Intelligence Equals Isolation: Difference between revisions

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This trope is about characters or people, mostly but not necessarily in college, who are very smart and suffer for it, being [[Friendless Background|unable to relate]] to the mundane worries and shallow personalities of their comrades, as well as being bored out of their skulls by the mandatory classes. Nothing is as depressing as having to correct the teacher, except not doing so for fear of the teacher getting mad. Sometimes they use [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], but if their parents demand grades, and [["Well Done, Son" Guy|get them]], their classmates can get jealous, which can lead to [[Tall Poppy Syndrome|bullying of various sorts]]. Too often [[Truth in Television]].

When this intelligence is combined with a talent for manipulation, and possibly some good looks, you get an explosive mixture: add some [[Applied Phlebotinum]] or an [[Artifact of Doom]] and you might get a [[Magnificent Bastard]], with the potential to be a very interesting X-tagonist. If, in addition to that, they are benevolent and feel compelled by their intelligence to improve the world, you might get a very effective [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who thinks [[Utopia Justifies the Means]], and who might become a [[Knight Templar]]. If, instead, they are a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]], beware: high intelligence leads to questioning, and, in Morals, when you find out there aren't any readily made answers, you might settle for "there aren't any answers at all, so just do what you want"... With enough [[Motive Decay]], can become an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] and a [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]].

 

 

 

{{examples}}

 

== Anime & Manga ==

"She always shows off about her good grades, but she doesn't get that she's getting such a bad rep!" }}

** Well, [[Reclusive Artist|the writer]] certainly states that he "did well at school" and that he doesn't "leave [his] house very much" in How To Read 13.

** Except he's never actually been terribly smart. Focused, and brighter than ''Naruto'', but if you ranked genin team 7 in terms of smarts he'd clock in at third, and if you ranked the rookie nine by them he'd probably come in fourth. He's a 'genius' because he's good at learning ninjutsu, not because he's ''smart''.

*** Kakashi and Itachi were also geniuses on these terms, although they appear to have been prodigies in terms of their reasoning faculties as well. Orochimaru had brains ''and'' talent.

* Lelouch "Lamperouge" of ''[[Code Geass]]''. Admittedly, it's also due to his issues with letting people get close to him stemming from [[Freudian Excuse|his traumatic childhood experiences]].

*** His disaffection with everyone and everything (including his pal Rivalz) in episode one is this mixed with philosophical disdain for the society he belongs to. Which causes him to go try to help out a wrecked truck that everyone else is just taking cameraphone pictures of. Which gets him mixed up with terrorists and an [[Apocalypse Maiden]] who gives him superpowers. Which starts everything.

** Also, Hiroko Kaizuka. Then she became the victim of ''very'' cruel bullies...

* Towards the end of ''[[Zettai Karen Children]]'', it turns out that Minamoto was like that when he was a kid, due to being a Child Genius... he just wanted to go to a normal class and have normal friends, but his obvious superiority 'bothered' people, so he was put into a Special Education Program. This revelation puts a whole new significance to the lengths he went to to give The Children a chance to go to school like normal children.... basically, he gave them the childhood that was denied him.

* Tamami in ''[[Mahoraba]]''.

* Sakurako Amamiya has been the textbook brainy loner ever since she's been drawn into the madness of ''[[Psyren]]'', shutting herself from everyone so as not to let anyone else be damaged by it. We know she hasn't always been like this because, just as she is introduced, Ageha remembers a time when, as a child, she was much more joyful and open to the world.

* Yukimitsu from ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. [[My Beloved Smother|His parents]] forced him into [[Cram School]] and he became extremely sheltered, envying the sports teams from his room. Due to his years of being in school, he lacked physical strength, and could never play for more than half a game.

** But no worries here. Because of his awesome eyesight and brain power, he's able to [[Awesomeness By Analysis|find the perfect option route]], a place no one is guarding.

** Nina/Anna and Johan are a little unusual: their natural intelligence and trauma-induced solitude don't seem to be related. Runge would fit this trope better, but even in his case it's not really intelligence but workaholism that isolates him, to the point that his family abandons him. {{spoiler|Until the end, where he's in contact with his kid again.}}.

* Ishida Uryuu of ''[[Bleach]]'', while also the indubitable [[Insufferable Genius]], qualifies. Before getting involved with Ichigo & co., there is zero indication that he has any friends, nor that he EVER has. Part of this is a result of his acting like a jerk because it's "cool" / to keep people away, but he wasn't always like that. Add seeing ghosts to the brain, and it's no wonder he's a loner.

* Nemuro from ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' was a Professor by the age of 18, and completely friendless. His fellow students planned to use his intelligence and throw him away once their project is complete. He was so withdrawn that he was described as a "computer-like man". The tropes is somewhat subverted with Miki, a [[Teen Genius]] who is pretty popular amomg his peers.

* Averted by Miyabi "Professor" Oomichi of ''[[GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class]]'' . As her nickname means, she is much more knowledgeable in art theory than an arts-stream high school student and is also highly talented, but she has her share of friends.

** She herself also [[Defied Trope|defied]] this trope in in the chapter about typography accreditation. She is likely to get higher a higher level of typography qualification (Class C or even B, compared to her classmates' D), but decided to just get a Class D instead ''because'' she still wants to be with her friends.

** Shinichi, before being shrunk, was a milder case. While he wasn't ''openly'' shunned by his peers, it's mentioned sometimes that teachers and classmates found him arrogant and hard to approach, and sometimes are ''amazed'' that Ran ever managed to befriend him. I.e., his former teacher Akiko Yonezawa remembers Shinichi as being unnaturally snarky and full of himself while in elementary school, Ran refers to him as "that mystery [[Otaku]]" when she's very upset with him, and Sonoko openly wonders "[[What Does She See in Him?]]" in regards to Ran herself.

 

 

** Allysa Moy, an old friend of Reed's, tries to seduce him with this trope as the friends Reed surrounds himself with just aren't on her and Reed's level. Reed doesn't give a damn.

* Both of DC's "Mr. Terrific" felt isolated enough due to their genius to attempt suicide at one point (only to turn into heroes instead).

* Tom Thumb of the ''[[Squadron Supreme]]'' is clearly the smartest member of the team and the resident [[Gadgeteer Genius]], but he's socially isolated from everyone else, often overlooked or belittled, and spends most of his free time in his lab instead.

* It is often hinted that this was a factor in Loki's [[Freudian Excuse]] in ''[[The Mighty Thor]]'', where he was a lot smarter than other Asgardian children but less physically able. He was more likely to be reading or practicing his magic than training in combat with his peers.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Max Cohen, the mathematical genius in ''[[Pi]]''. Max's quest for the universal number that holds the key to the mathematical basis of nature has left him utterly disconnected from the rest of humanity, to the extent that he even fears leaving his apartment if he could run into someone.

 

 

== Literature ==

** [[Word of God]] states that Albus Dumbledore was like this for most of his life.

* ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' is a classic example of this. His genius often causes him considerable frustration when dealing with other people, (including the official police force) and as a result he prefers to follow his own route to a solution. He chooses only those case which truly interest him intellectually, and involves only those people who are useful for his current case. Aside from his brother Mycroft Holmes and his loyal friend Doctor John Watson, he spends most of his time alone, broadening his eclectic range of knowledge. When he feels he has nothing to work on his brilliant mind becomes a burden, sometimes driving him to seek a drug-induced stupor as an alternative to the mundane. Mycroft and Dr. Watson appear to be the only two people whose company Holmes actively seeks out, and who are able to tolerate his often acerbic or dark moods, while maintaining a genuine liking for him. Although Holmes does express admiration occasionally for individuals who present above average intelligence (in his opinion) he doesn't seem to have any close friends outside of Watson and Mycroft, and appears to prefer isolation.

** Mycroft is even MORE of this, to the point of being a [[Flanderization]]. He prefers his own company to the extent that he ''started a club whose members are forbidden to speak to each other''.

** He also sets himself apart deliberately, because he resents that his [[Incurable Cough of Death|extreme]] [[Squishy Wizard|physical frailty]] makes him heavily reliant on others.

** It's shown that he does have the capabilities and charisma to actually charm people and hold down relationships, he simply doesn't bother because he doesn't respect other people - a fact pointed out by one of the few Psychiatrists able to shut him up. More a case of Arroance Equals Isolation.

* ''[[Ender's Game]]'', [[Trope Codifier|full stop]]. It probably doesn't help that [[Sadist Teacher|his teachers are deliberately encouraging the isolation...]]

** Implied for one girl in a camping "episode": She doesn't join the girls' activities and prefers to read by herself; likewise the other girls don't talk to her. She comes into her own when the girls get lost on a hike and if I recall correctly she saves everyone because the book she was reading was about the outdoors and she was the only one who knew how to read the trail markers. Sadly the last we hear of her is her mother telling the counselor that she definitely won't be back next summer.

* The two protagonists of Muriel Barbery's ''[[The Elegance Of The Hedgehog]]''.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Toby and President Bartlet on ''[[The West Wing]]''.

** C.J. tells Toby, "No one likes people who know everything," to which Toby responds "So I've discovered in my life."

** President Bartlet asks Toby "You think the strike against me is nobody likes the smartest kid in the class?" in "Hartsfield's Landing." Subverted when Bartlet takes this and uses it to win the election despite the MS scandal.

* Subverted in ''[[Carrusel]]''. Maria Joaquina and Jorge may be brilliant students who have trouble making friends... but the reason for their difficulty has nothing to do with intelligence- it is due to Maria Joaquina and Jorge being snobbish and condescending towards other students not as wealthy as they are. Maria Joaquina gets somewhat better after a while, as she's subjected to [[Break the Haughty]] and becomes the [[Lovable Alpha Bitch]] afterwards; Jorge keeps being haughty and snotty until almost the end instead.

 

 

== Radio ==

 

 

== Theater ==

 

 

== Video Games ==

* {{spoiler|Iris}} in ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'' becomes a complete sociopath because of this.

* Purge in [[Space Channel 5]] Part 2 is a [[Teen Genius]] who's lived alone with his robots ever since he was 9. [[Chaotic Evil|This has]] [[Complete Monster|made him crazy]].

** Although in Jade's case it's a bit more complicated, since it's implied he was something of a violent sociopath when he was younger and only mellowed out because of the influence of his teacher.

* It's not really overt, but in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', the [[Crisis Core]] prequel, Sephiroth feels isolated because of a combination of his superior intelligence and power. The only ones he feels at all close to are Angeal, Genesis, and possibly Zack, who went through similar experiments, and are still nowhere near his level.

*** The idea of not being human still freaks him out, mind. That he isn't, entirely, ultimately does not help things.

* Inverted in ''[[Persona 3]]'' and ''[[Persona 4]]'': doing well on your exams improves your school Social Links accordingly.

 

== Western Animation ==

** This trope is played straight to the point that Lisa flat-out made a graph stating the negative correlation between happiness and intelligence.

*** And [[Broken Aesop|broken]] by the fact that Homer never made an effort to put his high IQ to good use: he isolated everyone by virtue of spoiling movie endings, disillusioning people of hard-held beliefs and basically being a [[Jerkass]] with a high IQ.

* Jimmy on ''[[Jimmy Neutron]]''. He actually purposely made himself stupid in one episode to end his misery, but the machines accidently set his intelligence so low he became a complete moron.

** Jimmy is a mixed bag. Sometimes intelligence isolates him, often he sets the (horrible) events of the plot in motion causing him to be isolated, sometimes the characters realize they need his intellect &/or like him more than they let on, and sometimes he's just an insufferable genius.

** Commented on in "Boxing Daria".

* [[The Smurfs|Brainy Smurf]]. (Brainy borders on a [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All]], mind you, which doesn't help.)

* An episode of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' had the intelligent Jazz telling her fellow classmates that she was struggling on whether she wanted to go to Harvard, Yale, or Stanford. They all walk away with disinterest. It's arguably averted for most of the series since Jazz doesn't care how others perceive her.

** Of course, bragging about all the prestigious universities you've gotten into to people who may not be as naturally gifted as you [[Your Mileage May Vary|could also be seen as]] [[Insufferable Genius|kind of a dick move]]

* Gates from ''[[Rollbots]]'' has no friends other than Aria. Justifiable, considering that he's not pleasant to be with.

 

[[Category:Solitary Tropes]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Anti-Intellectualism]]

[[Category:Sour Grapes Tropes]]

[[Category:Intelligence Tropes]]

[[Category:Intelligence Equals Isolation]]