Jerk With A Heart Of Gold - Television Tropes & Idioms

Kanji Tatsumi would love to teach you and your little cousin how to make fingerpuppets when he isn't beating the shit out of biker gangs and policemen.

"The act of making an innocent girl cry should warrant the death penalty."
— Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

"I really did [love you], too, you old crab — always yelling your head off, always sore at everybody. But you never fooled me with your song and dance, not for a second. I kind of always knew that behind the cigar ashes on your vest you had a heart as big as a house."
— Walter Neff to Keyes, Double Indemnity

A person you would expect to be a big Jerkass turns out to be the nicest person you've ever met, or at the very least has some redeeming qualities behind their tough demeanor. Occasionally, they'll actively try to make it a Hidden Heart Of Gold.

A female Jerk With A Heart Of Gold in a romance series is usually a Tsundere or occasionally a Kuudere. A male Jerk With A Heart Of Gold is usually Troubled But Cute, and his heart of gold should never outweigh his inner jerk because All Girls Want Bad Boys — though it can if Single Woman Seeks Good Man. If his jerkishness threatens to overshadow his good qualities, he's likely to attract a Love Martyr.

Will get plenty of Pet The Dog moments. Immune to Moral Dissonance.

Compare/contrast with Jerkass Facade or Bitch In Sheeps Clothing. One half of the Takahashi Couple. Contrast with Good Is Not Nice.

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Examples

Anime and Manga

Ranma Saotome, in the self-titled Ranma ½. And, by the end of the series, The Rival Ryōga.
Similarly, Inu-Yasha, in Inu Yasha, an Expy of Ranma, cranked up to 11. Rumiko Takahashi seems to like these.
Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto.
Eikichi Onizuka, Great Teacher Onizuka.
Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara, Yu Yu Hakusho. Hiei goes beyond this and all the way to Noble Demon.
Officer Ohta, Patlabor.
Shirogane Ryou, Tokyo Mew Mew.
Doumoto Kaito, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.
In an odd main character variation, Sara Werec of Soukou No Strain. The difference is, we already know how good of a person she is, and how she's put away her kind and friendly nature because she blames herself for her dead schoolmates and just wants to stop her brother. The Space Squadron, however, does not.
Crossdresser Izumi Kido, Tenshi Ja Nai
Yasumi from the comic strip Potemayo.
Lelouch Lamperouge, the Magnificent Bastard protagonist of Code Geass, depending on character interpretation, may fit into this. The general tendency of the fandom seems to be that the more you hold this to be true with Lelouch, the more you consider Suzaku to be an inversion.
Tsume from Wolf's Rain. Always acts tough and cynical and frequently argues with the other wolves, especially Kiba, but is often protective of them, especially the younger wolf Toboe who idolizes him.
- Also to some extent the human Quent. When he's not obsessed with wolf-hunting he can be a fairly decent guy, if you buy him a drink.
The titular character in Suzumiya Haruhi. Kyon likely also qualifies for this trope. He's prone to presenting himself as a world weary Deadpan Snarker but he has hidden affection for SOS-dan that he hides behind his perpretual sigh and frown.
Several characters in The Prince Of Tennis, starting with the main character himself. Others are: Akutsu (ex Jerk Ass), Kaoru Kaidoh (who borders on male Tsundere), Kirihara, Kevin Smith, etc.
Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist appears this way to many, many characters — including Alphonse, who constantly has to apologize for him in the trend of "Don't take it personally, he's like that with everybody and he's actually nice deep inside."
- Greed might also belong to this category. He doesn't seem to be as selfish and insensitive as he claims to be and is occasionally quite serviceable.
- Roy Mustang makes it into this category as well, frequently appearing callous and arrogant to those (Ed in particular) who don't understand his past and/or motives.
- Olivia Armstrong could also fit in this category.
Kujyou Kazune of Kamichama Karin.
Midou Ban in Get Backers has a mocking nickname for nearly everyone (monkey trainer, thread spool, computer boy, etc.), is selfish, sneaky, gropes women constantly, and is generally just not a nice guy to be around... unless your name is Ginji, and you get to see that "Ban-chan" is really just a cuddly, misunderstood dork.
Junichi Sato seems to really, REALLY like this trope in the anime he directs. There's quite possibly other examples from his anime, as well, but those are the ones this troper is familiar with:
- Probably the most famous example, Mamoru Chiba, the title character's love interest in Sailor Moon, who starts out as a handsome Deadpan Snarker who loves to tease Usagi for everything.
- Hayate from Pretear, the Tall Dark And Snarky knight who pushes people away for fear of creating another Big Bad
- Fakir, the jerkish, controlling guardian of Mytho in Princess Tutu, who turns out to be using the tough exterior to hide his fear of being killed in service as Mytho's "Knight" and being a failure in the end
- Layla Hamilton from Kaleido Star, the Broken Bird who is as tough on herself as she is on new recruits to the Kaleido stage and has quite the daddy issues.
- Keith Harcourt aka Black Rose and Antonio Fabiani from Ashita No Nadja.
In Medabots, Couch Mountain seems like a cruel man who makes students run laps for no reason, and seems to be doing deals with shady characters. In reality, he was trying to buy land to put up a park for poor children. And then, in the end, he makes the main characters run some more laps for staying up late.
- Lead bully Samatha might also be one of these, charitably keeping around her totally incompetent minion Spyke and often helping the heroes out when they really need it. She just does a damn good job at hiding it (and does actually fire Spyke in one episode, though not without provocation).
Youichi Hiruma, from Eyeshield 21. He never refers to anyone by their real name, only by his personal nickname, and all his personal nicknames start with "fucking" (toned down to "damn" in Viz's translation of the manga). (Sena is "Fucking Shrimp", Mamori is "Fucking Manager", and then there's his best friend Kurita, "Fucking Fatass", and so on.) He's a violent gun nut who slings a constant string of verbal and physical abuse on his team, uses blackmail to get his way like some people say "please", and lies like it was going out of style. He also never fails to reward perseverance, dedication, and effort as long as the team doesn't suffer for it, has his own unique brand of showing affection which he doles out with regularity, and puts himself through all the same crap that he puts everyone else through.
Daichi, from Dennou Coil.
Randou, from Pretty Face. The jerk part caused basically everyone he was in contact with to either fear or hate him, except for his crush, who saw the gold part in him. Eventually the gold part becomes more notable.
Asada from Team Medical Dragon frequently acts like a misogynistic, perverted, carefree Jerkass. Then a patient gets in with an improbable injury, he saves the day and proceeds to lecture everyone about how the patients' well-being is the most sacred priority. And he's totally incorruptible.
Nicholas D. Wolfwood from Trigun is an epic Jerk With A Heart Of Gold. When you get over the fact that he insults you, beats you up out of "affection" and struggles with the Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism by sadistically killing bad guys, he's actually an altruistic and generous dude.
Upon his Heel Face Turn, Gazille the Iron Dragonslayer is leaning on this.
- Or not. He seems to still be plotting revenge on Fairy Tail.
  - Or is. He appears to actually be a double agent for Makarov, spying on Makarov's evil son and reporting anything important back to the Fairy Tail Guild Master.
In Soul Eater, Soul and Black Star border on this at times, as Black Star often seems so full of himself he hardly has time to care about anyone else, and Soul is usually the Deadpan Snarker that appears to only really care about advancing himself at times. However, both care about their friends and partners, with Black Star willing to "share the stage" with Tsubaki, while Soul regularly protects Maka from harm.
Tomoya from CLANNAD. Yes, he tries to project the front of a lazy ass who delights in twisting the truth for practical jokes on anyone and everyone (leading to some impressive amounts of confusion and misunderstanding among the more naive cast — Nagisa especially), and tries to look all though and detached. Yet he ends up trying to help the mains of every arc, without a second thought, and has been seen to drop Manly Tears, or openly crying in frustration and sadness, at the endings of some.
Several characters from the Gundam franchise fit in her perfectly.
- Shin Asuka from Gundam SEED Destiny certainly fits into this trope well. He initially seems to be a troubled youth with authority problems and chews out anyone who tries to help him in most ways, but also is more than willing to take care of Stella — long after she's discovered to be an enemy pilot. As the series goes on, it becomes more and more obvious about this, but that doesn't stop the fanbase from pulling a Flanderization on the guy and making him 'emo.'
Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach also fits the bill — he is shown to be very arrogant and snobby (possibly to do with his noble family upbringing). However, he's proven on more than one occasion that he is fiercely devoted to his adopted sister, Rukia.
Domyoji Tsukasa of Hana Yori Dango, who manages to be a sympathetic male lead despite frequently beating up random bystanders for no reason.
Kyoushiro Shirogane from Ginga Densetsu Weed.
Magari Kazuma of Nora spends the first two volumes of the series treating the titular Hot Blooded demon like a misbehaving puppy and most of his classmates like idiots, claiming flatly to make decisions based solely on which outcome will most benefit or least inconvenience him, and being generally bastardly to everyone. And yet... he will do anything to protect the people around him, often foregoing magic and just leaping irrationally to their defense, quite at odds with his normal Magnificent Bastard-in-training persona. And you really don't want to imply that humans are inferior; the results are not pretty.
Ryuji Takasu from Toradora, in a manner of speaking. He isn't a jerk at all, but his sheer appearance is menacing enough that people assume he's a delinquent and give him a wide berth.
Toru Muhyo in Muhyo and Roji. While he is typically fairly cold, showing either irritation with or disdain for those around him, he often does this to teach Roji subtle lessons, and typically goes out of his way to get the best possible result for the ghosts he deals with, even when he seems to be taking a harsh stance on them.
General Cross from D.Gray-Man put his cute little traumatized apprentice through training from hell, which included a lot of stuff that had less to do with becoming an exorcist and more with dumping his considerable debts onto Allen. But he does care about his "idiot apprentice".
Chamo of Mahou Sensei Negima seems to fall under this. Sure, he's a Dirty Old Man in ermine form, and constantly tries to manipulate people for his own gain... but he never puts his own goals above the safety of the rest of group, tries to make sure everybody else benefits along with him, and generally tries to make himself as useful as possible, even when an ermine generally wouldn't be able to do anything.
- Ayaka has her moments as well — when she's not being a spoiled Ojou, she shows herself to have strong principles and be genuinely quite caring of others.
- Tosaka seems to be like this too. He constantly bullies Ako, and constantly complains about her, Negi, and everyone else, and willingly turns over the evidence that could send Negi to prison at no cost after blackmailing him with it, even though Ako volunteered all of her rights and was willing to essentially become his slave for life. Tosaka also implies that while that is what she might have meant, some rather nastier things may have happened as well if she'd gone through with it.
Hamel, the titular Violinist Of Hameln (manga continuity only). He purposely humiliates people, charges exorbitant prices for anyone who hears his music, plans zany schemes to make money, actually uses his friends as ammunition and is so selfish he'd rather eat his crow companion than go hungry for even a little while. And believe it or not, he really is a good guy underneath it all.
Sawamura Takeshi in Wa ga na wa Umishi seems to be this, but only because the main character Rintarou rubs him the wrong way. He's not above hitting and threatening Rin frequently, but he's also saved Rin's life more than once. Whenever there's a job to be done he's the man to do it.
Takuto, the male protagonist of Full Moon O Sagashite, is a mild example (bit moreso in the manga) of Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, as his mannerisms are rather limited to his way of speaking to others. Occasionally rude, anti-social, and snarky ("baka" is his favorite word) he will always say the exact opposite of how he truly feels, yet when nobody's looking, he'll do something incredibly sweet. Just make sure you don't blink because you'll miss it. Because of an overwhelming number of "tsu-tsun" traits, he can also be classified as the Type A male Tsundere. By the end of the anime series, his jerkish side pretty much vanishes for his last action is to sacrifice his life and soul to save Mitsuki from her cancer. A heart of gold as well as it can be defined indeed!
Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. Acts distant and somewhat insensitive to others (and outright insults Sanji a lot of the time), but has shown himself willing to go through Hell and high water for his Nakama, even willing to take on the World Government and all their resources to rescue them.
Kittan in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Tasuki in Fushigi Yuugi is a thieving, Hot Blooded, hard-drinking He Man Woman Hater who loudly, pointedly and frequently reminds members of the Love Dodecahedron of their unfulfilled status. But he's also ferociously loyal to the group, cries the hardest at Nuriko's death, and reams out brainwashed Tamahome for hurting Miaka's feelings.
- And breaking her arm.
How has Seto Kaiba avoided mention for so long?

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Comics

Tony Stark is this trope.
Green Lantern Guy Gardner. Rowdy, egotistical, self-centered, boistrous, loudmouthed, short on impulse control and long on bravado. However, his side of the Slap Slap Kiss relationship between him and teammate Ice is genuinely tender and sensitive, a fact that Ice's friend Fire flat out refuses to believe. Additionally, originally he consciously put on his tough guy facade to cope with being The Un Favorite with an overachieving big brother.
- And underneath his bad attitude is a true hero, a man willing to fight and die to protect the universe from harm and deemed best suited to lead the GL Corps as the #1 Lantern.
- It's worth noting that he was on the list of "best dudes on Earth" to wear the ring when the Earth lanterns were being chosen. If This Troper recalls correctly, that alone means he's a genuinely deep, heroic guy inside... he just happens to be kind of a douche outside.
- Wasn't he also, in his early, pre-Green Lantern days, a kindergarten teacher? This Troper seems to recall Hal having to save him when he hurt himself rescuing a busload of his students he was taking on a field trip.
The snarky outcast drow rogue Downer, from the comics Downer: Wandering Monster and Downer: Fool's Errand by Kyle Stanley Hunter (formerly published in DUNGEON Magazine). A down on his luck "proven loser" who survives by his wit, quick tongue, quick blade and quick reflexes (and mainly by running the hell away when outnumbered, unless he's sufficiently pissed off that he decides to indulge his inner Badass and take on a whole bunch of enemies by himself). Although he considers himself an "evil bastard" who puts his own survival first and claims he's "always prepared to be screwed over by his friends", Downer has demonstrated amazing loyalty to friends and guild mates on several occasions, and he always pays back his debts. Downer's brother Aristide claims Downer is a "jerk", but then, Aristide is more of a typical drow (read: selfish and cruel) and his viewpoint is questionable.
This is a frequent characterization of Wolverine from X-Men.
- Northstar tends to be something of an acerbic arrogant bitch to everyone around him... except his Tennessee Williams-style mentally ill sister (well, most of the time, anyway) and especially his deceased adopted infant daughter, Joanne Beaubier.
J. Jonah Jameson from the Spider-Man comics is another good example. Sure, he's short-tempered, tight-fisted, and an often obnoxious loudmouth, but he's also been shown as a tireless crusader supporting everything from labor union rights to mutant rights, going after organized crime figures and corrupt politicians despite repeated attempts on his life, and discreetly supporting various charities and social projects, and even hiring a good lawyer for Peter Parker when Parker was falsely accused of murder.
- In the recent arc where Spider-Man publicly unmasked himself as Peter Parker, Jameson went so far as to refer to Parker as being like a son to him, and that he had always regarded Parker as the "last honest guy in town". What does Jameson do next? Turns around and sues the crap out of Parker for misrepresentation.
- It should also be noted that Jameson's character is interpreted drastically differently, Depending On The Writer. Some writers really tend to push the "heart of gold" aspect, whereas others still prefer to present him as a genuine Jerk Ass, ignoring any character development to the contrary by other writers. (This usually coincides with alternating interpretations of Jameson as a genuinely competent newspaper publisher and an angry tabloid publisher with an agenda. The latter version is occasionally characterized as clueless and outright sociopathic, too, whereas the former version sometimes borders on hidden philanthropist. It's really inconsistent, to say the least.)
- Mainly though, the character seems to be kind of like Spider from Transmetropolitan. He's a complete asswipe, no doubt, but he surely is also a kind person at heart and has shown this on several occasions. For example he genuinely cares about honesty, integrity and civil liberties and can be quite nice (or at least, less caustic) to his friends, like Peter or his employees, despite being a sarcastic jerk. Somewhere in there, this troper sees the Aesop about Dark Is Not Evil that we're supposed to get.
Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a few comics, and also more than just the comics as the first couple of films, the new animated series, and the most recent CGI film have shown.
Scrooge Mc Duck, who pretends to be more of a jerk than he really is. On the rare occasion that he has a genuine charitable impulse, he attempts to hide it from everybody.
Gennosuke from Usagi Yojimbo, who is, in the title character's words, "a money-loving cheat" who has managed to swindle Usagi more than once. Still, he's done several acts out of the goodness of his heart, which upsets him to no end when Usagi compliments him on it.
- The same applies to Gen's fellow Bounty Hunter and occasional partner Stray Dog, who shows every sign of being a ruthless, cheating Jerk Ass until we learn that he donates the lion's share of his profits to an orphanage.
Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan is a huge jerk, but he does have a heart of gold. He stands for truth and justice, he's just an ass while doing it, and has done something so small and good-hearted as comforting a lost little child and buying her pawned doll back for her.
Flash Forward, aka "Negative Man" from the Doom Patrol. An irreverent smartass who never has a nice thing to say about anyone, he has a soft spot for introverted teammate Ava and often seems like the only person who cares about her, and vice versa.

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Films

Danny Trejo's character in Spy Kids.
Kikuchiyo in both Seven Samurai and Samurai 7.
The bandit who turns out to be a big fan of Kathleen Turner's character Joan Wilder (a romance-adventure novelist) in Romancing The Stone.
Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean, having been described, as far back as the original screenplay incarnation, as having an "honest streak", which seems to serve as the pirate equivalent of a heart of gold, and also as his Achilles Heel.
- Most of the surviving pirates have touches of this, but not to the extent that viewers who aren't paying attention assume.
Rick Blaine sticks his neck out for nobody.
- Of course, you could probably fit all of Humphrey Bogart's characters into this trope.
  - Well, many. This troper wouldn't count his characters in The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre and The Caine Mutiny.
Han Solo.
Commander Richard Burke in Alone In The Dark.
Sgt. Bryce Dignam of The Departed is a good example of this trope. He is incredibly abrasive to pretty much everyone, but at the end of the film after being dismissed from the case, he found Sullivan and brought him to justice showing that he is a dedicated cop and one of the most respectable characters in the whole movie.
Godzilla is not only a city destroying monster, he's also a loving and devoted father. And he's also fiercely loyal to his friends and will come to their aid whenever they are in danger.
There's a reason why Gamera is also known as the "Friend To All Children". This fire-breathing turtle has a soft-spot for kids and will do anything to keep them safe, even put his life on the line. Of course, his attack on Tokyo in the first film causes adults to fear the monster.
The movie Waitress has two: grumpy diner manager Cal, and grumpier diner owner/crotchety old man Joe. Both turn out to be fairly nice guys. This is in contrast to Jenna's husband Earl, who's just a Jerkass
Averted in The Opposite of Sex. "I don't have a heart of gold, and I don't grow one later."
Inspector Jacques Clouseau is an arrogant man who believes himself to be the greatest detective in the world. In truth he is a chronically clumsy idiot, which is partially the result of this self-confidence, and gets him and many of the people around him in trouble. He is also genuinely on the side of good, chivalrous with women (even after being betrayed by his own wife), conducts himself with dignity as often as he can, and he simply will not give up no matter what obstacles are in his way.
- Peter Sellers, the actor who originated the role, was something of a real-life example of this trope. A Man Child in both the best and worst senses of the term, he was infamous for self-centeredness and a nasty temper (just ask his wives, kids, directors...). But he was also willing to mend bridges when/if he was able, could be truly generous, agonized a lot about his mistakes, and kept a small circle of longtime friends who knew his best and worst moods and loved him anyway.
Detective James Carter in Rush Hour.
Walt Kowalski, the main character of Gran Torino is one racist son of a bitch. But we forgive him for it, since he's actually a decent guy deep down toward the people he's racist against.
The first Spider-Man movie shows a great example of how J. Jonah Jameson fits this. As Jameson is chewing out Peter over whether or not Spider-Man's a hero, the Green Goblin busts into the office and demands to know who takes Spider-Man's photos. Jameson's immediate reaction is to lie and protect Peter.
Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity, as noted in the page quote above.
Warren Peace from Sky High, especially during the Chinese restaurant scene with Layla.
Bluebeard from the cult animated film Felidae certainly applies. He constantly calls Francis a "Smartass", takes a piss on things to "mark his territory" (sure, it's normal for cats... but still...), and refers to humans in a very derogatory fashion (IE: He calls them "Can-Openers" which basically means "Slave"). However, he's also willing to help Francis solve the mystery and even risks his life several times in the film.
In Shrek, the title character plays up his Complete Monster reputation to keep others off his land. But he ends up risking his life to help not only the Distressed Damsel, but hundreds of refugees as well.

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Literature

Sherlock Holmes, making this Older Than Radio.
Commander Sam Vimes, of the Discworld City Watch, is reputed as a hard-faced, hardheaded, cynical, foul-tempered, arrogant thug. Yet even the most dangerous mob boss in the city respects him as a straight-arrow, unbribeable (and though this is helped by his being the wealthiest man in the city, he was giving half his pay before that to the widows and orphans of the Watch), almost painfully-upright man who always does the right thing and never lets the Watch overstep its authority. He is, in fact, one of the most powerful authorities in the city, who hates and distrusts authority — as the Patrician says, "practically Zen".
- Invoked and demolished with regards to Albert, Death's manservant. "And it's no good thinking you can appeal to my better nature under this here crusty exterior, 'cos my interior's pretty damn crusty as well."
There are many, many world-weary, cynical characters in Boris Strugatsky's "The Powerless Ones of this World". While one of them is a genuine Jerkass, the others, despite having grown to be nasty old men that had explicitly given up on trying to achieve anything good or worthwhile with their superpowers, do at least come through to rescue the main character Vadim (a fellow pupil of "the Sensei") from a tight spot.
Zaphod in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy — literally. He's a jerk, and he has the heart of gold.
In William King's Warhammer 40000 Space Wolf novel Ragnar's Claw, after the inquisitor tells the injured Ragnor that other Marines have repaired his gear, she tells him that one, Sven, said that he's not an armorer and Ragnar can do it himself next time, whatever the sergeant said. Ragnar laughs and assures her that Sven has a good heart under his harsh manner.
Severus Snape of the Harry Potter series perhaps walks the line between this and all out Jerk Ass. He's ridiculously biased towards Slytherin, he has a particularly nasty grudge against Harry Potter and his associates due to the actions of Harry's father, and holds a nearly-homicidal grudge against Sirius Black for his childhood antics. And yet, in the end, he was in fact fanatically devoted to Dumbledore, saving Harry's life and eventually getting himself killed by Voldemort.
- The grudge against Sirius Black appears nearly homicidal only in the scene in Prisoner of Azkaban in which he has an emotional outburst at Sirius' escape. However, at the time, he still believes that Sirius is responsible for the betrayal of James and Lily Potter, and so the outburst can be attributed for his life-long love of Lily (Evans) Potter, Harry's mother, another major addition to his "heart of gold" status. His rivalry with Sirius is much tamer in all later moments in the books when he has been assured of Sirius' innocence, even going so far as checking up on Sirius' safety when Harry has visions of him trapped in the Ministry with Voldemort.
Artemis Fowl. He successfully manages to extort a metric ton of gold from the fairies, and he gives up half of it to help his clinically depressed mother recover from the apparent death of his father.
Vidia from the Disney Fairies series is usually described as the nastiest fairy, and has been shown time and again to be condescending to others, and only care about herself. Yet in Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, she shared the last of her dust to save Neverland, and has occasionally shown a soft spot for Prilla.

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Live Action TV

Tom Paris in Star Trek Voyager. In fact, the going-away speech given by Neelix in "Investigations" sums up this trope admirably.
"Good morning, Voyager. I want to tell you about a friend of mine. I first met this man almost a year ago and, to tell you the truth, I didn't like him much. He seemed a little too cocky, a little too sure of himself. A lot of people had questions about him. He'd proven he'd pretty much sell himself out to the highest bidder, go wherever the wind blew him so people wondered, could you trust this person when things got tough? Would he stand side by side with you or would he let you down when you needed him most? But the fact of the matter is he proved himself right from the beginning. I wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for him and the same goes for many of you. It took me a while to realize it. Like a lot of people, I was too caught up in first impressions to see the truth that was right in front of me. I overlooked his bravery because I was focusing on his brashness. I ignored his courage because I saw it as arrogance and I resented his friendliness because I mistook it for licentiousness. So while this man was giving us his best every minute of every day I was busy judging him. And now he's leaving. I'm proud to say that in spite of my narrow-mindedness Thomas Eugene Paris became my friend. I'm going to miss him. No more laughs over a game of pool. No more sitting up into the wee hours swapping stories. No more complaints about my cooking. (chuckling) Goodbye, Tom. I think I speak for more of us than you might imagine when I say you're going to leave an empty space when you go. I hope you find what you're looking for."
Major Charles Emerson Winchester, M*A*S*H, making him more than just a Jonas Quinn for Maj. Burns. Self-centered, elitist and, despite being rich already, often greedy and self-promoting, he is saved from pure Jerkassdom by a strong core of personal integrity and occasional moments of genuine kindness and sympathy. Plus he's also actually just about as good as he thinks he is in the operating room.
- Hawkeye and Trapper John too, really — they're cocky, insubordinate pranksters and hellraisers who irritate others constantly, and two of the best and most caring doctors you could hope for.
Subversion: There was an episode of the short-lived sitcom Bram And Alice which has Bram having the "jerk" who beat him in poker earlier taking Alice out to a jazz concert. After a brief talk between Bram and Alice's roommate, Alice is storming back in and calling the guy the biggest jerk she ever met (or words to that effect).
Bill McNeal of News Radio is a subversion of this. He's always on the verge of doing the right thing, but always falls back on his selfishness.
- Although even he rises to the occasion from time to time:
  Bill: Jimmy, Dave is quite simply the best news director I have ever worked with.
  Catherine: But?
  Bill: What? No, I really mean it.
  Catherine: Well. Bill McNeal shows a little compassion and sincerity. Remarkable.
  Bill: Those dimensions are there. They're just unexplored.
Sawyer in Lost starts as a Jerk Ass and evolves into this.
Spike of Buffy The Vampire Slayer often acted in accordance with this trope between the end of season 2 and the later episodes of season 5 (though due to a case of Applied Phlebotinum, he could also be a monster, a minion, a Heroic Sociopath, or even something of a Darwinist, all as demanded by the situation). After this, full BadassDecay finally kicked in.
Dr. Cox and his wife Jordan from Scrubs are examples. They are both exuberantly acerbic and sarcastic especially to each other, but deep down are caring (albeit emotionally repressed) and loving, although they only express this to each other and their son, Jack — and, in the case of Cox and very very occasionally, to J.D.
- Dr. Kelso is a variant; he actually is a Jerk, and an unapologetically sadistic and mean-spirited one at that, but occasionally reveals himself to be ultimately more caring and decent than he cares to admit, and and at least partially acts the part of a ruthless, uncaring and egotistical bastard in order to keep the hospital running efficiently.
- This seems to be common on Scrubs, as it's also sometimes implied that the Janitor is actually quite fond of J.D., and his cruel bullying is just his sociopathic and socially maladjusted way of showing it.
House: Dr. Gregory House threatens to get into this during his Pet The Dog moments, particularly when he was diagnosed with cancer and still insisted on focusing on the patient. As always, it turned out he was just a Jerk With The Heart Of An Even Jerkier Jerk Than We Had Assumed — he faked having cancer, although to be fair, his team only "found out" he was sick by snooping around behind his back.
- Although he does have his caring moments, such as the end of "Autopsy", and "Wilson's Heart", and when he tried to comfort a rape victim in his own way (although unwillingly) in one episode.
- House is just a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold with the "jerk" aspects played up to ludicrously selfish extremes. Doesn't make his heart of gold any less sincere...just covered in more crud.
Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties dreams of reaching the top of the corporate ladder and being rich — and he often acts pompous about his intelligence. His views also sometimes appear sexist and he often appears to hold a certain contempt for people who lack intelligence and/or wealth. However, he has shown many times that he truly is a lovable and compassionate person — and his good buddy is Skippy Handelman.
Becker, from the sitcom Becker.
Johnny LaRue (played by John Candy) on SCTV. Johnny LaRue is a rather hefty millionaire celebrity who's a bit of a jerk at times but is often a sweet guy too. He's also one of the resident gentle giants on the show.
Of course this trope just screams for Dr. Rodney McKay in Stargate Atlantis, who is egoistical, egomaniac, a self-centered, selfish and cowardly jerkass, but brave, selfless and understanding when he feels like it.
- In particular, there's one moment that pretty much sums him up in a nutshell. Upon finding out that, in an alternate universe, he spent his last moments unflinchingly trying to save others, he brags about it.
Most of the incarnations of The Doctor from Doctor Who would touch on this trope at some point, but in many ways the Sixth Doctor matches it most of all; for the most part he's a pompous, arrogant, blustering jackass filled with a monumental sense of his own self-importance... who, every so often, does something that reveals him to be more than capable of acts of astonishing compassion and generosity.
- Shows up especially in the audios and especially with companion Evelyn Smythe, simply because she refuses to let him get away with being a jerk.
Dr. Frasier Crane, likewise, is a pompous, self-righteous and snobby jackass who nevertheless genuinely loves and cares for his family and friends, is devoted to psychiatry and his patients, and is deep down ruled by an inner need to be liked. His brother Niles is similar, in that he's even more of a pompous, arrogant jerk who nevertheless demonstrates genuinely decent redeeming qualities.
Brian Kinney on the American version of Queer As Folk was a huge jerk to every character on the show at one time or another, but always ended up doing the right thing or saving the day for everyone.
Supernatural is full of these but Dean especially has a nasty temper and is a cocky, self-righteous, not-too-bright, hypocritical, judgmental, always-wisecracking jerkass manwhore with such low self-esteem he thought he deserved to go to hell, an almost obsessive devotion to his family (and he really wanted them back together again, which was never going to happen), a desperate need to be liked, an unwillingness to actually stand up for himself (when it came to Missouri, John and sometimes Sam) and all that wisecracking is just to "mask all that nasty pain". Not forgetting that he's also the show's favourite bitch, so you've got to give him some sympathy.
- Sam really does deserve to be here as well. He's self-absorbed, doesn't seem to think much of Dean, can be incredibly cruel at times ("You were four when Mom died. How could you possibly know how I feel?", anyone?) and is prone to self-pity by the bucket-load. He uses the whole "Captain Empathy" thing as an act at least half the time, he's incredibly violent when he fights and he knows just how to twist Dean around his little finger. But he tries a hell of a lot harder to make Dean feel better than John ever did, he falls apart trying to save Dean in Season Three, he's using his demonic powers for good, he really did try to make it up to his father after "In My Time Of Dying" by focusing on the hunt and most of the bitchiness is leaning towards the affectionate Deadpan Snarker style and not the unsympathetic Jerkass type. It's also hinted that his violent streak may not be quite natural in origin.
Jayne Cobb is on the borderline, and definitely leaning toward "Jerk" but shows some nicer moments, such as sending a chunk of his pay to his mom to help take care of his ailing brother, and wearing a truly hideous hat because his mother made it for him.
- Jayne actually LIKED the hat (possibly just because his mother made it, but still). More telling is his reaction to the Mudders in "Jaynestown":
Jayne: You guys had a riot? On account o' me? My very own riot?
- The expression on Jayne's face when Kaylee's life is threatened is an example of this.
- Malcolm Reynolds could be said to be leaning in the other direction of the trope, being less of a jerk, but still fitting
The same actor as above does this trope better as Casey in Chuck. While Chuck's other handler quickly becomes a viable Love Interest, Casey continues to emphasise how little he thinks of Chuck, generally insulting him, not caring about him, and always following orders above all else. But by the end of the second seasons, he has quite a large amount of hidden fondness for both of his partners, even if he would never admit it.
Barney from How I Met Your Mother is usually a pretty good example, although he may be more of a Jerkass Facade.
- There's a catch - this is only to his friends and family. To other people, especially his one night stands, he's just a plain Jerk Ass.
Conner from Power Rangers Dino Thunder is one of these, which was a very interesting example considering he was the Red Ranger. This made for some funky team dynamics during the time it took for the group to begin to actually trust each other, since his teammates were a male geek and a female loner musician.
- Dillon of Power Rangers RPM strays into this trope, but there tends to be more emphasis on the "heart" and less on the "jerk". Most notably is in the second episode when he and Ziggy are in prison. Ziggy as it turns out, is something of a prison bitch and Dillon makes it clear that he has no interest in looking out for him. But after he overhears another prisoner taunting Ziggy for being an outcast, Dillon goes out of his way to defend him. And it is awesome.
In the later seasons of Farscape, Dominar Rygel XIII.
Almost every character in Murphy Brown displays these traits at some point, but Murphy especially exemplifies it.
Dan Fielding from Night Court is one, despite any protests he may make to the contrary. Despite being greedy, power-hungry and sex-crazed, Dan is an honest lawyer who repeatedly sacrifices chances for advancement because of his ethics and risks his life and dignity to help his friends.
- One great example of this is how he gave up a partnership in a very high-profile law-firm despite promises of a private office and an attractive female boss who wanted him after he found out that he was being hired for his reputation as a good lover — not because of his record as Assistant D.A. Of course Dan slept with the woman offering him the job first THEN quit, excitedly telling a confused janitor as he left her office "You can have your principles and STILL get lucky!"
- Another shining example was when he found some way to coerce Christine into bed (This Troper seems to remember he saved her life and played the "you owe me" card) — but he couldn't do it to an unwilling woman that he genuinely cared about. She's as stunned as he is, and basically cites this trope verbatim... only to have him point out that this is only going to make him chase her more and that someday, somehow, he will wear her resistance down.
At the start of the show, Sebastian Stark from Shark is almost a complete Jerkass, but begins to show a softer side as the series progresses thanks to his daughter, his loyalty to his team and his newfound desire for redemption.
Stefan from Top Chef season 5. A very heavy competitor, he comes off as an overconfident ass (which he is, honestly). However, he does have friendships with the other contestants (outside of competition of course) and he tried to comfort Carla when she started to cry during the final judges session.
Both Tony Di Nozzo and Jethro Gibbs in NCIS stray into this on occasion.
Dr. Cottle from Battlestar Galactica is a grumpy, sarcastic, chain-smoking, cantankerous, uncompromising doctor who's downright feared by many of the fleet because of his gruff, unsympathetic attitude and willingness to amputate. He's also the first to not discriminate against the Cylons, treating Athena and her pregnancy with concern as he would anyone else and is visibly furious when Athena is almost raped by Lt. Thorne, occasionally shows signs of warmth for his patients, and is truly moved when Laura Roslin thanks him for never giving up on her when she should've died years ago, but she tells him to cut it out, go grumble, and light a cigarette, lest he ruin his image. He fondly bids her farewell anyway.
Nathan Petrelli, when running for congressman, is a good example of this trope. He cultivates some bad connections and habits but genuinely loves his family and does what he can to help them.
Logan Echolls from VeronicaMars. Described in his first appearance as a psychotic jackass, but god help you if you hurt someone he cares about.
Emerson Cod in Pushing Daisies is grumpy, snarky and is always annoyed at having to listen to Ned and Chuck's problems...but he always does listen to them, and often provides helpful advice.
- Lily as well. A gun-toting, foul-mouthed, cantakerous old lady who loves her sister more than anything in the world.
Peter Bishop in Fringe. He could very well be an all-around good guy if not for the fact that his father is what keeps his Jerkass side intact.
Sam in iCarly. A lazy, gluttonous bully she is saved by her genuine feelings of friendship for Carly and (very rare) moments of decency towards Freddy.

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Video Games

As pictured above, Kanji from Persona 4 is a rather awkward nice guy with a bit of a temper, who acts like a delinquent. At one point he threatens to tear down a man's cafe for misplacing his order... Before correcting himself and adding that he'll rebuild it twice as good; he's gonna RENOVATE his ass.
In a similar vein, Shinjiro from Persona 3. Grumpy, unfriendly, uncooperative loner...who is very fond of animals and loves cooking shows!
Jimmy, the main character of Bully. In the opening cut scene Jimmy appears disrespectful to his mother and new step father and starts off quite unsociable. However he does mention that "I only give people what they have coming to them." He proves to be as good as his word, as his early missions involve protecting the Nerds from the Bullies. He goes out of his way to help the ugliest and least popular girls get their stolen items back and told the biggest kid in the school that "There are a lot of kids at this school who need a beating, and you're picking on the few who don't! So I want you to leave me and him (Petey) alone!"
The various Sonic The Hedgehog series have a good number of characters like this. The most prolific being Knuckles the Echidna. He is shown as a short tempered, arrogant and anti-social loner but he's also been said to have "a trusting heart, and wants to believe there's goodness in everyone." This element of his character really comes into play in Sonic Adventure 2, when he saves Rouge from falling into the lava and then actually apologised for hurting her. In Sonic 06 he was noticebly upset when Sonic was temporarly dead. His trait also spilled over into most adaptations, such as Sonic The Comic where he cheerfully helped Tails' Fake Ultimate Hero scenario by pretending that he was Sonic, and that he was Tails' sidekick.
- SatAM Sonic gave Antoine, who although being a cowardly, pompous oaf has proven to be unquestionably loyal to Princess Sally, and on occasion shown traits of Crouching Moron Hidden Badass when one of the others was in trouble, like when Sonic was about to be ambushed from behind by a Nasty Hyena. The comics gave a few more redeeming moments such as a very early example of when the Freedom Fighters thought Sonic was dead, Antoine cried out that Sonic would be avenged.
- Later in the Comics Ash the mongoose was introduced. From his first appearance, he had a grudge against Sonic, (though some say his reason for hating Sonic wasn't good enough )and was outwardly bitter. The 'heart of gold' part of his character came out when he risked his life to save Mina from a bomb in her dressing room.
Squall in Final Fantasy VIII is socially awkward, standoffish, and often quite rude, but underneath his emotional immaturity he's a decent kid. To a lesser extent, Cloud from the previous game also fits, although the "jerk" phase lasted all of two hours of gameplay.
- Oddly, Cloud's "jerk" persona was supposedly copied from his dead friend Zack... except that Zack was a fun-loving, cheerful, laid-back guy, absolutely nothing like Cloud's fake persona.
Nash from LUNAR: Silver Star Story is a borderline case: he's a jerk from the instant you pry him from that ridiculous trap he ended up in; he sells you out to Ghaleon once or twice; at the end of the game you find that all he's done, he's done for love of Mia. Mia slaps him into sensibility, and he rejoins you as an invaluable mage in the taking down of Ghaleon.
- If Nash was a borderline case in the remake, he WAS this trope in the original. He might have been egotistical and frequently abrasive, but he goes quite far out of his way to help Alex out and is one of the few people in Vane to recognize that Mia is actually quite stubborn and strong-willed underneath her sweet personality. By pretending to switch sides, he gets the team to the Frontier, and nearly dies for it when Xenobia figures out what he's up to. He goes from annoying to downright heroic.
- Ghaleon also may count in this category. He was the main villain in the first game and one of the last bosses in the second game, but his long-winded death speech, gift of an ass-kicking sword, and a couple of fairy gardens show you he really did mean well.
Karin Kanzuki from Street Fighter, although this side is more apparent when she's not fighting. She makes friends with her longtime rival Sakura, and in Rainbow Mika's storyline, Karin agrees to provide some of her vast fortune to support Mika's wrestling career.
In The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Midna, at the start of the game at least, is an abusive, snarky, whiny brat, but she eventually begins to let slip a few signs of her soft spot for Link (by the end of the game, she's not even trying to hide it).
- Linebeck from Phantom Hourglass also counts. At first, he's a selfish coward who is taking advantage of Link to find treasure. By the end, he saves Link's life and gives up unlimited wealth to have his old boat back.
Brutally subverted, almost, in Jewel Knights Crusaders. The main star makes it abundantly clear that he is Jerk almost all the way through. Whenever he shows the tiniest bit of kindness, he subverts it. Except a couple of times when he doesn't.
Gala from the game Legend Of Legaia starts out as a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold. He constantly insults Vahn and Noa at first, demeaning their violent ways and quite openly displaying his disdain at being forced to help them. Eventually, he'll lighten up and become friendlier with the rest of your team, though he still occasionally argues with Noa.
Kazooie, the loudmouthed bird from Banjo-Kazooie. She doesn't show it much, but she does care about Banjo deep down. When she and Banjo get separated in the beginning of Grunty's Revenge, she's happy as a clam to see him again.
At first, the mercenary Kratos in Tales Of Symphonia appears to be traveling with the party only for the money, and then on top of that he betrays you! But, it turns out he's not as much of a jerk as Lloyd first thinks and he comes back to your side in the end.
- Zelos fits this trope even better. While he is a teasing, arrogant and care free Handsome Lech who starts off with a dislike for half-elves, he does make an effort to overcome that prejudice. He does whatever he can to help his little sister despite the fact that her mother murdered his. Also, like Kratos, he betrays you at one point but comes back to yourside in seven of the eight endings. Even in the one where he doesn't rejoin he reveals that he had a noble reason for doing so. When conditions place him closest to Lloyd, he also shows that he believes that Lloyd was right that status and race mean nothing.
Ryudo, from Grandia II, fits this trope to a tee. He starts off as a devil-may-care, potty mouthed jerk who only seems to be going along with the quest for money, but later reveals that most of it was just a bit of a coping mechanism, due to the rather low opinion most people have of mercenaries in his world. By the end of the game, he's transformed into a pretty likable and friendly guy, albeit one who can still curse like a sailor.
The "grumpy" male animals in Animal Crossing, especially in the second game. Though they are self-admitted curmudgeons, they warm up to you fairly quickly, and even though they tease you, they're very glad of your friendship. They even cry if you show up at their birthday parties!
Maximillian Galactica of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney comes off as arrogant and self-conceited, but does so with the hopes that it will get his circus mates to strive to become better and follow in his example.
- Diego Armando from Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations also comes off as cocky and teasing towards women, and very self assured. However he's also dedicated to catching criminals and shows care for Mia.
Neku Sakuraba of The World Ends With You hates people in general at the beginning and does his best to shut them out, but after only about 6 days in The Game he becomes a lot more friendly and tolerant.
Jade of Tales Of The Abyss is a perfect example.
Yeager of Tales Of Vesperia is a minor recurring villain with a German accent, crazy speech, and constantly meddles in things on both sides of a conflict so he can keep the profits coming in as a weapons dealer. Then Raven sees fit to inform that he's just laying the nutjob act on a little thick. THEN you find out he's been donating to an orphanage all this time and raising two of the orphans like his own daughters.
Oswald of Odin Sphere is another example. Only shows his nice side to people he trusts though.
Taking its cues from Indiana Jones, Nathan Drake of Uncharted Drakes Fortune fits this trope, and allegedly the forthcoming sequel will reinforce the "jerk" part a lot more than the original did.
Hakurei Reimu of the Touhou series is occasionally played as a Stoic Jerk with a Heart of Gold, when the fans aren't joking about how her approach to solving a problem is thuggish (or genocidal).
Francis in Left 4 Dead. He hates almost everything except vests and his background info shows that he is a rebel and enjoys the zombie outbreak since now he can kick some ass without the law standing in this way. During the game, he loves to bust Bill's chops, but shows him respect if Bill happens to die, saying something like "Rest in peace, old man" in a somber tone. He also shows a bit more emotion to Louis if he gets killed, saying "He didn't deserve this". When it comes to survivors being low on health, he shows the most concern to Zoey and if any survivor is incapacitated 3 times, Francis will express grave concern for the victim as he helps them up (4 knock downs in a row equals instant death).
Mao in the third Disgaea. Sapphire out right points this out near the end of the game.

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Web Comics

Ben from Loserz. See this strip for his jerk tendencies and this one for his golden heart.
Abel from Dan And Mabs Furry Adventures. Though sometimes it's hard to tell whether he's a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold or just a plain ol' jerk.
Krosp in Girl Genius. Of course, he's a cat and you have to make allowances.
- Another Phil Foglio example would be the Klegdixal ambassador from the Gallimaufry arc of Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire.
  - Really?
Davan from Something Positive, a sarcastic, cynical jerk but nonetheless is capable of great caring and fearsomely loyal to his close friends. In fact, most of the cast are like that.
Diane from El Goonish Shive is a lying, manipulative bitch... but she takes care of what friends she has, and helps Grace when she's in need.
Rumisiel from Misfile is sleazy, sexist, drunken, stupid, incompetent... (the list goes on) until someone needs some advice about the human heart or a vengeful spirit placated.
Dandy from Dandy And Company.
Netta from DDG usually spends her time thinking up fresh torments for Zip, but can be capable of the occasional sweet gesture.
Varsuuvius occasionally has a bit of this. V is pompous, arrogant, pedantic, looks down on non-elves and less intelligent people with equal scorn, genuinely hates at least one teammate, and generally doesn't seem to be very motivated to save the world. There have been moments of V genuinely caring for teammates, notably Haley.
- Much less of the heart of gold, but sometimes even the Heroic Sociopath Belkar has this sometimes. While he's a Chaotic Evil, arrogant, psychotic and downright vicious little monster, that doesn't mean he lacks moments of kindness. He seems to actually like Elan, has risked his neck for his team members (fetching Roy's body, anyone?) seems to genuinely love and care for a cat named Mr. Scruffy, and, as of his most recent appearance, seems to be toning down some of his more psychotic behavior, even if it is currently an act.
The most of the main characters from Errant Story are a bit dickish on the surface but are, at heart, decent people. Jon, Sarine, Sara, and more recently Meji (though that was more the result of maturing as a person rather than revealing something that was already there) all more or less fall into this category. In fact, the only one who is nice on the surface turns out to be a genocidal maniac.

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Web Original

Western Animation

It's amazing how Grumpy Bear, the Care Bear who epitomises this trope, has evaded a mention for so long.
Moe from The Simpsons in the earlier seasons. Especially one instance when he was Homer's boxing coach, and he gave up a big money deal to save Homer from the heavy Weight champion.
- Having said that, Homer himself may qualify. While he has become the Trope Namer of Jerk Ass, he really does love and care for his family, as he gets really upset when they're mad at him. He also goes to unbeleivabley insane lenghs to help his friends out.
Patty Smith, the Huge Schoolgirl Gonk of Hey Arnold!
Z, All Grown Up!, "Bad Kimi" and "It's Cupid, Stupid".
Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender (especially in the first two seasons, before his Heel Face Turn). Toph Bei Fong sometimes acts like one, too.
Coach McGuirk, Home Movies
Parodied on Family Guy with the one-shot character of "Kenneth, the badass mail clerk with the heart of gold", who we find out gives half his paycheck to "orphans with diseases", cue the touching music.
Rattrap of Transformers: Beast Wars. Little more jerk and a little less heart of gold than usual, maybe a borderline case, but he's made good enough to be noteworthy.
- Totally. Despite being a whingeing snarker who constantly questions authority and practically refuses to follow orders on the basis of excessive personal danger (his Catch Phrase is a long-suffering "We're all gonna die...", usually provoking anyone else in the vicinity to reply "Shut up, Rattrap!")... and yet frequently risks his life to save his friends and is visibly upset by cases of their real or apparent demise... AND is even an ultra-competent soldier, spy and saboteur to boot, revealing his "coward" image to be really that of a crusty refusal to play to heroic stereotypes.
- Dinobot in this series is one of these as well. Sure, he may be a backstabbing brutish Proud Warrior Race Guy, who regularly expresses his disapproval of Optimus not finishing off his opponents, but everyone knows where he stands (up wind of Rattrap, by preference) and his death defending Proto-man is generally considered the Crowning Moment Of Awesome for the entire Transformers Franchise.
  - Due to the nature of the characters, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a heart of literal gold. You know, if they didn't have those swirling blue glowy things.
Gordon in the early seasons of Thomas The Tank Engine. A pompous buffoon, full of his own importance, but cheerfully comes to the rescue when Thomas or Percy is in trouble. He also had a few good moments like in season 8. He didn't get any lines in Thomas & The Fireworks display but he was notely concerned when James was missing in action. The episdoe Squeak, Rattle and Roll gave probably his most over the top Pet The Dog moment. He developed a squeak and thought that if the Fat Controller found out, he'd be scrapped, so he had to go slow to avoid making too much noise. However if he went slow, the children would miss their boat. He was willing to sacrifice his life just so some kids wouldn't be late home, for goodness sake!
Sissi of Code Lyoko. She and Ulrich apparently got along somewhat better before she betrayed the secret of Lyoko... an event she has absolutely no memory of. To his credit, he's the one who initiates her into his group of friends in the series finale.
- Jim also qualifies, at first seeming to be just a Drill Sergeant Nasty gym teacher, he ultimately shows that he cares alot more for the school's students than he lets on, and even nearly pulls a Heroic Sacrifice for their sake.
Charlie from All Dogs Go To Heaven — despite his criminal nature and love of being a con artist, he is shown giving pizza to a family of hungry pups.
Ioz from Pirates Of Dark Water. "Did I hear a compliment, Ioz?" "Eh, must have been the wind."
Brock Samson from the The Venture Brothers is a Heroic Sociopath with a heart of gold. After OSI wiped Billy's memories, Brock took him to Pete White, so White could help take care of Billy. He also deeply cares for the Venture Brothers.
Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks is shown comforting Jasmine at the of the episode "A Huey Freeman Christmas", after she had been told multiple times that Santa didn't exist.
Eddy from Ed Edd N Eddy was this before being reduced to a selfish jerk who cared more for money than his friends.
- This Troper finds a scene from an episode where Eddy actually stands up to the Kanker Sisters and drives them away, not to make money, but to HELP his friends for no selfish reasons whatsoever as proof that he really does have a heart of gold.
- In an earlier Valentine's episode that took place at the school, Eddy picks a fight with the Kanker sisters (And even bites Marie's leg) because he thinks they've brainwashed Double D. Eddy is terrified of the Kanker sisters.
Iago from the Aladdin series retains his Jerk Ass personality from the first movie, but he always comes through for the heroes when needed.
Sparky from Beethoven The Animated Series often acts sarcastic and tough but deeply cares for his friends and goes as far as to set a bunch of strays free from the pound.
Sharky the shark dog from Eek! The Cat has shown his soft side before. He even hugged Eek in one episode.
Fanon tends to paint Mr. Grumpy of The Mr. Men Show in this light, although there is little, if any, canon evidence.
- He exchanges his eternal frown for a look of surprise/concern? when witnessing one of the Chew Toys get beaten.
Raphael and Casey Jones of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (at least in the 2003 series).
Slappy Squirrel from Animaniacs could count as this.
In Taz-Mania, the normally selfish Digeri Dingo has a "noble dog" side to him and Jerk Ass Bushwacker Bob once saved Taz's life from a haunted hotel.
Fred Flinstone.
Lucky Piquel and Skunky Skunk from Bonkers.
Garfield. There are several examples of this, but the whole Here Comes Garfield story pretty much sums it up.
Cotton Hill of King of the Hill is a jerk and a sexist most of the time but he does show that he has a good side such as when he took the blame for Bobby burning down the church by accident, got a job to support his second wife and infant son, and even though he doesn't like her he helped Peggy to walk again after she broke her spine.
Eric Duckman of Duckman comes off as an ass and a sexist most of the time, but he is shown to have a good side, as he will do anything to protect his children if something is bothering them, or if they're in danger, even if he doesn't always pay attention to them. And, as revealed in a flashback, he didn't always used to be a jerk.
In Justice League, Cute Bruiser Hawk Girl sometimes comes across this way.

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