History Main / AdaptationalIntelligence

** In the original ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', minor character Maron is just Krillin's ditzy girlfriend, while in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' [[spoiler: she works for the government to investigate and reveal Krillin's InsuranceFraud while pretending to be in love with him]].

* Buttercup in ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' film. In the original book she’s a hilariously ditzy BrainlessBeauty who can’t count without using her fingers and pronounces syllable as “syllable”. She’s got her brighter moments but like Fezzik is more slow witted than other characters especially Westley her OneTrueLove. In the film on the other hand Buttercup is much less foolhardy and naively dumb. Though there is some {{Chickification}} at play as film tragically omits Buttercup’s SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome where she uses her (not quite official) status as TheHighQueen to make Yellin and his troops stand aside to let her, Westley, Inigo and Fezzik pass.

* ''WebVideo/AngelartsVALetsPlayEarthbound'': [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Giygas]] in the game becomes an AlmightyIdiot the minute he breaks through the Devil's Machine, and he stays that way until he is defeated. Here, the minute Pokey [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere flees]], Giygas manages to form one last coherent thought, swearing revenge on Pokey.

** In ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', ComicBook/{{Shuri}} is reimagined as a [[ChildProdigy teenage]] GadgeteerGenius and the one who makes most of T'Challa's tech and weaponry. Her comic counterpart, while by no means stupid, was nowhere near that intelligent or technologically gifted, at least until [[RetCanon she was changed to match her screen counterpart following the film's massive success]].

** The show depicts Horizon Labs from ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManDanSlott'' as a high school for geniuses with several characters going there, including Harry Osborn, ComicBook/MilesMorales, and a pre-Rhino Aleksei Sytsevich. In the comics, while the former two aren't dumb, Harry wasn't as enthusiastic about science as Peter, and Miles was admitted to a STEM school via lottery; and before becoming the Rhino, Sytsevich was DumbMuscle incarnate. Likewise, John Jameson, while himself not an idiot, is also a TeenGenius.

** Solomon Grundy is the expected HulkSpeaking dullard soon after transformation, but once his memories are restored, he acts like his pre-transformation self thereafter.

* While definitely not stupid in the mainline continuity, the version of John Stewart from ''Comicbook/GreenLanternEarthOne'' was a brilliant physicist before getting his ring.
* In the DCAU, Comicbook/HarleyQuinn got her psychiatry degree through large amounts of SextraCredit. When she [[CanonImmigrant jumped into the mainstream comics]] she became legitimately intelligent, though still [[GeniusDitz ditzy enough]] that it takes other characters by surprise. [[LostInImitation Most later adaptations follow suit]].

* In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' and ''ComicBook/DoubleDuck'', Franchise/DonaldDuck is very intuitive, clever and able to [[XanatosSpeedChess make plans on the spot]].

* ''Comicbook/UltimateMarvel'':
** While the original 60s version of Comicbook/TheWasp was first introduced as Hank Pym's flighty socialite love interest, the Ultimate version was already a scientist with two P.H.D.s before she became a costumed superhero.
** Likewise, [[Comicbook/InvisibleWoman Susan Storm]] was first introduced as little more than [[Comicbook/MisterFantastic Reed Richards]]' girlfriend, and was only present at the accident that created the Comicbook/FantasticFour because she refused to be left behind. By contrast, the Ultimate version of Sue is a gifted former ChildProdigy who attended the same government think tank as Reed, and who was involved in the accident because she was actually one of the scientists working on the Negative Zone experiment in the first place.
** [[Comicbook/TheFalcon Sam Wilson]] is by no means an idiot, but his Ultimate Counterpart is considered by Tony Stark to be in the top 5 smartest people list. Notably, this version of Sam built his winged flight suit on his own, while in the original comics, he was given the wings by Comicbook/BlackPanther.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': In [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 the Golden Age]] Millie Heyday was one of the two airheaded and irresponsible ones of the three Heyday triplets, while in ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'' Milly Heyday is the smartest and most responsible of the Heyday siblings.

** In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', ComicBook/LexLuthor is shown to be even smarter than other versions, manipulating Franchise/{{Batman}}, [[spoiler:and figuring out who Batman and Franchise/{{Superman}} really are]]. We're not told ''how'' he knows any of this; he just enters the scene already omniscient.

** Ben Grimm (also known as Comicbook/TheThing) is a lot smarter than his comic book counterpart (though even in the comic book [[DependingOnTheWriter some writers]] have explained that Ben employs ObfuscatingStupidity). For example in ''Rise of the Silver Surfer'', he instantly deduces that a picture taken of ComicBook/SilverSurfer arriving in Earth's atmosphere isn't a comet because "the trail is wrong". This is quite apt considering that Ben, like the rest of the Four, is a trained astronaut.

** Comparatively downplayed version, but [[Comicbook/HumanTorch Johnny]] also gets this, going from a hot-headed teenage [[TheCasanova Casanova]] hipster ([[FridgeLogic who really had even less of a reason to be on the original comics' version of the flight than Susan]]) to a qualified NASA astronaut... who is still a hot-headed Casanova.

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': Comicbook/JeanGrey was turned into a medical doctor. Originally, they were going to include Comicbook/{{Beast|Marvel Comics}} as the resident smart guy of the team, but when he was removed from the final script, the writers gave his job to Jean.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', Comicbook/TheFalcon is a GadgeteerGenius nearly on par with Comicbook/IronMan. His comic counterpart, while certainly not stupid, is more of a relatable everyman who had his wings built by Comicbook/BlackPanther. Here, he built the wings himself despite only being 18 years old, taking after his aforementioned Ultimate counterpart, who likewise built the wings himself.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' and every animation since it, Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk is able to speak full sentences and stay in Hulk mode for extended periods while being much more than a mindless smasher. Comics fans know that the Hulk's intelligence and mindset are malleable things due to alterations to his powers (and Banner's own issues). The way it works these days is that he's TheBigGuy and a BoisterousBruiser who would rather smash than strategize, but is no dummy when forced to use his head. However, the madder he gets, the stronger he gets, as ever before... and as his anger and power increase, his mind begins to revert back to the "classic savage hulk" state and his rage increases too. Worst case scenario is that he could enter "world-breaker" mode, becoming strong enough to move continents, while in a state of UnstoppableRage that leaves him unable to distinguish friend from foe.

* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' is a smart man in both the novel and its film adaptation, but Film Goldfinger comes off as smarter for a simple reason: why steal the gold outright (as originally intended in the novel) when you can nuke Fort Knox and jack up the value of your personal gold way more? As he had little time, Goldfinger knew he needed more manpower to steal all the gold. The fake theft was just a ruse to hide his real intent.

* ''Literature/GoToSleepAJeffTheKillerRewrite'': In [[WebOriginal/JeffTheKiller the original story]], the doctor merely assumes Jeff's signs of insanity to be an effect of the painkillers and simply allows him to go home. Mr. Patterson, who helps Jeff's recovery at the hospital in this rewrite, books an appointment for Jeff to see a child psychiatrist out of concern of his disturbing behaviour, but he concedes to Jeff's family's wishes to not go through with it since it would be on Halloween.

* ''Fanfic/ThereSomethingWrongWithUs''

** Jimmy Olsen in the comics [[spoiler:wasn't able to figure out that Clark is Superman until a quite a while after they met]]. In this show, meanwhile, [[spoiler:Jimmy was able to figure out that Clark has superpowers from the moment they first met, and so knew that Clark and Superman were one the the same from the moment Superman first arrived on the scene]].

* ''Anime/AceAttorney'': Phoenix Wright manages to make several deductions on his own that [[VideoGame/AceAttorney in the original games]] often required other characters to give him a clue or use the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Magatama]] to break Psyche-Locks out of the witnesses. For the sake of CompressedAdaptation, nearly all of the moments where the player can make a silly mistake and get Phoenix penalized for it are also omitted from the anime.

* While Lois Lane has never been a particularly dumb character, when it comes to figuring out that Clark and Superman are the same person, it usually takes her quite a bit of time before piecing things together despite the fact that she interacts with both of them on a regular basis. In ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'', meanwhile, she's able to figure this information out by the end of the 4th episode, which is incredibly quick compared to most other versions of her.

* In his home comics, [[Franchise/SpiderMan Electro]] is one of ''the'' premier examples of a potentially terrifying Avengers level threat who's too small-minded and stupid to use his powers for anything other than petty crime. That's not the case in ''Fanfic/{{Polarity}}'', where he makes the most out of his electric powers to help usher in [[spoiler:Dormammu's hellish reign on Earth.]] His newfound craftiness gets to the point that [[spoiler:he realizes that he could help conquer countless other dimensions, and happily murders his superior, Grim Reaper, for an enormous power boost.]]

* Hammerhead was hardly an idiot in [[Franchise/SpiderMan the comics]], but he also wasn't particularly brilliant either. That changes in ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', where he's a frighteningly devious tactician who runs circles around Spider-Man during the DLC side-stories. He regularly outsmarts him with carefully-applied diversion tactics, sticks to the shadows until he can level the playing field against Spidey's strength with a powerful suit of cybernetic armor, and [[spoiler:does his homework on the Maggia-hating Yuri Watanabe and goes out of his way to anger her by horribly murdering her fellow police officers until she snaps and gets kicked off the force by going over the line with her revenge.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': In [[Franchise/SpiderMan the comics]], Tombstone was a thug who dropped out of high school and became a leg breaker for the mob. In the series, he's the head of a major crime organization and posing as a legitimate businessman.

** Goku tends to get this in the [[NonSerialMovie Non-Serial Movies]] while always a genius at fighting, he's far more of a serious and tactical hero in the movies whom is
able strategies and plan how to win well ahead of time, his sillier IdiotHero traits are of course still present but far more downplayed compared to the manga where he wasn't portrayed as OlderAndWiser until the Buu Saga. Anime Goku also gets this as well e.g when Tao gives him some puzzle rings to solve (while he and the mob boss he's working for make a break for it) Goku is able to figure the puzzle out, manga or ''Super'' Goku likely would've just been stumped.

** Goku tends to get this in the [[NonSerialMovie Non-Serial Movies]] while always a genius at fighting, he's far more of a serious and tactical hero in the movies who able is strategies and plans for victory well ahead of time, his sillier IdiotHero traits are of course still present but far more downplayed compared to the manga where he wasn't portrayed as OlderAndWiser until the Buu Saga. Anime Goku also gets this as well e.g when Tao gives him some puzzle rings to solve (while he and the mob boss he's working for make a break for it) Goku is able to figure the puzzle out, manga or ''Super'' Goku likely would've just been stumped.