Troperville
Editing Help
Tools
Toys
|
Okay, stereotypically speaking, in fiction, blondes have the looks, redheads have the personality, so, out of the trio, brunettes get the brains. They can be either loud and outspoken or quiet and gentle, but either way, their knowledge will blow you away—you can always count on their smarts in a fix. They tend to be a Hot Librarian, a Hot Scientist, or even a Wrench Wench. Their Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness and/or Techno Babble tends to turn people on. And they always have nice, thick, brown locks.
This trope doesn't mean that blondes and redheads can't be the brains of the outfit. It's just more common for them to have brown hair, especially if they're female, though there are a couple of male examples.
Contrast Dumb Blonde and Fiery Redhead. And, as with both of them, this character can be either good or evil.
Examples:
Literature
- Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter book series is probably the embodiment of this trope in its purest form.
- Lessa of Pern qualifies as she is not only the one to figure out Threadfall patterns and trick a Dragonrider into challenging a Lord Holder to a death match, but she also figures out how to save the planet and then does it against the wishes of everyone else involved.
Film
- In the film version of Starter for 10, the character of Rebecca is a brunette and intuitive. She holds various protests and often seen informing the main character, Brian Jackson, of her ideas.
- Evelyn in The Mummy. She's also a Hot Librarian.
- Brutally mocked in Where The Truth Lies:
Lanny:"My favorite catches were the intellectuals. They'd be the ones in the straight black dresses, severe black hair. Your basic neurotic, eyeglasses, cool jazz, liberal, "I'll fuck any black guy as part of my personal apology for racism in America" type."
- The person reading his letter then looks across the room and sees a bookish-looking brunette. And you automatically imagine her doing one thing and one thing only...
Live Action Television
- Fred Burkle on Angel. She was adorable, sexy, funny, and her high intelligence was a great asset to the "Fang Gang".
- Subverted with Cordelia, who, while intelligent, was Book Dumb.
- In Buffy The Vampire Slayer Cordelia was shown as an example of the Brainy Brunette too though - after exams it was revealed that she actually had great grades she simply chose to hide it from her peers, thinking it would make her less popular.
- Kaylee, the resident Wrench Wench on Firefly. She had very light brown hair, but it was still brown, and her mechanical genius was definitely a fetish for some.
- Also River, who was a genius and a Waif Prophet, though she was also completely nuts.
- Inara may make her living with her body, but her brain is no slouch either. She has a working knowledge of many subjects that a Courtesan would be expected to converse intelligently about. She's well versed in human psychology and the arts physical, martial arts, swordplay, history, religion, etc.
- Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. Emphasized by the fact that the show's two other female regulars are both Dumb Blondes. In fact, every character ever played by Tina Fey unless you count Sarah Palin.
- The film Baby Mama paired Fey (no, not like that) with blonde Amy Poehler. Guess what their characters' personalities were.
- Not quite as overt as the other examples, but Chuck in Pushing Daisies has a great general knowledge and speaks seemingly every language known to man.
- Joey Potter on Dawsons Creek.
- Rory Gilmore on Gilmore Girls.
- Temperance Brennan, Bones. Place your own generic erection euphemism here, I just can't think of a good one.
- When you think of it, they're all brunettes.
- Abby Sciuto of NCIS.
- Not that Ziva's any slouch either, with the smart-ass comments and photographic memory. I guess she's more fiery, though. Guess they drew the line at dying her hair red.
- While red hair is found among Ashkenazi Jews, Ziva's not.
- Most of the brunettes in CSI probably qualify; Sara Sidle definitely does.
- At least in the later seasons, Chloe O'Brian in {{24}}.
- Possible subversion in Privileged - Megan, the Yale graduate, is shown as a redhead; however, in the first episode we're told that she dyed it red and we never really learn her natural colour so it's possible she's simply a Brainy Brunette in disguise.
Comic Books
Western Animation
- Velma Dinkley of Scooby Doo.
- Bushroot's Hot Scientist love interest Dr. Rhoda Dendron from his origin story on Darkwing Duck. Morgana the successful businesswoman and scholar counts as well.
- Daria is a combination of this trope and the Deadpan Snarker. Which is probably why she has her own trope.
- Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
- Gretchen from Recess, although the coloring in some episodes makes her look like a redhead.
Real Life
- Tina Fey counts.
- Natalie Portman, anyone?
- Danica McKellar, math genius.
- Marilyn vos Savant, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records (at least, at one point) as having the world's highest IQ.
Anime and Manga
Video Games
Web Comics
|
|
