History Main / TooDumbtoFool

* ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'' has Forbush Man trap the team in illusionary realities that exist entirely within their own minds... only to realize too late that Tabitha escaped the ploy because she has no mind to control. One explosion later, Tabitha claims she got out of it because she's "clever."
* ComicBook/GrooTheWanderer has had his bacon saved by this on several occasions. In ''The Life of Groo,'' a comic special that covered his early years and first adventure, he was [[spoiler:facing an evil sorcerer-king who had imprisoned his parents; the sorcerer-king tried to read Groo's mind, only to recoil in horror, screaming "There is nothing to read!" Since this same sorcerer had been the one to make Groo mindless through a curse on his father, this was poetic justice.]] And who could forget his immortal line "Trying to fool Groo is like trying to freeze Ice!"
* In ''ComicBook/WildCATsWildStorm'', Tao (the Tactical Augmented Organism) is the ultimate manipulator, capable of bending anyone to his will with time. However, when he tries his tricks on Ladytron, they simply don't work. She spells it out for him: He can influence the way rational people think, but she's a violent, stupid criminal -- ''anything'' but rational. It's then immediately [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when he switches tactics and uses effective ''emotional'' manipulation on her just long enough to take her out. Tao gets [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoisted by His Own Petard]] in this fashion again in an issue of ''ComicBook/Gen13'', when he is able to manipulate all of the kids (''and'' Helspont), but not [[DumbJock Grunge]].
* In the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse''. The extremely dimwitted Sunder is the only member of Forge's resistance trope to realize the "new guy" is actually the horseman Mr. Sinister.
* Dumb Bunny of ''ComicBook/TheInferiorFive''. "I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid!"
* Justified in ''ComicBook/BigTroubleInLittleChina'', this is the reason why only Jack can face the Seven-Faced Widow. Anyone more knowledgeable in Chinese mythology would have heard all the stories about her vast prophetic powers and be too afraid of her to call her bluffs, thus would quickly fall into her mind games and be driven mad. Since Jack only knows what he's seen, he quickly realizes she's full of crap and absconds with the {{MacGuffin}}s she's holding in short order.
* Goofy. Most famously shown in a story by Creator/FloydGottfredson, where he remained immune from being hypnotized when everyone else fell for the trick (the VillainOfTheWeek was a hypnotizer, playing his tricks on everyone, including Mickey. Goofy, on the other hand, lived up to this trope, naturally).

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': In one of the ''Decolora Adventure'' episodes, everyone but Ash, Jessie, and James are hypnotized by crew of Beeheeyem. When the three eventually question why they were unaffected, the Beeheeyem state that hypnosis doesn't work on idiots.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'': In one episode, when the duo harasses a man named Harry Sachz with prank calls one too many times, he gets Caller ID to trace the call back and calls them pretending to be a pizza delivery man. The only problem is that the two are too stupid to even know their own address, so they instead give him the Stevensons' address from some mail they took from them.

->''"Tryin' to pull a fast one on me, eh? Well, he can't outsmart me, 'cause I'm a moron!"''

** Bullwinkle's own natural stupidity makes him immune to "Goof Gas," an IQ-lowering drug. Later in the same arc, Boris and Natasha attempt to use it to attack the US Congress, but the inanity of the politician's political debates cause them to think [[TakeThat someone already "goofed" congress]].
-->'''Congressman:''' We need to get government out of government!

* In ''Film/{{Wit}}'', Susie the nurse is uneducated and simple in comparison to her brilliant colleagues and patient, but she alone understands human dignity, and no amount of philosophizing or cynical research or even inevitable death will take that from her.

* Played with in the 2007 adaptation of ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', when Velma Von Tussle tries to seduce Wilbur Turnblad. She assumes that he is not responding to her advances because he's an idiot, but it's implied that he knows what she's trying and is deliberately ignoring her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'', Shake creates multiple Meatwads everytime he cuts one in half. Carl decides to scamming them by teaching them poker and making up the rules while using flashcards. When Carl collects the pot, he realizes the Meatwards have been using fake bills from a board game, rending the victory moot.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'': In one episode, when the duo harasses a man named Harry Sachz with prank calls one too many times, he gets Caller ID to trace the call back and calls them pretending to be a pizza delivery man. The only problem is that the two are too stupid to even know their own addresses, so they instead give him the Stevensons' address from some mail they took from them.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'': In one episode, when the duo harasses a man named Harry Sachs with prank calls one too many times, he gets Caller ID to trace the call back and calls them pretending to be a pizza delivery man. The only problem is that the two are too stupid to even know their own addresses, so instead they give him the address from some mail they took from their neighbor, Stewart.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker", it's revealed that March the 15th is the day Crocker is more of a SadistTeacher than the rest of the year and tortures all students in specific ways. While wondering what to do with Timmy Turner, he decides against using rhetorical questions (like he did with A.J.) because Turner isn't intelligent enough to get frustrated by them.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter is able to realize a records store employee is Jesus, despite Jesus's disguise never having been broken before in 2000 years.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Fry is immune to the effects of the Brain Spawn because of his "special" mind. Special because [[MyOwnGrampa he's his own grandfather]], thanks to TimeTravel shenanigans.

* In ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', Cognito Inc has to create a robot replica of the president because the one they backed in [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump the last election]] turned out to be [[TakeThat too stupid to manipulate]].

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Though the above quote from "Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk" isn't an example, the short does have an instance where WesternAnimation/BugsBunny tricks the Giant into a duel at twenty paces, counting on the latter's giant steps to take him far away. Instead, the Giant's steps take him ''all the way around the cloud they're on'', putting Bugs right back where he started.

* In ''VideoGame/OrcsMustDie'', the Apprentice is the only war-mage left because he was the only one too stupid to realize how hopeless the conflict really is and too obtuse to give in to the Sorceress' offers. It's a bad thing that he becomes wiser as the game progresses, because with wisdom comes the realization that he and the rest of the world is pretty much doomed. He's so stupid that he's the only one to come up with the one guaranteed way to stop the Orcs. [[spoiler:Just close the gates that supply the magic.]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Many magicians don't like having children in the audience, because they often don't pay attention to the nonverbal cues magicians use to distract the audience and notice what they're actually doing.
* There's a saying that goes "The best swordsman in the world does not fear the second-best swordsman; he fears the worst swordsman, because he has [[ConfusionFu no idea]] what [[StrategySchmategy that idiot will do]]." This can, of course, translate to a wide array of undertakings.
* "Professionals are predictable, but the world is full of dangerous amateurs."
* This trope is actively applied in the military, where scenarios and exercises are thrown at very young and inexperienced officers, or officers being called upon to act outside of their area of expertise, precisely to see what nuggets can be gleaned from their approaching the problem with a complete lack of experience. They've been thrown outside of their comfort zone, so they often come up with ideas that would not even occur to more experienced leaders.
* An excellent example would be the Doolittle Raid. A Naval ''anti-submarine warfare officer'', with no experience flying planes, was at a Navy base early in the war, watching Army B-25's take off and land. What he also noticed was that for training purposes for Navy pilots, the runway was painted with the outline of an aircraft carrier. That got him to wondering if a B-25 could take off from an aircraft carrier. Since he had no flying experience, he didn't know that such a thing had never even been considered...
* In software testing, this is why some of the biggest bugs slip past QA (who know how the software is supposed to react and are trained programmers), and are found by end users who attempt something ''no-one'' in QA would bother to try (like running a sprite through a wall) or completely ignoring all the directions given in the tutorial. This is where open betas come into play: ordinary users without a lick of programming or in-house testing experience are invited to try them and report bugs as they come across them, though this has been known to invite complaints from impatient users who expect open betas to be as polished as release builds.
** An example of this was from ''VideoGame/CreeperWorld'', where in the last level (where you're supposed to build a ship to destroy the [[GreyGoo Creeper]]) players stuck to the tried-and-true tactics of forcing the creeper back, capping the emitters, and activating the totems. It just took more time and units. This uncovered a bug in which the game ''couldn't end'' because the ship hadn't been built. This bug was fixed, and a congratulatory message for doing it the hard way was added.
** There is an essay-length piece in the [[AllThereInTheManual instruction manual]] for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' specifically about this issue. They warn people who intend to make courses that they may think their courses are simple and straightforward, but as the wider audience plays them, they ''will'' find things in your course you didn't intend. They also state not to get annoyed when this happens and that it's a common part of the game-making process.
* This is also a concern in matters military. Several of the greatest innovations in warfare were the result of amateurs making war without the baggage that professionals had acquired over centuries.
* According to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beginner%27s_luck The Other Wiki]] one possible explanation for what is commonly called "beginner's luck" is that beginners are not limited in their thinking to what is the "right" way to win, and explore wider possibilities. Of course, [[SturgeonsLaw 90% of these possibilities are terrible ones]], and the majority of the remainder are already codified as "the right way", but every now and again... Although before you decide to go gamble your life's savings in a Poker tournament with an "unconventional strategy", bear in mind that stories of beginner's luck suffer heavily from SurvivorshipBias.
* Historians have often attributed Joan of Arc's military success, not to divine intervention, but due to her lack of knowledge of military tactics. While the English expected the French to continue with their regular pattern, an unprecedented full frontal assault completely caught them off guard. Later in the campaign they had adapted, and she suffered as many major defeats as victories. However if one believes her peers like the Bastard of Orleans or looks at both common tactics and case of supplies, out of her 3 defeats (not counting a retreat order of the King himself), only one can count for the dumb part of this trope due to her ordering an attack while low on supplies and refusing to wait for reinforcements that were already mobilized and on the way. The other 2 defeats were due to the King ordering her, who mainly had experience in using [[MoreDakka cannon]] and [[AttackAttackAttack cavalry]] and main strategies involved breaking inflexible defenses of sieges through [[GlassCannon fear or firepower]], to try and take care of the defensive.
* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the Germans tried to lure a French force into attacking, whereupon they would be isolated and massacred. To accomplish this, they faked a hole in their security. This might have worked, had the French commander in charge of the area not been too dim to notice the weak point.
* During the second world war, MI-5 did a deliberately botched operation on a German spy so that he would report back to his masters with false information about British interrogation techniques. The idea behind it was to make him look so obviously and incompetently subverted that they'd think that he must be the only one who had been compromised -- they had actually captured or bribed most or all of the German spies, but they figured if the Germans assumed MI-5 was that incompetent, they'd think the others weren't compromised, as they weren't giving such blatantly false information. It wasn't a total loss, as they did indeed fail to realize that the others had been compromised... but since they didn't even realize the decoy had been, the operation was simply a waste of time and money.
* People who consider themselves to be highly intelligent and perceptive can be suckered into scams and such things far more easily than one would suspect, precisely because they think that they're too smart to fool, and as a result, they simply can't imagine themselves falling for a scam, because getting fleeced is only for morons who couldn't spot an ObviousTrap if it danced naked in front of them, waved a flag with those words written on it, and performed a dramatic jazzy Las Vegas showtune song and dance routine spelling everything out in lurid detail. Well, scams are called confidence tricks for a reason.
* This applies for catfishing, People who are super smart are more likely to be catfished, this is because they think they're too smart to fool. People with lower IQ scores are more likely to ask questions and see if the images are real.
* People with lower IQ scores are also generally more resistant to hypnosis or hypnotic suggestion. This is usually attributed to that hypnosis requires the subject to be able to focus their attention at a single point for an extended time, and low IQ tends to correspond with a short attention span. Of course "resistant" is not the best word, as nobody can be hypnotized against their will. It's more accurate to say that people with lower IQ scores are worse at understanding and following instructions.
* This trope is why children under 7 have a higher survival rate if lost than children 7-9. They don't know how much trouble they're in, so they don't make as many dumb mistakes and will usually just settle down somewhere and save their energy until they're found. Older children will know they're in danger and panic, using up valuable energy as they try to find their way out and keep moving so rescuers can't find them.
* Similarly, a very small child is more likely to survive a serious auto accident with fewer injuries in part because unlike adults, who will reflexively tense up right before an impact if they see it coming and hurt themselves more, kids will remain limp and be able to weather it better. This is also why drivers who fall asleep (either because of exhaustion, alcohol and/or drug consumption) and crash are less likely to be seriously injured since they're also limp at the time of impact. The same goes for drunks and other impaired persons that are conscious but unaware of the impending crash.
[[/folder]]

** In "The Joy of Sect", Homer resists the most powerful persuasion techniques of the Movementarian cult thanks to his negligible IQ and [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny attention span]]. [[SubvertedTrope They eventually succeed]] when they use a technique [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame that's as stupid as he is]]: change the lyrics to the 1960's ''Series/Batman1966'' score from "Batman" to "Leader".

** In "Homer's Enemy", Frank Grimes, who is frustrated by Homer's dumb luck, attempts to show the power plant the follies of putting a complete idiot in charge of plant safety by holding a "Design Your Own Power Plant" contest meant for elementary school age students. Homer enters a power plant with aerodynamic wings to lower wind resistance and a racing stripe, and even after Grimes tells Homer that the contest was meant for school-age children, [[SpringtimeForHitler Mr. Burns and the plant employees still give him a standing ovation, much to Frank Grimes' chagrin]].

** In "Dead Putting Society", Lisa tries to deliver the classic {{Koan}} of "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" to Bart. He simply slaps the fingers and palm of one hand together. Lisa has better luck with "If a tree falls in a forest and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?". Bart initially gives the technical answer that yes it does, until Lisa points out "how can sound exist if no one can hear it?"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker", it's revealed that March the 15th is the day Crocker is more of a SadistTeacher than the rest of the year and tortures all students in specific ways. While wondering what to do with Timmy Turner, he decides against using rhetorical questions (like he did with A.J.) because Turner isn't intelligent enough to get frustrated by them.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Though the above quote from "Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk" isn't an example, the short does have an instance where WesternAnimation/BugsBunny tricks the Giant into a duel at twenty paces, counting on the latter's giant steps to take him far away. Instead, the Giant's steps take him ''all the way around the cloud they're on'', putting Bugs right back where he started.
* During the "Brainwashed" multi-parter near the end of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', the mice are captured and, appropriately enough, brainwashed. Or, at least, Brain is. Pinky is entirely unaffected due to his low intelligence. Later, as Brain starts to return to normal, he manages to LogicBomb the brainwashing computer by introducing it to the concept of "[[VerbalTic Narf]]", which Pinky cannot help but "define" when the computer derides it as a non-word.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'', when the duo harasses a man named Harry Sachs with prank calls one too many times, he gets Caller ID to trace the call back, and calls them pretending to be a pizza delivery man. Only problem is, the two are too stupid to even know their own address, so instead they give him the address from some mail they took from their neighbor, Stuart.
%%* Baloo and Kit run into a gangster pair of these in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Talespin}}'' episode "Time Waits for No Bear". Their solution is to pick a dumber plan.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Naturally [=SpongeBob=] in "Fear of a Krabby Patty".
* In ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', Cognito Inc has to create a robot replica of the president because the one they backed in [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump the last election]] turned out to be [[TakeThat too stupid to manipulate]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'', Shake creates multiple Meatwads everytime he cuts one in half. Carl decides to scamming them by teaching them poker and making up the rules while using flashcards. When Carl collects the pot, he realizes the Meatwards have been using fake bills from a board game, rending the victory moot.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'', [[Anime/CodeGeassLelouchOfTheResurrection Swaile Qujuppat]] is using his Geass to confuse Kallen Kozuki into attacking her friends Sayoko and Lloyd, thinking they're him. Enter [[Anime/GunXSword Van of the Dawn]], who is equally Geass'd but for some reason keeps attacking Qujuppat. To Qujuppat's horror (and even C.C. suggests similarly), Van is just too ''dense'' to be fooled by the Geass, forcing him to retreat.

* In ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', IdiotHero Denji manages to frequently outwit foes smarter & stronger than him by either completely blowing past their attempts to deceive him or pulling out some insane plan that's so [[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough utterly ludicrous and impractical that no sane tactician would ever expect an opponent to try it]]. [[spoiler:During his fight with the [[PrimalFear Falling Devil]], when she attempts to MindRape him he reveals that in situations like this he'll [[InvokedTrope invoke this trope]] and ''give himself brain damage'' with his HealingFactor taking care of the rest.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'':

* In ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'', [[TheSociopath manipulative sociopath]] Izaya names this as the reason why he hates [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Heiwajima Shizuo]] -- the guy is just too thick (and too angry) to fall prey to Izaya's mind games. The fact that Shizuo returns the sentiment (so every time he believes he is stuck in a mind game, his first strategy always is "find Izaya and bludgeon him to a bloody pulp", which turns out to be [[LaserGuidedKarma a pretty effective counter]]) is only icing on the cake.

The concept derives from the idea that [[SimpleMindedWisdom the simple-minded]] [[CloserToEarth have an earthy sort of wisdom]], and that [[CuttingTheKnot the simplest solution is usually the best]]. In certain circumstances, especially when a Masquerade is in place, this simplicity of thought allows a Fool to see things for what they truly are, even when this really ought to require some kind of metaphysical super-senses. This is one major way in which idiocy is turned into a DisabilitySuperpower. See also DisabilityImmunity for where a character is similarly unaffected, but has a physical, easier-to-recognize disability.

* In ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'', [[TheSociopath manipulative sociopath]] Izaya names this as the reason why he hates [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Heiwajima]] [[HairTriggerTemper Shizuo]] -- the guy is just too thick (and too angry) to fall prey to Izaya's mind games. The fact that Shizuo returns the sentiment (so every time he believes he is stuck in a mind game, his first strategy always is "find Izaya and bludgeon him to a bloody pulp", which turns out to be [[LaserGuidedKarma a pretty effective counter]]) is only icing on the cake.

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift'' the resident BigBad has {{Troll}}ed part of the cast into such frustration that they've been unable to do anything about his evil master plan; he has [[BreakThemByTalking verbally]] {{Mind Rape}}d another part of the cast as a part of said evil master plan and he has [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated the rest of the cast]] into playing him straight into his hands... When [[CatGirl Tao]][[TheDitz kaka]] enters the frame, however, he finds that she's not only too stupid to notice that he insults her and too shallow and carefree to be lectured, she also has a three second/three steps attention span/memory combo, making any attempts at manipulating her a crash course in futility. Consequently, the Big Bad quickly decides that, in this situation, MurderIsTheBestSolution... Luckily, Taokaka's CoolBigSis busts her out. Later, in ''Central Fiction'', Izanami fails to manipulate Tao as she has most of the other chosen - when shown a vision of her perfect world, and then told that another person is preventing it from being created, Tao realizes that she would rather have the world she has now due to it being authentic and having the memories she cherishes with her village mates. Therefore, if someone is maintaining that world, she should protect them - exactly the opposite of what Izanami was intending.

* In ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', Cognito Inc has to create a robot replica of the president because the one they backed in the last election turned out to be [[TakeThat too stupid]] [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump to manipulate]].

* There's a saying that goes "The best swordsman in the world does not fear the second-best swordsman; he fears the worst swordsman, because he has [[ConfusionFu no idea]] [[StrategySchmategy what that idiot will do]]." This can, of course, translate to a wide array of undertakings.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toodumb.png]]]]

May be impossible to distinguish from ObfuscatingStupidity. Often a {{Foil}} to TooCleverByHalf. See also DumbassHasAPoint, NobodysThatDumb, and YourBrainWontBeMuchOfAMeal. Contrast with the SeeminglyProfoundFool, who may seem clever partly ''because'' they are Too Dumb To Fool.

* WebVideo/{{Kitboga}} (like some other scambaiters) adopts the persona of characters who seem like they should be easy targets for scammers, yet somehow they can never manage to follow the scammers’ instructions well enough to be successfully fleeced, stringing the scammers along for hours and frustrating them to no end. Of course, this is all fully intentional.