Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Difference between revisions

[[File:Crouching_Moron_Hidden_Badass_1890Crouching Moron Hidden Badass 1890.jpg|link=Dragon Ball|frame|"[[Memetic Mutation|As soon as I find my pants, I'm going to kick your ass]]."]]

'''Jack Fenton''': That may be, but I'm the idiot who beat ''you''.|''[[Danny Phantom]]'', "The Million Dollar Ghost"}}

At first glance, he's [[The Fool]]. She's [[The Ditz]]. And no, it's not [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] -- they—they're really like that.

After the dust settles, however, they're right back to smiling goofily, tripping over their own feet, and just generally acting like the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] -- while—while their teammates are rubbing their eyes, and trying to figure out what just happened. Often, the character doesn't actually know himself.

Basically, the individual has access to [[Stock Super Powers|superpowers]] of some sort -- couldsort—could be [[Psychic Powers|psionics]], could be [[Functional Magic]] or [[Applied Phlebotinum]], could be [[Nanomachines]] -- and—and they either don't know they have the power, or [[How Do I Shot Web?|don't know how to control it]]. Occasionally they have a [[Power Limiter]] that they are unaware of that will [[Sealed Badass in a Can|seal their strength until needed]].

Common triggers include a [[The Power of Friendship|friend]] or [[The Power of Love|loved one]] in danger (see [[Mama Bear]] and [[Papa Wolf]]), a [[Million-to-One Chance]] scenario, or just a "worthy cause." Sometimes, just getting 'em [[Unstoppable Rage|really, really pissed off]] will do the trick -- althoughtrick—although their easy-going personalities make that a rare occurrence.

Sometimes, this can end up as a full-blown [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] or [[Jekyll and Hyde]] scenario, if the [[Badass]] side refuses to revert. In those cases, it might turn out that the individual was once aware of his powers and abilities, but somehow 'sealed' them -- consciouslythem—consciously or otherwise -- becauseotherwise—because he knew that [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]].

In most other cases, the character will gradually learn to control his power -- althoughpower—although he'll usually still need to [[Freak-Out]] a bit to use his ''full'' power -- andpower—and may evolve into an [[Idiot Hero]], or more rarely, a straight-up [[The Messiah|Messiah]].

* Keaton Taichi Hiiraga from ''[[Master Keaton]]''. At first glance he appears to be a bumbling part time lecturer with a keen interest in archeology. But he is actually an extremely competent ex-soldier with vast networks of important people (he is friends with a British prince!). When the situation calls he can even turns random items into deadly weapons or survival kit a la mcGuyver[[MacGyver]].

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Boss is the [[Butt Monkey]], [[Hopeless Suitor]] and [[Comic Relief]] [[Gonk]] character from this series and the sequel ''[[Great Mazinger]]''. He is mocked and ridiculized by his friends and belittled by the villains, and he gets beaten easily in each battle. Still, when he is angry he can get ''scarily'' competent and even [[Badass]]. He is [[Acrofatic]] and perfectly capable of holding his own on a fistfight, and although his [[Humongous Mecha]] is a pile of scrap gets destroyed in every fight, he has blown up some dangerous [[Robeast|Robeasts]]s and pulled off several awesome [[Big Damn Heroes]] moments. Also, threatening Kouji -his [[Vitriolic Best Buddies|vitriollic best buddy]]- or Sayaka -his crush- is a bad idea.

* In ''[[Soul Eater Not!]]'', Meme is introduced as a typical big-breasted [[The Ditz|ditz]] character. Then we find out that she can beat people up ''in her sleep.''

** For that matter, Ash himself in the earlier seasons. [[Idiot Hero]] to a tee, but every once in a while he [[Ass Pull|Ass Pulls]]s something genuinely brilliant (such as the aforementioned tickle torture).

* When Mic Sounders XIII of ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'' was initially introduced, he was a childish, goofy robot who looked like the bastard child of a walkie-talkie and a Speak'n'Spell. However, he had an alternate mode -- amode—a rocker who could kick ass and energize teammates with the power of music. This mode was locked to ensure that the AI wouldn't abuse its power -- orpower—or, more specifically, so that he wouldn't accidentally ''destroy the world'' -- but—but came out on its own to protect Mic's friends (and in particular, the sister of the man his AI was based on). Later on, the limiter was released and Mic could change between modes at will.

* ''[[Ranma ½]]'''s Ryōga Hibiki and Kazuma Kuwabara of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' are the same variant: When going up against the series protagonist, they're basically treated as [[Butt Monkey|buttmonkeys]]s. But give them another opponent, and they can unleash a stunning amount of whoopass.

** Also from ''[[Ranma ½]]'', Ranma's father Genma is usually portrayed as bumbling, lazy, cowardly, selfish, petty...you get the idea. However, he's one of the highest-level martial artists in the series, can still hand Ranma his ass in serious combat (that is, outside comedic, slapstick [[Megaton Punch|Megaton Punches]]es,) and devised two particular styles, the Yamasenken and Umisenken, that are unusually ''deadly'' for the ''Ranma ½' universe. Even the other characters were shocked with disbelief at discovering that the lazy slob had created such powerful schools.

* Probably the biggest [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]] ever, Tsuna Sawada of ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''. He kicks ultimate ass when in Dying Will Mode.

* Nyu/Lucy in ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' has this in the form of a [[Split Personality]], triggered through trauma or imminent danger. Nyu is [[Cute Mute|cute, affectionate, and utterly harmless]] -- but—but Lucy [[Ax Crazy|hates all of humanity and cuts people in half with her mind]], {{[[[What the Hell, Hero?]] no matter if those people were just innocent civilians}}.

* Shinji Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' has an unique ability to go berserk in his [[Humongous Mecha]] when having received enough mental pain. He transforms then into an enemy-killing war machine, famous all over the universe. When taken out from his mecha, he is usually just a sobbing, depressed wreck of a boy.

** Urahara was introduced in this manner. A sweet-shop owner who had weird knowledge of spiritual things, a bizarre sense of humour and who appeared to be a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] at best and an [[Eccentric Mentor]] who favoured [[Training Fromfrom Hell]] at worst. Then it's revealed that he used to be a captain of the Gotei 13, is one of Soul Society's greatest (and most notorious) scientists, and is someone even the [[Big Bad]] is (usually) wary of due to the fact he's the only one who's acknowledged as being more intelligent than said [[Big Bad]].

* The ''[[Mega Man Zero]]/Rockman Zero'' manga, in a complete change from the actual games, makes Zero a character of this sort. In his normal state, he's a coward with no memory of his past as a hero. Hit the right trigger, however, and the legendary hero returns, with his signature helmet and insane combat prowess. The manga actually calls this version Rockman Zero -- [[CowboyMedia BebopResearch at His ComputerFailure|which is just the name of the game series, not the character.]]

* Nathan Mahler from ''[[Blood Plus+|Blood+]]'' seems like a putz at first. He spends the vast majority of his time flirting with his comrades and doesn't seem overly concerned about anything (plus, the fact that he dresses like a fashionatta and talks in a stereotypically homosexual voice doesn't help). Then, out of nowhere, he pulls out his scary voice, which can shatter glass and stop twelve foot bat monsters in their tracks. From then on he proceeds to establish himself as one of the show's most formidable bad guys (to the point where even [[The Dragon]]/[[The Man Behind the Man]] is afraid of him).

* The main character of ''[[Hades Project Zeorymer]]'', Masato, is mostly just an angsty teenage boy, who's still trying to wrap his head around how he went from being an [[Ordinary High School Student]] to piloting a [[Humongous Mecha]]. He doesn't want to hurt anybody, not even his enemies -- afterenemies—after all, they're still ''people'' -- and—and he DEFINITELY doesn't want any innocent bystanders getting hurt. However, when he's actually ''attacked''...he starts grinning like a loon, wielding his mecha like it's an extension of his body, trouncing the opposition without mercy, ignoring "Collateral Damage" completely, and just generally ''enjoying'' being the pilot of a walking WMD.

** Though like Yugi above, it's actually a [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] -- in—in his case, {{spoiler|the [[Magnificent Bastard]] of ''Zeorymer'', Kihara Masaki}}.

* Pai in ''[[Three By Three3×3 Eyes]]'' is [[The Ditz]] until things get messy, then her third eye on her forehead opens and her other personality, a magic wielding Badass comes out. In episode 4, though {{spoiler|we learn she's not the ditz we thought she was}}.

** The Baka Rangers are probably some of the biggest [[Badass|Badasses]]es in the story, but while they're [[Book Dumb]], the only one that really fits this trope is [[Badass Normal]] Makie Sasaki, who can pull off impossible feats with ''[[Improbable Weapon User|a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon]]'' and also somehow managed to maintain some subconscious memory of being under Evangeline's control. The main [[The Ditz|Ditz]] of the staring [[True Companions]] is incredibly powerful, but doesn't qualify due to being [[The Medic]].

* In ''[[ZeroThe noFamiliar Tsukaimaof Zero]]'', Louise the Zero is an utter failure at magic. She is unable to use any element of magic and has never successfully cast a spell (all attempts have been disastrous). Later in the first series it is revealed that she's not as incompetent as previously thought, and in fact has the exclusive ability to use the most powerful element of magic of them all: Void magic.

* ''[[Diebuster]]'': Nono is happy, friendly and goofy most of the time. When she "stops" being happy, friendly and goofy, {{spoiler|[[Earthshattering Kaboom|property values on Titan start falling in a hurry. ]] }}

** Bontenmaru is a [[Boisterous Bruiser]] and only came to the Forest because he heard that a group of [[Hot Amazon|Hot Amazons]]s had gone to defeat {{spoiler|Nobunaga}}. What he found disappointed him greatly, except for Okuni. Then again, he IS the famed Dokuganryuu AND a {{spoiler|former member of the Shiseiten}}...

* Rio from ''[[Spiral]]'' is a cutesy [[Dojikko]] who loves melons and cute things, but is [[Fear of Thunder|scared of thunder]]. Cross her, however, and she'll reveal her true self, as one of the 'Blade Children' - a ruthless, calculating murderess with a degree in [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastardry]]ry. Indeed, it initially seems like her [[Cute Clumsy Girl]] personality is just [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], but she still acts the same way when alone, or hanging around her fellow Blade Children...

** While not as [[Badass]] as some, Fumi has proven herself to be extremely capable in certain subjects, her first appearance has her doing a complicated math problem in her head, but nearly overshadows Isumi when it comes to [[Cloudcuckoolander]] status in other departments. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like she'd be a badass [[Student Council President]] -- yet—yet.

* [[Deadpool]] sometimes slips into this, [[Depending on the Writer]]. His [[Cloudcuckoolander]] tendencies and ability to both shake off bodily harm and make a joke of it tend to obscure the fact that he is an immortal, unstoppable, superhuman killing-machine with a penchant for inventively torturing and/or brutally slaughtering anyone who manages to get on his bad side.

* Wheatley in the ''[[Portal 2]]'' fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6953776/1/Test_Of_Humanity Test Of Humanity]''. He's normally a dim-witted [[Gentle Giant]]. But, push him too far, and he won't hesitate to punch you in the eye. {{spoiler|[[G La DOSGLaDOS]]}} found this out the hard way.

* [[Dumb Blonde|Lindsay]] from ''[[Keepers of the Elements]]'' turns into this if you hit her [[Berserk Button]]. Although to be fair, {{spoiler|[[Took a Level in Jerkass|Courtney]]}} had it coming...

** Also the above is very possible. Old Millsmills have a tendancytendency to explode when too much dust is in the air and something sparks it. Though it's really hard to get the fuel-air ratio right, especially while your father and his friend are fending off a dozen Youma.

** Or the babysitter. In the fairly amusing short packaged with the DVD of ''[[The Incredibles]]'', ''Jack Jack Attack'', Jack-Jack reduces the babysitter to a [[Badly-Battered Babysitter|stress-overloaded wreck]] by spontaneously generating anti-gravity powers, teleportation, the ability to shoot [[Eye Beams]], and Human-Torch-esque flame powers. Since the whole ''The Incredibles'' seems to be a [[Homage]] to [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|The Fantastic Four]], he might be a sly reference to the fifth Fantastic: [[Goo-Goo Godlike|Franklin]]. The writers, for their part, note that the reason they gave him so many powers he flips through like he's channel surfing is because he's a baby: he hasn't defined himself yet. What this means for the world of ''[[The Incredibles]]'' as far as power development goes...

** Sing, the hapless hero, starts off as a complete failure of a small-time street crook. Then he double-crosses the Axe Gang, gets beaten into a bloody pile of meat -- andmeat—and wakes up as an indestructible kung fu god.

** Just about the entire cast fits this trope. Ranging from the pervy landlord and bitchy landlady, to a secretary geek wearing golden glasses kicking both Sing and his partner's arse, and the farmer lady who managed to make Sing vomit blood with a punch -- therepunch—there are ''loads'' more.

* In ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'', Sir Alexander Dane spends most of his time [[Deadpan Snarker|complaining]], about the degeneration of his career from classically trained Shakespearean actor to being most famous for his role as the token alien in a cheesy space opera. But then an alien trooper shoots his biggest fan, the character dies in his arms while saying that he always thought of Dane's character as a father figure. Dane then utters the alien vow his character is known for, which he had utterly hated up to this point, swearing vengeance, and ''lunges'' out of cover. The alien trooper takes aim at him but he charges, bare-handed. The alien's gun fails just in time for Dane to leap on top of him and start beating him to death bare-handed--whichhanded—which in turn gives the rest of the Thermians the courage to join in the fight.

* In the 1986 film ''[[Alien (franchise)|Aliens]]'' Private Hudson (Bill Paxton) would like to be viewed as a badass but is constantly slapped down by his more-badass companions and spends much of the film whining and complaining -- untilcomplaining—until the chips are down, when he goes into full badass mode and mows down countless aliens before falling.

{{quote|'''Walter Donovan''': [[Fish Out of Water|He sticks out like a sore thumb.]] We'll find him.<br />

* The character of Alfred from ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'', written by Weis & Hickman, is an over the top example of this trope. He first appears as a stumbling, clumsy butler, but in dire circumstances, at times off-screen, he is the pinnacle of his wizarding tradition and can perform miracles in [[Functional Magic]] up to and including resurrecting the dead, the ''right'' way, whereas other mages can do so only by draining the life of another being of the same race, somewhere in the multiverse. Of course, a lot of people want to get hold of Alfred for his magical prowess. Problem is, ''he doesn't remember how he pulls his magic off'', pulling a complete black-out, more than often enough accompanied by an undignified fainting. It eventually turns out that he originally just used [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] to avoid revealing his powers to the world -- butworld—but over time, it became so in-grown that he practically forgot how to use his powers at all.

** In ''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'', there's {{spoiler|Walter Plinge, who pulls a double [[Homage]] to Michael Crawford by being a bumbling [[Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em|Frank Spencer]] clone who badasses into the suave [[The Phantom of the Opera|Opera Ghost]] by [[Mask Power|putting a mask on]].}}

** ''[[Discworld/Lords and Ladies|Lords and Ladies]]'' - When Lancre is under siege by elves, perpetual milquetoast Magrat gets her Hidden Badass moment after she dons the war armor of Queen Ynci the Short-Tempered. She then proceeds to kick elvish ass (including shooting a crossbow ''through a keyhole'') and ride off for a showdown with the Queen of the Elves. Near the end of the novel, {{spoiler|we learn that Queen Ynci was a fictional creation of a former Lancre monarch}}.

*** Also in the volume before that, ''[[Discworld/Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]'', where two scary snake-women look upon shy Magrat as some kind of small furry animal, but when they corner her {{spoiler|they find out to their cost that the small furry animal she resembles is a mongoose}}.

** ''[[Discworld/Men At Arms|Men Atat Arms]]'' - {{spoiler|Detritus, a particularly dumb troll, becomes temporarily hyper-intelligent when he's locked in a cold room and his silicon brain starts super-conducting}}.

** {{spoiler|[[Obstructive Bureaucrat|A.E. Pessimal]]}} from ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud!]]'' has his badassness hidden so deep that even Vetinari himself is competely surprised and confused when he hears {{spoiler|Pessimal attacked a troll. With his teeth.}}

* Alan Dean Foster's ''[[Spellsinger]]'' series has JonTom Merryweather, the spellsinger of the title. A [[Fish Out of Water|modern human]] in an alternate, [[The Dung Ages|medieval-equivalent]] universe filled with [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s, who is pretty much useless in a fight, at least in the first few books...except for his spellsinging, which is the ultimate wild card and capable of doing anything he can sing about. The only trouble is that 1.) he has to know the ''right'' song, 2.) sometimes nothing happens, and 3.) even he's not sure what's going to happen when he starts. It's done everything from switching the entire party's genders, to changing a wizard's apprentice {{spoiler|into a phoenix}}, to ''summoning a god''.

** Notable in that [[Took a Level Inin Badass|badassery level only rises with every challenge; it ]]''[[Took a Level Inin Badass|doesn't]]'' [[Took a Level Inin Badass|revert. Ever]].

** The Ents are an entire species of Hidden Badasses. At first glance, they look like a race of [[Gentle Giant|Gentle Giants]]s who just want to hide in their forest and wait for the danger to go away, so much so, that [[Big Bad Wannabe|Saruman]] [[What an Idiot!|doesn't even consider them a threat]]. However, when Saruman [[It's Personal|starts invading their forest and chopping down their trees]], they decide enough is enough, [[Curb Stomp Battle|take the fight to him]], and [[When Trees Attack|send their trees]] after his [[Elite Mooks|Uruk-Hai]], pretty much ending the war in the Rohan all on their own.

* When we meet [[The Wheel of Time|Matrim Cauthon]], he plays pranks, jokes around and generally serves as the comic relief in the group of main characters. He then gets cut by an evil knife and gets infected by said evil. Barely out of his sickbed after a major healing, he stumbles out on a training field where arguably the finest swordsmen in the world are training, and needing money, challenges two of them at the same time to a fight. [[Curb Stomp Battle|With a quarterstaff]], [[The Wheel of Time/Awesome|he wins]]. [[Took a Level Inin Badass|The he takes a level in badass]].

* [[Stephen King]] and Peter Straub's collaborative book ''[[The Talisman]]'' has Wolf-- aWolf—a lovable, simple-minded [[Gentle Giant]] who serves as a shepherd in an [[Alternate Dimension|alternate Earth]] and tags along with Jack in his quest to save his mother. He's also that dimension's version of a werewolf. And has adopted Jack as his new "herd". And is impossibly strong even when he isn't transformed. Which means that you really, ''really'' want to think twice about hurting Jack.

* Adrian [[Monk]]: Socially inept, obsessive-compulsive and afraid of everything. But he manages to solve the most baffling crimes and he can hold his own in a fight -- hefight—he was a cop once, remember. And if you even so much as ''insult'' Trudy, [[Berserk Button|he will hand you your ass]].

* Otoya Kurenai from ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'', who at first blush seems to be nothing more than a [[Ted Baxter|foolishly self-absorbed]] [[Casanova]] who doesn't have a serious bone in his body. But then he starts pulling [[Batman Gambit]] after [[Batman Gambit]], demonstrating an incredible degree of character judgement, and kicking monster butt with an experimental [[Powered Armor]] -- typically—typically stolen from its intended user as part of said [[Batman Gambit]]. It's no wonder that near the end of the series, {{spoiler|the Fangire Queen, normally tasked with killing "race traitors" who fall in love with humans, has herself fallen for Otoya and would go on to bear their child, the show's protagonist Wataru.}}

* Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza of ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' fits the trope quite well. Most of the time, he's just screwing around and [[All ST Ds Are AIDS|too busy having random rashes.]] But in the cockpit, he's more than competent.

** This sppearsappears to be somehow related to Sookie being around. When she disappears for months, she returns to find him a full-fledged cop, having become much more responsible in the meantime and even running the police station, more or less, when the sheriff turns out to be a drug addict.

* Vir from ''[[Babylon 5]]'' is introduced as a timid and shy comic relief, used to being pushed around by his boss Londo. However as the show goes on he gradually shows more and more backbone, first by not backing from a huge monster (a hologram, but he didn't know that) when sent to deliver a message to technomages, then by telling off an emissary of [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s in the most awesome way, and finally by retorting to an insult and a spying attempt by borrowing his Londo's duel sword and trashing the offender's stall and forcing him to confess at swordpoint.

* [[Sledge Hammer!]]; his [[Catch Phrase]], "Trust me, I know what I'm doing." is a [[Blatant Lies]], but when the chips are down, his [[Crazy Awesome|crazy awesomeness]] kicks in.

* Hiro of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' is a [[Wrong Genre Savvy]] [[Otaku]] who spends most of each season suffering from severe [[Plot Induced Stupidity]]. But when he gets his act together and wades into the fight, he will ''own'' you. He has basically singlehandedly defeated [[Arch Enemy|Sylar]] (a couple of times), two seasonal [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s, and an entire government black ops ''agency''. The only villain on the show who was ever any match for him was Arthur Petrelli, who had his same power ([[All Your Powers Combined|among many others]]).

* Inverted with Japanese singer [[Gackt]]. He often portrays himself on TV as a [[The Stoic|stoic]] [[Badass]] with few emotions and exceptional [[All Asians Know Martial Arts|martial arts]] skills... until he answers a silly or private question, thus revealing himself as a [[One of Us|hidden dork]] with a habit of saying goofy or embarassing things.

* Santino Marella is [[Cloudcuckoolander|probably one of the silliest guys on the roster]], but when the man does have genuine wrestling skill and now that he's [[Took a Level Inin Badass|taken a few levels in badass]], he's cleanly won quite a few matches and even become US Champion.

* Orcs/orks from ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''40k''. Just...yeah.

* A less specific example would be RPG characters with a [[Limit Break]]. Your reg'lar everyday [[Designated Hero]] suddenly wipes the floor with every single one of those [[Goddamned Bats]]. The one that springs to mind is Selphie Tilmitt in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', who is essentially a [[The Ditz|young blonde airhead]], but can pull an attack that instantly defeats anything. Yes, anything. Armoured Slimes, [[Goddamned Bats]], [[That One Boss]], the ''[[Big Bad]] of the entire game'' -- you—you name it, The End kills it. [[Beware the Nice Ones|Suddenly Selphie doesn't seem so innocent...]]

* ''[[Touhou Project]]'' is positively ''brimming'' with examples of this trope. Shall we start with [[Brilliant but Lazy|Yukari]] [[Heavy Sleeper|Yakumo]] herself, wielder of powers [[Reality Warper|far beyond godly]] who nonetheless prefers to spend her time [[Immortal Immaturity|goofing around]], [[Trickster Mentor|bothering Reimu]], and generally acting like a little trickster imp? Or [[Cute Ghost Girl|Yuyuko]] [[Big Eater|Saigyouji]], who ''is'' genuinely amiable and nice and enjoys a good meal and sake under the cherry blossoms far more than anything else in the world, but who has been heavily implied by the author [[Obfuscating Stupidity|to know a lot more than she lets on]], being able to keep up with aforementioned Yukari? (Not to mention her power is to ''cause the death in anything that can die''.) Maybe Komachi Onozuka, who is a God of Death and the Ferryman of the Dead -- andDead—and also a complete slacker who runs low on her quota of souls ferried because she prefers to lay down near the Styx and catch a shuteye or twenty? Or Suika Ibuki, a little girl who looks like a perpetually-tanked seven year old with horns and an unquenchable thirst for parties -- ''[[Cute Bruiser|and can also bench-press a mountain]]''? All in all, when you're in Gensokyo it certainly pays to not underestimate whatever little girls you may find.

** Also deserving of her own bullet-point is Cirno after starring in her own [[Gaiden Game]], ''Great Fairy Wars''. For all that she's rightfully regarded as the [[Ted Baxter|series]] [[Baka|dumb]][[The Ditz|ass]], she shows the near-unique ability to destroy enemy projectiles in flight without using a spellcard.<ref>Only above-mentioned Youmu has shown a similar skill, in a much more restricted way</ref>. Also, unlike every other PC, who only get knocked around when they lose a life until they take enough minor injuries/ClothingDamage to have lost a fight, Cirno out and out ''dies'' every time she gets hit, letting her fairy-issue resurrective [[Immortality]] take over before flying back onto the field, unfazed.

* Maeda Keiji from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' is usually a laidback, jovial guy who enjoys drinking, pulling pranks, chasing girls and generally goofing around. However if you dare to hurt his friends, family or any innocent person when he's around, you'd better get the fuck out before he either punches you in the face or cuts you neatly in half with his [[BFSBig Freaking Sword]].

** Heck, Phoenix Wright himself. He's the world's [[Straight Man]]/[[Butt Monkey]] and often behest to the whims of his immature sidekicks, and in the first two years of his career defeated three of the best prosecutors out there--includingthere—including one who had not lost a single case in forty years of practicing law.

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'': Big the Cat. He was originally voiced by [[Duke Nukem|Jon St. John]], is now voiced by [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Kamina]], then [[Took a Level Inin Badass]] in ''Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'', when he started acting like a smart-ass. Now he can catch bullets out of mid-air and lift cars. He uses his fishing rod as flaming projectile and is capable of swinging it like a ball on a chain, usually taking out any enemy on screen. Oh and as mellow as he is, [[Berserk Button|don't threaten one of his friends]], especially [[Papa Wolf|Froggy]] or [[Big Brother Instinct|Cream]].

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass]]'': Link probably qualifies. Tropers have already come to a consensus that he's all kinds of [[Badass]]-- [[Badass Adorable|adorable]], [[Badass Normal|normal]] and [[Badass Abnormal|abnormal]] among them-- butthem—but he also happens to be, quite possibly, the most laid-back of his ilk, hero-wise. The beginning of Wind Waker also makes him the designated [[Butt Monkey]]. This culminates in a [[Keet|sweet, goofy]] protagonist who [[Berserk Button|will rip you limb from limb]] [[Knight Templar Big Brother|if you even look at his sister the wrong way]].

* ''[[Skyrim]]'': Cicero the jester. He's a crazy loon dressed up like a complete idiot. He's also the Keeper of the Night Mother (meaning he was chosen by the Void to be the Night Mother's protector) and a deadly knife fighter. When he snaps after Astrid dismisses the Night Mother one time too many, he nearly kills the entire Dark Brotherhood in his fury. The guy who pursues him -- ahim—a ''werewolf'' -- nearly—nearly gets gutted for his troubles, {{spoiler|while Cicero is apparently unharmed though he plays possum.}}

* Wheatley from ''Portal 2''. The "moron" is intentional as he's "the product of the greatest minds of a generation working together with the express purpose of building the dumbest moron who ever lived." This, however, precludes the fact that he was the person who woke Chell in the first place, willingly performed a series of personal efforts that he had been told would kill him, came up with the plan to {{spoiler|sabotage [[G La DOSGLaDOS]]'s turret production and neurotoxin production}}, sprung a well-played trap, and demonstrated an incredible amount of foresight when it came time for the final battle. {{spoiler|In the last case, [[Cutscene Power to the Max]] is the only reason Chell survives; without that, Wheatley would have succeed where [[G La DOSGLaDOS]] failed}}.

* Skull the Troll from ''[[PvPvP P Online(webcomic)|PvP]]'' is a textbook case. Normally child-like, naive, and harmless, but deep down he is still a fierce mythical beast, whose more than capable of holding his own in an [https://web.archive.org/web/20120127014233/http://www.pvponline.com/1999/10/14/thu-oct-14/ epic battle scene].

** Also [https://web.archive.org/web/20120220063506/http://www.pvponline.com/2011/10/26/swing-and-a-prayer/ more recently], he's shown catching a war hammer in one hand.

* Zap Vexler from ''[[Zap]]'' is a prime example. Huge [[Psychic Powers]] are usually triggered by threats towards his crush, Reona. The first example is [https://web.archive.org/web/20161012184805/http://www.zapinspace.com/d/20040326.html here]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161012185111/http://www.zapinspace.com/d/20061019.html Don't make fun of his hair, either]. Recently revealed to suffer from [[Amnesiac Dissonance]], with his former self being a powerful psychic out to [[Take Over the World]].

* Both Joyce and Walky from ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]'' fall under this. Joyce in particular is ordinarily a complete innocent, with a passion for puppies, stuffed animals, and all things pink and frilly. However, if you push her [https://web.archive.org/web/20120329144754/http://www.itswalky.com/d/20001015.html just far enough...] whoops, maybe that was a bit ''too'' far.

** Walky meanwhile is an excellent example that the trigger doesn't ''have'' to involve an immediate threat to yourself or your loved ones. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110404001146/http://www.itswalky.com/d/20000523.html This], for example, is what happens if you mess with his favorite snack food.

* Lemmy in ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131105222659/http://www.fanboys-online.com/ F@nboy$]''. Normally he's a timid, goofy Nintendo fanatic. However, should anyone ever accuse Nintendo of being "kiddy" within his vicinity, [[Berserk Button|he literally phases out into a trance and turns into a rampaging lunatic, with little to no memory of what he has done afterwards]]. This may also be triggered by getting hit in the head, or more precisely, accidentally hitting other things with his face.

* In a couple of ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del]]'' comics starring the "players" (homicidal gamers with the tendency to carry out in-game vendettas in real life), Player 3 makes an appearance. He's normally laid-back and "normal", but [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410181219/http://www.cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20070908 can turn homicidal if threatened...]

** Also, Elan. He may have [[Took a Level Inin Badass|literally taken a level in badass]], but he's still [[The Ditz]] most of the time.

** Torg, despite [[Took a Level Inin Badass|taking a few levels in badass]] over the years, is still mostly just a goofy, not-too-bright guy that everyone treats as pretty harmless. Probably best exemplified in [https://web.archive.org/web/20141022034804/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090205 this] strip:

* Daniel "Dan" Ti'Fiona of ''[[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures]]'' is technically a hero -- graduatedhero—graduated from Adventuring School and with [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_127.php titles to match]. His friends, however, doesn't really take it seriously, what with him usually being bungling, lazy, caught up in romantic mishaps, and getting [[Gender Bender|transformed into a woman]]. However, when faced with old enemies, he'll usually [[Shirtless Scene|lose his shirt]], narrow his eyes, and demonstrate that he IS, in fact, [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_154.php worthy of those titles]. With the later addition of Cubi powers, this transformation has reached the level of '[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_973.php make a demon piss her pants and run like hell]'.

** Dan's best friend, and the other half of the title, Mab, also qualifies, though for different reasons. She generally seems innocent-to-downright-nuts, with her main hobby being 'hugging things', feared mostly for her nightmare-inducing brownies...however, she IS a Fae, and resultingly, has god-level magical abilities - and when forced to use them, she can frighten ANYONE into submission - and then go right back to her perky, airheaded self again. {{spoiler|Also, it turns out she's actually a [[Magnificent Bastard]] above all other [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastards]]s, plotting out everything, including the path that the [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness]] will take, in order to create the best possible future. She knows who will live and who will die.}} She just doesn't know how to bake.

* Subverted in ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' as he is more of a [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201135202/http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=30&issue=11 Crouching Badass Hidden Moron].

* Hod from ''[[Brat Halla]]'' is one of these after he [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]. His brothers have a thing for it as well tough. And his father. And his mother. And his back-up dad...

* Stanley the Tool from ''[[Erfworld]]'', who on first appearance seems more concerned with the fact his [[MacGuffin]] turns walnuts into pigeons when cracked than the impending destruction of his forces. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130830161949/http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0125.html Then he decks Chief Warlord Caeser in one hit].

* Ordog from ''[[Out at Home]]'' is a tiny, frail, senile old man who doesn't know where he is half the time. But he will [https://web.archive.org/web/20140421002222/http://www.out-at-home.com/archives/286 kick your ass.]

* Sir Muir, a scarred old Darsai knight from the webcomic [https://web.archive.org/web/20130318061244/http://www.drunkduck.com/Harkovast/ Harkovast] appears to be a prattling, senile goofball when nothing exciting is happening. However he proves that he's quite a competent (though distractible) fighter when the situation calls for it.

* Hanna of ''[[Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name]]'' is usually adorably ditzy and easygoing. However, do ''anything'' to hurt one of his friends {{spoiler|like possessing them}} and [https://web.archive.org/web/20131025095403/http://hanna.aftertorque.com/?p=476 he will fuck you up something fierce].

** May run in the family. Consider Donovan--aDonovan—a bard, prone to bad jokes and worse puns, horrendous at speaking Orcish (Or is he?), and by all appearances an utter goofball. He is ''also'' a world-class swordsman, helped save the world from a demonic invasion, and was one of the few humans to receive a tattoo from the orcs that basically translates as "The dude wearing this is freaking awesome."

* Bill of ''[[Legend of Bill]]'' is a wannabe barbarian hero with no actual fighting skills. Given that the strip is generally humorous, it's easy to assume that the title is a joke. Then [http://legendofbill.webcomicsonline.com/2008/09/18/a-barbarian-is-born/ this happens]{{broken link}}. [http://legendofbill.webcomicsonline.com/2011/01/31/bill/ And this.]{{broken link}}

* Grymm from ''[[Voodoo Walrus]]'' tends to be light-hearted, silly, and more than a little oblivious to the world around him. But more than a few times he's switched to his [https://web.archive.org/web/20190814153145/http://www1.voodoowalrus.com/?psubid4=10091565796704.0030343763&kw=Comics&KW1=Read badass alter ego of the Masked T-Square]{{broken link}} to take care of serious business. He also seems to be far more level headed and even uncharacteristically manipulative while portraying this character.

* The Flash, in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' appears to fall into this category. For the most part he's a goofy dope who doesn't take much seriously and is always the one to crack a joke at the expense of drama and badass-ism. However his role is ''not'' to be underestimated (in one universe his death motivated the League to turn into a [[Knight Templar|totalitarian dictatorship]]). Many people found it surprising to discover he's a ''forensic scientist'' in his normal identity. His big [[Let's Get Dangerous|transforming moment]], however, came during his [[Justice League (filmanimation)/Awesome|Crowning Moment Of Awesome]] in the episode "Divided We Fall" {{spoiler|where he taps into the Speed Force, circumnavigates the entire globe several times in a matter of seconds in order to make his acceleration ''infinite'' to defeat Luthor-Brainiac by punching him with an ''[[Megaton Punch|infinite amount of force]]''.}} All of a sudden he went from comic relief to downright ''dangerous''.

* Maggie from ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has her moments. She has shot people on two occasions -- theoccasions—the first appeared to be an accident, but the second portrays her as a full-blown sniper.

* Captain Fanzone of ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' is often portrayed as the bumbling, technologically inept Comic Relief -- althoughRelief—although he's hardly [[Plucky Comic Relief|Plucky]]. However...when it comes down to it, he shows remarkable resourcefulness and fairly good combat skills -- inskills—in the episode "Survival of the Fittest", he manages to knock a monster ''twice his size'' to the floor with ''one punch''.

* ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' gave Cosmo this role in an episode when Timmy ended up in a best-of-three contest with another child, with the loser forfeiting their fairy godparents. Cosmo wins the first contest by accident when the bananas he conjures distract the giant gorilla he needed to rescue Timmy from, and in the final round his teasing causes the opposing fairy to mess up and zap Timmy instead of his own godchild, causing Timmy to win the contest.

* Fry from ''[[Futurama]]''. Not only is he a [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]], but he's exactly the right ''kind'' of moron, as he {{spoiler|lacks the Delta Brainwave, allowing him to infiltrate the Infosphere and save the universe from the Brainspawn.}}