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    A-K 
All of Us Are Dead
  • This Is A Wild Game Of Survival:
    • Yang Dae-su does some dumb things and can be quite Innocently Insensitive. He screws up a lot. But he's outright offended that his best friend Woo-jin would think he'd be homophobic when it's revealed that the other boy is bisexual. However, he handles the entire situation very well and hugs him when Woo-jin starts crying, realizing the fear stems from his homophobic parents. He only playfully gets back at him for thinking he'd react badly after Woo-jin feels better.
    • Na-yeon is secretly quite insecure about her lack of friends because of the lack of affection she's received from many of the adults in her life.

Animaniacs

Batman

  • All the Roofs of Uncertainty: Leslie Thompkins helps Jason understand Bruce better by telling him stories of his teenagehood when Bruce was already plotting to become Batman.
  • Bruce Has a Problem
    • Maxie Zeus is crazy and views things through the lens of mythology, but he has great skill at making coffee and political analysis, assessing political ads with much detail.
      • He points out Anthony Garcia isn't trying too hard to win and is probably hoarding his budget.
      • He points out Garcetti has so much money hoarded he only loses manpower should his backers leave.
      • He notes Sharpe's campaign was most likely made by his patients.
  • one day at a time (Nyame)
    • Damian is surprisingly good with four-year-old Lian Harper, leaving Jason to ponder if his younger brother is so gentle because of Lian's youth or her gender.
      • As arrogant as he is, he has no affection for sycophants because he knows they usually have ulterior motives. Since he was raised in the League of Assassins as the grandson and heir of Ra's al Ghul, this shouldn't be surprising.
      • The original Damian admits his Heroic Sacrifice was to protect Jason and Cass as much as it was to protect Bludhaven, stating that as much as he wanted to be Batman, he didn't want it over the corpses of his remaining family. He then gently scolds Jason for even thinking that his death wouldn't have hurt Damian as much as Damian's own had hurt him.

Bolt

  • The Bolt Chronicles:
    • In "The Supermarket," it is revealed that Rhino has a talent for juggling. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Bolt.
    • In "The Concerto," Rhino is revealed to be an accomplished drummer, to the point where he can perform the Ron Wilson drum solo from "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris. In the same story, Mittens is presented as being able to play piano accurately using kitten-on-the-keys playing style.

A Certain Magical Index

  • A Certain Droll Hivemind:
    • Abe Eiko, Misaka-11111's roommate with the Dark Matter power, was once an agent for the Dark Side. She identified most of 11111's weapons and defenses, and is implied to have killed before. Though she is still shocked and impressed when 11111 mentions she has been in 10032 combat situations.
    • Koizumi Kyoko implies that she's been experimented on before, which might be the source of her stutter.

Code Geass

Crossover

  • In Amazing Fantasy, Izuku is a sweet guy with a natural inclination to help others. But he also has a great deal of buried envy and resentment for those who had Quirks when he didn't, as evidenced by his bitter internal snarking and cursing when people reminded him he was Quirkless. Even after gaining spider powers, neither the snark nor the resentment truly goes away, and he disturbs himself when he realizes how much he resents his former tormentors now that he doesn't have to take their crap.
  • Cards of Remnant, Cardin is still The Bully and Jerk Jock he is in RWBY canon, but he's also A Father to His Men, comforting Russel after Ruby can't remember him and even agreeing to Jaune's suggestion of declaring a draw for their duel to keep his teammates safe from the spillover. His POV sections also reveal that he, like Jaune, struggles to live up to his father's expectations.
  • Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron: Milly seems to have inherited some of her grandfather's technological skills.
  • Despite his idiotic moments, Tuffnut in The Dragon and the Butterfly has a surprising knack for languages, to the extent that he's the only one able to translate some of Mirabel's insults for the rest of the Berkians.
  • Equestria Girls: A Fairly Odd Friendship: When Sunset first saw Timmy interact with Trixie, she understatedly assume that Timmy had a crush on her because she was a rich, beautiful popular girl. And he was trying to win her over despite Trixie making her disinterest in him clear. Sunset bluntly told him that he was not acting that different from his own stalker, that he is obsessing over someone that does not like him and never will. Much to Sunset's surprise, she learns that Timmy's crush on Trixie is more than just a shallow crush. Timmy revealed the time that he discovers that Trixie is secretly a tomboy, and she hides her hobbies to fit in with the popular kids. He genuinely wants to help Trixie be who she wants to be to the point where Timmy admits he does not care if she does date him; he just wants her to be happy with herself.
  • Fist of the Moon:
    • While she's a klutz now, Usagi has former gymnastics experience, as well as access to her ki. After Ranma reveals this and gets her confidence up there are times when she surprises even the other senshi with her competence and seriousness.
    • Also, Kasumi has a deep and abiding fondness for Star Wars.
  • Applies to Anna to a degree in Frozen Turtles; despite coming from a society at least a century behind the Turtles, she often manages to quickly grasp some of the higher science elements the Turtles introduce to their lives, to the point that she occasionally serves as Donatello’s unofficial assistant during their time in space.
  • Maria Campbell of the Astral Clocktower: Katarina has plenty of these due to being a reincarnate from Japan, such as knowing a fiendishly difficult foreign language and understanding a lot more about sex than anyone expects from someone Oblivious to Love. However, one that isn't related to her reincarnation is scythe fighting. As both a swordswoman and a farmer, she thinks fighting with a scythe is the stupidest thing ever, and goes on at length about how that is absolutely not what a scythe is designed for, and even if you do have to use it as a weapon, the way they're trying to teach her makes no sense with the realities of its construction.
  • My Hero Academia: Unchained Predator: The entire cast of MHA view the Doom Slayer as a genuine batshit crazy psychopath after what he did to Shigaraki. When Miruko arrives to I-Island after the Slayer killed off all the Steel Sabers, she is both terrified and confused. He saved the hostages, but killed their captors. By the time most of the cast is off of I-Island, All Might, Izuku and Miruko are ones who are aware the man has hidden depths - the latter two more so while the rest are either slightly aware or terrified of him.
  • Necessary to Win, which can be found here, often does this with the characters.
    • Takako Kubo, who's Black Forest's tankery coach in this fic, is a Drill Sergeant Nasty who uses corporeal punishment for minor mistakes. However, her discipline policy is based on the idea that those she coaches have the potential to improve, and while she has little patience for those who make mistakes, she has even less for those who simply give up.
    • Anchovy is arrogant and looks down on Miho, but also has a certain amount of respect for rivals who come up with clever ideas to help advance their causes, and believes that commanders must win for the sake of those under their command.
    • Mako Reizei appears to be Brilliant, but Lazy at first glance, but it's also revealed that parting from her parents on bad terms before they died greatly impacted her, and she hopes that Nodoka and Hana, who are in conflict with their father and mother, respectively, over doing tankery, won't waste any time in their efforts to reconcile with their parents, lest they risk the same thing happening to them.
    • Ami Chouno is a student of the Nishizumi school and a JGSDF instructor, but the teaching she gives to Miho and her teammates at Oarai is significantly different from what she got from both the Nishizumi school and the JGSDF. And as a military officer, she, by knowing the difference between tankery matches and war, keeps things in perspective, which is why she believes that Miho did the right thing when she saved the imperiled tank in the last tournament, at the cost of losing the match.
  • The Night Unfurls:
  • Ellen in Zero Context: Taking Out the Trash is known as creepy, soft-spoken, and a completely Emotionless Girl who couldn't smile if her life depended on it. However, in addition to having a strong attachment to her family and friends, she has a quirky sense of humor: when tasked to play the organ at the wedding of someone she hated, her first thought is to play Chopin's "Marche funèbre", then switch to Dave Cortez's "Happy Organ" when asked to play something more upbeat.
  • The Dragon and the Butterfly: Whiteout: Much to Peep's amazement, she has potential for archery.
  • This And That: Despite lacking social and emotional maturity due to her upbringing, Angela was able effectively to help Powder deal with her mental episodes by creating mind rituals that aid in stabilizing and keeping her balanced at a moment's notice. When Powder asked her how she knew so much about this kind of stuff, Angela all but stated that she went through these same kind of episodes during her time at L Corp and had to do something to keep her sanity or completely lose her mind.
  • Voyages of the Wild Sea Horse: Kodachi Kuno, widely dismissed back in Nerima as a crazy, self-absorbed idiot by those who knew her, consistently displays herself to be very intelligent and well-educated on a variety of subjects that range from the diverse to the eclectic, including Hawai'ian fauna, surfing, classic European literature, and both Greco-Roman and Medieval English mythology.
  • We Are Nothing: While Crabbe and Goyle are primarily known (both in-universe and by readers) for being Draco Malfoy's brutish Bumbling Henchmen Duo, Crabbe notes in his internal POV narration that he himself is actually a rather good artist while Goyle is an aspiring poet. Also, despite being a pureblood Slytherin, Crabbe is familiar enough with Muggle pop culture to know who Muhammad Ali is.
  • The Weaving Force: Senator Taa surprisingly enough when he gives his support to end slavery in the galaxy as according to Alexandria: "Taa himself, believe it or not, is actually rather well meaning... He’s just incredibly stupid.”

Danny Phantom

  • Facing the Future Series:
    • Surprisingly, Jack is able to speak Esperanto, much to Jazz's shock. He comments that he has a whole secret life that Jazz knows nothing about.
    • Believe it or not, Tucker's secretary Tanya is more than just eye candy. She knows her way around politics. So much so that Tucker promoted her to be his campaign manager.
  • Resurrected Memories: While Ember is a wild rocker at heart, she is shown to be fiercely loyal and protective to those she deems to be her friends and is a genuinely hard-working student, managing to get good grades on her own merit, as well as Lancer's respect due to her actually trying to work hard in class and on top of that she is revealed to have a dorky side to her that starts coming to the surface as she starts falling in love with Danny.

Dragon Age

  • In Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfic Walking in Circles, Evelyn's friend Signy is a quiet girl who mostly kept things to herself, but she is often the first person who comes for Evelyn and helps her. She’s also a powerful and resourceful blood mage who practices her arts by using her monthly blood instead of just cutting herself and risking being discovered as regular blood mages do. Her being a shy, meek, gloomy girl is also mostly an act to avoid drawing attention to herself, as Solas notice that after they left the tower, Signy stands straighter, hair pulled back, and meets everyone’s gaze directly, she talks more too.
    • Kinnaird may look like a selfish guy at first glance but it’s because he has to look out for his sister, as she’ll be the one to be punished if he does something wrong. He’s also a healer, despite his appearance suggests otherwise.
    • Danforth, before taking on the job of researching the Fade, used to be a healer who secretly helped female mages dealing with the result of their rapes, but he was almost made Tranquil and transferred to his current position when he was suspected to be a blood mage who killed a Templar. He didn’t but he does wish to be the one who did it, in a much slower and more painful way.
    • First Enchanter Monette is a Dirty Coward who looks out only to herself but she did manage to reach her current rank by playing the Game well. She's also an adept poison user who decorates her room with special flowers and teas, not to mention, she's not completely heartless as she gives Evelyn a change of surviving the Annulment with her gift, and when the two meet again, Monette takes the latter under her protection.
    • Evelyn herself lampshades this trope when she calls Solas out on his bigotry and condescending attitude. She points out that the reason he sees her as strong, kind, wise, and more special than anyone is that he spends most of his time with her while deliberately avoiding all other mages. Had he tried to know others more, he’d have seen that they also have their own lives and stories to tell, how they also try to rebel against their oppressors in their own ways.

Dungeons & Dragons

  • Vow of Nudity: Despite everything about Fiora—from her personality to her backstory to every choice she makes in Haara's presence—indicating she's a hedonistic self-centered backstabber who only looks out for herself, Haara eventually discovers that she sacrificed her dreams, her future, and the man she loved to save a bunch of classmates without even hesitating.

Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire

  • Purple Days:
    • Robert Baratheon, of all people, is just about the only person who realizes that Joffrey is suffering from PTSD, even if he doesn't know the cause of it. He specifically mentions seeing the same Thousand-Yard Stare in veterans of the battle at the Trident. Joffrey can't help but note the irony that the man who ignored him all his life is the only one who notices what's wrong with him.
    • Joffrey quickly notices that Sansa is way more than the naive, helpless maiden he knew during his original life: in the Red Wolf loop, her desperate attempt to escape, killing two guards before being cut down herself, shows him that she has more steel in her than he gave her credit for; then, over his many loops, she often surprises him with her witticisms at the most unexpected moments, and he eventually finds himself developing genuine feelings for her. Eventually, he finds out the truth about her: she's the missing half of the weapon against the Others that the Purple created him to be.
  • The King Nobody Wanted:
    • Scheming Dirty Old Man Pycelle acknowledges that he may lose his position after the war and seems fine with the idea of retiring to his modest former studies on ravenry while also showing concern for the mental state of his old teacher Walgrave.
    • The High Septon is a Scatterbrained Senior, Old Windbag, and possible Targaryen loyalist who uses his position to benefit his family. He also adopts Princess Rhaenys Targaryen's former cat after finding him wandering the streets and gushes affectionately over the animal, while struggling not to cry whenever he thinks of the cat's late owner. He claims to want peace for the sake of peace and prepared a sermon rebuking King Aerys after the Duskendale massacre six years earlier (sounding strong and firm while reciting it during a bout of senility) before his subordinates talked him out of it due to fear that Aerys would react violently.
      The High Septon: Who's a sweet boy? You, Balerion, you are a sweet boy. Yes, you are.
    • In Chapter 18, Alyn Stackspear is introduced as a Proud Elite Commander Contrarian who seems to irrationally hate Tytos. Then Chapter 76 comes along and shows him in an entirely new light. He has a bad inferiority complex due to his demanding father and a poor showing in his first tourney (where he was sabotaged by Boros Blount). He recounts how, when the war came, he wanted to fight against Aerys (and feels that Jamie was justified in breaking his Kingsguard vows to kill him) but was unable to do so while Tywin remained neutral. The Sack of King's Landing left him a Shell-Shocked Veteran when men under his command killed Janos Slynt's father due to a misunderstanding. He encountered Tytos's son Gregor on his way to murder Rheager's family and feels that he should have done something to stop him, even though he had no idea what was going on at the time. His disdain for Tytos is a reflection of how he feels about Gregor, and he seems to shed these feelings after a heart-to-heart talk with his commander.

Godzilla

Harry Potter

  • The Black Sheep Dog Series adds a lot of nuances in its characterization of Sirius's parents, Orion and Walburga Black, to show that, despite their flaws and prejudices, they are still thinking, feeling humans who do love their son in their own dysfunctional way, and are certainly not the evil, heartless snakes that Sirius believes them to be. This is particularly true for Orion, who is a lot more reserved than his wife, so much that no one can really make heads or tails out of him, and almost everyone who knows him has very different perception of his character.
  • To the Moon included a Crabbe and Goyle who were not only in a relationship with each other but gave the impression of dimwittedness because Crabbe had dyslexia and Goyle spent too much time reading the textbooks to Crabbe to bother much about his own homework.

How to Train Your Dragon

  • The Home We Built Together:
    • Astrid learns that while Hiccup can be clumsy and distracted, he is very good with his hands and can get restless when not busy fiddling with something, hence his smithing skills, competent cooking and the hours he spends drawing before sleeping.
    • Ruffnut knows a lot more about the ins-and-outs of sex because her mother was a lot more thorough in explaining it to her than Astrid's and her brother is "grossly open about what his body can do," making her the person Astrid goes to to talk about it.
  • A Thing of Vikings
    • Ruffnut is an aspiring skald and, after relocating to Norway with her husband King Magnus, establishes St. Olaf's Hospital.
    • Tuffnut proves to be surprisingly adept at learning languages, rescues Marte from an abusive husband, and refuses to take advantage of her when she offers herself to him in gratitude.

Invader Zim

  • Invader Zim: A Bad Thing Never Ends:
    • Each of the Minion Trio turns out to have surprising interests, as revealed in Chapter 13 — Skoodge has taken up horticulture, Bob has picked up engineering skills from observing Zim, and the Announcer loves fashion.
    • The Announcer reveals in Chapter 15 that he actually hates being so tall, in contrast to Irken culture's obsession with height. This is because every time he had a growth spurt, he had to leave behind hard-won friends because it was no longer acceptable to socialize with them, until he reached a point where he could only interact with the likes of the Tallest and their inner circle, who are all jackasses.

Jackie Chan Adventures

Kill la Kill

  • Cellar Secrets: For a Feral Child who lacks comprehension and is terrified of most things, Ryuuko seems to be rather perceptive, figuring out, to a degree, what's going on around her. She also has a mischievous side.
  • Rei from Kill la Kill AU, as we find out. Underneath her alcoholism and thoughtlessness, she's smarter than she seems and is pretty wise, being able to give advice, along with picking up on things the others might miss. She's also pretty good with explosives.

    L-M 
The Loud House
  • Anger Management: Mrs. Johnson, Lincoln's teacher, is revealed to read an adult comic.
  • Like Mother Like Son: Despite its business, that Lynn Sr. was able to code a Minecraft mod at all let alone a VR one in only a day is very impressive.
  • No Such Luck, No Such Love: Lincoln's "Loud talent" is art. He enjoys art class. Spends as much free time in school as he can in the art room doing his work early because he enjoys it that much and, whether he realizes it or not, those who see his work (even the sad drawings) agree that they are very well drawn. Mr. Dawkins his art teacher even privately refers to him as his star student leagues above every other kid in school.
  • One Girl with Ten Brothers:
    • Chapter 3 demonstrates that Linka is aware enough of world events and injustices that happen as a result of prejudice to give good examples of how the United States doesn't live up to its promises of equality.
      Claudia: Linka, what happened to "sweet and innocent"?
      Linka: Don't be blame me, blame the question. Being girly should not mean being ignorant! I watch the news too, Claud!
    • In "No Spoilers (Genderbent)" Loni remembered every single detail of Linka's Disney-themed dream in "The Wonderful World Of The Loud House" to recreate it the best he could for Linka's surprise birthday party.
  • Peeking Through the Fourth Wall: On occasion, the MSTing Louds will show a side of themselves that catches even the others off guard. Among them include Lola being good at singing and vocal impersonations, Lincoln baking strawberry muffins, Lisa being a fan of Doctor Who (In other words, a Whovian), Leni refuting a myth about goldfish, and Lynn being familiar with snake biology.
  • Regrets: Leni as to be expected, despite being the ditz, is shown to have a deep understanding of her depression, as well as compartmentalism, and verifies her levels of depression in light, grey or dark areas.
  • Requiem for a Loud
    • We learn in chapter 13 that Lynn secretly likes to learn how to cook, and sometimes tries to polish her nails.
    • Chapter 16 reveals that Lynn Sr. is a Harry Potter fan, to the point that he spent 20 hours waiting in line, dressed up as Sirius Black, to get his copy of The Deathly Hallows, and that Lily is named after Harry's mother (Lynn Sr. originally wanted to name her after Emma Watson).
  • Stories and Tales from Dimension 63
    • Lynn (M): Despite appearances, he secretly does ballet instead of sports. He keeps it a secret because he didn't want his siblings making fun of him.
    • Lars (Lucy): He writes stories because he doesn't feel comfortable showing what he truly feels, citing the fact his brothers would bully him relentlessly for that.
    • Chapter 22, we learn that Levi secretly loves Japanese anime and science fiction and likes to cosplay.
    • Chapter 24 reveals that Rita used to play a lot of video games before she met Lynn Sr.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Miraculous Ladybug

  • In Break it down, Butterfly, in a rare moment of sincerity, Plagg nearly breaks down in tears when he sees Nooroo after all these years.
  • Feralnette AU: It plays with this with New Transfer Student Felix. He's quite surprised to see that Marinette has an interest in fashion, even though that wouldn't be news to anyone who knew her before... namely because she's Stopped Caring about her appearance alongside her social life, becoming an Unkempt Beauty slouching around in oversized hoodies with Messy Hair. So catching sight of some of her sketches intrigues him enough that he starts making an effort to get to know her better.
  • Fox Rain uses this abundantly:
    • The trope is used with Lila from as early as the first chapter, where her reaction to a trio of muggers harassing Master Fu is musing she could take them before driving them away by pretending Ladybug is arriving and uses the trope to make the point she could have been a hero, or at least an anti-hero, had things in canon gone just a little different. She also knows she needs a therapist, but her mother, for some reason, won't let her, and it's hinted that part of her attitude comes from having been a bullying victim and the guilt complex from an excessive retaliation.
    • A good part of Papillon's act is just that: an act he pulls to make his supervillain persona different from his civilian one. And for all of his psychotic persona, he refuses to akumatize "people with certain mind troubles, such as legitimate psychos, serial killers, and soldiers with PTSD" as that would be far too dangerous.
    • Colonel Hartmann, the military attache to the Italian embassy, is a nice and cool woman nicknamed "Leprotta" (little hare) for her habit of wearing her hair in twin tails. She also has PTSD serious enough that Papillon won't Akumatize her.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

  • Contraptionology!: Pinkie Pie turns out to have a doctorate in a complex STEM field from the most prestigious technical university in the country. It takes the others a while to realize that she's not just pulling their tails about it.
  • Heart of Gold, Feathers of Steel reveals there is a lot more going on with Gilda than you'd expect just from watching Griffon the Brush Off.
  • Ask Hoops and Dumbbell: Hoops and Dumbbell both. Both were jerks in the original show, and neither came off as particularly bright — but in addition to being lovers, Hoops is actually brilliant at math, and Dumbbell is great with kids, even studying to become an Elementary School teacher. It helps they have a year or two between the show and the Blog to grow.
  • Silver Spoon in Inner Demons. It's revealed that she actually hates Diamond Tiara, and only hangs out with her because their fathers work together and expect it of them. After developing a real friendship with Apple Bloom, her patience with Diamond grows increasingly thin, until she eventually snaps after one insult towards Apple Bloom and her friends too many, and delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech before breaking off their "friendship".
  • Besides the Will of Evil: Fluttershy can speak Laewtil, the deer language, as fluently as a native speaker, due to having been raised by the mule deer of the Everfree Forest.
  • My Little Pony: Totally Legit Recap:
    • DWK, the narrator and creator, likes to play himself off as just a drunken, cynical, Jerkass loser, making fun of a little girls show. But deep under his cynical, snarky, perverted, crude, and alcoholic personality lies a surprisingly insightful fan who has a great appreciation for the show, its morals, and characters, even if he does love poking fun at them. The narrator is also shown to have some deeply-rooted personal issues and cynicism, as noted in his recap of "Flutter Brutter," where Zephyr Breeze's personality and character flaws really hit close to home for the narrator.
    • Despite a little bit of Adaptational Villainy, Twilight makes it clear that deep down, she still wants to do the right thing and help everypony, even if her methods can be... questionable.
    • Scootaloo is implied to be one of the more insightful characters and is definitely wiser than her big sister figure Rainbow Dash.
      Scootaloo: [to Apple Bloom, after she starts to think they're growing apart] Dude, we just want to have hobbies. What's the big deal.
      Apple Bloom: But I don't like change.
      Scootaloo: Dude. Apple Bloom, life changes all the time and you just have to deal with it you know. I mean, if you can't cope with change, your life is just going to be a waking nightmare of constant dread, as you wonder if today is going to be the one that shatters your fragile illusion of a status quo, you'll be a nervous reclusive wreck of a person and that kind of life's not worth living. Also having hobbies is neat.
      [later]
      Rainbow: Bra, you don't fucking get it, I've been dealing with this shit my entire life. When somethings been bothering you since you were a kid, it can be pretty hard to be cool with it, because it puts you back in that head-space where you were young and confused about your feelings.
      Scootaloo: No man, I do get it. Most people have an elaborate interconnected web of bullshit with their parents and it spans a lifetime and I guess it's not fair for an outsider to come bursting in and making judgement, but part of becoming an adult is processing those clusterfucks of poorly defined emotion you had as a kid and dealing with them in a constructive manner.
      Rainbow: Dude! You're like twelve, man, how are you saying all these psychologist words?
      Scootaloo: Because this is the part of the video where this pretentious pseudo-intellectual faggot, does the oh-so-deep life lesson bit, and I'm the only other character in this scene, so shut the fuck up.
    • Starlight apparently has a successful hip-hop career on the side.
  • A Diplomatic Visit: Who knew Rainbow Dash was secretly a good cook?
  • The MLP Loops: Due to the infinite looping nature of the broken World Tree Yggdrasil, it's inevitable that minor characters are discovered to be deeper than expected during the right situation or after a bored looper spends time with them.
    • The unAwake Diamond Tiara is mostly a small-time bully, but it's likely that in times of true danger, she rises to the occasion and motivates those under her command to excel. This is foreshadowed by her cutie mark, which is typically a tiara (leadership) with an uncut diamond. Ironically, her biggest problem is that her world is mostly safe and what little danger there is largely has nothing to do with her. She only really gets a chance to shine in Fused Loops.
    • Blueblood is usually an Upper-Class Twit who spends all his time trying to conquer the Canterlot social circles and dismisses everything else as not worth his time. But one trait of Blueblood that is usually reliable is that he is fanatically loyal to his aunt Celestia; in fact, part of his problem is that he projects his own tastes onto her and then insists that everything must be absolutely perfect for her without realizing she has far different standards. In the rare circumstances where he is confronted with this, he usually quickly changes his tune.
    • The unAwake Chrysalis' Fantastic Racism is typically driven by the way changeling biology works. Due to the Hive Mind, she always feels what her changelings are feeling and vice versa; since ponies don't have this connection, it is easy for her to dismiss them as not "real" and thus just prey. Her first Awake loop, where she was Happily Married to an unAwake Shining Armor, changed her significantly.
  • In Castling Cozy Glow, we learn that, surprisingly, Cozy Glow didn't get her Cutie Mark directly from manipulating ponies or even playing chess, despite liking and being good at both, but from making a homemade magical lamp in the shape of a red chess rook. And her actual special talent is working with magical "artifacts"/devices.

    N-S 
Naruto
  • Kitsune no Ken: Fist of the Fox:
    • From early in the story, Sakura comes across as shallow, vain, arrogant, overly proud of her academic skill, and outright snobbish...but it's eventually revealed that for some time she's been wrestling with the fact that her father's always staying out late at work and is consequently rarely home to enjoy a meal with the family.
    • Suigetsu is frequently shown as a self-centered prick who'll look for an easy way to make a quick buck and will antagonize people at the drop of a hat...yet he's also got a surprising amount of knowledge concerning the process of sugar production, something he credits to the fact that his father used to work in a food-processing plant, and he also has a fairly good idea that successful businesses offer things their competitors don't have, advice he shares with Hanabi for her lemonade stand. His money-grubbing ways are also revealed to be the result of him having a rather rough home life, with his father being a perpetual drunk, his brother a hardened con who's done prison time, and his mother having to work long hours at a low-paying job just to keep the family together. And as much as he's hesitant to admit it, he does care about his mother and wishes she didn't have to work so hard.
    • Kakashi, math teacher at Konoha High School, a pervert who reads dirty books and gets into verbal spats with fellow teacher Kurenai at every opportunity, quirky enough to constantly wear a dust-mask that covers the lower half of his face despite clearly not needing it...and also seeing himself as a Failure Hero for not being able to help his longtime friend Rin when she was suffering abuse at her boyfriend's hands. And, of course, he is a competent teacher, inside and outside the classroom, who won't hesitate to run to his students' help if they're in serious trouble.
    • Kushina is generally quite cheerful, spends most of her time at home cooking and doing typical housewife stuff, and on the more eccentric end she cosplays as the in-universe comic book character Shadow Fox and also owns her very own porn stash. However, under serious circumstances, she proves to be a source of good maternal wisdom to whoever needs it. She also has some got some deep-seated resentment toward her husband Minato for distancing himself from his family, to the point of requesting Kushina to retake her maiden name, for the sake of protecting her and Naruto due to Minato's black-ops work, and subsequently leaving her alone to deal with Naruto's post-365 days trauma — all of which she hides very well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

  • Last Child of Krypton:
    • When Asuka discovers Shinji plays cello, is an excellent cook, and reads books in half a dozen of languages (including Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian, and Latin), she is impressed.
    • When Touji uses words such as "waif" or "encircled", his classmates get shocked. He complains that everybody assumes he is a dumb jock only because he works out.
  • The Second Try: After meeting Aki, Rei shows herself to be quite the artist. Her pictures are pretty amazing, and she even got a letter from a gallery.
  • HERZ: In chapter 7 Asuka remembers that she was surprised when she found out that Shinji played cello since she did not know that he had hidden talents.
    He had surprised her. She didn't know he played the violoncello. About his hidden talents.

One Piece

  • This Bites!:
    • Captain T-Bone of the Marines is one of the few benevolent and caring Marines out there who is loyal to the World Government, the ideals of justice and has a hate for anything crooked or corrupted under his watch. A conversation with Smoker reveals that his Marine contingent in the West Blue was assigned to the manhunt for Nico Robin alongside 12 other contingents, but T-Bone and his men protested that the ensuing collateral damage made the amount of force too high. Unfortunately, this dissension got out by means of one of their own, and his superior Vice-Admiral Sakazuki disapproved greatly and completely exterminated his entire flotilla, only sparing T-Bone's life because he claimed he saw the evils of his men and promised to devote himself to the Marine's Divine Justice from then on. But despite this conversion (which Smoker wonders if it was genuine or done out of fear for his life) he has retained his core morality and benevolence to this day.
      • Chapter 30 reveals it to be the latter.
    • Conis has trained alongside the White Berets in order to help defend Angel Island's borders from other pirates, and is said to be as dedicated as Captain McKinley himself. If that's not enough, her mother was a Roger Pirate.
    • Foxy had bought Big Pan the Wotan from Sabaody Archipelago. Also, the whole reason he is building up his crew with the Davy Back Fights is to weather the storm when the battle for the throne of the Pirate King reaches flashover.
    • What was it that swore Buggy, someone who has seen the insanity of the New World, off the Grand Line and made him stay firmly in the East Blue? Lily Carnation. His old crew weren't even that lucky.
    • Robin wore cowboy hats while in Baroque Works because they reminded her of Saul and helped her feel strong in times of stress.
    • Why are Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday so stupidly tough and relentless? They're from Kuraigana Island, you know, the island filled with sword-wielding primates?
    • Boss somehow knows Grand Line Standard Sign Language.
    • Carure the Duck is knowledgable on psychology and the subconscious. He reads Chopper's books on the subject in his spare time.
    • Captain Kidd is foul-mouthed and violent, but he's not Dumb Muscle like Luffy. A deleted scenes chapter reveals he's the one who handles his crew's finances. Killer confirms and admits he's very good at the job.
    • Luffy may be an Idiot Hero and claiming that the evil criminal pirates are the norm is his Berserk Button, but he's not ignorant about how the world sees piracy. Part of his goal in becoming the King of the Pirates is to redefine the definition of piracy so the world will recognize Friendly Pirates like him as the "real" pirates and the Rape, Pillage, and Burn pirates as the "fakes".

Once Upon a Studio

  • The climax of Version 2.0 is once again a rousing rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star", this time initiated by Cinderella and Rapunzel. Ariel and Eric start up the final verse alongside Aladdin, Jasmine, Rapunzel and Eugene with the line "Like a bolt out of the blue...", showing Eric to be a surprisingly competent singer. Tarzan and Jane then take over with a duet of the line "...Fate steps in and sees you through!", showing them to be a pair of equally competent singers in their own right.

The Owl House

  • Learning How to Be a Princess has Emperor Belos. He rules the Boiling Isles with an iron fist, and while his end goal is ultimately to establish a greater sense of peace and order than the vile dictator he overthrew, his methods are violent and spread fear amongst the populace, firmly establishing him as The Dreaded. Meaning that all of his subordinates are completely caught off-guard when he reveals that he was a wife and daughter who he adores very, very much. Most people, be it within his inner circle or the general populace, were not only convinced he was incapable of love, but also assumed that he didn't have the equipment needed to have a sexual relationship. The shock only increases when people learn that Luz is his daughter, considering how carefree, friendly, and forgiving she is compared to her father.

Pokémon: The Series

  • In Clash of the Ketchums, Ash is fluent in Kantonian, Unovan, and Kalosian (the Pokémon equivalents of Japanese, English, and French).
  • Misty in Pokémon Reset Bloodlines was considered the less talented among her sisters, but one sidestory and later chapters show that she managed to pick up some skills in acting, singing, and dancing.
  • Hilbert in A Mid-Sinnoh Night's Dream. He's got something of Jerkass dark side hidden beneath the bravado, which is revealed when he argues with Cresselia in chapter 25.

Soul Eater

  • This is a persisting element in Soul Eater: Troubled Souls. You think you know a character, then something is revealed, whether a hobby or a characteristic, that changes your perception of them. It's best to read the fic itself or at least check out the character pages for details because there’s too many examples to list.

Star Trek

  • Discussed in the Star Trek fanfic Heroes. Spock insists to Surak that Kirk is more than the warrior Surak insists on seeing him as.

Steven Universe

  • What Might Have Been: Rose Quartz holds massive reserves of hatred for her role as a Diamond, taking out her rage on her old palanquin when a random Spinel insults Pearl. Garnet acknowledges that this is why she originally spread horror stories about herself before she revealed that she and Pink Diamond were one and the same, actually believing that she was as selfish and destructive as she claimed.
  • Ruby Stars: Buck shares with Sadie that he's a fan of old steam locomotives while in an abandoned train yard they were shooting a music video in. As he's The Stoic cool guy, Sadie is a bit taken aback by it.
    Buck: Pretty cool backdrop, huh? I think it's a Baldwin E2 Atlantic. Early 1900s. Pretty rare, huh?
    Sadie: (Beat) Never took you for a train buff.
    Buck I used to sit in the corner of the library during recess as a kid. Train books had the biggest pictures.

    T-Z 
Total Drama
  • Cast Swap:
    • Topher, surprisingly, has good relationship advice for Rodney.
    • Staci demonstrates some in the first episode of Pahkitew Island too. Dawn encouraged her not to make up lies about her family history to impress her teammates and revealed that she lies because she never wins anything other than a participant ribbon. In the confessional, Staci admit that was Dawn right, that growing up, people told amazing stories about their families, and she thought making up stories would make her popular.
  • A Codette World Tour
    • While Sierra is depicted as little more than a ditzy and insane Cody fangirl in canon, she's shown here to be very sneaky, a tech whiz, and very good at deducing information about others based on the tiniest clues. She also reveals that she really does care about Cody in a genuine fashion and actually understands him to be more than just a girl-crazy geek, rather than merely being very possessive of him.
    • Whereas Cody's canon self was presented as little more than a dweeby and perverted Dogged Nice Guy, he shows himself over the story to be a genuinely kind person towards virtually everyone.
    • Geoff's experiences as host of the Aftermath have made him really good at pitching ideas in the world of showbiz - a skill he uses to convince Chris to let him become one of Bridgette's helpers in the finals when her original choice, DJ, is incapacitated by Alejandro.
  • Code: Total Drama Reality: Lindsay is revealed to be pretty good at making robots. Given her canonical skill at making bicycles, perhaps this should not be so surprising.
  • Erin's Total Magical Adventure
    • Sylvia's a comic book fan, mostly Batman and Jonah Hex, even secretly going into a comic book store to get one.
      • In "The Most Dangerous Cure Hunt, Sylvia seems to have a thing for Pretty Cure, despite her disliking girly stuff. She also used to like the Powerpuff Girls as a kid and her favorite was Buttercup, due to having similar traits with her.
      • Sylvia secretly has a love for Westerns because her dad was a huge fan, especially John Wayne.
      • Also in "My Little Cutie Talent Workers", Sylvia also seems good at making sweets because her mom was a baker.
  • The Legend of Total Drama Island: Eva shows flashes of an intellectual side, such as when she calls Ezekiel a "trilobite" in reference to his religiosity (the Holy Trinity, to be precise) and to what she sees as his primitive attitudes.
  • My Ridonculous Race
    • Sam mentions to Junior how he used to feel so invisible as a child, but all that changed after a meeting with a rock star named Sabah Sabre.
    • Aaryn's biography mentions that he wants to be a psychologist, specifically a sexual psychologist.
  • Predator and Prey: Justin displays a knack for identifying when a woman is being manipulated by a man via her feelings and when others are sexually frustrated, thanks to his own experiences with both. As he says himself, he's more than just a pretty face.
  • Random Drama Series: Several characters (most notably the OCs) have such traits. For example:
    • Kitsune's real name is Faith Gamble, and she's the daughter of one of Canada's most infamous serial killers.
    • As Chef reveals in season six, Chris used to be a Nice Guy until he took a job that required him to be a jerk. While he'd be himself off the clock, he eventually turned into the man he is now.
    • Carly's pantaphobia is the result of her family's occupations/hobbies, so she grew up seeing every horrible way things could go wrong.
  • Total Blended Drama: Reveals in Tri-Armed Triathlon that Chris McLean is considered to be an expert on the Wooly Beaver, to the point he has a master's degree on the animal.
  • Total Cousins Series: Toni realizes Dakota isn't just a spoiled princess and has a lot of useful advice and information during the season.
  • TDWT Reducks Redux: Katie's extremely close friendship with Sadie has given her a talent for being able to practically read what other people are thinking, and her "sweet girl" stereotype makes her very good at mediating conflicts.
  • Total Drama Action: All-In: Everyone gets a little bit of this. Trent's clinginess is because he has been cheated on by previous girlfriends twice, Owen loves Izzy because she doesn't judge him for his weight, Courtney's perfectionist tendencies come from having a Big Sister Bully, Bridgette hates being objectified for her appearance, Eva is in fact barely literate and was bullied as a child, Beth is a history geek, etc.
  • Total Drama All-Stars Rewrite: Lindsay reveals that she has written a best-selling and critically lauded autobiography about her experiences on reality TV.
  • Total Drama Comeback Series
    • Izzy's crazy, but we also get unexpected moments of her being sad or thoughtful.
    • Lindsay has some moments of brilliance, such as successfully solving the puzzle in the blimp challenge, wanting to go to college, and being oddly adept at MMORPGs, despite never playing one before (or knowing what it is for that matter).
  • Total Drama Dictionary: Selena Whintwood enjoys motorcycles, and would love to own one one day. She gets her wish granted by commandeering one from Ms. Gravlei's goons.
  • Total Drama Do Over
    • Sam shows in the Japan challenge to be great at writing Sci-Fi stories, writing a commercial his team can perform. He explains that all the best games have great storylines, hinting he may want to write a game someday.
    • As Island progresses, it's revealed that Zoey's fascinated with stage acting and Broadway shows.
    • Lindsay Clone is noted as having good dance moves.
  • Total Drama Genesis
    • Bethany is actually more insecure than the confident jock she appears to be.
    • Diamonique appears to be a spoiled rich ditz but is actually more aware and has high intelligence.
    • While Frannie seems to be just comic relief, she is actually aware of how people perceive her as fodder, and very concerned about the future of her circus and its fate if she fails at the show.
    • Easton isn’t actually just two people in one with his brother.
    • Riley may seem like a silly, typical bro, but she has grown up without parents and living a lower-class life with her brothers. She often has life advice for her teammates and seems to be one of the most confident and happily adjusted contestants.
  • Total Drama Island: A New Beginning: Izzy towards the end of the fifth challenge is shown to have a soft and vulnerable side.
  • Total Drama Lakeside
    • Graham's fashion sense, vocabulary, and general behavior aren't because of his grandparents. It's actually all modeled after a character he created, Oliver Kilgore, an idealized romantic hero who's everything the actual Graham isn't. He reveals this to Suvir and later Kelsey, admitting Oliver was a coping mechanism to try and become more confident, and abandons the persona with a subsequent makeover.
    • Kelsey is an Art History major and loves the arts and culture, and all her extracurriculars are just to build up her resume.
  • Total Drama Legends: Sierra apparently managed to publish an unauthorized guide to Total Drama and its contestants.
  • Total Drama Letterz
    • Clyde is, in fact, Kasimar's best friend and second-in-command Ian Moonwell, and is behind Eleanor's kidnapping as well as Jimmy's family's death as revenge for Jimmy switching the votes that led to his elimination.
    • Steve's real name is Cole Walker, and he is an undercover FBI agent investigating Kasimar's disappearance.
  • Total Drama Redux 52: Lightning, of all people, is a surprisingly good cook.
  • Total Drama: Some Stars: Topher enjoys fishing, as seen in his introduction.
  • Total Drama Superstars: It's slowly revealed during Wolfgang's conversations with characters such as Flora and Helga that he's actually not a bad guy, just socially awkward and introverted, and has a hard time getting to know people without accidentally scaring them off.
  • Total Drama Tweenabet: Joanne Blink is surprisingly good a painting. At Playa des Losers, she paints a picture of a contestant after they're eliminated.
  • Total Drama Tween Tour: Emily Ferrent is really a computer genius and a geek; the silly girl personality is all but an act.
  • Total Drama: Unfinished Business
    • After suffering years of constant abuse from her sister, Samey is filled with a lot of hatred, both towards her tormentor and herself.
    • Katie turns out to be a gamer during the zombie VR challenge, as her experiences with it contribute a lot to her survival.
  • Total Drama What The Heck: Bradley has been shown to know a lot about insects and bugs, despite being a popular jock.
  • Total Lady Drama Island
    • Lindsay knows a surprising amount about investing and saving money.
    • Several of the girls show an in-depth knowledge of horror movies.
    • Katie is a surprisingly skilled seamstress.
  • Total Shuffled Island Series
    • "Revenge of the Telethon" has Staci coming from a really large family that works very mediocre jobs, which explains why she constantly lies about her family's achievements.
    • Leonard's Cloud Cuckoolander behaviour is all an act; he believes himself to be only good at LARPing, so he's decided he's gonna pretend he thinks he's a wizard so he can at least be a memorable early elimination.
  • Twinning With a Twist
    • Due to constantly getting pelted with objects from her classmates, Ella has a surprisingly fast reaction time.
      • Once Ella leaves her Princess Phase, she's also shown to be quite savvy in regard to strategies some of the other contestants might be plotting. Fitting for a fan of the show.
    • When Sammy arrives at Playa de Losers, Leonard turns out to be far less of a Cloud Cuckoolander than the series paints him as. Not only does he in fact turn out to be a super-friendly guy, but he displays a broad range of nerdy interests, including a deep passion for video games, and manages to become good friends with Beardo.
  • Unbreakable Red Silken Thread
    • Cody and Heather, all the way. While Heather oftentimes appears to be the more dominant of the two, Cody has made it pretty clear on a few occasions that this is by choice, his choice to be exact, and he has no problem standing up to her or calling her out. Heather likewise has proven to be surprisingly empathetic towards others, especially those in situations or circumstances they have no control over, something she is quite familiar with.
    • In chapter 27 Cody reveals that it was Lindsay who taught him about Heather's feelings on touching. Her immense knowledge of business also qualifies. She also shows great determination, willing to succeed by her own means and only asks for help if truly necessary.
    • Cody mentions Sky's good at poetry.

The Transformers

  • In Chapter 9 of Riding a Sunset, one of the Autobots is shown to have surprisingly good dancing skills. It's Optimus Prime.

Undertale

  • FURTHERFELL: Despite openly being a tyrant who had no remorse about his plan to wage war on humanity, there are still signs that Asgore wasn't a completely terrible person. Sans and Dess talk about how Asgore still dressed up as Santa Claus to deliver Gyftmas presents like he did in Undertale (though nobody's taken over that job since he died six years prior). Furthermore, he helped raise Dess and Noelle (initially alongside Rudy, then by himself once Rudy passed away) and was a much kinder parent towards them than their own mother was.

Others

  • Just like in Hetalia: Axis Powers canon, Italy is not as he seems in Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità. Beneath his brilliant smiles and happy exterior, he was insecure and spiteful towards himself.
  • The Hunter in With Strings Attached. He starts out as an egotistical warrior who loves killing and scaring the crap out of people. But after several days observing the four (who detest him and speak with him as little as possible), especially how they relate to one another and how they do not use their formidable power to kill, he confesses to Paul just how lonely and friendless he is, and that he really doesn't think of killing as “fun.” He also reveals that he started out as a graduate student in botany and had a fiancee who's been lost to him for 20 years now.
  • Calvin & Hobbes: The Series
  • A Brighter Dark: When Sakura meets him in Hoshido, Hans is shown to be much more cunning than his barbaric and brutal persona might indicate. He's smart enough to have memorized the appearance and name of every nobleman, both Nohrian and Hoshidan, and is willing to put aside blood lust for a moment when he sees an opportunity to improve his standard of living. Both things that you wouldn't have suspected based on how he was introduced.
  • Tamers Forever Series: Every character has more to him or her than meets the eye. Bonus points for the fact that these Hidden Depths are perfectly compatible with the characters' canon personalities.
  • In Perfection Is Overrated, Bachiko and Meiko are planning on altering people's personalities and memories in order to set them up with their "ideal" matches as necessary. They also have to wonder whether they have done the same to themselves or each other, showing some awareness of the implications of their ability. When, however, they are dying after their defeat and the loss of their powers, it turns out that they did deeply care for each other without their powers.
  • In Riddle and the Ancient Contract everyone treats Crabbe and Goyle as dumb muscle, causing them to hide their intelligence and dreams for the future - for Goyle, caring for animals, while Crabbe wants to be a librarian.
  • This is a big part of Heroes for Earth, as each of the main characters are not the one-dimensional characters from the Captain Planet and the Planeteers cartoon. For instance, Wheeler, while a bit of a The Complainer Is Always Wrong in the cartoon, in the fanfic, he does have his womanizer, jerkish qualities, but he is also a caring old brother who works on a secret garden to honor his mother.
  • Inverted in Ambience: Platoon (Moebius Four). Franklin is disappointed to discover that beneath Takao's serious disciplinarian is the Hidden Shallow of an irresponsible drinker.
  • In the rewrite of Sonic X: Dark Chaos, Tsali is revealed to be surprisingly Affably Evil underneath his genocidal psychopathic brutality, at least when he isn't on missions. He originally had a group of mercenaries to aid him in his genocide who he deeply cared about as a family until they betrayed him and tried to kill him. He also privately begins to doubt if all his evil actions would be worth it in the end. He also treats Trinity respectfully as a guest even after he discovers Trinity is an Angel spy.
    • Knuckles is given more depth to cancel out his Flanderization from the show. Though still hotheaded, he's often depicted as wiser, more perceptive, and more reflective than most of the others. He also has a nerdy side to him.
    • Astorath isn't anywhere near the stupid Blood Knight brute he seems to be; he comes to deeply respect Sonic and friends as enemies and has a strong sense of honor. He also correctly predicted that Maledict's master plan would never work from the start, but he was ignored. Even Jesus praises Astorath as an honorable Demon.
  • The Pieces Lie Where They Fell: On top of being Magi Supreme (the title for the captain of the Magi of Stars Guards), Violet Lulamoon is revealed as being the published author of a non-fiction work on amulets.
  • Russel in Service with a Smile has the Face of a Thug, partially due to his mohawk but is an excellent waiter and all of his references gave him glowing reviews when Jaune called them. Jaune and Team RWBY all note that when in uniform, his looks make him look adorably wild rather than looking like a delinquent.
  • In Fractures (SpaceDimentio), Padparadscha is fully aware of how much of a burden she can be, believing she lacks the physical prowess and super-abilities to be any help for the Off-Colors, leading Pink Diamond to console her.
  • The Cutie Renee from Do You Believe in Fairies? is into surprisingly NSFW hip-hop and rap.
  • The Ouroboros: Mikey is generally dismissed by his brothers as an Annoying Younger Sibling with a penchant for joking around at the worst times. His inner thoughts throughout the fic reveal that he's a Sad Clown Stepford Smiler with severe issues who has learned through harsh experiences that it's better not to form any honest attachments to anyone. In fact, he sincerely believes that he has mastered this mentality, even towards his friends... until he learns that their alternate selves tricked them so that they could take over their lives on Earth. At which point he immediately starts contemplating homicide.
  • The bios of the titular team in DNMC hint that there's more to them than meets the eye.
    • D'Arg tends to draw or write poetry when he's not fighting.
    • Nara may like action movies and metal and rock music, but she's willing to bend an ear to a good story.
    • Mak has a thing for landscape photography.
    • Cyena is more determined than she lets on if her mindset of "Stay the course of your destiny, no matter what" is an indicator.

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