Socially Awkward Hero: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|'''[[Riff Trax|Ms. Witwicky:]]''' ''And remember, son: if you meet any girls, make sure to stammer and act as awkwardly as possible around them. Model-hot women inexplicably find that attractive in the movies - it worked for [[Say Anything|Lloyd Dobbler]]! Bye!'' }}

* Steve Rogers from ''[[Captain America: The First Avenger]]'', even after receiving the [[Super Soldier]] serum. Due to his pre-transformation small statue, Steve was very shy and intimidated by women and his apprehensiveness remains as Captain America, even as women throw themselves at his feet.

* Melvin of ''[[~~Film/The Big Hit|~~The Big Hit]]'' is this in spades. Shooting up a room full of armed men is easy. Entertaining your in-laws... that makes him chug Maalox.

* Melvin of ''[[The Big Hit]]'' is this in spades. Shooting up a room full of armed men is easy. Entertaining your in-laws... that makes him chug Maalox.

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Sharpe]]: This is one of his defining characteristics.

* [[Harry Potter]] has a moment of this in book 4: After facing a fierce and dangerous Hungarian Horntail in the first task, he finds himself thinking that "now that he was facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball, he thought he'd rather have another round with the dragon." (He later manages to pick up ''two girls'', spontaneously, at once.)

* In [[The Pale King]], Lane Dean attempts to converse with his fellow IRS employees during his fifteen minute break, and fails miserably.

* In ''[[The Pale King]]'', Lane Dean attempts to converse with his fellow IRS employees during his fifteen minute break, and fails miserably.

* Kambili, from ''[[Purple Hibiscus]]'' can't hold a conversation with girls her own age, even though she desperately wants to.

* Tiffany Aching from the [[Discworld]] books may have bested the Queen of the Elves at age nine in ''[[The Wee Free Men]]'', but in that same book she admits she doesn't always "get" people, and she's quite at sea at her first coven meeting in ''[[A Hat Full of Sky]]''.

* Tiffany Aching from the ''[[Discworld]]'' books may have bested the Queen of the Elves at age nine in ''[[The Wee Free Men]]'', but in that same book she admits she doesn't always "get" people, and she's quite at sea at her first coven meeting in ''[[A Hat Full of Sky]]''.

* [[Doc Savage]] was raised from birth to be a hero and is both the greatest athlete and intellect on the planet, however, he has no idea how to deal with women. He does better with men, though.

* [[John Carter of Mars|John Carter]] believes in this trope, lamenting how often a man's skill in battle is inversely proportional to his skill with women. He includes himself in this category.

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== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* [[Dexter]] doesn't just have trouble relating to people, he ~~DOESN~~'T relate to people. Though most acquaintances see him as normal enough, for Dexter, maintaining the image of a normal, everyday person with regular emotions and no hidden urge to kidnap, murder, and chop people to bloody bits can be an extremely stressful task.

* [[Dexter]] doesn't just have trouble relating to people, he ''doesn't'' relate to people. Though most acquaintances see him as normal enough, for Dexter, maintaining the image of a normal, everyday person with regular emotions and no hidden urge to kidnap, murder, and chop people to bloody bits can be an extremely stressful task.

* [[Monk]]. He and his psychiatrist get kidnapped, tied to chairs and thrown in a truck, and Monk's upset because the psychiatrist is on his left when he usually sits to his right.

* Gil Grissom on [[CSI]]

* Gil Grissom on ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]''.

* Temperance Brennan on [[Bones]]

* Temperance Brennan on ''[[Bones]]''

* Cal Lightman in ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]''.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' seemed to do this once a season or so.

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* Doctor Gregory [[House (TV series)|House]].

* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'': Dr. Spencer Reid. He can rattle out an impromptu profile to a dangerous serial killer, but always finds himself stumbling words around a pretty girl.

* [[Burn Notice]] has Michel Weston, a man who always knows what to say and do in any life threatening situation, but doesn't know how to deal with friends or family.

* ''[[Burn Notice]]'' has Michel Weston, a man who always knows what to say and do in any life threatening situation, but doesn't know how to deal with friends or family.

**That's a zig-zag. Being a spy is a synonym for being a [[Manipulative Bastard]]. It's just that he doesn't hustle as well with those whom he cares about as with the(nastier then him)criminals he despises.

* Reginald Barclay in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' saved the Enterprise at least twice and was significantly more helpful to Voyager than the average member of its bridge crew (not that this is a particularly high bar), yet had such social difficulty that an entire episode was dedicated to Geordi trying to arrest his withdrawal into a holographic fantasyland.

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* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'': Antimony Carver has elements of this. She'll fearlessly rush off to help someone with a supernatural problem, but she tends to stand around in awkward silence during public social situations.

* Elliot from ''[[El Goonish Shive]]''.

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Colin "Armsmaster" Wallace from ''[[Worm]]'' is almost autistic in his inability to understand and interact with other people. It's telling that his closest relationship is with an [[Artificial Intelligence]] who pretends to be a severely agoraphobic woman.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* [[Kim Possible]]: Taking down supervillains comes easy for her. Asking the boy she has a crush on to the school dance, on the other hand...

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'': Taking down supervillains comes easy for her. Asking the boy she has a crush on to the school dance, on the other hand...

** Though [[Subverted Trope|on the other hand]], Kim is a popular student and cheerleader. Now, her sidekick [[Butt Monkey|Ron]]...

* Robin in the ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' cartoon. In one episode he is forced to accompany a villain's daughter to prom, and is envious of the teammates who are merely tasked with ''stopping'' said villain.

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** He has never had any opportunity to become normally socialized, but he does improve a bit once he has his [[Heel Face Turn]] and joins the [[True Companions]]. Stoic silence does him in good stead while he'd [[Walking the Earth]] in season two.

** And his little sister turns out to be the evil mastermind version of this trope: can conquer the world's greatest city bloodlessly from within via nested betrayal plots. Cannot get a date without freaking the guy out within minutes.

* Twilight Sparkle from ''[[My Little Pony: ~~Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony~~ Friendship Is Magic]]''. Heck, a large part of the series is Twilight learning about how to deal with having friends.

* Twilight Sparkle from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''. Heck, a large part of the series is Twilight learning about how to deal with having friends.

** Fluttershy as well, to some extent. She's a [[Shrinking Violet]] when it comes to talking to other ponies (though strangely enough, not when it comes to other kinds of creatures; she loves to talk to dragons, or at least dragon cubs) but she has been willing to stand up to an intimidating grown dragon that could have swallowed her whole, among other things.

* [[Danny Phantom]]: He was already pretty awkward before getting his powers, but especially when he first gets them [[Power Incontinence|he has a hard time controlling them]] causing him to "randomly" trip or sink into objects, turn his eyes green, and other stuff that might further harm what little reputation he has.

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': He was already pretty awkward before getting his powers, but especially when he first gets them [[Power Incontinence|he has a hard time controlling them]] causing him to "randomly" trip or sink into objects, turn his eyes green, and other stuff that might further harm what little reputation he has.

== [[Real Life]] ==