History ObfuscatingStupidity / Literature

** Hendricks is a big muscular man whom Dresden often assumes is DumbMuscle. Made clear in ''Literature/SmallFavor'', though many fans suspected him as far back as ''Literature/StormFront''. [[spoiler:Confirmed in "Even Hand", when he is shown working on his thesis]].

** Literature/HerculePoirot frequently represents himself to suspects as a vain, obsessive-compulsive, language-mangling Belgian émigré – a more outlandish version of himself, in other words – in order to give them a false sense of superiority over him.
--->''"It is true that I can speak the exact, the idiomatic English. But, my friend, to speak the broken English is an enormous asset. It leads people to despise you. They say – a foreigner – he can't even speak English properly. It is not my policy to terrify people – instead, I invite their gentle ridicule. Also I boast! An Englishman he says often, 'A fellow who thinks as much of himself as that cannot be worth much.' That is the English point of view. It is not at all true. And so, you see, I put people off their guard."''

--> '''Spider:''' Asking to hav my cage cleaned [[FedToTheBeast or a diet free of moral qualms]] would reveal to my creator that I am smarter than the dog he treats me as. I learned very early on that the more successful the experiment, the sooner he takes it apart to find out what he did right.

* In ''Literature/{{Kampfer}}'', [[spoiler:Kaede]] has been shown constantly as the InnocentBystander that always gets into [[DistressedDamsel trouble]] and likes [[GenderBender female-Natsuru]], but [[spoiler:she is actually in league with the Moderators and has been [[TheChessMaster manipulating almost everyone into doing her bidding.]]]]

** Later in the series we encounter Allrianne Cett, a flittery pink cream-puff of a blonde noblewoman who not only turns out to be a Rioter whose skill in allomancy is just about the equal to Breeze, but who winds up being an invaluable ally - and who, far from being seduced by Breeze's emotional allomancy, had to use her own considerable powers to seduce ''him'' in order to get past the discrepancy in their ages.

* Mildmay Foxe from ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'' is generally perceived by others (particularly the snobby nobles and academics he rubs shoulders with) to be a blunt instrument at best, due to his lack of formal education and obviously lower-class roots. His scarred and partially paralysed face doesn't help either, as it makes his speech slower than average and slightly slurred. He is, however, extremely [[StreetSmart shrewd, logical, and worldy wise]], and notably perceptive when it comes to the habits and motivations of others. He's hard to fool, and frequently picks up on important details others tend to miss. He's not above using people's prejudice to his advantage, although most of the time he doesn't even go out of his way to play dumb - he just [[TheQuietOne quietly lets people make their own assumptions]], and gives very little away to those he doesn't trust.

* A lot of characters in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' but the one guy who stands out of all people is [[spoiler:Ryugamine Mikado. He seems like your typical NaiveNewcomer, right up until he demonstrates that he's successfully ''weaponized Website/FourChan'']]. If even then, he still doesn't seem all that scary on a personal level, just wait until he starts [[spoiler:stabbing people with pens with a [[DissonantSerenity horrendous expression]] on his face.]]
* Lee is the smartest character in ''Literature/EastOfEden'', but practices the pidgin Chinese and servant position expected of him. When questioned about this, he answers that the servant position gives him safety and power (he runs the house). Although he was born and raised in San Francisco, and well educated, he speaks pidgin English, because most white people expected it, and wouldn't understand him if he spoke correctly.

* Midgety the Ogre from Sukhinov's ''Emerald City'' stories. He is fat, appears lazy and dumb buffoon, his clothing is ruffled, his house looks like a mess... and he eats Munchkins that come to his house deceived by the whole outside harmlessness and fall for booby traps he installed everywhere. He is actually very strong, relatively fast for his weight, and he is '''very''' cunning, deceitful and ruthless.

* Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/EndersShadow'' series features layers upon layers of geniuses allowing themselves to be underestimated, even by ''other'' geniuses who should have known better. The best example would have to be [[spoiler:Peter's parents, who were well aware of his and Valentine's political shenanigans in ''Literature/EndersGame'' and feigned ignorance so they wouldn't interfere with their children's development. Peter's mother even chews him out about it, being so arrogant in his own brilliance that it never occurred to him he might have inherited it from anybody]]. To his credit, he's humbled by this when he realizes how obvious it should have been, had he not been so self-absorbed.
** This even applies to whole nations, especially when counseled by former military child geniuses. Topping them all might have to be the old USA, which ''wasn't'' just a wishy-washy loudmouthed former worldpower in the pocket of China's massive economy, as everybody believed. [[spoiler:It was pretty much running the International Fleet all along, and could have made a bid for world domination had it chosen that road. Instead, it used those resources to build and support the first waves of human interstellar colonization, sending humanity (i.e. Americans) out for GALACTIC domination]].

* Creator/GKChesterton's Literature/FatherBrown has a tendency to stumble around acting dimwitted or like a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (or, in "The Blue Cross", simply acting memorably erratic – a tactic to get an inspector to follow him to the criminal) before suddenly whipping out the solution to the case. Chesterton was making the point that, while many people think of priests as sheltered naifs, that's the one thing an experienced priest can't possibly be – he's heard more people confessing to evil thoughts and deeds than any dozen detectives.

* ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' is never sure whether his wife Elspeth is really the DumbBlonde she often seems to be, or is hiding a sharp mind behind her gorgeous face, blonde hair and guileless blue eyes.

** Melissa Mao reflects back to her initial encounters with Sousuke and Kurz: she was sent to scout the training camp they were in for candidates to recruit to Mithril. Both Sousuke and Kurz, mistrustful of the mysterious organization sponsoring their training, deliberately underperformed: Sousuke was content to maintain a level of careful mediocrity, but [[LovableSexManiac Kurz]] went the extra mile and staged an attempted sexual assault on Mao to make ''sure'' she'd strike him from her list. When a mission came in and most of the other members were captured, however, both of them were obliged to demonstrate the full level of their considerable skills.

%%* It's disputed, whether the titular protagonist of Literature/TheGoodSoldierSvejk uses this, or he's just stupid.

** The whole SOS Brigade sort of counts here. Kyon suspects Koizumi of doing this; Koizumi suspects Mikuru of doing this.
* In ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'', there's the main character, Kodaka Hasegawa: a subversion of the CluelessChickMagnet. He pretends to be oblivious mainly to avoid any type of [[UnwantedHarem romantic confrontations]] with any of the girls in the club.

* Will from ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', it is mentioned that he is skilled in looking dull, simple and uninteresting in order to avoid drawing attention (he had to learn that in order to protect his mentally ill mother), when he attempts this in front of Iorek Byrnison the latter is not fooled, since the members of his race are {{Living Lie Detector}}s.
* On Zaphod Beeblebrox, from ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'':

** or:
--->"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naïve incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."

*** For that matter, the third member of the triumvirate had it pretty much in reverse. He could pull off a Thrawn impersonation to the point of having Thrawn's powerful, regal air, but his tactical knowledge was that of a con artist. When only the other members of the triumvirate are around he drops it.

*** Ankh-Morpork's most famous [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub "Legitimate Businessman"]], Chrysophrase, is also smarter than your average troll, and while he does show off this fact, he has been known to disguise just how much smarter he is, such as intentionally using HulkSpeak when he's fully capable of speaking normally. According to Vimes, he's managed to outthink and outmaneuver all of Ankh-Morpork's native crime lords, holding off the Thieves Guild with one hand, even when ''not'' sitting in a pile of snow.

* Creator/JimButcher is VERY fond of this one: In his ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' novel ''[[Literature/SpiderManTheDarkestHours The Darkest Hours]]'', Rhino, who has a normal level of intelligence, pretends to be dumber than he is so the rest of Spidey's villains, many of whom are of genius-level intelligence, will underestimate him.

** During the first book of the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' young Vanyel arrives in the big city relying on SafetyInIndifference and seems to be a preening, shallow popinjay. He falls in love with [[ClosetKey Tylendel]] and gets some CharacterDevelopment, but as [[{{Gayngst}} afraid of his father finding out]], Van insists on a SecretRelationship and doubles down on the act, adding [[ArmoredClosetGay violent homophobia towards Tylendel]] to seal it. This backfires on Van pretty badly though - he successfully convinces all Tylendel's peers that he's a stupid little bigot and they hate him for it, and when Tylendel dies and Van is Chosen [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead they wish he'd died instead]].

** During the first book of the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' young Vanyel arrives in the big city relying on SafetyInIndifference and seems to be a preening, shallow popinjay. He falls in love with [[ClosetKey Tylendel]] and gets some CharacterDevelopment, but [[{{Gayngst}} afraid of his father finding out]], Van insists on a SecretRelationship and doubles down on the act, adding violent homophobia towards Tylendel to seal it. This backfires on Van pretty badly though - he successfully convinces all Tylendel's peers that he's a stupid little bigot and they hate him for it, and when Tylendel dies and Van is Chosen [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead they wish he'd died instead]].

** ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'': Gillbret oth Hinriad, the brother of Director Hinrik (a local ruler who is a loyal vassal of the Tyranni), speaks of his need to play the part of an effete dilettante twenty-four hours a day so that everyone will underestimate him. The character who is actually most thoroughly using this trope is [[spoiler:Director Hinrik himself, who plays the part of a doddering old fool and fearful puppet of the Tyranni with far greater consistency than Gillbret ever has, while actually being the leader of the underground resistance movement]].

** During the first book of the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' young Vanyel arrives in the big city relying on SafetyInIndifference and seems to be a preening, shallow popinjay. He falls in love with [[ClosetKey Tylendel]] and gets some CharacterDevelopment, but, [[{{Gayngst}} afraid of his father finding out]] Van insists on a SecretRelationship and doubles down on the act, adding violent homophobia towards Tylendel to seal it. This backfires on Van pretty badly though - all of Tylendel's peers hate Van for it, and when Tylendel dies and Van is Chosen [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead they wish he'd died instead]].

* In ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'', [[spoiler:Kaede]] has been shown constantly as the InnocentBystander that always gets into [[DistressedDamsel trouble]] and likes [[GenderBender female-Natsuru]], but [[spoiler:she is actually in league with the Moderators and has been [[TheChessMaster manipulating almost everyone into doing her bidding.]]]]

* The White Queen in ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' claims that she never bothers planning anything, since (being the strongest being in the setting) she doesn't need to. She also gives the impression of a [[ManChild Woman Child]] who's [[{{Yandere}} hopelessly obsessed]] with the main character Kyousuke. However, this is (mostly) a facade, with later books confirming that she's far smarter and in control of herself than she claims. Notably, in the seventh book, [[spoiler:she concocts an elaborate plan in which she disguises herself to get close to Kyousuke, while giving enough hints for him to realize the deception. This tricks him into thinking the disguise is her real plan, allowing her [[ThanatosGambit actual one]] to succeed]].

* ''Literature/TheWindDoneGone'', a revisionist re-telling of ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' portrays Prissy/Miss Priss as this. Far from being the idiotic slave most people think she is, she purposely acts stupid to throw off white people but is actually a crafty woman who deliberately caused the death of Melanie/Mealy Mouth as revenge for the death of her two brothers, for which she blamed her.

* In the ''[[Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids Copper-Colored Cupids]]'' short story ''The Resurrection of the Wellsians'', Digger-291, whom the alchemist Mandragora sees as TheIgor, turns out to have been feigning stupidity to learn Mandragora's secrets and feed them to the rebellion.

* Eugenides in ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' series plays this differently in every book, [[UnreliableNarrator fooling the reader]] for almost the entirety of the first book, and then proceeding to fool people who really, ''[[TooDumbToLive really]]'' should know better [[spoiler:including, in the third book, the entirety of the country he'd [[IncrediblyLamePun single-handedly]] defeated in the previous book]].

** Lampshaded by Dontos TheFool to TheIngenue PrincessClassic Sansa Stark. She laments her own naivete in the game of thrones, but Dontos points out that all TheChessmaster characters watch each other like hawks, but pay little attention to those they think are stupid. [[spoiler:Sure enough no-one suspects Sansa is planning an escape with Dontos until after it happens.]]
* In ''Literature/TheSorrowsOfSatan'', Lady Sibyl describes how, when she was younger, she cultivated a cold and listless demeanor, which caused her to be seen as dull. As a result, fashionable ladies would invite her to "quiet teas" to help entertain their lovers, trusting Sibyl to be too stupid to understand that she was helping them commit adultery. Sibyl understood perfectly, but kept up the act because she wanted to learn more about human nature.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novel]] "The Devil's Heart" the Romulan officer who was secretly a member of Ambassador Spock's movement. When the Devil's Heart resurfaced he was posted by his uncle to the IRW ''Haakona'' to help retrieve the Heart. He played dumb with the Romulan Commander [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E11Contagion Taris]] in order to keep her from suspecting his true motives, which were to keep the Heart out of the Empire's hands.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'':

** Early on Hornblower recaptures a ship taken by French Privateers, he takes on the guise of a stupid and bloody thirst Captain and claims that they are pirates and can be hanged immediately, this tricks the privateer into giving where his ship is anchored. Notabley, Hornblower doesn't drop the act once the privateer realises what he's done, feeling that would be farcical.