Good Is Not Dumb: Difference between revisions

'''Good Is Not Dumb''' is the trope where a [[Nice Guy|sincerely good, kind, and polite character]] is [[Good Is Dumb|underestimated by others because of their kind nature]].

 

 

Almost inevitably, the [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|genuine goodness]] of the character will triumph, often accompanied by the [[Hoist by His Own Petard|comeuppance]] of the disbeliever. The [[Con Man]] will be thwarted, the [[Jade-Colored Glasses|skeptical cynic]] will be surprised by [[The Power of Trust]], and everyone will discover that [[Let's Get Dangerous|"good" is not a synonym for "clueless victim"]].

Compare and contrast with [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]], [[Good Is Not Nice]], [[Gentleman and a Scholar]], [[Beware the Nice Ones]], [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]], [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]], and [[Good Is Old-Fashioned]]. Also see [[Rousseau Was Right]] and [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness]].

 

{{examples}}

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

* ''[[Liar Game]]'': Nao. Like Corporal Carrot, she started off extremely naive, honest and easily manipulated. As the game continued, however, we see that she is a lot smarter than she appears. She even {{spoiler|schemes with Fukunaga and doesn't tell Akiyama and pulled it off}}, and often uses her innocent nature to trick and trap others.

* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'': Although most of the main cast of the franchise falls into either [[Lawful Good]] or [[Neutral Good]] alignment, they universally adhere to the spirit of it, not the letter. The normally polite and gentle Nanoha, for instance, won't hesitate to blast you out of the sky [[Training from Hell|if it ensures your survival when crap actually hits the fan]], and trying to outsmart her in combat... [[Curb Stomp Battle|is a very bad idea]]. Other characters display similar tendencies, perhaps because most of them [[The Villain Makes the Plot|started off as villains]] and the rest learned from them.

* ''[[Naruto]]'': [[Shrinking Violet|Hinata]] [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Hyuuga]]. She doesn't need to beat Neji in a fight, because her words alone revealed him for who he truly was during the Chuunin exams.

* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': Himura Kenshin.

* [[Fullmetal Alchemist]]: Ed and Al are child prodigies, and adapt to situations quite well.

* ''[[Souten Kouro]]'': Cao Cao is serious about upholding the law, but he's not Lawful Stupid and knows a set-up when he sees it during his tenure as police chief. As he said in exposing the eunuch Jian Shi's plot against him: "I am not the kind of fool that would kill {{spoiler|His Highness}}, who you had caught in your wicked scheme!"

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* [[Superman]] sometimes invokes this trope, often when an [[Anti-Hero]] claims that [[Good Is Old-Fashioned]].

** ...except when [[Frank Miller|certain writers]] depict him as an idiot on the assumption that anyone that powerful ''must'' be [[Dumb Muscle]].

* In [[Zatanna]]'s ongoing series she is confronted by Oscar Hampel, who claims that he was turned into a puppet because of a tragic series of events almost out of his control and that his violent actions were an isolated event. Zatanna accepts that her father, for all his wisdom and power, [[Humans Are Flawed|was only human]] and might have overreacted by turning Oscar into a puppet. She gives Oscar the benefit of the doubt and agrees to help him become human again...after she runs him through a magic [[Lie Detector]], that is. After all, just because her father was not perfect does not mean he was wrong ''this'' time, and she is going to make sure before she takes any actions.

 

* The [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Reasonable_Marines Reasonable Marines], a fanmade Space Marine Chapter for ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', will attempt diplomacy first whenever possible, which makes then positively heretical in the shoot-first-ask-questions-never Imperium of Man. The fool that refuses their overtures gets to be on the receiving end of stealth tactics, combined arms and all-around [[Combat Pragmatist|Combat Pragmatism]].

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Georgia Byrd from ''[[Last Holiday]]'' might seem naïve, but she is a very good saleswoman and gives some solid advice to other characters. Despite all of Kragen’s attempts to humiliate her, Georgia is usually one step ahead of him.

* Batman is portrayed as such in [[The Dark Knight Saga]]. In fact, most of the plot of ''The Dark Knight'' revolves around the Joker trying to get Batman to break his moral code and prove that, deep down, everybody is just like him and that [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids|Batman's idealism is misplaced]]. He fails miserably.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

{{quote|And that was Carrot at work. He could sound so innocent, so friendly, so... ''stupid,'' in a puppy-dog kind of way, and then he became this big block of steel and you walked right into it. }}

* In ''[[Good Omens]]'', the ever-polite angel Aziraphale occasionally gets visits from the [[Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club|representatives of property developers]] who are [[Shame If Something Happened|very concerned about the possible risk of fire to his bookshop.]]. He listens to them cheerfully and politely sends them on their way, and ''they never return''...

* In ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', Peeta is kind and patient and {{spoiler|totally kills people in the arena, including finishing off one girl in cold blood while he's in the Career pack}}, besides being three steps ahead when it comes to manipulating the on-camera narrative.

* Wedge Antilles, in his [[Star Wars|film]] and early [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|EU]] appearances, was just an [[Ace Pilot]], leader of Rogue Squadron, and loyal to his friends and cause. His [[A Day in the Limelight|day in the limelight]], the [[X Wing Series]], showed some promising hints of interpersonal savvy, tactical insight, and further loyalty to principles rather than organization. This is turned [[Up to Eleven]] by the time of his [[Aaron Allston]]-written appearances in the ''[[New Jedi Order]]'' and ''[[Legacy of the Force]]''. He's adept at [[Xanatos Speed Chess]], an incredibly quick thinker, adept at cutting past what people are saying to what they ''mean'' and their underlying goals, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and a loving husband and father who is deeply principled and moral]]. Somehow, people keep [[Underestimating Badassery|underestimating him]].

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Frodo makes it very clear to Gollum that he is well aware that Gollum is trying to think of a way to betray the hobbits and take back the ring. Sam is surprised at this because he had assumed Frodo was far too good a person to be able to understand deception and treachery. Sam admits that he (and probably Gollum as well) "had confused kindness with blindness."

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

** Part of Boston Rob getting Uchenna & Joyce and Gretchen & Meredith on a faster flight in Season 7 (when Rob, in order to mess with their heads, mentioned a fictional earlier flight, which just turned out to exist) was him talking about how Uchenna & Joyce couldn't do anything for themselves.

* Eiji Hino from ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'' may seem like a carefree fool, however underneath his simple exterior lies a rather cunning mind.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Garlot of ''[[Blaze Union]]'' may not be very smart to begin with, but he has a very sensitive nature that allows him to accurately read and understand his rivals and enemies' motivations. As his adventures start to gain him more and more street cred, it's his overwhelmingly gentle and compassionate heart that manages to win the hearts of his entire country—including those very rivals and enemies, more often than not. We get to see in [[Yggdra Union|the future]] just how much Bronquia [[100% Adoration Rating|really appreciates]] having a leader who's kind, just, and ''competent.''

* Duessel from ''[[Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones]]''.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

{{quote|'''Gil:''' Well, you '''know what'''? I can '''do''' crazy. I '''really can'''. And it looks like I'm going to '''have''' to. Agatha is in danger. This '''whole town''' is in danger. If I'm going to be able to help her '''at all''', I'm going to have to give up all this '''"being reasonable"''' garbage and show you '''idiots''' what kind of madboy you're '''''really dealing with!''''' [Smashes Vole apparently through a wall, [[Beat]], sudden wide eyes] ...oh. Oh, ''no.'' This must be [[Knight Templar|how my '''father''' feels]] - '''''all the time!'''''}}

** Gil's probably just as much of a case of '[[Beware the Nice Ones|nice is not harmless]],' though. You could even make a case for filing him under '[[Good Is Not Nice]],' especially lately, despite being an [[Overlord, Jr.]]. The...[[Webcomic Time|three-year day]]...since the above incident has not been easy on him.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** You can tell that even Batman is almost envious of his ability to quietly shut down a super-foe, something he cannot imagine being able to do in Gotham.

*** It does help that The Rogues are [[Punch Clock Villain]]s rather than crazies Batman has to deal with.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

** Which is the kind of [[Fridge Brilliance]] only found in [[Real Life]]. A person gets mistrustful if they get burnt one time too many - if you can see lies and deceptions coming, people will not get a chance to betray you, and therefore you will not become hurt, wary and eventually (possibly) paranoid.

*** The opposite could just as easily be argued if one sees 'being lied to' as the cause and then 'becoming more apprehensive of potential lies' as the effect, rather than the reverse.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]

[[Category:Idealism Tropes]]

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Hidden Badass]]