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If you're looking for the animated series, go here.

This is the kid at school that nobody likes. Not because they're stupid, or annoying, or a bully. But because they suck up to the teacher. They'll bring the teacher the traditional apple every day, they'll always volunteer to answer any question, and more often then not they'll be The Informant to the teacher, tattling on the other students whenever they make the smallest infringement of the rules.

Needless to say, most of the other students tend to despise this person, and they're often portrayed as a traitor to the rest of the class. Typical of series that are set in elementary school.

See also: Professional Butt-Kisser.

Not to be confused with the 1958 Romantic Comedy.

Examples of Teacher's Pet include:


Comic Books[]

  • The Bash Street Kids has Cuthbert Cringeworthy. The only pupil in the class who wears a uniform or gave Teacher any respect whatsoever.
    • He also looked like Teacher, a Visual Pun on his status as "pet" and Uncatty Resemblance.
      • Cuthbert was introduced after the strip had already been up and running for years. Teacher liked him on sight for no reason he could lay a finger on at the time.

Film[]

Literature[]

  • Hermione Granger started off as this, but then got Character Development, starting when Harry and Ron saved her life and she lied to get them out of trouble.
  • Teacher's Pet by Johanna Hurwitz. Cricket initially resents the new girl, who seems to please the teacher better than she could - until she learns that the new girl is just a genuinely nice person, and that she doesn't have to be a teacher's pet to be special.
  • Agnan of French novel series Le Petit Nicolas. And in this setting where the turbulent classmates are the main protagonists, he's portrayed as a Butt Monkey.
  • Chichikov from Dead Souls became this when he had a Sadist Teacher who'd give the best grades to, well, teacher's pets and bad grades to smart kids who were even a little bit unruly - or showed too much smartness.
  • Caroline Pearce in the Sweet Valley series.

Live Action TV[]

  • Annie in Community. For example, instead of putting his binder back, Señor Chang drops it on the floor and orders Annie to pick it up.
  • Stuart Minkus in the first season of Boy Meets World, though one or two episodes have him trying to subvert it in order to avoid scorn from his classmates. He never succeeds.
  • Averted in Girl Meets World, despite Riley's teacher being her own father Cory Matthews of the parent series. He expects just as much hard work and focus from her as he does the rest of his students.
    • Farkle Minkus could go from trying to be this to trying to outright be the teacher in season one. He eventually grew out of it.

Music[]

Cquote1

 Her friends are so jealous

You know how bad girls get

Sometimes it's not so easy

To be the teacher's pet

Cquote2


Video Games[]

  • Aqua from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is a more benevolent version. Nomura has described her as an 'Honour student-type', and she follows Master Eraqus' teachings the closest out of the three protagonists, even spying on Terra for him. This does not stop her being very loyal to the other two, however. Mess with them and she will kick your ass.

Western Animation[]

  • Randall from Recess.
  • Nanette Manoir from Angela Anaconda.
  • On Arthur when Mr. Ratburn moved in with Arthur's family for a little while (his roof needed repair) the other kids said that Arthur would now be the teacher's pet and he'd always get high marks. Then he got an "A" on a math(?) quiz, apparently confirming their suspicions, although Arthur clamed it was because he studied. Binky taunted him with a song:
Cquote1

 Teacher's pet, Teacher's pet

Something, something

Something that rhymes with pet.

Cquote2
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Hide from the episode "The Headband".
  • Martin Prince on The Simpsons, especially in the early seasons.
    • Lisa wants to be this and is seen trying many times. Unfortunately, she's saddled with Elizabeth Hoover, who's basically dead inside and cares little for her students or profession. The only time she's ever shown any attention to a student is to praise Alison Taylor (setting up the main plot for "Lisa's Rival") or to stop Ralph Wiggum from doing stupid things.
    • Inverted in one of the comics, where thanks to a prank of Bart's the Springfield Elementary faculty got sent to various foreign countries. When Edna Krabappel mentioned Bart was sending her to Paris in France, Miss Hoover called her a "student's pet."
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