Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''Vlad Plasmius''': This can't be happening! You're an idiot! ''An idiot''!

 

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

 

[[Hidden Badass|Check out the index for sub-types of this trope.]]

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Highschool of the Dead]]'', Kohta Hirano at first seems like a typical fat, otaku nerd, but once the zombie apocalypse happens, he's quite deadly with firearms. In fact, his knowledge of how to use guns helps save people several times through the series.

* ''[[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]]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.

* ''[[The Slayers]]'' anime: Gourry Gabriev is a swordsman with extremely poor memory (often forgetting whoever he and his companions fought in the past) and a bumbling idiot who can't grasp onto any explanation, but if he's provoked enough, or if anyone, namely [[Redheaded Hero|Lina]], is in danger, he becomes an utterly badass swordsman and pushes the [[Badass Normal]] creed as far as it can go.

* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' has Jean-Pierre Polnareff, a ladies' man who's normally dumb as a bag of hammers and repeatedly has bad encounters with foreign toilets. However, when the chips are down (like with his fight against Vanilla Ice), he turns badass, {{spoiler|accepting his death with a calmness that most would kill for.}}

* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', Black*Star's absolute confidence in himself makes him into one of these. Unless he is truly pushed he is too busy [[Chewing the Scenery|chewing scenery]] to fight well. Death the Kid is a form of inversion; he's normally [[The Stoic|stoic]] and [[Badass]], but if his [[Fatal Flaw|OCD]] gets activated he usually devolves into an ineffectual, sobbing wreck. That said, if his OCD is [[Berserk Button|pushed too far]], it results in Kid's reaction in episode 3: obliterating his asymmetrical target and inadvertently demolishing the pyramid it was in.

** The normally goofy Shinigami can be wonderfully Badass when the need arises. He reacts to Asura's resurrection by calmly inquiring how he is...and pointing out that, unfortunately the Kishin is "going to have to die again". A Shinigami Chop that smashes Asura to the ground from however high up he was is only the start of the ensuring fight.

** The Death Scythe Tezca Tlipoca initially seems clinically incapable of acting serious, and makes a fool of himself on a regular basis. {{spoiler|Then he fakes his own death, tracks someone halfway across the world, and holds his own against one of the more powerful villains.}}

** Spirit Albarn absolutely is everything he appears to be: womanizing, juvenile, and a miserable failure as both a husband and a father. It's just that he also happens to be one of the most powerful (arguably THE most powerful) Death Scythe in existence, the weapon of Lord Death himself, and one half of the DWMA's designated ass-kicking duo.

* Yuri in ''[[Kyo Kara Maoh!|Kyo Kara Maoh]]!'' acts this way whenever his Demon King side gets activated, and although he won't kill his enemies he usually succeeds in scaring the crap out of them.

* ''[[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt|Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt]]'': Brief is a nerdy wannabe ghost exterminator, a frustrated virgin, and has a crush on Panty, who doesn't reciprocate. However, in episode twelve, {{spoiler|he manages to fend off a few ghosts on his own, and even saves Panty from Scanty and Kneesocks when she starts losing her powers.}}

** For that matter, a ''lot'' of people in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' show this: Arc speaks and acts like a spoiled child, spends more time smiling and cheering than anything else, and is generally a really pleasant girl to be around ([[Weirdness Magnet|if you don't mind getting into trouble]])...but [[Laser Guided Tykebomb|when faced with Apostles she reveals her true nature as the single most badass vampire in the world]]. Ciel is more the [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] type, but it's still significantly upsetting how one can be a pleasant, curry-obsessed high school student by day and a ruthless Church Assassin by night.

* 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—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—or, more specifically, so that he wouldn't accidentally ''destroy the world''—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.

** Ryōga at least is the main character's [[The Rival|rival]], and as such has to be just slightly weaker than him. Being slightly weaker than the main character pretty much requires that he be stronger than everyone else, he is portrayed as enormously strong and makes the [[Made of Iron]] characters look to be [[Made of Plasticine]]. Of course, Ryōga IS a bit of an idiot and a rather nice guy when not being overly paranoid, so this might still qualify.

*** It is generally thought by fans that Ryōga is physically stronger than Ranma (though the manga does not explicitly show this, it is possible that Ranma just has better control of his strength than Ryoga does), however Ranma is faster, better trained, and better at working out how to overcome any given opponent.

* Teletha Testarossa, a [[Genius Ditz]] teenage commander from ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', despite usually being [[Dojikko|clumsy and tripping over her own feet]], when her subordinates are put in danger, can even recapture a submarine from a freak terrorist group. Also, her claims about not be able to use guns, turn out to be false at these moments.

** As a humorous example, she's capable of holding her breath underwater longer than her bodyguard Sōsuke realizes, considering her below-average performance in other athletic areas. She has to rescue ''him'' from drowning (and tries to smuggle in a [[Kiss of Life]] under Kaname's jealous eye) when he panics and dives in after her.

** {{spoiler|Though really how much of this is actually Shinji and how much is the Eva itself taking over is somewhat debatable. Certainly the most badass moments (such as Shinji's first battle) are all Yui-sama.}}

*** [[Neon Genesis Evangelion/Awesome|Then the last scenes of the second Rebuild film happen.]]

** Wonderweiss Margera is a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] at very best. Then he's revealed as being capable of rescuing the top three espada from their captain opponents and even Aizen from Yamamoto's prison and so completely outspeeding Ukitake he one-hits him {{spoiler|before then being revealed as the one thing capable of sealing the strongest zanpakutou in existence, Yamamoto's sword.}}

** Isshin is the [[Bumbling Dad]] for most of the first half of the series. Then we learn he's a [[Retired Badass|captain-class shinigami]] when he kills Arrancar Grand Fisher in [[Curb Stomp Battle|one blow]], to [[It's Personal|avenge]] his long dead wife.

* Shiro from ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' initially appears to be an unpowered albino [[Teen Titans (animation)|Starfire]]...until she's cornered by a bunch of dangerous guards in a watchtower. The tower explodes, and {{spoiler|she rends the guards into many small parts.}}

** {{spoiler|Which makes sense when Shiro turns out to be the one and only, Wretched Egg}}

* Shinkuro from ''[[Kure-nai]]''. For 11 episodes he leaves the viewer wondering how on Earth he could have possibly been trained by a family of ex-assassins, who even gave him a [[Swiss Army Appendage|sword-like blade placed into his arm]]; he was tough, but showed ''no'' real fighting skill. Then comes the finale, where he suddenly uses insane skills to obliterate the enemy, afterwards revealing that he had ''never even used his trained abilities'' because he "regretted having the weapon placed inside him too much." After {{spoiler|taking out one of the [[Big Bad|big bads]] in under a second with it. Which was ''awesome''.}}

* ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' has Yurika Misumaru who is, ninety percent of the time, a hopelessly naive, [[The Ditz|ditzy]] [[Love Freak]] with some [[Clingy Jealous Girl|serious denial issues]] Put her at the command of a battleship however, and she's a [[Genius Ditz|fleet-destroying tactical mastermind]]...[[Idiot Ball|sometimes]]. Then there's her [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|boyfriend]], who's [[Expy|pretty much]] Shinji (above) except on the appropriate medication.

** {{spoiler|And he's the only one still standing ''after'' Saya rips him in two...}}

* 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—after all, they're still ''people''—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.

* Matsuda of ''[[Death Note]]''. Conflicted and indecisive about Kira from the start, this aspect as well as his impulsiveness and absentmindedness are played up for comic relief. Determined to prove he isn't dead weight on the investigation team, he often acts on impulse and gets himself into hilariously sticky situations. Having been [[The Fool|blessed with dumb luck,]] he manages to escape them unharmed [[Break the Cutie|aside from being a witness to everything else going wrong around him.]] His impulsiveness is finally [[Berserk Button|not funny]] in the finale of the series, and ends up {{spoiler|shooting Light five times after finding out he's Kira.}}

** Also Ryuk. For all his lovable goofball portrayal, we get a reminder of his status as a Death God at the end of the series, when {{spoiler|he murders Light without a second thought for having used up his entertainment value}}.

* Gintoki from ''[[Gintama]]'' also qualifies. Most of the time, he is a useless lazy bum. However, little do others know that he used to be a fierce warrior capable of knocking out the entire fleet of Amanto in a blink of an eye and still can do so if the people important to him are in danger.

** Gintoki is especially [[Badass]] in the serious story arcs, battling everything from {{spoiler|alien space pirates, a crazed swordsman possessed by a demonic sword, and an alien crime lord from one of the strongest races in the galaxy}}, just to name a few.

* Apachai of ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]'' is normally a [[Friend to All Living Things]], as well as being [[The Ditz]]. He's also known as the [[Red Baron|"Death God of Muay Thai"]], and for good reason. He ''will'' kill you if you start a fight with him. He accidentally nearly kills Kenichi on multiple occasions during sparring exercises because he ''never'' holds back.

* Ruby from the ''[[Pokémon Special]]'' manga, though it may cross to [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]. He has an extreme obsession with Contests and beauty, not to mention he cries like a little girl whenever he gets a little dirty. However, if he's forced into a battle or nobody's watching, he turns out to be an extremely skilled battler. {{spoiler|The interesting thing is that he used to be full time badass as a child, but he forced it down to become an active moron due to traumatizing events. He somewhat got over his issues by the time the Emerald arc comes around and is now a (somewhat) healthy mix between moron and badass.}}

** Well, she's still incompetent. I don't think having Void magic makes it so you can't use the others. She still sucks at those, and her Void magic doesn't always work, either.

*** Actually in the novels it is explained that Void magic makes using other spells hard until you cast a Void spell for the first time, Louise is even shown using several common spells such as 'lock' on a few occasions with no problems.

* Various installments of ''[[Pretty Cure]]'' tend to have someone like this, including Nozomi Yumehara of ''[[Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'' and ''[[Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'', and Love Momozomo of ''[[Fresh Pretty Cure]]''.

* Shigure of [[Fruits Basket]] comes across as a goofy [[Chivalrous Pervert]], but in reality he's {{spoiler|a [[Magnificent Bastard]] and [[The Chessmaster]] behind the entire plot.}}

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* [[Scott Pilgrim]]. Face it, you too though he was just a 23 year old hipster video gamer slacker without any shame or glory, hanging onto his gay roommate to pay for everything, and just being a bad bass player on a semi crappy band. Then, the first evil ex of Ramona came, and we learned that not only is he capable of fighting, he's the best fighter in the province. Dumb and with a little of OCD, yeah, but don't mess with his girlfriend or his friends.

* {{spoiler|Monchito}} from ''Negation''. Most of the time {{spoiler|he does little more than eat a lot and get underfoot}}, but in a highly stressful fight scene late in the series, {{spoiler|he hulks out and gets uber-powerful for a brief moment, clobbering one of the bad guys and expending all his power in one blow before reverting to normal}}. Even the bad guys were shocked.

 

* Takato and {{spoiler|Terriermon}} from Daneel Rush's ''[[Tamers Forever Series]]''.

* [[Stealth Pun|Thunderhead]] from ''[[Rise of the Galeforces]]''. [[A Worldwide Punomenon|His name pretty much sums it all up.]]

* Kasumi of all people managed to [[MacGyver]] a fuel-air bomb using the Dojo's oven, flour, spices, and a bottle of cooking spray to knock back a trio of Youma in ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7696140/1/ War in Tokyo]''. She comments that she used too much Cayenne in a complete normal tone of voice. Genma and Soun only stare at her.

 

* ''[[The Incredibles]]'': Jack-Jack (not a moron, but a baby) demonstrates a startling array of powers (which, by most reckonings, are probably more [[Badass]] than those of the rest of the cast) when threatened by the [[Big Bad]], Syndrome.

* The CGI movie ''[[The Magic Roundabout]]'', in which the affable stoner rabbit, Dylan, suddenly snaps and opens up a can of Whup Ass.

* Pumbaa from the ''[[The Lion King]]''. Just look at him go bowling for hyenas. And [[Berserk Button|don't call him a pig]] or he will go [[Incredibly Lame Pun|pork-chop]] on your ass!!

* Po from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]''. While not totally inept, he's a bumbler and a daydreamer. After some focus and hardcore training, however, he not only managed to take down the [[Big Bad]], but {{spoiler|his idols are so impressed, they kneel before him}}.

* ''[[Cars 2]]'': Mater, oh excuse me Sir Tow Mater. He spends most of the movie being his lovable bumbling self. Then he finds out Lightning McQueen is in trouble, lesson when dealing with Mater, NEVER threaten his friends, just ask {{spoiler|the three or four bad guys he took BY HIMSELF.}}

 

== Film -- Live Action ==

* In ''[[Spaceballs]]'', when Vespa [[Berserk Button|takes a laser beam in the hairdo]], [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|she goes all Rambo and takes an entire platoon out.]]

* Subverted in ''[[Indiana Jones]] And The Last Crusade''. Indy has given his father's Grail Diary to Marcus Brody, an apparently goofy, harmless professor. The villains indicate that Brody will be easy to find, but Indy tells them that Brody fits this trope. {{spoiler|As it turns out, he does not. [[Gilligan Cut|The camera then cuts]] to a scene of Brody in a crowded market, conspicuously wearing the same thing he always does, calling out "does anybody speak English?}}

'''Indiana Jones''': The hell you will. He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Brody's got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the grail already. }}

* [[Dustin Hoffman]]'s character in ''[[Straw Dogs]]''.

* Sergeant Gerry Boyle from ''[[The Guard]]''.

* Adam Sandler's eponymous hero in "The Water Boy" looks like the poster child for the trope.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

** {{spoiler|From what we hear about Harry's mother, she was just as dangerous as her son and father.}}

* From the ''[[Discworld]]'' series:

** A constant example given are the wizards; Seen one way, they are rather large, simple minded men who like big dinners and tend to argue with each other, with a tendency to regard the end of the world as a minor curiosity. In another light, they are an elite group of men who are given quite a bit of leeway in return for consistently and conscientiously refraining from causing the laws of causality and physics to metaphorically do handstands and jump through hoops. It's not difficult at all to refrain from turning people into small amphibians when you can't, but it's much much harder when you know exactly how easy it is. On top of that, the natural number of wizards is one, and the arguments they have are harmless ways of expressing that, rather than, as it was in the past, all out thaumonuclear war. There are places on the Disc where the wizards weren't quite so harmless and simple minded; grass may never grow there again and you're lucky to leave one the same shape as you went in.

* Lennie from ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' may be a mentally impaired [[Gentle Giant]], but that doesn't mean you can just push him around. Curley finds out the hard way.

* The novel ''Armor'' by [[John Steakley]] follows two storylines set about five years apart, with the earlier one framed by the discovery of the [[Powered Armor]] used by the earlier protagonist on a distant, non-wartorn colony in a crashed escape pod. The armor's owner, Felix, is quite literally an unstoppable killing machine: in a war where no one has survived more than ten major missions, armor notwithstanding, Felix makes it through over twenty before {{spoiler|being killed by another human soldier}}. Meanwhile, in the present-day, a rebellion is brewing right underneath the nose of the colony's drunken, dimwitted owner, Lewis, causing great consternation to the present-day protagonist...especially when it breaks into open war and a nearby space pirate decides to capitalize on the situation. With a military grade dreadnought. {{spoiler|Fortunately, Lewis ''is'' Felix, lying low and enjoying life. At least, until he decides to save his colony by putting his armor back on, slaughtering an army's worth of pirates, and then ''takes down the dreadnought with his bare damn hands.''}}

* Neville Longbottom of ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', although he worked hard to achieve the Badass designation from the Moron.

** Culminates in a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. Consider also that the prophesy nominating Harry as "the chosen one" easily applied to Neville as well. The fan meme is, "Neville is the Boy-That-Could-Have-Been-But-Did-Anyway."

** Let's face it; this trope could easily be renamed "The Neville."

** Other wizards in the series fit the mold in one way or another, such as Warren who's a total nerd and [[Non-Action Guy]] until he and Zedd go to show an opposing army "[[Kill It with Fire|an old fashioned firefight]]", and Nathan, who is described at one point as a "1,000-year-old child", but is as clever and deadly as they come.

* Somewhat of a subverted trope, but {{spoiler|Orion}} in ''[[Artemis Fowl]] and the Atlantis Complex''. {{spoiler|During the penultimate scene, Artemis realizes that his brains are useless and uses electricity to switch back to Orion. As Holly states, "Artemis can't shoot." But Orion can.}}

** {{spoiler|It helps that due to a certain incident he gains the memories and battle experience of [[Past Life Memories|thousands of generals and soldiers throughout history]], effectively turning him into the greatest battle tactician known in the world.}}

* Those who grew up reading the books of [[Lloyd Alexander]] will remember the bard and minor king Fflewddur Fflam, who at first seems like only a half-trained musician with a gift for exaggeration and a magic harp that calls him on it every time. But drop him in a fight with something important at stake and you realize he's also a capable and dangerous warrior...though still one with his heart in his mouth until the battle is over.

* Lieutenant Panga in ''[[Someone Else's War|Someone Elses War]]''.

 

* ''[[iCarly]]'': Gibby. If you are a friend, but betray his trust, or someone who dares kidnaps his friends, he won't think twice about beating the fudge out of you.

** T-Bo, a background character who runs the Goovy Smoothy and is normally seen just putting random items on sticks to sell and being wierd, reveals himself to be one in ''iStill Psycho'' when he helps [[Mama Bear|Mrs. Benson]] [[Big Damn Heroes|rescue the iCarly gang]] from [[Ax Crazy|Nora]] and her equally insane family. Not only does he kick down the basement door so Carly can rescue Spenser, he singlehandedly takes down Nora's father.

** Kagami Arata from [[Kamen Rider Kabuto]]. He's pretty much [[Good Is Dumb]], esepcially compare to the show's protagonist [[Insufferable Genius|Tendo Souji]]. Doesn't stop him from kicking ass, especially after becoming Gatack

* Jackie Burkhart serves [[The Ditz]] with a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] on ''[[That '70s Show]]''.

** By the end of the series, most characters who weren't introduced as straight-up badasses (and are still alive) have turned out to fit this trope. Off the top of my head I can think of {{spoiler|Felix Gaeta's leading an armed mutiny, Laura Roslin's raging refusal to surrender when it appears that said mutiny has succeeded, Romo Lampkin's escaping from a marine who had a gun to his head by stabbing the guy's jugular with a pen, and Gaius Baltar going all Rambo on the enemy Cylons during the battle in the Series Finale}}.

* [[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]] may be bumbling, clumsy and at times, naive, but I dare you to get on his bad side. He can certainly kick anyone's butt with the use of his powerful and dangerous magic. [[Papa Wolf|Especially if you hurt his loved ones.]]

'''Cody''': Cha, me neither! I'm gonna have to go back and re-read some of my old diaries! }}

* Jason Stackhouse spends most of ''[[True Blood]]'' constantly doing absolutely stupid shit, because he's dumb as a stump, and is often led about by just about anyone. Threaten his sister Sookie, however, and he will not just step up; he'll absolutely take you down and make the audience's jaws drop. But he's still dumb as a stump for the most part.

* Brilliant but baffled Professor Yana in the three-part 2007 series finale of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. {{spoiler|He does a dramatic [[Face Heel Turn]] as he remembers what a badass he is as The Master.}}

** Rose Tyler could qualify. She certainly has her fair share of ditzy moments; she has to get saved a lot, and sometimes, if she's feeling particularly helpful, she's shouting ineffectually at the villains. {{spoiler|She does, however, absorb the power of time and become a demi-goddess at the end of series 1, sacrifices herself for the universe at the end of series 2, and blows things up like all-get-out at the end of series 4.}}

* Todd "The Todd" Quinlan from ''[[Scrubs]]'' is an utter meathead, seemingly only capable of communicating through innuendo and [[That's What She Said]] jokes. But he is also a ridiculously talented surgeon, one of the best in the hospital.

* ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'s Methos poses as a mild-mannered, sheltered scholar with the Watchers; even with his friends who know he's the oldest living Immortal, he'd rather lounge around drinking beer than accept a challenge. And he would just as soon not talk about how he {{spoiler|used to be Death of the Four Horsemen}}.

* In social game shows like ''[[Survivor]]'' and the American ''[[Big Brother]]'', a good (albeit boring) strat is to make everyone think you're not a threat to them, so they won't target you for eliminations. Then, you start playing much harder and make them regret not taking you out in hindsight.

** Perhaps the most triumphant example in ''[[Survivor]]'' was Fabio. His entire strategy was basically him flanderizing his [[Dumb Blonde|himbo]] personality and flying under the radar while the alliances pick off at people perceived to be bigger targets. Then when he was the only target in between the [[The Load|easily beaten Dan]], he finally started to win immunity, and then [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|tricked Chase and Sash into telling Jane they were voting her out TO HER FACE!]] He then chain-won immunity all the way into the final three, making Chase and Sash both think "[[Oh Crap]]".

* 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]]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]]).

* Walter Sherman of ''[[The Finder]]'' seems a harmless, goofy man who's just two steps short of an institution. It's not until he's strung out from a bad Find and faced with three bad guys that we're reminded he was an Iraq veteran. He does so by killing two of them with their own guns before snapping the last one's neck.

 

== [[Music]] ==

** This is especially evident in Gackt's later "Platinum Box" DVDs. No matter how hard he tries to remain serious and stoic, his bandmates will always reduce him to hysterics with their shenanigans, shattering his well-practiced persona.

 

* In an early ''[[Bloom County]]'' strip, Opus serves as the bouncer at a New Years Eve party. Seems pretty stupid, until he drags a particularly large, menacing looking guy down under the bar, then asks for some rope.

** And if you are a mime, do not taunt Opus or he will beat you down. With a salami!

* Satchel from ''[[Get Fuzzy]]''. The guy has about half the IQ of a rock, but as Bucky is often reminded, pushing Satchel too far is a very bad idea.

 

* WWE worker Festus has this as his entire gimmick. Most of the time, he was little short of catatonic, staring blankly into space with his tongue hanging out as his tag team partner Jesse dragged him around. However, when the ring bell rang, he would wake up and destroy all of his opponents, and would not let up until the bell sounded the end of the match.

** Unfortunately for Festus, several of his opponents (notably [[The Miz]] and [[John Morrison]]) have shown themselves to be fairly [[Genre Savvy]] in using this against him.

** Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore would act like Dustin Hoffman's character in [[Rain Man]], as well as wear two large foam hands.

* Maria was a WWE diva so vapid she could leave viewers wondering how she hadn't died from forgetting to breathe but apparently possessed an impressive breadth of knowledge about law.

 

 

* The Autistic Psychic Savant class in Palladium's ''Beyond The Supernatural'' game pretty much has to be this trope. Most of the time, they can barely communicate, but in the presence of supernatural evil they prove to be smarter and more powerful than anyone else.

* Jerry-R-Igg, one of the characters in the ''[[Paranoia]]'' Second Edition sample adventure, is a total coward, constantly freaking out at the slightest thing...while anyone's looking. Truth is, all of that's a front. As soon as he's sure nobody can report it back to the Computer, he becomes Captain X-Cess, standout in Deth Leopard and lover of [[Stuff Blowing Up]] (one of his possessions is a set of explosives disguised as snack food).

 

== [[Theater]] ==

* Leaf Coneybear from ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is an airhead until he is asked to spell a word, at which point he turns into a scary blinking robot and gives the right answer.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Travis Touchdown, the main character of the ''[[No More Heroes]]'' series, is a very skilled swordsman, [[Made of Iron]], can move at superhuman speeds and transform into a ''tiger'', owns a [[Humongous Mecha]] the size of a large building and could probably cut an average human to pieces in the blink of an eye...if he's not too busy pleasuring himself to Moe Anime, playing video games, or clumsily hitting on his female opponents..

* The Vortigaunts in the ''[[Half Life]]'' series are an entire species of this trope. In ''Half-Life'' and its expansions they're a relatively weak mid-level enemy slaughtered by the dozens and used as manual labourers by the more powerful members of the Nihilanth's army. By ''Half-Life 2'' they are freed from their enforced servitude [[Heel Face Turn|and join Earth's]] [[La Résistance]] against the Combine, providing Gordon with cryptic statements and the occasional charge for his [[Powered Armor|HEV suit]]. At the beginning of ''Episode One'' however they render the nigh-unstoppable GMan ''[[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|completely powerless]]'', saving Gordon and Alyx in the process, and when three of them are faced with an army of [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|Antlions]] in ''Episode Two'' they proceed to ''slaughter every last one'', then use what is essentially Antlion feces to {{spoiler|raise Alyx from the dead}}. Given that they were at the time also hunting and presumably killing the horrifically powerful Combine Advisors, hopefully they will return for the expected battle/s with them in ''Episode Three''.

* Dick Gumshoe in ''[[Ace Attorney]]''. He barely passes as a detective (and then he got Flanderised) and despite his woobiesh qualities, he deserves most of the punishment he gets for his screw ups. But when someone he cares about is in danger, like Edgeworth, Maggey or Maya, he gains a drastic burst in competence. {{spoiler|In 3-3, he's a surprisingly accurate source of information for Phoenix, gives the more important pieces of evidence to him and stands up to [[Yakuza|Tigre]] without even blinking, saving Wright and Maya from a possibly gruesome conclusion. All for his crush, Maggey.}}

** Gumshoe has fought of members of both a Yakuza crime boss and a group of Mafia thugs, showing up the next day completely uninjured.

** Hordes of hundreds of dead darkspawn did nothing more than get some blood on him. In the sequel, he freezes an Ogre solid and wipes out dozens of demons, up to and including a Pride Demon.

* The Khajiit race in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series come across as quite thick. But just ask the wood-elves how their border-disputes with the Khajiit are going, the phrases 'vertical ambush' and 'terrifying humanoid lions' will probably come up.

* Katze Kotolnos from ''[[Endless Frontier]]'' is a [[Camp Gay]] cat person who is constantly making passes at protagonist Haken Browning. Then there comes a point where you have to fight him and he proceeds to kick your ass with his hands in his pockets. When you first fight him, he fights alongside Ezel, who you've been chasing for a while, and who wears an intimidating skull helmet and looks like a total [[Badass]]. ''Katze'' is the more dangerous of the two.

* Hewie of the H-Game ''[[Castle Fantasia 2 Renewal]]'' is this to degree. He acts a carefree moron who always sent one of his team member angry over and over again, but turns out he's a very great war strategist.

* The shopkeeper from the ''[[Fantasy Quest]]'' turns out rather more adept that his demeanor suggests.

* Valvatorez from ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'' is a gullible space-case Prinny Instructor that's more than a little bit preoccupied with sardines. He is ''also'' the only demon [[Makai Kingdom|The Most Badass Frickin' Overlord in All the Cosmos]] considers a [[Worthy Opponent]] -- [[Brought Down to Badass|and this is after he's been]] ''[[De-Power|depowered]]''.

 

** He's such a crouching moron, that while he's fighitng the [[Big Bad]], his own teamates assume he has run and hid.

* {{spoiler|Gamzee Makara}} from ''[[Homestuck]]''. He starts being introduced as the most useless of the trolls. But we later find out from references that in the trolls' final battle in their session, {{spoiler|Gamzee}} did more damage to the Black King than anybody else, which shocked his teammates and their opponent. {{spoiler|When [[Suddenly Sober|he's cut off from his mind-rotting sopor pies]], he also becomes sadistic, competent and utterly terrifying as he [[Hero-Killer|declares he will murder all his friends]]. He's off to a good start.}}

** Also John, who is by now {{spoiler|the most powerful out of his group of friends, being the only one to have reached his God Tiers so far}} despite being the most "average kid-like" out of all of them. He's also managed to masterfully counter-[[Troll]] Karkat despite apparently being the most naive and innocent of them all (with the possible exception of Jade).

* Ray from ''[[Achewood]]'' happens to be the son of Ramses Luther Smuckles, an all-around badass and one of the most celebrated brawlers in American history. He enters the Great Outdoor Fight with essentially no training but manages to destroy a number of stronger men when his best friend Roast Beef is apparently in danger and his latent fighting instincts are aroused.

** For example: during the GOF, another army leader (in the GOF, the first few days involve groups of fighters forming ad-hoc armies led by the most badass members) approached Ray at night, knocking him to the ground and calling him a coward and a liar. Ray's response? He ''ripped the dude's face off with his bare hands.''

* Trace from ''[[Twokinds]]'' is basically the same, only substituting [[Functional Magic]] for [[Psychic Powers]]. His powers mostly makes an appearance when he needs to protect Flora, his [[Catgirl]] girlfriend. Had a full-blown [[Amnesiac Dissonance]] meets [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] episode, but is currently tending towards [[The Messiah]].

* Arguably Liquid Snake of ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'' also applies, considering it's been implied that despite his borderline idiotic behavior he is in reality a killing machine, but has lost the majority of his skills due to an accident caused by his overly aggressive behavior. He gets more intelligent as the comic moves closer to the events of the Shadow Moses rebellion of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''.

{{quote|'''Big Boss:''' How's Joyce doing? Why has she made no progress?

'''Professor Doc:''' Big Boss, we can't ''afford'' to fix her! Do you know how many times she's saved the world's collective ass with her psychotic outbursts?

'''Big Boss:''' Three.

'''Professor Doc:''' Well, I'm holding out for five. }}

* Ping from ''[[Megatokyo]]'' is a dating-sim accessory who is just a regular [[Ridiculously Human Robot]] girl...whose way of dealing with rejection involves [[Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids|throwing buses and uprooting telephone poles to use as clubs]] (Largo once used this to save the city of Tokyo from a drunken, rampaging, giant turtle).

* Grace from ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' can best be described as a bubbly, naive girl, which would almost make you forget she's a genetically engineered [[Super Soldier]] who, the one time she [[Unstoppable Rage|actually got angry]], {{spoiler|proceeded to toss megalomaniac arch-villain Damien around like a rag doll, only to turn around at the last moment and ask him to forgive ''her''}}.

* Mega Man in ''[[Bob and George]]''. Ordinarily he's a complete buffoon. But when he goes into battle, particularly against the Robot Masters, he becomes [[Badass]], often coming up with clever ways to defeat them. The fans figured out a reason for this, and the author said "[[Sure Why Not]]": In one of the early comics, the punchline is that Mega Man was accidentally programmed first to defeat evil robots, and second to be an idiot. He later retconned that this was the reason Mega Man was a default moron whenever there wasn't evil around, but when a bad guy shows up, he becomes an instant badass for the duration of the crisis.

* Fighter of ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' is [[The Ditz|a childish dimwit who is blind to the obvious]] ([[Genius Ditz|for the most part at least]]) but is also a highly proficient swordmaster who can wield the [[Rule of Cool|Sword-Chucks]] (yo!) with enough proficiency to fight a six-armed demon of fire. Oh and if you're an enemy, [[Unstoppable Rage|watch yourself if you kill Black Mage...]]

{{quote|'''Fighter:''' Cool. Because friends look out for one another and '''we're''' friends, but Black Mage is my '''best''' friend. Also, I can block any attack and kill '''anything''' that bleeds. '''Hint'''.}}

* Smoke from ''[[WTF Comics]]'', starting as a little pocket Monk with seemingly no real battle capabilities besides dodging things, until {{spoiler|Nikisha stabs Anna in front of him, and make him go "all out" in rage with annihilating an entire bridge of Mooks along with the bridge itself under them, nearly killing her too in the process.}}

** Oh, and did we mention that he can also {{spoiler|teleport, modify his own perception of time, resurrect the dead, and see the very fabric of the Timespace around him}}?

** While lacking the Crouching Moron element, Lilah is notable for having insanely good game playing skills whenever she's really angry with Ethan.

* [[Complete Monster|Xykon]] in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]''. He's funny and a fan of what one might call "[[Leeroy Jenkins|Leeroy Tactics]]". However, if you challenge his reputation, he'll smash the whole ceiling on you. And gods help you if you lose his phylactery...

*** Ah, but he's a [[The Ditz|Ditz]] with a firm grasp of [[Genre Savvy|"bardic tradition,"]] so much that he has accurately predicted future events based solely on how good a story they'd make.

** The Monster in the Dark is also a nearly textbook example. He's pretty much a moron {{spoiler|(although he has been thinking a bit more lately since his friendship with O'Chul)}}, and a [[Minion with an F In Evil]], but he's been shown to actually be ridiculously powerful, to the point where stomping his foot causes a major earthquake.

* In ''[[The KAMics]]'', Gertrude and Brunhilda are normally comic bumblers, but when their sister was in trouble, glowing eyes and dead Mooks followed.

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'':

{{quote|'''Riff:''' ''Dude!'' When did you learn to kick ass?

'''Torg:''' I've been taking an Internet college correspondence course in kickass.

** 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]]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.

*** By extension, this applies to pretty much the entire Fae race - Mab is merely the one most often found mixed up in the main plot. Being superdimentional beings of pure magic and/or insanity will do that to a race.

* Diva Beelze from ''[[Evil Diva (webcomic)|Evil Diva]]'' is kind of a little...silly, but she's pretty bad ass in chapter 2 in that she {{spoiler|beats the crap out of the devil thugs without hardly doing anything. She has the super special wand but...so did Sailor Moon!}}

* Kharla'ggen from ''[[Drowtales]]'' plays with rubber duckies and rarely, if ever, utters a complete sentence. Her guards barely care about their job. But she's the leader of one of the major clans in the setting and her laissez-faire rule is undisputed because she also [[Psychopathic Manchild|likes to play]] with [[And I Must Scream|dolls]]. Her power is such that in a side-story she was able to 'play' with a greater demon, made of a composite of lesser demons, who collectively barely escaped with their lives.

* {{spoiler|Buwaro}} from ''[[Slightly Damned]]'' is like this without {{spoiler|his star pendent.}}

* [[Cloudcuckoolander|Eddie]] from [[Emergency Exit]], if [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=998 hit] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=999 in] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=1004 the] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=1005 head.]

* Gregory of [[Dominic Deegan]]. Loves making couch forts. Can take on about a dozen members of [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|the Chosen]] by himself.

* Arthur Wight of ''[[Suppression]]'' is introduced getting ordered around by his daughter, who looks to be all of ten. He mopes, chain smokes, and trails around behind Maxwell, right up until he takes on Red Cerene and [[Half the Man He Used To Be|cuts her in half]] without once showing more effort than "yeah, I'm evil, cause...yannow."

** Also Nick, who's practically a walking [[Funny Background Moment]]. He tends to run away a lot and is something of a coward. Then you corner him, and he [[Playing with Fire|burns your face off]].

* Zac of ''[[What the Fu (webcomic)|What the Fu]]'' obscurity may have a [[Idiot Hero|"negligible amount of clues"]], but he's a pretty competent fighter.

* Denver in ''[[Exiern]]'', usually a bumbling nerd, in fact he is a bumbling, lovable, nerd. Hurt someone he likes and he'll [http://www.exiern.com/?p=976 smash open giant solid oak doors] with his bare hands, or [http://www.exiern.com/?p=1422 rewrite the laws of magic] with a gesture.

** Though recently the creators seem to be pushing the idea that Grymm and the Masked T-Square aren't even the same person despite multiple past pages existing as proof.

* [[The Ditz|Donald]] from ''[[Dark Legacy Comics]]'' is shown to be [[Too Dumb to Live]] and is completely useless at fighting (and pretty much everything). However during a Raid Boss the group had been stuck at for three months, Nyte whispered something that caused Donald to lose it and slice his head off in a single strike.

{{quote|'''Jared:''' I didn't know... I didn't know he was a laser fish.}}

 

* Subverted with {{spoiler|Arthur Williams}} in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', who shoves aside his shyness and fear, charging an armed player in order to save a hostage, and gets shot in the face for his trouble. Paul Smith, also from ''Survival of the Fittest'' is usually a [[Chivalrous Pervert]], pretty goofy and laid back—very much a comic relief character. However, from time to time, he almost seems to "switch on" and become one hell of a lot more dangerous. And try ''lethally'' dangerous.

* Essentially the entire core cast of ''[[Mega 64]]'', but special mention should go to Sean and Horatio. Do ''not'' make them mad.

* Linkara from ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall]]'' is a nerd who reviews comic books for a living. He also has the power to manifest, invent, or contact any fictional person or thing. His standard weapon is his magic gun, but he's also found often using his [[Power Rangers]] Morpher, a ''[[Star Trek]]'' phaser, the giant robot death machine Neutro, a Pokéball [[Silent Hill|with Pyramid Head in it]], and several other things. He has used this to defeat Vyse, a [[Multiversal Conqueror]], amongst other enemies.

* Paul of ''[[Loading Ready Run]]''. Ridiculously techy, he can make anything from time machines to nerf rocket launchers from the junk in his garage.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Popeye]]''.

** Also during that battle, not only was he the first to defeat his Justice Lord robotic double (even though there wasn't one in the alternate universe), he was also the only one who wasn't effected by his double's [[Hannibal Lecture]] speech, meaning not only that he doesn't have any doubts in his abilities as a hero, but it furthers his role as the heart of the group.

*** Adding onto this, everyone else needed assistance on their double. He took his on single-handedly and was the first to finish. While everyone was busy with theirs, he just shrugged off the doubts his double was trying to create and whooped its metal ass.

* Bubbles in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. While technically the whole concept and style of the show has echoes of [[Grotesque Cute]], Bubbles is the cute and ditzy "sugar" in "sugar, spice [Buttercup] and everything nice [Blossom]" and occasionally gets to go berserk.

** "Hard Core!"

** There was also that one time he watched a video called "Five Second Massive Pecs," and then proceeded to kick large amounts of ass against Crocker...who was in a mech suit.

* In one episode of ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', three Cobra [[Mooks]] dogpile on the simpleton Bazooka, which causes him to exclaim, "Darn it, ''swallowed my gum!''" and knock them all out with one punch each.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:More Than Meets the Eye]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry]]