Pair the Smart Ones: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (12 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|'''Pierce''': Hey, I was thinkin', we might die here. Anything y'all want to get off your chest?
'''The Boss''': Come on, Pierce; don't go talking like that.
'''[[Genius Bruiser|Oleg]]''': No, he's right. Were [[Playful Hacker|Kinzie]] here, I would pour out my heart.
'''The Boss''': [[Ships That Pass in
'''Oleg''': It is rare that I find an intellectual equal.
|''[[Saints Row the Third]]''}}
If a show features two [[TV Genius|highly intelligent characters]] of similar age and compatible sexual orientation (though they can be either homosexual or heterosexual), chances are they'll end up together. Works particularly well if they're [[Teen Genius
It's common for such relationships to start cleanly and quickly, avoiding [[Will They or Won't They?]] altogether, and proceed somewhat more smoothly than whatever other characters may be in a relationship, thus often turning them into a [[Beta Couple]]. Apparently, love ''doesn't'' [[Love Makes You Dumb|make you dumb]] if you're a [[The Smart Guy|genius]].
If the writers don't do it, the [[Shipping|shippers]] will.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Digimon Savers]]'': Nanami tries to invoke this and tempt Touma into a [[Face Heel Turn]], but he doesn't bite. Nanami does eventually become a good girl though.
* Averted in ''[[
** There is, however, a point in which Miyoshi ''thinks'' this is happening, when she discovers a copy of Iwase's book with a letter from Iwase to Takagi (which he didn't know about). She then thinks of how Iwase is smarter and more talented in other regards than she is, and becomes very depressed until things are cleared up.
* {{spoiler|Benny and Greenback Jane}} in [[Black Lagoon]].
* Shikamaru and Temari are commonly shipped in [[Naruto]]; Shikamaru has an IQ of 200, making him the smartest of the Rookie Nine and one of the smartest characters in the series, and Temari is noted in-story and [[All There in the Manual|in the databooks]] to be very intelligent.
== Film ==
* In ''Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus'', Pairing the Smart Ones is actually the driving force behind the epiphany on how to lure two massive sea monsters into going where the humans want them to.
* ''[[Enchanted]]'': Though Giselle is adorably naive, at the end of the day, she’s just as smart as her love interest Robert (who himself is highly intelligent) is. Unlike Robert, she realizes that the world is not terrible. And she does her best to listen to Robert when he tells her not to do something, which is a very wise decision.
== Literature ==
* In the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' novel ''[[Death Star]]'', we learn that part of the reason why Grand Moff Tarkin loves Admiral Daala is that he's always wanted someone smart and ruthless and efficient enough to keep apace with him. [[Your Mileage May Vary|Whether or not]] [[Informed Ability|this is actually shown in the books.]]
* In [[Larry Niven]]'s ''Known Space'' stories, the Earth is so overpopulated that in order to have children at all, one has to be extraordinarily talented (high intelligence, good teeth, superior eyesight, cancer resistance, etc). A very few Einstein-level geniuses get Unlimited Breeding Licenses that basically allow them to have all the kids they want.
* Played with in ''[[
* In ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]'' (and its sequels) Mr. and Mrs. Murray are both extremely intelligent scientists in different fields. Local gossips suggested this meant [[Child Prodigy|Charles Wallace]] was retarded before he started talking.
== Live
* Averted with Samantha Carter and Rodney McKay from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. The two are Earth's smartest persons, [[The Smart Guy]] of their respective show and McKay is attracted to her, but nothing beyond that. In fact, Carter is as annoyed by McKay as most people are, while McKay gets into a relationship with Dr. Keller later.
** Though Carter does visit one [[Alternate Universe]] where she learns that she had married (and divorced) McKay.
* ''[[Angel]]'': Aversion on the usual formula with Wesley and Fred as it was less than smooth and took multiple seasons {{spoiler|and lasted exactly one episode}}.
* ''[[Dollhouse]]'': Topher and Bennett, with their [[Dating Catwoman]] and [[Slap Slap Kiss]]. {{spoiler|And then Bennett is hit with the [[
* Subverted in ''[[Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide]]'': it would seem things are going that way for Cookie/Evelyn, but they end up with different people.
* Grissom and Sara in ''[[
* Cooper Pillot and Patty Scoggins in ''[[The Naked Brothers Band]]''. Though they still call each other by their last names, they stand as a bastion of stability amidst the show's romantic chaos.
* ''[[Boy Meets World]]'': Minkus ''thought'' this would happen during his one-season stint. However, Topanga was destined for Cory, instead.
* Lampshaded and Subverted in the first post-movie episode of the ''[[Knight Rider]]'' 2008 series.
{{quote|
'''Zoe:''' And I speak 9 languages! We should make a baby.
'''Billy:''' Really?
'''Zoe:''' No. }}
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', Rattigan explains his master plan for a new world to the other [[Teen Genius
* ''[[Bones]]'':
** Played straight with {{spoiler|Daisy and Sweets}} considering one is smart enough to {{spoiler|be one of Bones' grad students, who are all supposed to be highly intelligent}} and the other {{spoiler|was already working as an FBI profiler/psychologist and has multiple doctorates, and won a fulbright and a Rhodes, all before he was 23}}. Still, with the number of geniuses on that show, it was fairly inevitable that this trope would have to happen at least once over the course of the show.
** Subverted on an early episode. Bones' old professor comes back and they slide into their previous relationship... which ends remarkably poorly. In general, Bones is a fairly good at averting this trope, considering the number of geniuses in the lab. Between Brennan, Jack, Zach, and [[Your Mileage May Vary|Cam]], not to mention all the interns, there have been surprisingly few hookups between geniuses.
* ''[[
* ''[[Noah's Arc]]'': College professor Chance paired with clever, strategic businessman Eddie.
* ''[[Firefly]]'' has the [[The Medic|genius doctor]] Simon and the [[Wrench Wench|genius mechanic]] Kaylee. Though [[Will They or Won't They?|they won't]]... until [[The Movie]], that is (the epilogue of the movie, no less).
* ''[[Smallville]]'': A very humorous (but oddly cute) version appears in "Fortune", wherein two [[The Smart Guy|very]] [[Evil Genius|different]] kinds of genius wind up alone together and very drunk. The result? {{spoiler|[[The Chessmaster|Tess]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Mercer]] and [[Gadgeteer Genius|Emil]] [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist|Hamilton]] making a [[Home Porn Movie]]}}. Both are suitably embarrassed afterwards; whether the relationship continued was undisclosed.
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has John Sheridan and Delenn, both of whom are incredible strategic minds with immense curiosity about and respect for other races. All through the series the two's feelings for each other are never shown to waver, in fact only growing deeper and stronger with time. There's never much doubt that They Will - it's just a matter of a) how long it will take and b) whether or not they'll ever get a chance to, considering those pesky wars they're always fighting. [[They Do]] indeed, and {{spoiler|wind up [[Happily Married]] and team-running the galaxy by the show's end}}.
* Almost every couple in [[Eureka]] naturally as the whole town is populated by geniuses.
* ''[[Luther]]'' features a darker take on this, as [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] and [[Self-Made Orphan]] [[The Sociopath|Alice Morgan]] is attracted to the titular detective because he is one of the few people in the world smart enough to deal with her.
Line 64:
== Video Games ==
* The third ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game ended up pairing former [[Voice
* ''[[
* ''[[Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World]]'' hints at the possible pairing of teacher Raine Sage and intelligent businessman Regal Bryant from the previous game. Subverted when it turns out the "love letter" from one to the other turns out to be {{spoiler|theories about Emil's true nature}}.
* ''[[Saints Row the Third]]'' went this route for [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl|Oleg and Kinzie]], much to the Boss's [[Ships That Pass in
* Three of the paths in [[Katawa Shoujo]] have the [[Bookworm]] male lead, Hisao Nakai, being paired up with very booksmart girls:
** Lilly Satou: She wants to be a [[Cool Teacher]] and is [[Class Representative]] for her class, meaning she has the highest scores there.
** Hanako Ikezawa: She seems able to keep up with the class despite her bad attendance record, although Mutou suggests she isn't a "star student," and she and Hisao find a shared interest in their mutual love of reading.
** Shizune Hakamichi: One of the criteria for being named a [[Class Representative]] in a Japanese highschool is to have the highest test scores from the year before, and there's the fact that she and Misha are usually the first people in 3-3 to finish Mutou's assignments.
* ''[[Mulan]]:'' While Shang initially assumes that Mulan is crazy, he realizes that her plan to cause an avalanche to kill the Huns was actually crazy enough to work. His training and orders to his troops are very helpful though, and he was not wrong to tell his soldiers that they would not die alone if they fell on the battlefield, since they would be dying with honor. And he only let Mulan out of her conscription notice and told her to leave (at the time, he assumed she was a boy) because he was worried for her safety (even if he was a bit of a jerk about it).
Line 79 ⟶ 82:
* ''[[Girl Genius]]''
** The Agatha-Tarvek pairing; Tarvek is smart and [[Gadgeteer Genius|Sparky]].
** Subverted with Gilgamesh Wulfenbach and Agatha Heterodyne. They looked like they were going this way, and then things
*** That said, they're the Alpha Couple of the story, despite not being a couple. {{spoiler|There is evidence they will be together in the future.}} This is frequently [[Lampshading|lampshaded]] by everyone (including her ''[[Genius Loci|castle]]'') commenting on how well they would fit together, much to their annoyance.
* ''[[
* For a while in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', [[Mad Scientist]] Riff was dating occasional-mad-tinkerer Sasha. It wasn't a huge part of her character, but she ''was'' able to build her own Dimensional Flux Agitator.
== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
{{quote|
== Western Animation ==
* Happens near the end of ''[[Megamind]]'' between Roxanne and {{spoiler|Megamind}}. The male part of the couple at one point explicitly says "I need your help because you're the smartest person I know."
* Xanatos of ''[[Gargoyles]]'' gives this as the reason why he wants to marry Fox.
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'': Super smart Kim and her genius (if reckless) brothers are the result of a union between a [[This Ain't Rocket Surgery|rocket scientist and a brain surgeon.]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Love Tropes]]
[[Category:Intelligence Tropes]]
[[Category:
| |||