Socially Awkward Hero: Difference between revisions

 

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* Sousuke Sagara from ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' is one due to being raised by the KGB.

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'''s Goku is an example as well due to being "[[Raised by Wolves]]" and [[Oblivious to Love]]. Chi Chi pretty much had to pound it into him or else he might had remained single his entire life.

* Jacuzzi Splot of ''[[Baccano!]]'' is prone to [[Fragile Flower|breaking down into tears]] [[Shrinking Violet|at the mere attempt to introduce himself to new people]]. Crippling social anxiety, however, doesn't prevent him from [[One-Man Army|single-handedly raiding eighteen mafia-run speakeasies in one night]].

 

* [[Batman]], at least [[Depending on the Writer|as written by Chuck Dixon]], doesn't really have a clue how to behave like a [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]] in his civilian identity, and finds hosting a Wayne Foundation party more stressful than taking on the Joker. [[Grant Morrison]]'s [[Grant Morrisons Batman|take on the character]] has elements of this as well.

* Samaritan from ''[[Astro City]]'' suffers from this when his super-heroic peers maneuver him into a dinner date with Winged Victory.

* [[Scott Pilgrim]] is this trope. He has shown fighting enemies here and there, being evil ex-boyfriends of Ramona, or mooks, and he's always shown to be a confident, if incompetent, musician in his band. Whenever Stephen Stills has a nervous breakdown, Kim and Scott always are holding the helm of the band. But put it on talking of his past, or about relationships, or even the future, and his awkwardness gets over the mark, with stutters, avoiding themes and generally being an ADHD kid. He's maturing out of this, of course.

 

* The page quote is from a coast-guard themed movie called ''[[The Guardian]]''.

* [[Batman]] is portrayed as such in the [[Tim Burton]] ''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]'' movies. In his Bruce Wayne persona, he is noticeably awkward, and unsure how to act in social situations, contrasting with the charismatic [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]] from the comics, although this IS [[Depending on the Writer]]. Most notable during his date with Vicki in the first film, where he effectively has to go get Alfred to help him chat her up.

* 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.

 

* [[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.)

* [[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.

 

* [[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.

* Most of Team Scorpion in ''Scorpion'' but Walter is this more especially. Though they are adult in age and geniuses in intelligence they are also childish in social situations. Walter is a weird combination of [[The Spock|human computer]], manchild, and [[Knight in Shining Armor]].

 

* The protagonist of the Temptations song "Can't Get Next to You" has apparently won the [[Superpower Lottery]] but still can't, well, get next to the girl of his dreams. (Possibly not-quite-an-example as we don't know whether the guy ever uses his powers for heroism.)

 

* Arthur in the beginning of the Camelot musical, there's even [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6blsCGdDI4 a song about it]!

* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]. Kill a man in a swordfight to the death while composing a poem about it? It's what he lives for. Admit any kind of romantic affection? Too scary for him.

 

* It is an informed aspect of Henry Townshend of ''[[Silent Hill 4]]''. His neighbors think of him as a shut-in, which is why it takes a while for anyone to worry that he hasn't left his apartment in days. (It's up to the player whether Henry is a brave slayer of monsters or runs away from everything he sees, so this trope can be played straight or subverted.)

* Kaede from the ''[[Sonohana]]'' series is her girlfriend Sara's princely protector, even to the point of having been an active [[Bully Hunter]] as a little girl. She also has crippling social anxiety that causes any public attention or praise to be nearly unbearable to her; only her love for Sara can get her to charge in and defend her.

** It took her until near the end of the second game to remember her childhood with Sara, implying that she acquired that anxiety after Sara's earlier departure.

 

* ''[[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]]''.

 

* [[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]]...

* [[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.

 

* Again, arguably [[Truth in Television]]. People will be ''much'' more afraid of the way their peers will judge them for, say, taking a cab home after leaving a party drunk, than of the ''life threatening danger'' of driving their own cars home in that state. Back in the Old Days, a man would rather risk life and limb in a duel with horribly random pistols when challenged, rather than face the ''public shame'' and the ''reputation'' for cowardice, weakness and unmanliness that would come from doing the sensible thing, i.e. telling the challenger to go screw themselves and simply refusing the challenge.

** Quite a few of those examples seem to fall at one particular end of the [[Sorting Algorithm of Tropes|Sliding Scale of Testosterone versus Common Sense]]. In general though, strong adherence to various social mores is what makes human society work. Guilt and shame have very little purpose for loners, but instead serve to keep an individual working within the confines of a social structure. Also why people who do not experience them are often alarming and dangerous, or powerful and charismatic depending on what they do.