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Just William

 Just William
type
TVTItem
 Just William
label
Just William
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page
JustWilliam
 Just William
comment
A long-running series of comic/adventure stories by Richmal Crompton about an 11-year-old English boy named William Brown.William is a mischievous and adventurous, if mostly well-intentioned, boy, cheerfully indifferent to school and the baffling (to him) rules of adult life. With his best pal Ginger and other friends Douglas and Henry, he forms the Outlaws, whom he leads into all manner of escapades, scrapes and misadventures — sometimes due to his natural rebelliousness, though as often as not while trying to do something actually quite useful. Each volume contains up to a dozen or more short, largely stand-alone stories (bar one full-length novel), rather than being a single narrative.The series is a strong user of Comic-Book Time; each book is set in the era in which it was written and yet William is 11 throughout — for nearly half the 20th century. The first collection was published in 1921 and the 39th in 1970.William is unique in schoolboy literature: confident, strong-willed, independent-minded with original world-views, a born leader who is keen to be chief in any undertaking of the Outlaws. He does not care about his clothes or appearance, wears a scowl as his best "company manners" and hates small talk. He loves to play Red Indians and pirates, and readily embarks on any project from catching wartime spies to making a "moon rocket", to editing a "newspaper" or organising a "circus" or "show", often featuring his pet mongrel dog Jumble as reluctant star. He usually has a withering contempt for girls and women (except his mother) but can occasionally be chivalrous and quietly has a soft spot for a young neighbour, Joan, who admires him enormously.A rebel and die-hard optimist, William often shows a strong sense of responsibility when the situation demands, an unwillingness to back out of challenges and a bulldog-like determination to overcome hurdles. His imagination and love of adventure constantly get him into strange and difficult situations. Peculiar complications often arise when he tries to "help" others, but as fortune favours the brave, William usually wins. His 'motto' is: "Doin' good, rightin' wrongs, spreadin' happiness and walking down the narrow path of virtue."
 Just William
fetched
2023-10-07T21:31:40Z
 Just William
parsed
2023-10-07T21:31:40Z
 Just William
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Just William / int_1320d787
type
Playing Sick
 Just William / int_1320d787
comment
Playing Sick: William attempts to get out of Mrs. de Vere Carter's "Band of Hope" by faking being sick. A while later, he tries to feign sickness to get out of being a page at a wedding. Both times it fails.
 Just William / int_1320d787
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 Just William / int_1320d787
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Just William / int_1320d787
 Just William / int_1dfbbf31
type
Heterosexual Life-Partners
 Just William / int_1dfbbf31
comment
Heterosexual Life-Partners: William and Ginger are the closest of friends, and Ginger appears far more often than the other Outlaws.
 Just William / int_1dfbbf31
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1.0
 Just William / int_1dfbbf31
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Just William / int_1dfbbf31
 Just William / int_21d47bb7
type
Nouveau Riche
 Just William / int_21d47bb7
comment
Nouveau Riche: The Botts, inhabitants of the Manor (it is not clear whether they are owners or tenants). Mr. Bott made his money from "Bott's Digestive Sauce". Mrs. Bott in particular is highly pretentious, and goes to great lengths to hide her upbringing, which doesn't work. It is implied at one point that Violet Elizabeth's lisp is affected and she doesn't actually have a speech impediment.
 Just William / int_21d47bb7
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 Just William
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Just William / int_21d47bb7
 Just William / int_2484396e
type
Know-Nothing Know-It-All
 Just William / int_2484396e
comment
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Various characters who have no children and are infatuated by the idea of them often get a reality check when they encounter William or his peers.
 Just William / int_2484396e
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 Just William / int_2484396e
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 Just William
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Just William / int_2484396e
 Just William / int_25bc8511
type
Generation Xerox
 Just William / int_25bc8511
comment
Generation Xerox: One story focuses on the Outlaws' various schemes to get some fireworks for Bonfire Night. At the end of their story, their fathers, walking home from work, hijack the fireworks and begin reminiscing about their childhood exploits as a gang, which bear a suspicious resemblance to the Outlaws.
 Just William / int_25bc8511
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Just William / int_25bc8511
 Just William / int_2a02e5c9
type
Guile Hero
 Just William / int_2a02e5c9
comment
Guile Hero: Many stories have William having to defeat Hubert Lane or an especially obnoxious adult by outwitting them.
 Just William / int_2a02e5c9
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 Just William / int_2a02e5c9
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 Just William
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Just William / int_2a02e5c9
 Just William / int_53136954
type
Book Dumb
 Just William / int_53136954
comment
Book Dumb: William is a terrible student in every academic field, driving both his teachers and parents to distraction. Left to his own devices, he can be quite ingenious.
 Just William / int_53136954
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 Just William / int_53136954
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Just William / int_53136954
 Just William / int_5f9fbd83
type
Not Allowed to Grow Up
 Just William / int_5f9fbd83
comment
Not Allowed to Grow Up: William has been eleven since 1920. He will no doubt still be eleven in 2120, and quite right, too.
 Just William / int_5f9fbd83
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 Just William / int_5f9fbd83
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Just William / int_5f9fbd83
 Just William / int_5fcedca
type
Big Eater
 Just William / int_5fcedca
comment
Big Eater: William has an immense appetite, particularly for party food, and will often demolish a meal he's found in his adventures before returning home for tea. Justified by the fact he's as active as his life allows him to be.
 Just William / int_5fcedca
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 Just William
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Just William / int_5fcedca
 Just William / int_60e49895
type
The Leader
 Just William / int_60e49895
comment
The Leader: For all his other faults, William is a natural born leader of men. The Outlaws and more generally other children follow him because he has all the best ideas as to how to have fun, and follows them through with complete determination. This is also why most grown-ups particularly don't like him.
 Just William / int_60e49895
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Just William / int_60e49895
 Just William / int_659ef759
type
Implacable Man
 Just William / int_659ef759
comment
Implacable Man: In Violet Elizabeth's first appearance, the boys try to shake her off, but she follows them relentlessly, enjoying herself even as she shreds her dress in brambles and faceplants in the mud.
 Just William / int_659ef759
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 Just William / int_659ef759
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Just William / int_659ef759
 Just William / int_6fed1f70
type
The Thing That Would Not Leave
 Just William / int_6fed1f70
comment
The Thing That Would Not Leave: One of William's aunts, who proclaims herself to be in a poor state of health and spends most of her time eating and sleeping. Until William's intervention anyway.
 Just William / int_6fed1f70
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 Just William / int_6fed1f70
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Just William / int_6fed1f70
 Just William / int_7360a6b6
type
Noble Demon
 Just William / int_7360a6b6
comment
Noble Demon: William and his friends regularly picture themselves as robbers, pirates, kidnappers and so on and even name themselves 'The Outlaws', but they are almost never actively malicious (at least against the undeserving).
 Just William / int_7360a6b6
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 Just William
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Just William / int_7360a6b6
 Just William / int_75538142
type
Friend to All Children
 Just William / int_75538142
comment
Friend to All Children: Miss Cannon, a girl Robert is infatuated with in "William the Intruder," who turns up to tea with the Browns half an hour late because she was playing Indians with William in the garden.
 Just William / int_75538142
featureApplicability
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 Just William / int_75538142
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 Just William
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Just William / int_75538142
 Just William / int_7f080f98
type
Vague Age
 Just William / int_7f080f98
comment
Vague Age: While William is always 11, the ages of his 'grown up' brother and sister Robert and Ethel range from as young as 17 to as old as 22 depending on the story.
 Just William / int_7f080f98
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 Just William / int_7f080f98
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Just William / int_7f080f98
 Just William / int_856a425a
type
TheFifties
 Just William / int_856a425a
comment
The 2010 TV series very clearly takes place in The '50s.
 Just William / int_856a425a
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 Just William / int_856a425a
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 Just William
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Just William / int_856a425a
 Just William / int_8b3e2519
type
New Neighbours as the Plot Demands
 Just William / int_8b3e2519
comment
New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: A lot of the early stories were written before the cast was solidified outside the Brown family, leading to new characters being introduced as new neighbors whenever the plot required it.
 Just William / int_8b3e2519
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 Just William / int_8b3e2519
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Just William / int_8b3e2519
 Just William / int_8e7467e
type
The Psycho Rangers
 Just William / int_8e7467e
comment
The Psycho Rangers: Hubert Lane has his own four man gang that mirrors William's. They stand no chance against the Outlaws on a level playing field, but fortunately for them Hubert's parents are significantly more liberal with their gifts than William's, and Hubert himself is a gifted schmoozer.
 Just William / int_8e7467e
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 Just William / int_8e7467e
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 Just William
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Just William / int_8e7467e
 Just William / int_96b89043
type
Not So Above It All
 Just William / int_96b89043
comment
Not So Above It All: William's father is much less bothered by his youngest causing trouble if it gets rid of a person or guest he finds annoying; one example is "William and the Smuggler," where he and William are both equally irritated by Mr. Percival Jones. Another is "William and the White Satin" where the narrator notes him as being rather envious of William and his cousins when they get out of having to attend a wedding by dirtying their white clothes.
 Just William / int_96b89043
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 Just William / int_96b89043
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 Just William
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Just William / int_96b89043
 Just William / int_a7850fbf
type
Only Known by Their Nickname
 Just William / int_a7850fbf
comment
Only Known by Their Nickname: Ginger, so named for his red hair. We never learn his real first name.
 Just William / int_a7850fbf
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 Just William / int_a7850fbf
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 Just William
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Just William / int_a7850fbf
 Just William / int_a79671cc
type
KidAnova
 Just William / int_a79671cc
comment
KidAnova: Despite claiming to not like girls, William does have a tendency to fall for the pretty ones — or at least the ones who aren't too silly in his opinion. Quite a number of them turn out to like him, too.
 Just William / int_a79671cc
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 Just William / int_a79671cc
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 Just William
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Just William / int_a79671cc
 Just William / int_b707726f
type
Hypocritical Humor
 Just William / int_b707726f
comment
Hypocritical Humor: Meta example: the stories often make fun of child-raising "experts" with no children of their own. The author, Richmal Crompton, was unmarried and childless for her entire life.
 Just William / int_b707726f
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 Just William / int_b707726f
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Just William / int_b707726f
 Just William / int_b9955dad
type
Wanting Is Better Than Having
 Just William / int_b9955dad
comment
Wanting Is Better Than Having: In one story, Mr. Moss puts William in charge of his sweet shop for the morning, which to any eleven-year-old is a dream come true. William helps himself and his friends to all the sweets he wants... and they have the effect you would expect. By the time Mr. Moss returns...
 Just William / int_b9955dad
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 Just William / int_b9955dad
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Just William / int_b9955dad
 Just William / int_c5249b29
type
Nice Guy
 Just William / int_c5249b29
comment
Nice Guy: William himself, oh, so much. While he has his faults and does unintentionally cause a lot of trouble, he never truly means harm, and often is trying to be helpful.
 Just William / int_c5249b29
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 Just William / int_c5249b29
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Just William / int_c5249b29
 Just William / int_c867e57
type
TheRoaringTwenties
 Just William / int_c867e57
comment
The Roaring '20s: The original series setting. The 2010 TV series very clearly takes place in The '50s. The Guardian called this "a sensible compromise between the William as first written, to whom telephones would be exotic, and an updated one, listening to his iPod."
 Just William / int_c867e57
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 Just William / int_c867e57
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Just William / int_c867e57
 Just William / int_e30c7674
type
Sliding Scale of Beauty
 Just William / int_e30c7674
comment
Sliding Scale of Beauty: Ethel is a 'world class beauty' with countless young men falling for her "red gold hair" and blue eyes.
 Just William / int_e30c7674
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 Just William / int_e30c7674
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Just William / int_e30c7674
 Just William / int_e37f19
type
Disguised in Drag
 Just William / int_e37f19
comment
Disguised in Drag: In 'William Makes Things Hum' from William the Rebel, William is forced to borrow clothes from a girl the same age, who dons his clothes. Interestingly while he hates the experience and tries to get his own clothes back as soon as possible, the girl is delighted to be wearing boys' clothes, mentions several times she wishes she was a boy and only very reluctantly swaps back.
 Just William / int_e37f19
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Just William / int_e37f19
 Just William / int_ec40626
type
Love Martyr
 Just William / int_ec40626
comment
Love Martyr: William's mother quietly adores her youngest, and is ready to believe he's become the calm, studious child she wants him to be on the flimsiest of evidence. William takes advantage of this belief often.
 Just William / int_ec40626
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 Just William / int_ec40626
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Just William / int_ec40626
 Just William / int_ff17ccf1
type
Innocently Insensitive
 Just William / int_ff17ccf1
comment
Innocently Insensitive: William may be a well-intentioned boy, but he often has little grasp of other people's feelings, and accidentally says the wrong thing frequently.
 Just William / int_ff17ccf1
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Just William / int_ff17ccf1
 Just William / int_name
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Just William

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Just William
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Ageless Birthday Episode / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Children's Literature / int_2a84e8a
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Cowboys and Indians / int_2a84e8a
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Extremely Short Timespan / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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First Installment Wins / int_2a84e8a
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Fun-Hating Confiscating Adult / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Girls Have Cooties / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Long-Running Book Series / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Mistaken for Servant / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Naughty Is Good / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Nice Character, Mean Actor / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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NO INDOOR VOICE / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Outdated Name / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Repetitive Name / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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School Play / int_2a84e8a
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Serial Romeo / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Signs of Disrepair / int_2a84e8a
 Just William
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Sugary Malice / int_2a84e8a