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Feigning Intelligence: Difference between revisions
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Note: It is possible to feign greater intelligence than you actually have, if you are at least smarter than the people you are trying to convince.
Compare with [[Small Name, Big Ego]]. On meta-level this often is passed as [[Parody Retcon]] or [[True Art Is Incomprehensible]].
{{examples}}
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* ''[[Discworld]]'''s Fred Colon sometimes does this when talking with Nobby Nobbs. Nobby Nobbs has an unfortunate habit of asking ''questions'' (it's implied he's the smarter of the two, but not by much)
* ''[[The Number of the Beast]]'' by [[Robert A. Heinlein]] features a main character who not only passed himself off as an expert, but managed to get a degree by writing a paper that catered to all of the reviewers' prejudices and pet theories. Of course, he was actually doing this to prove a point instead of trying to fit in with educated society.
* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] by ''[[Hercule Poirot]]'' as his standard method of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] - he is boastful in order to make his opponents think he is feigning intelligence, when in fact he really ''is'' that smart.
* The main character in ''[[The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar]]'' is [[Malicious Slander|sometimes accused]] of writing or at least editing the correspondence of General Ivan Paskevich, his in-law and sort-of superior in the Caucasus, so as to make him seem smarter. That is apparently untrue, although Paskevich might be considered a mild example of this trope nonetheless.
* The two con men in ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' managed to pull it on the whole towns, repeatedly. Including that one time when they were immediately called on this publically by someone who knew better.
{{quote|he believed it was blamed foolishness to stay, and that doctor hanging over them. But the king says: <br />
"Cuss the doctor! What do we k'yer for ''him''? Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?"}}
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* Maxwell Smart from the ''[[Get Smart]]'' series did this all the time, to everyone. He didn't always have someone to help him feign competence either, and on those occasions got found out quite quickly.
* The borderline mentally disabled Randy in ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' seems to be really good at this, once befriending a bunch of business men, getting a job and earning a lot of money in less than a day with just the help of a second-hand suit.
* ''[[Ted Baxter]]'' used to pull this one off with regularity - one instance in particular stands out.
{{quote| '''Ted's son:''' Mother, I ''abhor'' you!<br />
'''Ted:''' Now son, I'll have none of that language in this house! }}
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Touhou Project
** In canon, it's not intelligence she feigns, but strength. Of course, knowing [[Word of God|ZUN]]'s [[Ascended Fanon|usual]] [[Running the Asylum|response]] to the fandom, it's not too unlikely that this will become canon.
* From ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', a man named [[Ted Baxter|Fantastic]] convinces the local government that he can repair a nearby power plant. When asked if he's studied theoretical physics, he says "I have a theoretical degree in physics". No one who's ever met him has fallen for his act, and killing him in broad daylight won't anger anyone else in the room, or in the game for that matter. You can even blackmail him into paying you so that he can keep his job since he needs to support his drug addictions somehow.
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* It is an effective method to cover up limited computing power. Do something and correct the decision later if it turns out to be a bad move.
** Example: Starting to move directly towards the destination while scheduling the time consuming path finding for later.
== Webcomics ==
* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] in ''[[Bob and George]]'': Mega Man did this by making up a totally random and [[Techno Babble]]-filled solution to the series' [[Timey-Wimey Ball|major time-line issues]], and, totally by accident, made a discovery worthy of a Nobel prize. He thought everybody else was just making fun of him.
* ''[[Misfile]]''. Debate continues on whether Rumisiel is genuinely admitting [[Feigning Intelligence]] or displaying [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] to maintain his [[The Stoner|image]] in [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=992 this strip].
* [http://xkcd.com/451/ This] ''[[
== Web Original ==
* Simmons from ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' is zigzagging with this trope. While he is the [[Smart Guy|Unofficial Science Officer]] of the series and good with computers, he's also been stated to be less intelligent than he thinks he is and will abuse the fact that the people around him are either too lazy, stupid or insane to call him out on making stuff up.
{{quote| Simmons: If you want me to multiply two big numbers in my head, that I can do.<br />
Grif: What's thirty-two times fifty-six?<br />
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Sarge (towards Simmons): Is that right?<br />
Simmons: Yes. }}
* [http://www.xkcdb.com/?5414 This] ''[[
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