Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Difference between revisions

** Naruto just tends to be this at any time. He will be obsessed with ramen and will pull off stupid moves like a comic-relief, and he's still a ''genin''. However, if you threaten ''anyone'' he cares about (and I mean ''anyone''), he will show you why he is one of the most powerful ninjas in existence.

*** To be fair, he's still a ''genin'' not due to any form of stupidity, but because he spent three years training with Jiraiya in solitude while his friends were busy taking the Chunin exams.

* ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'': In earlier seasons, Psyduck tends to be rather useless and helpless, mainly during serious battles. That is, until his opponent induces a headache, resulting in a nasty psychic experience for the unfortunate victim. Psyduck loses any memory of these events though. Secondly, Togepi is generally considered an immature, coddled infant by Misty. Sometimes, however, when it looks like Team Rocket might succeed, it uses Metronome (a move that generates a random attack). Said random attack always blows the bad guys away. No one knows that Togepi does it.

** Except via tickle torture.

* Any of the main characters of the manga ''Category Freaks''. They may lay around, be lazy, be klutzes, be sex-crazed, have issues with self-esteem, or have the mind of a child...but don't piss ''any'' of them off. If you get entangled with just one, you'll probably end up dead. You don't want to see what will happen when you get the entire group involved.

* ''[[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. ]] }}

** Kida Masaomi and Sonohara Anri also counts. Kida's the playboy who simply knows his way around Ikebukuro - and it's most eccentric inhabitants - really, really well. Anri's the quiet [[Meganekko]] who has a nice rack and is the victim of sexual harassment by a teacher, who is worried about a missing "friend". It turns out that {{spoiler|Kida is the founder and former leader of the Koukinzoku, until it got too violent for him, and Anri is the true user of the Demon Sword Saika}}.

** Shizuo Heiwajima is also a case. Most people's first impression he's a thin, quiet, unassuming young man whose only noticeable quirk appears to be the inexplicable tendency to dress, as noted by some, "like some kind of nineteenth-century nightclub pimp." This impression typically lasts all of five minutes before [[Hair-Trigger Temper|some tiny nitpick sets him off]] and he demonstrates [[Unstoppable Rage|just why he's known as Ikebukuro's God of Destruction.]]

* [[Squirrel Girl]], hands down. Cute. Fuzzy. Talks to squirrels. Lips taste like hazelnuts. Defeated [[Doctor Doom]], The Mandarin, Giganto, MODOK, [[Thanos]], Terrax, Bug-Eyed Voice, Bi-Beast, [[Deadpool]], Pluto, Fin Fang Foom, Baron Mordo, Korvac, and Ego the Living Planet...

** Somewhat related is the Fabulous Frog-Man. Fat, clumsy, untrained, and with no idea what he's doing, he's proven time and again capable of taking on the most nefarious villains and coming out on top. Usually by virtue of sheer luck or coincidence, but he often exhibits the bravery necessary to charge at baddies who give [[Captain America (comics)]] pause nonetheless.

* [[Plastic Man]] has been largely considered this due to the non-serious nature of most of his appearances. One must not forget that he is a trained CIA operative, can go toe-to-toe with many other big names in the DCAU (he can take punches from SUPERMAN without so much as batting an eye!) and survived dismemberment for thousands of years.

* [[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.

** 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.''

* Zap Vexler from ''[[Zap]]'' is a prime example. Huge [[Psychic Powers]] are usually triggered by threats towards his crush, Reona. The first example is [http://www.zapinspace.com/d/20040326.html here]. [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]].

* 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]]''.

* 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 [http://www.itswalky.com/d/20001015.html just far enough...] whoops, maybe that was a bit ''too'' far.

* Orko in ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|He Man and The Masters of The Universe]]''. On [[Fish Out of Water|Eternia]], this Trollan native is the comic relief buffoon who's famous for being [[Inept Mage|unable]] to make many of his spells work properly. In the eyes of even his friends, he's little more than the court jester, albeit with a [[Plucky Comic Relief|brave heart]]. However, it turns out that's because the laws of magic on Eternia and Trolla are the reverse of each other. On Trolla, he's revealed to be one of that planet's greatest arch-mages who (with only a little help from He-Man) almost single-handedly saves his people from enslavement by a half-dragon servant of [[Big Bad|Skeletor]]. Even on Eternia, when his magic does work, he can be extremely competent.

** Prince Adam himself is this in the 80s cartoon. He puts on a lazy, clumsy, cowardly, combat-incompetent rich kid act to help erase any suspicions that he might be He-Man. Every so often, however, he reveals a tremendous depth of knowledge on Eternia's ancient cultures and science, he's been able to use his intellect to defeat bad-guys when even He-Man's strength had failed, and with one notable exception that saw his father get kidnapped, when he is forced to play the hero as Prince Adam instead of He-Man he can be surprisingly effective.

* Don't let his lack of booksmarts fool you, there's a very good reason Numbuh 4/Wallabee Beatles of ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' is Sector V's hand-to-hand combat specialist and resident [[Blood Knight]].

** Of course, there's also Numbuh 2/Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr., who may act like a goofball most of the time, but has actually proven himself to be the team's most efficient [[Gadgeteer Genius]].