History JerkWithAHeartOfGold / ComicBooks

* In ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Roam is arrogant, snide and condescending, but he's still out to defeat Ganon and save the world.

* Elvis from ''ComicStrip/BreakingCatNews'' He’s paranoid and rude, but he is shown to genuinely care about his friends and has a soft spot for The Girl.
* Calvin of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' fame. His heart is well hidden, but Hobbes being damaged or an injured animal can bring it out. He can also get genuinely remorseful if one of his pranks goes too far.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' is notoriously lazy, arrogant and selfish. He's ''extremely'' abusive to both [[DogsAreDumb Odie]] and his owner Jon (not to mention all those poor alarm clocks he smashes...), is often shown to be '''extremely''' apathetic and can be outright ''cruel'' during his worst moments ([[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1994/ga940717.gif this strip, anybody?]]) and has even admitted ''to his own girlfriend's face'' that he thinks about himself '''even when he's with her'''. At the same time, though, he's proven multiple times that he ''does'' love and care about his family ([[http://assets.amuniversal.com/0f03a9300fd00134687e005056a9545d and even the viewer!]]), and can actually be quite protective of them at times. In one of the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials'', for example, a panther threatens the life of both Jon and Odie. Despite initially running to the top of a tree in fear to get away from it, he doesn't even ''hesitate'' to ''dive from the tree'' '''onto the panther's back and claw away at it'''; while he doesn't defeat the panther, he ''does'' manage to buy enough time for the park rangers to tranquilize the panther without anyone getting hurt. As well, despite him regularly refusing to share his food with most people, he's also been kind enough to [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1982/11/04 offer a chick a piece of lasagna]], and he's shown to have quite the soft spot for Christmas as well.
* While Bucky of ''ComicStrip/GetFuzzy'' is mostly a self-centered JerkAss, he's been shown to have shades of this on at least 2 occasions.
** In a relatively early arc, when Satchel's arm is badly hurt while chasing a bike, Bucky shows an unusual (for him) amount of care and concern, such as being the one to first inform Rob of the accident and clearly being close to panicking while doing so. Near the end of the arc, [[spoiler:Satchel realizes that he lost his beloved wristwatch in the accident, and Rob muses on how it's likely impossible to find it now. Cue a scene of Buckey fishing the watch out of a drainage ditch, ''out of his own volition''.]]
** In a later arc, in the wake of 9/11, Rob and Satchel decide to donate blood. The last strip of the arc is a single panel showing [[spoiler:Bucky setting up a bunch of signs congratulating them on their blood donations and calling them heroes, and even prepared a batch of cookies for them.]]

* Numerous examples from ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'', but the most obvious one is [[RulesLawyer Brian.]] He's a selfish, manipulative jerk, no denying it, but he has showed some genuine kindess over the years, and has gotten perhaps more PetTheDog moments than any other character.
* Ignatz Mouse from ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' -- he may constantly throw bricks at the title character's head, but he's been shown to genuinely care about his FriendlyEnemy, and he even does the occasional good deed.
* [[ComicStrip/LittleLulu Lulu Moppet]] may generally mean well and be good hearted, but when the fellers torment her and the other girls... [[{{Jerkass}} she's pretty mean when teaching them a lesson.]]

* [[YouDirtyRat Rat]] from ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' qualifies as this sometimes, though the more sociopathic side of his personality tends to be emphasized. One time Pig jumped off a roof believing he could fly (ItMakesSenseinContext) and, after waking up in the hospital asked Rat what happened. Rat begins to tell him the truth, but then pauses and says instead that Pig hit his head on the moon.

* Marigold of ''ComicStrip/PhoebeAndHerUnicorn'' is [[{{Narcissist}} vain to a downright parodic degree]] and frequently insults Phoebe's appearance. Apart from this, however, she is always her close, loyal and beloved friend.

* All of Scott's friends qualify to varying degrees from ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'', but the one who stands out is Kim Pine. Kim Pine may be a bitter DeadpanSnarker GrumpyBear (with misanthropic tendencies and an inferiority complex to boot), but also a true friend of Scott, helping him with Sex Bob-Omb, despite things like [[spoiler: their relationship ending due to him moving, but the problem was him telling her via proxy (their friend Lisa) rather than her directly]] and, in volume 5, she demonstrates her friendship with him [[spoiler: faking an SMS from Ramona, ignoring her own feelings towards him, in order to give Scott support in his fight against the two exes]] she also offers him her house (and her own bed) when Scott is homeless, helps him with his depression over [[spoiler: Ramona's disappearance]] and even [[spoiler: kisses him a last time before his fight with Gideon]].

!!!DC
* DependingOnTheWriter, Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** Even in his darkest iterations, Batman does what he does so that one day, there'll never be another little boy forced to watch his parents get killed in the street.
** Also, Damian Wayne, Batman's son. In ''Batman'' #666, as a FutureBadAss, he is shown having a pet cat he named Alfred. And in canon, he was [[EvenEvilHasStandards visibly disgusted and threw up]] when he saw hundreds of dead bodies of children. Also from canon, he has been visiting Hush (who had surgery to make him look like Bruce Wayne), who was imprisoned in the Wayne Tower, and playing chess with him. Hush suspects that he does this because Damian is grieving for his father and it's a way for him to spend some time with his father.
** Jason Todd, despite the things he's done and the murders he's committed, [[PetTheDog takes in Sasha]], a young girl whose face was mutilated by villain Professor Pyg. When she feared that the mask that Pyg had stuck to her face would make it that no doctor could fix it, he assured her that it wouldn't make her any less special. In ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' it's shown that he deeply cares for the All-Caste, considering them his family and hesitating when confronted with their zombie forms, and once saved a village.
** ComicBook/PoisonIvy as well. Despite being a fanatical ecoterrorist who gets entertainment out of throwing living people to giant flesh eating plants, she deeply cares about her friend Harley Quinn, and has been a jealously protective and loving MamaBear to the stray children who fell under her care while Gotham City was ravaged by an earthquake.
* Flash Forward, a.k.a. "Negative Man" from the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. An irreverent smartass who never has a nice thing to say about anyone, he has a soft spot for introverted teammate Ava and often seems like the only person who cares about her, and vice versa.
** Although the original and current Negative Men were straight-up {{Deadpan Snarker}}s.
** Robotman, also from the Doom Patrol (though he doesn't technically ''have'' a heart: or if he does, it's made of some other metal).
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'':
** Guy Gardner. Rowdy, egotistical, self-centered, boisterous, loudmouthed, short on impulse control and long on bravado. However, his side of the SlapSlapKiss relationship between him and teammate Ice is genuinely tender and sensitive, a fact that Ice's friend Fire flat out ''refuses'' to believe. Additionally, originally he consciously put on his tough guy facade to cope with being TheUnFavorite with an overachieving big brother.
*** And underneath his bad attitude is a true hero, a man willing to fight and die to protect the universe from harm [[spoiler:and deemed best suited to lead the GL Corps as the #1 Lantern.]]
*** In his early, pre-Green Lantern days he was a kindergarten teacher. Hal had to save him when he hurt himself rescuing a busload of his students he was taking on a field trip.
*** The bus rescue happened at the beginning of the issue that introduced John Stewart in 1971, the JerkAss persona came about later with the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. It was apparently attributed to brain damage caused by his many misfortunes in the previous decade or so, starting with the injury he suffered at the aforementioned bus rescue when the bus fell on him and culminating with a few years in a coma before the Guardians revived him.
** John Stewart was a bit of a jerk as an AngryBlackMan in his first story. He was belligerent enough for Hal Jordan to question the Guardians' judgement about having him recruited as his new backup. However, Stewart quickly proves himself and Jordan happily concedes at the end of the story that while Stewart's outspoken style might be off-putting, he's still an excellent recruit.
* [[ComicBook/HawkAndDove Hawk]] from the ComicBook/TeenTitans, in some writers' interpretations. Otherwise, he's more known for being an outright {{Jerkass}}.
* ComicBook/LoisLane. She's gruff, hard-nosed, sharp-tongued, quick-tempered, bossy, rude, and more than a little bullying; but she's deeply compassionate, has unshakable integrity, is fiercely loyal to her friends and husband, and loves her job because it allows her to help people and fight for truth, justice, and the American Way. And kind, laid-back [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]]'s attraction to her has strong (though gender-flipped) AllGirlsWantBadBoys vibes.
* The titular characters of ''Lil i Put'' ("Lil and Put") are both scammers and bums but they more than once proven loyal friends to Miksja and Kirki and are willing to put their own lives at risk to save their friends and protect each other
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** Modern versions of Supergirl tend to put an emphasis on her being a teenager who has seen her family dying and her home exploding before being trapped in a strange (comparatively speaking), primitive world and gifted with powers beyond understanding. So, she's moody, snappy, inmature, rude and short-tempered for a while until she outgrows her loneliness and anger management issues. However, even at her worst she's a good girl deep-down who tries to help people and doesn't want anybody to get hurt.
** In the ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline her anger was out-of-control and she was abrasive and often plainly rude. Even so, she tried to be considerate to others, apologized when she screwed something up and chided one of her teammates for not being tactful enough.
** ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'': It's well-hidden but Barbara Gordon has one. Although she is rude, rules Gotham like a dictator and spends a good while complaining and ranting about metahumans, she doesn't want Kara to kill Lex Luthor - even though she also hates Luthor! - because Supergirl is "a symbol of hope, not revenge".
* ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'' has [[Franchise/SpiderMan J J Jameson]] and [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Morgan Edge]], two curmudgeon, overbearing, obnoxious, borderline-abusive bosses. Amusingly, they are willing to admit their employees' merits when said employees are not around.
-->'''Morgan Edge:''' Kent is my best reporter — or would be, if he were around when I need him!\\
'''[=JJJ=]:''' Reminds me of a photographer I know — Peter Parker — good, but — er — unreliable!
* The ComicBook/New52 version of [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]] is pretty much this, though the 'heart of gold' part is buried underneath a lot of cynicism. It's something of a [[BrokenBase Base Breaker]] for fans used to seeing him as TheCape.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': When ComicBook/{{Artemis}} was first introduced she cared for the safety of others and was willing to risk her life to protect strangers but was so cruel with her words she drove one man to suicide and told an abuse survivor that her children would be better off if she'd died because she was disgusted the woman was such a "coward" that she took her kids and fled for their lives instead of confronting her abusive husband.

!!!Marvel
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is often portrayed as this. Even with his rampant insanity, the guy is shown to ultimately mean well and he frequently tries to improve himself. When he ended up in X-Force, he quickly proved to be the most moral member of the team who called out the rest of the team whenever they did something that crossed the line. In fact, it's increasingly strongly suggested that Deadpool acts like a jerk towards others simply because he's afraid of being rejected.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'':
** Reed Richards, who acts like an [[InsufferableGenius arrogant, insensitive dick]] most of the time, but [[PapaWolf loves his children]], [[BattleCouple wife]] and [[TrueCompanions adoptive family]] dearly, has an extremely strong and idealistic moral compass, and suffers a great deal of guilt over the accident that ruined the Four's normal lives.
** For that matter there's his brother-in-law Johnny Storm, who can more often than not be a cocky, immature jackass. But he always stands by his friends and loved ones and will give his all fighting for the greater good.
** ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'' loves pushing people around and launching attacks against his enemies (namely everybody who's not him) but has warmth for his citizenry, particularly the children of Latveria. In a truly shocking moment, he forgave past grudges and aided the Invisible Woman with her second birth, saving both Sue and her baby from certain death. As such, the daughter, Valeria, is held as an endeared one under his personal protection and allowed unrestricted audience, while the child returns his affection and refers to him informally as Uncle Doom. Awwwwww. (Warning: This is most definitely a DependingOnTheWriter quality.)
** Reed Richards from ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'' means well... sort of, but there are moments where he's incredibly arrogant and bad tempered. [[spoiler:Becomes a full on JerkWithAHeartOfJerk when he turns evil because he felt being good was holding him back]].
* Tony Stark alias ComicBook/IronMan '''is''' this trope [[MemeticMutation IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!!]] This applies to both his comics incarnation as well as how he's treated in films. Notably, he only really developed the heart of gold after the accident that made him Iron Man; before that, it was in there somewhere, but not so you'd notice.
** [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Also, it's technically a]] [[HeartLight heart of unstable radioactive isotopes.]]
* [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] is at best a gigantic asshole. But he truly does care for his friends, such as Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers, and will do what is necessary to protect his people. He also flooded Wakanda, and although he was kinda possessed by the Phoenix Force, he later confesses that the only thing he regrets is that so many Wakandans lived, and he ''wasn't'' possessed when he said that. And that's ''after'' he pretty much told Thanos to attack Wakanda.
* J. Jonah Jameson from the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics is another good example. Sure, he's short-tempered, tight-fisted, and an often obnoxious loudmouth, but he's also been shown as a tireless crusader supporting everything from labor union rights to mutant rights, going after organized crime figures and corrupt politicians despite repeated attempts on his life, and discreetly supporting various charities and social projects, and even hiring a good lawyer for Peter Parker when Parker was falsely accused of murder. He's been pretty much consistently portrayed as a social liberal whose ideals are wrapped in civil liberty and constitutional rights. despite the fact that he's a mean-spirited douche to the people around him.
** In the arc where Spider-Man publicly unmasked himself as Peter Parker, Jameson went so far as to refer to Parker as being like a son to him, and that he had always regarded Parker as the "last honest guy in town". What does Jameson do next? Turns around and sues the crap out of Parker for misrepresentation. Of course, he wasn't entirely unjustified in doing this; he was also later confronted by other characters about how much of a jerk he'd been to Spider-Man / Peter over the years.
** It should also be noted that Jameson's character is interpreted ''drastically'' differently, DependingOnTheWriter. Some writers really tend to push the "heart of gold" aspect, whereas others still prefer to present him as a genuine JerkAss, ignoring any character development to the contrary by other writers. (This usually coincides with alternating interpretations of Jameson as a genuinely competent newspaper publisher and an angry tabloid publisher with an agenda. The latter version is occasionally characterized as clueless and outright sociopathic, too, whereas the former version sometimes borders on hidden philanthropist. It's ''really'' inconsistent, to say the least.)
*** It should be noted that during Creator/StanLee's run on Spider-Man Jameson is always a JerkAss [[TheScrooge Scrooge]] who feels that appearing to have a heart of gold is the best way to make money.
** Mainly though, the character seems to be kind of like Spider from Transmetropolitan. He's a complete asswipe, no doubt, but he surely is also a kind person at heart and has shown this on several occasions. For example he genuinely cares about honesty, integrity and civil liberties and can be quite nice (or at least, less caustic) to his friends, like Peter or his employees, despite being a sarcastic jerk.
** JJ was once offered a deal: if he stopped bashing Spidey every time he needed an editorial, he'd get an exclusivity deal with the ComicBook/NewAvengers. He even got to hear ''[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Captain Fucking America]]'' tell him Spidey was a hero rather than a monster. His response? After shaking hands on the deal, he promptly went back to not only committing libel, but making accusations of bribery and digging up things like "wanted murderer" (Wolverine), "terrorist" (Spider-Woman) and "convicted drug dealer" (Luke Cage, who was framed and ''exonerated'').
** These inconsistencies are avoided by the UltimateUniverse J. Jonah Jameson (probably because the only writer was Bendis). He embodies this trope completely. Three examples stick out - firstly, after firing Peter in a temper tantrum, he comes to the kid's house and opens up to him about his son dying, before offering to give him his job back and allowing him to start shadowing Ben Urich so he can get a taste for real journalism. The second is him doing a HeelFaceTurn on the whole Spider-Man thing [[spoiler: after the Ultimatum arc when it's not certain if Spidey survived, and writing a heartfelt public apology/obituary for the webslinger.]] Lastly, he [[spoiler: eventually discovers Peter's secret identity and his first reaction is to offer him money. He says he'll pay for Parker's entire college education on the basis that "I'm a rich man, I'd hardly notice."]]
** In ''ComicBook/MarvelVersusDC'', when it looks like TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, Spidey asks Jameson if he has any last digs to get in. Jonah responds "For what it's worth, I'm sorry", to which Peter can only say a quiet "Oh."
** In the storyline ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfJeanDeWolff'', Jameson responds to a question about whether he believes Spider-Man deserves to die with "Hitler deserved to die, so do assassins, cop killers, scum like that. Whatever else he is, Spider-Man is not one of those."
* From the ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** This is a frequent characterization of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}. He's always talking back to authority figures, even if he agrees with their choices, will regularly get into fight with friends with next to no provocation (at one point trying to kill Colossus for ''daring'' to save his life) and is unapologetic in his killing, few cases aside, because he thinks, no matter what people say, it's what they want from him. However, he is deeply loyal to his friends, and will go out of his way to get his own hands dirty so no one else has to.
** Northstar tends to be something of an acerbic arrogant bitch to everyone around him... except his Tennessee Williams-style mentally ill sister (well, ''most'' of the time, anyway) and especially his deceased adopted infant daughter, Joanne Beaubier.
** In his darker characterization ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} is this. In recent times he formed a hit squad of the more sociopathic members of the X-Men to kill the X-Men's greatest enemies. Before that he had a psychic affair on his wife who died later (Though ''he was'' going through a deep emotional breakdown and he was manipulated into doing so) and before that abandoned his wife and son to go to his ex girlfriend (but at the same time he was emotionally conflicted, tried to make it up and felt really guilty afterwards as well as possibly being manipulated into doing that as well). However, he only formed the hit squad in the first place to protect mutants from their most dangerous enemies while they were on the verge of extinction where all it would take is the slightest super weapon to destroy them. In ''Deadpool X Marks The Spot'' he sends Wolverine to kill Deadpool, but only because he risked making the X-Men look like monsters and earlier comforted Mercury when her father was being a dick. And while he at times is displayed as a cold emotionless leader, he was visibly upset when Thunderbird (A real JerkAss) died despite him being powerless to stop it from happening, as well as feeling guilty that he allowed Kitty to get trapped in her ghost state/a giant bullet.
** ComicBook/EmmaFrost also tends to be this. Despite being the bitch she is, she cares about the mutant race, her friends, her students and Cyclops.
** Quentin Quire has become one following his HeelFaceTurn.
** Hellion as well. He's a smug, arrogant, self-entitled prick to most everyone, but also fiercely loyal to and protective of his friends. Seeing many of them killed during Stryker's attacks against the school would affect him very deeply.
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'':
** Captain America. Flaws or not, he's still Captain freakin' America. He's fairly forward thinking for his time even if he does retain some misogyny, and though he doesn't show it as much and can come off as very cynical, he does share his 616 counterpart's strong sense of idealism and heroism. Spider-Man's death certainly helped tone down his jerkass side.
** Monica Chang. She may be the Alpha Bitch of the team, but she's also a loving mother, passionate about defending her country, and worries about her teammates in fights.

* DependingOnTheWriter, Franchise/{{Batman}}

* Flash Forward, a.k.a. "Negative Man" from the ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol''. An irreverent smartass who never has a nice thing to say about anyone, he has a soft spot for introverted teammate Ava and often seems like the only person who cares about her, and vice versa.
** Although the original and current Negative Men were straight-up {{Deadpan Snarker}}.

* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'':

** In the ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline her anger was out-of-control and she was abrasive and often plainly rude. Even so, she tried to be considerate to others, apologized when she screwed something up and chided one of her teammates for not being tactful enough.

* ''Comicbook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'' has [[Franchise/SpiderMan J J Jameson]] and [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Morgan Edge]], two curmudgeon, overbearing, obnoxious, borderline-abusive bosses. Amusingly, they are willing to admit their employees' merits when said employees are not around.

* The ComicBook/{{New 52}} version of [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]] is pretty much this, though the 'heart of gold' part is buried underneath a lot of cynicism. It's something of a [[BrokenBase Base Breaker]] for fans used to seeing him as TheCape.

** ''Comicbook/DoctorDoom'' loves pushing people around and launching attacks against his enemies (namely everybody who's not him) but has warmth for his citizenry, particularly the children of Latveria. In a truly shocking moment, he forgave past grudges and aided the Invisible Woman with her second birth, saving both Sue and her baby from certain death. As such, the daughter, Valeria, is held as an endeared one under his personal protection and allowed unrestricted audience, while the child returns his affection and refers to him informally as Uncle Doom. Awwwwww. (Warning: This is most definitely a DependingOnTheWriter quality.)

* Tony Stark alias Comicbook/IronMan '''is''' this trope [[MemeticMutation IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!!]] This applies to both his comics incarnation as well as how he's treated in films. Notably, he only really developed the heart of gold after the accident that made him Iron Man; before that, it was in there somewhere, but not so you'd notice.

* J. Jonah Jameson from the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' comics is another good example. Sure, he's short-tempered, tight-fisted, and an often obnoxious loudmouth, but he's also been shown as a tireless crusader supporting everything from labor union rights to mutant rights, going after organized crime figures and corrupt politicians despite repeated attempts on his life, and discreetly supporting various charities and social projects, and even hiring a good lawyer for Peter Parker when Parker was falsely accused of murder. He's been pretty much consistently portrayed as a social liberal whose ideals are wrapped in civil liberty and constitutional rights. despite the fact that he's a mean-spirited douche to the people around him.

** It should also be noted that Jameson's character is interpreted ''drastically'' differently, DependingOnTheWriter. Some writers really tend to push the "heart of gold" aspect, whereas others still prefer to present him as a genuine {{Jerk Ass}}, ignoring any character development to the contrary by other writers. (This usually coincides with alternating interpretations of Jameson as a genuinely competent newspaper publisher and an angry tabloid publisher with an agenda. The latter version is occasionally characterized as clueless and outright sociopathic, too, whereas the former version sometimes borders on hidden philanthropist. It's ''really'' inconsistent, to say the least.)

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates''

* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', Ash the Mongoose was introduced. From his first appearance, he had a grudge against Sonic, and was outwardly bitter. The 'heart of gold' part of his character came out when he risked his life to save Mina from a bomb in her dressing room.

* [[YouDirtyRat Rat]] from ''ComicStrip/{{Pearls Before Swine}}'' qualifies as this sometimes, though the more sociopathic side of his personality tends to be emphasized. One time Pig jumped off a roof believing he could fly ({{It Makes Sense in Context}}) and, after waking up in the hospital asked Rat what happened. Rat begins to tell him the truth, but then pauses and says instead that Pig hit his head on the moon.

** Desire, for all its faults, has at least one [[PetTheDog pet the dog]] moment in ''Brief Lives''.

* Thor in ''{{ComicBook/Valhalla}}''. While he is genuinely honorable and kind, he is also impulsive, thoughtless and temperamental.

** Captain America. Flaws or not, he's still Captain freakin' America. He's fairly forward thinking for his time even if he does retain some misogyny, and though he doesn't show it as much and can come off as very cynical, he does share his canon counterparts strong sense of idealism and heroism. Spider-Man's death certainly helped tone down his jerkass side.