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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Just because you're an angel doesn't mean you have to be a fool."''|''[[
[[Good Is Not Dumb]] is the trope where a [[Nice Guy|sincerely good, kind, and polite character]] is [[Good Is Dumb|underestimated by others because of their kind nature]].
Unlike [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], [[Good Is Not Dumb]] does not involve any deception at all -- the subject is ''genuinely'' nice and honest, but the [[Cynicism Tropes|cynicism of others]] lead them to misread the character as [[The Ditz]], a [[Gentleman Thief]], or some other [[Wide
Almost inevitably, the [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|genuine goodness]] of the character will triumph, often accompanied by the [[Hoist
A direct inversion of [[Good Is Dumb]] and [[Dumb Is Good]]. The ultimate stage of this is the [[Guile Hero]] who can play [[The Chessmaster]]'s game without falling into the ambiguity at best, clear villainy at worst of the [[Magnificent Bastard]].
Compare and contrast with [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]], [[Good Is Not Nice]], [[Gentleman and
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* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'': Although most of the main cast of the franchise falls into either [[Lawful Good]] or [[Neutral Good]] alignment, they universally adhere to the spirit of it, not the letter. The normally polite and gentle Nanoha, for instance, won't hesitate to blast you out of the sky [[Training From Hell|if it ensures your survival when crap actually hits the fan]], and trying to outsmart her in combat... [[Curb Stomp Battle|is a very bad idea]]. Other characters display similar tendencies, perhaps because most of them [[The Villain Makes the Plot|started off as villains]] and the rest learned from them.
* In ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': Goku may be a [[Idiot Hero|complete and utter moron]]. But his eldest son Gohan is a full fledged [[Genius Bruiser]] who gets straight A's and smashes around beings stronger than ''the Gods themselves!!''
** Goku isn't even a complete moron. In ''[[
* ''[[Naruto]]'': [[Shrinking Violet|Hinata]] [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Hyuuga]]. She doesn't need to beat Neji in a fight, because her words alone revealed him for who he truly was during the Chuunin exams.
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': Himura Kenshin.
* ''[[Saint Seiya]]'': Crystal Saint, Marin, Albiore, Mu, and Dohko. They were the only Saints outside of the main cast who weren't fooled by {{spoiler|the fake Pope}}.
* ''[[Trigun]]'': Vash the Stampede.
* ''[[Monster (
* Taiki Kudou from [[Digimon Xros Wars]].
* The titular ''[[Master Keaton]]''.
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** It's ''because'' of his peerless strength that Superman is one of these by default. The only way to give him interesting stories is to give him opponents that work around his strength and test his wits. More often than not, Superman has to solve problems by ''highly specific and concentrated'' applications of force. In fact, he has as many if not more characteristics of a [[Guile Hero]] as an [[Action Hero]], especially when faced with foes stronger than him.
* It's implied that The Gentleman from ''[[Astro City]]'' is one of these. His goodness is never in question -- he's unfailingly polite, selfless, and idealistic, even in the midst of battle. On the other hand, his intelligence to date has been largely implied; for example, he's one of the few super-beings who avoided capture during a secret alien invasion.
* [[Spider
* In [[Zatanna]]'s ongoing series she is confronted by Oscar Hampel, who claims that he was turned into a puppet because of a tragic series of events almost out of his control and that his violent actions were an isolated event. Zatanna accepts that her father, for all his wisdom and power, [[Humans Are Flawed|was only human]] and might have overreacted by turning Oscar into a puppet. She gives Oscar the benefit of the doubt and agrees to help him become human again...after she runs him through a magic [[Lie Detector]], that is. After all, just because her father was not perfect does not mean he was wrong ''this'' time, and she is going to make sure before she takes any actions.
== [[Fanfic]] ==
* The dwarven noble protagonist in [[Dragon Age:
* The [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Reasonable_Marines Reasonable Marines], a fanmade Space Marine Chapter for ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'', will attempt diplomacy first whenever possible, which makes then positively heretical in the shoot-first-ask-questions-never Imperium of Man. The fool that refuses their overtures gets to be on the receiving end of stealth tactics, combined arms and all-around [[Combat Pragmatist|Combat Pragmatism]].
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{{quote| "You're not the anti-Christ. You're just a malcontent who knows how to spell." }}
* Georgia Byrd from ''[[Last Holiday]]'' might seem naïve, but she is a very good saleswoman and gives some solid advice to other characters. Despite all of Kragen’s attempts to humiliate her, Georgia is usually one step ahead of him.
* Batman is portrayed as such in [[
* In ''[[Cars 2]]'', Mater's simple nature belies the fact that he's a genius at recognizing obscure car parts at a glance. {{spoiler|He later uses this to identify Sir Miles Axelrod as the mastermind behind the efforts to sabotage the World Grand Prix.}}
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* [[Discworld|Carrot Ironfoundersson]] greets everyone by name, is perpetually polite and cheerful, and selflessly volunteers to help anyone in need. But anyone who mistakes him for an easy mark ''quickly'' learns otherwise.
{{quote| And that was Carrot at work. He could sound so innocent, so friendly, so... ''stupid,'' in a puppy-dog kind of way, and then he became this big block of steel and you walked right into it. }}
** While Sam Vimes is a textbook example of [[Good Is Not Nice]], his wife Sybil is an example of this trope. She's always unflappably polite and kind-hearted (even to [[Bile Fascination|Nobby Nobbs]]), but beneath her lighthearted exterior is a razor-sharp mind, as demonstrated when she negotiated Ankh-Morpork's fat trade with the Dwarf King in ''[[Discworld
** And then there's Nanny Ogg, the [[Cool Old Lady]] who's always up for a good drink, a good smoke, and a <s>good</s> ribald song. Yet she's smart enough to keep ''[[Never Mess
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', Peeta is kind and patient and {{spoiler|totally kills people in the arena, including finishing off one girl in cold blood while he's in the Career pack}}, besides being three steps ahead when it comes to manipulating the on-camera narrative.
* The ''[[Father Brown]]'' series, by [[
* None of the main cast of ''[[Codex Alera]]'' can be considered dumb, but Tavi in particular stands out. He's constantly derided for being overly idealistic and trying to make peace with nonhuman species who have been at war with Alera for centuries. However, he's a [[Guile Hero]] with a talent for [[Crazy Awesome]] [[Batman Gambit|Batman Gambits]] and understanding creatures that don't think like humans, so as often as not his idealism actually pays off, much to the surprise (and sometimes annoyance) of his detractors.
* [[Jim Butcher]]'s other series, ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', also uses this trope on the Knights of the Cross, Michael Carpenter in particular. Michael is a [[Church Militant]] [[Knight in Shining Armor]] and devout Catholic, but he's also a perceptive person. If it looks like he's falling for a [[Plan]], it's because he believes it's the only honorable way to get Harry out of the latest mess and/or God will see him through it, ''never'' because he hasn't noticed the risk.
** Also because Harry has risked the same for him.
* [[
* In [[Timothy Zahn]] [[The Thrawn Trilogy|novels]], Luke is written this way. While he may be one of the strongest Jedi, he is also able to outsmart his opponents when necessary.
* Wedge Antilles, in his [[Star Wars|film]] and early [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|EU]] appearances, was just an [[Ace Pilot]], leader of Rogue Squadron, and loyal to his friends and cause. His [[A Day in
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Frodo makes it very clear to Gollum that he is well aware that Gollum is trying to think of a way to betray the hobbits and take back the ring. Sam is surprised at this because he had assumed Frodo was far too good a person to be able to understand deception and treachery. Sam admits that he (and probably Gollum as well) "had confused kindness with blindness."
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* [[Stargate Atlantis|Rodney McKay]] was quite surprised to find that Col. Sheppard has a Mensa-worthy IQ.
* In the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "Trash," Saffron assumes Mal is an idiot because he's being kind and compassionate to her. Then she walks headlong into his [[Batman Gambit]] when it turns out he expected her [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|sudden but inevitable betrayal]], and Inara beat Saffron to the drop point.
* Carly in ''[[
* Occurs several times in ''[[Survivor]]'' -- Natalie in ''Samoa'' successfully played Russell's scheming to her own benefit. Also "Fabio" in ''Nicaragua'', who had a "lovable goof" personality but was reasonably game-savvy and combined the two to get the win.
* On Season 2 of ''[[The Amazing Race]]'', Tara & Wil and Chris & Alex constantly ragged on Blake for being an idiot, despite this, he made several brilliant strategic moves, including being the first team to beg for money, getting his bags on a flight when all the other teams had to check theirs, and getting preferred parking on a ferry, most of which were decried by the above teams as "cheating".
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*** The renegade option, for the six billion of you who didn't take it, has Shepard leave David with his brother, but s\he still smacks him around and tells him he's a sick bastard who's only spared because the project might prevent a war.
* Does not even begin to describe [[Disgaea|Sereph Lamington]], a [[Chessmaster]] grade example.
* [[Mega Man X]], a [[Neutral Good]] [[Reluctant Warrior]] who lives in an increasingly [[Crapsack World]] infested with [[The Virus]], capable of turning even his best friend against him. Often referred to as 'too trusting' in-universe and 'emo' outside of it because he doesn't like killing people. He's also an [[Sealed Good in
* Garlot of ''[[Blaze Union]]'' may not be very smart to begin with, but he has a very sensitive nature that allows him to accurately read and understand his rivals and enemies' motivations. As his adventures start to gain him more and more street cred, it's his overwhelmingly gentle and compassionate heart that manages to win the hearts of his entire country--including those very rivals and enemies, more often than not. We get to see in [[Yggdra Union|the future]] just how much Bronquia [[Hundred-Percent Adoration Rating|really appreciates]] having a leader who's kind, just, and ''competent.''
* Duessel from ''[[
== Webcomics ==
* Almost all of the good guys in ''[[The Order of the Stick
** And even Elan isn't completely dumb, because what he lacks in book smarts, he makes up for in [[Genre Savvy]].
** [[Lawful Stupid|Miko]] might be another exception. "Good, not dumb" is often a response to people expecting other paladins to act like her.
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**** Hell, even Miko can't be underestimated, because she managed to track down the Order across a continent, and possessed enough of a tactical mindset to defeat the Order twice with only her horse as backup and damage/kill most of the raiding ogres in the opening round of combat.
**** Miko isn't ''dumb'', precisely; rather, she [[Horrible Judge of Character|is]] [[No Social Skills|socially]] [[Does Not Understand Sarcasm|in]][[Entendre Failure|ept]], [[Black and White Insanity|sees the world in black and white]], and [[Pride|refuses to admit]] [[Fatal Flaw|that she can be]] [[Fallen Hero|wrong]].
* Arthur in ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space]]''. His enemies often assume that because he's nice, unassuming, and prepared to give the benefit of the doubt if possible, he can't be dangerous. Many of them are dead now, and the remaining ones [http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/2256.htm still haven't learnt].
* Everyone thinks that just because [[Girl Genius|Gilgamesh Wulfenbach]] never built a [[Death Ray]] and tries to be civilized and fair, they can push him around and act like he's nothing. When [[Berserk Button|he's finally pushed over the edge]], he shows the entire world that yes, he ''does'' know how to build a [[Death Ray]], and yes, he's perfectly capable of kicking the crap out of Europa to protect his father and [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|not-girlfriend]].
** He doesn't build a [[Death Ray]], he builds a device that can summon forth energy from the environment. ''[[Street Fighter (
*** This is apparently accepted under Europa's cultural definition of 'death ray.'
{{quote| '''Castle Heterodyne:''' [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|Wulfenbach sparks are known for their oversized machinery, you know.]] [Agatha blushes.]}}
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== Western Animation ==
* Arguably Ned Flanders from ''[[The Simpsons (
* In the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "Flash and Substance," Orion asks why Central City would honor a buffoon like the Flash, "who makes bad jokes, who concerns with pitiful men like the Trickster." But the Flash is anything but dumb--he's able to handle the Trickster without throwing a single punch. In fact, he convinces the Trickster to happily turn himself in to the police.
** He's also a forensic scientist in his civilian job, and a ''good'' one too.
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