Jerk with a Heart of Gold/Film

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Danny Trejo's character in Spy Kids.
  • Kikuchiyo in both Seven Samurai and Samurai 7. Easily dismissed as a loudmouth with delusions of grandeur (and you wouldn't necessarily be wrong in that assessment), Kikuchiyo nonetheless is the first to jump to the farmer's cause and decides to go and help them, even though he was initially rejected for the team.
  • The bandit who turns out to be a big fan of Kathleen Turner's character Joan Wilder (a romance-adventure novelist) in Romancing the Stone.
  • Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean, having been described, as far back as the original screenplay incarnation, as having an "honest streak", which seems to serve as the pirate equivalent of a heart of gold, and also as his Achilles' Heel.
  • Rick Blaine sticks his neck out for nobody.
  • Han Solo. Compare these two lines:

When informed that Leia is going to be killed: "Better her than me!"

Later: "You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!"

  • Indiana Jones is pretty quick to anger, unafraid to fight dirty, broke poor Marion Ravenwood's heart in the past, and will always place Honor Before Reason and do the right thing.
  • Captain James T. Kirk of the new Star Trek movie fits this trope perfectly. At first, it's almost as if he wakes up in the morning and thinks of new ways to piss off any and every body he encounters. Wrecks his stepdad's car and stands up to the cop who tried to pull him over. Participates in a bar fight that some cadets start (they punched him first) because he kept hitting on Uhura (who's completely uninterested in him). Reprograms an unwinnable test, which is cheating, to prove that he can win it (by thinking outside the box). Shows no remorse when caught because he doesn't feel he's in the wrong. Indeed, Kirk demonstrates the same wheeling, dealing, and conniving traits of a Magnificent Bastard. The differences are -- first, Kirk was never out to hurt anyone just for his own ends. Second, it is made clear he's only acting up because he lacks a challenge worthy of his smarts. Most importantly, he uses his cunning to save the universe. This movie states overtly what the series were more subtle about: Kirk's Jerk tendencies are also the qualities that make him The Captain we all know and love.
  • See "The Enemy Within" - Episode 5 of Star Trek: The Original Series - Kirk laid out with this trope on a silver platter
  • Tallahassee from Zombieland may act like an Ax Crazy Blood Knight and Anti-Hero most of the time, but he does become visibly angry when Wichita crushes Columbus' hopes of finding his parents alive. And although the true extent of his loyalty to the girls is questionable, he does seem to genuinely care about Columbus and sticks by him through the whole movie.
  • Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man.
  • Sgt. Bryce Dignam of The Departed is a good example of this trope. He is incredibly abrasive to pretty much everyone, but at the end of the film after being dismissed from the case, he found Sullivan and brought him to justice showing that he is a dedicated cop and one of the most respectable characters in the whole movie.
  • Godzilla is not only a city destroying monster, he's also a loving and devoted father. And he's also fiercely loyal to his friends and will come to their aid whenever they are in danger.
  • There's a reason why Gamera is also known as the "Friend to All Children". This fire-breathing turtle has a soft-spot for kids and will do anything to keep them safe, even put his life on the line. Of course, his attack on Tokyo in the first film causes adults to fear the monster.
  • The movie Waitress has two: grumpy diner manager Cal, and grumpier diner owner/crotchety old man Joe. Both turn out to be fairly nice guys. This is in contrast to Jenna's husband Earl, who's just a Jerkass
  • Averted in The Opposite of Sex. "I don't have a heart of gold, and I don't grow one later."
  • Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is an arrogant man who believes himself to be the greatest detective in the world, or at least is determined to make sure everyone else thinks he is (Peter Sellers's interpretation). In truth he is a chronically clumsy idiot, which is partially the result of this self-confidence, and gets him and many of the people around him in trouble. He is also genuinely on the side of good, chivalrous with women (even after being betrayed by his own wife), conducts himself with dignity as often as he can, and he simply will not give up no matter what obstacles are in his way.
  • Detective James Carter in Rush Hour.
  • Walt Kowalski, the main character of Gran Torino is one racist son of a bitch, but we forgive him for it because he's actually a decent guy deep down toward the people against whom he's racist.
  • The first Spider-Man movie shows a great example of how J. Jonah Jameson fits this. As Jameson is chewing out Peter over whether or not Spider-Man's a hero, the Green Goblin busts into the office and demands to know who takes Spider-Man's photos. Jameson's immediate reaction is to lie and protect Peter.
    • Especially telling since he was at the moment being held up by his shirt collar by an obvious maniac, which has his throat constricted so that he can barely speak. He was literally risking his life to protect Peter Parker, a guy he's met a grand total of two times by this point.
  • Warren Peace from Sky High, especially during the Chinese restaurant scene with Layla.
  • Bluebeard from the cult animated film Felidae certainly applies. He constantly calls Francis a "Smartass", takes a piss on things to "mark his territory" (sure, it's normal for cats... but still...), and refers to humans in a very derogatory fashion (IE: He calls them "Can-Openers" which basically means "Slave"). However, he's also willing to help Francis solve the mystery and even risks his life several times in the film.
    • And Kong, who spent most of the movie antagonizing Francis. Upon seeing that his mate was murdered horribly, he began to mourn for her and managed to stop being such an ass to Francis.
  • In Shrek, the title character plays up his Complete Monster reputation to keep others off his land. But he ends up risking his life to help not only the Damsel in Distress, but hundreds of refugees as well.
    • To an extent, Snow White in the third film as well. She does come off as arrogant and lazy, but willingly joins Fiona and the rest of the princesses in battle against Prince Charming.
  • Mike, the disillusioned poet, in The Philadelphia Story.
  • In Clueless, Cher's father Mel is a tough, feared stony divorce lawyer who can make his maid scurry away in fear just by entering the room. However, he's also a devoted father not only to his daughter Cher but to Josh, his stepson from a previous (failed) marriage to whom he remains a loyal father-figure and mentor despite the fact that they have no blood relation together.

Mel: You divorce wives, not children.

  • Stathis Borhans in the 1986 remake of The Fly is probably this trope personified. At first he is a sleazy, jealous, jilted ex-lover of the protagonist's love intrest, but after a certain mishap involving a housfly and a teleporter, he becomes a Big Damn Hero and storms into the lab of the man-monster to save the woman he still loves. It does not end well for Stathis.
  • In Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Eddie Valiant is shown to be quite a jerk towards Toons because of his old grudge. He's generally mean, sarcastic and filled with anger, so God help you if you hint that he works for Toons. But, however, if you can get to a contact with him, he'll stick with you untill the end and you'll find out that he's a nice guy after all, he just still brooding over his brother's death and that's why he appears to be so cold and bitter.
  • Buzzy Crocker from Tower of Terror
  • Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story. In the first movie, he was a Jerkass, but in the second and third movies, he improves.
  • Gru of Despicable Me is a Diabolical Mastermind who revels in his status as a Card-Carrying Villain. He's also a Benevolent Boss who treats his minions as individuals rather than Faceless Mooks (though they are used as guinea pigs for experiments) and eventually becomes a true father to the girls he adopts as part of his plan, even going Papa Wolf for them in the end.
  • Roland T. Flakfizer might be a money-seeking Ambulance Chaser, but he's sincere about pairing up the star-crossed dancers Alan and Lisa.
  • In the movie Hero, Dustin Hoffman's character is a misanthropic, cynical petty crook, constantly declaring that everyone is out for themselves and no one else. When a plane crashes before his eyes, a young child begs him to save his father and there's no one else to turn to, he goes into the burning wreck and rescues each person he comes across in turn - grumbling the whole time - until he finds the father - then disappears, leaving Fake Ultimate Hero Andy Garcia to accidentally get stuck with the credit. After Garcia, a genuine Nice Guy, becomes wracked with guilt because of all the undeserved adulation, and ultimately resolves to confess in a suicide note before leaping to his death, Hoffman risks his life again in order to blackmail Garcia into tearing up the note, going back inside, accepting the credit, and keeping up all the "do-gooder" stuff, which Hoffman realizes is Garcia's natural role in life, in contrast with Hoffman's card-carrying Jerkass.
  • Teardrop in Winter's Bone starts begins the film by nearly assaulting his neice for speaking out of turn. He also casually threatens his wife with violence, which doesn't seem to be unusual in his community. Later in the film, however, he rescues his neice from possible murder, accepting responsibility for her actions in the process. In the end, he brings chicks as gifts for her younger siblings and tries to entertain them with a little banjo.
  • In |Dead Air, Radio DJ Logan Burnhardt and his on-air Sidekick Gil enjoy teasing and even insulting their more colorful callers, however both seek to do everything they can to help the citizens when the crisis starts, with Logan manning the airwaves to give advice to the survivors who are listening and Gil volunteering to venture out on his motorcycle to save Logan's wife.
  • The titular alien from Paul. Some characters describe him as being a nice guy, only incredibly rude.
  • Dean in Cedar Rapids. He might be abrasive and loud with a bit of a drinking problem but he cares deeply for his daughter and friends.
  • John McCone of X Men First Class is, like most of the CIA members in that movie (barring Moria Taggert and the Man in Black) behaved like a jerk, as well as being somewhat sexist. However, despite this, he does call out against more Jerkass members of the CIA whenever they are doing completely Jerkass things (specifically the top brass member William Stryker Sr., when he was keeping Emma Frost incarcerated in what was implied to be an unlawful incarceration practice, and when Stryker decided to have both the US and Soviet forces bombard the shores of Cuba with missiles to eliminate the mutants despite the fact that a human CIA agent [even if she's female] is present on the island with them.)
  • The Old Man from A Christmas Story.
  • Charlotte Mearing from Transformers: Dark of the Moon may give the Autobots and Sam a hard time but unlike Galloway she clearly has respect for them and later apologizes to Sam for dismissing his claims and ultimately assists them in the final battle.
    • The Wreckers are described as "assholes" and don't get along with humans. But they ultimately stay behind to help the Autobots fight off the Decepticons. One of them even says "We ain't going nowhere".
  • King Brian in Darby O Gill and The Little People.
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