History Main / DumbassNoMore

* Hachi in ''Franchise/OnePiece''. He's still not terribly bright, but he's quite a bit smarter than the DumbMuscle he used to be. He goes from being so dumb that he [[EpicFail catches the seat of his pants while fishing]] and is tricked into escorting his boss Arlong's prisoner Zoro to freedom to being the MrExposition of Sabaody Archipelago who's wise enough to know that antagonizing the Celestial Dragons is a terrible idea.

Contrast TookALevelInDumbass. SisterTrope to FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome, in which a character gains intelligence[[note]]and/or other traits[[/note]] temporarily, but [[StatusQuoIsGod returns to normal]] by the end of the story. For moments where one ''pretends'' to be a dumbass and eventually discards the facade, see ObfuscatingStupidity. Compare this trope to TookALevelOfSmartass, despite similar names, this one involves a character becoming smarter, or at least, less dumber than they used to be, while the other one involves a character becoming snarkier.

Contrast TookALevelInDumbass. SisterTrope to FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome, in which a character gains intelligence[[note]]and/or other traits[[/note]] temporarily, but [[StatusQuoIsGod returns to normal]] by the end of the story. For moments where one ''pretends'' to be a dumbass and eventually discards the facade, see ObfuscatingStupidity.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', Gumball and Darwin went from TooDumbToLive to a more normal level of intelligence after the first season. This was probably CharacterizationMarchesOn also as they were a mix of that, mischievous, OnlySaneMan and just naive. The OnlySaneMan characterization seems to be becoming the dominant one.

* Gourry Gabriev, in the ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' anime series, is pretty much the resident IdiotHero and seems to get stupider in each season. [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo Evolution-R]], the fifth season, starts portraying him more akin to his novel self (who is not an IdiotHero but instead ObfuscatingStupidity for a number of reasons, including the fact he likes Lina explaining things to him/thinks she's cute when she's mad).

* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' games have their own continuity; in it, Bowser does this. Each game has him getting smarter and smarter about the threat new villains pose to him. By ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', he's quick to team up with the Mario Bros [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow so they can go back to fighting one another without any wildcards to mess things up]]. Taken further in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', wherein [[spoiler:Bowser plays along with the new villain, Antasma, for a while, but knows Antasma intends to [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains betray him]] and [[OutGambitted eliminates Antasma first]].]]

-->-- [=AntDude=], on the VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} becoming more intelligent and self-reliant in the third game.

** Ash starts off as an IdiotHero who gradually matures and learns over the course of two series. However, while his Pokémon battling skills improve during ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'', he gets less intelligent in every regard that doesn't have to do with Pokémon battling, zigzagging this trope. And during ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite'' he completely hits the ResetButton, completely inverting this trope. He plays the trope completely straight in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'', however, and gains so much maturity and skill he doesn't even really qualify as an IdiotHero anymore (naive and reckless certainly, but not an idiot). He returns to idiocy in ''PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'', but with the stipulation that he retains his battle competence, making him something of a GeniusDitz IdiotSavant.

* ''[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'':
** Ash starts of as an IdiotHero who gradually matures and learns over the course of two series. However, while his Pokémon battling skills improve during ''Diamond and Pearl'', he gets less intelligent in every regard that doesn't have to do with Pokémon battling, zigzagging this trope. And during ''Black and White'' he completely hits the ResetButton, completely inverting this trope. He plays the trope completely straight in ''X and Y'', however, and gains so much maturity and skill he doesn't even really qualify as an IdiotHero anymore (naive and reckless certainly, but not an idiot). He returns to idiocy in ''Sun and Moon'', but with the stipulation that he retains his battle competence, making him something of a GeniusDitz IdiotSavant.

[[folder:Film Live-Action]]

* Caboose from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' quickly became a rather extreme form of TheDitz. Come ''Recreation'', however, he's managed to regain much of his intelligence (and sanity), to the point that he is fully capable of rational thought and even [[spoiler:managed to repair and awaken Epsilon-Church]]. He's still fairly ditzy though.

* Hachi in ''Franchise/OnePiece''. He's still not terribly bright, but he's quite a bit smarter than the DumbMuscle he used to be.

* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' games have their own continuity; in it, Bowser does this. Each game has him getting smarter and smarter about the threat new villains pose to him. By ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', he's quick to team up with the Mario Bros [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow so they can go back to fighting one another without any wildcards to mess things up]]. Taken further in VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam, wherein [[spoiler:Bowser plays along with the new villain, Antasma, for a while, but knows Antasma intends to [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains betray him]] and [[OutGambitted eliminates Antasma first]].]]

* Tokka and Rahzar, the two mutants from ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'', were dumb as bricks in the movie; they made one appearance on [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the 1987 cartoon]], however, where they were smart, and very articulate. (And not exactly evil either, portrayed as two {{Reluctant Monster}}s just trying to survive.