Nice Guy: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Not to be [[Department of Redundancy Department|redundant]], but the Nice Guy (or Gal) is [[Captain Obvious|nice]]. Maybe not a [[The Messiah|saint]], but definitely no [[Loners Are Freaks|loner]] or [[Darker and Edgier|edgy]] [[Rebellious Spirit|rebel.]] They're friendly, psychologically well-balanced, [[True Neutral|morally average]] ([[Neutral Good|if not better]]) and in short, someone anyone wouldn't mind to be around and [[The Confidant|have as a friend]], which is often what they are to the hero and/or his extended cast. He won't engage in [[Jerkass]] behaviour, but probably responds in kind to [[Vitriolic Best Buds]] as a type 1 or affable type 2.

Want to know what writers think of that? '''[[Good Is Boring|"Boring!"]]''' and ''[[Friendly Target|"Next!"]]''

 

 

 

 

Often, authors go the abbreviated route and give them a [[Dark and Troubled Past]] triggered by a [[Berserk Button]]. Either way, you can expect their niceness to be ''[[Broken Hero|in spite]]'' of whatever [[Tragedy]] or drama is in their lives, kind of an equal and opposite reaction to it. If done too suddenly, it implies a level of secrecy and acting that a [[Stepford Smiler]] would be jealous of. When done well, a more troubled character will [[Don't You Dare Pity Me!|rebuff their advice or friendship]] with "What do you know? [[Misery Poker|You've never had X happen to you!]]" to his "[[Former Teen Rebel|I did]]", thus revealing healed-over scars.

 

 

If he ''does'' get the girl, it's [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man]]. Usually the result of [[Upbringing Makes the Hero]]. [[Beware the Nice Ones|You should beware this nice guy]], though, should you press his [[Berserk Button]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* The male protagonist of just about every [[Harem Series]].

* Jinto from ''[[Crest of the Stars]]'', almost to the point of self-effacement. He's also [[Iron Woobie]] and [[The Quisling]] at the same time and thus makes an interesting protagonist despite having a less flashy personality than some of the other characters.

* Kenshiro, in spite of inheriting the head-popping Martial Art known as ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', is a warm, gentle, sensitive and kind-hearted man who loves children and is [[Manly Tears|not ashamed]] [[Tender Tears|to cry]].

* Kou from ''[[Cross Game]]'' and most Adachi protagonists show shades of this trope. You can actually ''see'' why girls would like them, as opposed to many shounen 'Nice Guys'.

* Seiichirou Kitano from ''[[Angel Densetsu]]'' is a master of this. He actually seems incapable of wanting to hurt anyone, despite how he's treated.

** Don´t forget Nana, despite her miserable life and the atrocious abuse she constantly suffers, she is always nice to everybody and, even when she gets serious, refuses to kill people.

* Takato Matsuki from ''[[Digimon Tamers]]''. He's just a normal boy who is a fan of Digimon, as opposed to the rest of the cast which seems to have lots of Emotional Issues. This, of course, gets deconstructed.

* Spain, Canada, Finland, Thailand and Greece from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' are the closest to the trope in between the cast.

** Lithuania and Liechtenstein might count as well, at least in the main plot.

** And according to the last manga volume, Macau is one as well:

* Hirasawa Yui of ''[[K-On!]]'' is the idealistic, innocent and warm heart that holds the "Afterschool Teatime" band together.

* Ayato from ''[[RahXephon]]'' is polite, friendly, easygoing and a decent human being. Amazingly, despite being the protagonist, he still manages to be a fascinating character.

* [[Naruto|Rock Lee]]. So much so that he ''forgave'' Gaara for nearly crippling him for life and ending his career as a shinobi.

** And before all of these, Minato Namikaze (aka Fourth Hokage); even his future wife thought (at first) that he was a sissy because of his nice and polite demeanor. {{spoiler|[[Like Father, Like Son]]}} it would seem.

* Tenma in ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' couldn't be nicer, unless you happened to have dumped him for politico-economic reasons. {{spoiler|And, even then, he'll still risk his life to save yours. Even after all the [[Stalker with a Crush|stalking]].}}

* Rocket from ''[[Ginga Densetsu Weed]]'' after his [[Heel Face Turn]].

* Allen Walker from ''[[D.Gray-man]]'' is as nice as they come (outside of a game of poker), not to mention absolutely adorable and prone to [[The Messiah|trying to save everyone]]. He's got two or three girls in love with him, and one of them is the ''sworn enemy of his species''.

* Takeshi Yamamoto from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' is the friendliest of Tsuna's guardians. Until you hand him a baseball bat...or a sword... or hurt his friends...[[Beware the Nice Ones|then prepared to be sliced to pieces]].

* Nagasumi of ''[[Seto no Hanayome]]'' is surprisingly well-adjusted and nice, considering that [[The Chew Toy|the universe screws around with him]] on a regular basis.

* Tsukasa Hiiragi from ''[[Lucky Star]]'' has "Good Person" as her highest stat, and it shows.

** Brock is no slouch, either. As [[Team Mom]], he cooks and cares for his younger friends, provides help and encouragement with endless good-natured patience, and rarely loses his temper ([[Chivalrous Pervert|when pretty girls aren't involved]]).

** There's also Ash's newest companion in ''Best Wishes'': Cilan, who is always trying to settle things between characters that fight. [[Beware the Nice Ones|Just don't piss him off...]][[Cute and Psycho|you really don't want to piss him off.]]

* We have Nao from the ''[[Liar Game]]'', perhaps the most pure and honest character in the whole series. In fact, her reason for continuing with the game is to [[The Messiah|save]] everyone else in the game, including the ones who had deceived and [[Evil Gloating|gloated]] cruelly in her face.

* Ryuuji Takasu from ''[[Toradora!]]''. He's a tad [[Neat Freak|obsessive-compulsive]] and has the [[Face of a Thug]], but he's reliable, patient, supportive and hard-working.

** Meanwhile, Shirley Fenette and Euphemia li Britannia are the epitome of this trope when it comes to females. Unfortunately, this just shows us how the writers feel about Nice Gals in the cast. Rivalz has shades of it, being a kindhearted slacker, and Gino Weinberg also has shades of it, as much as his duty as a Knight of Rounds allows.

** No mention of Nunnally Lamperouge, anyone? She stays cheerful and kind through experiences that would leave most people ''shattered'' {{spoiler|and is fortunate enough to survive unlike the above girls, albeit after some ''serious'' breaking.}}

* Tohru of ''[[Shiki]]''.

* Yuji of ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'' is an interesting variation of this whose niceness actually does get him girls. Ironically, instead of stifling romantic conflict, his niceness is also his greatest flaw, actually creating romantic conflict in the first half of Season 2, where he completely fails to realize that he can't give attention to every girl who's attracted to him without hurting the feelings of someone else, thus making him an accidental [[Master of the Mixed Message]]. And his friend Hayato ''does'' call him out on that.

* Nicol Amalfi and Kira Yamato from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED|Gundam SEED]]''. Cagalli uses this trope to describe Kira: "He never thought things through and he always cried, but he was kind. He was a nice guy!"

* Normal Yugi of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''. Unfortunately for him, his [[Loves My Alter Ego|love interest]] is into his [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|darker]] [[Super-Powered Evil Side|alter ego]].

* Eiichirou of the manga ''[[Baby Steps]]''. This is one of the reasons that [[Love Interest]] Natsu trusts him with her "big secret" (of wanting to someday become a professional tennis player) on the first day they met.

'''Natsu:''': I'm sure. }}

* Poor Hojo from ''[[Inuyasha]]''. He is so nice that no one has the heart to tell him that is not [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|how things work]] in [[Rumiko Takahashi|that universe]].

* ''[[Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou]]'': Despite his damning status as [[The Antichrist|the future Demon King]], [[Accidental Pervert|Akuto]] [[Hero with Bad Publicity|Sai]] is probably one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and only wants to help make the world a better place. Will anyone listen to him? [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy|NO!!!]]

* The eponymous Haruka from ''[[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu]]'' is a really, really nice moe girl and also, an otaku.

** There's also Tom Tanaka, who's primary character trait appears to be that he is the lone normal, untraumatized, nice guy [[Dysfunction Junction|in a city of absolute nutters]]. Bizarrely, it's [[Because You Were Nice to Me|this very trait that let him befriend]] the ''most'' unstable character in the series, [[The Berserker|Shizuo Heiwajima]].

** Hayate himself is a nice guy in general, despite being a [[Butt Monkey]]. Isumi is this as well.

* Akira Sakamoto of ''[[Princess Princess]]'' is such a Nice Guy that his excess niceness leaks out and forms an aura of soothing and healing vibes that refreshes everyone who comes into contact with him.

* Tsubasa Aozora from ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]''; when he's not on the field, that is. Taro Misaki, Gino Fernandez, Luciano Leo and Pepe are also nice guys as well.

** Even when in the field, Tsubasa is pretty nice. In fact, he's been injured more than once while ''helping'' a teammate or a rival, like when {{spoiler|he saved one of the Tachibana twins from falling head-on first to the ground (which would've almost surely killed him, or at least caused horrible damage) and [[Game-Breaking Injury|got a dislocated shoulder for his trouble.]]}}

** Later, [[Sixth Ranger]] Roderick has revealed himself to be a nice guy, though not as popular as Judeau.

* ''[[GE - Good Ending]]'' features Utsumi Seiji, who is a pretty much an [[Unlucky Everydude]] who is sincerely nice to all his friends. Unfortunately, it tends to bite him in the ass as he sometimes ends up grabbing the [[Idiot Ball]] because he doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

* ''[[No. 6]]'' has Shion, who is also an [[Adorkable]] nice guy.

* Kazuya Aoi from ''[[Freezing]]'' is the only one willing to look past Satellizer's shady background and discover that she's actually a really sweet girl, she just has some issues.

* Dekisugi from ''[[Doraemon]]'' is this because his character is based on a perfect archetype of a Japanese schoolboy, in contrast of [[The Hero|Nobita]], who's a bit of a brat. In the [[The Movie|movies]], however, Nobita is upgraded into this trope, if not outright [[The Messiah]].

* Yugo Hachiken from [[Silver Spoon]] is one of these, willing to do anything for his new found friends at the Yezo Agricultural School, and is also rather friendly. His classmates are perfectly willing to use him for menial labor for this reason.

* Despite being a [[Idiot Hero|moron]], and sustaining physical abuse from his ''friends'', [[Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu|Akihisa]] is generally a nice guy, and even HELPS the same friends who hurt him on a daily basis when they are in need.

* A number of characters in ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' fit this. Tohru Honda is the most prominent, constantly putting the wellbeing of her friends and family before herself, often causing problems for herself in the process.

* Madoka from ''[[Rinne no Lagrange]]'' pilots a mecha because her friend she just made, asked her to.

* Nossori, Morimori and Sewashi from ''[[Mazinger Z]]'', the three professors worked in the Photon Atomic Energy Research Institute by assisting Prof. Yumi and designing upgrades for Mazinger-Z and Aphrodite A were genuinely nice: they were kind, good-natured and very patient (you have to be to deal with so many hot-headed, impatient teenagers), even if they were somewhat goofy.

* Sho Fukamachi in all three versions of ''[[Guyver|The Guyver]]'' -- ''Guyver:Out of Control (1986),'' ''Guyver:Bio-Booster Armor (1989),'' and ''Guyver: The Bio Booster Armor (2005).''

 

 

* Most incarnations of [[Superman]]'s pal, [[Jimmy Olsen]].

** Superman himself. The essence of his character is being a shining example for others to look up to.

* [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker]]. The fact that he's so nice is part of the reason his [[Woobie|Woobiness]] is so pronounced in light of his [[Deus Angst Machina|crappy life]] and the [[Hero with Bad Publicity|irrational hatred]] [[Ungrateful Bastard|he gets from those he helps.]]

* [[Nightwing|Dick Grayson.]] [[DC Universe|DC Comics']] official position is that he's the most beloved superhero in the community (yes, even moreso than ''Superman'') and that almost any member of it would instantly drop what they were doing to help if he were in trouble.

* The squeaky clean ''[[Tintin]]'' is this, [[Foil|in contrast]] to the brash, [[The Alcoholic|drunken]], and loud-mouthed [[Badbutt|Captain Haddock]].

* Major Mapleleaf from ''[[Alpha Flight]]'', as befits a super-Mountie.

 

 

* Stefan Faraday, the Destrious xenobiologist and [[The Lancer|second in command]], in the ''WALLE Forum Roleplay''.

** And possibly Terenzio Bareggi, the gambler, though he's more of a mix of this trope, [[The Charmer]] and the [[Loveable Rogue]].

* Despite being called a [[Malicious Slander|coltcuddlin' pedophile]], Caramel of ''[[Assumptions]]'' is as close to this trope as possible. He lets Rainbow Dash sleep on his bed while he gets the floor, after she accidentaly drank a spike drink. Then he cooks breakfast for her when she wakes, up, and again for over a month afterwards when she shows up expecting more. And even after it's revealed she nearly accidentally killed him with a botched stunt, Caramel chooses to accept her half-hearted apology so they could keep being friends. That's probably why she's slowly falling in love with him.

* Sonic the Hedgehog in ''[[The Blue Blur of Termina]]'', a huge contrast with the significantly more acerbic Tatl as shown by his calmly asking Alfred for the Bombers' password instead of shouting and bullying him into doing it.

== Live Action TV ==

* [[Quantum Leap|Sam Beckett.]]

** Sav and Adam are more recent examples.

** As are Jake and Riley.

* Girl example - the titular character of ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]''.

* Lt. Commander Data in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', [[Depending on the Writer|depending on which episode you're watching]]. He's the [[Emotional Emotionless Person|supposedly emotionless android]] of the series (who was literally intended to [[Word of God|replace Spock]]). He was generally nice, good natured, honest and seemed to get more romantic attention due to all this than most of the rest of the crew. He was also ''hopeless'' at social interaction, completely failed at [[Blunt Metaphors Trauma|understanding social nuances and subtleties]] resulting in him either insulting somebody or setting the whole bridge off into fits of giggles, and he was incredibly ''dangerous'' in the right circumstances. Whatever you do, do ''not'' [[Beware the Nice Ones|get him pissed]].

* The "well-balanced" part doesn't apply (in fact, he has myriad issues), but otherwise Ned from ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' fits this pretty well. He may be a bit aloof, but he's just shy, not rude, and he's sincere, kind and principled.

* Simon Tam of ''[[Firefly]]'' is this despite being socially clumsy and [[The Stoic|icy]] in personality. He becomes less nice when his baby sister River is threatened.

* A large part of the plot of ''[[Chuck]]'' is derived from the conflict between the moral greyness of the spy world and the relentlessly good-natured attitude of the title character.

** His friend, the aptly-named Captain Awesome is definitely a good-natured guy too.

* Auggie from ''[[Covert Affairs]]''. His [[Big Brother Instinct]] for Annie is touching.

* Lt. Paxton's husband in the ''[[NCIS]]'' episode ''Power Down''. Interestingly it looked like he might be guilty at first.

* Agent Dale Cooper, the main character of ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', is very friendly and likeable, if not a bit [[Cloudcuckoolander|on the eccentric side]]. {{spoiler|Too bad he gets [[Demonic Possession|possessed]] by [[Big Bad|Killer BOB]] in the [[Bolivian Army Ending|series]] [[Left Hanging|finale]]}}.

* [[Momma's Boy|Hoyt]] and [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|Terri]] both fit nicely into this trope. They are both decent, moral guys that always act supportive and respectful towards the other characters, are both sweet and sensitive. They both sometimes get trodden on by more forceful characters. [[All Men Are Perverts|Of all the men in the series]], [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man|Hoyt and Terri would make the best boyfriends: they are really the only two who treat their love-interests properly]].

* Jason Lee Scott of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''.

** T.J. of ''[[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers in Space|In Space]]'' and Wes of ''[[Power Rangers Time Force|Time Force]]'' are also standout Ranger examples.

* Matt from ''[[Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights]]''.

* [[Mister Rogers]], '''''[[Captain Obvious|duh]]'''''.

* Ted from ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]''. Although he has his [[Jerkass]] moments like the rest of the characters, he's almost ridiculously hospitable and helpful towards his friends (to the point of once selling his new car to loan Marshall money after the latter loses his job, giving Barney and Robin scads of relationship advice despite the latter being his ex-girlfriend, and giving Marshall and Lily his own apartment as a baby shower gift, complete with a handmade crib, when he realizes they are miserable in the suburbs). He's also a hopeless romantic and sentimental sap, which is [[Women Are Wiser|frequently highlighted by the show's penchant for gender-flipping tropes.]] One of the foremost examples: to dissuade her from having sex, he regales Robin's teenage sister with a story about how back in high school, he said "I love you too" to his girlfriend after she said she loved him to get in her pants, ran off the moment he finished banging her, and never called her back. He says that ''all'' teenage boys are like this, even the 'nice' ones like him. However, Ted later confesses that the roles were reversed -- ''he'' was in love with the girl, who lied about being in love with him back to make him put out and never called him back.

** Ted's best friend Marshall is pretty much the poster-child for this trope. He's sweet, sensitive, innocent, good-natured, idealistic, romantic, and can't bear to hurt anyone (which is why it's such a shock when he beats a guy unconscious in retaliation for punching Ted). Also puts him into [[Gentle Giant]] territory given that Jason Segel is about 6'4.

* Major Healey from ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' is made of this trope. He treats Jeannie a lot better than Major Nelson does, and is always going out of his way to support and cheer on the other characters.

* Riley and Xander from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.

** Though Riley gets something of a [[Deconstruction]] later on - he's the prime example of how to ''not'' do this character since he ended up being regarded as a bland [[Replacement Scrappy]] for ''[[Angel]]'' (and attempts to make him more compelling as a [[Love Interest]] for Buffy fell flat).

* In ''[[Noah's Arc]]'', Junito is probably the best example, being consistently kind, courteous, patient and understanding with Ricky (who is a promiscuous, emotionally stunted, and often times [[Jerkass]] individual).

* Sol Star of ''[[Deadwood]]'' manages to be nice to just about everyone in the camp (no easy feat) including Al Swearengen and be [[Heterosexual Life Partners]] with the perpetually short tempered Seth Bullock.

 

== Literature ==

* Dean from [[Tanya Huff]]'s ''[[Keepers Chronicles|Summon the Keeper]]'' is so well-grounded people instinctively look for roots when they see him. He does housework, never swears, and is really handsome as well. Oh, and he's a twenty-year-old [[Nature Adores a Virgin|virgin.]]

* Karal from the ''Mage Storms'' trilogy of the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]''. He's so nice, in fact, that he's terribly ill-suited for the web of political intrigue he's thrust into by the death of his [[The Obi-Wan|mentor]], Ulrich, Karsite ambassador to Valdemar. However, as a priest (and an honest one, even), this very attribute turns out to be his greatest asset in making friends with the Heralds.

** Arys Oakheart also qualifies, being the most unwilling of the Kingsguard to beat Sansa (and does so as lightly as possible), and is steadfastly loyal to Myrcella, whom he is sworn to protect. {{spoiler|He gets offed.}}

 

 

* Real life examples are incredibly subjective, but anyone who has met Kristin Hersh or follows her Facebook page or Twitter account knows she really, really fits this trope.

* [[Alice Cooper]]'s No More Mr. Nice Guy is about Cooper throwing down the gauntlet after his mother's church group reacted with disgust to his onstage antics. He contends he was actually a Nice Guy...but not anymore.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* The ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series has a few:

** ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' has Jacob Taylor, who is the [[Only Sane Man]] in a [[Dysfunction Junction]] and a friendly, level-headed man.

** On the flip side, guys ([[Even the Girls Want Her|and girls]]) loved the badass [[Wrench Wench]] Tali so much that she was upgraded to love interest in the sequel, remaining incredibly popular even against competition like [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|Liara]] and [[Ms. Fanservice|Miranda]].

* A [[Gender Flip]] example: [[Disgaea|Flonne]] is the kindest and most caring angel you'll ever meet [[Love Freak|talking about love]]

** And from the same guys who made ''[[Disgaea]]'', [[The Messiah|Marona]] from [[Phantom Brave]] is this trope taken [[Up to Eleven]].

* Link from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' franchise.

* Stocke from ''[[Radiant Historia]]''. [[The Stoic|He may not be the most demonstrative of Nice Guys]], but one of the required sidequests for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]] and the [[Golden Ending]]? Helping a little girl play dress-up.

** Mario himself is about as inoffensive as it gets, being a sort of all-purpose problem-solver/[[One-Man Army|private-army]] as a result of random people asking him for help and Mario never refusing. He does have the aforementioned tendency to abuse Bowser (being justified only 9 times out of 10), but to any non-militant-koopas he's friendly, gregarious, and charitable.

* ''[[Golden Sun]]'' has played merry hell with this trope.

** Ivan was identified as a sweet kid, but had some issues with [[Mind Over Manners]] even in the first game, which he was even called out on.

** Mia has a little bit of [[Deadpan Snarker]], but is mostly a gentle [[Staff Chick]] and the first truly nice player character in the series. Her [[Establishing Character Moment]] is healing an elderly couple, she quickly puts her trust in Isaac's group despite the doubtful circumstances of their meeting, and her most aggressive moment is even fully merited - revulsion with her cousin, Alex, upon realising the extent of his betraying their Clan's ideals.

*** On the other hand, regarding strangers, when he {{spoiler|was facing Nrvnqsr Chaos, witnessing the latter interrupting their confrontation to murder and devour a bypasser who had nothing to do with anything, for no reason whatsoever, was what got him out of being afraid of the monster, and replaced the fear with hatred and anger}}.

* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'''s Emiya Shirou is considerate, [[Stay in the Kitchen|slightly overprotective]], thoughtful and an ''[[Food Porn|amazing]]'' [[Supreme Chef]].

* Hideyoshi of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' is... pretty normal compared to [[Big Screwed-Up Family|the rest of the cast]]. And nice, too seeing how he's always trying to calm down fights. And [[Satellite Character|he hasn't done anything noteworthy yet.]] Then again, this ''is'' the ''[[When They Cry]]'' franchise, so we shouldn't call him out yet...

** To further shove this in your face, {{spoiler|he has ''the lowest survival rate in the series,''}} while his wife [[Rich Bitch|Eva]] ([[Pet the Dog|who adores him]]) {{spoiler|has the ''highest.'' [[Morality Chain|And after he kicks it, she horribly snaps. EVERY time.]]. }} Owwwwch.

** His ''[[Dumbing of Age]]'' [[Alternate Universe|variant]], on the other hand, is too neurotic and sarcastic to really be this.

* The Nice Guy havs "involuntary decency" as his sole character flaw.

* [[Lovable Nerd|John Egbert]] of ''[[Homestuck]]'' is definitely one of these. General consensus among his friends is that he's kind of a doofus, but that there's something endearing about his derpiness.

*** Apparently her motive for watching out for [[Killer Game Master|Vriska]] all the time was [[Dogged Nice Guy|not entirely]] [[Lipstick Lesbian|altruistic.]]

*** Of course, Kanaya also comes with a massive case of [[Beware the Nice Ones]]. Her [[Weapon of Choice]] is a [[Chainsaw Good|''CHAINSAW'']], after all.

** Tavros Nitram also qualifies. One of the trolls notes that he seems to be ''unable'' to hate anyone. Which is ''really'' odd among trolls.

* Jeremy from ''[[Platinum Grit]]''. He's so nice that he can be this and [[The Woobie]] at the same time, because he's too damn nice to get down in the dumps about anything for long.

* Elan, ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'''s [[Spoony Bard]], is ''definitely'' a Nice Guy. He's also fairly [[Good Is Dumb|Dumb.]]

 

== Web Original ==

* While most ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' characters are some level of [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]], there are still a few Nice Guys. Donut on the Red Team is so perky, friendly, and nice that even ''Church'' (who otherwise hates everyone) likes him. Agent New York is sane, laid-back, friendly, fair-minded, slightly dorky, and gets along well with his AI... especially notable due to the fact that the rest of the elite squad he's a part of is otherwise mostly jerkasses, cynics, crazy, and/or downright evil. Finally, Sheila is remarkably personable and helpful for literally being a tank.

* Quite a few characters in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', but one character who plays this to a tee is Reika Ishida, in contrast to her [[Psycho Lesbian|sister]]. One of her defining traits was that she was nice and friendly, always trying to help out. However, true to the stereotype, she literally gets killed within two posts once she gets to the island. Danya in the following announcement then called her "the less interesting of the Ishida sisters" for this reason.

** Billy is also on the surface a nice guy, but he becomes more of a [[Dogged Nice Guy]] around her, and arguably he has some ideas that [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|maybe]] [[Mad Scientist|aren't]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|so]] [[Beware the Nice Ones|nice]].

* [[Doug Walker]]'s niceness was lampshaded and parodied in his cameo for [[Phelous]]'s review of ''[[House of Wax]]''. While the rest of the site cheered for Paris Hilton's character's death, he's disgusted by their behaviour even though she's fictional.

 

== Western Animation ==

* This is a ''required'' trope for Optimus Prime, no matter which [[Transformers]] Multiverse he belongs to.

* Despite being a necromancer prone to being a [[Large Ham]], Dr. Orpheus of ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' is a loving father, true friend (to Brock Samson and his Triad team-mates at least) and one of the few characters on that show to have a conscience. Although he takes his share of hits and occasional ridicule (like every other character), he usually comes out on top earning at least the respect of his peers. He even states that he only uses the Necromancer label due to titles like Wizard or Sorcerer being too boring.

* Frylock from ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' is actually someone most people would like to have as a neighbor... excluding the [[For Science!|science experiments]], [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|his roommates]], and his being a living, floating box of french fries.

* Mr. Thickley, Willy Wombat and Hugh from ''[[Taz-Mania]]'' are all quite friendly.

* Raffles from ''[[Rover Dangerfield]]''.

* Wilt from ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' manages to dodge the "[[Butt Monkey]]" and "Not funny" aspects of this trope by being SO much of a doormat that it becomes hilarious. Part of his problem is a chronic inability to refuse any request, no matter how ill-advised acceding to it would be. In one episode he finally flips and shouts "NO!" over and over for almost a minute...before Bloo heartlessly makes yet another selfish request and force of habit elicits an amicable "sure!" from Wilt.

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]:'' Jeremy Johnson is such a pleasant person, it's hard to believe he has an absolutely [[Enfant Terrible|insane]] [[Deliberately Cute Child|little]] [[Creepy Child|sister.]] He's even dating Candace despite all her glaring flaws and questionable sanity.

** For that matter, Phineas and Ferb themselves would give you the shirts off their backs if asked. In theory, at least. In practice, they'd be more likely to invent some kind of humongous shirt-making machine to clothe every shirtless person in the Tri-State Area, but the principle's the same.

* The titular ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' might be the only truly nice person in [[A Hell of a Time|Miseryville]].

* Captain Marvel on ''[[Justice League]]''. He only got one episode.

'''Batman:''' We like him. He's... sunny. }}

** And several minutes of Cap's episode were dedicated to showing how well Cap got along with his teammates and how nice a guy he was to them. This was done specifically to contrast the seven core JLU members, who during that season were shown to hang around only each other, have secret meetings with no input from the rest of the team and not really interact with the 'lesser' heroes. This gave more credence to the [[What the Hell, Hero?]] speech he gives the big seven, specifically Superman, at the end, regarding their behavior.

* Ed the otter from ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]'' is one of the nicest, most likable, most easygoing characters on the show.

* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'': Jackie Chan takes it [[Up to Eleven]]. He is ''so'' nice than even his dark side is a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]].

* Chris from ''[[Dan Vs.]]'', in stark contrast to [[Jerkass|Dan]] (and most of the other characters to be honest).

* Iroh and Aang, from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]].''

 

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[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]