Stereotypical Nerd

A prominent Stock Character of teen comedies of The '70s and The '80s, the Stereotypical Nerd is a specific kind of nerd or geek character that has the following characteristics:

• No sense of fashion of either the "outdated and bland" or "overly prim and proper" variety^note The slobby, schlubby Basement-Dweller would emerge later. Limited Wardrobe, Nerd Glasses and Uncool Undies are a given. Also common are high waisted and belted khaki pants or slacks, loafers and other dress shoes, fully exposed tube or dress socks, button down shirts and polos (plaid and checkered pattern if you really want to stick to the formula, and usually buttoned all the way to the collar), a sweater or sweater-vest, and nerdy accessories like a pocket protector. This lack of style applies to hairstyles too, and features slicked down and clearly parted hair for boys and long twin plaits for girls. While there's plenty of variation, the two words that should come to mind when looking at the Stereotypical Nerd are "uncool" and "dowdy".
• Physically unattractive.^note That said, if the nerd is being portrayed sympathetically, due to Beauty Equals Goodness they will frequently be revealed to be Beautiful All Along, just in need of a haircut, wardrobe change, and contacts to go from geek to chic. Expect a Geek Physique, Braces of Orthodontic Overkill or Pubescent Braces (or Goofy Buckteeth), extensive acne, Youthful Freckles, Nerdy Nasalness and an obnoxious, guffawing, even snorting laugh that leaves their frail bodies wheezing hard enough they need to break out the Nerdy Inhaler. Other often mocked speech impediments like a lisp or a prominent stutter also qualify. Because of the idea that Redheads Are Uncool, red hair is also used as a visual shorthand.
• Socially inept or socially awkward with No Social Skills. They are often The Quiet One or a Shrinking Violet with just the thought of being in a social setting outside of their comfort zone turning them into a Nervous Wreck. And don't even talk about talking to a love interest, which they struggle to do either completely or successfully, often becoming an Abhorrent Admirer or Hopeless Suitor. Another variation of this is the nerd being brutally honest or making Innocently Insensitive comments because they can't read the room. As difficulty socializing and communicating are characteristics of Hollywood Autism, more recent depictions of the Stereotypical Nerd may actually be autistic or heavily implied to be so.
• Socially unpopular. In the Popularity Food Chain, they are near the bottom, rarely being invited to parties and social gatherings by their peers, perennially dateless and the frequent victim of a Prank Date, a Bully Magnet for the Alpha Bitch and Jerk Jock, and often the Butt-Monkey or The Chew Toy. While this may make them a loner with all the baggage that carries, just as often the Stereotypical Nerd will have a small friend group of other nerds to share their passions and interests with. Speaking of which...
• An interest in "nerdy" hobbies usually to Fanboy and Fangirl levels. These are almost always non-mainstream, niche subcultures, though which one changes with the times. Classically this includes interests in academic success; anything related to the STEM fields^note Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; building gadgets; gaming (particularly computer and tabletop games); anything related to science fiction, speculative fiction, and high fantasy (especially Dungeons & Dragons, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and Star Wars); LARP-ing; comic books; anime and manga; and collecting and cataloguing obscure items.

While this last quality lends itself to many Stereotypical Nerds also being highly intelligent (and many are Book Smart, Teen Geniuses, TV Geniuses, or Insufferable Geniuses) equally prominent is the character being just of average intelligence or outright Book Dumb to emphasize their loser status and myopic focus on their hobbies, since intelligence and academic success are laudable and can be attractive. And don't think that the lack of Book Smarts would be replaced with Street Smarts—Nerds Are Naïve, after all.

This character has become somewhat less popular in recent years due to the mainstreaming of once niche interests associated with them like gaming, anime and manga, and comic book-based media and the astronomical success of real life "nerds" like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The rise of other depictions of nerds, specifically the Basement-Dweller and the Tech Bro, has also contributed to this character's fading ubiquity, at least as purely a comedic and flat stock character.

For other takes on the nerd or geek, see Asian and Nerdy, Bollywood Nerd, Black and Nerdy, Jewish and Nerdy, Occidental Otaku, Otaku, Sickly Neurotic Geek, Trekkie, and Yaoi Fangirl. Also related are Rail Enthusiast, Polka Dork, Nerdcore, and Give Geeks a Chance.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• A Condition Called Love: When he was younger, Hananoi was a timid and withdrawn boy that excelled in school and had no real friends, apart from an old man he spoke with at the park. He wore huge Opaque Nerd Glasses that covered up his face and in chapter 44, we see him wearing a sweater-vest over a white button shirt when he first transferred to Hotaru and Yao's school. After he decides to make giving and receiving love his primary reason for living, he actively defies the trope: he styles himself better, gets contacts, styles his hair, and pushes past his natural shyness to talk to girls, becoming a Serial Romeo in the process.
• Assassination Classroom: Manami Okuda is a Nerd Glasses and twin braids wearing, Shrinking Violet with No Social Skills (her being a combo of awkward, shy, and blunt) who comes from a Friendless Background and excels in math and science. She hits every marker for the archetype.
• Hidoku Shinaide: Nemugasa is a scrawny, glasses-wearing, Scholarship Student who really enjoys school and getting good grades. He canonically has fairly bland fashion sense: he wears button-down shirts and sweaters primarily and his hair is in a perpetual bowlcut. While he isn't bullied by his peers (aside from Loving Bully Maya), he doesn't really have many friends inside or outside school and has a Brutal Honesty streak in him. From Maya's father's reaction, nerdy looking people seems to actually be Maya's type since he's apparently been going after girls who look this way since he was a child.
• March Comes in Like a Lion: Rei Kiriyama is a Teen Genius at the board game shogi, an Extreme Doormat due to a lack of self-esteem, has No Social Skills, and comes from a Friendless Background. Appearance-wise, he is almost always wearing Nerd Glasses and a plain white buttondown shirt under a sweater or sweater-vest.
• Meguro-san wa Hajimete Janai: Koga is smart, scrawny, wears glasses, is socially awkward, has no friends, and gets bullied. The story revolves around him asking out the beautiful Saki Meguro who has a reputation for being easy and the two navigating their emotional baggage when Meguro surprisingly decides to Give Geeks a Chance.
• Metamorphosis: Before her makeover, Saki is shown to be a friendless loner who wears her hair in unfashionable twin braids, has Nerd Glasses, and wears her school uniform in the appropriate old fashioned way. She has little social knowledge about how to make friends and is shown later on to not even see when people are obviously trying to fool her/use her.
• Princess Jellyfish: Tsukimi is a Shrinking Violet and a bit of a recluse who wears Nerd Glasses, has Youthful Freckles, dresses in the same unstylish sweats, has a near encyclopedic knowledge of a seemingly random topic (jellyfish and no, she's not a zooologist), is clumsy and uncoordinated, and can barely talk to men.

Comic Books

• Archie Comics: Dilton Doiley is a short character who wears nerd glasses, loves science and isn’t nearly as romantically successful as any of the other characters in addition to being the least athletic of them and prone to sesquipedalian loquaciousness. Dilton is also the smart guy of the Archie gang.
• Kunskapens Korridorer: "Hjärnan" is clearly the smartest student in the class of 8C, to the point that his nick-name means "The Brain". And he also looks like a stereotypical nerd, with glasses and a more conservative dressing style.
• Spider-Man: Peter Parker. A scientific genius from a young age, rather milquetoast from being raised by a loving but elderly couple, and in early appearances socially inept and unfashionable. In his subsequent appearances, though he's gotten Progressively Prettier and more confident, he's retained most of his gadget geek, Science Hero nerdiness.
• Wonder Girl: Cassie Sandsmark started out fairly nerdy—not spending any time concerned about her appearance and clothing, being very interested in history and feeling awkward in most social situations—but she grew out of this characterization.

Film—Live-Action

• Back to the Future: In the original timeline, Marty's father George is a meek and introverted adult who wears Nerd Glasses, has slicked down, side-parted hair, wears a button down and tie with a pocket-protector. When Marty goes back in time, he realizes that his dad has always been this way, on top of being an Extreme Doormat and a Bully Magnet who is picked on by Biff and struggles to talk to his crush Lorraine. This does change though as Marty teaches George to stand up for himself.
• Cloak & Dagger (1984): The proprietor of the Game Keeper is an overweight, bearded man with Nerd Glasses who spends most of his time playing video games and requesting Twinkies.
• The Faculty: Casey is small, thin, and pale, frequently bullied and considered uncool, timid and not one to stand up for himself (until his Character Development). He is also The Smart Guy of the group, correctly deducing the alien invasion occuring.
• Napoleon Dynamite: Napoleon isn't particularly smart or hard-working, but has all the cornerstones of a stereotypical nerd—No Social Skills, awkward posture, mouth breathing, a nasally voice, eccentric habits, thick Nerd Glasses, crappy fashion sense, and being very unpopular at school.
• Revenge of the Nerds: Unsurprisingly, the "nerds" in the title, showcased best by leads Lewis and Gilbert, are walking stereotypes: poorly dressed in button downs, khakis, loafers, with Nerd Glasses; unpopular as shown by their inability to get accepted by any of the frats; constantly bullied by the popular Jerk Jocks who run those frats; computer science majors who use their wits to outplay and outhink the Alpha Betas, etc.
• Summer School: Alan is average looking, an academic underachiever in a family of overachievers, has poor social skills, and speaks in a high, weird voice.
• The White Orchid: Claire is a shy and modest detective who begins the film with wireframe glasses, hair in a bun, and plain clothes. When she takes on The White Orchid's style, this changes entirely.

Literature

• Johnny and the Bomb: Note the Geeky Wobbler's ambitions which invokes the trope: "Wobbler wanted to be a nerd, but they wouldn't let him join. He wanted to be the kid in a deformed anorak and milk-bottom glasses who designs killer software and is a millionaire at thirty. Failing that he'd settle for being someone whose computer didn't smell of burning plastic whenever he touched it."

Live-Action TV

• The Big Bang Theory: The show is premised on the idea of two nerdy guys and their two nerdy friends interacting with the Brainless Beauty / Book Dumb, Girl Next Door, Penny. So naturally, most of the main cast fits this to a T, with the exception of Penny and later-addition Bernadette, who is a subversion. The rest of the group are all different degrees and variations on the trope, with the main four guys being wimpy, unathletic, Trekkies, comic book and video game nerds, into LARPing, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Lord Of The Rings, in addition to their math and science focused areas of expertise with a very Limited Wardrobe.
  • Leonard: An experimental physicist and Sickly Neurotic Geek in Nerd Glasses, Leonard begins as a Shrinking Violet, Extreme Doormat (to Sheldon), Dogged Nice Guy and Hopeless Suitor (to Penny). He has a history of being a Bully Magnet and is the show's resident Butt-Monkey, leading to him being socially awkward and a Nervous Wreck. Out of all of the guys on the show, he grows out of this stereotype the most as he gains self-confidence, making him gradually become a Clueless Chick-Magnet.
  • Sheldon: The modernized reconstruction on the classic trope, theoretical physicist Sheldon swaps the overly formal bland clothes for fandom t-shirts (although he used to wear formal clothes as a child in Young Sheldon), but otherwise is the embodiment of the trope. He has No Social Skills but doesn't care as he believes most people to be intellectually inferior anyways and will tell them this to their faces. Among a group of doctors, he is still The Smart Guy. He's frequently the Butt-Monkey and had a Hilariously Abusive Childhood filled with bullies.
  • Howard: A Jewish and Nerdy aeronautical engineer with a bowl cut, often wearing plaid button down shirts tucked into unflatteringly tight and belted pants a la Disco Dan. He's also a pervy Casanova Wannabe, becoming an Abhorrent Admirer for Penny early on.
  • Raj: The resident Bollywood Nerd astrophyscist with a fondness for sweater vests over khakis. While he can talk to his friends just fine, he Cannot Talk to Women, Leonard's psychologist mom even diagnosing him with selective mutism, leading to him to be the only one of the group in later seasons to not have a partner and he becomes dateless for a while.
  • Amy: As Sheldon's neurobiologist Distaff Counterpart, she shares many of his same traits (The Stoic, Insufferable Genius, No Social Skills, Brutal Honesty), just with Nerd Glasses, and in a dowdy skirt and sweater, while also lacking his interest in nerdy pop culture things like comics and Star Trek, making her The Bore. She comes from a Friendless Background because of her abrasiveness and Extreme Doormat personality.
  • Bernadette is a glasses-wearing microbiologist with a penchant for cardigans and other more conservative clothing. When she was first introduced, she exhibited some Ditzy Genius tendencies, not understanding most of the jokes the guys made, but this seems to be more because she doesn't share their interest in nerdy hobbies rather than because she has No Social Skills; her kindness and friendliness (pre-Flanderization) were her defining character traits. However, she has been selected as one of the fifty most beautiful female scientists in California, and she has discussed her rather extensive dating experience in the past.
• Boy Meets World: Stuart Minkus, an Insufferable Genius with Nerd Glasses and a bowl cut, who wears button down shirts tucked into belted khakis and sweater-vests as a 12-year-old. In the episodes he shows up, he is often the Butt-Monkey to Shawn and Corey, who make fun of his nerdiness whenever he gets too arrogant with them.
• Cheers: "Let Me Count the Ways" introduces Marshall, a computer scientist from MIT. Marshall is a nerd straight out of central casting, with the slicked-back hair and the impossibly thick, large Nerd Glasses, the nasal voice, and the technobabble talk. He is pretty comfortable in his own skin however and good friends with everyone else at the bar.
• Family Matters' Steve Urkel is the poster child for a Black and Nerdy version of this trope. He wears Nerd Glasses, speaks with Nerdy Nasalness, has an obnxious laugh, wears plaid shirts tucked into slacks with suspenders, is a TV Genius, a Bully Magnet, and is considered in-universe to be unattractive and annoying. That's not even mentioning him thinking of himself as a smooth ladies man, when he's anything but.
• iCarly: Freddie starts the series as a stereotypical nerd. He's the show's cameraman and general tech guy due to his natural high intelligence and interest in anything having to do with tech. He also dressed primarily in sweater vests and button down shirts due to his overbearing mother dictating what he wears. He was also a Hopeless Suitor to Carly. And though the trio's popularity was kept afloat by their successful web show, Freddie was the show's primary Butt-Monkey, suffering from constant bullying and abuse from Sam. When his actor goes through puberty later in the series and the actor's good looks become hard to ignore, he moves away from the trope and ends up more as a normal teen with some more tech-y interests.

Music

• "Weird Al" Yankovic has an entire song parodying this trope called "White & Nerdy". According to the song, too white and nerdy to hang out with gangsters because he's an MIT grad, wears braces, a pocket protector, and Uncool Undies, and has a slew of nerdy interests like Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek, LARPing, math, science, chess, and tech.

Tabletop Games

• Psionics: The Next Stage in Human Evolution: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees. Tim is definitely the most straight example of the three. Everything about him, from his clothing to his haircut to his taste in music to the way he carries himself, is painfully awkward and uncool. He even has coke bottle glasses.

Video Games

• Bully: The Nerds are one of the four main cliques within Bullworth Academy. They can mostly be found in and around the library, and they have a stronghold in the observatory near the football field. Outside of the school, they often meet up in the basement of the comic book shop for games of Grottos and Gremlins. Their combat skills are, as you would expect, sorely lacking compared to most other students, and they often find themselves getting picked on, though they tend to arm themselves with stink bombs and other such weapons in a bid to level the playing field.
• Gauntlet: The Third Encounter: Lampshaded. You can pick "Nerd" as your class and your character will bedressed in the stereotypical style (glasses, sweater vestt) and carries a textbook with him. He's effectively a Joke Character, as he has the lowest Strength and Missile stats, and only marginally better Speed than some other options.
• Monster Madness: Skinny, bespectacled, and buck-toothed Zack is the most brilliant student at school. Though he has few friends, many students turn to him for help with homework and his mechanical expertise; others give him wedgies. He is a fanboy for comic books, action figures, video games, and fantasy movies, and hopes to someday introduce his crush, Carrie, to his collections.
• Mother:
  • EarthBound Beginnings has Lloyd, an extremely pasty 11-year-old with thick, round glasses and a strong interest in computer software. He's a frequent bullying target at his elementary school, and is first introduced hiding from the bullies in a trash can on the school's roof. But by the end of the game he's taken a level in badass and pilots a tank.
  • EarthBound has Jeff, an Expy of Lloyd. He's a freckle-faced 13-year-old Child Prodigy and Gadgeteer Genius in a suit and bowtie, complete with thick glasses and a bowl cut. He starts off with very low offensive and defensive stats, invoking Geek Physique. That said, he ends up becoming the Badass Normal, Badass Bookworm, Science Hero of the main party, turning mundane broken items like irons and pipes into amazing, advanced machines that can block enemy Psychic Powers, nullify enemy shields, and shoot lasers.
• In No Umbrellas Allowed, the man from the Ajik Capital and his identical twin brother look very nerdy, with short blonde hair, Nerd Glasses, buck teeth, and plain buttoned-down shirts. They also speak with a nasally voice liiike thiiisss.

Web Animation

• Karl Hadrika's "Becky Prim" proof-of-concept pilot has Norville. He dresses similar to Urkel, talks and acts like Neil Goldman, and has a Stalker Shrine to Becky in his closet. He's described in Hardika's Tumblr blog as "one part hapless nerd, one part horny sock puppet. Just a… just a punchable husk of repulsion you’re allowed to hate. Don’t even worry about it".

Webcomics

• Ménage à 3: Gary is a geek with strong nerd tendencies. In fact, he'd probably end up as a full-on hikikomori if he didn't have some good friends, Endearingly Dorky looks, and a strange sexual talent. His geeky lack of social skills veers towards nerdish total incompetence, and at the start of the comic, he'd collapse totally if an attractive woman so much as looked at him. He wants to have friends and lovers, but didn't have a clue how to get them to start with, and even in later strips he displays a painful lack of initiative in pursuing his options. However, his friends didn't have to clean him up much to produce quite appealing results.
• Nerd & Jock: The aforementioned Nerd is a nerd, being a very intelligent and adorable-looking kid who is also an Otaku who collects action figures and watches anime. He's also quite scrawny and physically weak, something he occasionally mulls over, which is why he took up weight-lifting.
• Questionable Content: Marigold is a pimply MMORPG-addicted Occidental Otaku and Yaoi Fangirl with dirty hair and a messy apartment. Interestingly, she has fluctuated on both spectrums of Geek Physique, starting off as being skinny and scrawny but changing overtime to be chubby. She is socially awkward, especially around guys she has crushes on, and lacks self-confidence, frequently stating that she's ugly and fat.
• Sluggy Freelance: The "cloner nerds" release a plague that exponentially increases the intelligence of whoever it infects, while decreasing their attractiveness and social skills to the point where they become extremely nerdy zombie analogues, invoking the trope.
• Sticky Dilly Buns: Ruby is a non-standard example who looks more like a Hot Librarian at first glance. She's quite attractive in Hollywood Homely style, her social ineptitude takes the form of abrasiveness rather than bumbling, she doesn't seem very interested in science or computers (her degree is in Business Administration), and we have no evidence about her physical fitness. However, she wears Nerd Glasses, is very opinionated about her area of expertise, lacks any kind of coolness (she's downright neurotic), rarely dates and is a virgin, and privileges intellect over social relationships.

Web Video

• LG15: the resistance: "Bad Decision?" features "the sexy nineteen-year-old fact finder also known as... Research Nerd!" This is actually Sarah invoking the trope with Nerd Glasses, a collared shirt and tie, and her hair tied back in a ponytail.
• Ryan ToysReview: Peck the Penguin is portrayed as a stereotypical glasses-and-bow tie nerd. This is played straight explicitly in this Combo Panda video:
  Peck: We're going to read so many books. Do you have an encyclopedias, please? I love—
  Combo: PECK, NO! You're going to come over to my house. We are NOT going to be reading books, we're playing video games, okay?!

Western Animation

• American Dad!: Steve Smith wears Nerd Glasses, has Nerdy Nasalness, is a Pathetically Weak wimp because of Geek Physique, is not cool and a bit of a social outcast, and harbors a strong academic interest in science, especially chemistry. More typically geeky traits of Steve's include his interests in Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter and Star Wars. His luck with the ladies varies Depending on the Writer between him being a sex-obsessed Casanova Wannabe and him actually being considered Endearingly Dorky.
• Angela Anaconda: Gordy Rhinehart is a timid and cowardly Sickly Neurotic Geek with a Nerdy Inhaler that wears Nerd Glasses, a sweater vest, and has a wide array of interests in more niche subjects (for pre-teen boys at least) like origami and gardening.
• Dexter's Laboratory: "Valhallen's Room" reveals that without his guitar, Valhallen gradually transforms into a stereotypical nerd, complete with Nerdy Nasalness, Nerd Glasses, buckteeth, and Geek Physique. This is in contrast to his typical cool, rock star, ladies man persona showcased earlier in the episode.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Episode "Putting Your Hoof Down", has a stereotypically nerdy pony with taped glasses, moustache, unfashionable mane-cut, bowtie, acne, and robot cutie mark, indicating his interest in robotics. When he buys the last asparagus, which Fluttershy wanted, Rarity tricks him into selling it back to Fluttershy by calling him strong and handsome.
• Nerds and Monsters: The show stars a group of nerds - and a Dumb Jock - stuck on an island inhabited by monsters, so naturally every member of the nerd group qualifies.
  • Dudley Squat, the self-appointed leader, is short and chubby and has a Napoleon Complex to match, always needing things to be his way or the highway. He wears a red polo tucked into belted khaki shorts with dress shoes and Nerd Glasses. He is also Jewish, and has mass of tightly curled hair.
  • Irwin Chung is of Chinese and Jewish descent. Appearance-wise, he's thin and weak, wears Nerd Glasses, has a big Gag Nose, Nerd Glasses, carries a Nerdy Inhaler, and a bowl cut hairstyle. He also wears a sweater vest over a button down and brown slacks. Personality-wise, he's fearful of almost everything and accident-prone. Despite that, he exhibits some Casanova Wannabe tendencies by constantly hitting on Becky, seemingly oblivious to how bad he is at it.
  • Becky Hooger is the very tall and lanky (she towers over Dudley and Irwin) token girl of the group, with red hair put into Girlish Pigtails, Youthful Freckles, and Pubescent Braces. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of animals and insects, and documents all of the creatures they come across on the island. She's very excitable when it comes to her interests and is a Friend to All Living Things.
• The Raccoons: Cedric Sneer has thick Nerd Glasses, wears a bowtie, and has neatly parted hair. He is a Shrinking Violet, being soft spoken and shy, as well as very intelligent, handling all of the bookkeeping for his wealthy father's business. Downplayed however, as he is shown to be athletic, being very good at baseball, swimming and fishing, and has a long-term girlfriend in Sophia Tutu.
• Recess:
  • Gretchen Grundler is The Smart Guy of the group, being a Child Prodigy in terms of all natural and physical sciences and something of a Gadgeteer Genius. Visually, she has a huge pair of Nerd Glasses, wears her hair in dowdy pigtails, and wears a relatively unfashionable long blue dress. She is very tall (only shorter than The Big Guy Mikey) and very lanky exhibiting the pale and thin version of Geek Physique and has very prominent and protruding buck teeth. She also speaks with Nerdy Nasalness.
  • Gus Griswald is the New Transfer Student who finds himself ostracized and bullied when he first arrives in episode 2. Personality wise, he's naturally timid, shy, and a bit naive due to his relatively sheltered life being a Military Brat with a strict dad. Appearance wise, he has the quintessential Nerd Glasses along with the beige button down, belted khaki pants, exposed socks, and loafers to complete the overall look.
• Robot Chicken has an unnamed nerd character as one of the most recurring characters in the series, only referred to as simply "The Nerd". He has slicked down and parted hair, wears big Nerd Glasses, has giant ears and buckteeth, speaks with Nerdy Nasalness, and primarily wears an oversized button down shirt and tie. He's a Fanboy of anything associated with nerds like Star Trek and is an Abhorrent Admirer to Scarlett Johansson.
• The Simpsons: Milhouse is a Sickly Neurotic Geek with a Nerdy Inhaler and Nerd Glasses, and one of the show's primary chew toys and butt monkeys, partially because of his nerdy tendencies, but also because of his longstanding friendship with Bart. He's socially awkward, an Extreme Doormat, puny, and pathetic, and oscillates between being Lisa's Abhorrent Admirer, Hopeless Suitor, and (in some flash forwards) Henpecked Husband. Though, this is a characterization Milhouse himself rejects since according to him, "I'm not a nerd, Bart. Nerds are smart.".
• Spongebob Squarepants: In ""No Weenies Allowed", the two guys Spongebob meets at the Weenie Hut Jr.'s are walking nerd stereotypes: both wear Nerd Glasses and high waisted pants. One has Pubescent Braces and talks with a lisp. The other is introduced talking about how his "collection" is coming along. They are both shaped like and are directly visually compared to literal hot dog wieners to emphasize their small, frail, and flimsy Geek Physiques, are only referred to in the script as Weenie 1 and Weenie 2, and they spend the episode giving Spongebob analysis and feedback on how to be tough. Finally, both are frequent patrons of Weenie Hut Jr.'s as opposed to the Salty Spitoon, which is characterized as the cool bar where only thr toughest people in Bikini Bottom are allowed. Not even Spongebob, who is pretty nerdy himself, wants to be likened to them.
• Total Drama:
  • Island has Harold, Noah, and Cody for the guys. All three are very skinny and physically unimpressive, quite intelligent, and have geeky interests or mannerisms, but represent different nerd stereotypes.
    • Harold, aka "The Dweeb", is a red head who wears Nerd Glasses, is awkward and eccentric, has an encylcopedic knowledge of a random assortment of (seemingly) useless factoids. He's also an Occidental Otaku, with a deep love for and knowledge of ninja, samurai, and Japanese pop culture in general.
    • Noah, aka "The High IQ", is a Brilliant, but Lazy, antisocial Insufferable Genius and Child Prodigy in a sweater vest. Word of God also states that he's Indian.
    • Cody, who's title is "The Geek", is a tech-savvy dweeb who is oblivious to how much of a dweeb he is and a Casanova Wannabe, much to the displeasure of all the girls on the island.
    • There's also Beth, who is one of few girls who doesn't look like a supermodel with her Nerd Glasses, Braces of Orthodontic Overkill, shorter and rounder physique, and very high ponytail. She's got No Social Skills and wants to make friends, which makes her naive and easily fooled, has a not so imaginary boyfriend, and is The Smart Guy for the Screaming Gophers.
  • Revenge of the Island introduces Cameron and Sam:
    • Cameron is a Black and Nerdy former Bubble Boy in Nerd Glasses with lots of Book Smarts but little in the way of strength or social skills due to being kept sheltered his entire life. He is shy and timid.
    • Sam is an overweight video game geek, who is physically weak, has No Social Skills, and lacks self-confidence. He becomes an Abhorrent Admirer to Dakota at first, though she warms up to him later and he even manages to get her to date him.
  • Pahkitew Island:
    • Dave is a whiny, neurotic hypochondriac of Indian descent in a sweater vest and the physically weakest on his team. He is obsessed with keeping things very clean and has No Social Skills, finding it hard to talk to his teammates and his crush Sky in particular.
    • Scarlett, aka "The Quiet Braniac", is a red-headed Teen Genius who appears to be the classic shy, Book Smart, glasses-wearing, proper nerdy girl in a sweater and Prim and Proper Bun. She often falls into Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness when explaining things to her teammates. It's an Invoked Trope, as she's using this only as a facade and is actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and Nerdy Bully to Max.
    • Leonard is Black and Nerdy with Youthful Freckles and a LARPer, who is so into his roleplaying that he Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality and thinks his spellcasting is real. Naturally this means he has No Social Skills. He's tall and scrawny, talks with a noticeable lisp, and only wears his handmade wizard robes.

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