Badass Bookworm/Western Animation

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Examples of Badass Bookworms in Western Animation include:

  • Samantha aka Sam of Totally Spies!. Heck, the first OP has her expertly using a chemistry kit as Clover and Alex watch her in amazement. While at the same time, she is able to fight off the random villains that the trio encounter just as effectively as her partners. AND she also manages to get and keep excellent grades at school.
    • As if that wasn't enough, the spinoff The Amazing Spiez brings us Marc, who is almost a much younger male version of Sam. This is lampshaded in "Operation Killer Condos" when the Spiez use one of their gadgets to disguise as the original spies (and Jerry), and Marc-as-Sam points out that he gets to be the smart one.
  • While Justice League member The Question is more crackpot than bookworm, he does distill this trope into one glorious moment where he nails a guy in the face with a computer monitor just after he's finished using it.
  • Raven from Teen Titans is very reserved, and spends a lot of her time reading. But anyone who seriously pisses her off will have their ass handed to them. Just ask Dr. Light (see the episode "Spellbound.")
  • In Challenge of the Super Friends, Asian Captain Ethnic Samurai (real name: Toshio Etou) was actually a Japanese history professor in the University of Tokyo before he was turned into a super hero by the New Gods of New Genesis.
  • In Spider-Man: The Animated Series Doctor Otto Octavius was a brilliant scientist and teacher before becoming the villainous Dr. Octopus. In the new The Spectacular Spider-Man series, his turn is even more pronounced. Meek and abused by his employer, the reluctant flunkie Doctor Octavius endures a lab accident that fuses his robotic harness to his spine. Otto wakes up newly Multi-Armed and Dangerous, and feeling downright megalomaniacal to boot. He soon proves just how much of a threat he can be.
  • In The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, scientist Benton Quest sometimes shows Badass tendencies (though he's usually overshadowed by his more conventionally badass bodyguard, Race Bannon), particularly during his escape from the villain's headquarters in "General Winter" and his climactic fight with Big Bad Dr. Zin in "The Robot Spies." This was also true in the original Jonny Quest series, in which Dr. Quest is a "real dynamo when he gets going" according to Race Bannon himself.
  • In Spiral Zone, Benjamin Davis Franklin of the Zone Riders is a geeky, scrawny science nerd who looks like "Weird Al" Yankovic. Nevertheless, he's tough enough to kick Big Bad Overlord in the face in one episode.
  • Danny's brainy older sister Jazz in Danny Phantom discovers she has amazing ghost fighting skills in "Maternal Instincts". She has since displayed said skills in a couple of other episodes. We're going to ignore "Secret Weapons".
  • Dexter, from Dexter's Laboratory, is a tiny, stub-limbed boy genius who spends all his time in his secret laboratory, trying—in vain—to keep his pretty-princess Cloudcuckoolander sister out. Until a monster attacks the city, or aliens invade, or a meteor threatens Earth; then Dexter pulls out one of his giant, anime-inspired robots, super-powered exoskeleton suits, or space ships and kicks ass. He also seems to have learned kung-fu at some point.
  • And let's not forget Blossom from The Powerpuff Girls.
  • From Metalocalypse: Dethklok's manager, Charles Foster Ofdensen.
  • Transformers
    • Starscream was a Cybertronian scientist before his ascension to air commander of the Decepticon forces.
    • There's also Wheeljack, the cheerful crazy inventor, who can hold his own in battle quite well.
  • To an extent, Kyle from South Park. On the outside, a potty-mouth, angry nine-year old who's also the smart one of the group, but the movie demonstrated that he can hack into top secret military databases. He has also been shown to be fairly athletic at points of the show and fully capable of kicking Cartman's ass when necessary.
  • Dr.Splitzy/Splitzy of Captain Simian and The Space Monkeys is the ship's engineer whose technical expertise is matched by his subtle but effective fighting skills. Then again, you do not want to mess with orangutans.
  • Tanya, the Gadgeteer Genius of The Mighty Ducks, may wear glasses and speak with a stutter, but she holds her own with pros in ice hockey as well as on the battlefield.
  • Bishop, from the newer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003. You THINK that he's the resident Obstructive Bureaucrat, but when Mikey finally gets to take his revenge Bishop easily wipes the floor with him.
    • Also, Donatello.
  • Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon seems like an overthinking klutz of a Viking, but once he befriends Toothless and seriously studies Dragons, he is able to handle the species and use inventions with them in battle that leave his warrior contemporaries agape.
  • In Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, "Doc" Hartford's Series 5 ability is useless in combat, and he's the most formally-educated of the four (Ph.D in Computer Psychiatry). Still, he's still able to keep up with the other three using a standard issue blaster, his fists, and his copious wit. Hand him a sword, and he's truly frightening.
  • Arguably, Gargoyles has two. First is the obvious one, Lexington. Though the smallest of the clan, he maintains incredible strength (like bending metal spikes). What's more, ever since waking up to a technologically advanced society, he's engrossed himself in it. He built a motorcycle and flew a chopper. Then you have Goliath: it goes without saying that he fits the "badass" portion of the trope. However, he's often been seen alone, in a library, busying himself with the tomes therein.
  • Twilight Sparkle of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic is a dedicated bookworm to the extent that her mentor ended up having to order her to take a break from her studies to make some friends. One thing led to another and she winds up having to fight Nightmare Moon (a Physical God who is the embodiment of darkness and the night) one-on-one to protect them. In later episodes she faces a full-grown dragon, a cockatrice, a giant monster-bear made of stars, and a Hydra on her own. She isn't always successful, but she never hesitates to try. She also manages to place fifth in a marathon, despite never having run in a race before, by studying books on long-distance running techniques beforehand.
    • Although it does turn out that facing a cockatrice is actually the worst way to fight one - much better to look away. Even so, in the pilot of Season 2, she works out how to re-unite her friends and beat Discord by reading through her own damn writings on the matter!
  • Huey Freeman from The Boondocks is probably the most intelligent character of the series and is often seeing reading or watching the news to heighten his awareness. He is also one of the best fighters of the series and his kung fu skills are something to watch out for from this 10-year-old boy.
  • Abby from The Secret Saturdays.
  • Dot Matrix from ReBoot.[context?]
  • The title character from Scaredy Squirrel.
  • Archer, episode "The Rock": Stuck in the laundromat below the ISIS facilities, a couple of the nerdy "drones" employed by ISIS build a GPS-enabled communication device out of cell phones, a cash register, lasers, wires, a belt, paper clips, and the mica crystal of an engagement ring, with which they use to call a helicopter to save Archer and Lana in San Morino. Even Pam is impressed:

Pam: Holy shit, you geeks are badass.

    • As if that wasn't enough, Krieger doesn't activate this makeshift communicator—one that could save Archer and Lana from certain death—until Malory Archer guarantees him and his coworkers a pay raise.
  • Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender, anyone? In a World full of Elemental Powers and mystical nonsense, he manages to handle himself (sort of) through science, technology, and intuition. Bonus points for also being a Badass Normal as well.
  • Ferb from Phineas and Ferb. At the end of an episode that revolved around Phineas training to beat Buford, Ferb knocked the bully out with one pinch. ("Well, he was all up in my face.") He also tends to get the "action"-type sequences in general, being "more of a man of action" than a talker, and, of course, he can build anything. And yet, if it weren't for Phineas he'd probably just be sitting under that tree, reading a book all summer...
  • A Venetian Rascal Comes to America: Sort of. Johan is no sage, but has useful skills such as how to heal horses. He also becomes quite clever by the end.

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