic Books
- Superman: In the DC universe, Superman has this reputation to the point one of his most common nicknames is "Boy Scout". Several anti-hero types despise him for this, thinking that with his power, he would be more than capable of fixing nearly all the ills of the world. Depending on the writer, even close allies like Batman or Wonder Woman find his strict adherence to his morals to be trying at best, laughably naïve at worst.
- The Transformers (Marvel): Grimlock detests Optimus Prime because he views the latter as one of these, bothering with things like a code of conduct. In the UK-exclusive "Earthforce" stories, there is even a comic where he sits down a mocks the Autobot Code as being useless fantasy, and what the Autobots need is a leader that does what needs to be done to win. This is deconstructed: Grimlock is willing to go to lengths Optimus is not, but this also means that the other Autobots know Grimlock would just throw them into the firing line without hesitation to win. As a result, when Optimus Prime was resurrected, he only needed to walk in through the front door, and the other Autobots abandoned Grimlock.
Comic Strips
- Calvin and Hobbes: In one storyline, Calvin creates a pure good duplicate of himself, who is unfailingly rule-abiding, polite, and kind, even to the point of thanklessly doing Calvin's chores for him. In the end, of course, Calvin is such a jerk that he manages to frustrate the duplicate into having an evil thought, causing him to self-destruct in a Puff of Logic.
Fan Works
- The Bolt Chronicles: Invoked in "The Wind." When Bolt follows his runaway girlfriend Mary to the city hoping to bring her back, he encounters her latest paramour, a nasty-tempered street stray dog named Ike. He figures out who Bolt is in short order and disparages him by calling him a goody two-shoes. Given that Bolt is a noble soul with a naive streak and the best of intentions for Mary, it's a reasonably accurate observation in comparison to Ike.
Ike: [snarling] Ohhhh — now I know who you are. You're that goody two-shoes Mary was makin' time with in the country. Well, scram — she's mine now, buster.
- A Game of Cat and Cat: In a story set in his childhood, Soma mentions a boy named Simon Newell who scolded other children for breaking rules as trivial as "don't eat your cookie before your sandwich." Soma doesn't like him, but acknowledges that he's not a bully or a bad kid.
Film — Animation
- Megamind: The titular Villain Protagonist calls his archnemesis Metro Man this. Ever since their school years, Metro Man has dutifully served and defended the people of Metro City. He's revealed to be a Deconstruction, because having to always follow the expectations of the people around him for his entire life drives him into a midlife crisis. He breaks out of this by faking his death to follow his true passion: music.
- Superman vs. the Elite: The major conflict of the story revolves around how the titular Elite view Superman as one of these, and that his silly ideals are unsuitable for a more cynical, brutal world. They even sway many civilians to their way of thinking... until Superman decides to demonstrate that a Flying Brick demigod who doesn't care about collateral damage or holding back is something to be truly feared.
- Transformers One: Vigorously deconstructed and Played for Drama with D-16. On the surface, D-16 is the ideal worker—he's the most adamant about following rules and protocol, he does whatever he can to keep his reckless friend Orion Pax out of trouble, he admires Sentinel Prime as Cybertron's beloved ruler and protector—but the film indicates that this is all just a coping mechanism for living under an oppressive system. When our main quartet learns of Sentinel's true colors and how the system they've been living under was all designed for his benefit, D-16 takes it the hardest out of all of them, and all the years of Suppressed Rage he's been carrying begins to shoot right up to the surface:
D-16: You just had to do it, didn't you!?
Orion Pax: Me? What did I do?
D-16: You just had to go to the surface, had to enter the Iacon 5000, you just HAD to break protocol!
Orion Pax: Who cares about protocol?
D-16: I do! I care! Because nothing bad happens when you stay on protocol!
Film — Live-Action
- Subverted in Army of Darkness: Evil Ash considers Ash to be a goody two-shoes and mocks him as such. Turns out Evil Ash doesn't know his other side as well as he thinks he does: when Ash reaches the limit of his tolerance, he doesn't hesitate to blast Evil Ash in the face with his shotgun.
- Subverted in Back to the Future 1. At the start of the film, Marty believes that his mother Lorraine was a goody two-shoes as a teenager ("I think the woman was born a nun") because that's how she portrays herself when making When I Was Your Age... statements. But after going back in time and meeting the young Lorraine, Marty discovers that that was all Parental Hypocrisy—she smokes, drinks, and is all but stated to be desperate for sex and willing to jump in bed with anyone.
- Hot Fuzz: Nicholas Angel is such a By-the-Book Cop that he skipped his (now ex-) girlfriend's father's funeral to do work and he bothers everybody with the updated police lingo ("Service" instead of "Force" because 'force' is too aggressive, for example) as a Running Gag. He is first introduced by the narrator mentioning his exploits as a top cop with the Adam Ant song playing in the background.
- Knives Out: Marta, the protagonist of the film, zigzags the trope. She's extremely morally upright—to the point where her inability to tell lies is Not Hyperbole, as she vomits profusely whenever she tries to be dishonest—and is generally hardworking, cheerful, and kind to everyone she meets, which contrasts with the greedy, self-serving Thrombey clan. Marta works as the nurse to Harlan Thrombey, the family patriarch, who delights in playing games of Go with her; even the game is a sign of her goody-two-shoes personality, as she explicitly says she's more interested in forming "beautiful patterns" with the pieces rather than winning. With that said, though, Marta also shows a wily, slightly dishonest side after Harlan is murdered, as she deliberately takes steps to throw suspicion off herself as the prime suspect (since she was the last person to see Harlan alive, accidentally poisoned him because someone switched the labels of his medicine bottles, and turns out to be the sole beneficiary of his will.). However, as Benoit Blanc points out, it's ultimately Marta's purity of heart and goody-good nature that ends up catching the real killer—Marta chooses to try to help said killer's second victim despite knowing she's at risk herself, and the victim in turn gives a Dying Clue about the murderer's identity and how to expose them.
- Marvel Cinematic Universe: Zig-Zagged Depending on the Writer with Steve Rogers (Captain America). Downplayed in his own film series, as Steve shows a willingness to break the rules in order to do what he feels is right (applying for the army multiple times under false names) and tries to take a drink before his operation, but is stopped by Erskine, after which point he can no longer get drunk due to his enhanced metabolism. However, he implies that he is still a virgin to Peggy before the Super Serum, as he is looking for "the right partner". In the Avengers films, it is played straight as he appears as more of a goody two-shoes compared to his teammates, especially Tony, who mocks him for being the noble, self-sacrificing soldier unwilling to look at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s darker deeds. Steve also reprimands Tony for "language" in Avengers: Age of Ultron. By the end of the Infinity Saga, Steve shows he is less rigid than before, even poking fun at his stern past self, and finally does something for himself by going back in time to live out the rest of his life with Peggy Carter, showing he has learned from Tony how not to be such a goody two shoes.
- Misery: Terrifyingly zigzagged with Annie Wilkes, the film's villain. At first, she appears to be a goody-two-shoes—she's a quiet, polite former nurse who can't abide swearing and jumps at the chance to care for her favorite author, Paul Sheldon, when he's injured in a car accident near her farm. But as Paul gradually gets better, he learns that Annie is a deeply deranged Serial Killer who murdered several children during her nursing career and has a horrific obsession with his Misery Chastain romance novels. The zigzagging comes in as Annie never quite loses some of her compulsively "good" habits, such as refusing to curse and maintaining her manners, even as she's hobbling Paul with a sledgehammer. This is a noted departure from the book, where Annie is instead an Obviously Evil Fat Bitch whose true nature is apparent as soon as Paul wakes up; by contrast, Movie!Annie is a well-groomed Big Beautiful Woman played by Kathy Bates and in fact seems like the polar opposite of a monster—which makes The Reveal all the scarier.
Literature
- Captain Underpants: Melvin is a teacher's pet and habitual snitch obsessed with being in the good graces of the adult staff and doing whatever he is told. At one point, he stops his class from getting ketchup packets to emulate George and Harold's "squishes" prank by presenting his project...not because he cares about the prank, but because it's not lunchtime yet and they can put off going another few minutes until he finishes his presentation. Of course, Melvin's not above ignoring the rules for his benefit, as shown when he does nothing to stop George and Harold from sabotaging his competitors' projects in a contest so he can win by default and snitch on the boys later.
- Harry Potter: Hermione Granger starts out this way, especially prior to befriending Harry and Ron, as she is focused on doing everything by the book. When Harry and Ron go out after curfew to duel Malfoy, Hermione follows them to reprimand them, but ends up getting locked out herself, which forces her to accompany them. But when she lies to the professors about going looking for the troll on Halloween in order to save Harry and Ron from getting in trouble for saving her life, she shows a willingness to bend the rules when there is just cause, causing them to become friends.
- Junie B. Jones: May, June B.'s classmate in the first grade. She's a condescending know-it-all, a Teacher's Pet, and in general is such an annoying tattle-tale who compulsively tattles on Junie B. Jones in particular when Junie B. does something that may, or may not be against school rules. Luckily for June B. Mr. Scary does not allow this behavior to win May any extra favors as his student.
- Penrod: Poor Georgie Bassett! Georgie is a "really angelic boy", noted for his "perfect conduct" and considered by all the adults to be "the Best Boy in Town". Naturally, all the other boys despise him (although he is a member of Penrod's social circle; even Georgie Bassett isn't completely ostracized).
- The Worst Witch: Zigzagged with Ethel Hallow, who is often referred to as the form sneak, teacher's pet, and goody-goody. She is always top of the class, her spells always work, and she is able to impress the Stern Teacher Miss Hardbroom. However, she is actually extremely cunning, sneaky and deliberately nasty, and often plays tricks on the accident-prone Mildred Hubble, sometimes directly breaking rules to do so.
Live-Action TV
- Austin & Ally: The titular Ally has shades of being this trope, at least when compared to her friends. While its true that Ally is pretty much the Straight Man to the group's constant shenanigans and is a Brainy Brunette, it becomes deconstructed when one takes a closer look at her songs. Compared to the fun loving and extroverted Austin, Ally does sound wiser and soulful but at the same time they don't sound very excitable. As a result, these traits sometimes get in the way rather actually being helpful in creating songs outside of her comfort zone. For example, in "Songwriting and Starfish", Ally's wisdom and soulfulness prove to be decidedly less effective at writing a "Hot Summer Jam" than Austin's fun loving personality.
- The Big Bang Theory/Young Sheldon: Both as a young kid and as an adult, Sheldon Cooper has been seen as this trope, actually being called this trope word for word by his siblings during his youth. Insufferable Genius and Manchild tendencies aside, Sheldon strives to maintain a structured lifestyle, being both Obsessively Organized and a Neat Freak, but is noted as being incapable when it comes to telling a lie, not without going crazy when he tries. Nonetheless, it becomes deconstructed as whenever Sheldon doesn’t get his way or his strictly controlled lifestyle is disrupted, the physicist becomes insufferable like an immature child, acting less like a Goody Two-Shoes. As expected, these traits have done no favors for Sheldon’s social life (which Sheldon rarely cares for), leaving him with very few friends and colleagues who respect/tolerate him. Its further deconstructed during Sheldon's youth as his naivety and expectations of things turning out not like they would in one of his comic book stories or his favorite sci-fi often leave Sheldon disillusioned and disappointed, possibly partly explaining why Sheldon dislikes getting socially involved with others.
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Amy Santiago is a skilled detective in the NYPD, and compared to her wannabe Cowboy Cop partner Jake Peralta and the series of goofy personalities that make up the precinct, her primary traits early on are being fastidious and a teacher's pet to the Captain of the precinct and huge rule-follower, facts that earn her no small amount of good-natured mockery from her teammates. Downplayed since she struggles with a smoking addiction, frequently taking it up again due to stress, is not above cursing when angry, and is so known for how weird she gets when she drinks that Gina created the Santiago Drunkenness Scale to track her drunk personality changes. Justified since when she does try to loosen up, she usually ends up going too far (such as tossing her shot glass and breaking an entire liquor shelf).
- Castle:
- Zigzagged with Alexis Castle; the first season establishes that she is a diligent student, studying for a test at her father's book release party, conscientious about her hygiene (she refuses to take a shot of whipped cream offered by her father because she'd already brushed her teeth), and when her Dad is worrying about her due to a case he's helping with, she lies to him note , but then feels so horrible about it that she tearfully confesses and grounds herself when her father refused to. However, while Castle would probably like to see a bit of healthy teen rebellion from her at that point, he's also undeniably proud of what a good person she's turned out to be.
- Zigzagged in the first episode "Flowers For Her Grave"; Castle suggests that Beckett is a By-the-Book Cop and a stickler for rules by teasing her, but her retort demonstrates otherwise.
Castle: Yeah, and you always come to a complete stop at a red light and you never fudge your taxes. Tell me something. You ever have any fun? You know, let your hair down? Drop your top? A little "Cops Gone Wild?"Beckett: You do know I'm wearing a gun?
- Played much more straight over the course of seasons 4 and 5. Against orders, Beckett has been investigating both her own shooting and her mother's murder. When it is apparent they're going after someone very dangerous, Det. Ryan goes to inform Capt. Gates, which turns out to be fortunate, as they're able to save Beckett after the assassin leaves her dangling off a roof to nearly die. Beckett and Esposito are suspended. Beckett, when she comes back from suspension, forgives Ryan for telling Gates, realizing she'd gone off the rails and feels she deserved the suspension. Esposito, however, feels Ryan is a backstabber, and gives him the silent treatment, until "Cloudy With a Chance of Murder", when Esposito sees news footage of a recent arrest they made where they both got a bit roughed up, and sees that Ryan earned a black eye by taking a punch for Espo, because for Ryan, following the rules also meant coming to your partner's aid, no matter what.
- Drake & Josh: Of the titular duo, Josh Nichols is noted as a good student (having a perfect attendance record at one point) and is a total geek. It's even stated that elders and Josh's teachers like him but everyone else doesn't for whatever reason. However, it becomes deconstructed as for all of Josh’s efforts in being decent and having a moral compass, especially when compared to his slacker yet popular stepbrother, his naivety to social situations lead Josh to be the Born Unlucky Butt-Monkey of the show. Worse, any of Josh’s attempts to separate himself from Drake’s antics or misbehavior never last, often getting dragged down with him when they inevitably get into trouble.
- The George Lopez Show: George Lopez's wife, Angie, has shades of being a Goody Two-Shoes. Compared to her more cynical husband, Angie would appear as this trope but it becomes deconstructed as the series goes on. Normally, Angie often tries to have the moral high ground and endeavors to do the right thing but her efforts make her come off as stubborn or unapologetic even when doing the right thing is not exactly the most sensible thing. To her credit, Angie is usually right but when her idealism and sensitive nature gets the better of her, Angie can appear as a Insufferable Genius or a Know-Nothing Know-It-All, which annoys her family quite often.
- The Golden Girls: Rose, in addition to being The Ditz of the Girls, is also the fussiest when it comes to following the rules: "The Way We Met," we see her correcting a cashier's mistakes so she'll have to pay more for her groceries; she generally dislikes lying or even fibbing, to her own detriment; and she's also the most prudish of the group when it comes to sex (although there's a good reason for the last one—her husband Charlie died in bed with her and it's clearly given her trauma). In "72 Hours," Rose outright declares herself a goody-two-shoes, although in that case it's Played for Drama as she's saying that as a "good person," she shouldn't have to be going through an AIDS scare; Blanche, the Ethical Slut of the quartet, is quick to point out that "AIDS is not a bad person's disease."
- Good Luck Charlie: Teddy Duncan tends to be a goody two-shoes, though she dislikes being called this. In "Teddy’s Bear", she comes home with a disciplinary notice from a Jerkass teacher, and her bratty little brother, Gabe, is thrilled that "Little Miss Perfect finally did something bad", until he hears that all she did was snap one of his pencils because he was being mean to her. In "Duncan vs Duncan", when PJ says that she never does bad things, she tries to prove him wrong by drinking milk straight out of the carton, but she can’t bring herself to swallow it, and she runs to the sink to spit it out. In "Ditch Day", Teddy finds out she has the nickname, GG, at school, and that it stands for Goody-Goody.
- House of Anubis:
- Downplayed with Fabian; in the beginning of Season 1, He's characterized as a Nice Guy and is the only Anubis House resident to be friendly to Nina when she first arrives. His constant attempts to stop Patricia, Jerome, and Alfie from teasing her get him branded as some sort of buzzkill. Jerome outright asks him if he's ever tired of "being the one who's like 'knock it off', or 'that's not right', or 'fun is bad'". Fabian gives him a HA HA HA—No in response. Of course, when the mystery gets rolling, he proves to be willing to break the rules and get into danger if it means supporting Nina, and the others quickly move on to teasing him for his general geekiness instead.
- Mara is the sweet, intelligent, and hard-working girl who is often concerned with things like homework, good grades, manners, and in general, following the rules. While the other students like her, she's often seen as being too strict to the point of annoyance and has been mocked as "boring" before. She's also been shown to have insecurities regarding this, to the point of completely reinventing herself as a rude bad-girl when she hears her crush, Mick, talking about her negatively behind her back. This act was shown to horrify and confuse everyone else, who were used to her following the rules and being friendly. However, she's also capable of breaking the rules for well-intended reasons, even if doing so causes her stress — such as breaking curfew with Eddie for their ghost investigation, sneaking around to uncover the truth about their shady housemother, and using an alias to blog for the school after being unjustly banned.
- The Middle: Sue Heck is an extremely conscientious girl, so much so that she can’t even tell a lie without throwing up in her mouth. This is ironic since her mother lies constantly and sometimes does shifty, dishonest things.
- Night Court: Christine Sullivan is frequently mocked by her peers for her "pie-in-the-sky" attitude, blind optimism, inability to swear (with them teasing her when she engages in Gosh Dang It to Heck!), and her insistence on trying to sing show tunes. After a mugging, she does have a bit of a cynical attitude for about half an episode, until she helps resolve a hostage crisis involving her mugger, and promising him to see that he will get a fair trial. Then manages to faint after they get the pin back in the grenade. She also was once saved by Handsome Lech Dan Fielding, who asked that she sleep with him by way of thanks, only for her to reveal, and be proven right, that deep down, Dan was too good a person to actually go through with it.
- Rizzoli & Isles: Dr. Maura Isles constantly annoys Jane with her adherence to the rules. She Cannot Tell a Lie (and will literally break out in hives if she does), is pedantic about not referring to even obvious bloodstains as such until she has run the chemical analysis to verify, and she insists on driving because she hates it when Jane "undresses and drives", and she once convinced Jane to wear a t-shirt with the unfortunate acronym of "P.U.K.E" by nearly crying at Jane's refusal. Despite that, Jane is still Maura's best friend and tolerates her eccentricities because she's the best forensic examiner in the state.
- Both Sabrina and Zelda have been accused of being this in Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Sabrina is accused of this by Libby for her friendly personality and tendency to get good grades in school. Hilda zaps a pair of goody two shoes onto Zelda's feet after she brags about memorizing the entire witches handbook when she was seventeen.
- Shake It Up: In "Wild It Up", an online review of Shake It Up Chicago accuses Roxy of being this. This causes her to act out by disrespecting the new Vice Principal and thrashing her office, although she has a Heel Realization in the end.
- The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Zigzagged with Cody though his twin brother, Zack, would certainly view him as this trope. Compared to his laidback, more socially popular yet borderline Book Dumb brother, Cody is more responsible and academic but is often seen as nerdy by those around him nor is he above being a part of his brother’s pranks and antics. It becomes deconstructed as the series goes on and enters into the sequel series of On Deck where Cody becomes arrogant with his intelligence that it becomes annoying, even towards his teachers. Further, it's been shown that for all his smarts, it rarely helps the group whenever they get into trouble. The twin’s mother, Carey, actually laments on why Cody can’t be “dumb like his brother”, on one occasion.
- Wizards of Waverly Place: Justin Russo, the eldest of three, is generally a "Straight A" student when it came to both his normal school work and his lessons in the wizarding world. Typically, Justin is erudite and mature, often trying to stop one of his sister, Alex's, latest schemes but despite Justin's efforts, he ends up getting involved anyway. Originally a star student in magic lessons who followed the rules, leading Alex to be slightly jealous of her brother's success, Justin naturally developed a strong sense of pride in his accomplishments. Unfortunately, this leads Justin to believe that his ideas are the best or that he is right when, in reality, Justin's ideas are not that great as he tends to lack common sense and can be quite gullible. Further, while Justin is determined to be the best, this naturally leads him to feel threatened whenever either of his siblings catches up to him or is better at something than him, leading Justin to make decisions that end in disaster and humiliation.
Music
- The song "Goody Two-Shoes" by Adam Ant is a satirical ditty about the media's view of the singer as, well, a goody two-shoes. "Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?" is part of the chorus. Subverted in the music video, where the "What do you do?" is answered when he beds a journalist. The lyrics of the song itself also provide a minor subversion in answer to the question, "What do you do?" with "A subtle innuendo follows: There must be something inside."
- As a musician, Will Smith was known for his songs being not just light-hearted but also very focused on maintaining a squeaky clean image, much to the chagrin of a certain other rapper. He very prominently didn't swear, his songs didn't promote violence, heck, he even promotes women putting on more clothes at the club. He was very conscious of this image and both promoted it, as well as utilized it when he felt the need to go into darker territory in his lyrics.
Radio
- Adventures in Odyssey: In "The Sacred Trust", Lucy Cunningham makes a vow that she and Heather will never reveal each other's secrets to others. Whit tries to caution her that such pacts always backfire, but a situation at his shop takes him away before he can explain why. Lucy learns later that Heather skipped out on an evening church service to go to a teen dance club. And that she's planning to go again. Heather tries to get Lucy to go along as well, but Lucy refuses and points out that both she and Heather are underage. Heather insists she's going and mocks Lucy for her adherence to the rules, but reminds her of their pact. Lucy is worried for her friend, but feels she can't tell anyone due to the pact. Her mother points out that if someone is doing something dangerous, it's worse to keep the secret if it can prevent them from being hurt. Lucy tells her mother everything, and Heather gets in trouble and ends her friendship with Lucy. Whit explains to Lucy what he'd wanted to before, that pacts like that always fall apart because one party either has to break the pact and angers the other person, or the person keeps the secrets and someone ends up getting hurt because of the secrets being kept. Lucy is reassured that adhering to the rules is a good thing.
Theatre
- Grease: Sandy is the new girl at school who struggles to fit in with the rebellious Pink Ladies or the T-Birds. Prior to Rydell, she only had champagne at her cousin's wedding once, and she gets sick trying to smoke a cigarette for the first time at a sleepover. Rizzo, Jan, and Marty mock her for this in, "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee". Subverted at the end after she undergoes Character Development, bringing out a new, more confident side where she shows she is willing to loosen up if Danny steps up and commits to her.
Rizzo: [about Sandy] I don't drink (no) or swear (oh)I don't rat my hair (eww)I get ill from one cigarette (ah-ah-eww)Keep your filthy paws off my silky drawersWould you pull that crap with Annette?
- A Very Potter Musical: Hermione in the first two musicals is even more of a stickler for the rules, but in a way that makes her the Only Sane Man. She is apparently the only student at Hogwarts who actually studies and she gets mercilessly mocked by every single other character for being an ugly, boring know-it-all because of this (though it doesn't stop Ron and Draco from falling for her at the Yule Ball). This is discussed in her Establishing Character Moment:
Harry and Ron: This year we'll take everybody by storm
Stay up all night and sneak out of our dormsHermione: [enters behind them] But let's not forget that we need to perform
Well in class if we want to pass our O.W.L.s!Ron: God, Hermione, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?Hermione: Because guys, school's not all about fun and games. We need to study hard if we want to be good witches and wizards.
Video Games
- Amanda the Adventurer: Wooly is characterized as a friendly but disruptive worrywart who constantly tries to divert Amanda's attention onto happy subjects and get her to follow rules, such as safety standards. Amanda tolerates him at best and outright hates him at worst, especially when he's trying to assert his own viewpoint over hers. For instance, one tape in the second game involves him telling a very straightforward, cliche fantasy story about a knight slaying a dragon to Save the Princess, and is insistent about how the story should go, getting annoyed at Amanda's complaining and snapping if the player screws up. If the player chooses to follow Amanda's version of the story instead (where the princess is turned into the dragon and slain by the unknowing knight), he becomes deeply irritated and attempts to wrestle control of the plot back. His bossy, overly safe nature foreshadows that his true identity is Hameln employee Marcus Moutman, trying to keep Amanda on track and minimize her aggression and self-awareness.
- Final Fantasy VI: Kefka refers to General Leo as being one, just before killing him. The way he says it, it seems to be the primary reason Kefka hates Leo.
- Shin Megami Tensei IV: Shortly after meeting the party, Infernal Akira sticks Jonathan with the nickname "Goody Two-Shoes", much to the amusement of Walter (who was nicknamed "Bad Boy"). Jonathan is the game's Lawful representative, and is generally inclined towards following orders, and eventually the Lord's will.
- Twisted-Wonderland: Riddle Rosehearts is very studious, strait-laced, and obsessed with following rules, school rules or otherwise, no matter how bizarre or unnecessary. This leads him to become a tyrannical dorm leader, and even after receiving Character Development is still strict and by-the-book.
Visual Novels
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc: "Ultimate Moral Compass" Kiyotaka Ishimaru is a strict adherent to school rules, speaking up frequently and very loudly when others do things like running in the halls. Ironically, he ends up becoming best friends (maybe more) with resident delinquent Mondo Owada.
Web Animation
- Gridiron Heights: JJ Watt was portrayed as this in the show, as he believed that edge defenders should be "nice and marketable", as well as being heavily involved in charitable work. This included trying to set his younger brother TJ Watt straight when TJ adopted the Pittsburgh Steelers mentality of being tough and nasty, by saying that the Watts "Do not upset [Roger] Goodell". The only exception was during the annual Gridiron Heights Purge, where Watt was allowed to let loose and commit penalties without worry of being fined.
Web Videos
- Hatchetfield: Deconstructed. Grace Chastity is a "nerdy prude", Principles Zealot, and The Friend Nobody Likes due to her overbearing adherence to moral rules. She is so obsessed with remaining sexually and morally pure that she refuses to curse, protests those who encourage what she sees as bad behavior, and is willing to align herself with actual evil entities in two different continuities to police others' behavior.
Western Animation
- American Dragon: Jake Long: Jake Long's little sister, Haley, has been described as this trope with her brother calling her this by name along with "Little Miss Halo" for how Haley rarely if not never gets into trouble and for being a Child Prodigy in both her developing dragon abilities and her school grades. While Haley does tend to rub her successes in Jake's face, which aggravates him to no end, and does tend to be a tattletale, she does actually respect her brother and looks up to him. It further becomes deconstructed when Haley temporarily assumes Jake's role as the American Dragon for a week. Whereas Jake has struggled but persevered with his role throughout his middle school years, Haley was unable to balance her responsibilities between school and her training, all the while keeping their father in the dark regarding the magical world. Having already accepted that she wasn't perfect, Haley nonetheless quickly begins to understand what her brother has been forced to shoulder.
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear is essentially this trope due to being such a By-the-Book Cop and often expects his fellow rangers to be the same, having written half of the regulations in the Space Ranger manual. However, Buzz is willing to bend the rules when necessary, making him more of a Reasonable Authority Figure. At the same time, when Buzz wishes to take a reckless risk, he is willing to ignore the regulations altogether, which his teammates call him out on, which aggravates him. To his credit, Buzz only takes the risk if it involves only his life rather than his teammates' lives, and Buzz does succeed in thwarting a villain's latest scheme when taking said risk.
- Danny Phantom: The titular character's older sister, Jazz Fenton, has shades of being this trope. When compared to her ghost-obsessed parents and struggling teen of a brother, Jazz strives to come off as the most normal and adult of the family. Jazz is especially noted for being a academically gifted student but this does her little favors in making her popular or in making friends as Jazz comes off as snobbish and overly serious. However, it becomes deconstructed as Jazz felt she had to be the adult of the family since her parents give their kids little attention due to their fascination with ghosts, essentially taking care of Danny as their parents were off ghost hunting. Nonetheless, as the series goes on and Jazz does end up getting involved with ghosts, especially when learning of her brother's secret, she proves she's Not So Above It All, really getting into ghost hunting at one time.
- Dragons: Riders of Berk: Of the Dragon Riders of Berk, Fishlegs Ingerman fits this trope the most, especially when compared to the chaotic idiots of Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston and the braggart blowhard of Snoutlout Jorgenson. While both Hiccup and Astrid are more rule-oriented and organized, they are more independent, able to take initiative and are willing to rebel against an order they feel necessary. Fishlegs, however, is much more sensitive, kind, a geek lover of knowledge and is rarely willing or able to break the rules. He is not much a liar either, finding it very difficult to keep a secret, especially towards those he knows.
- DuckTales (2017): Of the Duck Triplets, Huey is the most responsible of the three. As the most 'by the book' sort, Huey follows the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook as if it were a bible, even using it in nearly every adventuring scenario. However, whenever the Guidebook doesn't have the answer and thereby putting him out of what he knows, Huey tends to have a breakdown. It becomes deconstructed as Huey's devotion to his Guidebook's rules and regulations leaves not only his family but even Huey's fellow Junior Woodchucks annoyed, leaving Huey teased and overall unpopular.
- Ed, Edd n Eddy: Zigzagged with Edd or Double D, the brains of the iconic trio. While Double D gets involved with the various scams and misadventures of his friends, he is nonetheless the most responsible, academic and rule-oriented of the three. It helps that he is such an Obsessively Organized Neat Freak. In fact, Eddy has mocked Double D for a being a "Mr. Goody Goody Two-Shoes" on more than one occasion. At home, Double D dutifully follows all the instructions left by his parents via sticky notes, and Double D can't bring himself to break the rules of an establishment, even if it's simply a "Keep Off" sign. Both instances would get Double D, and the rest of the Eds, in trouble. Notably, when Eddy and Ed convince the neighborhood kids to stop following the rules, Double D felt compelled to inform everyone's parents, essentially squealing, landing all three in hot water. Double D himself regrets the decision, admitting he didn't know why he told on everyone, believing the flagrant disregard for rules made him go temporarily insane. Further, its shown that while Double D's good nature makes him more socially accepted by the other kids, his association with the other Eds often forces him to share the blame whenever their scams fails and more often than not, his academic side makes Double D appear nerdy and annoying to the other kids.
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Wilt is probably the nicest imaginary friend in the entire cast, being friendly, welcoming and almost never having a mean bone in his body. However, it becomes deconstructed as while Wilt's Nice Guy demeanor makes him the most well-liked within Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, it also makes him an Extreme Doormat for the poor guy just can't seem to say "no" to anyone, especially when they need help with something. Plus, whenever Wilt feels he has offended or let someone down, he is prone to apologizing a lot. Additionally, Wilt finds it extremely difficult to lie for any reason, such as covering for his friends from getting in trouble.
- Garfield and Friends: The Buddy Bears, a deliberate parody of The Complainer Is Always Wrong, come across this way. They're maddeningly cheerful, polite, and—most importantly—always agree with each other, outright telling children to "NEVER have an opinion of your own!" The Bears' Show Within a Show is designed to teach kids educational topics at the expense of fun, all while hammering home the importance of groupthink. Anyone who crosses paths with the Buddy Bears is inevitably driven mad by their antics, while in-universe Moral Guardians tend to heap praise on them.
- Hey Arnold!: Lila Sawyer is also called "little goody-two-shoes" by Helga at one point and was judged by the other girls in her introductory episode for being "ever-so" prim, polite, and sweet. While they also discover she has a poor home life, suggesting she is The Pollyanna because she doesn't want to make things harder for her struggling single father, she is later flanderized into more of a Parody Sue. According to Word of God, however, she does have a repressed dark side that never came out in the show.
- Max Steel (2013): Teenage mischief and slight rebellious tendencies aside, Max MacGrath and his superhero persona of Max Steel have been stated this as trope, with Jason Naught actually calling Max Steel a "goody-goody". Max does have the noble traits of being a hero, standing up to bullies and using his Turbo powers to help the world rather than for selfish motives, becoming a beloved icon and protector of Copper Canyon. However, it slowly becomes deconstructed as Max taking his time as a superhero has affected his personal life, namely his academic responsibilities. Spending so much time being a hero has left Max performing abysmally at school, to the point that he was nearly expelled which Max does feel guilty about, showing he does care about his grades and education. Likewise, Max hates having to lie to his friends, Sydney and Kirby, but understands that them knowing he is Max Steel would put them in danger. Nonetheless, Max does feel guilty in lying to them or blowing them off because of his superhero activities.
- Mission Hill: Kevin French, a straight-laced 18-year-old boy who's the complete opposite of his slacker older brother Andy. He'd rather focus on studying and preparing for college than take part in something his mother would disapprove of, such as drugs, porn, or alcohol. He's very by-the-books when it comes to playing video games, school, and the former rules of his mother's household, which by the end of the first episode he's no longer apart of. He complains, and threatens to snitch on Andy constantly for allowing him to be involved with things that Mrs. French deemed to be "morally wrong". Andy even calls him a "goody two-shoes" at least once, for being such a whiny, tattle-tale momma's boy.
- Phineas and Ferb: Dr. Doofenshmirtz gets a song
about how he considers his brother Roger to be one of these. Though given how we see Roger doing a few morally dubious things in future episodes, we can safely assume he isn't one.
- Transformers: Prime: Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime's top lieutenant during the war for Cybertron who has been noted by other Autobots to be very by the book with a strict adherence to military procedure and protocol. It becomes deconstructed as while Ultra Magnus is a skilled fighter and tactician, making him a valuable ally to the Autobots on Earth, his inflexibility to accept any loose interpretation of protocol quickly alienates him from the other Autobots. To his credit, Ultra Magnus does realize his command style is having a negative effect on the team. Taking lessons from Optimus, Ultra Magnus does accept the team as more than a military unit but as a family, leading him to become kinder and more flexible.
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015): Strongarm is a rookie cop assigned to Bumblebee who ultimately became part of his team when they get relocated to Earth and begin hunting down escaped Cybertronian Decepticon criminals. While Strongarm is confident, skilled and well-read, she is an ardent By-the-Book Cop, having memorized almost all of her homeworld's laws and regulations (even being happy to learn about new laws and regulations on Earth), and expects her teammates to likewise be rule followers. However, her devotion to the rules makes Strongarm inflexible, which have actually hampered the teams missions and annoyed her teammates, Sideswipe most of all. In fact, when the team's combat statistics were put together, Strongarm had the lowest score, much to her shock and disbelief. Fortunately, over the course of the series, Strongarm does begin to understand that simply following procedure and regulations is not the best policy, allowing her to think creatively, independently and even learn how to fight dirty against Decepticons.
- Xiaolin Showdown: A minor case exists in the form of the Xiaolin Monk Omi. While the young monk can be an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy, which tends to get him and his friends into trouble, Omi is still something of a Goody Two-Shoes as he follows his master's instructions as carefully as he can, from completing his chores and training to learning valuable lessons. Likewise, Omi tends to believe in the best of everyone and is generally enthusiastic about villains potentially turning over a new leaf. Most of all, however, is Omi's devotion to always keeping his word, even towards villains, which has been exploited a few times, putting their mission, or the world, in jeopardy.
