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| 7 | %% Admin note: The EchoChamber videos are being kept on the trope pages. |
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| 11 | ->'''Jay:''' Maybe we can just ask him to shut down the church. If it's closed that day, uh, those guys can't get blessed or whatever, right?\ |
| 12 | '''Metatron:''' Good Lord, the little stoner's got a point! |
| 13 | -->-- ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Even a StoppedClock is right twice a day. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | A character who's normally BookDumb and/or TheDitz comes up with a [[SmartBall valuable insight.]] The character most often heard belittling their intelligence sighs heavily and concedes, "ICantBelieveImSayingThis, but I ''agree'' with him." (Often adding, "And that scares me to death.") |
| 18 | |
| 19 | This can often be the result of pure chance; a wild guess turning out to be true, or RightForTheWrongReasons. In other cases, this is because the dumbass isn't willing to rule out an option due to thinking it illogical at first, or lacks knowledge of something that would limit more intelligent characters' thinking and cause them to rule out the correct idea. Or sometimes, more intelligent characters are overthinking it and the simple guy is the only one to think of StatingTheSimpleSolution (especially if it involves CuttingTheKnot). |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Also heard when two people of more or less equal intelligence, who normally disagree about everything on ideological grounds, find that there's one opinion they share. In other cases, the character with a valuable insight may be of a little less moral standing -- in which case, this trope then becomes somewhat of an inversion of YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | TruthInTelevision, and can be seen between VitriolicBestBuds and Internet-nemeses on {{Message Board}}s. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Compare ActuallyPrettyFunny, TooDumbToFool, TheCuckoolanderWasRight, WisdomFromTheGutter, MistakenForProfound, IHaveNothingToSayToThat, NobodysThatDumb, and TheDissenterIsAlwaysRight. When the character is the subject of this reaction because they're mean, unlikable, or evil, it's JerkassHasAPoint (or VillainHasAPoint when it's coming from an outright antagonist). If the reaction stems from the character making the point having a knack for doing the opposite thing, it's HypocriteHasAPoint. When the author intends to make a character's argument come across as wrong, but the readers agree, it's StrawmanHasAPoint. Not to be confused with ObfuscatingStupidity, where a character is only ''pretending'' to be stupid, though too many moments like this can make people suspicious of such a character (and will sometimes lead to EpilepticTrees amongst fans about characters who are ''actually'' stupid secretly being that trope). |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney Investigations'' manga, Thomas Bester, a CluelessDetective who rivals even Gumshoe, accuses Edgeworth and Amadeus Seal ([[GentlemanAndAScholar an art scholar]]) of being [[GentlemanThief members of the Gentlemen Thieves]] because they are well-dressed individuals. It turns out that [[spoiler:the Amadeus Seal whom Edgeworth met that night was, in fact, one of the thieves in disguise]]. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': |
| 34 | ** Connie is a bit of a BookDumb ditz. But when he gives an accurate assessment about Trost that everyone is stuck until they can resupply, Jean mentioned it's good that he is using his head for once. |
| 35 | ** And again in Chapter 49, he managed to talk Krista out of a dangerous situation by analyzing the reason behind her best friend's actions. This time, he lampshaded it. |
| 36 | --->'''Connie:''' Protecting you is the only thing Ymir works hard at! I don't know how Ymir's going to get herself killed, but you two need to calm down. It should be obvious that you're both much more likely to die if you stay here. [[LampshadeHanging Even an idiot would be able to figure that much out]]... |
| 37 | * ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'': Miura, who is not one of the better editors, and who is often distrusted by the main characters for his belief that they would be better off doing gag manga, immediately notices that something's off about a chapter of Detective Trap that they wrote, and realizes that they were using fan suggestions in a desperate attempt to avoid cancellation. He gives them a lecture, saying that the writers don't necessarily represent the entire readership, who largely expect the same shonen-style stories as always. The main characters realize he has a point, [[spoiler:even if they ultimately don't succeed in saving Detective Trap]]. |
| 38 | * In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Makizou Aramaki, a drunken and not very bright member of the 11th Company, accosts Uryu and Orihime while they are sneaking around the Seireitei [[DressingAsTheEnemy in Soul Reaper uniforms]]. When they claim to be from the 11th Company, he checks the inside of Uryu's uniform (something a 9th Company officer Uryu had previously encountered had failed to do), and sees the 12th Company's insignia on it. He then asks why they aren't carrying their zanpakutos, since [[BloodKnight no one in the 11th Company would ever go without them]]. Aramaki gets knocked out by some 12th company members who claim to be friendly to Uryu and Orihime, but Uryu realizes that Aramaki was actually right, and manages to warn Orihime in time to save them from Mayuri's trap. |
| 39 | * In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', during the infamous episode in which [[spoiler:Schniezel convinces most of the surviving Black Knights to betray their leader, Zero]], it falls to Tamaki to say "[[spoiler:Why the hell should we listen to the ''freaking commander of the enemy forces''?! Even if what he says is true and Zero's a Britannian prince, he's gotten us this far and is a hell of a lot more trustworthy than the Emperor's favorite son!]]". His points are briefly considered, but end up being thrown out the window when [[spoiler:Ohgi comes in and confirms that Zero[=/=]Lelouch has a MindControl power and might have been brainwashing them this whole time (he wasn't)]]. The CompilationMovie does add [[spoiler: Ohgi himself wanting some answers from Lelouch first, and calls out Schneizel's men for preparing to shoot him before they can hear him out]]. |
| 40 | * In the epilogue of ''Manga/DeathNote'', Matsuda, who is normally treated as the least perceptive and intelligent of the cast, comes up with a surprisingly cogent theory: [[spoiler:the Death Note can control a person's actions somewhat, Near owned one, Near's plans [[BatmanGambit depended on Mikami Teru not deviating from a rather specific path]], Mikami died in prison only a few days after the final confrontation, and Near destroyed the notebooks. This makes it quite possible that Near used the Death Note to control Mikami and ensure the success of his plan]]. Ide grumpily tells him there's no proof and that Matsuda is thinking wishfully, but it's clear that even he isn't sure that Matsuda is wrong. |
| 41 | * In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Mitsuri Kanroji can be rather ditzy, but she nevertheless brings up two valid points when her fellow Hashira put Tanjiro on trial for traveling with Nezuko (his younger sister, who's been turned into a demon), in violation of Demon Slayer Corps policy. Her first point is that they shouldn't proceed without Kagaya, the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, which is common sense, and her second point is that Kagaya should know about Tanjiro's situation already. As it turns out, Kagaya does, in fact, know about Tanjiro traveling with a demon, having received a letter from Urokodaki, the former Water Hashira, explaining the situation, and is willing to allow it. As a result, Mitsuri comes off as more reasonable than most of her colleagues, some of whom wanted to execute Tanjiro on the spot. |
| 42 | * Goku in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' might not be the smartest but he made an accurate point when he was trying to convince the stubborn Vegeta to do the FusionDance when they'd encountered a very powerful enemy who is soundly trouncing them. |
| 43 | -->'''Vegeta:''' I'd rather die than fuse with you!\ |
| 44 | '''Goku:''' But Vegeta, [[AnalogyBackfire you're already dead]]! You've got no choice! |
| 45 | * ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', since most of the team are idiots (especially Taki). From rival team, Ootawara of Ojou White Knights is ''made'' for this trope. |
| 46 | * ''Manga/FireForce'': While investigating Company 1's headquarters for information about man-made Infernals, Arthur breaks into a room using a miniature version of Excalibur. Shinra rebukes him for using such underhanded methods, but Arthur shuts him down by mentioning that if solving the mystery behind SpontaneousHumanCombustion could be accomplished while taking the moral high ground, it would have been done ages ago. |
| 47 | * In ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'', Astraea is one of the dumbest characters ever, but she has some amazing insight at times. For example, when she, Ikaros, and Nymph are getting their asses handed to them by Zeta/Hiyori, Astraea is the first to suggest attacking the machinery around Zeta instead of trying to take her on directly. It doesn't take Zeta out, but it does help. |
| 48 | * In the anime/manga version of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'', Zandeh is not the smartest person but even he realizes that Silvermask taking the sacred sword Rukhnabard from King Kaykhusraw's tomb is the cause of the unnatural earthquakes devastating them. So when Silvermask would rather fight Gieve, Zandeh chooses to throw the sword back down into the tomb, reasoning to the infuriated Silvermask that after restoring the country, Silvermask could always return for the sword and that he does not need this particular sword to defeat his enemies. Gieve is somewhat impressed with his reasoning. |
| 49 | * ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has America and Britain fighting until France points out they still have a meeting. |
| 50 | -->'''Britain:''' That's weird. France actually made a rational point. |
| 51 | * In the end of ''[[Anime/{{K}} K: Return of Kings]]'', when Misaki [[spoiler:saves Saruhiko from JUNGLE and they finally repair their friendship ([[ShipTease or something more]]), Saruhiko asks why Misaki is no longer angry with him for betraying the Red Clan. Misaki says it's because if he'd go on this dangerous mission for the Blue King, then he ''is'' loyal, because the Blue King was his king all along]]. |
| 52 | -->'''[[spoiler:Saruhiko:]]''' [Misaki]'s simple-minded, stupid, ignorant, and doesn't get a thing... And yet somehow, he's able to come up with the perfect answer. No wonder I'd go through all this trouble just for him. |
| 53 | * This comes up in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', though it isn't directly addressed. [[spoiler:The fact that Shirogane forces himself to be the perfect student under the belief that Kaguya wouldn't love him otherwise is presented as being unhealthy, but he's right. While Kaguya may have fallen in love with his true personality, she didn't even acknowledge his presence until after he starts following Momo's advice to act more confident than he actually is (and in fact has no memory of their first meeting because his old self made so little of an impression on her).]] |
| 54 | * ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Despite her dimwitted nature, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Mako]] surprisingly gives off some good advice once in a while, [[ChewbaccaDefense bizarre they might be]]. Even her classmates agree with her on them. |
| 55 | * Shiro Kabuto from ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' was The Hero Kouji's AnnoyingYoungerSibling. Although sometimes he seemed TooDumbToLive cause some stunts he pulled, he had good points from time to time. Boss also has a point more frequently than you'd expect. I.e., [[AchillesInHisTent when Kouji refuses to help Sayaka after they have a fight]] and she takes off in Mazinger Z, Boss, Mucha and Nuke are the ones who urge him to stop whining and go for her. |
| 56 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 57 | ** In the Kakashi Gaiden arc, when Rin is captured, the ([[CharacterDevelopment then]]) InsufferableGenius Kakashi suggests that the enemy will make use of Rin's medic-nin skills to heal their wounded (as an argument against going to save her), while Obito, who is not very bright by comparison suggests that the enemy won't think to use her that way and will interrogate her for information on their mission (as an argument for going to save her). Obito turns out to be right. |
| 58 | ** During the second stage of the Chunin Exam, Team 7 are attacked by Orochimaru, disguised as another examinee. Seeing how outclassed they are, Sasuke moves to give Orochimaru his scroll (the teams that have a Heaven and Earth scroll pass, and Orochimaru had the other one), but [[IdiotHero Naruto]] stops him, pointing out that there's no guarantee that someone so ObviouslyEvil will just be satisfied with a scroll. Orochimaru admits this, as his real goal was infecting Sasuke with [[TheCorruption his curse mark.]] |
| 59 | ** In the Konoha 11 filler arc, Naruto and Choji, [[IdiotHero two of the less intelligent members of the team]], suggest that the old man who turned out to be infiltrating the village was not a bad person because he likes ramen. It turns out that he had, because of his friendship with Naruto, replaced all the explosive paper tags with harmless ones to make it a scavenger hunt like he had enjoyed with his son. |
| 60 | * Downplayed in ''Literature/NoGameNoLife''. Steph is rather competent at governing the country and various other tasks (she has to be, [[BeleagueredAssistant since Sora and Shiro push all that work on her]]), but in a world where gaming skill matters more than anything else, her gullibility and lack of skill at games results in other characters tending to think of her as stupid. When she immediately gets that Feel, an Elven noblewoman who's part of the Senate, would be guilty of treason if people found out that she wanted to abolish slavery in her society, Sora, Shiro and Jibril are all shocked that [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she could actually follow the conversation]]. |
| 61 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 62 | ** During the Alabasta arc, Luffy points out to Vivi that simply beating up Crocodile would be the best thing to do, instead of trying to stop the rebels from fighting (which would cost many more lives). Often times, Luffy knows that beating up the biggest bad guy solves the problem faster. He does this in Enies Lobby as well, zeroing in on Lucci, the strongest member of [=CP9=] and the biggest threat. |
| 63 | ** He also mentions that people ''will'' die no matter what Vivi does, a surprisingly realistic observation for him that the other crew members don't contest. Even Sanji, who usually sides with the female members of the crew, tells Nami that he agrees with Luffy when Nami protests. |
| 64 | ** At the beginning of the series, soon after gaining the ''Going Merry,'' they save Zoro's old friend Yosaku who is suffering scurvy. When Nami notes that they need someone who knows their way around food, Luffy immediately jumps to the realization they need a ''cook'', an idea so sensible everyone agrees with him (unusual for Luffy), setting up the Baratie Arc and the eventual recruitment of Sanji. Of course, the fact that Luffy is a BigEater with a fondness for meat probably has something to do with it. |
| 65 | ** In Water 7, upon learning the ''Going Merry'' is on her last legs, Luffy makes the tough call to seek out a new ship. Usopp disagrees to the point of abandoning the crew and challenging Luffy one-on-one for ownership of the ''Merry''. Luffy chooses to go through with it, and when Nami asks why he isn't trying to stop this, Luffy points out that he knows Usopp is dead serious and won't be convinced any other way. Despite her misgivings, she doesn't argue with him anymore. |
| 66 | ** While Zoro's not stupid per se, he does often come across as not much smarter than Luffy when it comes to acting on impulse. However, he's the one crewmate who opposes Usopp's rejoining into the crew, on the grounds that he disrespected Luffy. Though he constantly belittles Luffy, he notes that if a crew can't respect its captain (or if the captain doesn't deserve their respect), they're not fit to be a crew. Even Sanji, who normally mocks or disagrees with what Zoro says, agrees with him. To Luffy's credit (a guy who normally does his own thing on a whim), he gets the point and agrees too. [[spoiler:It works. Realizing he really is running the risk of being abandoned, Usopp finally comes clean and apologizes.]] |
| 67 | ** Sanji has a reaction to this effect when Zoro comes up with a two-layered identifying system to help them tell whether someone is Mr. 2 in disguise. Specifically, the members of the crew each wear a bandage around their arms, a conspicuous identifying mark that hides the ''actual'' mark -- an X painted onto their skin. Since Mr. 2 can't see the X, he won't be able to mimic it, something that helps save Vivi from falling prey to Mr. 2 when he disguises himself as Usopp. |
| 68 | ** While infiltrating Big Mom's home island, Nami freaks out when a giant crocodile in human clothes speaks to them and walks away. Luffy points out they've seen plenty of weird things like this before, pointing to their present company Chopper, a half-human reindeer, and Carrot, a literal bunny-girl. Granted, they're all different kinds of talking animals- Chopper is a reindeer that ate the Human Human Fruit (granting him human intelligence and the ability to transform), Carrot is a member of the Mink tribe of sapient humanoid animals, and the crocodile is a Homie (something imbued with a part of Big Mom's soul)- but Luffy's point stands. |
| 69 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' deals with this in the form of Team Rocket in "A Lean Mean Team Rocket Machine". Jessie decides that Team Rocket should get back in shape. Her teammates, James and Meowth, remarked in unison, "Weird when she makes sense." As a side note, though, Jessie isn't stupid, and James is usually the team member who comes off as slightly less intelligent than his friends. |
| 70 | * In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', Genma is not known for his brilliance when it comes to schemes, plots or ploys. In fact, it's usually quite the opposite. Keep in mind that this is the man who hauled himself and his son to a cursed training ground simply on the basis that he figured "cursed = dangerous = great place to train!" and who was stupid enough to buy into and teach his son the [[UselessUsefulSpell Neko Ken]]. And yet, despite all this, Ranma is still perfectly willing to ask Genma for advice, because every so often, Genma says something that is either genuinely profound, or it's so stupid/off-kilter it actually becomes useful. This is played up a bit more in the anime -- for example, it's Genma's comment about "looking with your gut" that lets Ranma see through Cologne's Splitting Cat Hairs technique, and it's also in the anime that Genma explicitly tells Ranma that he lost while fighting in female form because he doesn't play to that form's strengths. It's actually a fairly common thread among several of the characters. No matter how stupid a character might otherwise be, they are still skilled martial artists. While Genma gets this role most often, Happōsai will very rarely stop being a DirtyOldMan to actually be useful. Not for nothing is he the most powerful character on the show ([[WeaksauceWeakness apart from the fact that he can be effectively vanquished by a bra]]). |
| 71 | * ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': One of the show's favorite tricks is to have a character who's been designated TheFool (usually [[AlphaBitch Nanami]] or [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Saionji]]) come out and openly state one of the show's {{Central Theme}}s. Both Utena and the audience are likely to dismiss this whenever it happens because it's either sandwiched between outright nonsense, completely inapplicable to the episode's actual conflict, or too early in the storyline for anyone to realize its significance. As such, there is a ''wealth'' of {{Rewatch Bonus}}es awaiting the attentive viewer on their second go-around. |
| 72 | * ''Manga/SailorMoon'': [[IdiotHero Usagi]] is known for her ditzy and scatter-brained nature, but she does give valuable lessons and advice to her teammates and even her enemies, to which they actually agree with her on. |
| 73 | * ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Natsumi agrees with Sarge on his directive that they should give the house a nice deep clean for New Year's. "And when I say I hate to say it, I mean it actually causes me intense physical pain." |
| 74 | * ''Anime/SherlockHound'': Both Todd and Smiley wish that their boss came up with a simple plan. They also note that Moriarty's intelligence would have been better used for a legitimate career. |
| 75 | * In ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'', Tarou Takanashi is a rather incompetent production assistant for [=MusAni=] who frequently makes mistakes, resulting in his coworkers having little respect for him and viewers wondering why he hasn't been fired. In Episode 9, Tarou, while discussing Exodus' preorders with Honda, mentions that the final episode will be key to determining how well the show sells, to which Honda replies by saying that if Kinoshita heard that, he'd break down and give up on the storyboards for the latter half of the episode. Tarou then replies, "But if you're so concerned with sales that it affects your work, you won't be able to make anything good." Honda is rendered speechless for a moment, before remarking, "[[LampshadeHanging Sometimes you say the smartest things]]." |
| 76 | * In the second ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' movie, [[TheDitz Mihoshi]] suggests that Mayuka is from the future. The rest of the cast begins to dismiss this idea until [[MadScientist Washu]] confirms that she's correct. [[spoiler:Subverted in that Mayuka was actually an ArtificialHuman designed to ''appear'' to be a KidFromTheFuture.]] |
| 77 | * In the fourth episode of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', Barnaby expresses shock upon the discovery that he and Kotetsu actually ''agree'' on something ("We didn't become heroes because we want praise and appreciation.") |
| 78 | * ''Anime/UltimateMuscle'' sees ArcVillain Mars disguise himself to infiltrate the ranks of the heroic Idol Choujin. After the deception is revealed, the series' IdiotHero Mantarou points out that [[ComplexityAddiction Mars didn’t need to hide his identity]] since the Idol Choujin already have lots of former villains in their ranks. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Comedy]] |
| 82 | * Discussed by Katt Williams in a stand-up special. Williams was hired as part of a Creator/ComedyCentral [[TheRoast roast]] of hype man Flavor Flav, but the script contained several jokes that Williams felt were UncleTomfoolery at best, and [[UnfortunateImplications outright racist at worst]]. Williams had to go through with the roast anyway because he'd signed a contract saying he would (and [[MoneyDearBoy he'd already mentally spent all the money they paid him]]). After the roast was over, even though Williams was still mad, Flavor Flav was happy with how well things had gone. When Williams asked why Flavor was okay with being made fun of, Flavor responded that Comedy Central still had to pay him a ton of money for the privilege of doing it. Williams was floored by the response, admitting that he "hadn't expected to learn anything" from Flavor, but also admitted that it was a good point. |
| 83 | [[/folder]] |
| 84 | |
| 85 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 86 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': Obelix is ordinarily the DumbMuscle of the group, but he does occasionally have ideas that save the day. For example, in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheNormans'', he is able to track down the GiftedlyBad bard Cacofonix when he figures out that, since he took a horse, he has gone on a long journey, meaning he's acted on a suggestion to go to Lutetia to try his hand at professional singing. The Druid Getafix, surprised at the dumb but lovable hero's insight, states, "That boy does have his moments!" |
| 87 | * ''ComicBook/GrooTheWanderer'': To say that Groo is an idiot is an understatement, but even he had this moment in one issue. Several of the characters start being gurus in order to con people out of their money. Groo spent the entire issue trying to be one as well, but after failing he gets frustrated and angrily point out that gurus can get everyone to believe their words by simply telling them what they want to hear. This causes everyone to realize they've been scammed, and they proceed to chase the other gurus out of the village. |
| 88 | * In ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', Green Arrow takes Harley Quinn to his hideout to protect her from a [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge rampaging]] Superman. When she hears that it's named [[GiverOfLameNames the Arrowcave]], Harley says it's not a very good name[[note]]Of course, it's a vestige from back when GA was little more than Batman with an archer motif[[/note]]; "Batcave" works because that's where bats live, so Arrow should name his place "The Quiver". Ollie's response is "That... is actually a better name." Black Canary also agrees when Harley brings up the subject to her. |
| 89 | * In one of the Giffen/[=DeMatteis=] ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' stories: ComicBook/BlueBeetle says "ComicBook/{{Booster|Gold}} was right!" in one panel and in the next is muttering "'Booster was right'? I can't believe I said that!" |
| 90 | * A ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' tie-in to ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' has T'Challa, stranded with the Fantastic Four in another universe, attempt to bluff a zombified ComicBook/LukeCage that he's the same T'Challa Luke knows, and the reason a very-much-alive Fantastic Four is with him is because they found [[UndeathIsCheap a cure for the plague]]. However, Cage correctly points out that a) that doesn't explain why he's stranded in the middle of Skrull space for no apparent reason, and b) Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Reed Richards were working together to make a cure at one point and got nowhere; it makes no sense that T'Challa could do it by himself. From this, he immediately figures out the correct answer: the T'Challa he's talking to is [[DimensionalTraveler from another universe]], and showed up by accident through an uncertain method, which he probably has on him right now. T'Challa muses to Storm "And you always said Cage was dumb." |
| 91 | * In Issue 2 of Archie's ''ComicBook/SonicBoom'', Amy Rose is shocked that Knuckles is working with Eggman. Knuckles tells her that he's doing so because he's tired of her picking on him. When she goes GrammarNazi on him over a minor flub, he blows up, roaring "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" |
| 92 | * From Issue #32 of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': |
| 93 | -->'''Sonic:''' ''(regarding Mobie the cave-bear)'' We should've left the big dope frozen!\ |
| 94 | '''Antoine:''' For once, Sonic is right! He is ze librarian!\ |
| 95 | '''Sally:''' I think you mean ''barbarian'', Antoine! |
| 96 | * In issue #2 of the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan & the ComicBook/XMen'' mini-series, Spidey and his class are attempting to escape Mojoworld, when they run into Gambit, of all people. But Rockslide notices Gambit lit a cigarette with a match, and points out he could have just [[MundaneUtility used his powers to do that.]] Sure enough, it's the Chameleon in disguise, who's utterly incensed at his disguise failing that fast, as it's almost impossible to pull off a French accent that sounds half as fake as Gambit's. |
| 97 | * In one volume of the short-lived ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' comic book. [[spoiler:That case is subverted, though, because it turns out Wooster wasn't betraying them at all.]] |
| 98 | -->'''Mario:''' You know what bothers me about Wooster's betrayal?\ |
| 99 | '''Toad:''' The sheer, heinous, enormity of it?\ |
| 100 | '''Mario:''' No. It means [[TheDitz the King]] was right about something! |
| 101 | * ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': Spinister is the most detached from reality of the already dysfunctional Scavengers, to the point where even ''Misfire'', a guy who got his name for [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace accidentally gunning down a dozen of his own side]], considers him something of a liability, but even outside the [[IdiotSavant genius-level surgical skills]] he brings to the table, he's also good at picking up on small details like [[TheDreaded the Decepticon Justice Division]] having apparently miscounted - which leads to them finding [[OneManArmy Grimlock]] aboard a crashed ship. |
| 102 | * In ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', during the "Return to Weapon-X" arc, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSabretooth Sabretooth]] is fighting Wolverine, when it occurs to Sabretooth that nobody has ever thought of ''drowning'' Wolvie, and that a HealingFactor would be pretty useless against such a predicament. |
| 103 | * Downplayed and deliberately invoked in ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows''. Jim and Hilda aren't "dumb" in the usual sense but they are very naive, which isn't helped by the former's respect and obedience to authority, so he decides to follow the advice to the letter. Hilda notices holes in the advice (i.e "How are you supposed to close the doors to prevent fire spreading if you've used them to build your Inner Core Or Refuge?") and points them out but they both brush them off. |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 107 | * In one strip of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin is again about to be beaten up by the resident BarbaricBully, Moe, when he asks why Moe doesn't pick on people his own size. Moe simply replies, "they'd hit back". |
| 108 | -->'''Calvin:''' ''(after being pummelled)'' ...I guess that has a certain unethical logic to it... |
| 109 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': |
| 110 | ** Done by the PointyHairedBoss when describing the other departments as being [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2011-02-20/ staffed with professional liars]]. |
| 111 | ** In general, the PHB is "only" incompetent at management and technology. When dealing with other departments and upper management, he's actually the straight man undermined by Dilbert's [[NoSocialSkills social ineptitude]] and bluntness. |
| 112 | * ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'': |
| 113 | -->'''Rat:''' What does it mean to be happy? Is it something subjective? Or is there an objective component? Is it simply the absence of pain? Or is it something more? How does a dumb guy like you answer a question like that?\ |
| 114 | '''Pig:''' I think happiness is finding a couple extra fries at the bottom of the bag.\ |
| 115 | ''({{beat panel}})''\ |
| 116 | '''Rat:''' Pig made sense. The apocalypse is upon us.\ |
| 117 | '''Pig:''' Yay! The apocalypse! Yaaaaaay! Wait... wait... what's an apocalypse? |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 121 | !!!{{Crossover}}s |
| 122 | * Luffy is still an IdiotHero like canon in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11961369/7/Blood-Man-Luffy Blood Man Luffy]]'' but correctly uses the proverb "Blood is thicker than water" when he learns of Nami's adoptive family. Nami gets upset and says they're as close as any family, only for Luffy to remark that's what he said: "Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb." [[spoiler:It should be noted this is actually incorrect and a modern change to the quote, the original quote was about how family is more important than distance. Source 1180; English: Reynard the Fox. "I also hear it said, kin-blood is not spoiled by water", which may in part refer to distance not changing familial ties or duties, due to the high seas being tamed]]. |
| 123 | * In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}'' crossover ''Blue Belle'', Harmony and Brittany (the former considered too dumb to walk and chew gum at the same time and the latter only marginally smarter) figure out what book was stolen by a vampire before anyone else by simply checking off every book on the card index they can find. Giles even admits he wouldn't have thought of something so simple. |
| 124 | * ''Fanfic/TheBoysRealJustice'': The Trickster may not be the sharpest tool in the shed at first glance, and Butcher clearly considers him to be an idiot, but even he can see Butcher's ego is his FatalFlaw and that he is out of his depth in the DC Universe: |
| 125 | -->'''Trickster:''' Hey, you've been bitched by every single supervillain in Gotham and got your ass kicked by Deathstroke. Maybe you should see you're not hot shit and I'm the bigger fish on this pod. |
| 126 | * While [[BookDumb far from a genius]], Ranma quickly realizes there is something very wrong with the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10075398/1/The-Effect-of-a-Horse-and-a-Dragon The Effect of a Horse and a Dragon]]''. First is that there seems to be almost no technological difference between civilizations (whereas back in his own time/world there could be massive differences between neighboring countries). Second, since most objects he finds randomly laying around tend to be magical and/or cursed, he's incredibly leery of the idea that the Council simply found the Citadel, moved in, and started using it without understanding anything about the place. Likewise, Herb is highly unnerved that humanity eschewed all other forms of technological advancement after discovering eezo. Both him and Ranma find Elemental Zero fundamentally wrong, though they aren't sure why. |
| 127 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13193683/4/Ere-we-go-Pluz-Ultra Ere we go, Pluz Ultra!]]'': Izuku is functionally an [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Ork]] with all the mental faculties that entails but points out that Momo's Quirk can't be using her fat to build things because her weight hasn't visibly changed after all the things she made during the Quirk Assessment Test. |
| 128 | ** He also responds to Tsuyu's insistence on being called Tsu-chan by pointing out that if she calls others what she wants, she'll have to accept them doing the same to her. |
| 129 | * ''Fanfic/GrowthThroughChaos'': Luffy isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he can be surprisingly insightful, wanting Manga/{{Naruto}} and the other ninja because of their ability to WalkOnWater. Even Zoro admits that while Luffy may not have that many good ideas, the few he has haven't been wrong thus far. |
| 130 | * Blitzo, in ''Fanfic/HelluvaJob'', doesn't even flinch at St. Anger's death threat, citing the fact that I.M.P. is still alive means St. Anger never considered killing them and stealing the grimoire an option at any point. St. Anger notes that Blitzo isn't as stupid as he lets on. |
| 131 | * Ranma in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11577216/1/A-Horse-For-the-Force A Horse for the Force]]'' makes an almost offhand observation how freely Jedi take lives with their lightsabers even though they're supposed to be guardians rather than soldiers. As a result, on a later mission Kit Fisto makes a point to only sever limbs of the pirates he's fighting. It still puts them out of the fight, but he doesn't kill them. |
| 132 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}''/''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' crossover fic ''Fanfic/IceFury'', Tuffnut of all people is the one to theorise why Wintergale- Elsa's dragon and the titular Ice Fury, the female equivalent of the Night Fury- would have pretended to go along with the Bewilderbeast’s control of the other dragons when her natural Alpha status made her immune, as she was faking compliance to try and free other dragons. |
| 133 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4192188/10/Lacking-an-Anchor Lacking an Anchor]]'', [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Xander]] disproves Superman's worries about Xander and Powergirl dating, or more accurately having sex, by getting into a fist fight with Supes in a hallway filled with cheap red lightbulbs and some random green rocks. Because Superman ''thinks'' he's been BroughtDownToNormal, he fights like normal human and takes damage like one. Xander explains after that Kryptonian powers work on their subconscious desires (i.e., they won't hurt someone by accident if they don't want to). |
| 134 | * In the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''/''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' {{Crossover}} ''Fanfic/RemnantsBizarreAdventure'', Okuyasu's catchphrase is "I'm not very smart." That being said, he was the first person to point out to Weiss Schnee that [[PoorCommunicationKills she should just talk to Blake]] over what happened at the end of RWBY Volume 1. [[spoiler:At the end of the ''Lock and Key'' arc, Weiss outright acknowledged that Okuyasu was right, and the fight against Tamami Kobayashi would have gone much more smoothly if she and Blake had talked things out beforehand.]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | !!!''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' |
| 137 | * In ''Fanfic/TheStalkingZukoSeries'', Chit Sang, like in canon, is [[DumbMuscle strong but not especially bright]], such as forgetting to tell Zuko about "cooler fever." However, he notices that Aang's defensive reaction when called out over sparing Ozai means that Aang is actually starting to regret his decision. |
| 138 | |
| 139 | !!''Film/{{Brightburn}}'' |
| 140 | * In ''Fanfic/AMonstersNature'', this trope isn't explicitly invoked, but considering Brandon's low opinion of any human that isn't Caitlyn, this arguably applies to him letting Caitlyn's friend Michelle ask his cultists questions as she makes valid points. |
| 141 | |
| 142 | !!!''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'' |
| 143 | * Xander's explanation in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9663877/11/And-Another-Thing-I-Hate-About-You And Another Thing I Hate About You]]'' of why a relationship between Angel and Cordelia would never work makes far more sense than Angel is comfortable admitting. Particularly when he explains what would happen if being with Cordelia didn't break the curse (by giving him a moment of perfect happiness). |
| 144 | -->'''Xander:''' Cordelia Chase. Junior Miss California, seventh grade. May Queen, Queen of Sunnydale High 1996, prettiest girl in Sunnydale eighteen years running. Miss "I have to have the most expensive thing not because it's the best, but because it's expensive". Used to nothing but the very best of everything for all her life, until maybe lately. And ''then'' she gets slapped in the face with the fact that the guy she maybe falls in love with ''isn't'', ''can't be'', ''doesn't'' get a rush of perfect fucking happiness ''just'' from being with ''her''. Long term? Man, that knowledge would eat at and fucking ''destroy'' her.\ |
| 145 | '''Angel:''' She's stronger than that.\ |
| 146 | '''Xander:''' She shouldn't ''have'' to be... I dunno much. But I do know: when you love someone, it's not about ''you''. It's your whole fucking world wrapped up in what's best for them, and what makes them happiest. It's reaching for the moon, just because it's ''there'', and it makes their eyes ''glow''. When you love someone, really love them: you ''don't'' make them settle. You just ''don't''. |
| 147 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11181910/5/Yet-Again-Still-Even-More-Fragments Dark Arts and Crafts]]'', Xander has two surprisingly insightful moments regarding Angel. First, while they do know now that Angel is a vampire, he's also been helpful in the past so they should reserve judgment until they know more. Second, Xander notes that redemption is more than just helping someone because you hurt someone else. |
| 148 | -->'''Xander:''' Being a good person is like jumping in a lake. When you're wet, you're wet. And being dry now doesn't change the fact you were wet earlier. |
| 149 | * ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-28404-75/DianeCastle+Xendra.htm Xendra]]'': |
| 150 | ** Xander realizes what [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] didn't: why their group has drifted apart so much in the last year. Namely, due to a number of things happening (almost none of which is actually anyone's fault), all the Scoobies feel like the rest of the group has betrayed them at some point. |
| 151 | ** Earlier, Xander's the one to realize why Buffy can never get the names of various demons and vampires right: she has a brain disorder that makes it difficult for her to understand anything that isn't said in her native language. So words like Kakistos and Cruciamentum are completely beyond her. It's also why she was failing French before spending Halloween as a French noblewoman. |
| 152 | !!!''Film/CoolCatSavesTheKids'' |
| 153 | * ''Fanfic/CoolCatSavesVietnam'': As stupid as he is, Cool Cat objects to the notion that he should be allowed to use a gun. However, the sergeant gives him permission anyway. |
| 154 | !!!''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' |
| 155 | * While still slower on the uptake than others, [[TheMillstone Yasuhiro Hagakure]] points out in ''Fanfic/Class78thWatchesTheFuture'' that Makoto Naegi's "bad luck" in getting a faulty bathroom door [[UnluckilyLucky made it easier for him to prove himself innocent]] in the first case in [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc their future]]. The reaction from pretty much everyone else was StunnedSilence, with Celeste putting it best. |
| 156 | -->'''Celeste''': I think Hiro said something intelligent for once. |
| 157 | |
| 158 | !!!''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'' |
| 159 | * ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': In "The Protection Payment", Bobby the pigeon normally says and does dumb things and is sometimes seen ComicallyMissingThePoint. Once in a rare while, though, he's more perceptive than his pigeon pals -- most notably when he begins to wonder aloud whether the declawed cat Mittens (who is extorting food from them in a ProtectionRacket) actually has the claws she claims to possess. In this specific instance, his aghast friends frantically shush him, not realizing he's right. |
| 160 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' AU story ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10520321/6/And-I-Saw-the-Beast-upon-a-Cold-World And I Saw the Beast upon a Cold World]]'', the uneducated Kristoff points out the flaws in Elsa's plan to speed through her education by excelling by telling her that "If you dig the best ditches it just means they give you a bigger shovel." As Elsa learns, excelling just means her tutors teach her ''more''. |
| 161 | |
| 162 | !!!''Franchise/DragonBall'' |
| 163 | * ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Instead of punching Gohan like he does in the show, this is how [[IdiotHero Goku]] convinces his son to not go attacking Cell in a blind rage: |
| 164 | -->'''Gohan:''' Mr. Piccolo would let me go!\ |
| 165 | '''Goku:''' No, he wouldn't! And he's smarter than me!\ |
| 166 | '''Gohan:''' I...! Wow... that's actually a good point. |
| 167 | * When Goku is warned of Beerus' power in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13071996/34/Hermit Hermit]]'', being told that he and Whis are functionally gods, Goku laughs it off, citing that every time he hears someone is considered a god, he grows stronger than them eventually. |
| 168 | |
| 169 | !!!''Franchise/FateSeries'' |
| 170 | * ''WebVideo/FateCero'': Rider is essentially the DumbJock of the Heroic Spirits summoned, and isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He is still right in [[WhatTheHellHero calling out Saber and Lancer]] for choosing to have their duel while Caster's EldritchAbomination is attacking the city. |
| 171 | -->'''Rider:''' Uh, guys? I'm not much for priorities, ''but holy fuck, PRIORITIES!'' |
| 172 | |
| 173 | !!!''Franchise/HarryPotter'' |
| 174 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7390178/1/Multiverse Multiverse]]'': Sirius tries to buy the ''Daily Prophet'' in order to stop it from slandering Harry and himself, only to be turned down. His wife Helga, who used to be [[ItMakesSenseInContext a house elf]], suggests that if he can't buy the paper, then he should buy their ''paper''. (I.e., their future supply of printing paper.) |
| 175 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10685852/25/On-a-Pale-Horse On a Pale Horse]]'', Ron Weasley is proven to be considerably more insightful regarding Harry than Hermione is. Besides realizing he can encourage the underweight Harry to eat more by over-eating himself, he convinces Harry to goof off rather than study because he knows Hermione is unknowingly bullying Harry into it and some goofing off can help Harry relax. Furthermore, Ron is the only one to immediately recognize Death as an alternate Harry, figuring it out even faster than Harry had earlier. When asked, Ron simply responds that of course he recognizes his best mate. |
| 176 | |
| 177 | !!!''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'' |
| 178 | * In ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'', while Stoick may not be stupid, it's still unexpected when he's the one who realises that dragons shed their scales a week or so before their eggs hatch so that they can use the scales as material for fireproof nests. |
| 179 | |
| 180 | !!!''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' |
| 181 | * ''Fanfic/TopOfTheLineEditorBug'': Purple doesn't take the SIR Unit tournament as seriously as Red does, pointing out that the whole thing is just something they put together at random for their entertainment. |
| 182 | |
| 183 | !!!''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' |
| 184 | * ''Fanfic/QtQuarrel'': [[TheDitz Leni]] is the one who points out to her sisters that they can't force a girl ''they'' would like onto Lincoln, and they can't make Lincoln be what they want him to be. Lynn lampshades this, thinking Leni actually saying something astute is the sign of the apocalypse. |
| 185 | |
| 186 | !!!''Manga/LoveHina'' |
| 187 | * In the ''Manga/LoveHina'' story ''Girls in the Mist'', when Motoko notes how often Keitaro has an {{accident|alPervert}}, Keitaro responds that despite the frequency of said accidents, none of the girls ever move out of the way. Motoko admits he does have a point. |
| 188 | |
| 189 | !!!''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' |
| 190 | * ''Fanfic/{{CONSEQUENCES|MiraculousLadybug}}'': The plot of ''CUTTING THE STRINGS'' occurs because [[DumbJock Kim]] figures out that Lila is lying about getting a torn ankle muscle but getting back up to help Ladybug, as he knows that it would be impossible to move with such an injury. {{Justified|Trope}} as he had gone through the same injury very recently, so he had the experience to disprove her claim. |
| 191 | * In ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13008202/1/A-Rock-N-Roll-Love-Confession A Rock N' Roll Confession]]'', Jagged Stone is a rock-n-roll ditz who thought the best place to get romantic advice for confessing to Penny was to grab Marinette from school without telling an adult. However, he was able to figure out that Chat Noir is Adrien thanks to [[INeverSaidItWasPoison a few sentences and events that only one of them could know]]. He also reveals he knows Marinette was Ladybug because in the past he brought her to a school for safety, revealing her as a student, and that both of them had the same black-blue hair and blue eyes. |
| 192 | ** When Jagged was essentially trapped in his hotel room because of Chloé's pestering, he decided the best way to entertain himself was by checking up on Marinette's friends... specifically on Mylene's Facebook page which in a different matter [[NotWhatItLooksLike would be seen as cyberstalking]]. He isn't wrong to point out that Mylene didn't use a privacy setting on her page like her friends, with both Marinette and later Ivan deciding to talk to Mylene about this. |
| 193 | |
| 194 | !!!''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' |
| 195 | * ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In chapter 11 of the sequel ''Diplomat at Large'', when Sonata Dusk realizes that Adagio had [[spoiler:used her magic to influence them]] and wonders why, Aria admits that "The ditz has a point." before reminding Adagio that sirens have their own rules, one of which is that they ''never'' [[spoiler:use their powers on one another]]. |
| 196 | * ''Fanfic/TriptychContinuum'': In "[[Recap/TriptychContinuumNakedLunch Naked Lunch]]", although Gerald's ways of expressing it really are stupid in practice, he does have a legitimate point. Individuals with specific dietary needs -- herbivores in Protocera, carnivores and owners of carnivorous pets in Equestria, omnivores in both countries -- should not have to feel ashamed of themselves for the things they eat, should certainly not have to resort to buying animal food to feed themselves, and should be given the right to openly acquire the things they need. |
| 197 | |
| 198 | !!!''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' |
| 199 | * ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3875948/1/Be-A-Realist Be a Realist]]'': Naruto doesn't want to know who his parents are. Simply, he prefers the idea that they loved him and wanted to take care of him but died for some reason. The idea that they were alive and abandoned him is simply too depressing. Sasuke finds it stupid that Naruto would not want to know where he came from, and Sai suggests that knowing his parents might also help him know what he could inherit from them, but Kakashi knows that Naruto is actually right. |
| 200 | -->'''Kakashi:''' [[LampshadeHanging For an ignorant dream, it was rather accurate]]. |
| 201 | |
| 202 | !!!''Franchise/OnePiece'' |
| 203 | * In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27649021/chapters/69005136 On Strangest Tides: A One Piece Mermaid AU]]'', Luffy is a mermaid who grew up unaware that she was a girl. When Garp asks how she never questioned the obvious difference between her and Ace, she points out she has a ''[[MermaidProblem tail]]'', which Garp can't retort to. |
| 204 | * ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': While Luffy has gotten smarter thanks to Cross's influence, it's not enough for a DumbassNoMore. Still, he has a few moments of insight. |
| 205 | ** Upon hearing that [[spoiler:[[SparedByAdaptation Merry]] can never return to her ship form without tearing herself apart]], Luffy comments that it doesn't matter, saying that the important thing is that [[spoiler:Merry is still alive and can continue traveling with the Straw Hats]]. Everyone is dumbstruck by how much sense he made. |
| 206 | ** During Strong World, he's the first one to figure out that the mutated animals [[BatmanGambit have been playing them]]. How? The forest was too quiet, and he realized that wouldn't be the case unless the animals within were preparing for something. After listening to Cross and Boss's discussion over the plants and their chemical properties, he starts connecting the dots, and the other two finish it for him. |
| 207 | ** There's also the part where he figures out that Shiki is evil: |
| 208 | --->'''Shiki:''' I find myself curious, Straw Hat!...You somehow suspected me when you had no right to! How did that happen?\ |
| 209 | '''Luffy:''' I remembered you from Shanks' stories! And he said that you were the most evil, hateful bastard of a tyrant that he ever met!\ |
| 210 | '''Shiki:''' Sticks and stones, my boy! The words of none will ever hurt me! Not yours, not your third mate's, and certainly not that Red-Haired brat's either! JIHAHAHA! |
| 211 | ** In chapter 60, Tashigi mentions to the Straw Hats that the Marines were having a hard time rounding up the remains of the [[spoiler:Golden Lion Pirates]] because ''someone'' burned Enies Lobby to the ground. Luffy points out that the Marines did that themselves with their Buster Call. Even if he was right, that doesn't stop Tashigi from giving him a DopeSlap. |
| 212 | ** When the blockade of Sabaody Archipelago puts Cross's newest plan in jeopardy, Luffy's the one to point out that if they waste too much time trying to break through it, an ''Admiral'' will definitely arrive there to destroy them. |
| 213 | |
| 214 | !!!''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' |
| 215 | * ''Fanfic/RigTheGameRoyal'': Ryuji, in Chapter 26, responds to the concerns about how it could be suspicious that victims of Kamoshida and Madarame were meeting up. He suggests that they tell the truth: Yusuke asked Rem and Ann to become models for them and they became friends along the way. Not the whole truth, of course, but still the truth. |
| 216 | * In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/45122587/ A Family Back in Inaba]]'', Yosuke makes a snide remark about how Teddie supposedly CannotKeepASecret. Teddie protests, pointing out that he's managed to keep his own secret about being a Shadow for over five years. Naoto concedes the point, while acknowledging that it's surprising given what a loudmoth he is. |
| 217 | [[/folder]] |
| 218 | |
| 219 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 220 | * In Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Horace isn't the brightest bulb but by assuming dogs think the way humans do (which in this movie, they do), he is constantly suggesting what the dogs are up to in order to evade them. He's [[CassandraTruth almost always right]] but Jasper won't have any of it. |
| 221 | * ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': Bumbling incompetent thief Abis Mal ain't exactly the sharpest dagger in the shed, but when Jafar spontaneously poofs up piles of treasure in exchange for wishing him free, Abis Mal hesitates and remembering all the abuse and trickery Jafar put him through (like making him waste the first two wishes), becomes savvy and asks if the treasures would disappear the instant he frees Jafar from the lamp (which knowing Jafar, is not an unreasonable assumption). At which point Jafar's patience thins and temper begins to rise. |
| 222 | -->'''Abis Mal:''' I wish for Jafar to be-- (''stops suddenly'') Wait...How will I know that these treasures won't disappear once I set you free?\ |
| 223 | '''Jafar:''' [''losing it''] The ''more pressing'' question is: HOW WILL YOU ''STAY ALIVE'' IF YOU '''DON'T?!'''\ |
| 224 | '''Abis Mal:''' B-B-But you said that genies can't kill! Y-Y-You said that!\ |
| 225 | '''Jafar:''' [[ArcWords You'd be surprised]] [[FateWorseThanDeath what you can live through!]] |
| 226 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'': [[DumbMuscle King Shark]] comes up with the idea of [[CameraSpoofing feeding yesterday's recordings to the security monitors]] -- not a bad idea, but [[SpottingTheThread not good enough to fool Batman]]. |
| 227 | * Mr. Tweedy in ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'' is convinced beyond reason that the chickens are plotting a master escape plan. Of course, he's right. |
| 228 | -->'''Mr. Tweedy:''' Mrs. Tweedy! The chickens are revolting!\ |
| 229 | '''Mrs. Tweedy:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Finally something we agree on.]] |
| 230 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Yzma tries to poison Kuzco, but her right-hand man Kronk mistakenly adds Extract of Llama to his drink, [[ForcedTransformation which turns Kuzco into a llama, instead]]. When they realize their mistake, Kronk says that [[ChekhovsGun all the vials in her lab are indistinguishable, so she should have labeled them better]]. |
| 231 | * Sid in the ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' series, most notably in the second film, where he calls Diego out on his [[CatsHateWater fear of water]], and tells Manny that he should move on from his tragic past and pursue a relationship with Ellie. |
| 232 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge'', Johnny Cage takes a long time to realize that the situation is very real and not a movie, but when he, Liu Kang, and Sonya encounter Scorpion he points out to all of them that technically nobody among them declared Mortal Kombat, meaning there is no reason for any of them to kill each other. |
| 233 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheNutJob'', when Raccoon is questioned on why he's locking the other characters in the van, he stalls and then launches into a speech saying that it's all Surly's fault and they have to get rid of him for the good of the park. [[IdiotHero Grayson]] responds by saying that he's dodging the question. |
| 234 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Wiggins is not a bright man, but when Ratcliffe asks what provoked the Native hostility, he correctly points out that they built a settlement on their land and started taking their resources without getting their permission. |
| 235 | * ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': Donkey is quick to lampshade King Harold's hypocrisy regarding his disapproval of Shrek marrying Fiona despite being a frog who married a [[InterspeciesRomance human]] woman. While Shrek admonishes him for it, Harold doesn't hesitate to admit Donkey is right. |
| 236 | * ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'': At one point, Brer Bear (who's not the sharpest thorn in the briar patch) points out to Brer Fox that his plans to catch Brer Rabbit never work, so he suggests to "[[StatingTheSimpleSolution just knock his head clean off]]." |
| 237 | [[/folder]] |
| 238 | |
| 239 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 240 | * ''Film/{{Aliens}}'': |
| 241 | ** Hudson and Vasquez have insulted each other previously, and Hudson has acted stupidly/foolishly throughout the movie. Once the aliens infiltrate the complex: |
| 242 | --->'''Hudson:''' There's something. It's inside the complex. ''(snip)'' They're inside the perimeter. They're in here. ''(snip)''\ |
| 243 | '''Vasquez:''' Hudson may be right. |
| 244 | ** In the extended cut, Hudson is the one who first theorizes the possible existence of a xenomorph queen. |
| 245 | * ''Film/AnimalHouse'': |
| 246 | -->'''Bluto:''' What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...\ |
| 247 | '''Otter:''' Dead! Bluto's right.\ |
| 248 | ''(Other characters look at each other in amazement)''\ |
| 249 | '''Otter:''' Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. |
| 250 | * ''Film/BillyMadison'': Billy may be a [[ManChild man child]], but he has some good points about the flaws from a picture book. The boy couldn't give up looking for the puppy, he should put up some posters to look for him and find the puppy in the parking lot. |
| 251 | * [[Creator/ChrisFarley Mike]] in ''Film/BlackSheep1996'' is the first (and perhaps only) person to realize that the vote count for Garfield county is almost 400 more than the number of registered voters (1882 vs 1502) |
| 252 | * Detective Greenly in ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' is firmly established as an idiot in the eyes of FBI agent Paul Smecker for wrongly deducing two Russian monsters were "... serial crushed by some huge friggin' guy." However, Greenly manages to correctly deduce the motives of the brothers, as well as the nature of the hitmen sent after them... only to get immediately shut down by Smecker. |
| 253 | * Hud has his moment in ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}''. He suggests getting into a near collapsed building by going up the adjacent building that it's leaning against, and walking across the roof. |
| 254 | * In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', the characters are considering how to keep two fallen angels from entering a church and undoing reality. When [[TheStoner Jay]] says that they should "just ask [Cardinal Glick] to close the church," Metatron exclaims, stunned, "My God! The little stoner's got a point!" Subverted in that it doesn't work at all, although Jay later provides another character with a EurekaMoment, saving the day. |
| 255 | * ''Film/DumbAndDumber'': As stupid as Lloyd is, he wasn't wrong when he says that Mary should have simply told him that [[spoiler:she was already married]] instead of trying to let him down gently by saying there was a "one in a million" chance of ever becoming a couple. |
| 256 | * While not a complete dumbass, Maxwell Smart isn't the brightest of bulbs. However, there is an exchange in the 2008 film adaptation of ''Film/GetSmart'' that plays with this in a scene where Smart is trying to infiltrate the KAOS command and encounters Siegfried and Shtarker... although to be fair, in this case it's less "The Dumbass Has a Point" than "The Dumbass Makes Sense to Other Dumbasses". |
| 257 | -->'''Siegfried:''' How do I know you're not CONTROL?\ |
| 258 | '''Maxwell:''' If I were CONTROL, you'd already be dead.\ |
| 259 | '''Siegfried:''' If you were CONTROL, ''you'd'' already be dead.\ |
| 260 | '''Maxwell:''' Well, neither of us are dead, so obviously I'm not from CONTROL.\ |
| 261 | ''({{beat}})''\ |
| 262 | '''Shtarker:''' That actually makes sense. |
| 263 | * In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', MONARCH is seen in-universe as idiots by the government for their reluctance to kill the Titans before they wake up. However, they make a good point how human weapons are practically useless against the Titans and their own attempts to kill the male MUTO failed completely. In fact, the only times humanity successfully killed a Kaiju is with the help of another (namely, Godzilla and Kong). Even Mark Russell, who genuinely wants to get rid of the Titans, isn't stupid enough to think humans should pick a fight with them unless they ''know'' they can win. |
| 264 | * ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': As much as [[Characters/MonsterVerseRussellFamily Mark Russell]] is useless throughout this movie, he isn't wrong to point out that Bernie Hayes' podcast is a hardcore ConspiracyTheorist podcast filled with a lot more silliness than truth, even if he's completely UnderestimatingBadassery when he tries to claim it's dulling his DamselOutOfDistress daughter's mind. |
| 265 | * ''Film/GoodBurger'': At the end of the climax, Dexter asks Ed why he [[spoiler:dumped the Triampathol into Mondo Burger's meat instead of taking it to the cops like they planned]]. Ed points out that even if he were able to get the evidence to the police, there was a good chance Kurt would've hired a high-powered attorney who would've gotten him off any charges. By [[spoiler:dumping the chemicals into the meat vat and causing mass destruction to the restaurant]], he turned it into an OpenAndShutCase as well as immediately shut Mondo Burger down. Dexter is impressed he thought of that. |
| 266 | * In ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'', at the climax, Marv warns Harry that they should leave when he notices all the pigeons. [[spoiler:He proves right when the pigeon lady appears.]] |
| 267 | * In ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney'', this overlaps with a EurekaMoment: Shadow calls Chance a genius for giving him an idea. Chance's rebuttal is: "No, I'm not! What's a genius?" |
| 268 | * In the Coen Brothers' remake of ''Film/TheLadykillers2004'', Dorr thinks aloud as he tries to come up with an elaborate scheme to deal with Gudge, a potential obstacle to their heist. Dumb jock Lump tries to interject with an idea, only to be silenced several times by Dorr. When he is finally allowed to speak, he asks "couldn't we just bribe the guy?" It works. |
| 269 | * In ''Film/NickAndNorahsInfinitePlaylist'', only Caroline, who has spent the evening entirely sloshed, figures out that the clue to the location of the "Where's Fluffy" performance given out on the radio is an address. |
| 270 | * Maybe some people would not call a 19-year-old college kid who protests against UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar a Dumbass or [[JerkassHasAPoint a Jerkass]], but ''Film/{{Nixon}}'' certainly does: |
| 271 | -->'''Richard M. Nixon:''' She got it, Bob. 19-year-old college kid.\ |
| 272 | '''H. R. Haldeman:''' What? Who?\ |
| 273 | '''Richard M. Nixon:''' She understood something it's taken me 25 years in politics to understand. [[BlamingTheMan The CIA, the Mafia, those Wall Street bastards]]...\ |
| 274 | '''H. R. Haldeman:''' Sir?\ |
| 275 | '''Richard M. Nixon:''' [[InherentInTheSystem The Beast. 19-year-old kid. She called it a wild animal]]. |
| 276 | * Towards the ending of ''Film/NottingHill'', Will has turned down Anna Scott, the woman he loves, with the reasoning that her celebrity life would just get in the way for them, and his friends attempts to comfort him by telling him he made the right decision. Enter {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Spike who, upon hearing the news, immediately calls him a "daft prick!" |
| 277 | * In ''Film/StarTrek2009'', when young Kirk (who up to this point has been depicted as an ignorant jackass) presents an idea to Captain Pike, Spock supports him: "The cadet's logic is sound". |
| 278 | * One in 1950's scifi B-movie ''Film/TerrorFromTheYear5000'': While discussing how to properly authenticate a statue, Dr. Hedges' assistant gives what is supposed to be a very ignorant "layman's version" description of carbon testing, thus allowing the doctor to exposit to her and to the audience as to what carbon testing ''really'' is. The problem is, while her description of it as "[[BuffySpeak that carbon-14 thing that tells you how old things are]]" might be stated in a rather simplistic way, it's actually far more accurate to how carbon testing actually works compared to what's shown in the movie. The movie shows it as giving specific dates-of-origin, and is somehow even able to date the relic Hedges is studying ''into the future''. |
| 279 | * In ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' short subjects, Moe would often comment "You're pretty smart for a guy with no brains" or "You're pretty smart for an imbecile" whenever Larry or Curly (later Shemp) have a good idea. |
| 280 | * In ''Film/ViolentNight'', Bertrude Lightstone is a media-addicted teenager who spends more time on his smartphone then talking with people. However, during the subsequent hostage crisis, when Scrooge (the lead mercenary) learns that [[spoiler:the money he has come here to steal has gone missing]], he threatens to start shooting people at random if he doesn't learn what happened, only for Bert to point out that if Scrooge does that he risks killing the person who knows what he's after. |
| 281 | * In ''The White, the Yellow, the Black'', Sakura may be a foolish EthnicScrappy, but he is the most politically correct of the trio when it comes to race. |
| 282 | * In ''Film/WithnailAndI'', when Withnail observes that he and Marwood are on a downward spiral, Marwood even says (in voiceover), "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day." |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 286 | * The second version (two characters who constantly disagree with each other, but are otherwise intelligent) happens in the denouement of ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo''. The most outspoken conservative and most outspoken liberal on the town's leadership committee reflect on the alliance being forged by the town's president and King Gustavus Adolphus and find themselves in rare agreement that neither of them likes the deal being made, but if it must happen, they're glad to know who is doing it. |
| 287 | * ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'': Chapter after chapter, IdiotHero BookDumb Ned Land opines Captain Nemo is a despot and the PowerTrio must attempt the GreatEscape as soon as possible. TheProfessor Aronnax and BattleButler Conseil are impressed with Nemo and their incredible voyage, and it is not until they see Nemo crossing the MoralEventHorizon that they realize Ned was the OnlySaneMan. |
| 288 | * ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': Vlok may be dumb, but he does show bits of brilliance here and there. After his squire Swane and his fellow dragonboy Rakama enter a fight, Rakama's dragon Gryff tries to make a big deal out of the brawl's outcome. Vlok doesn't care about it and instead points out that the whole fight went too far and needlessly bruised both participants for no reason. |
| 289 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''' hero Harry Dresden is more obfuscating than genuinely stupid, but many of the enemies he faces have a lot more knowledge and power than him and regard him as an idiot at times. This is seen in ''Literature/GhostStory'' when TheDragon to the main baddy is a powerful spirit of knowledge. When the spirit effortlessly stopped Harry's assault on his base in the spirit world, the spirit halts his final attack when Harry notes killing Harry isn't in the spirit's self-interest. This causes the spirit to hesitate. The spirit, seeing Harry as a youth who is tied down by stupid things like morality, argues that he doesn't have "self-interest." Harry quickly counters that the spirit has superior power and ability in this confrontation. There is no logical reason to halt the attack for even a moment to end the life of a potentially dangerous enemy unless the spirit felt Harry being alive would be better off for the spirit, ergo the spirit has some self-interest. The spirit considers the argument and notes he will think on it later when his "attention is not otherwise occupied by mildly effective stalling tactics." He then proceeds to continue his final attack on Harry. |
| 290 | * ''Literature/GenerationKill'': Pearson's stimulant- and sleep-deprivation-fueled rants seem to be just that at first, but if you pay more attention to ''what'' he says than ''how'' he says it, his ranting is surprisingly insightful. |
| 291 | * ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxyTrilogy'': |
| 292 | ** In [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1 the first book]], when Zaphod, Trillian and Ford panic as they fall towards Magrethea with two nuclear missiles coming for them and no propulsion, Arthur's suggestion to use the Infinite Improbability Drive is dismissed as a risk because "without proper programming, anything could happen!" Arthur points out that they're definitely going to die otherwise. He turns it on, turning the missiles into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias. Zaphod praises him for his thinking, but takes it back after he says [[ThinkNothingOfIt "It was nothing really."]] |
| 293 | ** In ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'', when the group are trying to understand how they ended up at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur suddenly has a flash of insight about time travel, saying that they've travelled in time but not in space. Zaphod mocks him but the waiter interrupts: "Your monkey has got it right, sir"; Zaphod had previously told the ship to take them to the nearest place to eat, and, give or take several million years, they never actually ''moved'' spatially as the Restaurant was constructed on the remains of the world they'd been on at the time. |
| 294 | ** Appears again in [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978 the radio series]] when the group steal a ship from the Restaurant At the End of the Universe car park. Arthur deduces that the ship must have been programmed to return to the time it left, and he's right. |
| 295 | * ''Literature/KonoSuba'' has a moment where Kazuma, normally the resident OnlySaneMan, wants to keep exploring some ancient ruins even after learning a LethallyStupid DitzyGenius left his creations there in hopes of finding a RobotGirl who was supposedly left there by the genius, [[BlatantLies claiming it is to stop it before it hurts anyone]] [[note]]Really, he wants the robot for his own use. [[/note]]. In contrast, his normally idiotic companions want to retreat. Upon finding the door where he thinks the robot is kept, Kazuma insists on opening the door while [[LoserDeity Aqua]], usually the [[TheDitz idiot of the party]], in a surprisingly GenreSavvy moment sums up what will happen if he opens the door. Something dangerous will come out, Aqua will cry, the masochist Darkness will squirm, Kazuma will tell the party wizard Megumin not to act rashly, and she will ignore him and blow up the ruins. After that, the party will get a bill for destroying the ruins. Everything Aqua predicts comes true. |
| 296 | * Despite the fact that TheDitz-y MaidenAunt Leonella in ''Literature/TheMonk'' is generally ridiculous, she immediately dislikes Ambrosio and points out that his sermon was severe, stern, and frankly terrifying, all of which hint at his true nature before be becomes the viewpoint character. |
| 297 | * In ''Literature/PaperTowns'', Ben suggests that Margo is being completely literal when she quotes Whitmans [[spoiler:"Unscrew the doors from their jambs"]], Radar's response is, "Sometimes, he's so retarded that he becomes kind of brilliant." |
| 298 | * Vicar Allayn Maigwair is repeatedly remarked as the least intelligent among the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' antagonists known as the Group of Four. His actions, such as wasting time and resources building ships that had been outclassed by the protagonists, confirm this. Yet, it is ''his'' idea to engage in subterfuge intended to make the Empire of Charis think they were sending their newly built fleet to one location when they had a separate target. Even with their near omnipotent spying capabilities, this trick catches the Charisian leadership entirely flat-footed. |
| 299 | [[/folder]] |
| 300 | |
| 301 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 302 | * In ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', despite Edith's constant airheaded quips she often does take a shot in the dark and hit dead-center. Such as one where Gloria is spending time with the best friend of Michael to be painted nude, with Michael fearing she might be being unfaithful since she's hours late during their final session together. Edith raises the point that maybe she's late since she was helping clean up the studio during their final session, which is indeed a pretty valid (if ultimately wrong[[note]]She had actually gotten home on-time but gone straight to bed with nobody knowing[[/note]]) thing she could be doing. She's also the only one to correctly guess the answer to the doctor riddle[[note]]"Father and son go driving. There's an accident. The father is killed instantly, the son is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. The surgeon walks in, takes one look at the patient and says, "I can't operate on this boy. He's my son"[[/note]], something Archie and the Meathead couldn't, by correctly reasoning the doctor is the boy's ''mother''. |
| 303 | * One episode of ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'' has Tommy and Merton trying to figure out what an evil cyborg school counselor (ItMakesSenseInContext) is going to do next. Merton makes a sarcastic remark on how they don't know what his plans are, only for [[TheFool Tommy]] to suggest looking in the file marked "day planner". |
| 304 | -->'''Merton:''' Sarcasm withdrawn... |
| 305 | * ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': |
| 306 | ** In ''Blackadder the Third'', Prince George is faced with the prospect of a DuelToTheDeath against the Duke of Wellington (George offended the Duke by sleeping with his nieces), when Baldrick suggests that he [[PrinceAndPauper trade places with someone]]. George observes that "my portrait hangs on every wall!" so Wellington would see right through it, and Baldrick responds with this: |
| 307 | --->'''Baldrick:''' Well my cousin Bert Baldrick, Mr. Gainsborough's butler's dogsbody, says that he's heard that all portraits look the same these days, 'cause they're painted to a romantic ideal rather than as a true depiction of the idiosyncratic facial qualities of the person in question.\ |
| 308 | '''Blackadder:''' ''(impressed)'' Your cousin Bert obviously has a larger vocabulary than you do, Baldrick. |
| 309 | ** In ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Baldrick is thoroughly frustrated with the First World War and all the senseless death and asks why everybody can't stop the fighting, stop the killing and go home. His superior officer George doesn't like it and declares such talk bolshevism. Baldrick asks him why it's a bad idea to stop the pointless fighting. George couldn't bring up a single argument and just ordered Baldrick to go polish their boots in the end. |
| 310 | ** Another moment in Series 4 has Blackadder forced to paint a picture of the German trenches in the middle of No Man's Land. [[EurekaMoment George absentmindedly mentions imagining things, which gives Blackadder the idea to just make up the painting.]] Blackadder chastises himself for being so stupid, prompting George and Baldrick proving just how stupid they are by standing up and shouting about how stupid they are. [[TooDumbToLive While still in No Man's Land.]] |
| 311 | * ''Series/BreakingBad'': Walter White and company need to destroy some evidence on a laptop sitting in police evidence. Mike and Walter debate whether to skip town or try to blow up the evidence locker. As they argue, the show's resident ButtMonkey Jessie Pinkman continuously points out that they could simply wipe the laptop's hard drive with a magnet. After a while, Walt finally listens and they all decide to go with Jessie's plan. |
| 312 | ** Another is when Walter and Mike are trying to figure out how to [[spoiler:rob a train of methylamine but fear they might have to go with a violent approach. Jesse suggests stealing it discreetly and filling the gallons they stole with water]]. |
| 313 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 314 | ** During the second season finale the Scoobies discover a way to return Angel's soul, thus stopping Angelus. Xander's reaction is "I don't care, Angel needs to die," pointing out that Buffy is "ignoring Miss Calendar's murder just so you can get your boyfriend back". While the actual ethics of whether or not Angel can be held liable for Angelus' actions can be debated back and forth (and the show itself seems to take the position that he can't be) Xander is still correct in pointing out that Buffy visibly doesn't ''care'' about what Angelus has done, which is a tad self-centered of her. |
| 315 | ** Xander is also the only person in the room making the valid point that Willow is an inexperienced spellcaster attempting a magical ritual requiring power well beyond anything she's ever shown before ''and'' that she's going to try and do it while in the hospital with a concussion -- i.e., she has no realistic chance to successfully cast the ensouling spell and every chance of killing herself trying. Of course Willow ''does'' manage to pull it off in the end, but that's because she had the writer on her side. |
| 316 | ** In the penultimate episode of Season 4, Xander makes a suggestion half-jokingly and catches Giles' look to which Xander says "Yeah, don't tell me. I'm just full of helpful suggestions." Giles says "As a matter of fact, you are." |
| 317 | * ''Series/CanadasWorstHandyman'': In a season 4 episode after a particularly EpicFail goes up to eleven, Johnnie makes it abundantly clear that dealing with five bad handymen meant it was sheer delusion to not expect there to be shitloads of mistakes and failures. |
| 318 | * On ''Series/CharlesInCharge'', Buddy Lembeck does this to himself. |
| 319 | -->'''Buddy:''' ''(describes a bizarre event that unfolded exactly as he had predicted)'' Isn't that weird?\ |
| 320 | '''Charles:''' What do you mean? You were right.\ |
| 321 | '''Buddy:''' I know, that's what's weird. |
| 322 | * In one episode of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Sam actually admits to his ''own'' stupidity in an episode where everyone is frightened of a fortune telling machine and he tries to talk sense into them. |
| 323 | -->'''Sam:''' Come on, people! Isn't it kind of pathetic when ''I'm'' the voice of reason around here? |
| 324 | * ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': Major John Casey, any time Chuck Bartowski says something sensible-in the first two seasons, at least. |
| 325 | * ''Series/{{Community}}'': |
| 326 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/CommunityS1E11ThePoliticsOfHumanSexuality The Politics of Human Sexuality]]", Pierce demonstrates unexpected maturity, wisdom and humility in both discussing Jeff's and his own experiences with women at the end. |
| 327 | --->'''Jeff:''' ...Oh, I'm sorry, I was waiting for that to become inappropriate or racist. |
| 328 | ** Pierce actually does this quite a few times in the series. The election episode contains a standout -- he becomes very profound, but it takes being stabbed in the face with a pencil. |
| 329 | ** In "[[Recap/CommunityS3E05HorrorFictionInSevenSpookySteps Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps]]", after Britta did a psychological evaluation that "proved" one of them had homicidal tendencies, Pierce is the one to point out that in over two years they've been together, they would have picked out something before now. |
| 330 | ** Britta, who is [[PhraseCatcher the worst]], also does this occasionally. As much as people make fun of her abilities as a "licensed psych major", she is [[GeniusDitz actually quite good at reading people]]. |
| 331 | --->'''Jeff:''' Someone please tell Britta what an analogy is.\ |
| 332 | '''Britta:''' It's like a thought with another thought's hat on! |
| 333 | * In the ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'' episode "Amateur Hour", the cunning Al Swearengen puzzles over a pictorial message from Wu. When resident slack-jaw Johnny Burns takes a look, he's able to immediately decode it. His ego obviously bruised, Al responds by punching Johnny in the face. |
| 334 | * ''Series/{{Derek}}'' uses this as one of its central tropes. Derek is simple-minded, but devoid of malice and pretension, and although he misunderstands things a lot of the time, he makes salient and succinct (if naïve) points at other times about the benefits of kindness and being grateful for what you have. |
| 335 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]], although the Doctor is not impressed with Mickey at all, he admits that Mickey has a good point when he points out how strange it is for the aliens to invade by putting the entire planet on red alert. |
| 336 | * Jack Carter in ''Series/{{Eureka}}'', while far from a dumbass, is a basically normal guy in a town of actual geniuses. Said geniuses often dismiss his simple, direct solutions to the [[MonsterOfTheWeek problem of the week]] only to eventually realize he was right all along. |
| 337 | * ''Series/FatherTed'': |
| 338 | ** When Ted is MistakenForRacist, Father Dougal surprises everyone, including himself, by coming up with the solution to the problem. (Hold a festival of diversity). This is particularly distressing for Dougal, who insists that there must be some FatalFlaw neither of them have realised yet. |
| 339 | ** In [[Recap/FatherTedS3E4TheMainland "The Mainland"]], Ted and Dougal are trapped in the caves. Dougal realises his tank-top has snagged on a rock and unraveled. Excited by the prospect of escaping, [[TooDumbToLive Ted starts winding up the trail]]. Dougal points out that they should follow it instead since it will be useless when Ted has wound it all up, just as Ted is finishing winding it up. |
| 340 | ** In [[Recap/FatherTedS2E6ThePlague "The Plague"]], Ted and Dougal have lost the plague of rabbits. Remembering that they were attracted to Father Jack earlier, Dougal suggests that "maybe they smelled [Jack] and had to see him one last time." Ted agrees it's a good guess (albeit put in an overly romantic way). It also turns out to be correct. |
| 341 | ** One last one for Dougal, in [[Recap/FatherTedS2E8CigarettesAndAlcoholAndRollerblading "Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading"]], Ted and Dougal are forced to go and hide out at Dick Byrne's house. They arrive late at night, so Ted says he'll knock the door quietly and Dougal agrees so they won't wake them up. Annoyed, Ted points out that he'll have to wake them so they can let them in, so Dougal points out the obvious that he should just knock loudly then. |
| 342 | * ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': |
| 343 | ** In the episode "Out of Gas", Jayne, tells Wash and Mal to stop fighting because they're using up more air than if they were calm. |
| 344 | ** Already in the first episode Jayne proved himself. The crew are arguing about what to do with an unsellable crate of illegally salvaged goods, and Jayne forcefully insists that they have to find a new buyer, since he was promised a cut of the profits. |
| 345 | --->'''Mal:''' Jayne, your mouth is talkin'. Might wanna have a look at that.\ |
| 346 | '''Jayne:''' But...\ |
| 347 | '''Mal:''' You're right, though. The last two jobs were weak tea. We don't get paid, we don't have money to refuel, let alone do repairs. |
| 348 | * Happens occasionally on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', usually with respect to [[BookDumb Joey]]. |
| 349 | ** In "TOW Ross' Teeth", the majority of the group wonders why their bosses don't like them and just assume it's a universal thing. Joey chimes in pointing out that they're choosing to [[OneHourWorkWeek hang out at Central Perk at 11:00 AM on a Wednesday morning]]. They all promptly get up to go to work. |
| 350 | ** In [[Recap/FriendsS5E4TheOneWherePhoebeHatesPBS "The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS"]], he remembers that honeybees die after they sting something. Also his dissertation about good deeds being inherently selfish. |
| 351 | ** When discussing Rachel's inappropriate crush on her assistant: |
| 352 | --->'''Joey:''' The big question is, does he like you? Because if he doesn't like you this is all a [[{{Malaproper}} moo point]].\ |
| 353 | '''Rachel:''' Huh. A ''moo'' point?\ |
| 354 | '''Joey:''' Yeah. Like a cow's opinion. It doesn't matter. It's moo.\ |
| 355 | '''Rachel:''' Have I been living with him too long or did that just make sense? |
| 356 | ** In "TOW The Cuffs", an encyclopedia salesman spends a lot of time trying to sell Joey a set, before ending that'll cost Joey "only $1,200". Joey is baffled the salesman thinks he's got that kind of money, considering he's home in the middle of the day in an apartment adorned with used lawn furniture. |
| 357 | --->'''Joey:''' I guess there's a few things you don't get from book-learnin'. |
| 358 | * Done by [[Characters/GameOfThronesJoffreyBaratheon Joffrey Baratheon]] in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. He gets one of these each season, played for DramaticIrony, [[spoiler:until he dies]]. Of course, this is not helped by Joffrey's inclination towards ridiculing, humiliating, and dominating those around him, even to people where it's not wise to do so, especially his grandfather. |
| 359 | ** Season 1: He points out how counter-productive a feudal system is towards maintaining a strong, centralized state and suggests forming a nationalized military loyal to the state itself. While a fair observation in itself (given that it's the reason half the country currently wants to kill him), his solutions towards implementing such a system are less well-thought out. |
| 360 | ** Season 2: He points out that with the Greyjoys tearing at Robb Stark's flank, an attack by the Lannisters would wipe them out. He's right, but he's also forgetting the ''small'' fact that Stannis Baratheon is about to hit King's Landing very much the way a sledgehammer hits an egg. |
| 361 | ** Season 3: When consulting his MagnificentBastard grandfather Tywin in the throne room, Joffrey voices his concerns about Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons. Tywin brushes aside the threat, but as the viewers well know, Daenerys ''does'' have three rapidly growing dragons, a rapidly growing army, and a seething desire to invade the Seven Kingdoms. Joffrey is right to be concerned. |
| 362 | * On ''Series/GilligansIsland'', the surprised phrase "Gilligan, you've done it again!" is repeated so often, it's almost an aversion, but the other characters are still surprised when he has a good idea. |
| 363 | * Lampshaded on the one occasion when the office dumbass Clark has an actual good idea on the short-lived ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' spinoff ''Gloria''. |
| 364 | -->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Maggie]]:''' ''(after a beat of dead silence)'' The sound you hear is hell freezing over. |
| 365 | * ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' used to play this for laughs a lot with Rose, since she was the one who seemed dumb all the time. Also played straight in the episode with [[VerySpecialEpisode Dorothy's gambling problem]]. Dorothy gets so bad that she lies to Rose about needing money and Rose gives Dorothy her bank card. Dorothy asks Rose if she realizes that she's stealing her own money, and Rose says "I know that, Dorothy." Rose hoped that allowing Dorothy to take advantage of her would force her conscience to kick in. |
| 366 | * ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': Jason Mendoza, quite possibly literally the stupidest human being to ever live (and the embodiment of the [[OnlyInFlorida Florida Man]] meme) often tells bizarre and nonsensical stories that are somehow actually relevant to the situation at hand. |
| 367 | -->'''Jason:''' Oh, dude! I get it! It's like, I knew this girl Sheila, she was a black-market alligator dealer with a pierced jawbone.\ |
| 368 | '''Chidi:''' Um. Okay, ''what''.\ |
| 369 | '''Jason:''' Sheila was gonna get married to my boy Donkey Doug and make him move to Sarasota. It would've broken up my whole breakdancing crew and Donkey Doug was our best pop-and-locker. So I hid a bunch of stolen boogie boards in Sheila's garage and called the cops. I framed one innocent gator dealer to save a sixty-person dance crew.\ |
| 370 | '''Chidi:''' Shockingly, that is a relevant example of the utilitarian dilemma. Well done. |
| 371 | * ''Series/HannahMontana'': |
| 372 | ** When Oliver claims to have an idea, even when he promises that it's a good one, everyone with half a braincell runs for the hills. Once he asked quite reasonably why he and Lilly were hiding behind a cardboard cutout when it was only Jackson and Miley that couldn't afford to be spotted by their dad, prompting Lilly to remark "Oh, Oliver, you sweet naive boy... with a very good point" before taking off. |
| 373 | ** Another episode had a ditzy television host sum up the [[AnAesop Aesop]] in a thoughtful and beautiful way... causing Hannah, her father, his co-host, and the ''entire audience'' to look at him shocked. |
| 374 | * Any time Spencer comes up with an idea on ''Series/ICarly'', Carly generally reacts in this way. |
| 375 | * ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': |
| 376 | ** In one episode, Charlie is trying to prepare the bar for a surprise health inspection, only to discover the Gang in the midst of a scam [[ItMakesSenseInContext involving live chickens]]. Needing to get them out of the view of the health inspector and with the Gang completely apathetic about the inspection, Charlie orders them move the chickens from the front of the bar into the air ducts. When they ask him why they should do it, he tells them that even if they don't care about the inspection, it's still not a very good idea to let a government official see that a scam is going down. The gang quickly acknowledges he has a point and begins to move the chickens. |
| 377 | ** In "Reynolds v. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense", the topic shifts to the subject of creationism. Mac, TheFundamentalist, is generally framed as foolish for his refusal to believe in evolution, but he manages to make a cogent argument against Dennis, because he successfully proves that Dennis's belief in evolution is based simply on an AppealToAuthority (all these smart people believe in evolution, so I should too) when scientists are entirely capable of being wrong and Dennis has not done any firsthand research on the subject himself. Dennis is unable to come up with a good answer, because Mac is right; not about evolution, but about the fact that Dennis has never thought about the topic beyond blindly trusting in smart people and dismissing creationism as dumb. |
| 378 | ** In "Gun Fever 2: Still Hot", Charlie manages to out-argue Mac in a GunsVsSwords debate. Mac tries to bring up action-movie tropes like closing the gap in a charge, ambushing the opponent and cutting them down, or zigzagging to throw off the shooter's aim. Charlie, meanwhile, bluntly shows that it doesn't matter how much Mac moves around or what angle he comes at when all he has to do is point in Mac's direction and pull the trigger, and Mac's attempts to outmaneuver him aren't going to work when all Charlie has to do to recenter his aim is move his wrist slightly. (Putting it even further into this trope, Charlie [[RecklessGunUsage demonstrates this by pointing Frank's unloaded revolver at Mac and pulling the trigger multiple times]], while right next to a schoolyard.) |
| 379 | * ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'': |
| 380 | ** The Round Table order of the day is a prayer in memory of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. Perceval says he doesn't get the point, as he barely knows the guy. Léodagan underlines that, for once, he agrees. Bear in mind that Perceval has difficulty with, among others, left and right, the cardinal directions, and remembering ''his own name''. |
| 381 | --->'''Perceval:''' What do we care about a guy who's been dead for centuries?\ |
| 382 | '''Léodagan:''' [[ICantBelieveImSayingThis This is going to sound weird, but...]] I rather agree with him. |
| 383 | ** Also, Merlin, while being a ''gigantic'' {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, can be this at times: |
| 384 | --->'''Arthur:''' Come on, hurry the hell up and heal me up, I told you we're getting trounced!\ |
| 385 | '''Merlin:''' ''(visibly in a massive daze)'' ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext You just inoculated me with half a bottle of sedative]]'', how am I supposed to hurry up?? |
| 386 | ** While eating with his parents and Arthur is off at the wifeswap ceremony, Yvain wonders what will become of his parents once they're no longer the king's in-laws. Léodagan and Séli both get OhCrap expressions and haul ass for the ceremony. |
| 387 | * ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': Early in the series, ScienceHero Sento has been struggling to identify Best Matches, pairs of {{Transformation Trinket}}s that make Build stronger through their high compatibility...and then his [[TheLancer Lancer]], BookDumb MMA fighter Banjou, steps in and picks one out immediately. He explains that he noticed a common trend among Best Matches, namely they always consist of one organic object (like Rabbit, Hawk, or Ninja) and one inorganic object (Tank, Gatling, or Comics); Sento admits that he had considered that idea, but dismissed it because he thought it was too obvious. |
| 388 | * In ''Series/{{MASH}}'', when a general's prized gun turned up missing and Radar was about to take the fall for the theft, Hawkeye and BJ confronted [[SmallNameBigEgo Major Burns]], who openly admired the gun when he saw it. Burns refused to answer their questions and accused them of convicting him without a trial, asking, "What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?" After Burns left, Hawkeye turned to BJ and asked, "Don't you hate it when he's right?" Subverted, because [[spoiler:Burns really was the thief]]. |
| 389 | * ''Series/LabRats'' has an episode that shows this. When the main characters find out that Bob, one of their dumber students had bailed on a school trip, he responds with a sarcastic comment before commenting that part of the tour is Davenport reanacting his birth. The three are left a bit shocked that he was smart enough to ditch the trip, considering how much of a pompous billionaire Davenport is. |
| 390 | * ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': |
| 391 | ** In episode 17, Wawan asks Pipin whether she will likes it if he wears formal clothes like Alan did today. Pipin, not being bright, completely misses that Wawan is trying to impress her and makes a speech about BeYourself, which astonishes Wawan. |
| 392 | ** When Melani develops feelings for Bambang, Pipin is the first to notice and the only one who is completely sure that Melani loves Bambang, likely because she has no preconception that Melani is too good for Bambang. |
| 393 | * In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', when Simon and Alisha think it's their moral duty to try and defeat a demented criminal who's been terrorizing their neighborhood, {{cloudcuckoolander}} Nathan responds with: "Listen guys, I think I speak for all of us when I say -- we are lazy and incompetent. We're practically handicapped! Leave it to the Police. They get ''paid'' to get shot." In the stunned silence that follows, Curtis admits: "I ''never'' thought I'd say this, but he's talking sense." |
| 394 | * On ''Series/NewsRadio'', Dave informs the staff that there will be massive budget cuts, and then Bill [=McNeal=] stands up and says that they should all tighten their belts and support the decision. Dave (who's more used to Bill raising a commotion) says, "Well thank you Bill, for that... uncharacteristically well-reasoned outburst." Of course, Dave was right to be instantly suspicious of a reasonable Bill [=McNeal=]... [[spoiler:The reason the station is overbudget is because Bill has just received a ''massive'' pay increase.]] |
| 395 | * ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': |
| 396 | ** Michael Scott generally comes up with incredibly stupid and self-centered ideas and observations, to the point where one of the show's {{running gag}}s is to have Michael try to explain the [[AnAesop Aesop]] of the episode, only to completely miss the mark. However, there are times when he is genuinely right, such as when he correctly deduces that a new "restructure" of the chain of command is an attempt by David Wallace to not have to interact with Michael so often. |
| 397 | --->'''Michael:''' I don't understand that after fifteen years of service here, I have to get in the car and drive to New York in order to talk to you. That doesn't seem right to me. That doesn't seem fair. And I think that I've earned more than that.\ |
| 398 | '''Wallace:''' ''(a little stunned)'' Yeah. You're right. Yes. |
| 399 | ** Probably his crowning moment in the entire series came later when negotiating with Wallace over the sale of the Michael Scott Paper Company. He first turns down the cash offer (reasonably asserting that they need stable jobs rather than a lump sum) and then correctly plays on Wallace's fears regarding his own position as CFO. |
| 400 | --->'''Michael:''' I don't think I need to wait out Dunder Mifflin. I think I just have to wait out you. |
| 401 | ** He also correctly surmised another time that Darryl, the leader of the warehouse employees, was using an incident where Roy attacked Jim as leverage to get a pay raise. |
| 402 | ** "Did I Stutter?" features Stanley, having suffered through Michael's foolishness for years, finally blowing up at a meeting and telling Michael to leave him alone in a furious tone. Later on, Michael attempts a poorly thought-out lesson by pretending to fire Stanley. Stanley, angered by this, proceeds to go on a rant where he insults Michael by calling him a "professional idiot", causing Michael to snap and order everyone out except Stanley. The subsequent conversation features a rare moment of professional insight from Michael -- while Stanley might not respect Michael as a person, he ''cannot'' talk like that to a superior in the office. Stanley admits that he has a point and the two shake hands. |
| 403 | ** "Shareholder Meeting" has Dunder Mifflin's CEO Chris O'Keefe get fed up with Michael's bizarre behavior and call him a moron. Michael takes offense and points out that, not only is his branch is the only one in the company that's actually making money, he's also the only one present who's at least trying to come up with solutions to avoid bankruptcy instead of splurging on things like limos and fancy hotel rooms for meetings while doing nothing. If anything, O'Keefe and the other executives are the morons. |
| 404 | ** "Secretary's Day" features Andy lashing out at Michael because he mentioned to Erin, whom Andy has started dating, that Andy and Angela used to be engaged. Michael rightfully points out that not only did he not know Andy was keeping it a secret, but that Andy should've been upfront with her about it. Since Angela works four feet from her, she was bound to find out eventually. |
| 405 | ** "Business School" has Ryan bring Michael as a speaker to his MBA class. After getting into a heated back and forth with the students over Dunder-Mifflin's future and learning Ryan had actually criticized the company, Michael tells the students that the things they're learning in the classroom don't necessarily translate to a real business environment. Case in point, Ryan, for everything he's learned in class, has never made a single sale at Dunder-Mifflin. |
| 406 | * In ''Series/OnePiece2023'', Zoro finds a wanted bounty of Buggy, whom they had just defeated the episode prior. Luffy, who is known to be naive and BookDumb, has this to say. |
| 407 | --> '''Zoro''': You got to be kidding me. That clown was worth 15 million Berry. We should've stuffed his head in a bag and brought it with us. |
| 408 | --> '''Luffy''': What Marine would pay you that bounty anyways? You're kind of a wanted man yourself now. |
| 409 | --> '''Zoro''': Hmm. [{{Beat}}] Didn't think of that. |
| 410 | * ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', as part of the season's rampant LampshadeHanging on every ''PR'' standby (the [[StuffBlowingUp random explosions]], [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull shouting phrases before the morph]], etc.), has [[DumbMuscle General Crunch]] ask Venjix in one episode if they're going to [[MakeMyMonsterGrow supersize]] their MonsterOfTheWeek immediately, "[[GenreSavvy or wait until the Rangers defeat it first?]]" Venjix blasts him into a scrapheap for that question, and then blasts Crunch ''again'' when the latter wonders why they aren't sending in all their drones now that they have Corinth's shields down. (Notably, Crunch actually ''learns'' from this; a later episode has him left in charge when everyone else is busy, and once his attack bot makes into Corinth, he ''immediately'' makes it grow.) |
| 411 | * ''Series/RadioEnfer'': The teens once complain about the prices at the cafeteria becoming too expensive. [[BrainlessBeauty Jean-David]] then suggests that there should be a second cafeteria that would serve as a competitor, which in turn would force the actual cafeteria to lower its prices. Germain thinks it's a good idea, only for this trope to be immediately subverted when Jean-David adds that having two cafeterias would make it possible to eat twice for the same price, causing everyone else to be reminded that he's an idiot (although Vincent thinks the overall idea has merits and they decide to make their own cafeteria). |
| 412 | * ''Series/RedDwarf'': |
| 413 | ** Everybody but Rimmer goes with Lister's idea to play pool with planets. Neither ''agree'' with him, but Kryten's programming forces him to side with the living human over the VirtualGhost, and the Cat refuses to support Rimmer because of his miserable fashion sense. (It does work.) |
| 414 | ** In another episode, the gang decides to follow the Cat's advised course of action in dealing with a ship of hostile Simulants, prompting the Cat to reply "You're going to go with one of ''my'' plans? Are you ''nuts''?! What happens if we all get killed? [[FridgeLogic I'll never hear the last of it!]]" (It does work. Again.) |
| 415 | ** From the same episode, Cat comes up with another plan, get shot down by Rimmer, but vindicated by Lister: |
| 416 | --->'''Lister:''' I think he's got something.\ |
| 417 | '''The Cat:''' Twice in one lifetime? When you're hot, you're hot! |
| 418 | ** Also, when Lister, after a history reboot, suggest they pick up a time machine they found before the reboot and use it again to go back in time to buy [[TrademarkFavoriteFood curries]], Rimmer insist they must leave the time machine alone. Cat responds: "You know I'd rather wear sideways-pressed flares and a clip-on polyester tie than agree with Goalpost-Head... but this time he's right." Sure enough, when Lister ignores him, their mistakes end up radically altering human history, and to top it all off Lister forgets the curries. |
| 419 | ** In the Series X episode, "Entangled", Lister makes fun of Rimmer for causing the accident that killed the entire Red Dwarf crew, and Rimmer claims it was the ''system's'' fault. He shouldn't have been assigned to fix it in the first place, especially given how often people mock him for his incompetence. This is likely the case, as Captain Hollister was hiding the fact that he reached his position through blackmail rather than merit. Lister takes the view that it was Rimmer's fault after all, but this is likely because [[{{Troll}} it upsets Rimmer]]. |
| 420 | * In the (BBC's) ''Series/RobinHood'' episode "Who Shot the Sheriff", Roy admits to agreeing with "cheese boy", i.e. Much. |
| 421 | * Chad from ''Series/{{Scream Queens|2015}}'' is an utter moron (Dean Munsch herself has no idea how he got into college considering [[ArtisticLicenseHistory his speech in Episode 5]]), but he does have a keen insight... |
| 422 | ** He points out that [[spoiler:Ms Bean's body being missing doesn't mean she's alive. Someone could've just moved it]]. |
| 423 | ** When he correctly deduces that [[spoiler:Boone]]'s death couldn't have possibly been a suicide as the police claim. [[spoiler:[[EntertaininglyWrong He comes to the incorrect conclusion that Boone was murdered, but the logic he used to reach that conclusion was sound]].]] |
| 424 | ** He also anticipates that the fact he has necrophilia will draw the police's suspicion upon him, if he reports to them [[spoiler:finding the bodies of the Red Devil's victims]]. |
| 425 | ** In "Seven Minutes in Hell" he's the only one to remember [[spoiler:there are two red devils]] when everyone is accusing each other, and is the one who finds the secret passageway. |
| 426 | * On the Australian music quiz show ''Series/SpicksAndSpecks'' the host Adam Hills once said to Alan Brough (one of the team captains), "I never thought I'd say this, Alan, but listen to Hamish. He's right!" For those not in the know, Hamish Blake is almost literally a RealLife JokeCharacter on the show. |
| 427 | * On an episode of ''Series/ThreesCompany'', Jack and Mr. Furley are locked in an argument about who's responsible for the cost of painting and wallpapering the roommates' apartment. [[TheDitz Chrissy]] ends it by suggesting that Furley pay for the wallpaper while the roomates buy the paint, a solution that everyone agrees is acceptable. Immediately she goes back into ditz mode, though, when Janet asks her how she thought of that: |
| 428 | -->'''Chrissy:''' Just common sense. I mean, if a mama bird has one baby bird and two worms, she's not gonna go out and get another baby bird, is she? |
| 429 | * Ricky of ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'' is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there are rare moments where he displays some form of logic that no known can refute. A famous example of this lies in the Season 7 finale "A Shit River Runs Through It" where he and Juilian and Bubbles get stuck in a river and are cornered by two parties: a collaboration of the FBI, DEA and ATF on the US side, and forest rangers and Jim Lahey on the Canadian side. Ricky tells both groups that unless the boys choose a side, neither party has the right to arrest them. |
| 430 | * In an episode of ''Veronica's Closet'', Veronica is discussing her company's overproduction of swimsuits, which has resulted in heaps of useless leftover stock now that it's winter. Her oafish, hated ex-husband, who happens to be passing through the room, jokes that they should ship the lot to Australia -- "It's summer there." Veronica's assistant timidly suggests: |
| 431 | -->'''Olive:''' Bryce's idea--\ |
| 432 | '''Veronica:''' Is stupid?\ |
| 433 | '''Olive:''' Actually, it could work.\ |
| 434 | '''Veronica:''' But it won't, because it's stupid? |
| 435 | * The comparable-intelligence, ideologically-opposed version happens in the early ''Series/TheWestWing'' episode "[[Recap/TheWestWingS01E21LiesDamnLiesAndStatistics Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics]]". The President has a sit-down with a key Republican named Lobel where the two (quite cheerfully) express their general loathing for one another's politics and list their many disagreements, but they make it clear that there is one issue they agree on -- campaign finance reform. The president asks Lobel if he'll support Bartlett's other candidates. Asked what Lobel gets in return, Bartlett replies "a grateful President"; Lobel promptly accepts. |
| 436 | * ''Series/YoungSheldon'': In "Legalese and a Whole Hoo-Ha", it's the usually dense Georgie who points out to Connie that picking a fight with the church will just bring media attention and risk exposing the secret gambling den. Connie then asks how he became the rational one. |
| 437 | [[/folder]] |
| 438 | |
| 439 | [[folder:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 440 | * Sin Cara Azul defeats and unmasks Sin Cara Negro in a match. Wrestling/MichaelCole actually has a point that Wrestling/BookerT was overreacting: |
| 441 | -->'''Booker T:''' Oh, my goodness! No wonder he was wearing a mask! The man is ugly!\ |
| 442 | '''Michael Cole:''' What? It's just a Mexican with a crew cut.\ |
| 443 | '''Booker T:''' Look at 'im, he's ''hideous''! |
| 444 | [[/folder]] |
| 445 | |
| 446 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 447 | * ''Radio/CabinPressure:'' Arthur, normally a ditz of the highest (or possibly lowest) order, occasionally manages to make a sensible suggestion. In "Douz", his suggestion of solving the problem everyone's facing by just driving the plane to the next nearest airport is immediately shot down by Martin, until Douglas points out that it actually is a workable idea for once. He also comes through in "Zurich", realising that [[spoiler: while they don't have ID proving Douglas is Gordon, Arthur ''does'' have ID showing he's Gordon's son]]. He's correctly confident enough in this idea that, even when Douglas tries to use the code-phrase meaning Arthur should stop talking, he says "No, ''not'' Code Red, ''listen!''" |
| 448 | [[/folder]] |
| 449 | |
| 450 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 451 | * In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', someone sets up bombs around the school. Hyeon points out that Daigo shouldn't be smart enough to plan a bomb planting, and resident DumbJock Carlie offers the idea that his girlfriend is responsible for it instead. Hyeon is shocked to admit that she has a point. |
| 452 | [[/folder]] |
| 453 | |
| 454 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 455 | * ''Theatre/TwistedTheUntoldStoryOfARoyalVizier'' makes this part of Ja'far's CharacterDevelopment. While he realizes that the Princess is hopelessly naive and sheltered, he decides that young people have to believe they can make the world perfect, or else they'll never even try -- and by the overly optimistic attempts of idealistic young people, the world is made a tiny bit for better each generation that goes by. [[spoiler:On top of that, the Princess creates a plan to solve social inequality by making everyone a princess, and somehow, it actually works.]] |
| 456 | [[/folder]] |
| 457 | |
| 458 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 459 | * In ''VideoGame/DinkSmallwood'' mod ''Cast Awakening: Initiation'' doors disappear if you use them while the right color key is in your possession. This leads to an exchange between two Cast members sent to fetch Dink for execution during the introduction. |
| 460 | -->'''Junior Recruit:''' Ummm... Father, the door disappeared.\ |
| 461 | '''Cast Father:''' Those are magic doors. You have a magic key.\ |
| 462 | '''Junior Recruit:''' Then how do we lock the cell again?\ |
| 463 | '''Cast Father:''' Don't ask stupid questions! |
| 464 | * In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' the PlayerCharacter can respond to an intellectual discussion by a group of learned sages about the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality rightness or wrongness]] of stopping [[BigBad Alduin]] from causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, which he is destined and supposed to do, by simply stating they ''like'' the world and want to save it. The leader of the sages admits that's a fair response. |
| 465 | ** In the same conversation, the leader, [[spoiler: a renegade ancient dragon]], asks the player why they think he stays all day long atop a freezing mountain instead of living in the monastery with the other sages. The player can think about a philosophical answer... Or simply state that "[[spoiler: dragons like mountains]]". The leader hesitates, then admits it's an answer as good as any. |
| 466 | * ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'': |
| 467 | ** One of the song titles in ''Guilty Gear Isuka'' is "Drunkard Does Make Wise Remarks". |
| 468 | ** In ''Guilty Gear Xrd'', the super-intelligent dragon wizard, Dr. Paradigm, appears in Story Mode without the bubble of water he used to have around him to breathe in ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture.'' As it turns out, this is because the super-'''un'''intelligent Sin Kiske once asked him why, given his mental acumen, he didn't just make a spell that let him breathe air. |
| 469 | * Another Creator/BioWare example: [[Creator/JohnCleese Sir Roderick]] from ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' does manage to make several good points about the Empire's failings, in the midst of his racist complaining about tea and trousers, in particular regarding the fact no one in the Jade Empire thought to use dragonpowder for personal firearms. It is, however, implied in the loading screens that the armies use dragonpowder when going to war, and in the ruins near Tien's Landing, some dragonpowder-fueled rockets are used to blast a hole in a wall. |
| 470 | * ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'', as seen in the quote above. When the party came across a Helghast base en route to their destination. Templar thinks that they should sneak around it while Rico suggests that they go through the base and kill everything. Hakha agrees with Rico, but only because the base's MLRS are firing at ISA troops and thus must be destroyed. |
| 471 | * During The Sacrifice campaign in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', Bill tells the group to keep an eye out for a sailboat so they can use it to escape to the Florida Keys. Bill's reasoning for finding a sailboat specifically is so that they don't have to find gasoline if they had used a regular boat. Francis, being the brash dimwit that he is, keeps pointing out every boat they see, which neither of them are a sailboat. By the first safe room, Francis wants to go back to one of the boats they passed up, to which Bill naturally gets annoyed with. When Francis points out that they could have used a boat to find a sailboat instead of walking everywhere, Bill reluctantly agrees that it's actually not a bad idea for once. |
| 472 | * Happens in this dialogue in ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'': |
| 473 | -->'''[[BoisterousBruiser Flay]]:''' You rely too much on your logic. We must defeat the enemy in front of us!\ |
| 474 | '''[[TheSmartGuy Roxis]]:''' ...Sometimes, I envy your simplicity. |
| 475 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 476 | ** The council (or at least the [[JerkAss turian member]]) seem to believe this whenever they find out Shepard is telling the truth. They even use the saying at one point; |
| 477 | --->'''Turian Councillor:''' I believe you humans have a saying: even a broken clock is right twice a day.\ |
| 478 | '''Shepard:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Here's another saying:]] ''[[DeadpanSnarker go to hell]]!'' |
| 479 | ** In the third game, there's a conversation between Shepard and [[LoonyFan Conrad Verner]] about the switch from overheating weapons in the first game to "thermal clips" in the later ones. Conrad takes the common fan position that being able to [[BottomlessMagazines shoot indefinitely]] with the old weapons is still a tactical advantage over the new weapons, which might as well be using limited ammunition again. In this case, [[BothSidesHaveAPoint they're both right]]. Thermal clips let you send more fire down range [[LagCancel with a skilled reload]], and heat sinks can just keep going without the need for supplies. Both ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' have both types of weapons, and the latter even has a mod that lets ''any'' weapon use the cooldown system (though [[NecessaryDrawback at the cost of a much smaller clip]]). This is also something of SelfDeprecation, after many fans found the in-universe reasoning for the near-total abandonment of cooldown weapons in ''2'' onwards (somehow, every military in the galaxy reverse-engineered them from a hostile alien race) to be a bit absurd. |
| 480 | * Colonel Volgin in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' is a [[DumbMuscle sadistic brutish oaf]] with [[ShockAndAwe electric powers]] who acts out of rashness and sadism most of the time... Who nearly fumbles the whole mission by pointing out how suspicious it is that [[PlayerCharacter Naked Snake]], who cut through all of his defenses, carries a transmitter giving away his position to [[SuperSoldier The Boss]], Volgin's right-hand woman and former mentor of Snake. The Boss' explanation about how she put it there so her men could track him down falls flat, as Volgin points out that he defeated them as well. He [[spoiler: both correctly and incorrectly]] deduces that The Boss is a spy among his ranks. |
| 481 | * ''VideoGame/Persona4'': |
| 482 | ** Chie Satonaka is the BookDumb variety: She's not particularly known for performing well in school, with grades ranging from above-average to failing, or having the kind of mind that would be suited to solving a murder mystery, but she'll occasionally spout some random theory about the case that turns out to be exactly right. For example, when [[spoiler:the town is covered in fog, and they realize that their glasses enable them to see through it, she realizes that the fog is leaking through to their world]]. Another of her random theories that turns out to be right (and provokes a EurekaMoment from the rest of the party) is [[spoiler: that Namatame meant "saving people" [[ObliviouslyEvil literally]], rather than as a euphemism for killing (which, admittedly, is following up on the more intelligent Yukiko bringing up the subject).]] |
| 483 | ** Kanji also has a number of good points despite not being very intelligent. Shortly after he's rescued, he points out that the team shouldn't beat themselves up too much over not having made all that much progress, since they saved his and Yukiko's lives. After [[spoiler:a copycat murder]] causes a devastating blow to team morale and leaves them questioning what they thought they knew, he reminds everyone that they got started because the PoliceAreUseless, and their giving up will give the killer free reign. He's also the first one who gets the idea to [[spoiler:put on their TV World glasses to see through the fog]]. |
| 484 | ** Amusingly lampshaded when the group discusses [[spoiler:what happened to Marie]], when Kanji, says that it would mess with his head if Chie was the one coming up with the good ideas. |
| 485 | * ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': |
| 486 | ** While the Phantom Thieves are discussing the nature of Mementos, Ryuji, who's the least intelligent of the Phantom Thieves, says that the easiest way to get answers to their questions is just to go to the bottom of Mementos. Morgana, who often mocks Ryuji's intelligence, says that "unfortunately," Ryuji is right. |
| 487 | ** During the extra palace in ''Royal'', the group is presented with an ethical question about what one should do if they had the power to steal anything and not get caught, with the correct answer being the same one that the Palace's ruler would choose. The five choices are A.Steal something valuable, B.Don't steal anything, C.Steal one's own heart to heal, D.Steal hearts to improve society and E. Steal the heart of the one you love. The Phantom Thieves manage to rule out A. and E. by virtue of them being selfish, and C. because the Palace's ruler would see it as cause for corrective action, so the choice is between B. and D. Ryuji immediately chooses D. because it's what he would do, but the intelligent and cynical [[spoiler:Akechi]] mocks Ryuji for his "brain-dead" answer and proposes that B. is the right answer. As it turns out, Ryuji is correct. |
| 488 | ** Also in ''Royal'', Jose tells the group in Mementos that he'd been drinking flowers and thought he was coming to understand humans, but now the more he drinks, the less he understands them instead. Ryuji suggests that it's like love, leading Futaba to comment that he knows nothing about love. Jose, however, says that "Boneface is right," that when you learn more about a subject, it's often more than unexpected and the exact opposite of what you liked about it, just like with love. |
| 489 | * During the introduction to the Platform/GameBoyAdvance ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' LicensedGame Pinky asks why they never spend the entire week on their plan to take over the world rather than just a single night. |
| 490 | * A character trait of [[IdiotBall Wheatley]] in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''. [[spoiler:Possibly deconstructed. His ideas are smart just often enough that you'll trust him, letting him function as an Intelligence Dampener.]] Also, he surprises everyone at the end when he [[spoiler:booby traps the stalemate button. However, he is specifically designed to come up with bad ideas, and preventing the repair of the reactor or getting in Chell's way are both very bad ideas]]. |
| 491 | * In the last episode of ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxSaveTheWorld'', the titular duo are decrying [[ConspiracyTheorist Bosco]] as crazy for the ''hundred-trillion'' dollar price tag on his latest gadget, only for Bosco to point out that they keep paying for his stuff no matter ludicrously expensive he makes it and questions if he's really the crazy one in this situation. |
| 492 | * In ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', after [[spoiler:Eggman's plan backfires (again), Eggman questions how his plan failed. Cubot tells Eggman how this was expected and how Sonic always foils his plans]]. This exchange happens. Heck, even Orbot proceeds to applaud Cubot for paying attention. |
| 493 | -->'''Cubot:''' [Sonic] stops you like it's his job or somethin'. In fact, I can't remember a plan he didn't stop.\ |
| 494 | '''Dr. Eggman:''' What are you talking about? He hasn't foiled ''all'' of them.\ |
| 495 | '''Cubot:''' Name one.\ |
| 496 | ''(beat)'' |
| 497 | * In ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Dan Hibiki]], the original JokeCharacter, notably once commented to E. Honda that he's unintentionally undermining his entire reason for fighting. [[labelnote:An explanation]]E. Honda is a Japanese sumo wrestler who has set out into the world to fight against other martial artists and garner greater respect for sumo outside of Japan. However to do this he had to invent totally unique moves to use against the other fighters, and many of his techniques and self-imposed "rules" (such as jumping, headbutting, and his willingness to fight outside the traditional sumo ring) would be outright illegal in any formal sumo match. How can he possibly champion sumo wrestling as a legitimate martial art when in order to win street fights he has to devise and improvise his style to such an extent that no traditionalist sumo wrestler would ever recognise it? In other words, his attempts to prove that sumo wrestling is a fighting style have only succeeded in proving ''that it really isn't''. Honda seems to be oblivious to this concept so it escapes being {{Hypocri|te}}sy and feels more like DramaticallyMissingThePoint.[[/labelnote]] The only other character to do this is ''[[FatIdiot Rufus]]''. |
| 498 | * When Scout is reading lines of "Ghost D.A." in the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' comic "Unhappy Returns", Spy tells him to just take the public defender. Scout responds that the last two times they did that, they were assigned ''[[CloudCuckooLander Soldier]]'' and ''a lamp''. Fortunately, they manage to get a surprisingly competent lawyer during the trial. [[spoiler:Too bad Soldier snaps his neck.]] |
| 499 | ** In "Death of a Salesbot", even Gray Mann's robots think that [[MoneySpider running on piles of money]] is a questionable idea. |
| 500 | * Cirno from ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' proclaims to be "the strongest," an inaccurate assessment if there ever was one considering that she's a 2nd level boss ''at best'' and a 1st level ''midboss'' at worst. None the less, it's an assessment that she believes in with her entire being, to the point that she, in a display that can only be considered SuicidalOverconfidence when done by anyone at her level of power, ResurrectiveImmortality or not, unhesitatingly flies into battle with powerhouses like [[CuteWitch Marisa Kirisame]] with a battle cry of "Come at me, if'n ya dare!" However, what does Cirno sound like in ''VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'' when confronted by [[WorldsStrongestWoman Yuuka Kazami]]? It's something more along the lines of, "This is bad... I shouldn't be here... I have to get out of here!" ''That'' is an accurate assessment. |
| 501 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', if you call Papyrus (who loves to boast about his cleverness but is mostly just an ignorant blowhard) outside the lab in Hotland, he hears "laboratory" as "Labrador-y" and wonders if that means there are dogs inside. "i wouldn't rule it out," says Sans (who often [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretends to be dumber than his brother]]). The enormous bag of dog food sitting on the lab's ground floor is a big clue as to the correctness of this assumption. |
| 502 | [[/folder]] |
| 503 | |
| 504 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 505 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 506 | ** Detective Dick Gumshoe has his fair share of these, such as when he suggests that the true killer's motive in the murder of Russell Berry [[spoiler:could be the fact that they had ''no motive'' in the first place]]. Phoenix immediately shakes this off as Gumshoe being stupid again, and the player probably would on a first run through as well. [[spoiler:Turns out he ''is'' right, because Russell Berry was not the intended victim and thus there was no motive for killing ''him.'']] |
| 507 | ** During the thrill-heavy fourth case of the first game, Gumshoe looks at a photograph that has been a vital point for the prosecution's case and is the first to even casually guess that [[spoiler: that the shooter in the image isn't Edgeworth but that Edgeworth is the one ''being shot at'']]. It's dismissed, but he's absolutely right; [[spoiler:the shooter fired at Edgeworth twice- once to draw a witness' attention and a second time to let the witness see the shooting- and is holding the gun in a different hand from the one Edgeworth used to pick up the gun, proving that Edgeworth didn't fire the gun]]. |
| 508 | ** Also from that case, Phoenix is worried about having his childhood friend Larry Butz testify, since Larry's stupidity could make things worse for Edgeworth. Maya, a rather childish 17-year-old who can't contribute much apart from her somewhat unreliable attempts at channeling her sister, points out that since Edgeworth had just been convicted, things can't get any worse. Phoenix agrees and decides Larry should take the stand. At the climax of the case, she's also the one that points out that [[spoiler: von Karma took a months-long vacation after Gregory Edgeworth got shot, pinning him as the lead suspect.]] |
| 509 | ** In the second game, local CountryMouse Lotta Hart suggests that the culprit of the case you're working on is in fact [[spoiler: the [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} perpetually spacey]] Ini Miney. She's right, although for a surprisingly logical reason for this trope -- she says if Maya is innocent, Ini is the only other suspect without an alibi]]. In the same case, she is the only one to point out that Franziska von Karma is committing assault by whipping others. |
| 510 | ** Invoked in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'', when Phoenix agreees with the rather full of himself space center director, Yuri Cosmos, on his views of misunderstood geniuses. |
| 511 | ** Also discussed in the second ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth''. Like most assistants, Kay isn't as intelligent as the main character(Edgeworth, in this case), but Edgeworth mentally notes in the final case that she has times that she's surprisingly perceptive, which are few and far between. |
| 512 | * In ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', Youhei is generally as thick as a brick regarding relationships and people in general. Until midway through Kyou's route, when he uses an ArmorPiercingQuestion to [[spoiler: force Tomoya to come to terms with the fact that the Fujibayashi sister he is dating is not the one he cares for]]. Youhei proves to be useful at least once in Tomoyo's route, too, but not until near the end: [[spoiler: Tomoya breaks up with Tomoyo so that Tomoya's delinquency won't hold Tomoyo back from winning a position on the Student Council and using it to save the sakura tree from being cut down. ''Youhei's'' the one who gives Tomoya the idea that maybe breaking up with Tomoyo was a bad idea, since they loved each other so much. And indeed, later on Tomoya and Tomoyo get back together]]. |
| 513 | * In ''VisualNovel/CafeEnchante'', Il by no means is dumb but he lacks knowledge and experience regarding humans and relationships in general. But he is the one to suggest to the regulars to go on a date with Kotone to distract her and help her cope after witnessing the grisly deaths of Kororo's family. The others are surprised that it was Il of all people to think of this first. |
| 514 | * ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': |
| 515 | ** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': Yasuhiro Hagakure, who's typically not very bright, makes the observation that it's highly unlikely that one of the victims from Chapter 3 was killed with one of the weapons the students already found, since the killer would've had to take the risk of retrieving the weapon, killing the victim, and putting it back where it was originally found, without anyone noticing. |
| 516 | --->'''[[JerkAss Byakuya]]:''' I'm surprised. It seems there's some semblance of a brain knocking around inside that skull of yours after all.\ |
| 517 | '''Hiro:''' Hell yeah, it's packed in there nice and tight!\ |
| 518 | '''Sakura:''' [Hiro]'s right. |
| 519 | ** In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Akane Owari is often considered one of the dumbest characters in the game. During the first class trial to figure out who killed [[spoiler: Byakuya]] she gets frustrated trying to figure out how the killer was able to get around in the dark so she just blurts out, "What if the killer [[spoiler:used a light]]?!" Even she's pleasantly surprised when Hajime confirms a suspicion she just made up on the spot. [[spoiler:The killer had access to their own light source which they used to move around outside the dining hall.]] This tends to be a recurring trend in Non-Stop Debates in which you must agree with one of several theories presented, as often, the person in question randomly threw that theory out there. |
| 520 | ** Miu Iruma in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' is a DitzyGenius whose too busy [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex overcompensating and pretending]] to have all the answers to be of much help most of the time. However she does have her moments. One example is correctly fingering [[spoiler:Kirumi Tojo]] as the killer in case 2, as the killer must have been alone the night before and [[spoiler:Kirumi]] had access to where the body was found. Another is almost immediately accusing [[spoiler:Korekiyo Shinguji]] of being the third culprit, albeit being RightForTheWrongReasons; [[spoiler:the fact that the killer took a katana from Kiyo's lab is suspicious, but the lab is unlocked, so anyone could have obtained it]]. |
| 521 | * In ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'''s "Bad Boys Love" route, Sakuya (the racist pigeon) learns that [[spoiler:[[YouAreWhatYouHate he's a mixed-breed instead of a pure fantail]]]]. When his frustration over this drives him to yell at Oko San (who is [[TheFool borderline non-sapient]]), the latter's reply is this: |
| 522 | -->'''Oko San:''' Sakuya, and Yuuya, and Okosan all have their own wonderful names! Names more important than any breed! |
| 523 | * In ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'', if Elodie is not educated enough about medicine to recognize its benefits, she'll turn down the chance to fund a hospital on the grounds that gathering the sick people in one place would make them die faster, showing an awareness of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital-acquired_infection Hospital-Acquired Infections]]. |
| 524 | * ''VisualNovel/ShinraiBrokenBeyondDespair'': |
| 525 | ** Rie Miyamoto is one of the less intelligent guests at the party, but while her insistence that her best friend Runa is innocent is a knee-jerk reaction based on her trust in her friend, Rie actually turns out to be right. [[spoiler:If you accuse Runa of being the killer, you get a bad ending.]] |
| 526 | ** Nobara Akadori is SuperGullible and about as dim-witted as Rie, but she finds it suspicious that [[spoiler:Momoko]] knew which guest room was unlocked and went there to [[spoiler:commit suicide by hanging herself]]. Nobara doesn't realize the significance of this information, namely [[spoiler:Momoko staged an elaborate plot to fake her suicide to kill herself and Hiro in a MurderSuicide and frame Kamen for the murders]], but Raiko notes it's a good observation on Nobara's part that implies [[spoiler:Momoko]] had planned things out rather than acting on impulse. |
| 527 | [[/folder]] |
| 528 | |
| 529 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 530 | * ''WebVideo/ArbyNTheChief'' features this line in Season 6 from Master Chief, after Arbiter is [[{{Wangst}} complaining about how much his life sucks]]. Also counts as a Double Entree such Chief is an [[JerkassHasAPoint enormous asshole]] to Arbiter in the series as well. |
| 531 | -->'''Master Chief:''' if ur s0 smrt and thers no point in anythign wats teh point of crying abot it? |
| 532 | * Boomstick from ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' is the host who would just [[TheFool make up as many jokes about the competitors as possible]] while leaving [[MadScientist Wiz]] to tell the views [[MrExposition everything they need to know about the fighters]]... most of the time. He shows a [[ShownTheirWork surprising amount]] of knowledge about dinosaurs, in particular ''Velociraptors'' and has a [=PhD=], albeit one related to fried poultry. He's also smart enough to identify Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture by ear. This is often to the pleasant surprise of Wiz. |
| 533 | * ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': |
| 534 | ** In Chapter 14 of ''Red vs. Blue Reconstruction'', Caboose is the one that manages to come up with a plan that would get them into Command without anyone getting suspicious of them: by putting the unrecognizable ones inside the opaque tank. Caboose actually gets a number of these throughout the series. |
| 535 | --->'''Tucker:''' I'm confused... That actually sounded like a good idea.\ |
| 536 | '''Church:''' I know.\ |
| 537 | '''Tucker:''' But... '''Caboose''' said it.\ |
| 538 | '''Church: I know'''. |
| 539 | ** When Tex tries to argue that she doesn't owe Church anything for orchestrating her rescue from Red Base, because she already spared his life during the Sidewinder incident, Caboose interjects (very, very melodramatically) that she doesn't just owe Church a favor for the rescue, but she owes him and Tucker too because they helped with it. Her attempts to argue those debts are already paid too are swiftly dismantled, and she accepts the point. |
| 540 | ** Caboose once said that there was probably wet plains in between the freezing plains and the burning plains, which he is (sort of) right because there's a swamp in between the two plains. |
| 541 | ** The Red team's resident Ditz, Donut, also has his share, including his accurate assessment of every unlikely plot twist. The others derided this as too stupid (to be fair, they’d be right if this were any other show). |
| 542 | ** While mentally time-travelling, Wash needs to find where Carolina was hiding in the time between her supposed death and her reemergence. Wash tries to pry info from fellow Freelancers, but keeps getting rebuffed because of his low rank. After a long time trying without success, Wash vents to the Triplets, the absolute worst of the Freelancers, who suggest that Wash simply travel to the point in time where he and Carolina were friends, and ask her there. When that works, Wash... [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot doesn't take it well]]. (Incidentally, Wash's response is the same response Miles Luna had when, after he'd spent hours trying to figure out how to advance the plot, the season's showrunner made that exact suggestion.) |
| 543 | --->'''Wash:''' '''''[[RageBreakingPoint ARRRRRRRRRRGHHH]]!!! [[SkywardScream GODDAMMIT]]!!!''''' |
| 544 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[IronicName Neptune]] begins in a battle by running to the other team's main front. Although it was mainly to escape the body of water he was afraid of, but he gives an acceptable excuse. |
| 545 | -->'''Sage:''' ''(calling out to the fleeing teammate)'' Neptune, what are you doing!?\ |
| 546 | '''Neptune:''' ''(now standing on a ledge near the top of the formation, yelling down to his friends)'' Uh, you know, just gaining some higher ground!\ |
| 547 | '''Sun:''' ''(exasperatedly)'' On the enemy's side!?\ |
| 548 | '''Neptune:''' They would never expect it!\ |
| 549 | '''Dew:''' ''(turning to her allies)'' He's not wrong. |
| 550 | * ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': [[AdaptationalDumbass The series' version of Mario is an idiot]], no questions asked, but he still makes some good arguments in [=SMG4's=] videos. |
| 551 | ** After he and Toad destroy all the milk Luigi was carrying in "Mario Goes To The Fridge to Get A Glass of Milk", he simply suggests for Luigi to go back to the factory and get some more. Luigi protests but Toad actually agrees it's a not a bad idea: as an employee, nobody would be suspicious of Luigi walking in there and taking up crates to deliver since that's his actual job. |
| 552 | ** He objects when [=SMG4=] refuses to let him help their team in "Mario's Hell Kitchen", and notes that it's unfair that he's being left out. While Mario is indeed an awful cook, he is right that it's a little unfair to single him out for it when the rest of the team consists of people who are equally bad (Bob, Boopkins), if not even worse than him at cooking (Meggy). |
| 553 | ** When Human!Meggy thinks she can mop the floors easier as an Inkling in "Mario Does the Chores", Mario correctly imagines that she would be wrong. Inklings are creatures made from paint, and the water would most likely kill her if she doesn't have a RespawnPoint on standby. Plus, no longer being weak to water is an interesting perk to being human. |
| 554 | ** In "The Day [=SMG4=] Posted Cringe", [=SMG3=] blackmails various youtubers into helping him by threatening to post cringe videos on their accounts, to which [=SMG4=] decrees it as [[SeriousBusiness the evilest thing ever done.]] Mario retorts by asking about Francis' genocidal plans for Inkopolis. Sure, [=SMG4=] brushes him off and it's treated as a joke, but Mario asking him if what [=SMG3=] did was worse than what Francis did is basically implying that [[SkewedPriorities he should get his priorities straight when it comes to recognizing true evil.]] |
| 555 | ** In "If Mario Was In... Anime", when Axol loses his title as the world's best anime artist, Mario quickly realizes, and points out, that it's because ever since his Inkweaver broke, Axol hasn't really drawn any anime and just spends most of his time fawning over Melony. Axol acknowledges this, and it gives him the incentive to repair Inkweaver. |
| 556 | [[/folder]] |
| 557 | |
| 558 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 559 | * Happens frequently in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', since everyone in the main cast hates each other so much. In fact, it may even be the {{Trope Namer|s}}. Especially evident with team idiot Fighter, who occasionally gets one of these. One of his most brilliant insights is when the group was falling to their deaths and he suggests (after getting interrupted several times with guesses as to what idiotic idea he might be proposing...[[TheDitz and agreeing that those are good too]]) that Thief and Fighter grab onto Black Mage and Red Mage, and have the two cast Feather Fall. Which would have been a great idea... had Red Mage not blown all his spells on distracting Sarda, which likely could have been fixed with his mime ability but Black Mage dumped all his non-apocalyptic spells while he was power-tripping on evil. Then he ''[[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum blocks the ground]]''. |
| 560 | * In ''Webcomic/TheBirdFeeder'' [[http://thebirdfeeder.com/comic/140 #140]], "Predictions", Terry, normally seen as [[TheDitz dumb]], correctly predicts rain against all odds (though he had been predicting rain every day for the past week). |
| 561 | * In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[TheDitz Bass]] was the only one [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011202c to realize that]] the only hope of defeating [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bad Guy of the Year]] Mynd was to flank him and attack simultaneously from three directions. While putting the plan into action, Protoman, Roll, and Bass all wonder, "When the hell did we start listening to Bass?" (Granted, the attack fails, but not because of any flaw in the plan. Mynd is just that badass.) |
| 562 | * In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', Dan is forced to go in a party with a family of demons to keep the pretense that he's dating Lorenda, but Kria Soulstealer (Lorenda's mother) knows that Dan's relationship with Lorenda is a lie, but she still invited Dan anyway to seduce him... and she ''almost succeeded''. Dan, however, realised just in time what he almost have done, and jumped off window. Next day, he decided to enroll in a school for [[SuccubiAndIncubi cubi]] (his species) for a month, suspecting that his behavior is due to his lack of control of cubi nature. According to [[JerkassWoobie Abel]], [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_1207.php Dan is right]]. |
| 563 | * [[ManChild Donald]] in [[http://www.darklegacycomics.com/394.html this]] ''Webcomic/{{Dark Legacy Comic|s}}'' says he's having fun and [[IronicEcho echos]] an earlier statement back at Nyte and Krom when they try to make him {{stop having fun|Guys}} over screwing up. Nyte and Krom go into a HeroicBSOD. |
| 564 | * ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'': |
| 565 | ** One character says [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0122.html "Jar Jar, you're a genius."]] They even point out how rarely those words are used together. |
| 566 | ** Jim (who plays Qui-Gon Jinn, Padme, and Han Solo, among others) is a textbook loon who routinely has to be reined in by the others... so finding out that he can think logically, can be sensible, and is working on a [=PhD=] in ''geophysics'', comes as a bit of shock to the other players. As Pete points out, "Roleplaying is his downtime. He likes to turn his brain '''off'''." |
| 567 | * ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'': |
| 568 | ** For a moronic [[ReallyGetsAround man-whore]], Joe has surprisingly frequent moments of making sense. [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/casualbang/ Case in point]]: |
| 569 | --->'''Joe:''' So you're telling me that some chick wanted to casual bang you, and you didn't want to?\ |
| 570 | '''Danny:''' I did want to! I'm not dead! I just didn't want to take advantage of her!\ |
| 571 | '''Joe:''' Was she underage?\ |
| 572 | '''Danny:''' No.\ |
| 573 | '''Joe:''' Was she drunk?\ |
| 574 | '''Danny:''' No.\ |
| 575 | '''Joe:''' Was she crying?\ |
| 576 | '''Danny:''' No.\ |
| 577 | '''Joe:''' See, I don't get why I'm the one who don't respect women when you're the dude who thinks he knows better than the girl about whether she wants to have sex. |
| 578 | * Ashley in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' isn't dumb. However, when theorizing why Andrea the griffin can't get to the specific place to cross back over to her side of the universe, after a bunch of intelligent guesses by others, Ashley [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2015-11-30 says]] "Maybe she has a bad sense of direction?" (a subtle CallBack to her being a fan of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'') She immediately regrets it and dismisses it, but Tara then pipes up with "That... sounds exactly like Andrea." to the shock of everyone else involved. |
| 579 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', no matter [[InsaneTrollLogic how outslanding the situation/subject might be]], Helix has been known to has a point from now and them, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff800/fv00787.htm like this]]. |
| 580 | * In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', rustics say the giant spider riding [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050325 Geisterdamen]] cause revenants, steal children, blight crops -- the usual [[{{Demonization}} nonsense based on nothing but their strange appearance and language]], right? Then again, TwoOutOfThreeAintBad. |
| 581 | * ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'': The goblins need to pray to their god for assistance but he will only answer a chief [[spoiler:and their current chief is dead]]. On top of that they need a Teller to choose a chief and the Teller is dead. When Complains and the others overthink it, Vorpal suggests just doing the Teller ceremony to select a Teller who can then name one of them chief; the rest of the goblins are stunned at the perfect solution. |
| 582 | * Liquid Snake in ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'' is not the sharpest tool in the shed due to his Inferiority Complex and brain damage, but he still manages to catch his coworkers flatfooted a few times before he TookALevelInBadass. Best illustrated by disarming a MexicanStandoff between Wolf, Ocelot and Scratch by using Eddie's [[PsychicPowers telepathic hypnosis]] to make them drink water laced with tranquilizers. Too bad he almost fumbled it by putting a near-fatal dose of drugs in the water. |
| 583 | -->'''[[TalkingAnimal Berthold]]:''' My God. That... That could ''actually'' work. Are you alright, Liquid? |
| 584 | * ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'': Jared, one of the interns working in Commander Badass' temp agency is a ManChild and a failure of a Pokémon trainer (he [[ShamuFu leveled up his Magikarp to a Gyarados by using it as a club to beat the shit out of opponents]]). He's also, compared to the rest of the Pokémon league, ''the OnlySaneMan''. |
| 585 | ** Commander Badass admits that a [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/905 Room Filled with Bubbles does sound pretty fun]]. |
| 586 | ** Jared (to Lysandre when he compliments Jared on making [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/jared-has-an-honourary-phd-in-pokemon-happiness "groundbreaking discoveries" about Pokemon affection and companionship]]): "Wait, you mean you just figured out that animals like it when you pet them and give them treats? Who gave you your science license?" |
| 587 | ** Jared may not be the best Pokémon trainer, but when he meets Lysandre, Mr. Fish is [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/if-theres-one-thing-jared-is-competent-at-its-loving-mr-fish MUCH larger than Lysandre's Gyarados]], to the point Mr. Fish could swallow Lysandre's Gyarados WHOLE. Because Jared feeds him a somewhat more balanced diet (pretty much everything Jared deems to be food, or more likely anything [[ExtremeOmnivore Mr. Fish eats anyway]]). Lysandre feeds his Pokepuffs, which are basically desserts.[[note]]Coelasquid mentions this is because she drew Lysandre's Gyarados at the size stated in the Pokedex, while she drew Mr. Fish at the size shown in the anime, which is much larger.[[/note]] |
| 588 | --->'''Jared:''' Macarons are a ''sometimes'' food. |
| 589 | ** He's also the only one to notice how Lysandre's talk of "cleansing the world of this filth" sounds just a tad villainous. |
| 590 | * In ''Webcomic/MMBN7TheWorldTournament'', [[CloudCuckooLander Cloud Cuckoolander]] Anetta is the only one to come up with the idea to [[spoiler: track Regurk using the spy program in Dark Scythe's PET]]. Not even ''Baryl'' thought about doing that. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d of course. |
| 591 | * ''Webcomic/{{Nebula}}'': Earth comments that Mars' concerns about Sun sound a lot like something [[UnknownRival Jupiter]] would say; Mars responds by admitting that while Jupiter is really, really dumb, he can still occasionally end up being right. Even if it's mostly by accident. |
| 592 | * In ''Webcomic/OffWhite'', [[GodInHumanForm Iki]] has a premonition that someone was coming close to them. Jera, of ''all'' the characters, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120108005403/http://off-white.eu/comic/page-163/ is the one who notice that he's right]]. |
| 593 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': |
| 594 | ** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0045.html "Surprisingly, Elan makes a good point.]] [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness (Which probably just proves that we've stumbled into some bizarre alternate reality.)]]" Unsurprisingly (because c'mon, he's Elan), it goes horribly, horribly wrong. |
| 595 | ** In the second book, Elan asks Roy why he likes Miko, reiterating the fact that [[KnightTemplar Miko]] is very abrasive and unpleasant to be around. Roy can't come up with any answer besides "she's really good looking" and that, coupled with a brief period with a GenderBender magic belt, makes Roy realize that his attraction to Miko was superficial. |
| 596 | ** Much later, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0747.html he points out the flaws on Haley's position]]. |
| 597 | --->'''Haley:''' ''(after gulping a jar of beer)'' Am I drunk enough yet that later, I won't remember getting out-logicked by Elan?\ |
| 598 | '''Durkon:''' Och! Na. Ye'll need at least two more pints fer tha. |
| 599 | ** In later strips this becomes common enough that it stops being this trope and comes closer to GeniusDitz; Elan is still pretty idiotic in many ways, but his [[GenreSavvy Genre Savviness]] means he's got some of the best insight regarding the actual structure of the quest. |
| 600 | ** Thog, the illiterate barbarian whose DumpStat was intelligence, claims he's smarter than the GeniusBruiser Roy in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0791.html "Don't Get MAD"]]. He says that all of his good abilities help him in his chosen career, while Roy's intelligence doesn't help him as a fighter. Roy ends up beating Thog using those cross-class ranks in Knowledge (Architect and Engineering) he wouldn't have had if he didn't have a good intelligence, but not before taking a substantial beating and having to sneak in a potion to keep going. In general, Thog actually seems to have one of the more optimized builds in the comic: unlike Roy, who went straight Fighter, Thog dipped it for two levels (even picking up a rather useful alternate class feature) and then spent the rest of his time leveling as a Barbarian. |
| 601 | * ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'': [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2021/05/10/hail-mary After reading Andy Weir's new book]], Gabe is confused over the fact that the main character is basically just Mark Watney from ''Literature/TheMartian'' and questions why Weir didn't just make it into a sequel. |
| 602 | -->'''Tycho:''' You don't think it would stretch credulity to have Mark get caught up in outer space hijinx? Again...?\ |
| 603 | '''Gabe:''' How many times has [[Film/TheBourneSeries Jason Bourne]] remembered some startling ''new'' secret about Operation Treadstone?\ |
| 604 | '''Tycho:''' That might actually be the perfect comparison. |
| 605 | * ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': When [[TheDitz Buwaro]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Rhea]] are about to go look for [[spoiler:Kieri after she attempted to [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim drive them away]] so they wouldn't be in danger when she tries to save her captured brother]], Buwaro [[http://www.sdamned.com/comic/723 points out]] that they are [[NonActionGuy terrible fighters]] and wouldn't stand a chance against the [[spoiler:adult demons]]. |
| 606 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': |
| 607 | ** Used in [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20051108 "Oceans Unmoving"]] with the carib Honest Stu. (No-one takes him seriously because of the way he is most of the time.) |
| 608 | --->"Wait, Stu is ''right'' for once?"\ |
| 609 | "The amount ''he'' talks? You gotta like those odds." |
| 610 | ** During the first Thanksgiving arc, when the cast is discussing what they're thankful for, Sam, who is typically mainly focused on scoring with women, surprisingly eloquently discusses how he is grateful for his freedom. For Thanksgiving of 2001, [[HeartwarmingInHindsight this was shown again]], with a panel of Torg and Zoe expressing approval and agreement. |
| 611 | ** However, the [[ExaggeratedTrope most impressive one]] is given by Torg to Riff regarding Aylee. For years, Riff tried to get rid of Aylee, claiming that she's a threat to humanity, but after a chapter with Torg and Aylee stuck in an alternative dimension, when Torg founds out that Riff still wants to get rid of her, [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070918 Torg snaps]] and [[BreakThemByTalking gave a lengthy scolding]] to Riff for his actions against Aylee, citing that, in spite to his belief over her being a human-eater, earth is her home now, and Aylee has honestly tried hard to not eat humans. Also, Torg notices that Riff is a hypocrite by accusing her of being the doom of humanity, but he himself has proved in numerous occasions to be a even ''biggger'' threat to humanity due to his focus on explosives and mad science as a whole. As the events of '''Dimension of Rain''' saga [[{{Foreshadowing}} turned out]], the last statement proved to be ''painfully'' accurate. |
| 612 | * Late in ''Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}}'', Martina gives up on trying to non-lethally subdue the [[spoiler:renegade unclamped Eebs]] and rants to [[ChaoticStupid Dustin]] that she ''must'' kill them. Dustin immediately points out that she has a [[RestrainingBolt brain-clamp]], which will permanently neutralize [[spoiler:their psychic powers and]] their aggression. Getting outsmarted by ''him'' rattles Martina out of her HeroicBSOD, and she shamefacedly apologizes and agrees. |
| 613 | -->'''Martina:''' My humiliation is complete. That's a very good idea. |
| 614 | * In ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'', Squidge isn't the brightest bulb in the box, but his suggestion that Quentyn check the exact wording of a covenant clause and the laws pertaining to it is very good advice indeed. |
| 615 | [[/folder]] |
| 616 | |
| 617 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 618 | * ''WebVideo/EchoChamber'': |
| 619 | ** Tom tries to invoke this trope on himself in the episode "Dumbass Has a Point", but, as Dana points out, the trope doesn't fit. |
| 620 | --->'''Dana:''' To be a dumbass with a point, you have to have a point, dumbass. |
| 621 | ** The real dumbass with a point is [[spoiler:Zack. He uses his knowledge of After Effects to help create an intro to the vlog that was ''way'' better than anything Tom could have come up with on his own]]. |
| 622 | * ''Series/GamingInTheClintonYears'': George Wood's thought process usually ranges from nonsensically stupid to downright bizarre. That being said, he's able to give off meaningful words or advice every once in a while, even if those words aren't going to reach anyone. Below is a good example of how he can come up with good analyses every now and then. |
| 623 | -->'''George Wood:''' ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' may not even ''be'' released at all for the Platform/PlayStation. [[Creator/SonyInteractiveEntertainment Sony]] is once again being a real jerk by refusing to allow 2D games to be manufactured. Sony ''definitely'' has a bug up its [[{{Bowdlerise}} you-know-what]], and they've got some major balls ticking off Creator/{{Capcom}}, the makers of the first [=PlayStation=] game to sell 1 million copies. That game being, of course, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1''. Capcom should threaten not to release ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' on the [=PlayStation=], [[CreatorBreakdown and watch Sony buckle]]. |
| 624 | * ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': During Spoony's review of ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'', he gets angry when General Katana hits one of his {{Mooks}} simply for pointing out why his evil plan is flawed... |
| 625 | -->'''General Katana:''' You leave for the planet Earth immediately. Find [=Macleod=] and kill him.\ |
| 626 | '''Insano brother #1:''' But I thought you said [=MacLeod=] was mortal, and can never return.\ |
| 627 | '''General Katana:''' ''[slapping the mook]'' [[ButThouMust Find him for me. Kill him.]]\ |
| 628 | '''Spoony:''' Wait, why'd you hit him? Dumbass there just pointed out one of the biggest plotholes of the whole fucking movie! Yeah, this guy figured out one of the potholes! And Katana doesn't even have an answer for the guy! |
| 629 | [[/folder]] |
| 630 | |
| 631 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 632 | * Carl and Sheen from ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' occasionally have their moments. |
| 633 | -->'''Jimmy:''' Carl, that's brilliant!\ |
| 634 | '''Carl:''' Really? [[LampshadeHanging But]] ''[[LampshadeHanging I]]'' [[LampshadeHanging said it.]] |
| 635 | * ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' |
| 636 | ** In the episode "Total Re-Carl", Carl's body gets destroyed by Frylock's experimental high-tech toilet, and Frylock tries to make him a new body. One of the attempts is a heavily-armed cybernetic suit, and ''Master Shake'', known for being a stupid {{Jerkass}}, points out that giving weapons to a guy who's still pissed his body got destroyed might not be a good idea: |
| 637 | --->'''Frylock:''' I give you the ultimate in military hardware! Complete with laser cannon, indestructible titanium exoskeleton, and motion activated plasma pulse rifles.\ |
| 638 | '''Master Shake:''' And you're gonna ''plug him in?''\ |
| 639 | '''Frylock:''' ...You're right. Damn, what the hell was I thinking? |
| 640 | ** In "Super Sir Loin", Meatwad sends all the food in the house to feed starving children. Among the things he sends is a duck à l'orange that Shake wanted to eat, which he is not thrilled about. |
| 641 | --->'''Master Shake:''' Do you know how much that duck cost?! '''HIGHER THAN YOU CAN COUNT!'''\ |
| 642 | '''Frylock:''' I'm sorry to say this, but Shake is right, Meatward. Charity is one thing, but this is getting way out of hand. I mean, ''we'' don't have anything to eat now. |
| 643 | ** Meatwad is the most childish of the Aqua Teens, as well as the least intelligent in general, though he'll point out something to show he's not as dumb as he seems. Such as during "T-Shirt of the Living Dead", when Shake boasts the titular shirt lets him read minds, then insists he has the power to know all. |
| 644 | --->'''Meatwad:''' But back there, you said it gave you the power to read minds, so which is it?\ |
| 645 | '''Master Shake:''' Uh... I don't know.\ |
| 646 | '''Meatwad:''' But you said that you know it all. ({{Beat}}) And now you say you ''don't'' know?\ |
| 647 | '''Master Shake:''' It has powers, okay?! Everyone?! Okay?! |
| 648 | * ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'': In "Hot Bob and Chocolate", Angela unscrambles the "picture sentence" to read "I love Bob and Hot Chocolate". Mrs. Brinks doesn't correct Angela because "I love Bob and hot chocolate" ''is'' actually a sentence, just an unconventional sentence. |
| 649 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': |
| 650 | ** During Season 2, the title character finds out that he has breast cancer and the drugs he takes for it are fake. He then goes on a rampage to find the source of the fake drugs, which turns out to be TheIrishMob. When [[StraightMan straight woman Lana]] asks if the whole affair is really worth it, Archer points out that although it is a personal mission for him, the gangsters are still selling fake cancer medicine, which is pretty heinous. |
| 651 | --->'''Lana:''' Still though, you really want to take on the Irish mob?\ |
| 652 | '''Archer:''' No, I don't, but they're the ones switching out lifesaving cancer drugs with candy and Zima. |
| 653 | ** Archer has claimed in a few episodes that he needs to "taper off" his alcohol use. Even though he's usually using it as an excuse to keep drinking, this is a real phenomenon; stopping cold on your drinking is not a good idea. |
| 654 | ** The episode "Skytanic" has Archer being very derisive towards the concept of a luxury airship. He's acting like a jackass, and his fears of the airship going down like the Hindenberg are inaccurate (it's a helium ship), but he points out that the whole operation is probably doomed to bankruptcy anyway, since the airship is too slow to serve as anything more than luxury transport when airplanes are ten times faster. And he's right -- in fact, it turns out the company's stocks have been in freefall, and the captain is even plotting to blow up the ship because he wants to get out while he can. |
| 655 | * On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'', [[HippieTeacher Mr. Van Driessen]] asks the class "Where do we get our food?" Butt-Head (who usually lives up to his name) answers "Uh... the store?" This was indeed the point he was trying to make. Even Butt-Head was shocked to find out he got an answer right. |
| 656 | * In the 2006 revival of ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'', the episode "Driver's Ed" has Vinnie, Throttle, and Modo forced to drive a minivan after their motorcycles are taken away and they are shown to have no experience in driving anything besides their bikes. After they capture the Catatonian general Hannibal T. Hairball, the Biker Mice are rather surprised when the villain so incompetent that his older brother Cataclysm does all the work reveals knowledge on what the "clutch" is. |
| 657 | * ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': Linda Belcher is frequently shown to be so [[WomanChild childish]] and [[TheDitz narrow minded]] that [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she frequently misinterprets things and lacks common sense]]. However, she's also the first to call out Bob when he says or does something that goes against his principles or risks himself. |
| 658 | * ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': |
| 659 | ** Todd Chávez is not the smartest character in the show, but he makes a lot of really good points when calling out [=BoJack=] for his crap. |
| 660 | *** In "Horse Majeure", Todd tells [=BoJack=] he should stop trying to sabotaging Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter's wedding, citing that it's not about him and Diane has already made her choice. |
| 661 | *** In his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in "It's You", he points out that messing up and then [[EasilyForgiven feeling bad like all is forgiven]] ''[[AesopAmnesia repeatedly]]'' can only work a couple of times in real life, it's extremely selfish of anybody to use their DarkAndTroubledPast to [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse justify hurting people]], and ultimately '''''[=BoJack=]''''' is the only one to blame for everything he does, especially when his actions have hurtful consequences. |
| 662 | ** While the "dumbass" part is {{downplayed|Trope}} with Mr. Peanutbutter's case at best, he still has the occasional insight from time to time. |
| 663 | *** He calls out Diane for continuing with her campaign against Hank Hippopopalous, even though she promised she wouldn't. |
| 664 | *** After [=BoJack=] makes a hurtful jab at his relationship with Diane, Mr. Peanutbutter ''finally'' gives [=BoJack=] a major TheReasonYouSuckSpeech -- explaining that all he wants is to be [=BoJack=]'s friend, but all the horse does is needlessly insult him. |
| 665 | *** In "Bojack Kills", he [[WhatTheHellHero rightfully calls Diane out]] after she [[spoiler:spent a night investigating a drug-related murder with [=BoJack=]]], but didn't call once to tell him what was going on, making him worried. |
| 666 | * ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': Godbrand is a source of comic relief with his stupidity, but he's also one of the few who openly questions how Dracula's genocide of the human race will affect the vampires when their main food source dies off. When the villains are debating if vampires can cross running water, Godbrand opines that they can as he's a sailor and has taken baths. The other characters ridicule his hygiene and point out that the bathwater doesn't run when he gets into it, but they never address that, as a sailor, he's crossed running water many times and has come out fine. |
| 667 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'', Majar, a creature who is the epitome of DumbMuscle, points out to his partner Borth that he is smart but small and he himself is strong but dumb and suggests they stop their bickering and work together. |
| 668 | * In ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'', Madison is a certified DumbBlonde, but will quite often just blurt out the obvious solution or make a point. |
| 669 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', Odd is usually regarded as not being very bright. However, in one episode in the last season, where a mission to destroy one of XANA's Replikas take him and Yumi's virtual forms to the International Space Station, he actually has ''two good ideas in the same episode''. First, when Jérémie warned them that they have to make the computer's destruction look like an accident (because the Station is too well-known and suspected sabotage would be a headache they do ''not'' need), Odd suggests breaking a pipe to cause water damage. His second good idea comes when XANA attacks them using flying, spiked orbs that he is using the Station's equipment to build; he gets rid of them by opening a hatch door, causing the orbs to be blown out of the station. |
| 670 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has an episode where the team is forced to put the treehouse on lockdown, but Count Spankulot managed to sneak inside before it was locked up. [[BookDumb Numbuh Four]] asks whether there's a way to bypass the lockdown in case of an emergency like this and Numbuh Two tells him that Numbuh Five knows a computer code that can unlock the treehouse. However, Numbuh Two tells him that ''even she can't use it'' because [[InsaneTrollLogic "the code's so important that no one is allowed to use it"]]. Numbuh Four rightfully tells him that's the stupidest thing he's ever heard. |
| 671 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': Ditzy cheerleader Brittany has shown this twice. |
| 672 | ** In one episode, the title character hides in a bathroom stall, having believed she has sold out her principles by wearing contact lenses instead of her "manstopper glasses". Her best friend Jane, as well as acquaintance Jodie couldn't get her out. So imagine their shock when [[DumbBlonde Brittany]] manages to get through to her... |
| 673 | --->'''Brittany:''' By the way, Daria, I just want you to know I think it's really brave of you to get those contact lenses and admit that you care about the way you look, even just a little. Because knowing that a brain can be worried about her looks makes me feel, um, I don't know, not so shallow or something. Like we're not that different, just human, or whatever.\ |
| 674 | ''[after a moment, Daria emerges from the stall]''\ |
| 675 | '''Daria:''' Well, thank you, Brittany. You're right. We are just human or whatever. |
| 676 | ** "The Daria Hunter" also shows Brittany to be a pretty good military tactician. |
| 677 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' episode "Buried Treasure", K. Rool decides that the treasure the Kongs are looking for is an ArtifactOfDoom "capable of wiping out the island": |
| 678 | -->'''K. Rool:''' Do you know what this means!?\ |
| 679 | '''Krusha:''' The apes will have complete control over Kongo Bongo, and probably turn us into matching luggage.\ |
| 680 | '''K. Rool:''' ...He ''does'' have his moments... |
| 681 | * Ed from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' has a few moments like this. |
| 682 | ** In "O-Ed Eleven", he manages to puzzle out a map belonging to Eddy's mysterious older brother. Of course, he's still Ed, so he tries to explain it thusly: |
| 683 | --->'''Edd:''' Ed, how on earth did you do that?\ |
| 684 | '''Ed:''' Because I am a brother, and Eddy's brother is a brother, and Eddy is a brother to Eddy's brother as a brother I am. |
| 685 | ** Here's one from "Eds-aggerate", the episode with the "mucky boys": |
| 686 | --->'''Edd:''' Eddy, wouldn't it be easier to just--\ |
| 687 | '''Ed:''' Make funny noises?\ |
| 688 | '''Eddy:''' Ed! You found a brain! |
| 689 | ** In one episode, Eddy has scammer's block. Ed suggests simply buying an idea. |
| 690 | ** In "Stiff Upper Ed" The gang tries to get into Sarah's "Rich Club", after a failed attempt, Edd suggests the Eds can get into Sarah's "Rich Club" by dressing like grandparents, because "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Grandparents are rich in experience, and have a wealth of knowledge!]]" Seeming to miss the point it's monetary rich club, not metaphorical. [[TheDitz Ed]] even realizes what a ridiculous idea that is. |
| 691 | --->'''Ed:''' Oh, oh, let me Eddy! (''to Edd'') That is stupid, Double D. |
| 692 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' |
| 693 | ** [[TheDitz Cosmo]] isn't the smartest person in the book, but he can state out a point of his: |
| 694 | *** For example: |
| 695 | ---->'''Timmy:''' You were right, [[TheDitz Cosmo]]! ''[expression of sudden shock]'' You were ''right''?\ |
| 696 | '''Cosmo:''' Wow, one in a row! '''It's a new record!!'''\ |
| 697 | '''Timmy:''' [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Cosmo,]] that's a great idea! Gee, I never thought I'd say those five words in a row before. |
| 698 | *** In "Power Mad!", Timmy gets [[TrappedInTVLand trapped in his (wish enhanced) videogame]] thanks to his friends Chester and A.J. trying it out, but Vicky gets (unknowingly) close to [[ItMakesSenseInContext trapping him there by causing a power outage in the house]]. Cosmo proceeds to unplug the TV (and the 12 other appliances Vicky is using at the moment) and tells Wanda "I have an idea". Cosmo and Wanda then act out shows as Vicky channel surfs. |
| 699 | ---->'''Wanda:''' ''[writing in diary]'' "Wednesday March 22nd: Cosmo had an idea!" |
| 700 | *** Later in the same episode, Cosmo keeps the TV running by, well, running on a hamster wheel. |
| 701 | ---->'''Wanda:''' ''[writing in diary]'' "This has been a magnificent day for Cosmo!" |
| 702 | ** While Timmy's Dad is usually an oblivious moron, he ''does'' occasionally make a good point. For instance, in "Kung Timmy", he points out that he couldn't beat up Francis for Timmy, since Francis is still a (somewhat scary-looking) 12-year-old child. |
| 703 | ** In "School of Crock", Cosmo again makes a good point when he finds out that Timmy's been sleeping in class: |
| 704 | --->'''Cosmo:''' How are you going to learn anything if you never pay attention? |
| 705 | ** Similarly, Timmy has his moments too. When he meets [[JerkassGenie Norm the Genie]], Wanda tries to warn him not to make any wishes with him as genies are very tricky and their wishes tend to bite the wisher in the butt. Timmy's response? |
| 706 | --->'''Timmy:''' Well, YOUR wishes always tend to bite me in the butt, and his are rule-free! |
| 707 | * ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'': |
| 708 | ** Fanboy is the most idiotic of the titular duo, but he does make a valid point at the end of "Wizboy" when he realizes he shouldn't have been more awesome than Kyle and vows to make up for it. |
| 709 | ** In "Fangboy", Chum Chum quickly recognizes Fanboy's supposed vampire bite as a mosquito bite; he waves it off once he disagrees with him until Dr. Acula reveals he was right about the mosquito bite in the first place. |
| 710 | ** In "The Incredible Shrinking Fanboy" when Fanboy worries he's shrinking, Chum Chum immediately points out the reason he's thinking so is because the flower he used to measure himself grew overnight. He lets it go when Fanboy convinces him that's not the case. |
| 711 | * In ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', the one person who pointed out how illogical the show's premise is turned out to be crazy. |
| 712 | * On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FriskyDingo'', Ronnie, the dimwitted Russian rapist member of the Xtacles, interrupts Xander Crews' long-lost brother Nearl's revenge speech by shooting him in the head. Cue this exchange: |
| 713 | -->'''Random Xtacle:''' What the hell, Ronnie?\ |
| 714 | '''Ronnie:''' What? Is complicated enough without all this Evil Twin bullshit having.\ |
| 715 | '''Xtacle:''' That's... actually a good point. Good for you! |
| 716 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': |
| 717 | ** In "The Problem With Popplers", ''Zapp Brannigan'' of all people comes up with the surprisingly competent plan of replacing Leela with an orangutan in a PaperThinDisguise after realizing the Omicronians likely won't be able to tell them apart nearly as well as the Earth natives could. |
| 718 | ** In the episode "Parasites Lost", Zoidberg of all characters gets one of these moments when he suggests escaping the nasal capillary into the sinus. Turns out, he was just remembering an old commercial he had seen. |
| 719 | --->'''Hermes:''' Strange. [[LampshadeHanging Usually you don't know anything about human anatomy]].\ |
| 720 | '''Zoidberg:''' I learned it in a decongestant commercial! Soothing action, action, action, action! |
| 721 | ** This is eventually resolved in a much later season. It turns out that Zoidberg is an absolutely brilliant biologist and doctor... when it comes to ''aliens.'' It's only his knowledge of ''humans'' that's absolutely horrid. [[spoiler:But he considers Professor Farnsworth his closest friend, so he works for him even though he could make millions elsewhere.]] |
| 722 | ** Even ''Fry'', a man who is so immeasurably stupid it serves as a ''[[DisabilitySuperpower super power]]'' whenever the Brain Spawn attack, has moments of this, particularly when his concern for Leela makes him stop goofing around. A great example is when Leela is obsessed with gathering space honey from the hive that killed the previous Planet Express crew, to prove they are a better crew than that last one, and they all nearly die: Leela is gloating while Fry points out they almost died as well and only escaped by the absolute skin of their teeth. |
| 723 | ---> '''Fry:''' We made it! We're alive! |
| 724 | ---> '''Leela:''' Burn on that old crew! The only things they did better than us were suck and die! |
| 725 | ---> '''Fry:''' Leela, we got ''lucky'' this time! You need to be more careful! I don't want anything to happen to you! |
| 726 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': At the end of the second episode of the [[spoiler:Weirdmageddon]] series finale, Xyler and Craz, two [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb stereotypical dumb teenagers]] from Mabel's favorite movie, emerge from Mabel's [[spoiler:prison bubble]] and sit down on a bench as they watch the [[spoiler:apocalypse]] unfold around them, and they suddenly engage in an uncharacteristically-profound philosophical discussion. |
| 727 | -->'''Craz:''' Are we real? Is this... reality?\ |
| 728 | '''Xyler:''' Jean-Paul Sartre postulated that every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.\ |
| 729 | '''Craz:''' Totally righteous, bro.\ |
| 730 | '''Xyler:''' I know! |
| 731 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', even [[TheDitz a complete idiot]] like ''Billy'' can show his point: |
| 732 | ** In one episode, Billy suggests that Nergal Jr. turn himself into a pair of pants so that Billy can wear them and win a race: |
| 733 | --->'''Mandy:''' Billy, that has to be the stupidest idea... ''[stops short]'' Come to think of it, Billy, that's probably the ''smartest'' idea you've ever had.\ |
| 734 | '''Billy:''' I know. That's why I wanna do it. |
| 735 | ** In the episode "Herbicidal Maniac", General Skarr tries to win a gardening award only for Billy to completely ruin his garden and turn him into a plant-like creature in the process. Skarr later regrows his garden better than ever while simultaneously wanting to kill Billy for turning him into a freak. Billy sums it up perfectly. |
| 736 | --->'''Billy:''' Well you always were kind of a freak anyways, and your garden is better than ever, and now you got hair so what's the problem again?\ |
| 737 | '''Skarr:''' Look if I want to kill you that's MY prerogative, okay?!\ |
| 738 | '''Billy:''' I'm just saying from a logical point of view--\ |
| 739 | '''Skarr:''' SHUT UP! |
| 740 | ** Later, as Skarr is about to run him over with a lawnmower... |
| 741 | --->'''Skarr:''' Just remember! THIS is what you get for being a bad neighbor!\ |
| 742 | '''Billy:''' ''[crying]'' You're the one trying to hurt me, you're the bad neighbor! |
| 743 | ** Likewise, after retrieving Grim's scythe and defeating Jack O' Lantern: |
| 744 | --->'''Billy:''' You know, Grim. This never would have happened if you never lent me the scythe.\ |
| 745 | '''Grim:''' I hate you Billy. |
| 746 | *** Earlier, Billy scoffed at Jack's plan to cut Grim's head off by pointing out Grim's skull is already removable since he's a skeleton. Subverted when Jack reveals that heads cut off with Grim's scythe ''stay'' cut off forever. |
| 747 | ** Billy's the only one to raise certain questions after it turns out Irwin's mother has been mummified for hundreds of years. |
| 748 | --->'''Billy:''' ...yeah, but how did you and Irwin's mom-\ |
| 749 | '''Irwin's Dad:''' Leaving a whole lot of questions that don't need to be answered. |
| 750 | ** "Dream Mutt" has Billy angrily, but understandably, refuse to let his new dog Wiggy Jiggy Jed sleep in his bed. When Jed goes on a rampage and builds a giant robot to steal ''everyone's'' beds, Billy quietly acknowledges that this is kind of an overreaction. |
| 751 | --->'''Billy:''' All this because I wouldn't let you sleep in my bed? |
| 752 | ** "Billy Idiot" shows even Billy's dad can get in on this when he immediately figures out the ObviouslyEvil Miss Pollywinkle is a soul stealing witch, and did so much faster than Mandy. |
| 753 | --->'''Harold:''' Hey Billy you left your dance bag in the car-OH MY GOSH! An evil witch is using this ballet school so she can steal the souls of innocent students! And now she's stealing Billy's soul!\ |
| 754 | '''Grim:''' ''Wow''. That's pretty good! [[LampshadeHanging He got that quicker than you did, Mandy.]]\ |
| 755 | '''Mandy:''' Shut up. |
| 756 | *** He gets it again when he refuses to give Billy a fake note to get out of gym. Harold will gladly give fake notes to other kids, but giving one to his own son would make him a bad parent. |
| 757 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'' episode "Rare Bear Bungle" dealt with the bears sending a new inmate to their cave, Rare Bear, out into town as they think he's a mole planted by zookeeper Peevly. But when they learn Rare Bear is worth $50,000, they escape to retrieve him but are followed by Peevly and Botch. The bears are subsequently caught and Peevly plans to send them back to the forest when Rare Bear turns up with the zoo superintendent. Peevly is about to tell the superintendent why he's about to send the Hair Bear Bunch to the forest when Botch (the dum-dum) tells him not to as the super would find out Rare Bear escaped as well. |
| 758 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': |
| 759 | ** The scatterbrained and totally crazy robot Gir is prone to occasional observations of this nature. For example, in "Walk for Your Lives!" Zim's plan to deal with an explosion that's trapped in a field that slows down time (resulting in what appears to be a slowly-expanding energy ball) is [[TooDumbToLive to return its speed to normal.]] |
| 760 | --->'''Gir:''' But if the 'sploding goes FAST, won't it be all BAD? |
| 761 | ** Dib's insistence on fighting to prevent Zim from conquering the world can also be considered this. Yes, Dib's sister Gaz is totally correct in saying that Zim is too stupid to conquer the planet. But the fact of the matter is that while Zim may be too crazy and stupid to ''conquer'' Earth on purpose, he's still plenty crazy-stupid to ''destroy it while trying''. So, yes, Dib really is saving the Earth by his constant foilings of Zim's plots. Just not how either of them actually thinks it's happening. |
| 762 | * On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', Beezy comes up with a plan to catch Lucius' ToothyBird. Heloise begrudgingly admits it's a good plan. |
| 763 | * The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' sometimes makes good points in spite of the fact that being a self-absorbed numbskull is a core part of his character. |
| 764 | ** In "Bearly Enough Time", he responds to Chronos telling him that the sign reads "Stay Out" by correcting him that the sign actually reads "Do Not Enter Without Appointment". |
| 765 | ** One of Johnny's questions towards the Uber Mass salesman in "Jumbo Johnny" is asking if the product is government-approved. |
| 766 | ** In "Panic in Jerky Town", Johnny reprimands Pops for asking what Ingredient X is, pointing out that if Jerky Jake revealed the secret ingredient to his jerky, his competitors would be able to copy the recipe. |
| 767 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In one episode, [[TheDitz Stumpy]] gives Kaeloo some "advice" that makes her start crying and curl up in a corner. Stumpy thinks that it may be a psychological problem, and decides to get Mr. Cat to help. Quack Quack points out that that may not be a good idea, since Mr. Cat is a {{Jerkass}}, but Stumpy points out that nobody other than Mr. Cat knows anything about psychology. Quack Quack admits that he's right. |
| 768 | * Happens a few times in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', usually in relation to [[{{Sidekick}} Ron Stoppable]]. |
| 769 | * In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', given the somewhat dubious smarts expressed by Hank's circle of friends, it makes it more poignant when one of them says something that is actually a legitimately valid point. |
| 770 | ** Dale is a legendarily crazy ConspiracyTheorist who is infamous for his inability to recognize that his wife is cuckolding him with his "friend" John Redcorn; in one episode, he admits that he has figured out his visibly Native American son Joseph isn't his biological child (which it took him watching a documentary that it takes 9 months for a baby to be conceived -- which is knowledge that even ''Texas'' teaches in high school), but attributes his parentage to aliens. Then, in the same sentence that he states that this is why he feels he and Joseph have been unable to fully bond, he declares that Hank's problems with bonding with Bobby stem from Hank being a "crappy dad". Which is actually perfectly true, because Hank has a lot of flaws in the way he approaches rearing his son -- he's on the ''[[AbusiveParents/WesternAnimation Abusive Parents]]'' page for a reason. |
| 771 | ** In a way, Hank himself is a case of this. He is unquestionably the smartest of his band of friends and neighbors, who all recognize him as reliable and dependable, but he is also shown as kind of a bumbling idiot, who is so old-fashioned and conservative that it's laughable. |
| 772 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': In the episode "Operation Beifong", the usually flimsy and vain Prince Wu suggests that the people in Republic City must be evacuated so Kuvira can't harm them. Korra, Mako, and everyone else is surprised that he'd have such a reasonable suggestion; frustratingly for Mako, Wu admits he only suggested it to impress Korra. In contrast, he also suggests sending an army of trained badger moles to attack Kuvira, which gets him nothing but disdained looks; he ends up vindicated on this point later, however, when two random badgermoles Wu grabbed from the zoo prove to be so effective that one wonders what they could have done if they actually had an army of trained badgermoles available. |
| 773 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': Grog is unquestionably the DumbMuscle of the group, but every so often, he gets rather clever: |
| 774 | ** In "The Terror of Tal'Dorei, Part 2", after killing the dragon Brimscythe, he makes a point of breaking off a fang to bring back as proof. Lampshaded by Scanlan: |
| 775 | --->'''Scanlan:''' You know, you're a lot smarter than we give you credit for.\ |
| 776 | '''Grog:''' Yup. I'm a genius. |
| 777 | ** In "Shadows at the Gate", he's the one to suggest that Pike's clerical powers failed because the Everlight (the deity Pike prays to and draws her magic from) is upset with her. [[spoiler: While Grog ends up incorrect as Pike's abilities failed as a result of Pike's own issues, it's still a good insight.]] |
| 778 | ** In "Whispers at the Ziggurat", he resists [[VampireMonarch Sylas']] hypnosis by closing his eyes and swinging wildly. When Sylas smugly remarks that Grog can't even see him, Grog points out that [[ConfusionFu if he can't tell where he's swinging, then neither can Sylas]], and manages to embed his axe in Sylas' gut as proof. |
| 779 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': Daffy is normally an idiot, but he occasionally brings up valid points. |
| 780 | ** In "Sunday Night Slice," Porky does not appreciate that Daffy is eating pork ribs at a new restaurant after their old favorite shut down. Daffy responds by pointing out that [[CarnivoreConfusion Porky is perfectly okay with eating pepperoni]]. Porky doesn't catch on until the end of the episode. |
| 781 | ** In "Monster Talent," Witch Lezah complains to Bugs about how Gossamer is being bullied at school and called a monster. Daffy, who is in the room, points out that he ''is'' a monster. She then says that the other day, Gossamer called her a witch. Daffy then points out that she ''is'' a witch. |
| 782 | ** In “Semper Lie” When Bugs complains how he hates going to the Peach Festival with Porky cause it’s an 6 hour drive in a middle of a hot dessert with ton of mosquitoes and have to stand in long for peach related food, Daffy tells Bugs that he should simply tell Porky he doesn’t want to go. His first advice was to lie, but quickly change his mind since that’s his “role”. |
| 783 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'': |
| 784 | ** In one episode, Pooh narrates the "Three Little Pigs" with Rabbit as the Big Bad Bunny, but the story keeps on getting derailed by Pooh's thoughts always straying toward honey. When a scene more resembling "Little Red Riding Hood" occurs, Tigger comments, "Hey, for a Big Bad Bunny, he's sure not being very bad." Rabbit (the Big Bad Bunny) replies, "For once, you're right, Tigger. We have lost track of the story, haven't we?" |
| 785 | ** There are some instances where Pooh can bring a good point: |
| 786 | *** In "A Knight to Remember", Pooh and company want to play a game of chess, but some pieces are missing, and it seems they won't be able to play. Then this exchange happens. |
| 787 | ---->'''Rabbit:''' How can we play with missing pieces?\ |
| 788 | '''Pooh:''' By ''playing'' the missing pieces!\ |
| 789 | '''Tigger:''' Are my ears on too tight, or is Fluff-Boy making sense? |
| 790 | *** Pooh says this about himself in "The Good, the Bad, and the Tigger". When Tigger says Pooh came up with a "terrifical idea", Pooh's response is, "''I'' came up with a terrifical idea? Oh my, this ''must'' be a fantasy!" |
| 791 | *** In "Cloud, Cloud, Go Away", Pooh points out that the cloud was only doing what clouds do when it blocked the sun after Tigger complains that said cloud started its conflict with him. |
| 792 | * Done a few times with Pinky in ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain''. Most of the time when Pinky says something stupid it earns him a hit on the head from Brain. But the few times he actually made a good point, Brain is getting ready to hit him out of habit when he stops and thinks and then admits he has a point. One such example comes from the ''Literature/DonQuixote'' episode, where Pinky asks "[[TakeThat Why would Sophia Loren do a musical?]]", and Brain calls it "a worthy conundrum". Another example, crossing with ExplainExplainOhCrap is when Pinky accurately points out how he’s the 'mommy' of a clone of Brain's from a toenail clipping that got mixed in the experiment. |
| 793 | -->'''Brain:''' "AHHH! Oh my lord you ''are'' its mommy... |
| 794 | * In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', there are times where Rigby has pointed out on how ridiculous the situation can be; |
| 795 | ** In the episode "Stick Hockey", Rigby points out that Benson does have a responsibility to trust his workers, instead of assuming they'll slack off. He could've at least waited to see if they hadn't completed their assignment before getting rid of the stick hockey table. Then again, it's the one of the few instances where Mordecai and Rigby actually keep up their end of the bargain. |
| 796 | ** Rigby once [[StatingTheSimpleSolution did this]]: |
| 797 | --->'''Rigby:''' ''[rolls eyes after Mordecai moans about Margaret for the umpteenth time]'' Whatever. You could just ask her out, you know.\ |
| 798 | '''Mordecai:''' I can't just do that! You don't get it. It's too complicated.\ |
| 799 | '''Rigby:''' No it's not. Just ask her. |
| 800 | *** In general, Rigby is very logical when it comes to navigating romantic relationships. Naturally, this culminates in [[spoiler:him getting a steady girlfriend, and later, in the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, wife, in Eileen]]. |
| 801 | ** He also points out in "[[Recap/RegularShowS01Ep05FreeCake Free Cake]]" that usually when you hear a strange noise in the woods, you ''don't'' check it out. |
| 802 | * In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', ''Jerry'' of all people actually has his moments: |
| 803 | ** On the whole, it's Jerry who repeatedly points out how toxic of a relationship Rick has with Beth, Morty, and Summer, how Rick manipulates the family for his own ends, and how Rick is the catalyst who actually aggravates their relationship troubles into full-on problems that the whole family has to deal with. |
| 804 | ** He also points out on several occasions that Beth lets Rick walk all over their family because of her own abandonment issues, and even once calls her out on her habit of trying to shift the conversation whenever it's brought up: |
| 805 | ---> '''Jerry:''' Your dad gets to walk all over us because of ''your'' abandonment issues! He's playing you, shorty. |
| 806 | ---> '''Beth:''' Oh, stop affecting that stupid hip-hop dialect! |
| 807 | ---> '''Jerry:''' Stop shifting the crosshairs to my ironic urban patois just because your relationship with your father is to'-up from the flo'-up! |
| 808 | ** It's ''Jerry'' of all people who takes notice of out how strange it is that Tammy, a roughly 16 year old girl from Earth, wants to marry "A 40-year old bird person" [sic]. Granted he only brings it up in a ''very'' awkward attempt to joke with her parents, but still. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the romance is a sham as Tammy is actually [[TheMole a deep cover agent]] for [[TheEmpire The Galactic Federation]] and is only romancing Birdperson to get a shot at him, Rick, Squanchy, and all their wanted criminal friends]]. |
| 809 | ** For a non-Jerry example, Morty offers a deconstruction. While he appears to be a dumbass at first who just makes salient points, it becomes increasingly clear as the series goes on that Morty is actually ''highly'' intelligent, [[InformedFlaw most of the claims of him being an idiot come from Rick]], and most of his failures come from his optimism, his desperation, or because the universe [[CosmicPlaything just loves screwing him over]]. Time and time again he proves he's smart enough to grasp highly complicated philosophical concepts, can easily grasp using Rick's tech, he's capable of coming up with well-thought-out plans (which are often better than Rick's), once even managed to trick a ''mind-reader'', and is the only one in his family who is able to not only handle Rick's sci-fi life and domestic life better than the rest of his family, but he's capable of doing ''both at the same time''. One episode actually implies Rick deliberately keeps Morty's confidence down out of fear of him becoming like Evil Morty. |
| 810 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 811 | ** In "Bart's Comet": |
| 812 | --->'''Lisa:''' I can't believe that extra-thick layer of pollution that I've actually picketed against burned up the comet.\ |
| 813 | '''Bart:''' But what's really amazing, is that this is ''exactly'' what Dad said would happen.\ |
| 814 | '''Lisa:''' Yeah, Dad was right.\ |
| 815 | '''Homer:''' I know, kids. I'm scared too! |
| 816 | ** In "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 2", after Smithers was cleared of shooting Burns (because he shot ''Jasper'' instead), the normally completely incompetent police chief has this to say:[[note]]Jasper was shot in his prosthetic leg, so he was unharmed.[[/note]] |
| 817 | --->'''Chief Wiggum:''' Wait a minute! If a second old geezer got shot, how come nobody reported it? |
| 818 | ** Wiggum gets another one shortly after. When Lisa points out that Burns' recent actions provide motives for several people, namely his oil-drilling endangered both the school and Moe's tavern. After she fingers Skinner, Willie, Moe, and Barney, Wiggum points out that Tito Puente would also be a suspect by her logic, as he was supposed to be hired but was fired because of Burns' drilling. Lisa sheepishly concedes to the point. Of course, Wiggum's competence is immediately offset by the fact that Tito Puente stops being a suspect because he plays the police a catchy musical number. The musical number was Tito Puente's revenge against Burns, and one of its lyrics was about how bullet wounds are nothing compared to the humiliation the taunting song gives. |
| 819 | ** In "Homer the Vigilante", the entire town is all set to forgive the elderly catburglar who stole from the entire town after he claims he just wanted people to respect the elderly. Wiggum arrests him anyway because the guy had just confessed to burglary. Wiggum's competence is again offset when he and the rest of the town are tricked by the catburglar into chasing after his nonexistent stash. |
| 820 | ** In "Covercraft", Lisa says that Homer is jealous of Apu's musical talents. Homer corrects her, saying that he's envious, and explains the difference ("Jealousy is when you worry someone will take what you have. Envy is wanting what someone else has."); Lisa pulls out a dictionary and confirms that he's right. |
| 821 | ** In "This Little Wiggy", Mayor Quimby is being electrocuted on live TV by an electric chair that everyone except for Bart and Ralph Wiggum believe is turned off. Bart says he needs to think of a way to save Mayor Quimby, and Ralph Wiggum has the brilliant insight that... Lisa's good at thinking. (Cue Lisa saving the day, and everyone cheering Ralph for his good sense.) |
| 822 | --->'''Lisa:''' Hey! I was the one that came up with the idea!\ |
| 823 | '''Bart:''' C'mon Lisa, [[ThrowTheDogABone it's Ralph]].\ |
| 824 | ''[Lisa shrugs and then starts cheering for Ralph too]'' |
| 825 | ** That said, while Bart is rarely the smartest or most empathic person, understanding that Ralph rarely, if ever, gets any victories or recognition, it was uncharacteristically intelligent of him to not only recognize that Lisa was right that she deserved the glory, but also to point out that it really wouldn't hurt her to let Ralph have this one. |
| 826 | ** "Homer vs. the 18th Amendment" has Homer's opposition to the DryCrusader movement seeking to ban Springfield's alcohol. His motivations are clearly that he wants to get drunk and rich off bootlegged alcohol, but he's right when he points out that the prohibition measure is unjust. The measure is actually a grandfathered-in law that hasn't been enforced since the 1700s, the majority of people didn't want it, its enforcement penalty is an absurd death sentence, and the man enforcing it is a RabidCop who borders on psychotic -- not to mention, it turns out the reason it wasn't enforced was that it was repealed the year after. He also notes that "they tried it in the movies, and it didn't work" -- [[RightForTheWrongReasons while his sources are off,]] the real-life events that inspired those movies showed just how difficult alcohol prohibition is to enforce with any effectiveness. |
| 827 | ** As pointed out in the DVD commentary, Ralph is [[OutOfCharacterMoment uncharacteristically]] sensible in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)", even if it's to no avail. He tells Homer it's not a good idea to drink candle wax, but this just gives Homer the idea to coat his mouth in wax in order to withstand the Chief's peppers without regard to what other effects eating several of them might have. When Homer starts to hallucinate, Ralph asks him if he's OK; he only gives up his concern for Homer's welfare when Otto erroneously assures him "he knows what he's doing". |
| 828 | ** "Burns, Baby, Burns" has Homer deciding to fake a kidnapping of Burns's son to get the two to reunite. Marge talks him out of the plan, and tells him to go apologize to Burns. Homer responds that in broad daylight with police on high alert, walking around in the open would get them spotted and caught instantly, but Marge isn't hearing it. Seconds after they're out of the house, they're spotted by helicopters, prompting Kent Brockman to proclaim that only an idiot would decide it was a good idea to head outside in broad daylight with police on high alert. |
| 829 | ** "Treehouse of Horror X's" second segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena" has Bart and Lisa be given superpowers as Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl. When the two go off to save Creator/LucyLawless, Marge shouts out the window for them to remember they're vulnerable to kryptonite. Homer immediately blasts Marge for such a stupid move. |
| 830 | --->'''Homer:''' ''Geez'' Marge, tell the neighborhood! |
| 831 | ** In "Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie," Homer is surprisingly the one person aside from June Bellamy who actually makes an effort during Poochie's conception. He calls off an obnoxious fan by asking why a supposed genius would obsess over a child's cartoon and bluntly asks another what they're even talking about after getting an asinine question about a CD-ROM game. Later, after Poochie's disastrous debut, he tries to figure out ways to salvage the character (his ideas are ridiculous, but still an improvement over Poochie's overall flatness). When he learns they're gonna kill Poochie off, Homer argues he could still be a good character if the creative team actually gave a shit. Unfortunately, they kill Poochie off anyway and get a court order swearing he won't be back. |
| 832 | ** In "Hurricane Neddy", Homer gives a fairly on-point analysis of Flanders' personality by noting that he's afraid to hate or complain about anything [[HumansAreFlawed and that it's what makes people human.]] |
| 833 | * In ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'', taking advice from [[DumbMuscle Knuckles]] on anything is usually a bad idea. However, in "Eggman's Anti-Gravity Ray", he gives a surprising insight on true feminism [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTd3Bry-ZT4 by saying that whenever the breaking of gender roles gets called out, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that it's an EXCEPTION, not the status quo]]. |
| 834 | -->'''Knuckles:''' ''[as everyone stares at him in StunnedSilence]'' What? Just because I'm a meathead doesn't mean I'm not a feminist. |
| 835 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In "[[Recap/SouthParkS4E7ChefGoesNanners Chef Goes Nanners]]", Chef is outraged when the KKK arrives in town to support the town flag (which consists of a black man being hanged by a white crowd) and demands that Officer Barbrady do something about it. Barbrady tells Chef that he can't. While he doesn't like the Klan chanting "White Power" in the town square, they have the right to free speech and he can't arrest them for talking. |
| 836 | * Close to the end of the alien suit arc of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', JerkJock Flash calls Peter out on rejecting his friends when they were trying to support him, leading to him realizing that the suit is changing him along with this hilarious line. |
| 837 | -->'''Spider-Man:''' Okay, if Flash Thompson's making sense, something must be seriously wrong. |
| 838 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': |
| 839 | ** [[TheDitz Patrick]] seems to have quite a few of these moments throughout the series. |
| 840 | *** One such instance has him ''beating out [[TheSmartGuy Sandy]]'' in coming up with a plan. The reaction to this was [[JawDrop fairly obvious.]] |
| 841 | *** In earlier episodes, Patrick tended to be the one to suggest that Squidward didn't like him and [=SpongeBob=]. [=SpongeBob=], naturally, found such a notion unthinkable. |
| 842 | *** One episode features [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick getting paint on Mr. Krabs' first dollar, his most prized possession. They spend the rest of the episode trying to fix it before Mr. Krabs comes home, only for Patrick to point out how ridiculous the whole situation is. (Hammering the point home, he then decides to use the last dollar in his wallet to buy a chocolate bar.) |
| 843 | ---->'''Patrick:''' I mean, it's not like it looks any different than a regular dollar! Why hang it? You could just hang any dollar bill up on the wall and no one would know the difference! You might as well just reach into my wallet, pull out a dollar, and put it on the wall! |
| 844 | *** In that same episode, Patrick proposes they wash the paint off. [=SpongeBob=] points out Mr. Krabs said the paint doesn't come off, Patrick says to forget that as every paint comes off with something. [[spoiler: Turns out Mr. Krabs lied and the paint actually comes off with saliva.]] |
| 845 | *** In another episode, Patrick states that dumb people are totally unaware of how dumb they really are. Coming from a dim-witted starfish, this is actually true. |
| 846 | *** In "Procrastination" [=SpongeBob=] decides to call Patrick in the middle of the night to avoid writing his essay, Patrick replies with this: |
| 847 | ---->'''Patrick:''' [=SpongeBob=], you and I both know that you're just choosing me as a distraction so you don't have to write your essay. |
| 848 | *** In "SB-129", Patrick tells [=SpongeBob=] that Squidward isn't up to playing with them, but [=SpongeBob=] convinces Patrick that it isn't the case. |
| 849 | *** Patrick was very competent throughout "Porous Pockets", as he was quick to realize [=SpongeBob=] giving all of his money away to strangers, and warns him to stop doing it otherwise he'll have no money left. |
| 850 | *** Patrick makes a really strong point in "Treats!" when [=SpongeBob=] cannot bring himself to say no to Gary meowing for Snail Bites nonstop even though there are none left in the world; he has to be firm with Gary and just say no. Despite some resistance, [=SpongeBob=] finally takes Patrick's advice and tells Gary no, which in turn causes Gary to stop. |
| 851 | ** Besides Patrick, [=SpongeBob=] himself can have his moments as well: |
| 852 | *** When informed about a phony health inspector in "Nasty Patty", [=SpongeBob=] actually makes a valid point when he suggests to Mr. Krabs they inform their health inspector about the fake one; that way if they are suspicious about them, they would interrogate him and find out. Mr. Krabs jumps to the worst conclusion that he ''is'' the imposter and a tainted patty knocks him out; it is by then the real imposter was already captured, thus [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs were forced to hide the inspector having thought to have killed him. |
| 853 | *** After being shooed out of Squidward's house in "Good Neighbors", [=SpongeBob=] sees Squidward's Sunday papers were never delivered to the door and assumes that's why he was grouchy today, and tries to deliver them to him and when they get messed up, manages to round up every single paper and bring them right to him later. |
| 854 | *** Although he and Patrick were easily swayed by a ConMan in "Chocolate With Nuts", [=SpongeBob=] was quick to notice upon their second encounter with him at the next house that he was the same guy who sold them the candy bar bags. |
| 855 | *** In "The Slumber Party", Pearl and her friends are having a SlumberParty at Mr. Krabs' house and kick him out; worrying she and her friends might be damaging the house and causing a ruckus, he orders [=SpongeBob=] to sneak into the party in disguise and find out what they're doing. After his disguise as a piano repairman fails, [=SpongeBob=] suggests to Mr. Krabs it's better if they leave Pearl alone as she seems trustworthy enough, but he doesn't listen and still orders him to get in, lest he'll be fired if he doesn't. |
| 856 | *** In "Sportz?", Squidward sees [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick don't know how to play sports properly and decides to use their idiocy of sports against them; one of them is foot-racing in ice skates on bare ground. [=SpongeBob=] was right to question Squidward about this because the skates were hurting his feet from running in them and tripping over as a result. |
| 857 | * Raven does this to Beast Boy in ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' at least once. Notably, Beast Boy calls out Robin for acting like Slade in his search for him, as well as showing insight into Terra's character when the Titans were ready to consider her just another villain. In the second to last episode, he also quickly took charge of the remaining heroes, citing that he's had the most experience fighting them. |
| 858 | * Happens every so often in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', and almost always in reference to [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Michelangelo]]. Usually it's [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Raphael]] who gets to admit it. |
| 859 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' after listening to Kelly's ramblings about [[SpoiledBrat Taylor's]] behavior for an entire trip, which is still not finished, [[BumblingDad Dwayne]] gave his viewpoint as a fellow parent and someone who is outside her social circle that Taylor was born spoiled. |
| 860 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', Prowl assumes Sentinel is getting help from Lockdown in capturing Megatron's lieutenants, and uses the fact that they are stripped of their equipment as evidence when confronting him. Sentinel shows him Lugnut's mods and points out he'd have to be really stupid not to disarm dangerous prisoners. Prowl is proven to be correct later on, and Lugnut's mods were used to try and "throw him off the scent" -- but Sentinel has a point. Incidentally, Starscream had escaped Sentinel's custody once before precisely because he didn't disarm him, so Prowl's assertion is based on past experience. |
| 861 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', when a spike-laden deathtrap comes closing in on them, Hank suggests they contact Dr. Orpheus. Dr. Venture vehemently objects half because Hank is a dumbass and half because he really doesn't like Dr. Orpheus. Brock outright says "I know it sounds crazy, but Hank has the ''only'' idea." Dr. Venture only relents when Brock starts lining them up for the least painful death. |
| 862 | ** In another episode, when the topic of girls comes up: |
| 863 | --->'''Dermott:''' Do you dig this Tracy girl or what?\ |
| 864 | '''Dean:''' Well, she seems nice, and her hair is really pretty.\ |
| 865 | '''Dermott:''' Well, talk to her, then. You don't have to nail her. Just see what happens. Man, way to be uptight.\ |
| 866 | '''Hank:''' Wait, did you just give good advice?\ |
| 867 | '''Dean:''' I gotta go check the temperature in Hell.\ |
| 868 | '''Dermott:''' You can both blow me. |
| 869 | [[/folder]] |
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