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For some reason, the character is mostly ignorant of and often confused by common social conventions and behaviors. They usually grasp enough to minimally function around other people most of the time, but any circumstances outside of their limited experience fluster, puzzle or (at worst) upset or enrage them.
Someone with
One background that can lead to this trope is to be [[Raised
Quite often a point is made of stating that this character is very intelligent or "learns fast" to make sure the audience doesn't just write them off as dense and to justify characters trying to help them adjust, or as an excuse for why they've adjusted as well as they did. However, it might just be an [[Informed Ability]].
An extreme form of [[Fish Out of Water]], milder cases may result in [[Strange Girl]], [[Cloudcuckoolander]], [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]], or [[No Sense of Humor]]. [[Homeschooled Kids]] are usually portrayed this way.
Related to: [[Friendless Background]] and [[I Just Want to Have Friends]] when the character isn't happy about this situation.
In [[Real Life]] those with [[wikipedia:Asperger syndrome|Asperger Syndrome]] usually fit this trope, but relatively few works are interested in portraying this with strict accuracy. A mild form is common in academia. That said, {{noreallife|this is a trope about how characters are depicted in media.}}
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Creo the Crimson Crises]]'' we have Kiki, who's never even worn shoes or underwear until she joins the main cast. Her idea of making friends is to [[Skinship Grope|grope]] the first pretty girl that walks by, announcing her intentions, and breaking off a store sign as a gift of friendship.
* ''[[
** L: He's socially awkward, dresses like a bum, and is the greatest detectives on the planet.
** Near is also quite awkward and seems unlikely to get by if he had to fend for himself in the normal world. Oddly, despite their practical problems, they both possesses great theoretical knowledge of people. His rival Mello left the Wammy's House orphanage where they were both raised at the age of 14 and is quite street-savvy in comparison.
* Goku in ''[[
* Nana from ''[[
* Sagara Sousuke from ''[[
* Tasuki of ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', the resident [[Jerk
* [[Friendless Background|Kobayashi Sumisugu]] from ''[[Harlem Beat]]'' is a [[The Stoic|stoic]] [[Perpetual Frowner]] armed with [[Death Glare]] and [[Brutal Honesty]]. He either scared people with his aloofness or pissed them off until [[The Pollyanna|Imagawa]] and consequently Johnan team befriended him.
* [[Sexy Mentor]] Shigure Kousaka of ''[[Kenichi:
* Lucia in ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'', is a [[Our Mermaids Are Different|mermaid]] in the human world. When she is in mermaid society she has a No Social Skills there either! In the manga she was raised on the surface, but in the anime, she was just as clueless about the society that she had been [[
* Mana from ''[[Mermaid Saga]]'', having been raised by [[
* Naruto, from ''[[
** Naruto's social ineptness could be [[Justified Trope|justified]] when you consider the fact that [[All of the Other Reindeer|he was always shunned and avoided like the plague]] because of the [[Sealed Evil in
** When attempting to be sociable, Sai usually winds up insulting someone. He eventually learns his lesson; people seem to like it when you tell them the ''opposite'' of what you think of them.
* Rei Ayanami from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' was raised by Gendo Ikari, leaving her with no idea how humans normally interact. She would have been better off if she had been [[Raised by Wolves]].
** Her male counterpart, Kaworu Nagisa, might know a bit more about human interaction, but he is just as oblivious as to how the rules work.
** Shinji Ikari, Gendo's actual son, is not much better either. But at the very least, his denseness is not off the atomic scale like Rei is. Even being related to Gendo must kill your social skills like no tomorrow.
* The title character from ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'' qualifies. Having spent thirteen years of mistreatment by a cruel ringmaster, she's suspicious of everybody, detests killing, and adamantly opposed to eating meat. As such, she doesn't know how to interact with other people. She either lashes out in a rage, misunderstands others' actions, and stubbornly refuses to see beyond her calls of judgment. Worse still, she is not able to admit what her problem is and expects her friends to just "read her mind." Nadia becomes a much more sociable and trusting character, however, as a result of her close relationships with Jean (arguably the complete opposite of Nadia), Marie, Grandis, and, to a lesser extent, the ''Nautilus'' crew.
* Eve of ''[[Black Cat (
** Creed Diskenth, the series' [[Big Bad]] isn't much better off, combining this trope with [[Lack of Empathy]], [[No Sense of Humour]], and [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]] for truly awe-inspiring results. He can't understand or relate to other people at all, is an utter failure as a [[Manipulative Bastard]], is prone to [[Freak-Out|Freak Outs]] when he doesn't get his way, and honestly doesn't understand why killing [[The Hero]]'s [[Not Love Interest]] would cause him to hate his (Creed's) guts. He frequently misunderstands people, doesn't get why his [[Bad Boss]] tendencies are causing his underlings to flee, is oblivious to his [[Dark Chick|right-hand woman]]'s [[Love Martyr|blatant crush on him]], and is convinced that [[The Hero|Train]] will realise how much Creed matters to him once [[Murder the Hypotenuse|all his friends are dead]]. Unlike many examples on this page, it is ''never'' played for laughs.
* ''[[
** Ranma is marked by his [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]] and has trouble getting on with people, though he's better off
** Ryu, already motherless, lost his father when he was six years old in an accident at once tragic and stupid beyond belief: his father tried out a spine-snapping bear hug on the only pillar supporting their tumbledown dojo, crushing himself in the ruins.
** Ryoga's [[No Sense of Direction|issues with direction]] are [[It Runs in The Family|hereditary]] on ''both'' sides of the family, so any two members of the family only meet in extremely rare circumstance.
* [[Lonely Rich Kid]] Kagura Tennouzou from ''[[Speed Grapher]]'' is kept isolated from the world, so male lead Saiga has to teach her about it when he frees her from her evil family.
* ''[[Spice and Wolf]]''
** Holo matches this trope to a glimmering 'T'. She is a wolf spirit/god of the harvest. She's a lot savvier about the way humans live than the others, though. She has lived with humans several times in the past, and spent centuries watching the people of a single village. Indeed, she often understands people better than they understand themselves, and isn't above emotional manipulation when it suits her. She is carefree about certain human conventions, but not because she doesn't understand
** Lawrence's social skills are quite poor as well. While he's adept at communicating at others of his trade in the process of various business deals, he doesn't have much experience with people outside of the field of economics. He's ''especially'' ignorant of the courtship process.
** Lawrence and Holo are good examples of different ways this trope can be applied. Lawrence knows a lot about contemporary society and social institutions, but isn't very savvy about human nature. Horo is the exact opposite, and both are intelligent enough to cover for each other as necessary.
* Nia from ''[[
* Tres Iqus of ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' displays this trope every now and then in his interactions with Abel. Especially in the manga, he is often heard uttering the phrases like, "Does not compute." Of course, it's questionable if this is because Abel has an extensive vocabulary or simply because he's crazy. However, Tres also fits into the "brutal honesty" classification quite snugly. Considering Tres is a robot, it is more like he is one of the wolves.
* Cheza in ''[[
* Shana from ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]''. She [[The Spartan Way|was raised for combat]], and her caretakers failed to see the importance of pretty much anything besides that, not even a name. This helps explain why she reacts to romance [[Tsundere|the way she does]]. At one point, she starts asking everyone about kissing and how babies are made, which makes for some ''really'' awkward moments...
* One episode of the ''[[Pokémon]]'' anime, ''The Kangaskhan Kid'', was about a kid who was raised by Kangaskhan. And in a [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure|loose manga adaptation of the Diamond and Pearl (but mostly Diamond) versions]], the main character was raised by wild Pokémon. In the former's case, he was [[Parental Abandonment|lost by his parents]] when they were on vacation. In the latter case, the kid was being watched by Professor Rowan, and the good professor decided that the boy should go live with Pokémon because he could sort of communicate with them. Let me rephrase that: ''Rowan sent a small child to live in the wild with Pokémon because he thinks the kid can talk to animals.'' In Rowan's defense, it worked.
* ''[[Vinland Saga]]'' - Thorfinn is a violent, apathetic, antisocial [[Jerkass]] who can't even have a civil conversation with the man who knew him from before his time growing up in Viking band.
** He got better after the time skip.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''
** Princess Arika spent her whole life confined in the royal palace of Ostia, the result being that her social development was somewhat stunted, turning her into [[The Stoic]]. She didn't even know what ice cream was until Nagi showed her.
** Kotaro, a half wolf who was abandoned as a child who has [[Brutal Honesty|little sense of being polite]], or ever spent time doing anything normal besides training to fight, but is not quite a [[Wild Child]] since he grew up in a city and looks and acts normal for the most part. Ayaka even calls something quite similar to the trope name.
{{quote|
* Sawako Kuronuma from ''[[Kimi
* Natsu of ''[[
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* ''[[
* A few protagonists in the ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise.
** ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'' - Amuro's experience with "[[Science Marches On|shell shock]]" from the events of [[Mobile Suit Gundam|the original series]] have left him with elements of this.
** ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam]]'' - Domon Kasshu spent the latter half of his twenty-year life being raised in the woods by ludicrously [[Badass]] but eccentric [[Old Master|Master Asia]]. As such he's good at being passionately [[Hot-Blooded]], ''really'' good at beating things up and...well, [[Idiot Hero|not much else]].
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing]]'''s Heero Yui is pretty arguable, given that he grew up a soldier. Anybody who rips up an invite to a girl's birthday party, wipes away the resulting tear, and then states that he will destroy her hardly counts as normal.
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury]]'' Suletta Mercury grew up on an isolated mining colony around [[Death World|Mercury]] and never saw another child in real life {{spoiler|excluding [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|her sisters stuck inside her Mobile Suit]]}} before being enrolled in a school. The result is that she literally shakes in fear when socializing with her peers in school and fails to realize when they're mocking her. The first student to attempt to take advantage of this to push her around quickly learns she is '''not''' a ''general'' coward and her years as a rescue pilot and [[Super Prototype|the mobile suit she views as a younger sister]] make her a ''very'' dangerous combatant.
* Shizuo Heiwajima from ''[[Durarara!!]]'' [[Friendless Background|grew up with very little]] in the way of positive social contact due to his [[Hair-Trigger Temper|anger]] and impulse control issues. As a result, he does not have much in the way of social graces.
* Shin of ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' could pass as a football [[Expy]] of FMP's Sousuke because of this trait. He was basically a complete loner until he joined the football team in middle school. It actually makes his dedication to football a rather unintentional [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], it was through football that he was able to make friends.
* Mugi from ''[[Hitohira]]'', which doesn't prevent other people from [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship|being enamored with her]] though.
* In ''[[Tamayura]]'', Fuu is supposedly very awkward around strangers, but aside from the occasional stuttering and blushing she manages just fine most of the time.
* Natsume from ''[[Natsume Yuujinchou]]'' initially finds it very hard to open up to people because of his [[I See Dead People|ability to see]] [[Youkai]].
* Boma from ''[[Heat Guy J]]''. Justified, as he was [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashed]] and tortured in prison back in his home city-state.
* Keima from ''[[The World God Only Knows]]'' doesn't know certain social basics like how to make friends or cheer someone up, courtesy of a [[Friendless Background]]. His vast experience of [[Dating Sim|dating sims]] lets him play the suitor, but when it comes to befriending someone, he's at a loss.
* The heroine Eureka from ''[[Eureka Seven]]''. She doesn't have any friends and doesn't open her heart to anyone prior to meeting the protagonist Renton. In the first episode, she did an insensitive thing by burning Renton's house down and she does not seem to comprehend why Renton reacted so miserable about it. She does not even know what is "cool", what love is and how to be pregnant with a baby. It is this lack of social skills that she had a hard time being a mother to her 3 kids. She eventually become a more sociable person towards the end of the series, thanks to the influence of her lover Renton.
* Saori Chiba from ''[[Wandering Son]]'' is both a realistic example and example not [[Played for Laughs]] or cuteness. She has no friends at the start of the manga, later chapters reveal that she [[Hates Everyone Equally]], and even when she becomes more friendly her social skills are rather awkward. She [[Cannot Tell a Joke]] and when she's having friendship issues her first thought is to destroy her two-year friendship and ignore that person.
* Tomoko Kuroki from ''[[
* The whole point of ''[[Komi Can't Communicate]]''. Komi has an [[Ambiguous Disorder]] that makes it very hard for her to interact with others, or even speak at all. Helping her to overcome this is the male protagonist's principle goal.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Laura Kinney, AKA [[X-23]], is the [[Opposite Gender Clone|female counterpart]] to [[Wolverine]] in the [[Marvel Comics]] [[The Verse|Universe]]. She is an example of the "synthetic" subtrope. She was cloned in large part from incomplete samples stolen from the Weapon-X project and raised as an assassin-for-rent. She is literate, multilingual, and a superb actress—when she sees the need. However, her post-escape attempt to go to ground at her aunt's place did not work out at first. Her first day at school was marred by faux pas and attempts to discuss matters far outside her peer's experience. She also failed to even pretend to be intimidated when called in to the Principal's Office.
* ''[[Batgirl]]'' - Cassandra Cain, AKA Batgirl III, is arguably even more dysfunctional. The first eight years of her life was spent in a bunker [[Training from Hell|learning the killing arts]] in isolation from spoken language. The next nine were spent on the streets, unable to comprehend spoken language and fleeing the man who raised her. It shows, even after telepathic intervention enabled her to speak and she got over [[Death Seeker|her death wish]].
{{quote|'''Cassandra''': (''speaking into an audiorecorder/diary'') "They say you are supposed to... dress up for parties," (''looks at conservative business suit in mirror'') "But this is just... wrong."}}
* Vlad in ''[[Hack Slash]]'' was abandoned as a baby due to his deformity and brought up in seclusion by a kindly but reclusive Czech-American butcher, causing him to be [[Gentle Giant|innocent]], very good with [[Weapon of Choice|cleavers]], and [[You No Take Candle|not very good at English]].
* ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' - Rorschach is an extreme case. He never bathes, he thinks it's socially acceptable to break into people's houses and steal their stuff and has the nerve to tell Laurie that her mother almost getting raped by the Comedian could have been a moral lapse. Even Dan has problems dealing with him to the point where he finally lashes out at Rorschach. This leads to a handshake that Rorschach finds very awkward. The only time Rorschach feels at ease with anyone is when he's breaking people's fingers.
* ''[[Spider Woman]]'' - The original [[Marvel Comics]] version of Jessica Drew Spider-Woman had her raised among the [[Mad Scientist|High Evolutionary's]] menagerie of [[Petting Zoo People]] and [[Beast Man|Beast Men]]—meaning that she had no idea how to interact with normal humans when she finally entered the outside world, and tended to creep out everyone she met. The recent [[Retcon]] version of her origin [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|eliminates this, though.]]
* ''[[Secret Six]]'' - Most of the Six had unusual/horrendous upbringings, and as such have no gauge for what is "normal".
* Marv in ''[[Sin City]]'' admits to having little to no social skills. Dwight once mentioned that [[Born in
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* ''[[Dungeon Keeper Ami]]'': Jadite has shades of this, admittedly most of it is [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?]]. But if his description of the Dark Kingdom is anything to go on, it's a bit of [[Raised by Wolves]] as well. Snyder, a Light acolyte and Ami's advisor on wards and the Gods, is a straighter example in many ways. Particularly involveing women, and ''Particularly'' involveing Venna.
* Subverted in ''[[Aeon Entelechy Evangelion]]'', where Gendo didn't dare to neglect Rei—since unlike in [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|NGE]], in this setting he wouldn't get away with it. But since Rei is a Sidoci, the unnormal version of the Xenomix (human and nazzadi hybrid) where being stoic and emotionless is a default personality, his efforts were wasted.
* In ''[[Progress]]'', Luna has poor social skills thanks to a combination of guilt and being a [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]].
* ''[[A Hero (fan work)|A Hero]]'' takes Homura Akemi's lack of social skills and runs with it. To the point that Dalek Sec, the resident [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Imperialistic Space Nazi]], is considered to have the better social skills of the two of them.
==
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' had a lighter toned example in Buzz Lightyear, who makes a lot of blunders because he is a [[Fish Out of Water]] - he has no concept of the reality he was introduced to. This was so popular that a new Buzz Lightyear doll was introduced in the sequel to highlight the personal growth of the original while having an excuse to keep the the No Social Skills humor on tap.
* Stéphane from ''[[The Science of Sleep]]'' is an odd example. He uses his imagination to cope with a lot of the outside world but does have some friends... they are equally as strange as him but when meeting Stéphanie it becomes clear he lacks some very basic social interaction. He goes into [[Stalker with a Crush]] mode in sincere innocence unaware anything he's doing is bad.
* ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'' is an odd example: despite being taught by his inventor about manners and politeness, the title character has no idea whatsoever how to live outside his castle. On top of that, while he is very kind and gentle, his understanding of ethics is a bit... sketchy. Edward's "father," for lack of a better word, actually intended to fully educate him and would have left him with a workable, if outdated, method of interaction with people. Sadly he died before Edwards education was finished.
* The eponymous character of ''[[Nell]]''. Raised completely isolated with only her mother, who had a speech impediment due to a stroke, she spoke a language called "Nellish" that was almost unintelligible to anyone else. Initially completely terrified of strangers, but gets better.
** {{spoiler|The anthropologists studying her eventually figure out "Nellish" is just English, garbled by the speech impediment and years of living completely alone. Once they figure this out, the ability to treat it as a cipher instead of a completely unique language makes communication much easier. It also reveals that, language barrier aside, Nell can be quite eloquent when she wants to be}}.
* The title character in ''[[Starman (
* Danny in ''Unleashed'' aka ''[[Danny the Dog]]'' was raised like a
* Played straight-ish in ''Human Nature'', where one of the main characters was raised by a human who ''thought'' he was an ape. It's a weird movie.
* Princess Rosalinda from ''[[
* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl|Leeloo]] in ''[[The Fifth Element]]''.
* ''[[Griff
== [[Literature]] ==
* Princess Ida from [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''[[
* In Kelley Armstrong's ''[[Women of the Otherworld]]'' series, Clayton Danvers was bitten and Changed into a [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werewolf]] when he was five years old. He spent two years as a [[Wild Child]] in Louisiana's bayous before being domesticated by another [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werewolf]]. He eventually relearned human customs such as "privacy" and "physical contact", but does not understand them and chooses not to observe them unless absolutely necessary. His thoughts are more wolfish than those of other [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werewolves]], as he was Changed at five instead of fifteen. As a child, he was often assumed to be mentally retarded since he rarely spoke and even then rarely in complete sentences.
* The eponymous character in J.M. Barrie's ''[[Peter Pan]]'', having been raised by [[The Fair Folk]], is an occasionally [[Sociopathic Hero|sadistic]] [[Trickster]].
* In Brooks' ''[[World War Z]]'', this phenomenon becomes a lingering social problem after the [[Zombie Apocalypse]] which ravaged western society, as orphaned children who were separated from their parents (by death [[A Fate Worse Than Death|or worse]]) and who managed to survive in the wild grow up feral.
* The eponymous character of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in
* The narrator of Karen Hesse's ''The Music of Dolphins'' was the only survivor of an airplane crash in the Caribbean as a very young child, and was taken in by a pod of dolphins. She's reasonably healthy when she's found by (aside from minor considerations, such as having ''barnacles'' all over her) and, unlike other [[Wild Child
* In Jane Lindskold's ''[[Firekeeper]]'' novels, the eponymous character was [[Raised
* Dondi Snayheever from [[Tim Powers]]' ''Last Call'' is socially incompetent. He was walled up inside a giant Skinner box by his father for virtually his entire childhood, surrounded by oversized paintings of playing cards and books about poker. His father was trying to condition his child to be the ultimate poker player, but lack of human contact left Dondi unable to judge other players' intentions.
* ''[[
** Stanley from ''[[
** Mr. Nutt from ''[[
** Death ([[The Grim Reaper]]) is notable particularly in the later novels for his fascination with, and often hilarious attempts to imitate, humans.
* The appropriately named Hunter in the ''[[Gone (novel)]]'' series. {{spoiler|After accidentally killing a friend with his mutant powers he is brutally hit in the head by Zil, leaving him partially brain damaged. Because of this he slurs his words a lot and doesn't understand some things.}} He is trained by the nearby coyotes (who are mutant, and can speak somewhat) on how to hunt, so is the primary food bringer for Perdido Beach along with Quinn and his fishermen.
* ''[[Petaybee]]'' - Cita, a character in the second book, was raised by members of a cult and, for months after being freed, refers to herself as "Goat-dung".
* Jenna in Jane Yolen's ''[[Great Alta Saga]]''. She was raised in Seldan Hame, which, unlike the rest of the Dales, is largely untouched by the "superior" culture of the Garunian invaders.
* In Kit Whitfield's ''In Great Waters'' Henry/Whistle is Raised By [[Our Mermaids Are Different|Deepmen]]. His lack of adjustment once on land isn't helped by the fact that he's also a [[Half-Human Hybrid]].
* Spider Robinson's ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
* Oskar in ''[[Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close]].'' Sometimes when they played "Reconnaissance Expedition," his father would deliberately set up missions in which Oskar was forced to talk to people, because his father wanted him to get better at it.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Harry Wong most certainly has this problem. He is rather rude, impatient, and violent. One time, he went to his pal Jack Emery's house in the middle of the night, knocked on Jack's door, kicked it in when Jack didn't answer it fast enough, causing an alarm to blare for the whole neighborhood to hear, and then Harry simply punched out the alarm system to make it stop! Harry got an appropriate talking to for that!
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' - Possibly the ultimate example is Mr. Bean himself who lacks a knowledge of social conventions, never demonstrates normal human thought processes, and even occasionally shows a lack of natural fear (shushing people whilst he's on a roller-coaster). In one set of titles he is beamed down from space, but possibly this is metaphor for his unearthliness.
* The eponymous protagonist of ''[[Kyle XY]]''. In the first episode, he awakes naked in the middle of the woods, with no memories or social skills.
* ''[[
** Anya from was very much one of these characters, for good reason: she was a 1,000-year-old demon trying to learn how to be a passable human. At least, at first it was that simple; later on it was revealed that she was born human (1,000 years ago in Sjornjost), and still later it was shown that she'd ''always'' talked and acted like an eccentric even in her original human life.
** The BuffyBot
* Jayne, in ''[[
* ''[[
** Temperance Brennan is loner and a workaholic, she's completely ignorant of pop culture and responds to most movie and television references with "I don't know what that means." Her grasp on social niceties is also tenuous, but she sets herself apart from most TV characters by being willing and able to learn how to deal with people. She seems to be a combination of a mild degree of Asperger's, combined with an academic detachment from reality.
** Zack Addy is another one with No Social Skills, a textbook loner nerd who understands that social politics are ''occurring'', but can't figure out what to do with this information.
* ''[[
* ''[[Star Trek:
** Data's android "daughter" Lal. She was well-versed in "book learning", but not in social interaction. When she saw a couple kissing in Ten Forward, she exclaimed "That man is biting that female!" Data had No Social Skills himself, during the early series.
** "Suddenly Human" featured a human boy raised by aliens with a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|violent culture]] who couldn't fit in with human society.
** In his youth, Worf was unskilled when visiting his family in the Klingon Empire, after being raised by humans. He's apparently gotten better as an adult, but is still considered rather uptight and overly serious. When he acts according to Federation values (like mercy, democracy, humility, etc) he tends to get odd looks and confused reactions though.
* ''[[Star Trek
* ''[[Star Trek:
* Luke Smith from ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' is at a loss in social situations. Thankfully he becomes more sophisticated so as time goes on. After all, he's being raised in a "normal" high school environment and is a quick learner due to both his age and his genes
** He was grown by aliens: human but created to be a "Human Archetype" so that they could do tests on him He has the absorbed intelligence of the thousands of people but not their social skills.
* Charlie Crews in ''[[Life]]'', having spent the last twelve years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The most common is his unfamiliarity with the things like cell phones and instant messaging.
* Walter Bishop in ''[[
* Cameron from ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', since she is a terminator. Skynet's human disguise program: hot on the visuals, crap with the chat.
** Interestingly, in the pilot, before she is revealed as a [[Robot Girl]], she seems like a normal teenage girl, trying to make friends with John Connor.
*** Cameron's shown the ability to fake human interaction long enough to get information out of people. It's only when she's being herself that she struggles.
* Hymie the robot from ''[[
* Jarod, the eponymous character from ''[[The Pretender]]'', is a super-genius who was raised in a lab. When he escapes, he has to learn about common everyday things like Pez at roughly age 35. While his talents include picking up new skills quickly, he tends to be over-analytical about things like ''The Three Stooges'' (which he eventually decided was funny anyway).
* Castiel from ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' is an angel who hasn't spent a lot of time down on earth, so he tends to lack basic knowledge of human etiquette, as well as failing to grasp the concept of sarcasm, rhetorical questions, and metaphor when he's first starting out. He also doesn't quite get the point of goodbyes or even of ending conversations in a conclusive manner. Once he's done saying what he wants to say, he goes poof, even if the other person isn't done yet.
* Parker from ''[[
** As a child, she thought that being buried alive was an appropriate way to get over her fear of the dark. As an adult, she compared it to Eliot locking himself in a shed for a few nights to get over his claustrophobia. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"That's NOT the same thing. What's wrong with you?"]]
** [[Word of God]] is she has Asperger's, explaining her behavior.
* ''[[
** Interestingly, there are rare times when Monk seemily forgets his phobias and awkwardness and just acts like a normal person. However, this happens rarely, and he has no memory of it. This is revealed when a rapper (played by [[Snoop Dogg]]) shows up to ask for Monk's help in clearing his name. Monk starts acting gangsta and eagerly accepts the case. After the rapper leaves, Monk goes back to his old self and assumes he said "no".
* An episode of ''[[The X-Files]]'' features the monster of the week as an entire feral family. It's hinted that the family has lived down through the centuries like this, and are the source of the legend of the [[Jersey Devil]].
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
* There was one ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' where he found a guy he left out in the woods who seemed completely wild (even though he was a full grown adult when it happened). Part of the reasons for his behavior was eating berries in the forest, and things had gotten so bad that he married a raccoon. It drew comparisons between him and Tarzan, until the end when it turns out that the man had {{spoiler|An acute case of schizoid or avoidant personality disorder, and would never be able to assimilate into regular society without drugs. Earl decided the best thing to do would be to release him into the wild where he was happiest.}}
* Jan Kandou from ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]'', raised by pandas and tigers. He calls himself a "tiger boy" and demonstrates incredible strength, such as having a tree fall on him with no effect. It takes him a few episodes to master the concept of things like doors. His defining trait, though, is that, while he can speak proper Japanese, he colours it with made-up babytalk words such as "nikiniki (happy) and "zowazowa" (danger). These words are used to form the show's [[Excited Episode Title
** The Gosei Angels in ''[[Tensou Sentai Goseiger]]'' suffer from this to some extent, though the Landicks are slightly less affected than the other three.
** Sion in ''[[Mirai Sentai Timeranger]]'', an alien who was raised on Earth in a laboratory. He has a strange sense of what's socially appropriate, including, in one memorable incident, stating that he "loves" Domon - right in front of a crowd of girls that Domon was trying to pick up.
** Hiromu Sakurada in ''[[
* Many of the characters on ''[[The Office]]'' are ... awkward, but on the American version, Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute seem tangentially acquainted with human society at best. Michael was clearly raised by pop culture, and expects everything to work out in real life the way it does in movies and on television. Dwight was raised on an insular beet farm without most of the niceties of civilization:
{{quote|
::Dwight's cousin Mose is even worse. On the U.K. Office, David Brent isn't quite as bad as Michael Scott. Gareth Keenan is almost as bad as Dwight, though more militant than rural.
* ''[[The Thick of It]]'' contains several examples. Olly, himself book-smart but not streetwise, asks hapless press officer [[The Ditz|John Duggan]] "I'm not being horrible, but are you actually autistic?". Further along the autism spectrum is [[Invisible President|unseen Prime Minister]] Tom Davis, whose social skills are so lacking that the press officers doubt that they should let him out in public.
* Maura Isles, of ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'', is very much this trope. She's also very sweet. Luckily, she has her street smart [[Heterosexual Life Partners|best friend]] Jane Rizzoli to help:
{{quote|
'''Maura''': No.
'''Jane''': Did you ever ''have'' a best friend?
'''Maura''': (beat) No.
'''Jane''': (laughing) You would tell me if you were a cyborg, wouldn't you?
'''Maura''': (thoughtfully) No, I don't think I would. }}
* Artie of ''[[Warehouse 13]]'' has spent so much of his career in the [[Artifact Collection Agency|Artifact Warehouse]] that he is often considered uncouth to the new agents Pete and Myka.
** Claudia also has a lot of social awkwardness and has no idea how to behave with a boy she likes. Being locked up in a mental institution for years probably has something to do with it, as well as her being a genius.
* ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' episode ''The Human Operators'' features a sentient spaceship that keeps a lone human man as a slave to repair and maintain it when needed. One day, a female slave is brought on board and the ship orders them to mate and beget the next generation of slaves. The man, having lived on the ship his whole life, has no idea what to do and has to be coached by the female. There's a [[Crowning Moment of Funny|hilarious]]/[[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|cute]] scene where, after the woman guides his hand over her breasts, the man double takes and looks down at his first [[Raging Stiffie]].
* ''[[
** Tyzonn from ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]'', though he becomes less awkward as the series goes on.
* Most of the humor in [[The Big Bang Theory]] is about how utterly inept the four main characters are at functioning outside their own nerdy society. Leonard is probably most well adjusted but still has serial foot-in-mouth tendencies, Sheldon shows some autistic tendencies and is also a [[Jerkass]], Raj cannot speak around attractive women unless drunk, and [[Casanova Wannabe|Wolowitz is best left unsaid]].
* Spencer Reid in ''[[
* Gary Bell from ''[[Alphas]]'', [[Justified Trope|justified]] as he is outright stated to have [[Asperger's Syndrome]]. He can be very [[Adorkable|sweet]], but tends towards [[Brutal Honesty
{{quote|
** Taking the above a step further, ''[[Big Brother]]'' had [[Ms. Fanservice|Bonnie Holt]], from Leicester, East Midlands, United Kingdom, who may or may not have [[Aspergers Syndrome]], but her behavior indicates traces of it, if the [[YouTube]] footage of her is anything to go by.
* Saga from ''[[
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* In a week long ''[[Garfield]]'' storyline Jon fell in love with a woman in a rec center who had been [[Raised by Wolves]]. She had only been in civilization for a week and she had tendencies like scratching her head with her foot, messily devouring her food, trying to bite off her foot when her shoe was too tight, and howling at the moon.
* Cartoonstock.com has a number of single-panel cartoons on the subject, of which this troper's favourite is the one about they guy who was raised by a pack of wolves, and the cleaning lady who came in twice a month. That's right, in an ''apartment''.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'', one breed of [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Garou werewolves]], the lupus-born, were actually wolves who could take human form, with all the foreseeable consequences when they tried to blend into human society. Oddly enough, it was usually assumed that after their first transformation most of them could automatically speak whatever language was prevalent in the country were born in, just as human-born [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werewolves]] instinctively knew wolf language, but they couldn't necessarily speak it well. It's a lot of fun to tell a ''Werewolf'' NPC that the Lupus was raised by wolves when he shows a distinct indifference to conventional standards of politeness. Or hygiene.
**
** The other shapeshifting Changing Breeds also get their share of this, as all of them include animal-born members as well. Given the Changing Breeds include rats, reptiles, spiders and sharks, things can get... interesting.
* In the Arthaus [[Ravenloft]] product ''Heroes of Light'', a caliban (= mutant) paladin born with a tiger's head was abandoned at birth in a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Japanese-themed domain]], and was raised by the ''kami'' animal-spirits that found him. Although they taught him the idealized conduct of a samurai and holy man, they couldn't teach him how to deal with the less-than-ideal behavior of ordinary folk.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The Silencers from the ''[[Crusader: No Remorse|Crusader]]'' games may like this. Depending on which version of their creation and training is true, they may be either taken from their parents in their youth and trained in a completely isolated facility or grown in vats, and then raised ''and'' trained in a completely isolated facility.
* Victor von Gerdenheim, of the ''[[Darkstalkers]]'' series of fighting games, is a [[Frankenstein's Monster]] who was barely raised ''at all'' before the Doctor's untimely death. Victor is so unacquainted with the very concept of death that he takes his "father"'s unmoving silence to be disappointment, and is extremely perplexed at his "sister" Emily's refusal to wake up. In the comics, Victor and Emily both mistake the Professor's lack of movement and silence as sleeping, then after a few months feel it must be sickness.
* Rozalin from ''[[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories]]'', due to her being raised in complete isolation from the real world. {{spoiler|Which was intentional on the part of the [[Big Bad]] so she would remain a socially retarded idiot completely devoted to him for her entire life}}.
* Several of the main cast members of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' spent at least part of their childhoods in the training academy of a mercenary company. The ones who enrolled around the age of ten or so got away with relatively mild emotional issues, but Squall, who enrolled at about the age of five or six, [[There Are No Therapists|was given no help getting through his separation trauma]], and immediately began a form of training which eroded his long-term memory, might as well have been [[Raised by Wolves]]. Atypically for the trope, Squall is perfectly aware (and frankly doesn't care) that he's not behaving according to social norms... but having never bothered to learn how to act like a normal human being, when he tries, he's generally horrible at it.
* ''[[Fire Emblem|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' - Ike fits this trope. He's a common mercenary raised by his father Greil to be honest and treat others equally, which is all very good until he arrives at Begnion with its divided classes and strict customs. He ultimately ends up yelling at their beloved apostle before the entire senate without even knowing the gravity of his actions. Fortunately his [[Raised by Wolves]] nature makes him one of the few beorc to gain the laguz's trust.
* To a degree, Lyndis aka Lyn from the ''Blazing Sword'' games. Being the daughter of a Lorca chieftain and a Lycian princess, she found herself at quite the loss after meeting her Lycian grandfather and staying with him in court. more information is in her supports with Eliwood.
* At one point in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', Duncan comments to the PC that the latter's foster father Daeghun is so inept at dealing with such things as "people" and "emotions" that the PC might have been better off if he/she had been [[Raised
* ''[[Persona]]'' series.
** ''[[Persona 3]]'': It's never exactly clear ''how'' Elizabeth was raised, but she has no idea how the world outside the Velvet Room functions when you take her out on dates in ''FES''. Among other things, she thinks you're supposed to ''kill'' the people on a [[Wanted Poster]], believes a manhole is a pitfall trap, and gets trapped inside a jungle gym when she tries to play on it.
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** Their eldest sister Margaret in ''[[Persona 4]]'', on the other hand, seems well aware of how the world works, although she only leaves the Velvet Room once (to speak to the protagonist in private). Whether her savviness is due to greater experience with the world or whether Elizabeth and Theodore are simply quirky by nature is left open to [[Wild Mass Guessing]].
** It is possible that Theodore and Elizabeth told Margaret about the real world.
* Fina from ''[[
* A few characters from ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' have shades of this, especially [[Artificial Human]] Lamia Loveless. In a milder example, [[Ascended Fanboy]] Ryusei is occasionally shown to have trouble getting his head around things that don't involve [[Humongous Mecha]], but he might just be an aspie.
* In ''[[
* Morrigan of ''[[Dragon Age|Dragon Age: Origins]]'' was raised alone in a swamp by her mother Flemeth the Witch of the Wilds. Flemeth taught her two things: 1) Shapeshifting, and 2) that she could trust nobody except herself {{spoiler|in order to make it easier for Flemeth to [[Grand Theft Me|steal Morrigan's body]]}}. Small wonder Morrigan isn't very good with people (to put it lightly).
** If you earn high approval with Morigan as a male character but do not romance her, she will comment that she literally did not know it was possible to befriend a man.
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*** It doesn't help that she's casually using [[Blood Magic]] and doesn't understand why it's bad.
* Béluga of ''[[Solatorobo]]'' has such poor social skills that even just asking the locals simple questions ends up with them all mad at him. However, when interacting with his teammates, he doesn't seem all that awkward. {{spoiler|Once he does his [[Heel Face Turn]], he decides to leave missions involving socialization to Red and Elh.}}
* One of Lance's main character traits in the ''[[Epic Battle Fantasy]]'' series. ''EBF3'' and ''4'' portray him as a perverted jerk with a messed up sense of humor, ''EBF5'' turns him into a cynical sociopath who [[Insufferable Genius|likes bragging about his superior intellect]] and treats other people as beneath him.
=== [[Visual Novels]] ===
* Arcueid Brunestud, the [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampire]] princess in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has an abnormal way of interacting socially. She was created as a living weapon. Despite living for centuries, she's only been awake for a year or so; and she tended to erase her memories when going back to sleep. While she does get some cultural information via psychic osmosis, she remains awkward.
* In ''[[Little Busters!]]'', Natsume Rin is incapable of having anything even remotely resembling a conversation with anyone except her brother and childhood friends, and even then, her behaviour seems extremely awkward at times. When someone who isn't her brother or childhood friend attempts to talk to her, she will either try to hide behind [[The Protagonist|Riki's]] back or run away. If you make the right choices, however, she can get better.
==
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Grace spent most of her life in a laboratory, where she was treated as a something between an experimental animal and a [[Tyke Bomb|weapon project]] by most of the scientists (as were her brothers). After Damien 'freed' them, she spent several more years more or less imprisoned in an underground base. She is [[There Are No Therapists|implausibly well-adjusted]] despite this, but is unfamiliar with many aspects of mainstream culture, and is often quite naive.
* In ''[[Pandect]]'', almost all the Ace characters from wild animal species are like this at first.
* ''[[
** Antimony spent her childhood, up to about age eleven, wandering Good Hope Hospital while her mother was bedridden. Her only company was her parents {{spoiler|and [[The Grim Reaper|various incarnations of Death]]}}. As a result, upon beginning school at the Court, Annie has more difficulty engaging in normal small-talk with students her own age than she does dealing with mythological beasts and other weirdness.
** Red is ignorant of haircuts and words like "chair" and "room", due to being a [[Fairy Tale Motifs|fairy]] for most of her life. However, it's implied that she would be able to fit in had she paid better attention during her "So You're a Human Now" orientation classes.
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* Faevv of ''[[Juathuur]]'' has been an outcast her whole life, and as a result she seems incapable of acting nice.
* Flik, and Akhana to an extent, in ''[[Para-Ten]]''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100619200728/http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1804338 Has its advantages], according to Caldwell Tanner.
* The eponymous ''[[
* [[Black Adventures]] plays N this way. He's never heard of Christmas and isn't doesn't understand how to deal with jealousy.
* Jade Harley, Nepeta Leijon and Gamzee Makara in ''[[Homestuck]]''. Though in Gamzee's case it might just be the effects of Faygo and sopor slime. {{spoiler|Though he's [[Ax Crazy|much]] [[Monster Clown|worse]] when he doesn't have the slime...}}
* Taku from [[Mitadake Saga]] has no tact whatsoever. Not to mention he continues to pop up at the most inopportune of times.
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', Tangerine [
* According to [[Word of God]], [[Sakana|Genji Sakana]] would love to not be a complete jerk to his family, but he has no idea how to be not a complete jerk to ''anyone''.
* ''[[Lackadaisy]]'':
** Rocky seems to have a few [[Ambiguous Disorder|unspecified mental problems]] that make him nearly unable to interact with other people normally, his habit of making a show of himself randomly and for no good reason doesn't help.
** Freckle's emotional volatility (of which he is fully aware and even scared) results in [[Shrinking Violet|extreme shyness]] and social awkwardness, his responses to every inquiry being most of the time [[Beige Prose|very short and straight to the point]].
** Mordecai is unnervingly unemotional and [[Lack of Empathy|irreceptive to other people's feelings]], making social interactions, excluding very formal meetings or interrogations, a hilarious disaster.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' features Heffer the steer, who has constant trouble with social conventions. He was [[Raised by Wolves]], sophisticated lupine suburbanite yuppies—he's something of a black sheep steer to the wolves.
* [[Superboy]] from the animated series ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'' is a clone of [[Superman]] who was grown in 16 weeks and fed information via telepathic genomorphs. Suffice to say he finds it difficult to deal with people, particularly his new teammates, when he's just beginning to adjust to life outside of CADMUS.
** Also, M'Gann who [[Aliens Steal Cable|had learned about Earth by watching TV]] and is ignorant of more common social behaviours and struggles to learn what is appropriate with regards to telepathy and privacy. This comes up with an in-universe case of [[Values Dissonance]] when {{spoiler|M'Gann shapeshifted into Black Canary while kissing Conner. J'Onn says that it's common to shape-shift for a partner since everyone can read minds and wouldn't be caught off guard. Black Canary still finds it wrong.}}
* [[Homeschooled Kids|Ezekiel]] from ''[[Total Drama]].''
* The Earl of Lemongrab from ''[[
** The Ice King is insane. His only friends are penguins, and even Finn and Jake, the main characters, find him to be an obnoxious jerk even though they have a grudging friendship.
* Twilight Sparkle from ''[[My Little Pony:
** In the episode "Baby Cakes", she casually ([[Innocently Insensitive|and innocently]]) tells Pinkie Pie that she pretty much expected Pinkie would be out of her depth caring for twin babies. She doesn't appear to notice that Pinkie is offended by this statement even as Pinkie kicks her out of Sugarcube Corner.
** And then you've got Princess Luna, though that can be excused for being [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|sealed in the moon for a thousand years.]] Hard to keep up with modern etiquette in a situation like that.
* One episode of ''[[Police Academy]]: [[Recycled:
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