Hidden Depths in this series.
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Total Drama
Killer Bass
Courtney
- In "The Princess Pride" and World Tour, Courtney shows quite a bit of musical talent and enthusiasm, being the only contestant to be happy about the third season's musical theme.
DJ
- As shown in “Not Quite Famous”, DJ seems to be pretty good at using a ribbon baton.
- Despite being a Celibate Hero, DJ gives Geoff some surprisingly astute dating advice in "Up the Creek".DJ: See, dating is like feeding a bunny. You want the bunny to come to you so you don't make any sudden moves. "Here, bunny, bunny, bunny..." You drop a heart-shaped handmade clay bowl on a bunnynote , and the bunny's gonna run, man! You feelin' me?
Duncan
- Duncan in the Action episode "Riot On Set" is shown to be an amazing actor. Also, Courtney thinks he has a great singing voice.
- This also comes up later in World Tour when he pretends to be sad about Alejandro flirting with Courtney, and then he states in a confessional that it is one of his talents.
- In "Full Metal Drama", he revealed he always wanted to be a marine, on the account of their tough reputation, awesome outfits and their war cry. Given how his family are in the police force, him wanting to be a marine might just be in his blood in a sense.
- "Aftermath IV: Who Wants to Pick a Millionare?" shows that Duncan is a very skilled breakdancer.
Ezekiel
- Though the show itself usually depicts Ezekiel as little more than a bumbling homeschooled kid, various character biographies reveal that he once won a national spelling bee and can speak eight different languages.
Harold
- He regularly brings in some hidden skill or knowledge that can either help them in a challenge or annoy everyone. His poetry to Leshawna in "X-treme Torture" had Gwen and Bridgette trying to deduce who wrote it, and everyone (even Chef) was amazed to find out it was Harold.
Katie
- Katie's really good at dodgeball, apparently.
- According to the TDI biographies, Katie sewed her and Sadie’s outfits.
Tyler
- In World Tour, Tyler reveals that he loves Japanese game shows.
Screaming Gophers
Beth
- Beth's Island biography mentions that she excels in Art. She received the Art Achievement of the Year Award for her full-scale replica of the Sphinx, made out of glue, elbow macaroni, and felt.
Cody
- Despite being a geek Cody is a very skilled dodgeball player. He easily took out DJ and Katie when they had him outnumbered. Courtney even called him an easy out beforehand.
Heather
- In "Not Quite Famous" Heather is shown to be a talented enough ballet dancer to be chosen to represent her team in that episode's challenge. It's a shame she chooses to read Gwen's diary in front of everyone instead.
- The third Action aftermath reveals that Heather has some degree of genuine respect for Harold. As she is shown in an exclusive clip secretly admiring Harold's Num-Yo skills, and attempting to use her own pair. Which fails miserably.
Justin
- Justin's Island bio states that he volunteers at a retirement home.
Leshawna
- The Island and World Tour biographies reveal that Leshawna volunteers at her community center.
Lindsay
- Rare occasions will show that there's more to Lindsay than just a pretty face. She displays a surprising amount of skill at water-skiing in "X-Treme Torture" and successfully solves the murder mystery in "Get a Clue". Her Island biography also notes that she's a star athlete on her high school's gymnastic team.
- In That's Off the Chain!, Lindsay is surprisingly great with mechanics, having built two bikes (Her's and Heather's) in the time it took everyone else's to build their own, not only that, but for Heather's bike, she actually stripped down Chef's Motorcycle and implemented to Heather's for added speed, and remember she did this in the same time frame as everyone. As for performances, Duncan rode Lindsay's and couldn't help but to compliment its speed. It also speaks volume as the two bikes she built were the only bikes standing and won as well.
Noah
- In the Action special, Noah shows that he's stronger than he looks when he angrily kicks a TV.
- In "Maori or Less", Noah mentions seeing "that movie about the couple and the sinking ship" 700 times.. Considering before Ridonculous Race Noah showed no interest in romance, one wouldn't expect a sardonic bookworm to have so many viewings of a romantic tragedy "chick flick".
Owen
- Owen is surprisingly competent in the dodgeball challenge, during "Dodgebrawl", where he singlehandedly takes out all of the opposition when angered.Owen: Great Gatsby, that is it! GAME ON!
- Owen clearly has some knowledge of popular literature, as he knows about the The Great Gatsby.
Trent
- Trent’s contestant biography shows that he owns a motorcycle.
World Tour Newcomers
Alejandro
- Alejandro’s contestant biography reveals that he can control his dreams, suggesting that he’s a lucid dreamer.
Mutant Maggots
Anne Maria
- When Anne Maria's scenes aren't about her vanity or her part in the Love Dodecahedron, she's the Team Mom, providing the strongest voice against Jo's cutthroat management of the Mutant Maggots and in general having a strong team spirit. For instance, while she's highly protective of her hair, she takes Cameron on her shoulders during the bomb challenge in "Backstabbers Ahoy!".
- Even Maria's vanity is a hidden depth because of how confident she is in her looks and style despite being continuously subjected to micro-insults. Be it Jo's anti-girly bullying, the team disapproving of her sense of fashion in "Runaway Model" (and still she provides the narration during the fashion show to Zoey's design, which the team went with instead!), or being called dirty by Chris, nothing gets her down.
Jo
- For all her tough exterior, Jo is conscious of her body and insecure about her femininity. In "Runaway Model", she sympathizes with the yeti's "big hairy body issues" and in "A Mine Is A Terrible Thing To Waste", the regret she has when she's facing death is that she never kissed a guy.
- Jo can take what she dishes out. This first comes up in "Finders Creepers" when she is perfectly okay not being freed from a spider's web as long as Brick runs ahead to net their team the win. In "Up, Up And Away In My Pitiful Ballon", she sort of gracefully accepts elimination when Cameron points out he got his trickery that got her eliminated from her.
Scott
- Scott indicates several times that he has a soft spot for nature in all its forms, whether it concerns a ceremonial releasing of doves or wading through a stinking swamp.
- Between "Backstabbers Ahoy!" and "The Treasure Island of Dr. McLean", Scott proves himself a stellar pickpocket and thief in general.
Pimapotew Kinosewak
Topher
- At first Topher seems like a sycophantic, peppy ditz who only entered the competition so that he could meet his idol. Then he manages to steal Chris' phone...
Waneyihtam Maskwak
Beardo
- Beardo's audition video is an All There in the Manual example.I am pretty shy, and until I warm up to new people I tend to make noises and be generally be bothersome. I hope that if I am selected, my team can see past that and give me a chance to show them what a great guy I truly am.
Sugar
- Sugar's planning on using the million dollars for her college funds. Plus, lack of regular knowledge and difficulty telling apart fiction and reality aside, her cutthroat competitive skills and ability to exploit people's mental/emotional weak spots get her extremely far. If one only saw her audition tape, they'd think she was a harmless country idiot.
Ferocious Trout
Axel
- Despite her being a tough Action Girl and Crazy-Prepared survivalist with really intense hobbies, she happens to really love poetry.
Damien
- He's rather knowledgeable about the digestive tract and other scientific topics, and is shown to be one of the most intelligent contestants on the island.
Priya
- She comes across as someone who was born and raised to win Total Drama, but she actually wants to go to medical school.
Ripper
- Despite his blatant stupidity, Ripper demonstrates to be a surprisingly quick thinker when it comes to unorthodox ways to win challenges, such as using Priya as a Human Shield to storm the Frogs' base in the skull stealing challenge or suggesting Zee to put a cassowary costume to steal their eggs. It's just that he tends to have bad luck due to being a Karmic Butt-Monkey and his social game just sucks.
- Despite being previously known as a beacon of toxic masculinity, Ripper is apparently familiar enough with the Women's Baseball League to be able to recognize Chef's Grandma, Axe Hatchet, as one of the greatest pitchers in the entire history of the League.
- He's also got some surprisingly good skills when it comes to writing poetry, at least in his own Ripper-ish way, as he was able to write his own unique love poem to Axel to finally win her over and score a kiss from her in "Choosin' for a Bruisin'
Frogs Of Death
Julia
- While she does not remember it fondly, Julia used to work with her parents at their bakery every summer as a child, which was ironically called "Sweet Little Julia's", and as a result she is a skilled baker, so much in fact that she is able to easily mill flour and sugar from wheat and sugarcane.
MK
- She is a Gamer Chick which helps which helps her figure out how to gain more points in the human pinball challenge in episode Haulin' n' Ballin'.
Raj
- If he and Wanye don't go pro, their backup plan is to go into beekeeping due to their love of maple syrup (Even though bees make honey).
Wayne
- If he and Raj don't make it as pro hockey players, they want to go into beekeeping together due to their love of maple syrup (Even though bees make honey).
Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race
Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race
Kelly and Taylor
- Kelly attended art school before getting married and having Taylor, so it may be inferred that Kelly actually has great artistic skills.
- As unpleasant as Taylor can be, she actually isn't rude to everybody. Compared to other Alpha Bitch's like Heather, Courtney and Amy, Taylor is capable of interacting with others without being completely rude to them. For example, her brief interactions with Ennui, Dwayne and Junior include her speaking to them casually without judging their appearance or dynamics, even if her rudeness towards her mother is still there. The only other contestants she's shown being mean to are Jay and Mickey, likely because they are much smaller and weaker than her. She even backs off when Kitty tells her to without putting up an argument.
Kitty
- Kitty is capable of sensing love: she quickly realized that Noah was in love with Emma and Carrie was in love with Devin.
Crimson and Ennui
- They know Icelandic because most of their favorite bands are from Iceland.
- In "Little Bull on the Prairie", Crimson mentions that ranches make her feel nostalgic because she spent a lot of summers at her grandmother's farm. She later implies that she once attempted to ride a bull at said farm, but that she 'doesn't want to talk about it'.
- In the episode "El Bunny Supremo" we learn that Ennui received a black kitten as a child and named it "Toxic Mold", but that it ran away and he never saw it again. It gives a lot more depth to his current relationship with his new pet, Loki the rabbit.
- At one point Ennui loses Loki, and while on many other shows one would expect the stereotypical Goth response to be to shrug and quip about how all life is meaningless or something like that; instead, Ennui is very saddened that he's lost his pet, and Crimson insists they stop competing until they find him.
- Given their reactions upon seeing each other un-gothed for the first time in the 3 years they've been dating, and Crimson's negative reaction the Best Friends complimenting her, it's implied that they might have self-esteem issues.
Brody
- Brody seems to have some confidence issues, since he tends to break down when he's struggling and fears that he'll be the reason that he and Geoff get eliminated.
Chet and Lorenzo
- Chet is actually competent at gymnastics, much to the surprise of Lorenzo.
- Lorenzo claims that he knows karate, although we have yet to see him in action. However, according to Word of God, he's not very good at it.
- Despite hating each other, they managed to make it almost halfway through the race without ever being in danger of elimination.
Ellody and Mary
- Their Epic Fail in building the sandcastle (taking too much time to plan rather than just trying to work quickly) could suggest that these two are not as smart as they say.
Jen
- Jen is very skilled at gymnastics. Unfortunately, it was Tom who had to do a gymnastics challenge.
Rock and Spud
- Rock manages to carry the team despite Spud being a complete Load, showing more and more of these and keeping their team in the race almost entirely on his own.
- Spud knows all about snakes and what they ate which proves useful in "Down and Outback" after finding a snake that ate exactly 10 bunnies. He also provides Carrie with surprisingly accurate information about the "Seven Stages of Heartbreak".
Total Drama Rama
Total DramaRama
Cody
- He's skilled at drawing, as he made an impressive Mother's Day card for Chef's mom.
