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Dumb Is Good: Difference between revisions
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== Anime and Manga ==
* The stupidest character in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Usagi, is also the good-est.
** Usagi is not so much as stupid as she is lazy and ditzy. However, her dub counterpart Serena '''is''' stupider then the original, complete with [[Valley Girl]] speech. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, is a super-ultra genius, if the books in his apartment are any indication.
* Gourry Gabriev from ''[[Slayers]]'' is definitely ''not'' the sharpest knife in the drawer (a fact alluded to on numerous occasions) yet he comes off as just about the most easygoing, honest and unobtrusive member of the permanent cast (virtually every other protagonist has some sort of major character flaw). In the original novels he was ''very'' much a [[Deadpan Snarker]], and did that [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] thing mostly because it was funnier that way.
** Found to a lesser extent in Amelia. While not really stupid, she's incredibly naive, tends to see the world in black and white, and occasionally strives into [[Cloudcuckoolander]] territory. She's also a shrine maiden who honestly wants to help everyone around her.
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* ''[[Lucky Star]]'': Subverted with the smart but sweet-as-pie Miyuki; played straight with her mother.
* The titular character of [[Yotsuba&!]] isn't stupid for a five year old child. But there's a very large number of things she doesn't know, and she's very good by any definition.
* James, Jesse, and Meowth from ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' are the original [[Goldfish Poop Gang]] in anime, and clearly not very competent as bad guys - which is why, since 1997, [[Ensemble Darkhorse| the fans just ''love'' them.]]
== Comic Books ==
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** In both the film and the book, neither Inigo nor Fezzik are particularly bright. Only the film version of Vizzini comes off as an idiot, though—the book Vizzini is legitimately portrayed as a twisted genius (who, in the end, gets tricked into outsmarting himself).
* Blaggut, the illiterate, less-than-bright searat in ''[[Redwall|The Bellmaker]]'', the only vermin in the series to survive a [[Heel Face Turn]]. He's initially paired with the captain from his ship, who obeys the usual [[Exclusively Evil]] role of vermin, but eventually {{spoiler|kills him when the captain murders the abbey's Badger Mother}}.
* The ''[[Discworld]]'' novels will occasionally feature a stupid, more sympathetic villain (Banjo of ''[[
** Possibly played straight with Brutha from ''[[
** This is explicitly subverted with the characters of Carrot and Vimes. Carrot is a good natured, kind, and generally optimistic person who is often described as "simple". After this description, however, the books never forget to mention that [[Good Is Not Dumb|"simple" doesn't mean stupid]], and as the books go on it is clear that Carrot has an incredible deductive mind. Vimes, on the other hand is a cynical grouch who has little use for most people around him, but it's made clear that he truly loves his city and those who work under him, not to mention his wife and son.
{{quote|'''Angua:''' Someone has to be very complex indeed to be as simple as Carrot.}}
*** Vimes is often regarded by others as not very bright, but he makes up for it through a combination of obstinacy and being [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]].
***
** Cohen and his 'horde' from ''[[
* In ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', Ron is frequently shown to not be the brightest of the bunch but is also Harry's best friend. Also, to certain extent, Harry himself, who always does the [[Idiot Ball|most idiotic and suicidal possible action]] to solve each and every plot throughout the books.
** Contrast them with Voldemort, who was described as having a terrifyingly keen intellect as a student and was even said by ''Dumbledore'' himself to have been one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts ever had.
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** Depending on your point of view, it can be debated whether or not Pinky is the "dumb" one...
** There is an episode early on in the series where the Brain makes Pinky intelligent and, finding out that an intelligent Pinky is actually smarter than him, comes to realize he is the reason they always fail (proved mathematically no less) and reduces his own intelligence. The subversion is that Pinky is still happy, energetic, and full of "Narf" when he is intelligent while the Brain, though he does suddenly find rather silly things funny all of a sudden, retains his unhappy personality (albeit less mean, but that might just be because his usual course of abuse towards Pinky is rooted in witty recriminations).
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* Gunter the chimpanzee from the episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' "Mars University". When he wears the bowler hat that Professor Farnsworth invented that makes him super-intelligent, he's a snobbish know-it-all, especially towards Fry. Later, when Gunter's hat gets broken and thus only gives him average intelligence, he finds that he's much happier that way and decides to attend business school, much to [[Big No|Farnsworth's ire]].
** Mars University also parodies this trope with its motto,"knowledge brings fear."
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* Doofus Rick from ''[[Rick and Morty]]''. Compared to other Ricks at the Citadel of Ricks, he's pretty dumb (still [[Genius Ditz|a lot smarter than the average human]], though) and is one of only two Ricks (the other being Officer Rick) with far more good qualities than bad ones.
* The Pakleds on ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'' are an alien race that was intentionally designed to be [[Stupid Evil]], and while they debuted in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'', this series expands their role and takes their stupidity to new heights. Like say, testing a bomb, only to discover bombs are not reusable. In a meta sense, this makes them [[Laughably Evil]] and almost lovable.
* Clayface in ''[[Harley Quinn (TV series)|Harley Quinn]]''. No way to sugarcoat this, the man is ''an idiot'' but he's also the least dangerous of Harley's gang. He's only truly a threat in one episode where {{spoiler|
*''[[Kim Possible]]'': While Ron isn’t necessarily less intelligent than Gill, and outsmarted him
* In many adaptations of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Shredder's moronic henchmen Rocksteady and Bebop. [[Laughably Evil]] at the best of times, their incompetence almost endears them to fans.
== Real Life ==
* Averted in [[Real Life]]
* There seems to be an unspoken assumption in American politics that "intellectual" is a synonym for "elitist," and therefore
** It seems to have hit a peak of ridiculousness during the 2008 Democratic Primaries, when the two front runners, [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]] were both getting painted with the elitist brush, since they were both well-educated Law school graduates. It created the surreal images of Hillary Clinton drinking shots in a bar, all the candidates appearing on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' and ''The Tyra Banks Show
** This trend in the U.S. (and to a somewhat lesser extent in Canada) is discussed in the book "[[More Money Than Brains]]", by Laura Penny.
* There is the old saying "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and [[Ignorance Is Bliss]]
* [[Emma Watson]] (who plays the above mentioned Hermione Granger) has openly spoken against this trope, saying "There are too many stupid girls in the media. Hermione's not scared to be clever. I think sometimes really smart girls dumb themselves down a bit, and that's bad".
* Adam Carolla had [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoKb0nVA_OI this to say regarding this topic]
* A deadly application of this trope happened in Cambodia where intellectuals were among the people singled out as enemies of the state and slaughtered en masse. Often the criteria for being labelled a intellectual involved something as simple as happening to wear glasses or looking "scholarly."
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