Line #14 Main/TookALevelInDumbass


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5	->'''Producer''': I thought Tyrion was the smart one.\
6	'''Screenwriter''': He used to be, but now I need things to happen really fast, so that's all over!
7	-->-- ''Series/GameOfThrones Season 8'' ''[[WebVideo/ScreenRantPitchMeetings Pitch Meeting]]''
8
9	A specific subtrope of {{Flanderization}} (and occasionally {{Jerkass}} also). As a series progresses, characters sometimes become more and more stupid as time goes on. Usually the reason is related to the BadassDecay phenomenon, but with the character's level of intelligence rather than his ability to kick ass, following something along the following cycle: an episode in which the character acts like a total buffoon gets good ratings, so another one is made. It too gets good ratings. So they make another. And another. Eventually the character is so dumb that you wonder how he manages to walk across a room without injuring himself, and pretty soon everyone forgets that the character was ever anything other than a complete moron. For this very reason and the fact that it's easier to write comedy that involves dumb people, this trope is rather frequent in any comedy series.
10
11	Generally PlayedForLaughs. Sometimes used on the supporting characters to make the hero look more competent. Or sometimes, it's just that the show gets a pack of new writers and they turn the guy into a moron for kicks.
12
13	This has a high chance of being seen as CharacterDerailment, as unlike other character changes there's little that can justify a character becoming less smart so it oft goes unexplained. It should still be noted that [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this isn't always a bad thing]]. In some cases, viewers may find the over the top idiocy more entertaining than the original concept, or that giving them some idiotic traits make them more of a RoundedCharacter.
14
15	BookDumb characters seem particularly prone to this; it is [[MostWritersAreWriters very easy for writers]] to go from 'savvy but unintellectual' to 'just stupid'.
16
17	May result in a typical IdiotHero degenerating into TooDumbToLive. Compare IdiotBall for one-off moments of uncharacteristic idiocy, thought this can overlap if they grab it often enough. Contrast TookALevelInBadass and DumbassNoMore. See also SanitySlippage.
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19	If this happens when one works gets adapted to another medium rather than occurring within the same work, see AdaptationalDumbass.
20
21	----
22	!!Example subpages:
23
24	[[index]]
25	* TookALevelInDumbass/AnimeAndManga
26	* TookALevelInDumbass/ComicBooks
27	* [[TookALevelInDumbass/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
28	* TookALevelInDumbass/{{Literature}}
29	* TookALevelInDumbass/LiveActionTV
30	* TookALevelInDumbass/VideoGames
31	* TookALevelInDumbass/WebOriginal
32	* TookALevelInDumbass/WesternAnimation
33	[[/index]]
34
35	!!Other examples:
36
37	[[AC:AsianAnimation]]
38	* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': In Season 8 episode 4, Big M. uses a special powder that makes any affected targets dumber. He uses it on Sweet S. so that he can get the fire wand from her, but then he needs help from drowning in a big cauldron and all nearby sources of help, including Little M. and Huo Haha, completely fail to actually get him out of the cauldron since they drank water contaminated with the powder. ''Oops.''
39
40	[[AC:ComicStrips]]
41	* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': The [[PointyHairedBoss defining character trait]] of Dilbert's boss was a result of this. In the earlier strips he was just a regular BadBoss who was more likely to be shown performing evil experiments on his employees than [[TheDitz losing at chess to a pineapple]]. And done deliberately in one strip where a new guy transitions from appearing to be smarter than everyone else in the team to having neanderthal-level intelligence over the course of a ''three-panel comic''.
42	* ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'': Roger, the father figure. In the earliest years of the strip, he was a competent enough patriarch, though a bit harried and somewhat of a SmallNameBigEgo. As the strip went through ReverseCerebusSyndrome, his intelligence dropped severely and his occasional bouts of incompetence (he was a WalkingTechbane from the first month onward) became exaggerated to match.
43	* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': Jon Arbuckle, Garfield's owner. He started as a perfectly ordinary bachelor. Come the early-2000's, and he's a total moron who finds interest in mundane activities, mistakes a sudoku for a crossword, and mistakes an upside down restaurant menu for French. It was around the same time he was [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] into being the StrawLoser to Garfield.
44	* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Sally Brown started out as reasonably naïve and childish before devolving into a full-on [[TheDitz ditz]] who made hilariously inaccurate school reports.
45
46	[[AC:FanWorks]]
47	* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction, [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures MaNi/Elder Brother]] (the result of an ExpendableClone of Ghidorah's [[MultipleHeadCase right head]] merging with [[TheAssimilator the Many]]) is much more prone to committing acts of StupidEvil and [[TooDumbToLive forgetting about self-preservation altogether]] than he was when attached to Ghidorah. According to WordOfGod, this is due to a combination of: [=MaNi=] lacking Ghidorah's intelligent middle head to act as his RestrainingBolt, and AssimilationBackfire from the Many making him part-[[spoiler:Skullcrawler]].
48	* Twilight and her friends in ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic''. When meeting Rhymey during his visit in Equestria, they all mistake him for a crossdressing Fluttershy. Bonus points go to Rarity, who outright states she has no problem that "she" completely transformed herself with magic into a male. The remake tries to address this by making them believe that she is disguised, which manages to make them look even dumber.
49	* Yang has a mild case of this in ''Fanfic/ReactWatchBelieveYikes''. She's generally a bit slower on the uptake compared to the others and is less book-smart than in canon.
50
51	[[AC:Films — Animation]]
52	* ''WesternAnimation/HoodwinkedTooHoodVersusEvil'': Wolf goes from a ConsummateProfessional who took his job seriously to a CowboyCop who constantly jeopardizes his missions through sheer incompetence, such as trying to order pizza during a stakeout and using a single PaperThinDisguise that only consists of a hat and beard.
53	* Titan and Zartog in ''WesternAnimation/SpaceChimps2ZartogStrikesBack''. Titan was dumb before, but he reaches extreme levels of stupidity in this movie when he helps Zartog get into the base. Zartog does, too. It's clear that the humans don't understand him, but he just doesn't get the message.
54	* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'', Buzz Lightyear comes off as rather more naïve and hapless than he did in the past two entries. Notably, he seems to lack a basic grasp of simple metaphors and starts relying on his own voice box to make decisions for him, in quite the contrast to his assertiveness in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''.
55
56	[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
57	* ''WebComic/EightBitTheater'':
58	** Bikke the pirate was actually fairly ruthless and cunning when he first appeared (well, compared to Garland and the heroes, anyway). At this point, his intelligence is viewed as on par with [[TheDitz Fighter's]]. In fact, he's probably worse since he's not even literate.
59	** D'rizzl actually ''inverted'' this trope, by taking levels in Smartass. Complete with a 50-point IQ hike.
60	** Fighter himself could also be considered a victim of this trope. Initially, he was simply TheFool with an intense sword obsession. For the past few hundred comics, he's essentially been a total idiot.
61	* Nick in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', who went from "stereotypical dim-bulb grunt" to an extreme [[TheDitz ditz]].
62	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Sam "Da Man" Sein's intelligence has been plummeting ever since he became a vampire.

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