The Fan Works section could use a pruning of all the mostly redundant Neon Genesis Evangelion examples. Condensing them into one would work.
What's the difference between Jerkass Façade & Hidden Heart of Gold?
Edited by BibsDibs
Removed this and there's plenty more that is this bad. If you're listing someone who is anything like J Jonah Jameson on this page, then you need to reread the article. At no point in JJ's existence has he ever been anywhere close to this trope. Most of the time he's a genuine Jerkass. Sometimes they let him grow a little or reveal some Hidden Depths that bump him up to Jerkass with a Heart of Gold status. But no matter the interpretation, the Jerkass tendencies are a natural part of his personality. He has on some occasions apologized for his behavior true, he has been shown to have certain virtues and ethics too (he's frugal, hardworking, honest, courageous to a point) but Jerks can have virtues. Being a Jerkass just means you're rude not that you're evil. You can be rude and still have a strong moral/ethical character.
- In Spider-Man as in the comics, J. Jonah Jameson's first initial stands for "Jerk". When the Green Goblin threatens to kill him, however, for information about who gives him the photos for Spider-Man's exploits, Jameson swears they're turned in by an anonymous source through blind drops. Jameson's abused Parker in both his secret identity and as Spider-Man, but this information could've been found by bugging the paper offices or compromising their computers. Jameson's first impulse isn't to give up any of this information, but to come up with a cover story that'd convince the Goblin not to go looking for it. Only Spidey's arrival prevents the Goblin from killing Jameson, proving that JJ was willing to die to protect Parker.
- Point of fact in the comic books, during the Civil War arc right after Peter reveals himself as Spider-Man on live television, Jameson nearly faints. After recovering, he states plainly that while he had hated Spider Man, he had up until then trusted and respected Peter Parker greatly, though he never reveals that directly to him.
Han Solo too. At least the example given in the first film. He was a Jerkass or Jerkass with a Heart of Gold in the first film. He genuinely planned on and wanted to leave to take care of his business but discovered as he was leaving that he'd become too attached to Luke and Leia to let them face this without his help. Jerkasses can care about people while still being coarse and self centered.
Now clearly he grew beyond this throughout the trilogy but that's at least as much Character Development as it is Hidden Depths.
Per TRS, this was merged with Hidden Heart of Gold, with Hidden Heart of Gold being the primary name:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1457153076001877700&page=3#comment-53
On-page examples have been moved to Sandbox.Jerkass Facade for now.
Edited by GastonRabbit Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.