History JerkWithAHeartOfGold / WesternAnimation

** While [[Characters/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballGumballWatterson Gumball Watterson]] can be exasperated with others and often does some dumb or insensitive things, he's a good kid and will go out of his way to try and help... [[UnwantedAssistance Even when explicitly told not to]]. You can't say he isn't a good boyfriend, either, as Penny is [[MoralityPet the only person he has never been rude towards, no matter the circumstances]]. Even when he's bumbling or fouling things up, he never means it.

** Buttercup may act like a bully most of the time (teasing Bubbles, fighting with Blossom and whatnot) but at the end of the day she really does care about her sisters. [[MamaBear It's generally not a good idea to mess with them while Buttercup is around.]]

** Early on ''Island''. This also applied in regards to Gwen with her family. As [[AllThereInTheManual her online bio]] says, "she may seem tough as nails on the outside, but when it comes to her family, she's as soft as... well, a marshmallow!"
** After ''Island'', [[Characters/TotalDramaHeather Heather]] positive traits were allowed to show through on occasion.

-->'''Sadie:''' I can't get the thought out of my head that you’re a good person.

** [[Characters/AmphibiaSashaWaybright Sasha Waybright]] [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags]] between this and BitchInSheepsClothing. She's charming in her own way and is capable of caring very deeply about others, but has a mean streak a mile wide. Before arriving in Amphibia, she was an AlphaBitch who nonetheless [[LovableAlphaBitch had a genuine soft spot for her friends]]... but also wasn't above bullying them and pushing them around. But even so, [[ObliviouslyEvil she genuinely doesn't seem to have realized how unacceptable her behavior was]], and insists she only wants to protect her friends. During the events of the show, her negative qualities get increasingly worse and worse, but she never fully loses her humanity, developing a genuine VillainousFriendship with Captain Grime and still caring very much for Anne and Marcy. Whether she's being a garden variety delinquent and ToxicFriendInfluence or leading an army, Sasha is a ''very'' flawed and self-centered person, but there is clearly a heart somewhere in there. A heart of rusted bronze, but a heart nonetheless.
** [[Characters/AmphibiaAnneBoonchuy Anne Boonchuy]] herself was one in full spades at the start of the show. Although she was prone to brash recklessness and self-centered pridefulness that made her controlling at times and prone to thinking that her often misguided ideals and methods are beneficial to everyone, she was genuinely a very kind girl loyal and dedicated to those she cares about. It was heavily implied her jerkish qualities came from her ToxicFriendInfluence, as they were the ones to encourage her to steal the music box, even though she really didn't want to, but by season 3, CharacterDevelopment has led to her completely shedding off the "jerk" and becoming a full-on hero with a heart of gold.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[Characters/GravityFallsGrunkleStan Grunkle Stan]] is TheBarnum, a massive cheapskate, and [[MeanBoss is frequently hard on his employees]] at the Mystery Shack. Outside of all that, he clearly loves Dipper and Mabel, even if the "family bonding" he comes up with [[NoodleIncident sometimes involves counterfeiting schemes]]. It's also revealed in "Dreamscaperers" that the reason he makes Dipper do most of the dirty work around the Shack is [[spoiler: [[StealthMentor to toughen him up]]]]. He also tried to get a day removed from the calendar because he knew that Soos hated his birthday.

** [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEdaClawthorne Eda Clawthorne the Owl Lady]] is often snide, rude and sarcastic, and enjoys rubbing other people's mistakes or misdeeds in their faces. She does, however, genuinely care about her adopted kids Luz and King, is determined to take down the tyrannical Emperor Belos to save other wild witches like her from his persecution, and is willing to sacrifice her life to stop [[spoiler:[[FinalSolution the Draining Spell]]]].

** [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceCallum Callum]], the main character, is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version of this. He can be snarky, insensitive, and outright cold, but most of these moments come out of ingenuity rather than malice, and he's shown time and time again to care about the good of others, his friends, and loved ones.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':

** [[Characters/FamilyGuyPeterGriffin Peter Griffin]] ''used'' to be this until he turned into a complete {{Jerkass}}. He still has his moments, but they're fewer and much farther between.

* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': Raphael and Casey Jones (at least in the 2003 series).

** Horace, the twins' father, is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example as well, because she's shown to be a friendly man but his tendency to enable Wayne's bad behavior and neglect Lucian can make him come off as insensitive in some ways. Nevertheless, he does love his sons and his wife very much.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': Superboy is pretty abrasive and starts out a SmugSuper with CloningBlues. He also ends up being one of the more heroic and compassionate characters in the series, to the point that he could be considered TheHeart of the team.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|and the Planeteers}}'': Wheeler. BrooklynRage, usually the first to start a fight or complain with him and Linka either [[SlapSlapKiss flirting or trying to restart]] The Cold War, and if there's a member of the party who needs reminding of the week's GreenAesop, it's him. But he is a Planeteer, and is quick to defend his friends or anyone he sees in need of help. Appropriately enough, he's got the [[KillItWithFire Fire ring]].
* ''Franchise/{{Care Bear|s}}'': Grumpy Bear. The original idea was to show children that it's okay to be in a bad mood sometimes, [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong despite what other cartoons would have you believe.]]

** Dee-Dee herself could be a selfish BigSisterBully DependingOnTheWriter, but she loves him too and her [[LethallyStupid vandalism of his lab]] stems from her efforts to spend time with her shut-in brother.
* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse:''
** This was always [[Characters/DCAUBatman Batman's]] defining trait, that for as cold, frightening, unfriendly, and even brutal as he could be, he was ''always'' defined by his compassion. He ''always'' will try to SaveTheVillain, he will always do what's right, and he truly does, deep down, want to help the criminals he thwarts. In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' he was able to get close to and diffuse [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Ace]], even ''comforting'' the poor child in her final moments, and this compassion is what drove Amanda Waller to attempt to clone him in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond.'' However, even his closest friends and companions will be the first to tell you that this heart is buried deep beneath a layer of vintage jerk, to the point even Robin butted heads with him over his jerkiness at times.
** Exclusive to ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' was Harvey Bullock, the fat, obnoxious, gluttonous detective with a foul mouth that only matches his foul hygiene. Notably though, he's the ''only'' cop in ''Shadow Of The Bat'' to go out of his way to comfort and reassure Barbara when her father is arrested for corruption, and pretty much the only one in that town aside from Batman and Barbara to refuse to accept that Gordon is a dirty cop.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'': The Mask is very much a naughty trickster and a genuinely troublemaker. He's also very lazy, since he spends half of his time to go have fun or dance at the Coco Bongo. However, he does care about his friends like Peggy and Milo, as well as the people in Edge City, and despite always wanting to give Stanley a wedgie, The Mask cares about Stanley as if he were his little brother and loves both him and Milo very much. He has a good heart as well, as he refuses to join with an elf who knew the previous wearers, and whose idea of fun involves hurting people, which The Mask hates ''very'' much. Despite his quirks, The Mask is a superhero and will always protect the people of Edge City no matter how much they annoy him.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

** Soarin and especially Spitfire as of the episodes Wonderbolts Academy and Newbie Dash could qualify too. While they may strive to be the best, and mock their teammates, it's intended to be friendly teasing, and they reveal they're like Rainbow Dash giving into peer pressure, while at the same time genuinely caring for their friends and willing to step up to be reasonable authority figures when they are needed. They even reveal they were also hazed as was Fleetfoot and a few other 'Bolts on their first days as Wonderbolts with Spitfire saying "You don't wanna know." when talking about her nickname. Spitfire's even got the excuse of not being good with kids and her drill sergeant nasty persona being the only thing she knows due to being raised by the military. While Soarin has been shown to be nicer and more down to earth like post Season 2 Rainbow Dash at most times, he still qualifies as this in Newbie Dash having given into peer pressure. It is for their similarities that many people ship Soarin with Rainbow Dash or Spitfire.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Lucy Van Pelt is somewhat a {{Jerkass}} in almost all specials and comics, but occasionally, she has shown to care for others. For example, in ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'' when Linus does not return home from the pumpkin patch by 4:00 A.M., Lucy gets out of bed, walks out to the pumpkin patch, leads her brother home, and puts him to bed. Furthermore, it was her who named Charlie Brown the pageant director in ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' with no apparent ulterior motive. And the fact that it's ''her'' who utters the titular line at the end of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily''
** Oscar can be this, DependingOnTheWriter

* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom''

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder''