Basic Trope: The tendency for drummers and other percussionists to be unintelligent.
- Straight: Danny is the drummer of his band, The Tropers, and is The Ditz.
- Exaggerated:
- Danny is so Lethally Stupid / Too Dumb to Live it's really a wonder he's been able to survive so long.
- Every percussionist is portrayed as dumb.
- Downplayed:
- Danny is a bit of a Genius Ditz; there are some areas that he's relatively skilled at, but not that many.
- Danny has relatively average intelligent, he's mostly just wild and crazy.
- Justified: Danny put more effort into playing the drums than studying.
- Inverted:
- Danny is the band's drummer, and the most intelligent member.
- Danny is quite a smart man because of all the improvisation required to play the drums onstage successfully. He considers the "dumb drummer" stereotype to be his Berserk Button.
- Subverted: Danny at first seems to be a Dumb Muscle type, but reveals that he's a Genius Bruiser.
- Double Subverted: He was Feigning Intelligence.
- Parodied:
- Danny is a literal Neanderthal that they brought into the present-day, and "plays" the drums by smashing them with a rock.
- Someone picks up a percussion instrument and their IQ level drops dramatically.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Danny's intelligence level varies constantly.
- Danny is the least intelligent member of The Tropers and plays multiple instruments, some percussion and some not.
- Averted:
- The band doesn't have a drummer/percussionist.
- Danny is a relatively smart guy.
- Enforced: "Drumming is just hitting things with a stick, right? Let's have the Dumb Muscle of the band be a drummer!"
- Lampshaded: "Yeah, our drummer Danny isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree..."
- Invoked: The Tropers hire an unintelligent person as their drummer because they figure percussion doesn't take a lot of talent.
- Exploited: Danny acts dumb, even though he is just as smart as every band, to lower their attention and catch them off-guard when needed.
- Defied:
- Danny doesn't want to be seen as stupid, so he decides to focus on his studying.
- The Tropers specifically search for a drummer who is relatively smart.
- Discussed: "So... you are a drummer? I hope you must be The Ditz."
- Conversed: "Why are drummers always so stupid in these kinds of bands? It actually takes quite a bit of brawn and brains to play drums efficiently!"
- Played for Drama:
- Danny is actually very smart, but his intelligence gets underestimated just because he's a drummer.
- Danny is a Starving Artist, and his lack of respect as a drummer only contributes to that.
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