marrantor

A marrantor is a person, character, or system designed to introduce humor into content by selecting, shaping, or generating humorous elements. It can operate as a real-world commentator, an in-world character, or an algorithmic tool that adds jokes, witty remarks, or situational humor to improve engagement or tone without altering the primary message.

Etymology: The term is a neologism formed from the French marrant, meaning funny, with the agent suffix -or, patterned after words such as moderator or narrator. Its use in English-language discourse is informal and primarily related to discussions of humor design, narrative technique, or speculative media concepts.

Functions: A marrantor identifies opportunities for comedy, sequences jokes for timing, and adjusts language style to maximize levity while preserving clarity. In practice, a marrantor may be a human editor, a fictional character, or a software module that proposes or inserts humor.

Contexts: In literature and film, marrantors may act as meta-commentators or in-world clowns who remind audiences of the joke's presence. In interactive media and games, they can tailor humor to user preferences, while in content-creation workflows they assist creators in balancing tone.

See also: humor theory; comedic device; narrator; metahumor; joker archetype.