History PlayingWith / ObfuscatingStupidity

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%%* '''Implied''': ???

** Alice pretends to be severely mentally retarded so that Bob will not suspect him.

'''Basic Trope''': An intelligent character pretends to be less intelligent in order to fool people about how effective he or she is.
* '''Straight''': Bob pretends to be naive and unsuspecting so that Alice will not suspect he is investigating her.

** Bob pretends to be severely mentally retarded so that Alice will not suspect him.
** Bob successfully fakes LaserGuidedAmnesia, and he routinely drops the act whenever he's alone with his friend who is in the know, only to continue the act when someone else enters the room.
** Bob pretends to be excessively unintelligent and intentionally talks funny, as well as pretending to know nothing. He also acts annoying and mimics Alice's sentences when given the chance.

** Bob is not very smart, but he exaggerates the extent of his stupidity.
** Bob is smart, but he just feigns slight cluelessness or average intelligence instead of pretending to be outright stupid.

** Bob wants to appear less of a threat to Alice in order to lull her into a false sense of security.
** Alice is expecting investigation and consequently wary of people who appear too smart, forcing Bob to downplay his intelligence in order to avoid suspicion.
* '''Inverted''': FeigningIntelligence

** Alice isn't fooled for a second by Bob's 'dumb' act.
** Bob pretends to be naive and unsuspecting, but when he reveals his real self he turns out to be... not so bright.

** She's not quite prepared for just ''how'' smart Bob is, however.
** He's BookDumb and bad at forensics, as it turns out. When it comes to ''social'' intelligence and puzzling out motives, he's a prodigy.

** Bob's a very poor actor, but Alice is nevertheless completely taken in by him.
** Bob is a supergenius capable of solving derivatives in his head; however, all he has to do to get people to think he's a dunce is say something like "1 + 1 = 11."

** Nobody is ever sure whether Bob is a GeniusDitz, an InspectorOblivious, or using ObfuscatingStupidity
** Bob is a GeniusDitz CloudCuckoolander, but he plays it up to the point where no one is exactly sure how much of this is an act, often coupled with PingPongNaivete
* '''Averted''': Bob's disguise does not include altering how intelligent he appears.
* '''Enforced''': The actor playing Bob is normally cast as a genius and wants to play against type.
* '''Lampshaded''': "He's not as dumb as he appears to be!"
* '''Invoked''': "She'll never suspect anything if I act like an idiot."
* '''Exploited''': Bob gets out of doing favors for people by pretending to be stupid.

* '''Discussed''': "How can someone this dumb be a private investigator?" "Well, he might not be as dumb as he looks.."
* '''Conversed''': "Bob's such an idiot!" "Yeah? Well, so was Series/{{Columbo}}."
* '''Played For Laughs''': When asked what 1 + 1 is, Bob quotes an obscure law of physics.
* '''Played For Drama''': Bob lives in a world affected by TallPoppySyndrome. If anyone powerful thinks he's too clever, they will get rid of him.
* '''Deconstructed''': Bob is so good at playing the part of the fool, nobody takes him seriously even after he drops the act.
* '''Reconstructed''': ...So he continues to act dumb to his advantage. After all, since everyone still doesn't believe him, it gives him the advantage of surprise [[RefugeInAudacity again]].

[[ObfuscatingStupidity You're not fooling me! I know you're not stupid, Bob!]]

* '''Downplayed''': Bob is not very smart, but he exaggerates the extent of his stupidity.

* '''Played For Drama''': Bob lives in a world affected by TallPoppySyndrome. If anyone powerful thinks he's too clever, they will get rid off him.

** Bob pretends to be excessively unintelligent and intentionally talks funny, as well as pretending to know nothing. He also intentionally acts annoying and mimic Alice's sentences when given the chance.

%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???

** Bob pretends to be excessively low intelligence and intentionally talks funny, as well as pretending to know nothing.

* '''Played For Drama''': Bob lives in a world affected by TallPoppySyndrome. If anyone powerful thinks he's to clever, they will get rid off him.
* '''Deconstructed''': Bob is ''so'' good at playing the part of the fool, nobody takes him seriously even ''after'' he drops the act.
* '''Reconstructed''': ...So he continues to act dumb to his advantage. After all, since everyone ''still'' doesn't believe him, it gives him the advantage of surprise ''[[RefugeInAudacity again]]''.

%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???

** Bob pretends to be naive and unsuspecting, but when he reveals his real self he turnes out to be... not so bright.

* '''Exaggerated''': Bob pretends to be severely mentally retarded so that Alice will not suspect him.

** Bob successfully fakes LazerGuidedAmnesia, and he routinely drops the act whenever he's alone with his friend who is in the know, only to continue the act when someone else enters the room.

* '''Zig Zagged''': Nobody is ever sure whether Bob is a GeniusDitz, an InspectorOblivious, or using ObfuscatingStupidity
** Alternatively, Bob is a GeniusDitz CloudCuckoolander, but he plays it up to the point where no one is exactly sure how much of this is an act, often coupled with PingPongNaivete

** Alternatively, Bob is a GeniuzDitz CloudCuckoolander, but he plays it up to the point where no one is exactly sure how much of this is an act, often coupled with PingPongNaivete

* '''Square Peg Round Trope''': Bob really is stupid.

* '''Exploited''': ???

Back to ObfuscatingStupidity

%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

* '''Justified''': Bob wants to appear less of a threat to Alice in order to lull her into a false sense of security.

* '''Subverted''': Alice isn't fooled for a second by Bob's 'dumb' act.

* '''Doubly Subverted''': She's not quite prepared for just ''how'' smart Bob is, however.

* '''Parodied''': Bob's a very poor actor, but Alice is nevertheless completely taken in by him.

* '''Deconstructed''': Bob is ''so'' good at playing the part of the fool, nobody takes him seriously even ''after'' he drops the act.
* '''Reconstructed''': ...So he continues to act dumb to his advantage. After all, since everyone ''still'' doesn't believe him, it gives him the advantage of surprise ''[[RefugeInAudacity again]]''.

ObfuscatingStupidity
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Back to ObfuscatingStupidity

* '''Conversed''': "Bob's such an idiot!" "Yeah? Well, so was {{Columbo}}."

** Bob pretends to be naive and unsuspecting, but when he reveals his real self he turned out to be... not so bright.

* '''Inverted''': Bob pretends to be intelligent to conceal his stupidity.