History JerkWithAHeartOfGold / Other

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[[AC:Asian Animation]]
* In ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'', the docs are constantly chasing after Lamput and being a jerk to him, but they still somehow genuinely care about him on occasion. The episode "Fracture" in particular has them outright ''help'' Lamput for once when he gets a fracture and can't shapeshift properly.

[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
* Oscar the Cat is supposedly quite rude and irritable towards most people- except ill and dying patients. He goes up to them and lets them pet him as much as they want.
* Many people would attribute various manifestations of this trope as standard demeanor for cats.

[[AC:Podcasts]]
* In ''Podcast/RollToBreathe'' Black Cavalier is stand-offish at best and a bully at worst, but she never intends to hurt people and really does care for whatever relationship she has on the team.
* Hannah from ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}''. While she comes across as stand-offish and is typically rather bitchy and vocal about her displeasure at having to hang around the other less-popular girls, she has a good heart in the end and wants to protect the world just as much as the others.

[[AC:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/{{Edge}}. He may be somewhat sociopathic, arrogant and vicious, but he did show that he cared for his (kayfabe) wife Vickie Guerrero, and despite being turned on several times, always would help out his best friend Wrestling/{{Christian}}.
* William Regal. A pompous British aristocratic type for most of his career. His heart of gold was shown when Eric Bischoff's "special" nephew, Eugene, came into WWE. Bischoff wanted Regal to break his spirit in the hopes he'd quit, but once Regal saw Eugene could actually wrestle, he became very supportive of him.
* The real-life personas of several of the WWF's most notorious villains. Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon and Wrestling/TripleH are today's most common examples, as they have always related well with fans, have interviewed well, and carry themselves as great ambassadors to the sport. The most notorious heel of the 1980s-1990s era, Wrestling/BobbyHeenan, was this way, too; when making personal appearances, he'd carry on his act as though it were his real-life persona, but he'd tone it down in such a way that you knew he was bluffing and that he genuinely cared about the fans.

[[AC:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
** Hyeon can be a shallow [[TheGadfly gadfly]] that's insensitive to the feelings of others, but he does genuinely care about his friends and looks out for them. To say nothing of his literal PetTheDog moments with his pet squirrel.
** Nadine is a hot-headed bully who torments innocent students like [[ShrinkingViolet Ivy]] and [[NiceGuy Ciro]], but at the same time is shown to care deeply about those she likes, including her {{gang of bullies}} and also the shy, neurotic Josephine.
* In ''Roleplay/DCNation'', most of the Outsiders fit this like gloves. Travis is a street kid turned Comicbook/GreenLantern who sometimes forgets there are actual people involved when he starts planning. Green Shield has the Arrow family's moxie with a side order of caustic sarcasm. Caleb and Amelia Zukov love to put up a good show of not giving a shit about their teammates, but God or Hell help you if you if you go after the team...especially if Caleb doesn't particularly like them.
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', several characters who act rudely are shown to have a hidden heart of gold and that deep inside they really do care for others, or at least grow into people who start caring about other things than themselves. Examples include the cynical mage Raistlin II, the old merchant Kusobaba, and Sultan Khalid.
* Sean "Lucky" O'Cann of ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' acts like a bit of a prick, but has been shown to be genuinely warm and affectionate at other times. It's how he deals with his insecurities, for the most part.
* Literature/LittleRedRidingHood in ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'' straddles the line.
** [[TheAhnold Mark]] usually falls into this trope, although he does sometimes act like a straight up Jerkass

[[AC:Tabletop Gaming]]
* Gulliman, the primarch of the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Ultramarines]] was a hard ass, but he legitimately cared about the people he ruled and established the government of the Ultramarines mini empire around the idea of meritocracy (it is theoretically possible for a peasant to one day rise and become chapter master thus rule the empire). His actions have resulted in one of the best places (and least corrupt) to live in the entire Imperium.
* The High Elves from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' are characterised as a race of smug, supremacist jerks who believe they are best suited to protect the world from Chaos. Humans can be helpful allies sometimes but they are dismissed by the elves as foolish, self-destructive children most days. [[HumansAreBastards Of course being]] ''Warhammer'', [[JerkassHasAPoint humans do come off looking very bad, very often]].
* The default characterization of many [[KnightInShiningArmor Paladins]] in D&D. Arrogant and self-righteous, yes, but the "righteous" part does apply, and as written, Paladins have a soft spot for anyone in need.
** This is the [[PlanetOfHats hat]] of [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]] in most settings: while their default alignment is LawfulGood, they get a penalty to charisma and are usually described as gruff and having poor social skills.
* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'':
** Ra defends the innocent, fights supervillains, and eventually lays down his life in a desperate attack on the most powerful entity in the multiverse. So far, so good. However, Ra is also a deeply flawed character, and the Staff of Ra exaggerates the most Ra-like faults of whoever it chooses as a worthy bearer, meaning that the Blake Washington Jr version of Ra starts out with Washington's already impressive ego dialled up to ridiculous proportions, smugly dismissing the enemies he obliterates as not even being worth his time. (His successor, Thiago, was much less of an egotist, meaning that his Ra is less arrogant, with the Staff instead exaggerating his recklessness.
** There's also Absolute Zero, who by his own admission is cynical, surly, sarcastic, and doesn't care about being liked or making friends. He also originally only agreed to do the hero bit in order to pay off the suit that lets him get to stay alive outside the tiny life support room he otherwise has to live in. But when the chips are down he can still be counted on to do the right thing and care about helping the innocent, and when the heroes start an academy he's the teacher who knows the most to instruct about the ethics on what it really means to be a good person and be a hero.
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* Ra in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' defends the innocent, fights supervillains, and eventually lays down his life in a desperate attack on the most powerful entity in the multiverse. So far, so good. However, Ra is also a deeply flawed character, and the Staff of Ra exaggerates the most Ra-like faults of whoever it chooses as a worthy bearer, meaning that the Blake Washington Jr version of Ra starts out with Washington's already impressive ego dialled up to ridiculous proportions, smugly dismissing the enemies he obliterates as not even being worth his time. (His successor, Thiago, was much less of an egotist, meaning that his Ra is less arrogant, with the Staff instead exaggerating his recklessness.

[[AC: Miscellaneous]]

* Literature/LittleRedRidingHood in Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars straddles the line.
** [[TheAhnold Mark]] usually falls into this trope, although he does sometimes act like a straight up Jerkass

[[AC: Tabletop Gaming]]

[[AC:Theatre]]
* Mrs Erlynne from ''Theatre/LadyWindermeresFan''.
* Benedick in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' is a fountain of snark who pretends to be a HeManWomanHater, but as soon as he is convinced that Beatrice is in love with him, he softens up instantly. He is also the only male character (other than the friar) to believe in Hero's innocence when she is accused of cheating on Claudio, rather than siding with his male friends as even Hero's father does.
* Frank Church of ''Theatre/YesVirginiaTheMusical'' is pessimistic and a curmudgeon who proclaims at the beginning of the show that he hates Christmas. He takes positive glee in crumpling up Virginia's letter and mocking her lack of maturity at eight years old. And yet, he then writes the famous editorial indicating that there is no proof that Santa Claus is not real and that indeed, the world would be a very sad place if he were not.

* The real-life personas of several of the WWF's most notorious villains. Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon and Wrestling/TripleH are today's most common examples, as they have always related well with fans, have interviewed well, and carry themselves as great ambassadors to the sport. The most notorious heel of the 1980s-1990s era, BobbyHeenan, was this way, too; when making personal appearances, he'd carry on his act as though it were his real-life persona, but he'd tone it down in such a way that you knew he was bluffing and that he genuinely cared about the fans.

* The page image that you can see is actually for Oscar the Cat. He's supposedly quite rude and irritable towards most people- except ill and dying patients. He goes up to them and lets them pet him as much as they want.
** Many people would attribute various manifestations of this trope as standard demeanor for cats.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oscarcat_1556.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[http://www.cracked.com/article_18963_6-cats-more-badass-than-you-and-most-superheroes_p2.html He's not very friendly, except when you need a friendly cat most.]]]]

* The real-life personas of several of the WWF's most notorious villains. StephanieMcMahon and TripleH are today's most common examples, as they have always related well with fans, have interviewed well, and carry themselves as great ambassadors to the sport. The most notorious heel of the 1980s-1990s era, BobbyHeenan, was this way, too; when making personal appearances, he'd carry on his act as though it were his real-life persona, but he'd tone it down in such a way that you knew he was bluffing and that he genuinely cared about the fans.

* Mrs Erlynne from ''Theatre/LadyWindermeresFan''.

* LittleRedRidingHood in Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars straddles the line.

* The page image that you can see is actually for Oliver the Cat. He's supposedly quite rude and irritable towards most people- except ill and dying children. He goes up to them and lets them pet him as much as they want.

* Wrestling/Edge. He may be somewhat sociopathic, arrogant and vicious, but he did show that he cared for his (kayfabe) wife Vickie Guerrero, and despite being turned on several times, always would help out his best friend Christian

* Wrestling/Edge. He may be somewhat sociopathic, arrogant and vicious, but he did show that he cared for his (kayfabe) wife Vickie Guerrero, and despite being turned on several times, always would help out his best friend Christian [[AC:Roleplay]]

[[AC:Roleplay]]

* {{Little Red Riding Hood}} in Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars straddles the line.
** [[TheAhnold Mark]] usually falls into this trope, although he does sometimes act like a straight up Jerkass

* Gulliman, the primarch of the [[{{WarHammer40000}} Ultramarines]] was a hard ass, but he legitimately cared about the people he ruled and established the government of the Ultramarines mini empire around the idea of meritocracy (it is theoretically possible for a peasant to one day rise and become chapter master thus rule the empire). His actions have resulted in one of the best places (and least corrupt) to live in the entire Imperium.

[[AC: Real Life]]

* Perhaps [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PxI3efVVeI#t=3m16s Oscar the cat]] might be an example of this. He's said to be unfriendly to patients, except when they don't have long to live (he seems to always know) in which case he cuddles up to them. It's as though the cat not only knows said patients are about to die but uses its cuddling to have people die happy... and reserves his cuddling for that particular purpose.
-->'''Dr. David Dosa''': He is not a cat who will spend quality time with residents on the ward, unless they're about to die; he's not a cat that likes to spend a lot of time with staff; he keeps to himself.
** Seriously cats in general. Dogs are known for their loyality but cats, for all their aloofness, have been known for taking a sudden change of owners VERY badly and often lose their will to continue living if they don't take their new owner well.
* Israelis stereotypically have this as their defining characteristic. It is known in Hebrew as "tzabar", and the English equivalent is Sabra. TheOtherWiki states that this is named after the Indian Fig Opuntia cactus, which is "a tenacious, thorny desert plant with a thick hide that conceals a sweet, softer interior".
* Clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman was rumoured to be a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Many performers described him as being difficult to work with, due to his arrogance and perfectionism. But he secretly funded college educations for some of the musicians who worked under him. And if you said anything bad about his band members, you were in trouble.
* Stephen Pastis, creator of ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine''
* [[TheBiggestLoser Jillian Michaels]] is harsh, unforgiving, and without a doubt a DrillSergeantNasty, but when the chips are down and her contestants are in trouble, she is more than willing to cut through the crap and have a heart-to-heart - which usually results in a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming of truly magnificent proportions. She also tends to take her contestants' failures personally and is often the more overtly emotional of the two trainers.
* [[{{Baseball}} Ty Cobb]] was an unrepentant bastard for most of his career, and indeed most of his life. However, he was one of the few players to support Major League Baseball's decision to integrate. After an he died, he left most of his fortune (an early investor in Coca Cola, he was very rich) to go towards building a hospital in his native Cobb County, Georgia, and to funding a scholarship for underprivledged Cobb County students. It should be noted that Cobb County is predominantly black, and for a white Southerner to do all that in ''TheFifties'' is downright awesome.
* One waitress recalls an old man who was usually harsh, yet she put up with him because he was a regular customer. When he died, she was shocked to discover that he put in his will that she inherited five thousand dollars and his car.
* Shorty Rossy of ''Series/PitBoss'' is an ex-con little person known for his short fuse, but he also rescues pit bulls along with running a talent agency for little people, and does his damnedest to help both groups (often risking his life and health to do it).
* ChristinaAguilera: She's considered by some to be a bitch, but she does put a lot of work into philanthropy and does value the people who have supported her career. Also works for the World Food Programme.
* Patrick Wolf.
* Genghis Khan.
** Temujin certainly had some positive traits such as deciding to institute laws which disregarded status and choosing aides based on merit rather than clannish insularity. He also engaged in PragmaticVillainy, such as deciding that a tribute of silk from China collected annually was worth more to his long-term interests than butchering the people and taking their cities. He certainly had no problem with putting entire populations to the sword and claiming every last thing of value as plunder if a people submitted or were conquered. His ruthlessness may have hidden a complex character, but certainly not a ''nice'' one.
* TheBeatles:
** [=Paul McCartney=].
** JohnLennon, who had lots of problems with school but nevertheless showed a genuine caring heart toward the scarred world.
* WarrenEllis: Warren himself and [[AuthorAvatar by proxy most of his heroes]] usually tend to come across as this. In his blog, on the surface he comes off as pretty grumpy, but there are plenty of entries that show he loves his fans, and he is very supportive of many young and independent comic book artists and other creative people, by bringing larger attention to them.
** Hell, just listen to his story about [[http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=10633 when one of his cats died]].
** And what he did with [[http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=10806 the money he earned]] from ''{{Red}}''.
* MichaelBay: He has a reputation as an absolutely ''tyrannical'' director, but when he's not actually doing anything regarding movies he's reportedly quite nice, and he's shown himself to have quite a sense of humor on a number of occasions.
* SpikeMilligan could be one of these on a good day, or when dealing with children or animals. Everyone else...not so much, although it varied by the state of his bipolar disorder.
* HarlanEllison mixes this with {{Tsundere}} and takes it UpToEleven. He is best known for being the walking, talking TropeCodifier for JerkAss, and yet... He is and was a tireless campaigner for human rights, a proponent of struggling writers, and apparently one of the most loyal and devoted friends you could ever have. Talk about MoodWhiplash.
* MarlonBrando was known to be a bit of a heartbreaker who was difficult to work with in films and hard to interview, but his interest in civil rights and environmental issues shows that there was definitely some good in there.
* In some ways, Vince Lombardi.
* Sean Avery of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague New York Rangers]] is widely considered the most hated player in the NHL [[hottip:*:that is, until 2012, when he was demoted to the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the Connecticut Whale (formerly the Hartford Wolf Pack)]], being essentially a professional jerk that trolls to get a reaction from other players and throw them off their game. However, he recently appeared in an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGH3M9NKBI ad supporting gay marriage]], his reason being that he knew several gay friends in Los Angeles and New York, and that he felt it was right. While that ad sparked some backlash from some figures in the hockey world, there was a lot of backlash against that from many others, resulting in the, shall we say, ''unusual'' situation of Avery getting most of the support for his antics. ([[MagnificentBastard Maybe that was his ploy all along?]])
* [[HockeyNightInCanada Don Cherry]], known as a JerkAss hockey commentator who is no stranger to offending people on the air with his extremely conservative views and rants against "left-wing pinkos", to the point where he has been accused of promoting hockey violence, is himself a real life supporter of charitable causes, and founded the Rose Cherry Home for Sick Children in honor of his longtime wife, Rose, who died in 1997.
* American Apparel founder Dov Charny is said to be a wholly unpleasant man, and a lech on top of that, having been sued for sexual harassment several times. He's also one of the clothing industry's most passionate activists against sweatshops.
* A lot of people who are autistic, or even just socially awkward, may occasionally seem mean, uncaring, or condescending, but that doesn't mean that they are. A lot of them are really great people, who just don't know how to socialize properly, so they end up acting in ways that can seem mean.
** This can be true when it comes to cross-cultural interactions as well. Social customs can be very different across cultures, and it can make someone who is unfamiliar with the local customs seem like a jerk, even when they make every attempt to be nice and friendly.
** One book in fact claimed that socially awkward people might be better understood by thinking of them as foreigners in their own country.
* Many individuals are distrusting, paranoid, and suspicious of people they don't know, and will not be the slightest bit friendly to most. Yet, this is just a survival instinct to deal with a world where things like hardened criminals, scams, and other terrible things happen. And when it comes down to it, they don't hate people in general, and in fact, can be quite caring and loyal to those who can get on their good sides.
* Jack Dee puts on a very surly and humourless act for his comedic work. When out of his work, he's still deadpan but frequently promotes many good causes, often on his Twitter page he will retweet a lot of good links (missing people notices, charity links, important news articles related to it, etc.).
* Simon Cowell is the stereotypical MeanBrit, seeing as he's the TropeCodifier, and when interacting with his fellow judges on the American X-Factor this continues, but watch the way he interacts with the girls in his group and he definitely shows a softer side with them. He also doesn't seem nearly as nasty in interviews, just a natural DeadpanSnarker who turns it UpToEleven for the judging table.
* Rwandan President Paul Kagame is well-known for not tolerating much dissent. He's also well-known for ending the Rwandan Genocide. Probably debatable if he's an example of this trope or [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Jerks Have Standards]], though.
* Almost every military leader of any rank has a switch they can throw at will from their default personality to the crazy bastard ready to rip your head off. It's usually reserved for subordinates whose screw-ups aren't simple accidents and for any instance of disrespect. Most military men and women are normal family folk underneath the uniform. The job requires they be ready to enforce ruthless discipline when they must.
* KanyeWest is known for his nearly endless self-aggrandizing comments, bouts of narcissism, interrupting TaylorSwift and saying that George Bush doesn't care about black people. He also clearly adores his (deceased, sadly) mother, starting and participating in a large number of charities, and criticizing the nigh-endless stream of homophobia in rap music.
* Similarly, Music/{{Eminem}} is known for his extremely violent and often misogynistic lyrics, but he cleaned up his drug problems (twice, which might make it better or worse) and is [[PapaWolf extremely protective of his daughters.]]
* Buddy Rich, drummer extraordinaire, had a temper that could fly off the handle at any moment and there are several tapes of his yelling at his bandmates for next-to-nothing. According to one of his friends, Buddy had a soft heart and his favorite song was [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "Being Green"]] by Kermit the Frog.
* GordonRamsay is apparently a genuinely nice guy in private, and praises and supports subordinates and pupils who perform well. Ramsay's virtues, however, do not include [[ClusterFBomb temperate language]], [[HotBlooded even temper]] and [[SurroundedByIdiots a willingness to suffer fools gladly.]]
* Prince Phillip is rude, stubborn, and bad-tempered, but he's unfailingly humble and is always supportive of his wife.
* JamesCameron is known for his extremely difficult personality, very fiery temper and his willingness to work actors and crew sometimes nearly literally to death (His tyrannical attitude is extensively listed under PrimaDonnaDirector, BadBoss and TroubledProduction). Its gotten so bad that crew members and actors have refused to ever work with him again and the phrase "You can't scare Me. I've worked with James Cameron" has become quite popular. He is however known to be very kind and friendly when not working and describes himself as a "Nice guy when I'm not losing My mind". He also will never put an actor or crew member in a dangerous situation without putting himself in it too and holds himself to the same high standards as everyone else. If nothing else, he has mellowed out a lot recently.
* Almost everyone in the world is this.You can't be nice to everyone,which means to the people who don't like you,you're a {{Jerkass}}.But to your loved ones,you have a heart of gold.