History JerkWithAHeartOfGold / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Misfits}}'': Nathan Young is a pretty extreme example of this. He is indisputably selfish, immature, insensitive, petulant and obnoxious, and while his Jerkass personality may be a [[JerkassFacade facade]] to some extent, the fact remains that he often goes out of his way to upset others and seems pretty oblivious to his companions' dislike of him. However, as his CharacterDevelopment continues, his own [[JerkassWoobie vulnerability is made clearly apparent]], and he does (occasionally) start to show concern for other people and even [[PetTheDog expresses remorse]] for some of the things he's done. Plus, his [[TookALevelInBadass surprisingly heroic actions]] during the series finale prove beyond a doubt that there ''is'' a half-decent person in there somewhere, no matter how well he hides it most of the time.

** Leon Vance also, though he and Gibbs put on the JerkassFacade.

* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'': Nick Cutter. [[DeadpanSnarker James Lester]] blends this with JerkassFacade. When another character tells him that he's really a nice guy underneath, he calmly tells her that she better take that back, lest he sue her for defamation.

* ''Series/HaltandCatchFire'': Although the ManipulativeBastard Joe spends most of the first season as a JerkAss, by Season Three he develops outspoken compassion for Gordon, Cameron and Ryan, especially after [[spoiler:Ryan commits suicide]].

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': Jayne Cobb is on the borderline, and definitely leaning toward "jerk", but shows some nicer moments, such as sending a chunk of his pay to his mom to help take care of his ailing sister, and wearing a truly hideous hat because his mother made it for him.
** Jayne actually ''liked'' the hat (possibly just because his mother made it, but still). More telling is his reaction to the Mudders in "Jaynestown":
--->'''Jayne''': You guys had a riot? On account o' me? My very own riot?
** The devastation on Jayne's face after one of the Mudders sacrifices himself to save him speaks more about his character than anything else. He also shows genuine loyalty and even affection for his own crew, though he doesn't initially include Simon and River in that group. He's also nice to people who are friendly to him, especially when he has money and is in a good mood.
--->'''Jayne''': (Gives a Buddhist Monk some money) Buy some shoes.
--->'''Monk''': The Hero of Canton... He's real!
** Mal also falls pretty squarely into this trope- he goes out of his way to be rude, offensive, or outright antagonistic to people, particularly Simon, Book, and especially Inara, but he will not allow any of them to get hurt.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': The title character, likewise, is a pompous, self-righteous, overbearing and snobby jackass who nevertheless genuinely loves and cares for his family and friends, is devoted to psychiatry and his patients, and is deep down ruled by an inner need to be liked. His brother [[ReplacementFlatCharacter Niles]] is similar — less arrogant and self-righteous than Frasier, but even more snooty and viciously sarcastic, who nevertheless demonstrates genuinely decent redeeming qualities similar to those of his brother, and his love for Daphne frequently brings out his sweet side.
** Martin is in some ways like this as well, at times to the point of being an inversion; although a lot more down-to-Earth, practical and, on the surface at least, likable than his two sons, he's nevertheless in the early seasons a crabby, bitter and emotionally repressed and distant man whom, it's suggested, has rarely actually made much of an effort to connect to his sons in any meaningful way (although he remains proud of them nevertheless). Whilst Niles and Frasier tend to wear their jerkiness on their sleeves, especially towards Martin, it's frequently established that Martin also has his jerkass side and partial responsibility for his difficult relationship with his sons.
** Daphne is kind of a double subversion as a BitchInSheepsClothing [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold With A Heart Of Gold]]. She's sweet, polite, and cheerful on the outside; manipulative, hypocritical, hot-tempered, and slightly unbalanced on the inside; and deeply loyal and caring on the ''very'' inside.
** Even Roz is a bit of this as well. She's a swaggering, loud, snarky, flippant, ball-breaking [[ReallyGetsAround Village Bicycle]]; but shows that deep down she does feel vulnerable about her life and relationships, is a romantic at heart, and is very, ''very'' protective towards her best friend Frasier. Yeah, this show had a big thing for taking comedy-fodder stereotypes and giving them depth and complexity.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'': A similarly tailored example: Ron Swanson is a gruff, bitter misanthropist who hates his ex-wives, liberals, and the government, but when it comes down to it he's always there to help his coworkers and dispense sage wisdom.

* ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'': Ren Akiyama, Kamen Rider Knight comes off as a cold loner, who seldom speaks and doesn't get along with people much. Later, he turns out to be a gentle person, who genuinely loves his girlfriend and is determined to save her. Ren also has an unspoken affection for [[DistressedDamsel Yui]] and his Rider sidekick [[TheHero Shinji]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': TheRival Kaito Kumon (Armored Rider Baron) is harsh and abrasive, but it all really boils down to his highly unusual version of [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinism]] (detailed on that trope's page). This is well demonstrated in his debut episode, where a child is stuck in a tree and rather than climbing up himself, Kaito encourages the boy to get himself down and then praises him for finding the strength to take care of himself.
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' gives us Hiiro Kagami (Kamen Rider Brave), who has a very smug, condescending attitude, especially towards amateurs like protagonist Emu Hojo. However, he still fights to save peoples' lives, both as a genius surgeon with a perfect record ''and'' a KnightInShiningArmor HenshinHero. His rude behavior is eventually explained to be tied to the death of his girlfriend Saki, with Hiiro pushing himself as hard as possible to honor her LastWords: "Become the best doctor in the world." His interactions with Emu eventually lead to him (mostly) losing the jerkishness and just becoming a straight-up hero.
** The same series gives us Taiga Hanaya (Kamen Rider Snipe), an unlicensed doctor and the first Kamen Rider (in this series, anyway), who was stripped of both his license and his powers when the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bugsters]] emerged; after getting a new set of powers, he began attacking the other Riders' and trying to claim their {{Transformation Trinket}}s, saying that he's the only Kamen Rider the world needs. Being stuck with a MoralityPet in the form of Nico Saiba allows him to evolve into this from his original state of NominalHero.[[spoiler:Eventually it's revealed that he feels guilty for being unable to stop the Bugsters or save Saki's life, and believes that he's the only one who should fight because unlike the others, he's got nothing left to lose.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': Ryuga Banjou can be abrassive (sometimes even [[HotBlooded explosive]]) jerk towards Sento and Misora. He argues with Sento all the time and regularly brushes Misora off. On the inside, he cares about Sento so deeply that he decides to become a weapon in an ongoing civil war to end it as soon as possible and ease Sento's suffering. He told Misora that he wants Sento to be happy again and told Sento to be careful because Misora can't lose her family. There is no way he would admit it to their respective faces.
** Sento can come off as a selfish InsufferableGenius, who usually gloats about himself, argues with or insults Ryuga and barely reacts to anything that doesn't concern him directly. He would never insult Misora in all seriousness, took Ryuga in when he was on the run from the government and saved him from being eaten by an EldritchAbomination. He usually goes by ''narcissisic, conceited hero of justice'' for a reason.
* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': Geiz Myokoin tends to go from cold and withdrawn to self destructive bull in a china shop ''very'' quickly. The whole reason why he came in the past is to kill Sougo before he can become an [[EvilOverlord Oma Zi-O]]. On the other hand, he has enough affection for Tsukuyomi to go along her plan to prevent their bad future by making sure that Sougo grows up to be a better person. He has a hard time ignoring people in need and as it turns out, this involves [[WhyCantIHateYou Sougo]] too.

* Jonathan Kent can be stubborn, judgmental (especially toward Lex), and [[HotBlooded hot-tempered]], [[OverprotectiveDad is extremely overprotective of his super-powered son Clark]], and sometimes takes out his frustrations on other people (even Clark), but is generally a loving and kind father who's largely responsible for Clark being such a NiceGuy and becoming TheParagon.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Dr. Cox and his wife Jordan are examples. They are both exuberantly acerbic and sarcastic especially to each other, but deep down are caring (albeit emotionally repressed) and loving, although they only express this to each other and their son, Jack -- and, in the case of Cox, very ''very'' occasionally, to J.D.
** Dr. Kelso is a variant; he actually ''is'' a Jerk, and an unapologetically sadistic and mean-spirited one at that, but occasionally reveals himself to be ultimately more caring and decent than he cares to admit, and and at least partially acts the part of a ruthless, uncaring and egotistical bastard in order to keep the hospital running efficiently.
*** He also knows that when he does something really reprehensible, Dr. Cox will always go behind his back and fix it. In one episode, where Dr. Cox is considering leaving, he acknowledges that he ''depends'' on Cox to be the foil for him.
** This seems to be common on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', as it's also sometimes implied that the Janitor is actually quite fond of J.D., and his cruel bullying is just his sociopathic and socially maladjusted way of showing it.
*** TheFinale shot this down by having him say that [[spoiler: the "Did you put a penny in the door?" bit was a SecretTestOfCharacter which JD failed, and that's why the Janitor tortures him. Although he does suggest that if J.D had just told the truth they could have been friends...]]

* ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' and ''Series/AshesToAshes'': Gene Hunt. He might be a rude, ''[[NobleBigotWithABadge extremely]]'' [[NobleBigotWithABadge politically incorrect by modern standards]], bad cop who's not afraid to resort to [[TortureForFunAndInformation beating up]] and framing suspects, but he still looks out for his colleagues and wants to keep the streets safe.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': Barney is usually a pretty good example, although he may be more of a JerkassFacade. Though he frequently comes across as selfish and narcissistic, he's willing to go to extraordinary lengths for his friends and family.
** For example, spontaneously flying to San Francisco, convincing [[spoiler: Lily]] that she and [[spoiler: Marshall]] need to get back together, and paying her airfare home. He also pays for their honeymoon.
** There's a catch though - this is only to his friends and family. To other people, especially his one night stands, he's just a plain JerkAss.
** Robin likewise is extremely tactless, insensitive, sarcastic, blunt, emotionally stunted, and prone to ruthlessly mocking everyone around her, but cares deeply for her friends and has a secret soft side that she usually keeps hidden.
* ''Interny'': Similar to Series/{{House}} and [[Series/{{Scrubs}} Cox]], Andrey Bykov in this Russian medical sitcom is a sarcastic and rude head of the therapy department. He has four interns under his charge, and he constantly gives them degrading assignments. His most preferred method of punishment is to leave them on-call at night, even if it's not their turn. His best friend is the head of the venerology department, whom he also constantly insults. He occasionally sleeps with the attractive hospital administrator, whom, you guessed it, he also insults. However, his desire is to make good doctors out of those interns. Bonus points for being played by a priest.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Clayton Webb, the recurring [[UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} spook]].
* ''Series/TheJeffersons'': Archie Bunker's black counterpart, George Jefferson.

* ''Series/{{Entourage}}'': Ari Gold, a foul-mouthed, ambitious Hollywood agent who loves to berate people's social status, sexual orientation, appearance, age, and just about any weakness he perceives others to have. He actually cares deeply about everyone around him and would go great lengths to help them, proving his loyalty, compassion, and kindness under his Jerkass facade.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'': Dr. Morris starts off as a DrJerk, but matures into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold by the end of the series.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Of course this trope just screams for Dr. Rodney [=McKay=], who's an egoistical, self-centered, selfish and cowardly {{Jerkass}}, but brave, selfless and understanding when he feels like it. In particular, there's one moment that pretty much sums him up in a nutshell. [[spoiler:Upon finding out that, in an alternate universe, he spent his last moments unflinchingly trying to save others,]] he ''brags'' about it.

* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Clayton Webb, the recurring [[{{CIA}} spook]].

** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': Ryuga Banjou can be abrassive (sometimes even [[HotBlooded explosive]]) jerk towards Sento and Misora. He argues with Sento all the time and regularly brushes Misora off. On the inside, he cares about Sento so deeply that he decides to become a weapon in an ongoing civil war to end it as soon as possible and ease Sento's suffering. He told Misora that he wants Sento to be happy again and told Sento to be careful because Misora can't lose her family. There is no way he would admit it to their respective faces.

** Jaime Lannister is consistently arrogant, and has a knack for causing the audience to want to see him killed. He is not necessarily all that far from being completely unsympathetic, although he is saved from this by having ''some'' standards.

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Jerome Clarke. Greedy and manipulative, with a love of pranking others, and has worked for the BigBad at least once. But when the chips are down, he has proven his loyalty to the other students time and time again, and where Mara and Joy are concerned, has proven to be a very deep and sensitive guy under his uncaring shell; The best examples, however, are [[HeartwarmingMoments whenever he was with his family in the second season.]]

*** There's no doubt those hearts were pure gold after their IAmSpartacus CrowningMomentOfAwesome in [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace "Countdown to Destruction"]].

** ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'': Much has been said about Barker's off-screen relationships with the classic Barker's Beauties and other production staff with whom he had fallouts. On-screen, Barker -– especially in his last few years on the show –- began acting more cantankerous toward particularly dumb contestants, particularly if they were playing the game too slowly or didn't seem to understand a given pricing game despite a clear explanation. However, like Dawson, Barker always tried to put the contestant first and debated with the judge on close answers (almost always deferring to the contestant if he acted as judge himself).

* Eleanor turns out to be this in ''Series/TheGoodPlace''. She's selfish, short-tempered, impatient, lazy and hedonistic, but she's also capable of selflessness and compassion: cleaning up the Good Place to get rid of the guilt from slacking off on cleaning up the garbage, providing both sincere comfort and "tough love" to other characters as needed, and even [[spoiler:turning herself in to ease the stress she's been putting on Chidi]].

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]]. ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} calls him out for it once.