Likeable Smart Characters in Western Animation.

Can anyone come up with Likeable Smart Characters who are also not undermined by a Dumb Is Good status quo?

Sokka.

In before Twilight Sparkle a hundred times.

and Those two, I agree with heavily.

But I'm sure there are more than that.

Batman.

Gina Lash from Angela Anaconda. Gadget from Rescue Rangers.

Blossom of the Powerpuff Girls (she explains the solution to Knights and Knaves puzzles in 10 seconds in one episode), Bugs Bunny...There are probably a lot more.

Princess Bubblegum.

John

Wait, are we talking smart characters, or geniuses? Cause if it's the former:

• The Ninja Turtles
• The gargoyles
• Young Justice
• Superman
• Johnny Quest
• The X-Men in Evolution

Etcetera, etcetera.

1. Twilight sparkle! ( aware of the in b4 but it had to be done)
2. Princess Celestia ( She is twilights teacher)
3. Dexter from decter's lab
4. Wally (flash) from young justice
5. Batman ( worlds greatest detective )
6. Phineas And Ferb plus Balljeet
7. Robin ( all incarnations) including Teen Titans and Young Justice

edited 12th Nov '11 4:46:17 PM by FallenLegend

John who? It's a pretty common name.

I said that because there has to be a smart, likeable john somewhere in animation.

John...Smith...

I think it depends what you define as 'likeable', since many define certain flaws as being unsympathetic while many without can be considered likeable but also kind of bland and undeveloped. Lisa Simpson goes in and out with this kind of critism. The problem is when it's not Good Is Dumb it's often Perfect Is Smart.

My favorite kind of 'smart' character is one that has noticable intelligence but still equal moments of bumbling and flawed actions as the other 'stupider' cast. Rebecca Cunningham is a good example, she's more educated and responsible than Baloo, but they are times even he plays a Straight Man to her shrillness or egotistical moments.

Sally Acorn was kinda well developed in Sonic Sat Am, even if they did glorify her later on. Archie ruined her however, when she's not outraging fans with her slap of doom, she's a rather Flat Character.

Brian in Family Guy I also liked prior to his derailment following the show's Sadist Show evolution. Stewie may still count however.

Would Steve Smith count as smart? He's ridiculously naive at times, but he does seem rather well educated or at least in Genius Ditz territory (wrote a popular book, implied to do well in school, performs complex Xanatos Gambits, a science geek). He's also ridiculously funny and more consistantly sympathetic than most of the rest of the main cast (par the occasional token Jerkass moment).

What sort of area are we going with for 'smart' characters? Is like just Straight Man characters with good common sense and valid intelligence or outright exagerrated geniuses?

edited 12th Nov '11 6:16:08 PM by Psi001

Doctor Holiday and Agent Six from Generator Rex... If only to name something not named yet.

Tony Stark and Co. (Rodey and Pepper, as well as the villains) on Iron Man Armored Adventures have always been impressive to me with their high IQ on the battlefield.

edited 12th Nov '11 6:29:23 PM by LostAnarchist

Lets go Classic:

Basil of Baker Street from the Great Mouse Detective,

A Classic example, right?

Because the first thing that comes to my mind in terms of this limitation is Jerry from Tom And Jerry. Any mouse who ccan outwit a big cat like Tom majority of their existence and not get eaten or killed in some trap, has a bigger brain than they let on, ever.

Jerry, to me, proves how smart, capable, and badass the little guy can be when forced into a corner and forced to fight !

edited 12th Nov '11 6:41:42 PM by LostAnarchist

Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzales and Tweety Pie may also count in that area. Granted they are often Invincible Heroes, in that sense it's kinda hard to feel that much sympathy for them since the sympathetic spotlight is often more on their Harmless Villain foes getting beaten to a pulp while they barely get a hair out of place (Bugs was balanced by Butt-Monkey moments however, and I get the idea they were REALLY trying to make you root for Speedy in some of his Daffy pairings).

Jerry was more complex, he had a slightly greyer morality than these lot often did but he did actually seem more vulnerable as well, he did take a few lumps from Tom every once in a while to remind us he was the underdog, which made it easier to sympathise with him. That's kinda what I like, a smart character but with plausible bumbling shortcomings.

edited 12th Nov '11 7:10:01 PM by Psi001

Phineas And Ferb, Twilight Sparkle and Uncle Chuck, of whom I'm a big fan.

I like dumb characters as a source of quirkiness, but smart characters always feel fresher and more interesting to me. Especially smart characters who are still quirky, like Phineas and Ferb.

That's sorta how I feel. I don't like how a lot of medias convey smart characters as being blandly down to earth and perpetually competant with no real quirks or shortcomings. I like medias that imply intelligence to be a strength but not everything that goes into a sound perfect being, which I think makes for a more human and sympathetic (and usually more funny) character.

In the same media as Uncle Chuck for example we have Sally, who despite being more intelligent and having a more poignant and Closer to Earth personality than the others is also amusing neurotic and uptight which sometimes leads her to make mistakes. In the comics however she plays the aforementioned problem completely straight, being a gratingly 'normal' character with no real quirks.

I think Amberley of The Dreamstone started off as a good example. In the pilot episode she had more developed personality, she was kid but with this adult like sense of responsibility and intellect, however with this very childish boisterous and moody demeanor when provoked. It's a shame she got downgraded into a sickly Flat Character so quickly as she may have made for a developed example under her original persona (then again the same happened to the ditzier Rufus).

Sandy Cheeks of Spongebob Squarepants actually went the opposite way, in her earliest appearances she was this rather boring, exagerratively perfect character, somewhere around the late first season/early second season however she gained this rowdier more slapstick prone persona which made her as equally entertaining as the rest of the cast, without completely losing her intellect and strengths. She is actually one of the few characters that is still likeable in later episodes, when they remember she exists anyway.

edited 13th Nov '11 5:19:26 AM by Psi001

Can characters from other media adapted into animation count?

Robin and Cyborg from Teen Titans

Also, Robin and Kid Flash from Young Justice

The Brain from Arthur?

No love for princess Celestia ?

Penny.