History JerkWithAHeartOfGold / WebComics

* Abel from ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures''. Though sometimes it's hard to tell whether he's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold or just a plain ol' jerk.
** Also, Wildy. She's the kind of tomboy whose idea of caring sometimes takes the form of "only ''I'' get to beat up my friends, damn it!"...but it's there nonetheless.

* Another Phil Foglio example would be the Klegdixal ambassador from the Gallimaufry arc of ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire''. Possibly also [[PlanetOfHats the Klegs as a whole]]. The way the ambassador tells it, the Beemahs are their albatross, and they desperately want to fix the mistakes they made with the poor fuzzy little weapons.

* Rumisiel from ''WebComic/{{Misfile}}'' is sleazy, sexist, drunken, stupid, incompetent... (the list goes on) until someone needs some [[http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=273 advice]] about the [[http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1003 human heart]] or a [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath vengeful spirit placated]].

** As of recently, the 'heart of gold' part is becoming very obvious with Karkat.

** Varsuuvius occasionally has a bit of this. V is pompous, arrogant, pedantic, looks down on non-elves and less intelligent people with equal scorn, genuinely hates at least one teammate, and generally doesn't seem to be very motivated to save the world. Even so, there have been moments of V genuinely caring for teammates, notably Haley. To be fair, the one teammate s/he hates is a TokenEvilTeammate. The character arc where V [[spoiler: makes a DealWithTheDevil to save hir family from a vengeful Black Dragon takes this UpToEleven.]]

* Varsuuvius from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' occasionally has a bit of this. V is pompous, arrogant, pedantic, looks down on non-elves and less intelligent people with equal scorn, genuinely hates at least one teammate, and generally doesn't seem to be very motivated to save the world. Even so, there have been moments of V genuinely caring for teammates, notably Haley.
** To be fair, the one teammate s/he hates is a TokenEvilTeammate. The character arc where V [[spoiler: makes a DealWithTheDevil to save hir family from a vengeful Black Dragon takes this UpToEleven.]]
** Roy Greenhilt also counts as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. A compulsive DeadpanSnarker, and a {{Jerkass}} at worst. But he really does want to save the world, [[spoiler: even getting himself killed trying to stop Xykon, [[HonorBeforeReason who is a dozen levels above him.]] [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist He gets better, though.]]]]
*** Though most of his {{Jerkass}} tendencies come from being SurroundedByIdiots, primarily [[SpoonyBard Elan]], [[TheFool who counts as an entire crowd of idiots]] [[CloudCuckoolander all on his own.]]

** Another Phil Foglio example would be the Klegdixal ambassador from the Gallimaufry arc of ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire''.
*** Possibly also [[PlanetOfHats the Klegs as a whole]]. The way the ambassador tells it, the Beemahs are their albatross, and they desperately want to fix the mistakes they made with the poor fuzzy little weapons.

* Varsuuvius from ''[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' occasionally has a bit of this. V is pompous, arrogant, pedantic, looks down on non-elves and less intelligent people with equal scorn, genuinely hates at least one teammate, and generally doesn't seem to be very motivated to save the world. Even so, there have been moments of V genuinely caring for teammates, notably Haley.

* Ben from ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}''. See [[http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/405 this strip]] for his jerk tendencies and [[http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/480 this one]] for his golden heart.

* Krosp in ''WebComic/GirlGenius''. Of course, he's a ''cat'' and you have to make allowances.
** Another Phil Foglio example would be the Klegdixal ambassador from the Gallimaufry arc of ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire''.
*** Possibly also [[PlanetOfHats the Klegs as a whole]]. The way the ambassador tells it, the Beemahs are their albatross, and they desperately want to fix the mistakes they made with the poor fuzzy little weapons.
* Davan from ''WebComic/SomethingPositive'', a sarcastic, cynical jerk but nonetheless is capable of great caring and fearsomely loyal to his close friends. In fact, most of the cast are like that.
* Paulo from BittersweetCandyBowl; while he often acts like a jerk, and hits on girls, deep down inside he is a very nice young man who does care about his friends, and who doesn't need to be thanked for his help.
* Diane from ''WebComic/ElGoonishShive'' is [[AlphaBitch a lying, haughty manipulative bitch]]... but she takes care of what friends she has, and helps Grace when she's in need.
** Susan adopts the angry StrawFeminist role, but she's both smarter and nicer than that. So when something touches her where this convenient mask is too stretched, the next moment it's torn and you can see the real Susan (a cynical DeadpanSnarker, but not without compassion), while jerks still face "The [[HyperspaceMallet Hammer]] [[IceQueen Queen]]".
* Rumisiel from ''WebComic/{{Misfile}}'' is sleazy, sexist, drunken, stupid, incompetent... (the list goes on) until someone needs some [[http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=273 advice]] about the [[http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1003 human heart]] or a [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath vengeful spirit placated]].

* Amon Thorn from ''Webcomic/CwynhildsLoom'' is typically rude and comes across as selfish, but in reality he cares a great deal about the Valkyries and is risking everything to help them.

* Varsuuvius from ''[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' occasionally has a bit of this. V is pompous, arrogant, pedantic, looks down on non-elves and less intelligent people with equal scorn, genuinely hates at least one teammate, and generally doesn't seem to be very motivated to save the world. Even so, there have been moments of V genuinely caring for teammates, notably Haley.
** To be fair, the one teammate s/he hates is a TokenEvilTeammate. The character arc where V [[spoiler: makes a DealWithTheDevil to save hir family from a vengeful Black Dragon takes this UpToEleven.]]
** Roy Greenhilt also counts as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. A compulsive DeadpanSnarker, and a {{Jerkass}} at worst. But he really does want to save the world, [[spoiler: even getting himself killed trying to stop Xykon, [[HonorBeforeReason who is a dozen levels above him.]] [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist He gets better, though.]]]]
*** Though most of his {{Jerkass}} tendencies come from being SurroundedByIdiots, primarily [[SpoonyBard Elan]], [[TheFool who counts as an entire crowd of idiots]] [[CloudCuckoolander all on his own.]]

* Rhea, main character of ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned''.
** Cliff is implied to be one, but he rarely shows the "heart of gold" part, especially if Buwaro's around.
*** [[http://www.sdamned.com/2010/01/01222010/ Except when]] [[http://www.sdamned.com/2010/01/01242010/ he does]].
*** I think he's [[IncrediblyLamePun warming up]] to [[http://www.sdamned.com/2011/12/12032011/ them]].
* Thanatos from ''[[http://kougawuvs.deviantart.com/gallery/ Gallows Humor]]''
* Brent Sienna from ''Webcomic/{{PvP}}''.
** Now [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/07/family-matters-2/ official]].
* Mora and Rachael from ''Webcomic/LasLindas''. The writer ''tries'' to portray Miles as one, but most consider him just a regular jerk.
* Cpt. Dahl from ''Webcomic/AirForceBlues''. At least, when he gets into serious "Danger Zone" mode.
* Though his group finds him unpleasant and cranky, Rocky from ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' isn't such a bad guy.
* Finn, the protagonist of [[http://fractuslux.comicgenesis.com/ Sea of Insanity]] started as a garden variety jerk, but may actually be one of these.
* To varying degrees, almost ''all'' of the major male characters in ''Webcomic/OutThere'' (the exceptions being John and Chuck). James is selfish and abrasive, arrogant, constantly borrowing money without paying it back; [[spoiler: he also volunteers at a homeless shelter]]. Clayton is surly, has been known to steal alcohol from his favorite bar, and is constantly seen mooching off of others; [[spoiler: but he refused to take advantage of Miriam when she was drunk]]. Steven and Rod are unrepentant philanderers, but are generally loyal and respectful towards their ex-flame-cum-best-friends (Sherry and Araceli, respectively). Wally is a ''repentant'' (and ''former'') philanderer. Considering the fact the main character, Miriam, has enough flaws to fill a book (while remaining unerringly sympathetic) ''Out There'' seems to be a world where everyone is a ''little'' bad, but nobody is ''too'' bad (although the near-saintly John is an idiosyncratic exception).

* Bob of ''Webcomic/EmergencyExit'' is surprised to find out other people see him as this: 'jerk' because of his poor social skills and unwillingness to show affection, 'heart of gold' because he genuinely does care for his friends.
* Faye of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' can be really mean to random strangers just for the hell of it, which she has been [[WhatTheHellHero called out on at least once.]] The heart of gold is apparent around her friends ([[VitriolicBestBuds though this isn't immediately apparent with Dora]]).
* Zig Zag from ''WebComic/SabrinaOnline''. She may be a slut, but she has been shown to be nice when she wants to. Time will tell on whether the events of Internet/GIFT Arc will shift her character to pure JerkAss.
* Pyramos from ''WebComic/{{Wurr}}'' is an arrogant, pompous ass who runs Iacar (the protagonist) and his pack out of hound territory altogether. Why? [[spoiler:Because a pregnant female in his pack has lost her mate, and needs a cave for her pups.]] Of course, there's canonically some question as to whether or not he's got some vested interest in the situation[[spoiler:—-which would mean that he'd [[CantHaveSexEver broken the hound rule against deepblooded mating]]—]]but even so.

* Charlie from ''Webcomic/SoulSymphony'' is pretty rash, condescending, angry, opinionated metalhead. He even talks down to one of his closest friends all the time. We realize over time that he means no harm, and even has a soft spot for those close to him.
* Bruno, in ''Webcomic/TooMuchInformation'': a skirt-chasing jerk, but when he steps over the line and his best friend Ace is going to have to be the bad guy, Bruno announces he has a new job and is leaving. He doesn't. He quit so his best friend wouldn't have to fire him.
* Trawn from ''Webcomic/ElectricWonderland'' can occasionally seem single-minded and forceful in her movement for her newspaper's success, but she does show sympathy for Aerynn (due to her rejections from society) and Lululu (due to her household's state of poverty).

* Zimmy from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', combined with a JerkassFacade. She has NoSocialSkills and actively does her best to push people away with her rude behavior, but in large part because [[RealityWarper her powers are a danger to everyone around her]]. She's helped out other students when they've needed it, without caring what they thought of her.
* Melissa of ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' and ''Webcomic/MagickChicks''. She was an AlphaBitch in Charybdis Heights, aspires to the same in Artemis Academy, can be very mean, but more irritable than vicious. When her goddess goes on a flipped-out rampage, her thoughts, in order of appearance are -- "That [[spoiler:wand]] is the key to my popularity! I have to get to it before Hekate's whatevers destroy it! Or that dumb blond girl gets hurt, I guess. Or... or Faith." -- given that Faith is the one she aims to depose as the Queen Bee, already tried to MindRape her and this very trouble started due to Faith's games.
* CK from ''WebComic/CommanderKitty'' is normally an abrasive jerk to everyone he meets, even when he's ''trying'' to be civil. [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/10/24/epiphany/ But the sight of his crew and rivals in danger]] is enough to make even ''him'' [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/10/31/words-get-in-the-way-and-giant-spiky-tails/ try and spring into action]].
* He may be the Alpha and the Omega, the ineffable, the infallible, yes, the creator of the universe himself, but {{God}} from ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' is placed pretty firmly in this trope. He spends his time mocking and bullying his own creations and the only thing keeping him from being [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks as bad as, or worse than,]] TheDevil is the fact that, well, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the]] [[DealWithTheDevil Devil]] [[EvilIsPetty is]] [[LackOfEmpathy the]] [[CardCarryingVillain Devil]]. Also, that stuff about God being "the ineffable" and "the infallible" and all that jazz I was going on about before? Yeah, [[BunnyEarsLawyer that]] [[GeniusDitz was]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} just]] [[JerkassGod bullshit]].

* To varying degrees, almost ''all'' of the major male characters in ''Webcomic/OutThere'' (the exceptions being John and Chuck). James is selfish and abrasive, arrogant, constantly borrowing money without paying it back; [[spoiler: he also volunteers at a homeless shelter]]. Clayton is surly, has been known to steal alcohol from his favorite bar, and is constantly seen mooching off of others; [[spoiler: but he refused to take advantage of Miriam when she was drunk]]. Steven and Rod are unrepentant philanderers, but are generally loyal and respectful towards their ex-flame-cum-best-friends (Sherry and Araceli, respectively). Wally is a ''repentant'' (and ''former'') philanderer. Considering the fact the main character, Miriam, has enough flaws to fill a book (while remaining unerringly sympathetic) ''OutThere'' seems to be a world where everyone is a ''little'' bad, but nobody is ''too'' bad (although the near-saintly John is an idiosyncratic exception).

* Ito, the God of Trust and Betrayal from ''AMomentOfPeace'', [[http://www.momentarypeace.com/comic.php?num=116 steals dreams and crushes hopes]] for a living, and has prosthetic hands forged from moments of despair by crows that grew hands to strangle people. Despite all this, he seems to be a nice guy when you get to know him.

* Abel from ''DanAndMabsFurryAdventures''. Though sometimes it's hard to tell whether he's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold or just a plain ol' jerk.

* Amon Thorn from ''CwynhildsLoom'' is typically rude and comes across as selfish, but in reality he cares a great deal about the Valkyries and is risking everything to help them.
* Netta from ''{{DDG}}'' usually spends her time thinking up fresh torments for Zip, but can be capable of the occasional sweet gesture.
* [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Varsuuvius]] occasionally has a bit of this. V is pompous, arrogant, pedantic, looks down on non-elves and less intelligent people with equal scorn, genuinely hates at least one teammate, and generally doesn't seem to be very motivated to save the world. Even so, there have been moments of V genuinely caring for teammates, notably Haley.

* The most of the main characters from ''ErrantStory'' are a bit dickish on the surface but are, at heart, decent people. Jon, Sarine, Sara, and more recently Meji (though that was more the result of [[CharacterDevelopment maturing as a person]] rather than [[HiddenDepths revealing something that was already there]]) all more or less fall into this category. In fact, the only one who is [[BewareTheNiceOnes nice on the surface]] [[spoiler: turns out to be a genocidal maniac.]]
* Both [[TheChewToy Conrad]] and Veser from HannaIsNotABoysName.

* Rhea, main character of ''SlightlyDamned''.

* Brent Sienna from PvP.

* Mora and Rachael from ''LasLindas''. The writer ''tries'' to portray Miles as one, but most consider him just a regular jerk.
* Cpt. Dahl from ''AirForceBlues''. At least, when he gets into serious "Danger Zone" mode.
* Though his group finds him unpleasant and cranky, Rocky from ''OurLittleAdventure'' isn't such a bad guy.

* To varying degrees, almost ''all'' of the major male characters in ''OutThere'' (the exceptions being John and Chuck). James is selfish and abrasive, arrogant, constantly borrowing money without paying it back; [[spoiler: he also volunteers at a homeless shelter]]. Clayton is surly, has been known to steal alcohol from his favorite bar, and is constantly seen mooching off of others; [[spoiler: but he refused to take advantage of Miriam when she was drunk]]. Steven and Rod are unrepentant philanderers, but are generally loyal and respectful towards their ex-flame-cum-best-friends (Sherry and Araceli, respectively). Wally is a ''repentant'' (and ''former'') philanderer. Considering the fact the main character, Miriam, has enough flaws to fill a book (while remaining unerringly sympathetic) ''OutThere'' seems to be a world where everyone is a ''little'' bad, but nobody is ''too'' bad (although the near-saintly John is an idiosyncratic exception).

* Faye of ''QuestionableContent'' can be really mean to random strangers just for the hell of it, which she has been [[WhatTheHellHero called out on at least once.]] The heart of gold is apparent around her friends ([[VitriolicBestBuds though this isn't immediately apparent with Dora]]).

* Jamie from ''KhaosKomix'' is typically depicted as a grouchy, mean, homophobic JerkAss. In [[TheRashomon his girlfriend Charlie's story]] he's shown to be quite polite and nice. It appears that something happened when he was younger that sparked his mean behavior.
* Charlie from ''SoulSymphony'' is pretty rash, condescending, angry, opinionated metalhead. He even talks down to one of his closest friends all the time. We realize over time that he means no harm, and even has a soft spot for those close to him.
* Bruno, in ''TooMuchInformation'': a skirt-chasing jerk, but when he steps over the line and his best friend Ace is going to have to be the bad guy, Bruno announces he has a new job and is leaving. He doesn't. He quit so his best friend wouldn't have to fire him.

* CK from WebComic/CommanderKitty is normally an abrasive jerk to everyone he meets, even when he's ''trying'' to be civil. [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/10/24/epiphany/ But the sight of his crew and rivals in danger]] is enough to make even ''him'' [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/10/31/words-get-in-the-way-and-giant-spiky-tails/ try and spring into action]].
* He may be the Alpha and the Omega, the ineffable, the infallible, yes, the creator of the universe himself, but {{God}} from ''{{Sinfest}}'' is placed pretty firmly in this trope. He spends his time mocking and bullying his own creations and the only thing keeping him from being [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks as bad as, or worse than,]] TheDevil is the fact that, well, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the]] [[DealWithTheDevil Devil]] [[EvilIsPetty is]] [[LackOfEmpathy the]] [[CardCarryingVillain Devil]]. Also, that stuff about God being "the ineffable" and "the infallible" and all that jazz I was going on about before? Yeah, [[BunnyEarsLawyer that]] [[GeniusDitz was]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} just]] [[JerkassGod bullshit]].
* Though he is only a jerk to Keidran, we see "Red" from Webcomic/TwoKinds act like one [[http://twokinds.keenspot.com/archive.php?p=720 here]] (spoilers).

** Another Phil Foglio example would be the Klegdixal ambassador from the Gallimaufry arc of ''BuckGodotZapGunForHire''.

* The [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]] of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' at first appeared to be an [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire race of]] {{Jerk Ass}}es, but quite a few of them [[PetTheDog showed off their hearts of gold]] during the Act 5 "Hivebent" arc. Karkat is probably the best example, and is actually a relatively nice guy compared to [[CompleteMonster some of the other trolls...]] Despite his habit of insulting pretty much everybody constantly.

*** Possibly also the Klegs as a whole. The way the ambassador tells it, the Beemahs are their albatross, and they desperately want to fix the mistakes they made with the poor fuzzy little weapons.

* The [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]] of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' at first appeared to be an [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire race of]] {{Jerk Ass}}es, but quite a few of them [[PetTheDog showed off their hearts of gold]] during the Act 5 "Hivebent" arc. Karkat is probably the best example, and is actually a relatively nice guy compared to [[CompleteMonster some of the other trolls...]]

* Zimmy from ''GunnerkriggCourt'', combined with a JerkassFacade. She has NoSocialSkills and actively does her best to push people away with her rude behavior, but in large part because [[RealityWarper her powers are a danger to everyone around her]]. She's helped out other students when they've needed it, without caring what they thought of her.

* Bob of ''EmergencyExit'' is surprised to find out other people see him as this: 'jerk' because of his poor social skills and unwillingness to show affection, 'heart of gold' because he genuinely does care for his friends.

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