"Is he -- a bit mad?" asked Harry uncertainly. "Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world!But he is a bit mad, yes." —Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, regardingAlbus Dumbledore

TheEccentric Mentor is an apparent contradiction, a sagacious figure who seems eccentric and possibly even foolish, a font of power and respectability who acts like comic relief. Quite possibly, the Eccentric Mentor is too wise and self-assured to care what anyone else thinks. Then again, maybe they're justresting on their laurels. Typically the Eccentric Mentor is anolder male character, connected to the back story, who acts as a sort of mentor, protector, or guide. They oftenfeign senility and weakness when it is useful to do so, and rarely take pains to avoid such an appearance if it requires effort.

When pushed, the Eccentric Mentor easily demonstrates how they have earned their status. Those who underestimated them aresuddenly confronted with heroic badassery,Sherlock Holmes-level insight,moral fortitude in the face of death, and/or simplybeing a step ahead of everyone else. Due to their age, wisdom, and conviction, they fear death far less than a loss of integrity.

Combines aspects ofCool Old Guy,The Obi-Wan,Old Master (sometimes),Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass,Bunny Ears Lawyer, oftenCloudcuckoolander, andZen Survivor into one cranky, tough old biscuit. They may fill any of a number of mentor roles, such asTrickster Mentor orReasonable Authority Figure, related to their personality and their role in the story. As such, no matter how much power they have, they want the heroes to solve the problem...

...whichThe Heroes may have to, courtesy of theMentor Occupational Hazard.

Compare withThe Wonka.

Anime andManga

• Bleach: Kisuke Urahara, the self-described "mere honest, handsome, perverted businessman." But don't let his sanguine disposition, odd dress-sense or shameless self-promotion fool you; beneath it all lurks the soul of a true badass. A former Shinigami Captain and founder of the Soul Society Research Institute, Kisuke became a legend in the Seireitei after mastering Bankai—a powerful attack which usually takes decades of study to learn—in only three days (this record was later tied by his protege, Ichigo). The catalyst and driving force behind the plot, it is widely believed by fans that the entire series is merely one grand game ofXanatos Roulette played between him and hisMagnificent Bastard rival, Captain Aizen.
• Shinigami-sama ofSoul Eater hides his frightening power and appearance behind a cartoonish mask, goofy antics, and childish speech. This is so he doesn't frighten the students at hisExtranormal Institute. About halfway through the series, it's revealed that he can't leave the city because he bonded his soul to it in order to keep the Kishinsealed in its can, which is why he needs others to go do the heroing for him.Not that being unable to leave the city ultimatelyslows him down much.
  • Shinigami is far more knowledgeable about the history of the current conflict than he lets on, having been previously involved in every known side of it (witches, the Gorgons, Asura and his fellow Eldritch Abominations). He's genuinely nice, but his staff and students are right to be genuinely wary of him at times.
• Hiko Seijuuro fromRurouni Kenshin is a borderline case.
  • So is Okina.
• Xuanwumon fromDigimon Tamers.
  • Qinglongmon, though it's only really clear in the dub ofDigimon Adventure 02. He even has theWizard Beard!
  • Hiroshi Yushima ofDigimon Savers also has elements of this - it's not until a good chunk of the series is out of the way that it's shown that he's anything but an eccentric elderly fisherman with knowledge of Digimon.
• Cologne inRanma 1/2, although while she is generally laid-back she is always demonstrated as highly competent and is not used as comic relief, beyond occasionally finding it diverting to trick or play games with other people. Happosai is another subversion. He has extreme expertise, appears to be just as skilled as and far more powerful than Cologne, but is also entirely driven by impulse, is practically never serious, lacks common sense and is easily tricked, can't read his own (gibberish) handwriting, and is aPoke the PoodleComic Relief or flat-out antagonist more often than not.
• Subverted inPrincess Tutu. Drosselmeyer always seems odd (to put it lightly), but he's the one who gives the main character her powers in the first place, and he seems to want to push her along in helping the Prince. However, it quickly becomes apparent that he reallyis quite crazy, and to top it offhe's theBig Bad and his main goal is to trap the characters in an endless cycle of tragedy for the sake of his "art".
• Hohenheim fromFullmetal Alchemist is practically a stereotypical example, though some might argue that he really is agenuinely socially awkward and emotionally crippledCloudcuckoolander. And though in the anime,he hasn't always been one of the 'good guys'.
  • In the beginning, the Furher seems to be this. Seems.
• Naruto's Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, and author of numerous pornographic novels. Affectionately nicknamed "Pervy Sage", he enjoys spying on naked women ("research") and is not above robbing 12 year old boys (hisgodson, no less) to pay for cushy hotel rooms and hookers. But he's a war hero, the Toad Sage a legendary ninja master, the man who taught the 4th Hokage amongst other shinobi greats, and a master of summoning, barrier and sealing jutsu. And he's bad ass enough to shrug offlosing his arm without a glance, and spends his free time hunting down the world's most dangerous criminals.
  • Also the Third Hokage, Sarutobi, mentor of both Jiraiya and Tsunade. He serves no plot purpose other than being the foil of slapstick and giving occasional orders, usually offscreen, until his village is attacked and the audience sees for the first (and unfortunately only) time why he is held in such respect by his peers, and why in his youth they called him "the God of Shinobi".
  • Hatake Kakashi, the Fourth Hokage's protégé (seeing a pattern here?). A laid back, perpetually late ninja obsessed with Jiraiya's porn novels, which he reads even while he has his students train. But he's also the most elite Jounin the Hidden Leaf village possesses, and their ninjutsu specialist with over a thousand justu in his arsenal. He makes jokey excuses for his lateness when he is actually visiting an old comrades grave, near enough every day, and has stated that everybody he loved is dead, but he gets by considering his students and the rest of the village his extended family. He's also so legendary, professional and respected he is pretty much next in line to be Hokage, should the need arise, and at one point was very nearly made it until it turned out they didn't need a new one yet after all.
    • He's also apparently legendary enough across the 5 Great Countries that the Shinobi Alliance appointed him as one of their Generals
  • The current Hokage herself, Tsunade, is also a lot like a female version of this. She is a gambling addict, a terrible one who was constantly on the run due to all the money she owed. She's also vain enough to use a life threatening jutsu to make herself look decades younger than she is (which meant that hertrue form is actually decadesolder). She also has the training regime from Hell whereby she teaches evasion by trying to smash you with herSuper Strength attacks, enough to crack the Earth with a finger. But she is a popular leader and a legendary medic, who has suffered a great deal of personal tragedy.
  • Kishi loves this trope. Maito Gai is a genuine goofball, but he is a serious and dedicated mentor and the Leaf's most prominent Taijutsu master. Chiyo of the Sand is an 80 something old hag who spends all day fishing and enjoys making people (esp. her brother) think she's dead for a prank, but she is a puppet master and an especially deadly poisoner, with some medical skill. The Raikage and Killer Bee of the Hidden Cloud both seem to have shades of this in relation to their subordinates, despite both being eccentric weirdos in their own right (though both are, in their own way, genuinely hotheaded, reckless and the Raikage might be a bit of a warmonger). Hell, even theparents tend to be this trope.
  • The Raikage hasn't been stated to have a student, but Killer Bee is this way to his new protegeNaruto
• Kame Sen'nin in the firstDragon Ball... sort of.
  • Kaio-Sama (King Kai) is a better played example in Z.
• ChairmanKaien Cross fromVampire Knight.
• Genshitenson fromHoushin Engi.
• Dean Konoemon ofMahou Sensei Negima.
  • Jack Rakan is also kind of like this, although he's much moreover the top than other examples.
• Vice-Admiral Garp fromOne Piece is a goofy, lovable father figure (complete with a silly hat)...who also gleefully dispensesTraining from Hell, throws cannonballs like baseballs, and provokes a rareOh Crap reaction from Monkey D. Luffy himself.
  • Oh Crap? Luffy practically BSODs on hearing his name!
• Makarov fromFairy Tail. He even plays almost the same role as the formerTrope Namer - master of a wizard guild while Dumbledore ofHarry Potter is headmaster of a wizard school - and they're both the strongest good mages (Makarov might be weaker than Gildarts or Laxus, but he is damn close) of their respective universes.
• Clow Reed fromCardcaptor Sakura. Don't let his cheerful, laid-back nature fool you. He's quite theBadass wizard!
• Aozaki Touko fromKara no Kyoukai: is very quirky and friendly, but asCornelius Alba learned the hard way,do not fuck with Touko if you value your life.
• Hikaru Tsurugi fromKey the Metal Idol serves as an especially eccentric deconstruction of the trope.

Fan Works

• Dumblydore inMy Immortal is at first an alzheimers-ridden, headache-prone old man who swears at everybody. Whether he sides with Enoby or conspires to piss her off is not clear until he saves her from Voldemort and his bandtwiceonce, even going on to tell theenitre school and Misery of Mogic that Ebony can defeat Voldemort.
• The dwarven prince protagonist ofDragon Age: The Crown of Thorns deliberatelyallows, even encourages, the other six wardens, plus companions, to assume and believe a lot of erroneous things, including that he might really be a kinslayer, just sothe shock of later revelations, like the fact that he actually faked Trian's death and painted himself the murderer on purpose, can prompt them to grow wiser.
• Hasim, one of theImmortals inKeepers of the Elements serves as this to the Keepers. He has been around for hundreds of years, yet he is a cheerful guy who loves his jellybeans and can kick some serious bad guy ass when he needs to.
• Grunnel the Thinker, to a point, inWith Strings Attached. He's a jolly guy who latches onto the four because they're interesting. At first he seems a bit goofy, with quite a sadistic sense of humor, but the four realize quickly that he's extremely intelligent and well-educated. He ends up helping them a lot when magic starts to pour out of the sky on them. He also teaches them about Baravadan society, and they teach him about Earth in return. Subverted in thathe backstabs them in Ehndris in order to get control of both Paul and the third piece of the Vasyn.

Film

• Master Oogway inKung Fu Panda. He may seem an old senile turtle, buthe is blindingly fast when necessary with amultiple nerve strike pattern guaranteed to take anyone down... and of course his selection of Po the Panda for the Dragon Warrior was on the money. Also, heinvented Kung-Fu.
• Rafiki in Disney'sThe Lion King always seems a bit insane, but has all the answers.
  • And he knows how to kick some serious hyena butt.
• Merlin, inThe Sword in the Stone
  • TheWizard Duel.Crouching moron, hidden bad-ass indeed.
• Uncle Herbert inThe Big Brawl
• Dumbledore during the fifth movie. He is confronted by the Minister Of Magic and about three Aurors. He knocks all of them out and disappears in a blaze of light. As Kingsley puts it, "Dumbledore's got style."
• Aughra, inThe Dark Crystal, appears a little crazy and perhaps even dangerous, yet has an uncanny wisdom for the harmonies of existence.
  • She was involved in the last cycle and has studied the system for centuries at least, she just incidentally went insane in the intervening time.
• Mr. Miyagi, inThe Karate Kid
• Yoda's appearance inStar Wars:The Empire Strikes Back. He also teases Obi-Wan a bit inAttack of the Clones, but he was younger (and teaching the younglings) at the time.
  • This trope was actually one of the early concepts for the Obi-Wan himself (even after Sir Alec Guinness had already been chosen for the role).
• Ian McKellen in the firstThe Lord of the Rings plays this up. He was even asked to play Dumbledore.
• Jetfire inTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
• Fin Raziel, inWillow, is of the rare female subtype.
  • George Lucas seems to have a thing for this type, judging by Yoda.
• Merlin in the 1981 filmExcalibur comes across this way.
• The owner/operator ofThe Circus of Doctor Lao mostly plays the part of the stereotypical Chinese man (complete with Engrish), and occasionally reveals himself to be a powerful and wise being.

Literature

• Harry Potter: Albus Percival WulfricBrian Dumbledore, formerTrope Namer.
  • In the fifth book, when fighting Voldemort, Dumbledore fires off a spell that is never identified, but is clearlyvery powerful. Voldemort blocks the spell, and taunts Dumbledore that he does not seek to kill him. Dumbledore calmly responds, "We both know there is more than one way to destroy a man, Tom."
  • Also from the fifth book, the scene where Dolores Umbridge and her cronies confront Dumbledore in his office and then try to arrest him.

"Well, it's just that you seem to be labouring under the delusion that I am going to come quietly. I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban Prison. I could break out, of course, but what a waste of time. And frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."

• • When one of the aurors reaches for his wand, Dumbledorelaughs at him.

"Don't be silly Dawlish. I'm sure you are an excellent auror, but if you attempt tobring me in by force, I'll have to hurt you."

• • The film of the sixth book really drives it home beautifully. Dumbledore's massive fire ring against theinferi is one of the most impressive moments in the whole series, and is a fantasticCrowning Moment of Awesome for Dumbledore.
  • Think about how Dumbledore progresses throughout the book. We go from "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! and Tweak!" to the most powerful wizard in the history of the Wizarding World to a broken man who is grief-stricken over the loss of hissister, Ariana, whom he may have killed (and considers himself to blame regardless of whether his curse was the one that killed her).
    • A fan favorite quote that epitomizes Dumbledore's transition from awesome grandpa to ancient monk badass came inThe Goblet of Fire:

"At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's faces as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat."

• Dallben from Lloyd Alexander'sThe Chronicles of Prydain
• Professor Lidenbrock inJules Verne'sJourney to the Center of the Earth.
• Noish-pa, Vlad Taltos's grandfather, sometimes fits this trope in theDragaera novels, albeit with the comic relief coming less from his own remarks than fromVlad's reactionsto them.
• Shiro fromThe Dresden Files novels. He may act a little senile at times, but he's actually a seriouslyBadass paladin and one of the only people in history to take on Nicodemus in a sword fight andwin.Too bad he'sToo Cool to Live.
  • Though he's not as... easygoing and jovial as the trope specifies, though Arthur Langtry is the oldest and most powerful wizard alive, and the head of the White Council, with the title of 'Merlin', he seems to be generally underestimated, and perceived as a figurehead. Until he shows off the strength and depth of his power by doing such things as, oh - holding offOutsiderswith a single ward and turning chaos into order bybroadcasting a mental map (with voiceover) to the entire council, whilst attempting to contain an omnilethal nasty withthe sheer force of his will. 'not [gained his position] by collecting bottle caps' indeed.
• Coriakin fromThe Chronicles of Narnia, who is believed by Dufflepuds to be evil, but turns out to be a wise magician with a sense of humor.Always walking barefoot is among his idiosyncrasies.
• Gandalf, fromTheThe Lord of the Rings. Even more so inThe Hobbit.

"Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat. "What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?" (later) "What a lot of things you use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off."

• • Althoughmuch less eccentric afterhe came back to life.
    • Though he does pretend to be old and feeble to trick the guards of Meduseld into letting him keep his staff (which he refers to as his "walking-stick") when going in to see Theoden. It works too.
• Brom, fromEragon
  • And later Oromis, to a somewhat lesser degree.
• Fizban the Fabulous, fromDragonlance, an apparently senile wizard who may or may not have actually beenthe god Paladine in disguise. It becomes fairly obvious later in the series.
  • Also Zifnab ofThe Death Gate Cycle; essentially the same character in a different series written by the same authors.
    • The latter lampshades his status as anExpy in his first appearance: he starts to call himself Fizban, but then corrects himself.
      • Zifnab is very different from Fizban in at least one major way, though- Fizban isa god usingObfuscating Stupidity, whereas Zifnab is genuinely insane with only occasional moments of lucidity. He's still incredibly powerful, but it takes some serious effort (usually from his dragon) to get him to reveal important information rather than, say, going off on along rambling monologue about how he's reallyJames Bond. OrDorothy Gale.
  • And also from the same authors isZanfib of theStarshield series.However, he's insane only due toa slightly flawed resurrection. Oh, and he'san agent for theSentinels.
• Lu-Tze shows up in severalDiscworld books, playing the Eccentric Mentor inThief of Time. Actually, Lu-Tze has more or less made his living appearing to be a weird little monk, on the basis that, since no one notices weird little monks who are just sweeping up the place to begin with, he's far more stealthy and better equipped than the most highly trained of ninja. Not least because, in addition to beingable to seriously inconvenience someone about twenty-seven different ways with a broom, if the floor gets dirty you can take care of that too.
  • Remember Rule One:Never act incautiously when confronting a little old bald wrinkly smiling man. (And, of course, Rule Nineteen: Never forget Rule One)
  • Also from the Discworld, aRare Female Example: Nanny Ogg.
• Belgarath fromBelgariad by David and Leigh Eddings.
  • A case of deliberateObfuscating Stupidity here, he specifically has clothes tailored to look like he found them in a trash can so that he could pass unnoticed.
• Rare Female Example #2: Gladys fromA Sudden Wild Magic byDiana Wynne Jones. Externally, a benignCrazy Cat Lady.
• Elminster from theForgotten Realms setting.
• Platon Karataev fromWar and Peace.
• He might be evil, but otherwise Aro ofTwilight is just your average vampire Dumbledore.Cleolinda Jones calls him Dumblevamp at one point, I believe.
  • He's just not as smart.
• Nakor is this to perfection, fromThe Riftwar Cycle.
• Zedd fromSword of Truth
  • AndRare Female Example #3: His soul mate Adie.
• Uncle Ebbit inThe Seventh Tower, who may or may not be going senile.
• Drosselmeyer inThe Nutcracker and The Mouse King (the original story byETA Hoffmann): is he the children's eccentric but kindly uncle, or is he manipulating all the events of the story? (Hint: he's a skilled builder of mechanical toys (automata).)
• The Once and Future King version of Merlin, aided by his...unique situation.
• MostStar Wars Expanded Universe books featuring Yoda make him entirely serious, butYoda:Dark Rendezvous portrays him as veryodd when things aren't too serious. The kind of character that you could see fighting with R2 over a flashlight inThe Empire Strikes Back.
  • He rolls around incognito in a fake R2 shell and steals a small child's soda. Very odd indeed. And then, he gets into a fight with the cafeteria droid, who doesn't accept Yoda's self-made food as even "edible." Andthen, he wipes out an army of battle droids without breaking a sweat, andHannibal Lectures Count Dooku to a standstill.It's that kind ofbook.
• Master Wu ofThe Gone-Away World is anOld Master (andfounder of a secret society of kung fu mimes) who runs a martial arts school that the protagonist trains at. He teaches moves with names like "Walk Like Elvis", gets into arguments about the location of the moon, and cheerfully admits to making up ancient wisdom on the spot.
• Julian Morrow, the Classics professor inThe Secret History. He accepts no payment, practically has his own building on campus, and the few students he accepts must take nearly all their classes with him. Later becomes aBroken Pedestal.
• Wayne fromThe Kingdom Keepers is a strange imagineer who guides theDHIs through their trials.
• Mr. Wednesday fromAmerican Gods may be the bad guy, but he most certainly fits the description. He even pretends to be senile in order to get the cashier at the gas station to accidentally pay for his gas.
• Geser in theNight Watch series is an ultra-powerful, centuries old Other who likes to hang out in themed bars, has a definite sense of humor, and in one instance is shown wearing Disney pajamas. Like theTroper Namer, he's a somewhat morally ambiguousChessmaster.
• Grandpa Smedry in theAlcatraz Series.

Live-Action TV

• The Doctor fromDoctor Who often resembles this kind of character.
  • In particular, David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor embodies this trope to a tee. The Family of Blood sought to steal his immortality, and thought he was a doddering pathetic man.BIG.MISTAKE.
  • Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor plays this to the hilt, He openly admits to being a "Madman with a Box," often acts foolishly, and dotes on grown adults as if they were small children but is almost always in control of the situation and can often manipulate his foes into doing his work for him.
  • This wonderful bit of dialogue from the Tom Baker storyCity of Death (which was co-written byDouglas Adams): "Careful my dear, I don't think he's as stupid as he seems." "My dear,nobody could be as stupid as he seems."
• Draal onBabylon 5 is both this and aLarge Ham.
• Spencer fromLonelygirl15, although younger than most examples. What a strange little man.
• Principal Pal fromNed's Declassified School Survival Guide is very much a non-magical, Americanizedripoff version of early Dumbledore.
• President Bartlet fromThe West Wing, in his "Uncle Fluffy" persona.
• Bertram Cooper fromMad Men may seem like your run-of-the-mill elderly eccentric, but in reality he is just as shrewd a businessman as Don or St. John Powell.
• Around the Horn's Woody Paige may qualify as this.
• Hannibal Smith fromThe A-Team oftenInvokes this trope if/when he meets clients and/or confronts the weekly bad guys in disguise in an episode.

Theme Parks

• AtDisney Theme Parks, Dreamfinder fromJourney Into Imagination hovered between this andThe Obi-Wan before he was removed from the ride.

Video Games

• Ford Cruller fromPsychonauts is a rare example where his unwise behaviour is involuntary (his mind literally falls apart when he's away from a psytanium deposit).
• Auron fromFinal Fantasy X is a mild version, but is good at projecting casual deference when it's handy.
• An obvious reference to Dumbledore, Gammel Dore fromGrim Grimoire.
  • Only not as eccentric as the original.
• A clearer distaff counterpart, Professor Potsdam inMagical Diary: Horse Hall, who appears to be a hippie with a few screws loose most of the time.Don't make her mad.
• Guildmaster Wigglytuff, in thePokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers games is a lovableCloudcuckoolander who has an obession withPerfect Apples...who is completely immune to the poisonous gas attack ofTeam Skull and canmake the earth tremble with his voice alone when angry or sad.
• Erasmus, thepun loving archmage from theQuest for Glory series of games. He has a rat familiar who is actually a pretty powerful magic user in his own right. Erasmus is a rare male wizard of great power in the QFG setting, where the most powerful magic users tend to be women (for example,Erana,Katrina,Aziza,Kreesha etc).
• Galuf fromFinal Fantasy V is an old man who loves booze, avoided blame by using his amnesia as an excuse, and is the king of a kingdom. Who happens to fight alongside his soldiersbecause he's just that good. Oh, and he's likely to be one of the toughest members of the party by the point you find him inhis world. Hell, he's likely to be one of the toughest party members even before then. Although, then again,that's only if you know how to exploit the jobs.
• Strago fromFinal Fantasy VI, and thewhole town he lives in, which practices awesome magicks, but keeps it all under the radar of theThe Evil Empire. When he joins the heroes, he still comes off a doddering geezer most of the time, but in magical combat, he brings the hurt like nobody else. Also, he learns his most awesome spells byletting monsters use them on him first, and surviving.
• Laike fromLunar: Silver Star Stor Complete qualifies. Makes sense, consideringhe was the Dragonmaster Dyne whom the main character Alex worships.
• Kaepora Gaebora fromThe Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time qualifies, considering who he eventually turns out to be. (The Gossip Stones say he's a reincarnation of a Sage.)
• Voodoo Lady from theSecret of Monkey Island series. Granted, the whole series has a baseline loco level that makes her brand of unhinged seem not as apparent in context.
• Ace Attorney's Damon Gant is an odd example of that plays to this tropes applied toa villain. At one point, he even starts switching between lovable eccentric and sociopath withinseconds.
  • Phoenix Wright himself falls into this trope inApollo Justice.
• Seraph Lamington fromDisgaea.
  • As ofDisgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten,Flonne also qualifies.
• Silver Hoshipon ofPatapon 3 may qualify. However, the badassery part of the trope has more to do with him being able to fuse together the god of the Patapons(you) with a half-dead member of the race, namely your hero, and then still keeping the energy to revive other 3 patapon.
• Flemeth fromDragon Age is an odd blend of this trope andRetired Monster. If even half the stories you hear about her are true, she skipped over theMoral Event Horizon centuries before the story even began. However, she despite her vast power and alleged ruthlessness, she never actuallydoes anything openly antagonistic, and has actually helped the protagonists on several occasions (including saving them from what would have otherwise been certain death). She often speaks in riddles and seems to enjoy playing up her crazy-old-woman-who-lives-in-a-swamp persona.
• Asura'sOld Master Augus fromAsura's Wrath is one of the most powerful warriors in the setting, and his strength is said to be on par with Deus'. He's also a crazyhedonist who has no goal in life beyond enjoying the pleasures it offers:carnal knowledge of beautiful women,fine wines,good food,and the sheer joy of battle.
• Yuyuko Saigyouji inTouhou Project is one of the most ancient and powerful inhabitants of Gensokyo, known for her seemingly carefree attitude towards every matter that hides a brilliant scheming mind, a psychology so weird as to be incomprehensible even to those used to dealing with the most eccentric youkai, and her tendency to send her personal servant, Youmu Konpaku, on various tasks and manipulating events as a way to teach her lessons. Too bad Youmu is somewhat dense and narrow-minded and rarely understands what Yuyuko wanted to teach her, if she even notices there was something to learn at all.

Web Comics

• Master Surya fromThe Beast Legion.This page explains it all.
• The Dullahan, Jack Jerripher from Grave Academy.
• Shojo fromOrder of the Stick. May only be a borderline case, consideringhe couldn't avoid having his cover blown and was killed by Miko when she learned of his deception. Then again, she did immediately pay a high price for it.
• Though introduced with some foreboding, Fa'lina ofDan and Mab's Furry Adventures isRare Female Example #4 (but as asuccubus shedoesn't exactly show her age).
  • Shedoes look older than most of the cast though. Hell, she even has the biggest bustline in the comic!
• Llewellyn inOzy and Millie.
• Aodan, a country-accented Charizard fromChar Cole who is developing a habit of appearing out of nowhere during the main character's freakouts.
• Sensei Feng fromSluggy Freelance is anOld Master who trains the deadly assassin Oasis in both mind and body, yet resembles an old hobo as much as a martial arts master, mooching pizza rolls whenever he can, and displaying such incredible fighting techniques asliterally putting his foot in his mouth.
• Donovan Deegan ofDominic Deegan is a very capable bard and swordsman, but spent decades mangling the orcish language because ofRule of Funny.
• Invoked inEl Goonish Shive by Tedd for his dad. Most of the time, Mr. Verres is a typicalBumbling Dad... who works for the government, knowseverything, is a VIP in the supernatural world for currently unexplained reasons, and is a powerful wizard that will go absolutely apeshit on anyone that harms his family, or anyone under his protection.
  • Also, Mr. Raven for the non-Muggles that are not under Mr. Verres' care. Though, Raven seems to be a bit more stern that your typical Dumbledore, but he does make it up inovertheatrics.
  • And for a more literal sense, we haveJerry. Self-proclaimedFat Bastard,(though of the jolly sort, not the jumpy sort,) has had more than a few weird ideas about what to do with his time, and looks strangely likeSanta Claus. However, he's also a 200 year-old Immortal with ludicrous amounts of power simply bybeing that old, sage wisdom for Susan, Grace, and Sarah, and powered theHyperspace Mallet ability that, evidently,every female on the planet had access too. Granted, he's in the process of dying so he can be reborn properly, but he's also sworn himself to repay the debt Immortals owe Susan, making him a weird case. Did we mention he's a master ofSerenity-Inducing Fluffy Animal Attack?

Web Original

• InThe Gamers Alliance, Harrad is a wise mage but he's also obsessed with building the perfect candy machine and often does weird things which his students simply can't fathom. Despite his quirks he's very good at reaching and magic (except finishing the candy machinewhich keeps malfunctioning no matter how much he improves and tweaks the design).

Western Animation

• Iroh fromAvatar: The Last Airbender, is this, especially in Book 1, to Zuko. In Book 2, also briefly becomes this to Toph and, at the end of the season,Aang.
  • King Bumi, even more so. At one point,he asks Aang to choose which Earth Kingdom warrior he wants to fight, presenting him with two intimidating young soldiers. Aang chooses Bumi. Wrong choice.
    • Later, when the Fire Nationconquers Bumi's fortress town Omashu, theykeep him as a hostage to prevent rebellion. To prevent rebellionby Bumi, they put him in a metal box that doesn't let him move anything except his mouth (so that he can breath and be fed). They think that will make it impossible for Bumi to use his very powerful Earthbending talents. They thought wrong. Later, it was revealed that in The Day of Black Sun,he retook his city all by himself and even took down atowering statue of Ozai.
  • Monk Gyatso, Aang's guardian at the Southern Air Temple. He was a major reason for Aang's cheerful, happy-go-lucky demeanor. And, like most people, he died while Aang was frozen, and took a surprisingly large group of Firebenders with him. Surprisingly large, because Airbending is adefensive art. He killed them withdefensive bending.
    • And large being dozens. Dozens of highly trained soldiers using the most aggressive attackbending in the world against one old monk with a vow of non-violence.That, my friend, is anObi-Wan Moment.
    • Not to mention that at the time they were powered up by Sozin's comet...
    • And that firebending has airbending at theadvantage.
• Avatar inWizards.
• Uncle fromJackie Chan Adventures. Equal parts crotchety old man and master sorcerer.
• Grampa Smith fromMonster Buster Club. A senile old alien in disguise as a senile old human, he probably knows more about the "monsters" the kids encounter than anyone else, but is far too concerned with the upkeep of his garden to do anything other than offer hints, info, and advice.
• Miss Frizzle inThe Magic School Bus is a bit young, but otherwise fits this trope quite well.
• Princess Celestia fromMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic combines this withThe Chessmaster.
• Rafiki fromThe Lion King.

Real Life

• Benjamin Franklin was the Eccentric Mentor to the other founding fathers—he was significantly older than the rest, was a noted humorist (and, despite his age, ladies' man), and was respected as the preeminent intellectual of the group.
• Richard Feynman. Aficionado of the bongos (not to mentionmad songs about orange juice), player of epic practical jokes, irreverent, completely unconcerned with the mores and manners of polite society, and the inventor of branches of particle physics you would never understand if you studied for several lifetimes. He's also the guy who demonstrated the fatal flaw in the O-ring design that led to the Challenger disaster. He also chose to do soin the most humiliating way possible to ensure that the press would drag those responsible over the coals.
• G. K. Chesterton. Anyone who's read his books will know he's actually much funnier than any philosopher/theologian has a right to be, and in books likeOrthodoxy, he states a great many things about Christianity that makes him look...a bit odd. However, he influenced the likes ofC. S. Lewis andJ. R. R. Tolkien, two of the biggest names in popular Christian literature.

• Trope
• Eccentric Mentor
• Mentors
• Archetypal Character
• Elders