History IdiotHero / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': Rigby. His stupidity is responsible for most of the chaos in the park; it also turns out that he is a [[BookDumb high school dropout]]. That being said, he does [[CharacterDevelopment get better]] as the series goes on, especially when he finally [[spoiler:gets his diploma]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': Gumball Watterson [[CharacterizationMarchesOn played this straight in the first season]], making stupid decision after stupid decision in order to achieve his desires. From the second season onwards, though, this becomes {{downplayed|trope}} as he [[DumbassNoMore does become more self-aware and abstract]], leaning more in the CatsAreSnarkers trope and even being the OnlySaneMan on occasion. Nevertheless, he can still be impulsive, careless, and ignorant when the plot calls for it.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} with [[Characters/TheOwlHouseLuzNoceda Luz Noceda]]. She isn't stupid so much as careless and flaky. Even so, she saves the day in about every episode, culminating in her [[spoiler:successfully ending the Day of Unity]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': Mordecai and Rigby themselves, but Rigby more-so. His stupidity is responsible for most of the chaos in the park; it also turns out that he is a [[BookDumb high school dropout]]. That being said, he does [[CharacterDevelopment get better]] as the series goes on, especially when he finally [[spoiler:gets his diploma]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsTitularCharacter The titular character]]. In the [[CharacterizationMarchesOn earlier seasons]], he was more of a naive {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who lacked common sense and proper judgment, but he [[TookALevelInDumbass becomes more clueless and dense]] as the series goes on.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': [[Characters/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballGumballWatterson Gumball Watterson]] [[CharacterizationMarchesOn played this straight in the first season]], making stupid decision after stupid decision in order to achieve his desires. From the second season onwards, though, this becomes {{downplayed|trope}} as he [[DumbassNoMore does become more self-aware and abstract]], leaning more in the CatsAreSnarkers trope and even being the OnlySaneMan on occasion. Nevertheless, he can still be impulsive, careless, and ignorant when the plot calls for it.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmazingWorldOfGumball'': [[Characters/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballGumballWatterson Gumball Watterson]] [[CharacterizationMarchesOn played this straight in the first season]], making stupid decision after stupid decision in order to achieve his desires. From the second season onwards, though, this becomes {{downplayed|trope}} as he [[DumbassNoMore does become more self-aware and abstract]], leaning more in the CatsAreSnarkers trope and even being the OnlySaneMan on occasion. Nevertheless, he can still be impulsive, careless, and ignorant when the plot calls for it.

* ''Franchise/{{Ben 10}}'': [[Characters/Ben10BenTennyson Ben Tennyson]] in both [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 the original series]] and [[WesternAnimation/Ben102016 the 2016 reboot]], though this case is heavily justified: after all, he is a ''10 year old'' kid using a highly advanced alien weapon he barely understands himself, and he's teamed up with a ridiculously precocious cousin (who in the Classic Timeline has an innate talent for magic); anyone in such a situation and with such allies would look dumb in comparison, unless you are a genius yourself. By the time he's a teenager in the Classic Timeline, he has grown out of this for the most part and is revealed to be much smarter than he seems, though later installments (''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' in particular) would have him still occasionally engage in such behavior due to narcissistic tendencies following him becoming a LivingLegend.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Finn, by his very own admission. Though he's more impulsive than outright dumb -- he occasionally wins challenges through craft, for example ("The Limit," "It Came from the Nightosphere," "Memory of a Memory"). However, when asked why he's missing some teeth, WordOfGod said "he bites trees and rocks and stuff. He's stupid."
* ''WesternAnimation/AmazingWorldOfGumball'': Gumball Watterson [[CharacterizationMarchesOn played this straight in the first season]], making stupid decision after stupid decision in order to achieve his desires. From the second season onwards, though, this becomes {{downplayed|trope}} as he [[DumbassNoMore does become more self-aware and abstract]], leaning more in the CatsAreSnarkers trope and even being the OnlySaneMan on occasion. Nevertheless, he can still be impulsive, careless, and ignorant when the plot calls for it.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Stan Smith may be a classified member of the CIA, but he is otherwise a complete idiot, which is best demonstrated in "Hurricane!" where he ends up getting everyone injured from his attempts to "save" them from disaster.
* ''Franchise/{{Ben 10}}'': Ben Tennyson in both [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 the original series]] and [[WesternAnimation/Ben102016 the 2016 reboot]], though this case is heavily justified: after all, he is a ''10 year old'' kid using a highly advanced alien weapon he barely understands himself, and he's teamed up with a ridiculously precocious cousin (who in the Classic Timeline has an innate talent for magic); anyone in such a situation and with such allies would look dumb in comparison, unless you are a genius yourself. By the time he's a teenager in the Classic Timeline, he has grown out of this for the most part and is revealed to be much smarter than he seems, though later installments (''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' in particular) would have him still occasionally engage in such behavior due to narcissistic tendencies following him becoming a LivingLegend.

** Korra is far from stupid, but she is portrayed as completely oblivious, hot-headed, and impulsive. Usually, her strokes of idiocy stem from narcissistic tendencies developed from early childhood. At best, Korra is perfectly capable of being smart, but lacks the maturity and patience to bother doing so. By the end of Book Two, though, she's [[CharacterDevelopment grown out of it]] almost completely.
** Korra's friend Bolin. [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling The Foolish to his brother Mako's Responsible]], Bolin isn't stupid per se, but he's gullible, naive and a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug can fall under this, mainly due to her inability to quell her obsession towards Adrien, which more often than not leads to disastrous results.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer Simpson is the main character and saves the day for the most part, but he is very dimwitted to the point of [[AchievementsInIgnorance resulting in otherwise impossible scenarios]]. {{Flanderization}} has him [[TookALevelInDumbass become even stupider]] as time went by.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The titular character. In the [[CharacterizationMarchesOn earlier seasons]], he was more of a naive {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who lacked common sense and proper judgment, but he [[TookALevelInDumbass becomes more clueless and dense]] as the series goes on.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Steven Quartz Universe is very much an example for the first half of the series. A small, naive child who is easily manipulated by the adults around him, he doesn't even realize his entire race is [[spoiler:from another planet]] until the end of the first season. His childish antics frequently get him and the rest of the cast in trouble. However, as the series goes on and Steven learns more about combat and the minds of other people, he eventually (very gradually) grows out of this trait, and at this point in the series (Season 4) stands as a BadassPacifist / emotional {{Chessmaster}} with only occasional moments of weakness.

* ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'': Dudley Puppy is shown to be capable of having [[GeniusDitz some intellect]], but he’s still mostly a [[DogsAreDumb reckless dog]] who often [[LethallyStupid endangers his teammates due to his carelessness]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Jet gives off this vibe at times due to him being incredibly naive about Earth, very forgetful, and often jumping into situations without thinking first.