Smart Ball: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[Detective Conan]]'': Agasa catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets it—going from what Conan himself described (to his face, no less) as "a self-proclaimed genius [who has] only invented junk" to the greatest [[Gadgeteer Genius]] since [[James Bond (film)|Q Branch]], with no intervening development or explanation.
** Depending on your point of view, Kogoro could also be said to catch this ball a few times over the course of the series whenever he actually manages to get a deduction right.
* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'': [[Cloudcuckoolander|"Osaka"]] has trouble concentrating or passing her tests, but the one time Tomo asked her a series of questions where the answers are puns, she got every one of the them right without hesitation. (This was completely in character for her, as well - her [[cloudcuckoolander]] tendencies were often related to wordplay.)
== Comic Books ==
* More than usually justified when applied to the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing of the ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'', who is often portrayed as a dumbass despite the fact that he is a college graduate and a former military test pilot. (You don't want your geniuses flying experimental aircraft if you can avoid it, but neither do you want dumb grunts to destroy them!) Additional frequent justification: you can't spend all your time around Reed Richards and not pick up at least a few bits and pieces.
** It's occasionally been said that the difference between a good FF writer and a bad one is that the former realizes Ben is the smart one.
** Ben Grimm is at least smart enough that he can sometimes work as a mild example of a [[Genius Bruiser]]. A better example would be Johnny Storm, who's even
== Fan Fiction ==▼
* Used and lampshaded in [[Lisa Is Pregnant]] when, having "noticed for once" that something isn't right, Homer asks why Lisa was in the mountains, where Bart froze to death keeping her warm. She doesn't remember, though.▼
▲* Used and lampshaded in ''[[Lisa Is Pregnant]]'' when, having "noticed for once" that something isn't right, Homer asks why Lisa was in the mountains, where Bart froze to death keeping her warm. She doesn't remember, though.
== Film ==
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*** To which the idiots reply that they read it off the bottles. "It's right on the ingredients list..."
* In ''[[Deep Rising]]'', a [[Jerkass]] who works for the cruise line spontaneously rattles off a theory as to the man-eating worms' origins, and [[Improbable Taxonomy Skills|displays such expertise that you'd think designing computer networks for ships requires an advanced degree in marine invertebrate paleontology]]. He turns out to be totally wrong. The "creatures" ''aren't'' worms. In fact, they {{spoiler|aren't even individual creatures. They're the tentacles belonging to a monstrous octopus-like creature.}}
* [[Firefly (TV series)|Mal]] in ''[[Serenity]]'', after he exhibits a working knowledge of [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]:
{{quote|'''Mal:''' Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint.}}
** Another example: The Operative went by the popular misconception that the albatross was sign of bad luck. (For background, in the poem the misfortunes of the eponymous Mariner comes about because he killed the albatross; it is literally a weight around his neck because his fellow shipmates tie it there as punishment for killing a bird which was both a good omen and which could have led them to shore)
* Ragetti, the skinny one-eyed pirate from the [[Those Two Guys|comic duo]] in [[Pirates of the Caribbean]] displayed some quite commendable knowledge of mythology and philosophy in the sequels, though they were out of place most of the times.
== Literature ==
* In the third ''[[Artemis Fowl]]'' book, two of Spiro's [[Stupid Evil|nigh-brainless]] [[Those Two Bad Guys|henchmen]] "cleverly" come up with the idea to use {{spoiler|the stolen Cube computer}} to take down a rival of Spiro's company. Spiro finds this sudden brain activity a bit suspicious, but he can't deny it's a good idea. {{spoiler|Of course, the henchmen were hypnotized into suggesting this, because it's [[The Chessmaster|exactly what Artemis wanted Spiro to do]].}}
* ''[[
== Live-Action TV ==
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* ''[[Days of Our Lives]]'' fandom refers to the local Smart Ball as the Salem Brain. Considering many Days fans love snarking at plot holes, this evidently doesn't show up nearly as much as it needs to.
* Occasionally, a walker in ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'' will have a moment where they aren't mindless zombies. For example, one of the walkers plays dead, then bites Hershel in the leg. Another hides in the mud and grabs Megan before she can notice.
== Toys ==
* In ''[[Bionicle]]'' ''Legacy of Evil'', Reidak figures what the whole Plan is, given only the beginning. While the Plan wasn't ''that'' awesome, it's frightening because Reidak usually needs simple plans to be explained four times. So the other speculate Reidak may have ''forgotten'' to act as an idiot, and rest of time he acts stupidly because he want to be underestimated.
== Video Games ==
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* For the first two [[Mass Effect]] games, [[Heroic Wannabe|Conrad Verner]] has bees seen as little more than an annoyance. Then come [[Mass Effect 3]] it turns out he is actually Dr. Conrad Verner and did a dissertation on dark matter energy, which helps with the construction of the Crucible.
* [[The Ditz|Fighter]] of ''[[8-
▲* [[The Ditz|Fighter]] of ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' often catches the Smart Ball when Black Mage says something stupid (or isn't around to [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] whatever stupidity has happened today), [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/08/05/episode-449-speak-friend-and-enter or whenever it] [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/08/07/episode-450-knot-my-problem would be funny.]
** Double subverted [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2006/10/05/episode-752-its-all-fun-and-games-until-everything-dies/ here.]
** A common answer to a question about out-of-character moments on the forums (started by the author and continued by his fans) is that all characters are as smart as they need to be for a joke.
* Thog, the [[Dumb Muscle]] [[Psychopathic Manchild]] from ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has been indicated by [[Word of God]] to have his intelligence and maliciousness vary depending on whatever would be funniest. [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0791.html This strip] is a quite good example of this, showing Thog using some sophisticated language and big words while still talking in his [[Hulk Speak]] style. Appropriately enough, the hero Roy who is Thog's Good Counterpart is kind of grasping the [[Idiot Ball]] in the strip.
** Roy answered Thog's question at the end of their fight, though. After ''three'' [[Beat Panel|beat panels]] and two other silent panels in a row. {{spoiler|It was [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0808.html Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering)].}}
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by the eponymous character of [[Walkyverse|It's Walky]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110404001135/http://www.itswalky.com/d/20000521.html here.]
== Web Original ==
▲== Web Originals ==
* Caboose from [[Red vs. Blue]] occasionally has a good idea. There's also Donut, who, at one point, was able to correctly figure out the ridiculous string of events that led to the Red Team's jeep trying to kill Sarge. Of course, the rest of the team decided that this was a stupid theory. And there was the time Tucker managed to outwit Wyoming, a trained assassin. Half the cast is made up of idiots, so this is bound to happen a lot.
== Western Animation ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Narrative Devices]]
[[Category:Improbable Behavior Tropes]]
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[[Category:The Plot Demanded This Index]]
[[Category:Ball Index]]
▲[[Category:Smart Ball]]
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