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!!Authors
* Creator/AgathaChristie:
** Franchise/HerculePoirot frequently represents himself to suspects as a vain, obsessive-compulsive, language-mangling Belgian émigré -- a more outlandish version of himself, in other words -- in order to give them a false sense of superiority over him.
--->''"It is true that I can speak the exact, the idiomatic English. But, my friend, to speak the broken English is an enormous asset. It leads people to despise you. They say -– a foreigner -– he can't even speak English properly. It is not my policy to terrify people – instead, I invite their gentle ridicule. Also I boast! An Englishman he says often, 'A fellow who thinks as much of himself as that cannot be worth much.' That is the English point of view. It is not at all true. And so, you see, I put people off their guard."''
** Captain Hastings is not this trope, but he discovered a significant clue in "The Big Four" and Poirot presented him as this trope to British spies. They were impressed with Hastings' "act".
** ''Literature/MissMarple'' passes as a doddering old lady, but has a mind like a razor--or, as one police official put it, "like a bacon slicer".
** At “Problem at Mesopotamia”, there is a British guy that has an out of focus gaze, relaxed facial muscles, and always looks sad, and it's rumored he drinks heavily. If you are observant, when you go to his office you will notice the door fits perfectly in its frame, and that he adopts an alert posture... fitting for the head of the British secret service.
** ZigZagged with Gerda from ''Literature/TheHollow'', who seemingly has some kind of mental disorder and is often critizised for being "slow". However, an early chapter from her point of view reveals that, while she is a bit slower than average, Gerda is actually smarter than she seems and to some extent likes to exaggerate her seeming lack of intelligence to get back at other people. [[spoiler: This character trait turns out to be {{Foreshadowing}} and is the key to the whole murder mystery, as Gerda was the one who murdered her husband and then pretended to act confused and innocent. Despite this, other members of the family realized that Gerda was the killer and began to work on confusing the investigation in order to protect her. So while Gerda may not be stupid, she's obviously not as smart as she thinks (not to mention, you know, an unstable killer.)]]
** Superintendent Battle of UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard is often described as 'wooden' both in facial expression and in manner. He openly acknowledges that he plays up the stereotype of a polite, stolid, diligent, and slightly dim policeman to put people at their ease around him, while he's actually quite clever and observant underneath.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/TheEmpireNovels'' and ''Literature/FoundationSeries'':
** ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'': Gillbret oth Hinriad, the cousin of Director Hinrik (a local ruler who is a loyal vassal of the Tyranni), speaks of his need to play the part of an effete dilettante twenty-four hours a day so that everyone will underestimate him. The character who is actually most thoroughly using this trope is [[spoiler:Director Hinrik himself, who plays the part of a doddering old fool and fearful puppet of the Tyranni with far greater consistency than Gillbret ever has, while actually being the leader of the underground resistance movement]].
** "Literature/TheEncyclopedists": Lord Dorwin, a diplomat from Trantor, fooled everyone on Terminus with his foppish aristocratic behaviour. Mayor Hardin quietly recorded what the man said for five days, and subjected it to analysis. It turned out that in five days of discussion, Lord Dorwin had managed to avoid saying anything meaningful, and did it so smoothly and conversationally that no one noticed until Hardin had it analyzed.
** "Literature/SearchByTheFoundation": Lord Stettin's mistress acts as if she's almost too dumb to breathe, but she is, in fact, [[spoiler:a highly intelligent Second Foundationer planted in that situation in order to help get the [[ThePlan Seldon Plan]] back on track]].
** ''Literature/FoundationsEdge'': Sura Novi is a gentle, slightly naïve Hamenian (post-Fall Trantor inhabitant) who barely knows how to read and write and decides to work for Stor Gendibal as a servant because she has a bit of hero worship and a crush on him. However, [[spoiler:she's actually a highly intelligent and powerful Gaian agent that was placed in Hame[=/=]Trantor to get a Speaker to the First Foundation[=/=]Second Foundation[=/=]Gaia meeting to decide the Galaxy's future, and later returns to Trantor with Gendilbal to subtly guide him into leading the Second Foundation towards Galaxia.]]
* Creator/TerryPratchett, best known for his ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series:
** In ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', Nanny Ogg is described as having "a mind like a buzz saw behind a face like an elderly apple". Her "genial old biddy" facade is every bit as formidable as [[IronLady Granny Weatherwax]] and it's not until you see Nanny Ogg get serious that you realize how she manages to keep up with Granny. In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' she showed some of her real genius by keeping up with even Susan Sto Helit.
** After Death is fired in ''Literature/ReaperMan'', he moves out into the country where his unerring skill at darts earns him the dislike of the other villagers. He quickly uses his exceptional skill to play "badly" – for example, bouncing the dart off a post and hitting the hat of the man behind him – thus winning everyone over.
** Captain Carrot of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. While usually portrayed as a genuinely uncomplicated character who takes everything at face value, it is observed that "someone has to be very complex indeed to be as simple as Carrot". You can almost see the transition of Captain Carrot from CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass to this trope in ''Literature/MenAtArms''. He goes from a person unable to detect irony and having trouble with metaphors to reaching "agreements" with Vetinari and deception. Angua notes in ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' that
--->that was Carrot at work. He could sound so innocent, so friendly, so... stupid, in a puppy-dog kind of way, and then he suddenly become this big block of steel and you walked right into it.
*** In ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' he manages to figure out that Commander Vimes has traveled through both time and space, scant seconds after being given a lot of very big words from a Ponder Stibbons, resident Rocket Wizard. This upsets Stibbons because he never expected someone who wasn't a wizard, much less a watchman, to catch on that quickly.
** Although Rincewind really is an incompetent coward, some characters are convinced that he's faking it since he has survived multiple situations where, by all rights, he should be dead. If he saw it as something to do as a routine and not a survival tactic, his penchant for running would probably mean he'd get on well with the Archchancellor, who is quite fond of morning jogs.
*** Though it's unlikely the Archchancellor would appreciate losing a race to him....
*** He ''is'' smart and rational, and his cowardice comes from jaded world-weariness and a sensible fear of the unknown. He's fantastic at improvising his way out of a situation.
** Detritus the troll. His basic reasoning may be tied to the ambient temperature (trolls, having silicon-based brains, run hot away from their mountain homes - and Detritus, seen as stupid even by troll standards, is implied to be particularly heat sensitive) that puts him squarely in CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass in low temps but he has developed more than a little guile over the course of several books. So much guile that he has been known to remind people of the stereotypes they are supposed to expect from him: ''No worry I are just der big dumb troll nevermind dis here notepad I am just countin' ma toes.'' It also helps that he's TooDumbToFool to the point that most people don't even try pulling something over on him since a confused Detritus is likely as not to just hit you as a compromise.
*** Ankh-Morpork's most famous "Legitimate Businessman", Chrysophrase, is also smarter than your average troll, and while he does show off this fact, he has been known to disguise just how much smarter he is, such as intentionally using HulkSpeak when he's fully capable of speaking normally. According to Vimes, he's managed to outthink and outmaneuver all of Ankh-Morpork's native crime lords, holding off the Thieves Guild with one hand, even when ''not'' sitting in a pile of snow.
** Camels are the most intelligent creatures on the Disc, or at least the most gifted mathematicians (long desert travel being good for producing such), and smart enough to not show it to humans. How do you think they can spit so accurately?
** Lu Tze, aka "The Sweeper", a superlatively multi-talented member of the Monks of History who goes everywhere and sees everything as an apparently brainless old floor sweeper. In places like Ankh-Morpork where people of his ethnicity are uncommon, he and his fellow Monks also ramp up the FunnyForeigner, encouraging further dismissal. He makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in several books, in places where something big is about to go down (such as the Temple of Offler in ''Literature/GoingPostal''). He's also faced down innumerable men with swords, Trolls, ''Susan Sto Helit'', and the ''Auditors''. [[OldMaster Remember Rule 1]].
** For someone who is loud and boisterous, oblivious and thick as a brick, Mustrum Ridcully is a remarkably skilled wizard who somehow manages to make Unseen University run despite keeping wizards under control being akin to herding radioactive cats. It has been noted several times by other characters (and the narrator) that he has managed to be the head wizard of a place where killing your boss in order to get a promotion is socially acceptable for a very long time (the entire series before he got the job, in fact). In many cases he seems to let other people think out loud for him while he works out the solution and is frequently CrazyPrepared. He also uses his apparent block-headedness to avoid pointless conversations. He doesn't start listening to someone for the first few minutes, with the reasoning that if they're still trying to explain something after all that time, it must be important. Also his personality radically shifts to a quiet, polite and mature gentleman wizard when encountering Susan Sto-Helit (who's put on the back foot by how smooth he is), and when he gets to spend personal time with Granny Weatherwax.
*** He manages to point out in ''Literature/TheLastContinent'' [[spoiler: that going back in time to tread on ants is perfectly fine because in a linear universe history 'relies' on you having already done it]], which shows that under all that obfuscation there is indeed a powerful intellect.
** Otto Chriek, the vampire photographer, plays the FunnyForeigner aspect of stereotypical {{Uberwald}}ian vampires to the hilt in order to make humans forget the fact that, if so inclined, he could easily rip them limb from limb.
** Lord Vetinari's razor-sharp mind is known and feared throughout Ankh-Morpork, but as soon as someone starts underestimating him he plays into it for everything it's worth. This was his primary weapon in his youth, before he had his reputation and the government behind him, but he isn't above using it even in the present. [[spoiler:To the point of pretending not to have solved the case of his own poisoning in ''Feet of Clay'' and is later shown to even attend meetings of secret conspiracies against him.]] In another instance, he uses a particularly forgetful and naïve act in ''Going Postal'' while questioning the board of the Grand Trunk Company, and pretends to mix up the term "the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling glass ceiling]]" with "the [[HoldYourHippogriffs Agatean]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_wall#Finance wall]]". Mr Slant, a centuries-old zombie lawyer, is onto him though:
--->Mr Slant was a long-time student of the Patrician, and when his subject appeared to be a confused civil servant asking innocent questions it was time to watch him closely.
** Preston, one of the Baron's guards in ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', spends the first half of the book as a {{Malaproper}} who does things like confusing "doctrine" with "doctoring", before the mask comes off; it turns out that he actually collects words, reads about metaphysics in his spare time, and became a guard after being kicked out of the priesthood for asking too many questions like, "Is this really true, or what?"
** ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', has 71-Hour Ahmed, the head policeman of Klatch, who acts like a FunnyForeigner in ''two'' places. In Ankh-Morpork, he acts absurdly stereotypically Klatchian. In Klatch, he adopts some Ankh-Morpork language and mannerisms he picked up while studying at the Assassins' Guild.
--->'''Vimes:''' I thought you chewed those damned cloves?\\
'''71-Hour Ahmed:''' In Ankh-Morpork, yes. Always be a little bit foreign wherever you are, because everyone knows that foreigners are a little bit stupid.
** Granny Weatherwax adopts this trait when playing Cripple Mr Onion (the Disc's equivalent of poker) with the riverboat gamblers in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad''. She promptly lures them in and cleans them out.
** It's also Sam Vimes' favorite method of dealing with Vetinari when something is going on that he doesn't want the Patrician to find out about just yet. Vetinari finally snaps about it in ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'': "If you say 'Sir?' again in that stupid voice, Vimes, I swear there will be trouble."
*** There's an inversion in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', when he tries to show off his diplomatic skills by speaking Ankh-Morpork street dwarvish to a senior Ubervaldian dwarf (imagine addressing the Queen of England in gangsta rap). Mr Skimmer compliments him on his Obfuscating Stupdity as an oblique way of telling him how stupid that was.
*** Vimes invokes this at one point during ''Night Watch'', taking on the role of the Big and Unshakably Stupid Policeman to arrest a member of the secret police before he can disrupt a secret meeting and start a riot.
** Keith in ''Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'' spends the first chapter of the book being called "the stupid-looking kid" by everyone, including the narration, before suddenly making an insightful remark. As everyone stops and stares at him, he patiently explains this trope.
--->'''Keith:''' I'm only stupid-''looking.'' I'm not ''stupid.''
** In ''{{Literature/Strata}}'', Silver is a Shand, a hulking, tusked bear-like alien, as well as a gifted historian and diplomat. Stranded on a world of primitive humans, she puts them at ease in her presence by acting like the slow-witted pet of her human associate, even performing a "clumsy" dance that conceals her agility and makes them laugh.
* Used commonly in various books by Creator/BrandonSanderson:
** In the first book of the ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'' trilogy, Vin encounters a woman named Kliss as an inveterate gossip and something of a ditz. She turns out to be an information seller with a sharp, fairly devious mind.
** To a lesser extent, Vin disguises herself as Valette Renoux, a UpperClassTwit, in order to infiltrate noble society, which is mostly populated with more of the same. Even those who catch on that she's not what she appears have no idea that she's a Mistborn.
** Later in the series we encounter Allrianne Cett, a flittery pink cream-puff of a blonde noblewoman who not only turns out to be a Rioter whose skill in allomancy is the equal to Breeze, but who winds up being an invaluable ally - and who, far from being seduced by Breeze's emotional allomancy, had to use her own considerable powers to seduce ''him'' in order to get past the discrepancy in their ages.
* Creator/MarkTwain wrote about coupling this with {{Eagleland}} when vacationing with friends to foreign nations. This was because [[ForTheEvulz it was both fun to see tour guides get more and more desperate to impress]] them, and because... tour guides got more and more desperate to impress the, apparently ignorant, American tourists. Hey, if you got taken behind the velvet rope simply because you seemed unimpressed and ignorant about the significance of some publicly-viewed item, would ''you'' be eager to stop doing it?
* Sun Tzu recommends this in both his ''[[Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu Art of War]]'' and UsefulNotes/TheThirtySixStratagems, since all warfare relies on deception.
--> "The highest pitch you can attain is to conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains." (''The Art of War'')
--> "Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near." (''The Art of War'')
--> "The highest pitch you can attain is to conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains." (''The Art of War'')
--> "Feign Madness but Keep your Balance" (Stratagem 17 of 36).

!!Specific Examples
* ''Literature/AfterDarkMySweet'': Collie's awkward mannerisms and seemingly scatterbrained and eccentric personality makes him come off as a harmless idiot. In reality, Collie is a deeply cunning and intelligent escaped mental patient who, while sometimes hindered by his delusions, is actually very good at analyzing the people around him.
* ''Literature/AgeOfFire'': [[spoiler: [=SiMevolant=]]], of the third novel, spends the whole book acting like a lazy {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, until he becomes Tyr [[spoiler: by assassinating [=SiDrakkon=]]] and starts acting in a more dominating and focused manner, implying that it was all an act so that no one would view him as a threat.
* ''Literature/TheAgeOfInnocence'': May Welland acts like a vapid, clueless, superficial {{socialite}} but, as the story progresses, it's hinted that she suspects the relationship between her husband and her cousin. This is confirmed both with the BatmanGambit that she pulls to get rid of the interloper and, twenty-something years later, after she's passed away, when her son reveals to his father that she had confided in him.
* ''Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture'':
** Alice sometimes uses the tactic (although she can fail at it completely, like in ''Series/GuestFromTheFuture''). A particularly successful case is described in ''Star Dog'', where she posed as an empty-headed juvenile delinquent with no thoughts beyond [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking breaking rules, giving punches and eating ''lots'' of ice cream]]. As a result, she tricked a highly dangerous criminal group, along with its leader ([[spoiler:who, ironically, adopted this method of disguise himself, pretending to be a low-rank teacher at the school for young criminals]]).
** Granny Lucretia can do it too. In ''The Liliputian War'', she pulls such a trick on Alice and her friends, when they try to get rid of her by saying they're experimenting with very rare and sensitive animals, and she pretends to believe them. And promptly conjures these animals using her illusionist's props.
* ''Literature/TheAliceNetwork'': The spy Eve pretended to be [[TheDitz an unintelligent girl]] so that men would underestimate her and [[LooseLips say things they shouldn't have]]. She even acted stupid in civilian life for her own purposes. Her SpeechImpediment helped her with this, since most people were disposed to think that she wasn't particularly smart anyway.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Marco is a ManipulativeBastard who uses this as a strategy, particularly when he's dealing with adults. In his internal monologue in ''The Reunion'', he comments that adults are more likely to ignore a kid they think is an idiot than one who they suspect is on their level.
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'':
** Artemis manages to rob one of the most secure banks in Europe by pretending to be a snotty teenager.
** More generally downplayed in that everyone already knows Artemis is a genius, but according to one quote he never lets anyone know exactly how intelligent he is because they would be too scared.
* In the Creator/AllenSteele novel ''Avengers on the Moon'', Grag pretends to be a LiteralMinded robot who was told to "get lost" and complied, to explain what it's doing wandering around in a secure area. This works as Grag has been reprogrammed to [[AIIsACrapshoot increase its intelligence]], but in appearance is a standard construction robot. The novel is a {{reconstruction}} of sci-fi pulp hero Literature/CaptainFuture, where Grag really was the DumbMuscle of the group.
* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}''
** Czeslaw Meyer does this by deliberately playing up an AdorablyPrecociousChild image, to mask or downplay the fact that he's at least [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld two hundred years old]] ("What? Did I just say something that wasn't very child-like? You must be thinking too much").
** Later novels suggest that maybe, just ''maybe'', [[spoiler:Isaac and Miria might be playing up their legendary stupidity]].
* ''Literature/{{Below}}'': Dex is [[spoiler:a self-taught amateur spellbinder]] working outside of their guild. He acts like more of a psychotic buffoon [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk than he really is]] so others won't suspect. Many guilds tend to arrange "accidents" for outsiders, or even insiders who put their skills to ill use.
* Emile Dupont in the ''Franchise/BerniceSummerfield'' novel ''Ship of Fools'' is a Poirot parody who appears to be the most clueless of the {{Clueless Detective}}s Benny is trapped in a ClosedCircle with, coming up with increasingly convoluted and unlikely methods of murder, and totally inaccurate {{Sherlock Scan}}s, and refusing to ever, ''ever'' admit he might be wrong ... until the murderer has had enough and confesses just to get him to shut ''up'' about trained mice and concealed midgets. Benny realises this was his goal the whole time, but Dupont claims to have no idea what she's talking about.
* ''Literature/TheBindingOfTheBlade'': Not entirely stupidity, but more lack of guile as well as lack of physical capability. The mysterious recurring character Synoki spends four books acting like a crippled, guileless peasant, tramping rather uselessly around with the heroes, before it's revealed in the last book that he's actually [[spoiler: a human avatar of Malek, who is essentially the series' analogous equivalent of Lucifer and the BigBad whom they've been trying to track down ''the whole time''.]]
* ''Literature/{{Blackcollar}}'': The former commando Damon Lathe is a gray-haired, borderline senile war veteran who like to sit around reminiscing about the war, even though he was on the ''massively'' losing side. Or so the collaboration government thinks. [[spoiler:Right up until he leads a mission to overrun and capture the government center and the spaceport. On twelve hours notice. After waiting ''twenty nine years.'']]
* "Literature/BluebeardsEgg": Played with. The protagonist, Sally, spends the whole story fondly mulling over her husband's incredible stupidity, until she finds out two pages from the end that he's [[spoiler:having an affair with her best friend]] and wonders if he's actually scintillatingly intelligent and has spent his whole life [[TheChessmaster playing cruel games]] with not only her but his previous wives.
* ''Literature/TheBookOfDragons'': In "Literature/CutMeAnotherQuillMisterFitz", Sir Hereward makes a point of presenting himself as a careless, oafish, clueless drunkard in order to spy on his targets while getting them to let their guard down and think that they are the ones manipulating him.
* ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov'': The reader is [[InformedAbility told]] on the first page that Fyodor Karamazov is muddleheaded, and yet was extremely shrewd. Later on, the reader [[{{Jerkass}} can see this]] for himself.
* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': Men are rare and considered emotionally more fragile and less intelligent and driven than women. When kidnapped and tied to a bed, Jerin tries to take advantage of this by whining and using the 'baby words' of bodily functions to make it easier to believe that he's too helpless to try and escape.
* ''Literature/{{Bystander}}'': Lucretia acts like an AttentionWhore in order to convince people that she's a vapid idiot beneath notice. Her entire BatmanGambit in the last act is made of this: [[spoiler: walk into ambush and let self get caught instead of simply stealthing away... play the bitchy and naive AttentionWhore unaware of deeper consequences for one kidnapper... when called on by the criminal leader, upgrades to a SmugSnake attitude and making references that virtually brag "I'm smarter than you" while also giving the impression that she's trying a desperate ploy she just rammed together... that convinces [[DarkActionGirl Kali]] that she is a smart but sloppy amateur in over her head. The fact being that Lucretia is aware that she's in over her head, but is a lot smarter and more calculating than she lets on even when she's talking to Kali about history.]]
* ''Literature/LosCaballerosLasPrefierenBrutas'' (''Gentlemen Prefer the Dumb''), a satyrical feminist self-help book, has this trope as its main thesis: it proposes that the woman should play dumb in front of the man and keep making him pay for everything, even if she has a paying job and can support herself. The reasoning is because many men today both feel intimidated by competent women and dismiss feminine intelligence, a smart woman can use those insecurities and prejudices for [[GoldDigger her financial advantage]] by playing bimbo. In the TV adaptation, the main heroine, who is wise about the above point and was given the "too smart" reason as why her (now ex) fiancé cheated on her, deliberately tries to dumb herself down in the hopes of attracting a new boyfriend.
* Orr from ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'' is portrayed as one of the crazier members of the 256th Squadron, who becomes far more proficient at crashing the airplanes he flies than actually flying them, until it's revealed that [[spoiler:he was deliberately crashing at sea as practice so he could fake his death and desert to a neutral country]].
* The ''{{Literature/Chrestomanci}}'' series has several, but special mention goes to [[spoiler:the Duke of Caprona]] from ''The Magicians of Caprona''. [[spoiler:He's only able to retain his position – and probably his life – by allowing his wife to think he's nothing but a puppet show-obsessed {{Manchild}}.]]
* ''Literature/{{City of Bones|1995}}'' by Creator/MarthaWells: Khat lived for a while in the Academia, is learned in Ancient/Survivor lore, speaks and reads a variety of languages, and is generally observant and savvy. However, since most people [[FantasticRacism reflexively distrust kris]], he frequently hides or downplays these skills, letting people think he's just a low-tier criminal opportunist. It saves his life more than once.
* Genji in ''Literature/CloudOfSparrows'' acts like a wastrel lord who only cares for women and sake, and goes to view cranes just after the British navy bombards his Edo residence. Turns out he knew (almost) exactly what Kawakami was planning and who was intending to betray him.
* ''Literature/CodexAlera'':
** Fade appears to be merely Tavi's simpleton slave, who follows him around but doesn't do much. [[spoiler:Until he defeats dozens of talented warriors with only his sword, including the man known to be the best swordsman since Araris Valerian died. Turns out, he ''is'' Araris, hiding in shame.]] After that scene, he goes back to being merely Fade, the simpleton slave; only Tavi knows otherwise.
** Similarly, Doroga. He appears to be a cheerfully-fugly mountain of muscle, and his favorite weapon is a stone the size of him. However, he managed to teach himself to read in less than six months, is shown effortlessly outmaneuvering Alera's top strategists on the battlefield, and dispenses sage advice to anyone who needs it.
--->"Doroga does not ''appear'' wise..."
* In the ''Company Z'' novels by Creator/JTEdson, Sergeant Jubal Branch plays the part of ignorant hick, deliberately mispronouncing words, in order to make criminals underestimate him.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "The Pool of the Black Ones", Literature/ConanTheBarbarian realizes that he had accidentally triggered it; his foes probably thought they were herding him into a corner, and that he was stupid. So he takes full advantage of it, nothing being better than being underestimated.
* Cameron "Spammy" Scott, from Creator/ChristopherBrookmyre's ''Country of the Blind'' (and others, but most prominently this one) is drug-addled, awkward and more than a little slow. Apparently. But he is also quite intelligent, good with technology, and a very, '''very''' good hand-to-hand fighter.
* In ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'', detective Porfiry pretends to be a dumb clown. He isn't.
* ''Literature/TheCulture'': In ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'', two of the characters qualify as this, and in both cases, they are doing so to fool both [[TheEmpire The Empire of Azad]] and the protagonist, who is basically an UnwittingPawn being used by [[StateSec Special Circumstances]] to accomplish the Culture's goals. The Drone accompanying the protagonist initially comes across as bumbling and rather insufferable, but when things get difficult, starts seeming a lot more on the ball [[spoiler: in fact, that Drone is the RoboticPsychopath that the protagonist previously knew and is NarratorAllAlong]]. There's also Zu, the representative of the Culture in Azad. He comes across as a hedonistic slacker who prefers to party and chase local women. However, he later reveals HiddenDepths and discusses having to have all of his sophisticated Culture implants removed and being under terrible scrutiny. This seems to actually be just a lie to motivate the protagonist to win – he's actually a Badass mercenary hired by the Culture.
* [[spoiler:The Lepar]] are an entire species made of this trope in ''Literature/TheDamnedTrilogy'' by Creator/AlanDeanFoster. They ''are'' relatively unintelligent, but not as stupid as the other races think they are, [[spoiler:manipulating them]] in secret.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, Eddie Dean starts off this way because of his crippling self doubt and a lifetime of making himself intentionally stupid/weak in order to protect his big brother's ego. His brother does seem to be at least partially aware of it though, as he once stated that when Eddie is in the zone, he can "convince the Devil to set himself on fire."
* In ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'', Betsy insists that the eccentric Mr. Dick is this. Later, she is proved right.
* Sasha, the main character's [[NoHeroToHisValet manservant]] in ''Literature/TheDeathOfTheVazirMukhtar''. His master eventually begins to realize that Sasha is rather more clever than he is letting on. It doesn't help that Sasha is ''also'' an example of FeigningIntelligence – badly.
* In the ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'' series, Salamander, who prattles endlessly and travels as a common gerthddyn (roaming bard) to conceal the fact that he's a sorceror; lampshaded by Gwin in the 4th book.
* Fizban, a wizard in the original trilogy of ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' books often casts spells wrong, is completely senile, and often poses a danger to himself and the heroes whenever they encounter him. Although he does take on a completely different (and scary) personality when angered AND rides a gold dragon, he puts up a particularly hare-brained [[EccentricMentor Dumbledore]] facade so convincing it has even the reader fooled until near the end when it's revealed that he's actually [[spoiler:Paladine, Head god of the good-aligned deities on Krynn in mortal guise]].
** The same character returns as "Zifnab" in ''The Death Gate Cycle'' by the same authors.
** The gully dwarves of the setting would appear to engage in at least some of this as well. Sure, they're probably ''legitimately'' not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they're still capable of surviving on their own without any help from the other races (that generally look down on them as it is) and deliberately faking some extra incompetence because nobody really expects a gully dwarf to be good at anything, anyway.
* ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'': Mildmay Foxe is generally perceived by others (particularly the snobby nobles and academics he rubs shoulders with) to be a blunt instrument at best, due to his lack of formal education and obviously lower-class roots. His scarred and partially paralysed face doesn't help either, as it makes his speech slower than average and slightly slurred. He is, however, extremely [[StreetSmart shrewd, logical, and worldy wise]], and notably perceptive when it comes to the habits and motivations of others. He's hard to fool, and frequently picks up on important details others tend to miss. He's not above using people's prejudice to his advantage, although most of the time he doesn't even go out of his way to play dumb - he just [[TheQuietOne quietly lets people make their own assumptions]], and gives very little away to those he doesn't trust.
* In Creator/BarbaraHambly's ''Literature/{{Dragonsbane}}'' series, John Aversin adopts what he calls his "dancing bear routine" whenever he has to hobnob with nobility, playing the out-of-touch, ignorant frontier bumbler with no table manners and grins from ear to ear. It's easier to pretend at being an [[FeeFiFauxPas uncivilized, well-meaning slob]] than it is to try to play by upper-class rules. And besides, people tend to forget that a dancing bear is still dangerous if left unsupervised.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Hendricks is a big muscular man whom Dresden often assumes is DumbMuscle. Made clear in ''Literature/SmallFavor'', though many fans suspected him as far back as ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}''. [[spoiler:Confirmed in "Even Hand", when he is shown working on his thesis]].
** Thomas Raith, White Court vampire does this to avoid his older brothers' fate at their father's hands:
--->"Don't look at me. I'm a drunken, chemical-besotted playboy who does nothing but cavort, sleep, and feed. And even if I had the mind to take a bit of vengeance on the Red Court, I wouldn't have the backbone to actually stand up to anyone." He flashed me a radiant smile. "I'm totally harmless."
** Based on a couple of comments made by Lara Raith in ''Literature/BloodRites'', the White Court vamps do this all the time. Since their power structure is all about manipulating events while maintaining plausible deniability, looking competent would merely mean they're not competent enough to appear less competent.
** It's noted several times that this at least somewhat applies to Harry. He's so busy making stupid jokes, spouting off pop culture references and making such a fool of him self that it's easy to forget that he's an extremely powerful wizard and a very capable detective. The Gatekeeper even told Harry "I can't decide if you are the greatest liar I have ever met, or truly as ignorant as you seem". Furthermore, whenever Lara appears in one of the books, she inevitably gets used by Harry, generally while thinking that she's the one using him right up until the end. In ''Literature/SummerKnight'', while under magic forcing him to tell the truth, he reveals that to the bad guys that he's figured out their entire plan just from a few conversations and observations that he had throughout the book. That said, a lot of his bad decisions are just [[DidntThinkThisThrough genuinely bad choices]], not something intending to be misleading, so he's also closer to a GeniusDitz at times.
--->'''Typical Bad Guy:''' Spooky. [Dresden] doesn't ''look'' all that smart.
** Harry's dog, Mouse, is far more intelligent than he lets on (at least as smart as a person and, in the case of Harry, smarter on at least a few occasions). Of course that also means he's smart enough to play the BigFriendlyDog card for all it's worth, both to draw attention away from the fact that he is an immensely powerful spirit dog known as a Foo Dog, and because people are uncomfortable around not-overtly-friendly dogs the size of a small sofa. Also, people who like him pet him and give him treats, and even a super-powerful magical dog ''is'' still a dog.
** The Winter Lady, Maeve, pretends to be much more of a [[StupidEvil psychotic]] [[UnskilledButStrong magical dilettante]] than she actually is.
** Ron Carmichael is a fat, balding, middle-aged cop who looks like he sleeps in his suit and has a permanent ketchup stain on his tie. He is also a razor-sharp investigator who prefers to be underestimated.
* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', Count Hasimir Fenring definitely counts as one of those. 'Umm-ah-hm-mm-mm', indeed! (He completely loses the affect/speech impediment when in private conversation about the Emperor's orders with the Baron.)
** It should be noted that in other books he does this on purpose, both to annoy people around him and to communicate secretly with his wife, who is a Bene Gesserit.
** The baron also describes him as "a killer with the manners of a rabbit... the most dangerous kind."
** It is revealed in ''Literature/HereticsOfDune'' that the Tleilaxu have been doing this for thousands and thousands of years simply waiting for the right moment to ascend to power.
* A lot of characters in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' but the one guy who stands out of all people is [[spoiler:Ryugamine Mikado. He seems like your typical NaiveNewcomer, right up until he demonstrates that he's successfully ''weaponized Four Chan'']]. If even then, he still doesn't seem all that scary on a personal level, just wait until he starts [[spoiler:stabbing people with pens with a [[DissonantSerenity horrendous expression]] on his face.]]
* ''Literature/EastOfEden'': Lee is the smartest character, but practices the pidgin Chinese and servant position expected of him. When questioned about this, he answers that the servant position gives him safety and power (he runs the house). Although he was born and raised in San Francisco, and well educated, he speaks pidgin English, because most white people expected it, and wouldn't understand him if he spoke correctly.
* In ''The Elegance of the Hedgehog'' by Muriel Barbery two of the three main characters, a very precocious 12 year old girl and a middle aged, also brilliant, concierge are both hiding their abilities. The third main character is the catalyst that brings them to each others' attention, and helps them accept their gifts.
* Sukhinov's ''Emerald City'' stories: Midgety the Ogre is fat, appears lazy and dumb buffoon, his clothing is ruffled, his house looks like a mess... and he eats Munchkins that come to his house deceived by the whole outside harmlessness and fall for booby traps he installed everywhere. He is actually very strong, relatively fast for his weight, and he is '''very''' cunning, deceitful and ruthless.
* ''Literature/TheEminenceInShadow'': ZigZagged with Cid. He does hide his true nature as a skilled fighter but most of his actions that help further the Shadow Garden's goals is just pure luck on his part.
* ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'': In ''Dealing with Dragons'', Cimorene uses the fact that almost all princess are feather-headed idiots to try to trick several visiting wizards into thinking she's just as stupid and thus let down their guard around her. Amusingly, she bases most of her ditzy behavior off of things her own sisters did. She suspects that it doesn't really work on them though, and doesn't bother after they figure out that she's smart enough to be a threat to them. The series also suggests that many princesses pretend to be more useless than they're really capable of, because that's the way they're expected to act.
* Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/EndersShadow'':
** The series features layers upon layers of geniuses allowing themselves to be underestimated, even by ''other'' geniuses who should have known better. The best example would have to be [[spoiler:Peter's parents, who were well aware of his and Valentine's political shenanigans in ''Literature/EndersGame'' and feigned ignorance so they wouldn't interfere with their children's development. Peter's mother even chews him out about it, being so arrogant in his own brilliance that it never occurred to him he might have inherited it from anybody]]. To his credit, he's humbled by this when he realizes how obvious it should have been, had he not been so self-absorbed.
** This even applies to whole nations, especially when counseled by former military child geniuses. Topping them all might have to be the old USA, which ''wasn't'' just a wishy-washy loudmouthed former worldpower in the pocket of China's massive economy, as everybody believed. [[spoiler:It was running the International Fleet all along, and could have made a bid for world domination had it chosen that road. Instead, it used those resources to build and support the first waves of human interstellar colonization, sending humanity (i.e. Americans) out for GALACTIC domination]].
* In ''Literature/TheExorcist'', it's Lt. Kinderman. He calls it "schmaltz". Chris also does her own version of this ("I'm dumb") to get detailed explanations from people. She prefers this method of learning over reading.
* ''Literature/FamiliaChronicleEpisodeLyu'': In her "Grand Casino" mission, Syr Flover acts like a naive wife and is able to play, basically bankrupt, and completely destroy the richest men at her poker table... and they were working together!
* Creator/GKChesterton's ''Literature/FatherBrown'': The protagonist has a tendency to stumble around acting dimwitted or like a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (or, in "The Blue Cross", simply acting memorably erratic – a tactic to get an inspector to follow him to the criminal) before suddenly whipping out the solution to the case. Chesterton was making the point that, while many people think of priests as sheltered naifs, that's the one thing an experienced priest can't possibly be – he's heard more people confessing to evil thoughts and deeds than any dozen detectives.
* ''Literature/TheFinishingSchoolSeries'': [[spoiler:Mademoiselle Geraldine, headmistress of the titular finishing school, appears to be utterly oblivious to its nature as a school for spies, and in fact keeping her LockedOutOfTheLoop is part of the curriculum. In the final book, it's revealed she's actually a fully trained intelligencer who is every bit as capable as the other teachers.]]
* ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'': The titular character is never sure whether his wife Elspeth is really the DumbBlonde she often seems to be, or is hiding a sharp mind behind her gorgeous face, blonde hair and guileless blue eyes.
* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'', when Angel stumbles on the villains who are stealing valuable timber and holding Freckles prisoner, intending to kill him, she acts incapable of understanding and as if fascinated by the chief villain.
* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'':
** Melissa Mao reflects back to her initial encounters with Sousuke and Kurz: she was sent to scout the training camp they were in for candidates to recruit to Mithril. Both Sousuke and Kurz, mistrustful of the mysterious organization sponsoring their training, deliberately underperformed: Sousuke was content to maintain a level of careful mediocrity, but Kurz went the extra mile and staged an attempted sexual assault on Mao to make ''sure'' she'd strike him from her list. When a mission came in and most of the other members were captured, however, both of them were obliged to demonstrate the full level of their considerable skills.
** Gauron is {{lampshaded}} to have the habit of doing this to fool his potential prey...at least temporarily, before his psychotic, AxCrazy tendencies take over. As Kalinin described him in ''Kyokuhoku Kara no Koe'', "When you were fooled by his seemingly languid appearance, he would suddenly display his determined and violent nature."
* In ''Literature/FuneralInBerlin'' by Creator/LenDeighton, the English spy, NoNameGiven, appears to be not very bright, at least to amateurs. When the assistant to Colonel Stok (a professional Soviet spy) mentions this, Stok tells him that is the height of professionalism.
* ''Literature/GoodOmens'':
** According to one version of the Bible, Aziraphale (one of the main characters) did this to God slightly after the dawn of time, after Adam and Eve have been cast out of Eden, and Aziraphale gave Eve his sword because he felt sorry for her.
--->25 And the Lord spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying 'Where is the flaming sword that was given unto thee?'\\
26 And the Angel said, 'I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down some where, forget my own head next.'\\
27 And the Lord did not ask him again.
** Sister Mary Loquacious is initially described as someone who was quite bright, but calls herself a "scatterbrain" because life is easier that way. Later in the book, we see what happens when she has reason to apply her intelligence.
%%* ''Literature/TheGoodSoldierSvejk'': It's disputed whether the titular protagonist uses this, or he's just stupid.
* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'':
** Dumbledore likes to exaggerate his ''eccentric old man'' image to throw others off TheChessmaster scent. Most people are wary of him anyway. There's a reason that an alternate title for EccentricMentor is "The Dumbledore". It's more like Obsfuscating Insanity, really. Nobody who isn't deluding himself doubts that Dumbledore is a genius and the greatest wizard of his time, but he tends to come off as a little senile, lulling people into underestimating him.
** Technically it's more Obfuscating Inability to Speak English, but the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire fourth book]] has Fudge being forced to mime most of what he's saying when he's entertaining the Bulgarian Minister of Magic at the Quiddich World Cup. At the end of the game, the Bulgarian Minister comments in almost perfect English about how well his team played, much to Fudge's fury. The only explanation the Bulgarian Minister gives for the façade is that it "vos very funny".
** The p-p-p-poor st-st-st-stuttering Professor Quirrell in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''.
** Ron Weasley was also fond of this trope particularly when it involved getting Hermione to do his homework. While he genuinely didn't understand some it he would exaggerate his incompetence.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' Harry used obfuscating gullibility to give his D.A. friends time to enact their BookshelfDominoes plan when cornered by Death Eaters while Lucius tried to get him to hand over a prophecy.
* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
** Kyon often appears as a BookDumb student no better than a janitor. Granted, he cannot comprehend Koizumi's theories ([[ViewersAreGeniuses can you?]]) or Yuki when she's deducing and solving math problems. He doesn't even want to listen. However, he usually knows ''exactly'' what's going on, especially if it comes to figuring out other characters' hidden motives and feelings. Being the UnreliableNarrator he is, he may even fool the reader. Also made more clear through LittleProfessorDialog; he drops a suspicious number of references to concepts he claims to know nothing about. To quote the man himself, when he alone solves the fake murder (in the novels):
--->'''Kyon:''' And I may not look like it, but I do pay attention to things that matter. [...] Don't underestimate me.
** Kyon suspects Koizumi of doing this; Koizumi suspects Mikuru of doing this.
* ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'': Kodaka Hasegawa pretends to be oblivious mainly to avoid any type of romantic confrontations with any of the girls in the club.
* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':
** Not "stupidity" ''per se'', but Alberich teaches the royal bodyguards in ''Exile's Honor'' to look just slightly unfocused and unalert, to encourage any potential assassin to discount them.
** Mags from the ''Collegium Chronicles'' cultivates the public image of being brave, loyal, athletic, good-hearted, and slightly dim. In fact he is brave, loyal, athletic, good-hearted, and the royal spy-master's personal protege.
** During the first book of the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' young Vanyel arrives in the big city relying on SafetyInIndifference and seems to be a preening, shallow popinjay. He falls in love with [[ClosetKey Tylendel]] and gets some CharacterDevelopment, but as he's [[{{Gayngst}} afraid of his father finding out]], Van insists on a SecretRelationship and doubles down on the act, adding [[ArmoredClosetGay violent homophobia towards Tylendel]] to seal it. This backfires on Van pretty badly though - he successfully convinces all Tylendel's peers that he's a stupid little bigot and they hate him for it, and when Tylendel dies and Van is Chosen [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead they wish he'd died instead]]. Years later, while all the other Heralds ''respect'' Vanyel highly, he's only friends with a handful of them - he never develops the usual bond with his fellows.
* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': On Zaphod Beeblebrox:
-->"One of the major difficulties Trillian experienced in her relationship with Zaphod was learning to distinguish between him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldn't be bothered to think and wanted somebody else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didn't understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid."
* Shelby from the ''Literature/HIVESeries'' pretends to be nothing more than an AlphaBitch who was taken to the Island by accident for most of the first book in an attempt to be sent home because of the apparent mistake. [[BadLiar No one believes she's there by accident]], but they don't expect her to be [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower as capable as she really is]].
* Gerda Christow in Christie's ''The Hollow'' is rather slow-minded, but realized that life is much easier if she pretends to be dumber than she is, because nobody expects anything for her.
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':
** Admiral Lester "Cowboy" Tourville affected the persona of a brash, loud, and apparently apolitical, well, [[BoisterousBruiser cowboy]], that helped him survive several rounds of StateSec purges in the [[WeHaveReserves notoriously unfair]] Havenite Navy. All that despite being a brilliant tactician and rather ambitious person (the prime targets of said purges) who had a [[{{Cincinnatus}} significant role in]] [[LaResistance the plot]] that overthrew the Saint-Just regime. He still acts it now, but mostly out of habit.
** Obfuscating drunkenness is part of Kevin Usher's defense against the aforementioned StateSec ([[spoiler:well, that and being owed a favor by the aforementioned Saint-Just, for his role in the conspiracy to overthrow the Legislaturalists]]).
--->"Lesson number--what is it, now?--eight, I think. A ''reputation'' for being a drunk can keep you out of as much trouble as being one gets you into." [Usher] padded to his couch and sunk into it. "I've got a high capacity for alcohol, but I don't drink anywhere near as much as people think."
*** Usher's protégé, Victor Cachat (the student for the aforementioned lessons) learned well. In the short story "The Fanatic", while not pretending to be stupid ''per se'', he convinces everyone he's a brutal, single-minded StateSec officer who doesn't seem to care about any innocents who get hurt while uncovering threats to the regime and punishing incompetence, all the while expertly playing everyone to undermine StateSec control over the sector and ensure the loyalty of the Navy if a revolt against the government takes place.
* The ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' novel ''Hornblower and the Atropos'' has a couple of examples:
** Early on Hornblower recaptures a ship taken by French Privateers, he takes on the guise of a stupid and bloodthirsty Captain and claims that they are pirates and can be hanged immediately, this tricks the privateer into giving where his ship is anchored. Notabley, Hornblower doesn't drop the act once the privateer realises what he's done, feeling that would be farcical.
** Later, Hornblower is on a mission to covertly recover gold from a British ship sunk in Turkish waters. Hornblower is surprised but relieved that the local mudir is happy to have a British ship around to guard the bay from pirates and eager for them to stay. It's only when the ''Atropos'' is finished that the Turks begin manning their "abandoned" forts, and Hornblower belatedly realizes that 1. the mudir knew about the wreck and 2. the British are not the ''only'' people who can use telescopes to monitor distant ship operations. It takes some quick thinking for him to get out of the bay without having to give up any of the gold.
* ''How to be Popular'' by Creator/MegCabot: Darlene Staggs is known as a BrainlessBeauty who's always surrounded by [[DudeMagnet a crowd of boys]] who'll do anything for her. As they become friends, Stephanie realizes Darlene is ''way'' smarter than she lets on, but plays up the ditziness both because boys find it cute, and to get them to do things for her. She also admits to sometimes saying dumb things because [[TheGadfly she finds people's reactions funny]]. When she accidentally says something that [[HiddenDepths reveals she knows a bit about technology]], she plays it off as having parroted something she heard someplace else without understanding it.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'':
** Haymitch started out as a drunken embarrassment on live television, but the minute Peeta and Katniss show they have an ounce of fight in them, it's like flipping a switch. He goes from barely capable of standing to a clever strategist and cunning liar with a cynical knack for thinking outside the box. He wasn't faking the alcholism, however, as evidenced when he goes into withdrawal at one point.
** Johanna Mason's entire strategy during her initial Hunger Game was playing a slightly stupid weakling, only for her opponents to find out differently in their last moments.
* Ward of Hurog, protagonist of Creator/PatriciaBriggs' ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' Duology, started feigning brain damage as a young boy to protect himself from his abusive father. As Ward is officially next in line for his father's title, his apparent incompetence becomes something of an obstacle later on.
* ''Literature/IClaudius'':
-->'''Pollio:''' ''Do you want to live a long and busy life, with honor at the end of it?''\\
'''Claudius:''' ''Yes.''\\
'''Pollio:''' ''Then exaggerate your limp, stammer deliberately, sham sickness frequently, let your wits wander, jerk your head and twitch with your hands on all public or semi-public occasions. If you could see as much as I see, you would know that this was your only hope of eventual glory.''
* ''Literature/IDidNotGiveThatSpiderSuperhumanIntelligence'': Spider lets her MadScientist creator think that she only has the intelligence of a dog in the prequel novel.
--> '''Spider:''' Asking to have my cage cleaned [[FedToTheBeast or a diet free of moral qualms]] would reveal to my creator that I am smarter than the dog he treats me as. I learned very early on that the more successful the experiment, the sooner he takes it apart to find out what he did right.
* This trope drives Robert Ryan's ''John H. Watson'' mysteries, in which an aging Literature/SherlockHolmes is a minor character and Watson does most of the detective work. Watson has picked up many of Holmes' observational skills and regularly pulls off a good SherlockScan.
* In ''Literature/InfiniteStratos'', there is some implication that [[CluelessChickMagnet Ichika]] is not quite as dense as he seems regarding the affections of the girls in his harem. Given that they're all [[ClingyJealousGirl Clingy Jealous Girls]] with violent tendencies and access to {{Powered Armor}}s classified as weapons of mass destruction, he's probably safer not noticing their feelings than acknowledging them and making a choice.
%%* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/JourneysOfTheCatechist'', this turns out to be the case with [[spoiler:[[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Hunkapa Aub]]]].
* In the Literature/JudgeDee novel ''The Chinese Gold Murders'', one character is a scribe who is known as BrilliantButLazy – he is finance savvy, but is also a drunkard and is given to reciting poetry at any opportunity and seems like PluckyComicRelief. However, circumstances soon appear which presents him as a DiabolicalMastermind [[spoiler: in fact, he is on the side of the good guys and is a MasterOfDisguise – he's actually a finance minister who is the twin brother of the novel's murder victim]].
* In ''Literature/{{Kampfer}}'', [[spoiler:Kaede]] has been shown constantly as the InnocentBystander that always gets into [[DamselInDistress trouble]] and likes [[GenderBender female-Natsuru]], but [[spoiler:she is actually in league with the Moderators and has been [[TheChessMaster manipulating almost everyone into doing her bidding.]]]]
** [[spoiler:Seems more like it's a split personality style (the anime at least).]]
* In ''Literature/KeasFlight'', autistic savant Draz plays up his social awkwardness and speech difficulties in front of the [=BGs=] so they'll keep using him as a hacker without suspecting him of rebellion.
* Oona in ''Literature/KikiStrike'' acts like she can't speak English to get stock and business tips at her nail salon and instructs her workers to do the same.
* Lou Ford, the narrator of Jim Thompson's ''The Killer Inside Me'', comes off as a cornball country-bumpkin sheriff with a penchant for faux-philosophical musings ("The child is father to the man") and not an ounce of insincerity in him. He's actually fluent in at least three languages, has virtually memorized his late father's extensive library of scientific and historical literature, does academic-level math problems for fun, and annoys people with the hayseed act mostly as an outlet for his psychopathic sadism (the novel soon provides him with [[AxeCrazy a better one]]).
* [[spoiler: Minister Lacturn]] in The ''Literature/KingdomsDisdain'' Series: [[spoiler: The key to getting away with manipulation was to always act the fool, and Lactrun made sure to do that at all times.]]
* [[spoiler:No one but Juro]] in ''Literature/{{Krabat}}''. ([[spoiler:The novel is set in a mill run by an evil wizard. Since he thinks Juro to be dumb and illiterate, he lets him clean up everywhere – even in the room with his spellbook.]])
* ''Literature/TheLegendaryInge'':
** It gradually becomes clear that Harvald is nowhere near as senile as people believe him to be and still as sharp as he was when he started ruling. He's just unusually paranoid and closed-lip. [[spoiler:He later admits to Inge that he knew right from the beginning she was a girl, but he went through with the adoption because he needed her help anyway]].
** [[spoiler:Signe is naive and kind-hearted, but not stupid. She figures out Inge is a girl quite easily and is more than aware that there is some kind of strange plot going on in the castle]].
* The main character of ''Literature/TheLegendOfTheLegendaryHeroes'', Reiner Lute, is shown as a lazy, failing student in the Roland Magical Academy near the beginning of the story. [[spoiler:This lazy facade is in fact, merely a method that allows him to hide that he is in fact, the single most skilled Magician in all of Roland and the fact that he possesses the [[MagicalEye Alpha Stigma]], a power that allows him to copy any magic that he sees, and that, when he is put under severe emotional strain, pushes him into a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Superpowered evil state]] in which he is easily able to slaughter fifty enemy Magic knights without even breaking a sweat]].
* The title character in ''Literature/TheLegendOfSunKnight'' is terrible at swordplay. He spends most of his time getting stabbed, spouting inane platitudes about the God of Light, and keeping up with his beauty regimen. [[spoiler:Luckily for him, he's also a naturally talented mage, assassin, and necromancer, who shows signs of being a capable Chessmaster when he's backed into a corner. He was trained to play the part of the angelic ditz because it's good politics and PR]].
* Sticking with Golden Age detectives, Creator/DorothyLSayers' Literature/LordPeterWimsey does "a perfect imitation of the [[UpperClassTwit silly-ass-about-town]]". It's a sign that he's either "bored or detecting something."
** He gets it from his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, who uses reams of piffle to hide her intelligence from everyone, including herself. Check out how she figures out that [[spoiler:Mary was malingering]] in ''Clouds of Witness''.
* ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'': the drones pretend to be less sentient than they actually are, as they don't want humans to start poking around their private conversations and wondering whether, say, their automated repair tool is plotting their destruction (it's not, but drones value the freedom of movement the assumption of stupidity gives them).
* ''Literature/TheMagicalRevolutionOfTheReincarnatedPrincess'': Princess Anisphia's ditzy behavior, such as strolling around the castle wearing the manes of creatures she had slain in the course of her duty as an adventurer or acting on seemingly random whims, is at least partly an act. In the name of focusing on her {{Magitek}} research, she renounced her claim to the throne and her father notes she exaggerates her behavior to make herself look even more unfit, in the hopes of improving her younger brother's standing and appeal as a candidate for succession. Her parents are very aware of her intelligence, and call upon her aid to aid in situations, such as discovering the mystery of Laine's influence over others, because they know she notices things others don't. That said, Anis ''does'' have a genuine reckless streak a mile wide and ''will'' act on her own whims or take any actions that further her goals of researching Magicology.
* The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' {{verse}}:
** Kruppe, a fat, constantly babbling, ThirdPersonPerson, pastry-devouring thief and mage, is way, way, ''way'' smarter than he looks. Underestimating him has had unfortunate results for many characters and he basically runs the city of Darujhistan behind the scenes as the Eel. To be fair, a lot of his closer acquaintances aren't fooled, which he knows and it sometimes seems like he's mainly doing it to [[{{Troll}} annoy people]].
** Downplayed with Princess Felash. All signs indicate that she is a RoyalBrat, and she is, but she plays the extent of it up on purpose in order to seem more harmless and annoying, since no one would expect a capable diplomat and sorceress who can handle a knife as well behind her act.
* In the ''Literature/ModestyBlaise'' novels, Jack Fraser is the personal assistant to the head of the British secret service. He appears to be a meek and pedantic desk jockey, but is actually a highly experienced agent with a razor-sharp intellect whose speciality when he was a field agent was acting like a milquetoast so people would underestimate him.
-->Fraser adjusted his spectacles to the angle which he knew would produce the effect of prim stupidity he favoured most.
* In ''Literature/{{Mogworld}}'', [[spoiler:Slippery John]] acts stupid and creepy so that [[spoiler:he won't be selected to become a player character]].
* In the two-volume ''Mordant's Need'' series by Stephen R. Donaldson, the hero King Joyce apparently became senile shortly after having done the usual saving the kingdom/world fantasy hero thing, and everyone keeps remarking that if he were his old self, he'd surely be able to come up with a way to deal with the mess they find themselves in today. (Yes, he's faking it; it wouldn't be listed here if he weren't.)
* In Loretta Chase's romance novel ''Mr. Impossible'', LoveableRogue Rupert Carsington loves acting like a "great dumb ox" around the intelligent heroine Daphne, and frequently makes outrageously stupid comments just to enjoy the sight of her in a temper or, in more serious situations, to prevent her from crying or fainting by focusing her energy on [[SlapSlapKiss rebuking]] him.
* Another bunch of rodents takes this trope even further in ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH'', when the sapient rats convert their ElaborateUndergroundBase into a replica of a normal rat burrow, destroying all evidence of their civilized lifestyle, to throw their creators from the National Institutes of Mental Health off their trail.
* Early on in the original ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' book, Reynie decides when he gets to the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened to give the impression of knowing as little as possible because the less you know, the less people suspect you, and perhaps the more they tell you.
* In ''Literature/TheNowhereGirls'', Principal Slatterly questions Erin, who is autistic, about who stole the other students' email addresses, thinking Rosina put her up to it. Slatterly is talking down to Erin, so Erin goes along with it, pretending not to know what an email address is and asking if she can wear a [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} shiny red cape]] when Slatterly says she can be "a hero." Slatterly leaves in frustration.
* In ''[[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400411h.html The Kennel Murder Case]]'', Liang tries to pull this off with his "can barely speak English" act, and it's implied that he succeeded as far as the Coe household went. Literature/PhiloVance saw through the act immediately – Liang was educated at Oxford.
* Eugenides in ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' series plays this differently in every book, [[UnreliableNarrator fooling the reader]] for almost the entirety of the first book, and then proceeding to fool people who really, ''[[TooDumbToLive really]]'' should know better [[spoiler:including, in the third book, the entirety of the country he'd [[{{Pun}} single-handedly]] defeated in the previous book]].
* In ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', Matthias tricks the sparrows into believing he isn't a threat by pretending to be insane. King Bull Sparra does the same by pretending to be moronic.
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': Reynard portrays Rovel (one of his aliases) as somewhat dim in order to seem less suspicious.
* In Creator/RaymondEFeist's ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Riftwar Cycle]]'', there are several characters who fit this trope, namely Nakor, who nearly every single character he encounters makes a comment about him being "more than he appears." He comes off as a doddering old fool at times, a conniving gamblers at others, and one of the [[spoiler:four most powerful magicians in the world]] at others, but is so clearly fighting for the side of good that nobody ever questions him in the least bit. [[spoiler:However, it remains a question to be argued over whether he (or Banath) was fighting for good, or just playing around for fun.]]
* Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald in Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series is known to be far more intelligent than he allows himself to be credited for. Even people who know he's smarter then he seems often underestimate how ''much'' smarter.
* Simon Templar, ''Literature/TheSaint'', often uses this technique. He pretends to be a wealthy foppish sucker, and an easy mark for confidence tricksters. He then turns the trick around, and persuades them to give money to him.
* The TropeMaker is probably ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel''. The Pimpernel's public identity of Sir Percy Blakeney is a total fop (which even his wife believes to be his real self)--a façade to misdirect suspicion that he might be the hero who rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine.
%%* Simon Mead and Hugh Pierce in the ''Literature/SelenaMead'' stories both do this.
* A common interpretation of Olaf from ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. Outwardly, he's very BookDumb and comes across as a LowerClassLout, but he's also an experienced crimelord who frequently shows off gambits that leave him a step or two ahead of the precocious Baudelaires, and a former member of an organization that prided itself on a GentlemanAndAScholar attitude. In fact, his last few lines in the series are reciting a poem.
* ''Literature/TheSeventhTower'' has Ebbitt, who is believed by everyone to be insane (and he very well might be), but who also has some of the most extensive and accurate knowledge of the Chosen, their Castle, and light magic in existence. He mentions in passing that he once "chatted" with the Codex of the Chosen (a magical encyclopedia, essentially), which may explain where all his knowledge came from.
* In ''The Heritage of Shannara'' segment of the ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' metaseries, it is revealed that Cogline, the crazy old man first introduced in the original trilogy, is actually an extremely long-lived ex-Druid and a master of the old sciences who was only faking insanity for the sake of his own survival. Apparently he almost actually ''did'' go mad, but somehow stayed sane, and later became Walker Boh's mentor a close friend.
%%* This tactic was sometimes employed to great effect by Literature/SherlockHolmes (most successfully in "The Adventure of the Reigate Squires").
* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'':
** Xellos tends to give an impression of amusing if annoying harmlessness as long as his eyes remain closed, hiding his true, sinister nature.
** Gourry himself would be the textbook example, especially in the original novels, where he's a DeadpanSnarker who likes to pass as a [[DumbBlonde Dumb Blond]] for fun and profit. In the anime -- [[TheDitz not so much]]. Though he still [[DumbassHasAPoint get]] some good moments.
** The inspector in Slayers Revolution seems to be approaching TooDumbToLive territory in the beginning, until it is revealed that it is all just an act to capture his real target.
** Lina could arguably be this since her general status is twelve steps ahead of everyone or not. The "or not" usually happening because she doesn't actually care about the situation involved. However, it's hard to tell which is the case since her general behavior doesn't change at all between being in left field or out-chessing everyone else.
* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'': Alienor's ladies-in-waiting appear to be {{Upper Class Twit}}s gossiping about fashion and other frivolity but they are actually cunning information brokers mining valuable intel from seemingly meaningless chatter. The trick is telling the faker from the genuine twit.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Daenerys figures out pretty quick that people will underestimate her because of her youth and gender, so she starts playing it up, saying things like, "I am only a young girl and know little of such things, but..." to the point that it becomes a catchphrase. Specifically, it becomes a catch-phrase that [[spoiler: her advisers in the kingdoms she's conquered]] interpret as implicitly sarcastic and a signal that they should probably shut up before her patience with their stupid or unacceptable suggestions runs out and [[spoiler: she has them demoted or outright executed]]. She is, after all, only 'the nice one' in comparison to her brother, and she has [[spoiler: massive carnivorous monsters to feed, who have already fried some rather important people at her apparent whim]].
** Go ahead: assume [[MagnificentBastard Olenna Redwyne-Tyrell]] is merely a [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior sharp-tongued harridan]] who occasionally misplaces her words (and even names) in the possible onset of dementia and is just counting down the days until she pegs it, content to merely short-change merchants and middlemen who try to diddle her and whose major hobby is berating ''everybody'' in earshot as to their shortcomings as she leaves everything major to her sons and grandchildren. [[NeverMessWithGranny On your head be it.]]
** Everybody thinks that Lord Wyman Manderley is a [[BigFun big fat fool]]. He deliberately lets them believe it, [[spoiler: so [[ManipulativeBastard he can manipulate people better]]. And ''no one'' is aware of his [[BestServedCold Frey pies plot]], his plan to overthrow the Boltons, bringing to Winterfell little Rickon Stark and joining Stannis Baratheon. [[MagnificentBastard No one.]]]]
** Lampshaded by Dontos TheFool to TheIngenue PrincessClassic Sansa Stark. She laments her own naivete in the game of thrones, but Dontos points out that all TheChessmaster characters watch each other like hawks but pay little attention to those they think are stupid. [[spoiler:Sure enough no-one suspects Sansa is planning an escape with Dontos until after it happens.]]
* In ''Literature/TheSorrowsOfSatan'', Lady Sibyl describes how, when she was younger, she cultivated a cold and listless demeanor, which caused her to be seen as dull. As a result, fashionable ladies would invite her to "quiet teas" to help entertain their lovers, trusting Sibyl to be too stupid to understand that she was helping them commit adultery. Sibyl understood perfectly but kept up the act because she wanted to learn more about human nature.
* Creator/JimButcher is VERY fond of this one: In ''Literature/SpiderManTheDarkestHours'', Rhino, who has a normal level of intelligence, pretends to be dumber than he is so the rest of Spidey's villains, many of whom are of genius-level intelligence, will underestimate him.
* In ''[[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat The Stainless Steel Rat Joins The Circus]]'' there's an apparently thick-as-a-brick strongman who later turns out to be a tax inspector.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novel]] "The Devil's Heart" the Romulan officer who was secretly a member of Ambassador Spock's movement. When the Devil's Heart resurfaced, he was posted by his uncle to the IRW ''Haakona'' to help retrieve the Heart. He played dumb with the Romulan Commander [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E11Contagion Taris]] in order to keep her from suspecting his true motives, which were to keep the Heart out of the Empire's hands.
** The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingon]] Grodak in ''Literature/StarTrekSevenDeadlySins''. It leads to protagonist Toqel (a Romulan politician) severely underestimating him and the Klingons in general, with troubling results for the Romulans and fatal ones for Toqel. Grodak was relying on Toqel's Romulan pride and arrogance to blind her to his games.
** The Klingons tend to pull this trope quite often in the Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse, their enthusiastic bluster, casual violence and fondness for drink disguising the fact that they're every bit as capable of cunning manipulation as any other race; indeed, they're actually extremely political, for all their talk of "warrior's honour". Another Klingon character who illustrates the trope perfectly is General Khegh from ''Literature/StarTrekTitan''.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** An early book, ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'', introduced and killed [[VillainOfTheWeek villain of the book]] Warlord Zsinj, a hammishly over-the-top {{fat|Bastard}} egocentric [[FatIdiot idiot]] who somehow happened to command a large fleet. Books in the Literature/XWingSeries, written later but set before, {{Retcon}} him into being much more competent and deliberately putting on a faintly absurd act, knowing that most of the people he was around could see through it and would be a bit confused. It's effective enough that he was the first character considered dangerous enough for TheAlliance and TheEmpire to work together against.
** The ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'':
*** Moff Disra had a very bland military aide, Major Grodin Tierce. Disra, looking up his aide's records, found that he was actually a Royal Guard – that is, the best of the best, a really good fighter – confronted Tierce about it, and... well. As part of a BigBadDuumvirate, Tierce dropped the clueless act, letting people see him as a dangerous fighter, but whenever Pellaeon was around he took it up again. [[spoiler: Tierce is a human clone with a little of Thrawn's mind in him.]]
--->Suddenly the diffident and marginally competent Major Tierce who'd served as his military aide for eight months was gone. In his place stood a warrior. Disra had once heard it said that a discerning person could always recognize an Imperial stormtrooper or Royal Guard, whether he stood before you in full armor or lay dying on a sickbed. He'd always discounted such things as childish myths. He wouldn't make that mistake again.
*** The third member of the triumvirate had it in reverse. He could pull off a Thrawn impersonation to the point of having Thrawn's powerful, regal air, but his tactical knowledge was that of a con artist. When only the other members of the triumvirate are around he drops it.
*** Jorj Car'das pretended to be a senile and bedridden old man when first meeting his former employee Talon Karrde, who had taken over the organization Car'das had built after Car'das disappeared. In the subsequent meeting Car'das dropped the act, revealing himself to be a still quite healthy man nowhere near death.
** ''[[Literature/OutboundFlight Survivor's Quest]]'' has the slavetaking nomadic [[spoiler: Vagaari]] passing themselves off as Geroons, one of the people they took as slaves. As Geroons they fawn all over the Chiss and the Jedi and act like harmless cowards. But the Chiss know what they really are, and with the Jedi's help OutGambitted them handily by the end of the book.
** [[spoiler: Onimi]], the real BigBad of the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' books, uses a variant of this. He pretends not so much to be ''stupid'' as to be insane in ways that make him annoying but harmless, when in fact he's insane in [[AxCrazy ways that are]] [[OmnicidalManiac anything but]].
** In the beginning of ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'', you'd think that Wedge Antilles couldn't pull this trope off. But he does – he's been retired twice now and is in his sixties spending all his time with his family and writing his memoirs, so [[TemptingFate he couldn't be too much trouble, right?]] It doesn't take long before the act, if it ''was'' an act, is [[RetiredBadass dropped]].
** In the ''William Shakespeare's Star Wars'' series, Ian Doescher rewrites [[TheScrappy Jar-Jar's]] character so that instead of actually being stupid, he only plays the fool as part of his BatmanGambit to unite the Naboo and the Gungans. (When he's by himself, his soliloquies are quite eloquent.)
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': In ''Literature/{{Edgedancer}}'', Lift likes to pretend that she's stupider and more immature than she actually is, as this lets her avoid responsibilities of the "adult world". She sheds this as part of her CharacterDevelopment.
* Nineteen-year-old Emperor Shi Ryuuki in ''Literature/TheStoryOfSaiunkoku'' is initially called "stupid emperor" by members of his court disgusted by his complete lack of interest in ruling his empire, and his habit of spending his days hiding from court officials and spending his nights sleeping with other men. When properly motivated, however, Ryuuki reveals that he has a ''much'' defter hand for political intrigue than anyone suspected, and that there's a very good reason that he is the only one of six brothers to survive the imperial court long enough to take the throne; he cultivated the "stupid emperor" image as a survival mechanism, and refuses to rule in the hopes that his exiled older brother Prince Seien will return to take his place. After Shuurei convinces him to get serious about governing Saiunkoku, Ryuuki ''keeps'' playing the idiot so that she'll stick around for a while longer to tutor him. As you can imagine, Shuurei is ''furious'' when she finds out.
* In ''Literature/SuperMinion'', when the protagonist gains human.exe, it begins deliberately failing tests, but doing so in ways that don't cost it much mass. It also copies the program to organic memory, deletes it from its core, and writes in a few fake combat protocols every time it expects the scientists working on it to request a copy of its code, in order to make it look like its gains are far less profound than they really are.
* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheTamuli'':
** Emperor Sarabian had the entire court in Matherion convinced he was either an utter dolt, a harmless fop, or a simple fool easily distracted by his silly hobbies. He reveals the truth to Ehlana, Sparhawk, and the others, and eventually proceeds to overthrow his own government, take proper control of the empire, single-handedly remove all the corrupt courtiers involved in a failed coup, and become a wise and effective ruler. And he has ''such'' a delightful time doing it.
*** His act was one of necessity as the VastBureaucracy, having taken power generations ago, assassinates any Emperor intelligent enough to take it back.
** Elysoun, one of Sarabian's wives, is viewed as an empty-headed LovableSexManiac due to her culture's practice of free love and her traditional costume leaving her breasts bare. While she does enjoy her liaisons, Elysoun is also very intelligent and loyal to her husband. When one of the wives plots against their husband, Elysoun uses her reputation to uncover the details and thwart the attempt.
** Melidere, one of Queen Ehlana's ladies-in-waiting, is smarter than most people, but masks it under the appearance of a DumbBlonde.
* Sun Kai, in the ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series, uses a form of Obfuscating Stupidity to trick the main characters into ignoring him when he's in their presence. [[spoiler:It later turns out that he is, in fact, an ally]].
* ''Literature/TheseBrokenStars'': When they're about to be rescued, Tarver and Lilac decide on this strategy for getting their story straight: Lilac will play the SpoiledBrat by crying, throwing tantrums, screaming for her father and generally refusing to answer questions. Tarver, meanwhile, will play the dumb grunt.
* Jupiter Jones from ''Literature/TheThreeInvestigators'' is the smartest person in the group, but because he is a former child actor and a little plump, he can act unintelligent in order to disarm people and get information from them that he wouldn't get otherwise.
* Dolphus Raymond in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'' channels this, carrying around a bottle of what everyone thinks is whiskey in a brown paper bag (it's actually Coca Cola) and drinking from it. People use alcoholism to justify his "strange" behavior (being a white man married to a black woman in Alabama in the early 20th century).
* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'':
** Sir Myles of Olau is a mild case. People respect him and know he is wise, but that doesn't stop him from being the court's drunk. Which allows him to see and hear a lot more than most people. By ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', he's dropped the act somewhat. Being the king's official spymaster will do that for you.
** Thom was probably the best example. He fooled all his teachers for years until he stopped pretending to be dumb and passed the highest exam to become a sorcerer.
** The wizard Farmer Cape from the ''Literature/BekaCooper'' trilogy does this as well. In fact he seems to have two layers of deception. He acts the part of the country bumpkin around those he knows are enemies, then, when he's around people he thinks he might be able to trust, he drops it for a goofball persona that is a good deal smarter, but still obscures his true genius and CrazyPrepared nature.
** Another great example is Aly from the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet''. Most people who run into her think she's just an average, somewhat dim and racist house maid — when really, she's the spy-master helping orchestrate a rebellion. (That said, the more intelligent characters manage to work out the truth fairly quickly.)
* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Despite his nickname, if Ivan "You Idiot" Vorpatril from [[Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold Bujold's]] various Miles Vorkosigan books is any less bright than his aforementioned cousin it is by a percentage point or two tops[[note]](far too many "stupid questions" has set said cousin on the right track to dismiss as coincidence)[[/note]]. He is also somewhat lazy, distinctly unambitious, and widely regarded as being a few heartbeats from the throne of Barrayar; the latter of which makes him rather loathe to seem more than an idle cad of marginal competence. He habitually avoids any heroics he can unless he is blatantly a lackey bullied into assisting more overbearing/proactive sorts, and as for politics...
-->...it was not that he ran screaming when the loaded subjects arose; that would attract too much attention. Saunter off slowly, that's the ticket.
* ''Literature/UnderHeaven'': Wen Jian is much smarter than those who take her flighty, spoiled persona at face value assume. Likewise, Shinzu managed to live to adulthood despite being the putative imperial heir by pretending to be just a hedonistic playboy and drunkard.
* The White Queen in ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' claims that she never bothers planning anything, since (being the strongest being in the setting) she doesn't need to. She also gives the impression of a [[ManChild Woman Child]] who's [[{{Yandere}} hopelessly obsessed]] with the main character Kyousuke. However, this is (mostly) a facade, with later books confirming that she's far smarter and in control of herself than she claims. Notably, in the seventh book, [[spoiler:she concocts an elaborate plan in which she disguises herself to get close to Kyousuke, while giving enough hints for him to realize the deception. This tricks him into thinking the disguise is her real plan, allowing her [[ThanatosGambit actual one]] to succeed]].
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** ''Literature/CiaphasCain'':
*** Cain isn't so much "stupid" in his obfuscations, but he makes it clear in his monologue that he needs to pretend to be much more of a gung-ho Emperor-lover than he actually is if he hopes to stay alive and maintain his heroic reputation. This actually makes him something of an UnreliableNarrator; he frequently mentions doing this with his "humble hero" routine, but the entire series could easily be seen as him doing the same to the reader...
*** Planetary governor Grice in ''For the Emperor'' seems to be petty and stupid, as well as possibly corrupt, his foolish actions exasperating a potential conflict with the alien tau. He's actually [[spoiler: a [[HordeOfAlienLocusts tyranid]] mutant purposefully trying to create conflict among the locals to make it easier for the tyranids to invade]].
** ''Literature/HorusHeresy'': Leman Russ frequently puts on the persona of being the rough barbarian king. This isn't just a convenient affectation for political purposes; it's also a coping mechanism for the things that he has to do. In a similar way, the Space Wolves socially act like ancient Norsemen but plan their attacks with complete and total precision.
* ''Literature/WasteOfSpace'': It turns out that [[spoiler: Bacardi]] is not nearly the vacuous, Instagram-obsessed party animal [[spoiler: she]] appears to be, and that [[spoiler: she has deliberately cultivated this persona to get onto the show so she could win the massive cash prize.]] Once things start to go sideways on the "spaceship" (really a soundstage in New Mexico that the characters are unaware isn't real, at least to start), this character quits pretending to be an idiot, and turns out to be a major factor in helping get everyone out.
* ''Literature/TheWestingGame'' has several:
** Otis Amber, the [[CoolOldGuy 62-year-old delivery boy]] with definite {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tendencies, is really [[spoiler:a competent and professional (and sane) private investigator]], though [[BunnyEarsLawyer not all of his giddiness is an act]].
** When Justice J.J. Ford and Florence Baumbach have lunch together, it's mentioned that Ford deliberately would pretend not to know about the tuxedo and dress shops Mrs. Baumbach was talking about, "to keep the witness talking". She really ''didn't'' know, but would have pretended not to anyway.
** The real surprise is that [[spoiler:Sandy [=McSouthers=], the not-too-bright former boxer, is [[TheChessmaster Sam Westing himself]], and he manages to fool everyone, even the people who had met him in person as Sam Westing, until almost the very end]].
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** Using her membership as a [[AbsentMindedProfessor Brown Ajah]], Verin Mathwin hides her identity as a brilliant, centuries old mage. Not only is she [[spoiler:a member of the Black Ajah (a secret society of Aes Sedai devoted to the [[BigBad Dark One]]) who only joined their ranks to ferret them out and betray them]], but she is so good at hiding this very fact [[spoiler:that she can do it in chapters of the books that are written ''from her own point of view''. Her final admission of her membership, handing over of everything she'd found out, and subsequent death qualifies as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in its own right]].
** Mat plays this tropes straight for the first three books or so, then tries to invoke it every chance he get.
* ''Literature/WingsOfFire'': In ''Moon Rising'', Qibli acts dumber than he is to fit in with the other students. If not for her telepathy, Moon would never have realized how clever he really was.
* ''Literature/TheWitchlands'':
** Leopold plays up his image as a dandy, spoiled princeling to hide his participation in the LongGame.
** Eren has been [[spoiler:feigning alcoholism]] for the past dozen or so years so that people would underestimate him.
* ''Literature/WolfHall'': Jane Seymour presents herself as a naive ShrinkingViolet while serving as one of Anne Boleyn. She also isn't as educated as most of them, knowing only English and having been taught more hunting than reading by her father. When at home or talking to Cromwell, however, Jane shows more wit and insight, and while her sister describes her as a woman who's always waiting for a man to tell her what to do, that doesn't necessarily mean she'll ''listen''. While she does seem to be genuinely kind, she's quicker than she lets on, as becomes evident in the way she handles Henry's attention.
* ''Literature/TheZeroStone'': Jern feigns that fever affected his wits when the Guild ship's crew find him.
* ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'' has Parson Miles and Overra. Their joint career is riddled with boneheaded mistakes and failed missions, yet if you consider the full consequences of those mistakes and failures, they almost invariably result in a net ''gain'' for the Vanguard.
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