History Main / SkilledbutNaive

* Corporal Carrot Ironfoundersson in his first two appearances in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is naive, but he's not ''stupid''. He has a punch that can knock out trolls, photographic memory, and a problem-solving streak that he unsheathes like a claw. He also has the [[PlotArmor Narrative]] on his side, and he adapts very quickly (or rather, people adapt to him because [[MagneticHero they like him]].

* Corporal Carrot Ironfoundersson in his first two appearances in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. He adapts very quickly.

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' has Colin, who is introduced in the second game as having just become a CO of Blue Moon. He's obviously very skilled as a CO, able to keep up with the ''far'' more accomplished Grit and Olaf, but lacks the confidence and experience to use his troops as effectively as they can. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration In terms of gameplay]], this manifests as his troops being weaker than average, but his ability to ZergRush his foes into submission makes him one of the most formidable COs in the game.

* Omi of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' is one of the more skilled Xiaolin Dragons, but his sheltered upbringing gives him NoSocialSkills, and makes him an UnwittingPawn on more than one occasion as well as an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom.

* In ''Fanfic/GameTheoryFanFic'', [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha]] is this. She's amazingly talented with magic, but unaware of her limitations, and her childish outlook sometimes causes her to make mistakes in a fight [[spoiler:and allows Precia to play her like a fiddle.]]

--> '''Palpatine''': He had [[AdmiringTheAbomination ''such a knowledge of the Dark Side'']], he could even stop the ones he cared about from dying... [sic] Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, [[TheStarscream then his apprentice killed him in his sleep]]. Ironic... he could save others from death, [[WhatAnIdiot but not himself]].

** Liara in the first game. Young by [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe asari]] standards, inexperienced, and will fry your brain or throw you across the room if you piss her off. [[CharacterDevelopment Not anymore in]] ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' as the [[BerserkButton Shadow Broker's attempt to do Shepard harm]] two years before have turned her into a character hellbent on getting revenge.
** Tali is also an example: While not as naïve as Liara, she ''did'' go to the Shadow Broker for protection, which everyone knows is a bad idea. This almost gets her killed twice over. (The Broker told Fist to kill her [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness when she turned over the data]], but Fist had gone over to work for Saren, and thus wanted to kill her [[HeKnowsTooMuch before Saren could be implicated]]).
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''

* Harry Dresden from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' takes this trope and runs with it. Until he starts [[spoiler: offing gods and ''species'' and learning about the underlying conflicts in the series]], he has a reputation as a magical thug.

** Naruto himself is this. He's a powerful ninja but his obnoxious moralizing and belief in the inherent goodness of others, based solely on the fact that they used to be his friend or they once had similar personalities to his own, would be mercilessly crushed if author Masashi Kishimoto weren't a WriterOnBoard.

* ''VideoGame/Undertale'': Papyrus is implied on more than one occasion to be remarkably powerful among monsters, due to his ability to manipulate battlefield conditions, his incredibly precise control of his powers, and [[spoiler: his brother Sans being absurdly strong when going all out, with some indication Papyrus is at least as powerful]]. However, as Undyne believes, he is far, far too nice for his own good, and would likely die if sent into battle. [[spoiler: The player can confirm that on the Genocide route, as Papyrus dies firmly believing you can change for the better and never fighting with all he has. That said, many players gave up a Genocide run when confronted with Papyrus' belief in the player, so it's a little debatable how naïve he is]].

* Yuri of ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'' is a prodigy with her dual beam swords, able to cut in half a speeding vehicle with a single slash. Unfortunately, she's not very good at listening to orders, having been raised as a demon hunter to... you know, slay demons. So she's not so great at dealing with the more subtle approach the inquisitors have to adopt. (Not that they're exactly great at it.) Not to mention that in the incident mentioned above she got chewed out immediately afterwards for destroying the very evidence that they were trying to secure by stopping the vehicle.

* Aang the Avatar is like this in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. He's so naïve and kinda ditzy that characters easily forget that he's already a master-level airbender when the show begins. The fact he's a 12-year-old kid doesn't help, either. ''None of that'' gets in the way of him learning '''everything''' -- '''''FAST.'''''

You get a young character who is, frankly, pretty awesome at what he does. This person out-performs the grizzled veterans at nearly everything, whether it's bringing down the MonsterOfTheWeek, commanding the RedshirtArmy into battle, or solving the murder. A few years older and he will be a total badass.

There's just one problem: [[NaiveNewcomer The complete lack of real-world experience.]]

* Princess Tana from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' starts like this. She ''is'' a PluckyGirl with quite the talent to ride pegasi and use a BladeOnAStick, but she's also very sheltered by her brother and has just finished her official training. This leads her to catch a huge DistressBall in Ephraim's route, but with some training, she can become quite the powerhouse.

* Rook Blonko in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse''. A highly-skilled Plumber, he is often mystified by Earth customs.

You get a young character who is, frankly, pretty awesome at what he does. This person out-performs the grizzled veterans at nearly everything, whether it's bringing down the MonsterOfTheWeek, commanding the RedshirtArmy into battle, or solving the murder. A few years older and he will be a total {{Badass}}.

If they do evolve, they are rather malleable. A bad shock may send them into themselves, creating a ZenSurvivor or KnightInSourArmour, a character who feels cynically about issues but still can't stop the bold idealistic tendencies from showing through when the chips are down. Or constant steady success may create a full-on {{Badass}} or AllLovingHero. They can easily become a FutureBadass in cases of SacrificialLion or an earlier DownerEnding where this character survives.

* ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'': Emilia Justina/Emi Yusa is very powerful and charismatic, but is genuinely shocked to discover that the Church of Ente Isla, which she had been fighting for her entire life, is [[CorruptChurch corrupt]]; her friends, Albert and Emeralda, are not too surprised to discover this themselves. Furthermore, she is unaware that Suzuno is another Ente Isla native, something that Maou and his group [[EverybodyKnewAlready knew from the minute she saw them]], until Suzuno explicitly told her so to her face.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Dragaera}} Five Hundred Years After]]'' by Steven Brust, Mario is hired to assassinate the Emperor because he fits this trope. [[spoiler:He's being set up to fail; [[SpringtimeForHitler he doesn't]].]] In all the other books where he appears or is mentioned, it's enough later that he's become an OldMaster.

* Pick a ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' protagonist. [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro]], [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Kamille]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Kira]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Shinn]], even the supposedly cynical [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Setsuna]] all start out pretty naïve. Then they get caught up in the war and, in one way or another, all break. In Shinn's case, the DangerouslyGenreSavvy BigBad exploits this trope, manipulating him into becoming one of the CoDragons without Shinn even realizing it until the end.

* Pick a ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' protagonist. [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro]], [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Kamille]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Kira]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Shinn]], even the supposedly cynical [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Setsuna]] all start out pretty naïve. Then they get caught up in the war and, in one way or another, all break.

** The Zou arc introduces Carrot, a LittleBitBeastly young rabbit girl who is an acknowledged warrior in her homeland but has no idea of anything outside of it. While even Chopper and Luffy understand what a big deal going to sea is, Carrot thought stowing away on the ''Thousand Sunny'' to join a rescue mission would be a simple day trip and is amazed that the trip to their destination would take several days.

** The Zou arc introduces Carrotrip LittleBitBeastly young rabbit girl who is an acknowledged warrior in her homeland but has no idea of anything outside of it. While even Chopper and Luffy understand what a big deal going to sea is, Carrot thought stowing away on the ''Thousand Sunny'' to join a rescue mission would be a simple day trip and is amazed that the trip to their destination would take several days.