Smart Ball: Difference between revisions
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Detective Conan]]'': Agasa catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets it—going from what Conan himself described (to his face, no less) as "a self-proclaimed genius [who has] only invented junk" to the greatest [[Gadgeteer Genius]] since [[James Bond (film)|Q Branch]], with no intervening development or explanation.
** Depending on your point of view, Kogoro could also be said to catch this ball a few times over the course of the series whenever he actually manages to get a deduction right.
== Comic Books ==
* More than usually justified when applied to the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing of the ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'', who is often portrayed as a dumbass despite the fact that he is a college graduate and a former military test pilot. (You don't want your geniuses flying experimental aircraft if you can avoid it, but neither do you want dumb grunts to destroy them!) Additional frequent justification: you can't spend all your time around Reed Richards and not pick up at least a few bits and pieces.
** It's occasionally been said that the difference between a good FF writer and a bad one is that the former realizes Ben is the smart one.
** Ben Grimm is at least smart enough that he can sometimes work as a mild example of a [[Genius Bruiser]]. A better example would be Johnny Storm, who's even MORE of a dumbass and has no higher learning backstory (he got his powers in high school). Yet on one occasion he was able to sum up a chain reaction streaming from unlocking unstable molecules and think of a way to contain the problem. Again, sharing living space with the smartest man in the world helps.
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* Brittney in ''[[Daria]]'' is usually such a big [[The Ditz|airhead]] that she could double as a zeppelin. However in the episode the class plays in two teams with paintball, she turns out to be a superb warrior with impressive tactical skills, almost singlehandedly assuring her team victory. This little [[Hidden Depths|hidden depth]] of hers [[Rule of Funny|is never referenced again.]]
** To be fair we never really see Brittney in another situation that would call for tactics. For all we know she's giving the football team advice during games.
* Happened in ''[[Futurama]]'' when during a [[Fantastic Voyage Plot]] in Fry's body, Dr. Zoidberg amazed his colleagues by demonstrating a knowledge of human anatomy to help them survive a sneeze... knowledge gained by watching a TV commercial about a nose decongestant.
** He also astoundingly knew what a pentimento was. When the others are shocked, he explains that [[Not That Kind of Doctor|his doctorate is actually in art history]].
* There's an episode of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' where Homer is suddenly knowledgeable about the laws of physics for the sake of a joke. His line after Lisa builds a perpetual motion device (that actually ''keeps going faster and faster'')?
{{quote|'''Homer:''' In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!}}
** Homer has had several humorously out of character Smart Ball moments, that showcase his stupidity at the same time. In one episode he knew who former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren was, but somehow thought he was also a stripper.
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** At the beginning of another episode, he predicts that a meteor heading for Springfield will probably shrink to the size of a small chihuahua. At the end of the episode, it gets lampshaded. "Dad was right!" "I know, kids. I'm scared, too."
*** For added hilarity, the meteor even lands right next to a chihuahua for comparison.
* Bouncing Boy from the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' cartoon suddenly reveals a master strategy to save an entire planet from storms ala [[The Chessmaster]]. Second Season, never mentioned again. Similarly, Shrinking Violet reveals a knowledge of advanced technology just in time for fixing LL's arm. Also never mentioned again.
* Similarly, Patrick from ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''.
* ''[[Storm Hawks]]'' usually gives Piper or Stork the Smart Ball in regards to finding the solution to a given episode's technobable or wilderness survival, respectively. In Piper's case, she's the resident specialist (as the opening credits helpfully remind us) and Stork is [[Crazy Survivalist|so paranoid]] he's usually [[Crazy Prepared]] with contingencies for most disasters.
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* Done [[Rule of Funny|for laughs]] in the [[Powerpuff Girls]] when Him tells the girls has the the Professor in "the place where it's boiling and freezing at the same time". The girls rack their brains trying to figure it out only for [[Cloudcuckoolander|the Mayor]] [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|to appear out of nowhere]] and claim that converting the boiling and freezing points of water into geographical coordinates points to a Townsville street. "Or maybe [[Fridge Logic|there's an ice cream truck on fire]]".
* Happens fairly often in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', due to many characters being a [[Genius Ditz]] to some degree. Hank is one of the more consistently stupid characters, but occasionally pulls out a bit of obscure knowledge that the adults can't even fathom where he would have picked it up. [[Jerkass|Dermott]] also surprisingly once gave some very competent advice on relationships to the brothers, prompting amazement from them, as he usually doesn't know ''anything''.
* In ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'', the Flash is typically portrayed as just a goofball [[Plucky Comic Relief]], but he has instances of outwitting other villains, one of whom was an alternate version of Batman. Granted, the regular Batman admits that he could not predict the Flash either. He has another instance later in the same episode where he tries to convince the alternate [[Knight Templar]] Superman that killing him is something he would never do because how the death of his Flash hurt him. That, unfortunately, merely prompts the other Superman to reply "I've done [[Moral Event Horizon|a lot of things]] that I thought I'd never do these past two years. One more won't hurt."
** Justified in that in his "day job," the DCAU Wally West is a forensic scientist for the police. He just loves cartoons and immature jokes.
* In ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'', in "High Heeled Ed", towards the end of the episode, Ed makes a comment along the lines of "Spending an extended period of time in the presence of females can be mentally disorienting and physically confusing." After Double-D and Eddy stop for a second to register this, Ed then proceeds to shout "HUG ME!" for no particular reason. In short, he grabbed the Smart Ball and held it for all of 2 seconds before smashing it on the ground.
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