History HiddenDepths / Literature

** Rhodar is generally thought of as a BigFun-type of king, who spends most of his time thinking about his young wife. Rhodar is actually one of the best educated people in the world, and his personal library is the world's third largest. When the big war at the end of the series rolls around, Rhodar becomes the ''de facto'' Commander in Chief of the armies of the west, since while more martially inclined kings like Anheg and Korodullin are better tacticians, neither of them has his grasp of grand strategy.

** Petunia Dursley is shown throughout the series to be incredibly jealous of her magical sister Lily and despises Harry for reminding him of her. [[spoiler:The final book reveals she begged Dumbledore to be allowed to go to Hogwarts and a deleted scene from the movie has her remarking that Harry didn't just lose his mother that night in Godric's hollow, she lost a sister.]]

* In Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/DeathMasks'', Michael reveals that his wife Charity made his armor. In ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'' you find out she also spars with Michael, has her own armor, and was [[spoiler: a dark magic witch who was sacrificed to a dragon (which is how she met Michael)]]. In the same book Charity and Harry [[spoiler: storm the heart of the Winter court Artic Tor to rescue Molly.]]

** ''Discworld/TheTruth'' - Mr. Tulip of [[ThoseTwoBadGuys the New Firm]] is a mountain of dumb muscle with a bizarre VerbalTic and a habit of snorting anything in powdered form, including icing sugar and crushed mothballs; he's almost [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain too stupid to be really malicious]], except that he really is ''great'' at killing people. He does, however, turn out to have a [[UnusualEuphemism --ing]] ''phenomenal'' appreciation for art history, capable of pointing out to various curators the provenance, quality and legitimacy of a wide range of pieces, and sometimes weeping over their splendour. All while hulking there with his ill-fitting suit and bloodshot eyes, dribbling drain cleaner and saying "--ing" every sentence.

** People who look at Fred Colon see a FatIdiot. People who get to know him see... well, that he is overweight and not particularly bright, but he is an experienced street copper whose natural knack for getting along with people is one of the cornerstones of the Watch's information gathering efforts. He also runs one of the Disc's best kept dungeon (you'll find clean beds, plenty of fresh water and, if you're lucky, a cup of tea and a biscuit, but never be able to get away with fake gastric disorders or swiping the keys) in his capacity as Watch jailer. He has (reluctantly) fought in several wars (The Leshpian War as depicted in {{Discworld/Jingo}} only being the last) and is a doting husband and father on the rare occasions he and his family are awake at the same time (his wife and children work day shifts).

** Silk masks a great deal of personal tragedy behind a veil of glibness and snark, most significantly his unrequited crush on his uncle's wife (who also happens to be his seniormost boss), and being forced to constantly lie to his mother about how she was disfigured by smallpox (she was blinded by the disease, and the rest of the scarring was so bad blindness was described as "a mercy"). It's stated that he is really far too senior a spy to still be working in the field, but he tries to stay away from home as much as possible so he won't have to spend his days lying to people he loves.

** Mrs Weasley's CrowningMomentOfAwesome in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Book 7]]: [[spoiler:She kills Bellatrix, the [[TheDragon second strongest villain]] in the series, through a MamaBear BerserkButton.]]

* In Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Death Masks'', Michael reveals that his wife Charity made his armor. In ''Proven Guilty'' you find out she also spars with Michael, has her own armor, and was [[spoiler: a dark magic witch who was sacrificed to a dragon (which is how she met Michael)]]. In the same book Charity and Harry [[spoiler: storm the heart of the Winter court Artic Tor to rescue Molly.]]

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Beldin is a hunchbacked dwarf who seems, in his initial appearance, seems to be almost more beast than man, to the point where he dresses in filthy rags and prefers to eat his food directly off the ground to from a plate. However, this turns out to be a key part of Beldin's self-perception. His appearance and handicaps make people treat him like less than human anyway, and nothing in the world will ever make him beautiful, so he aggressively ignores both his appearance and any human standards of interaction. Once you get past that, Beldin is probably the most intelligent and well-read person in the world, capable of giving lectures on any number of topics, as well as kicking the ass of people three feet taller and three millenia younger if they don't pay attention. He is capable of feats of magic beyond nearly everyone, aided by his interest in science and nature, and is also something of an aesthete with a keen interest in and appreciation for art.

* A recurring theme in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'' series. Some characters who at first appear as nothing more than villainous scumbags will turn out to be more noble than we were originally led to believe or they'll reveal to have good reasons for their actions. Likewise, some of the "[[AntiHero heroes]]" will be revealed to have a darker side to themselves or that they have been working on very selfish motives.

* B's father in the Zom-B series. At first, he seems like nothing more than a wife-beater and a violent racist. But at the end of the first book [[spoiler: he storms B's school and saves as many of the kids as he can.]] And later [[spoiler: he expresses that he really does love his wife, by choosing to die with her.]]

* The 3 cops of LAConfidential. Bud is frustrated with being the DumbMuscle, Exley is a squeaky clean hero cop ready to sell anyone out for a promotion, and Jack wants to do real cop work, but he's so hip deep in corruption that's it's hard to escape.

** Actual consistent slight differences between Fred and George start to become apparent after a few books. Fred tends to be the main instigator of mayhem and ringleader while George is only slightly more serious and has just a teeny-bit more moral restraint (for example, in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire 4th book]], he was actually a bit hesitant about blackmailing Ludo Bagman unlike Fred who was pretty hot-headed about it and wanted to rush in without a thought) — with the exception of the incident in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]] where he and Harry go apeshit and beat Malfoy up, who mocked their families in a way that really pushed their buttons; but then again, Fred would've joined in if he wasn't being physically restrained by all three of the Gryffindor Quidditch team Chasers whereas Harry alone was restraining George until Malfoy pushed him over the edge.

** Mrs Weasley's CrowningMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:She kills Bellatrix, the [[TheDragon second strongest villain]] in the series, through a MamaBear BerserkButton.]]

** People who look at Fred Colon see a FatIdiot. People who get to know him see... well, that he is overweight and not particularly bright, but he is an experienced street copper whose natural knack for getting along with people is one of the cornerstones of the Watch's information gathering efforts. He also runs one of the Disc's best kept dungeon (plenty of clean beds, fresh water and, if you come in at the right time, a cup of tea and a biscuit, but few possibilities to fake gastric disorders or swipe the keys) in his capacity as Watch jailer. He has (reluctantly) fought in several wars (The Leshpian War as depicted in {{Discworld/Jingo}} only being the last) and is a doting husband and father on the rare occasions he and his family are awake at the same time (his wife and children work day shifts).

** People who look at Fred Colon see a FatIdiot. People who get to know him see... well, that he is overweight and not particularly bright, but he is an experienced street copper with a natural knack for getting along with people, GenreSavvy enough to run the Disc's best kept dungeon in his capacity as Watch jailer, a veteran of several wars and a doting husband and father on the rare occasions he and his family are awake at the same time (his wife and children work day shifts).

* A recurring theme in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'' series. Some characters who at first appear as nothing more than villainous scumbags will turn out to be more noble than we were originally led to believe or they'll reveal to have good reasons for their actions. Not unlikely, some of the "[[AntiHero heroes]]" will be revealed to have a darker side to themselves or that they have been working on very selfish motives.

* In the Creator/CarlHiaasen book ''Flush'' [[TheBully Jasper]] is the son of the main antagonist, and serves as the protagonists jerkass rival, along with his crony Bull. Bull is described as very big, but not too smart (and he is beaten by the protagonist's sister and grandpa). However, later in the book, Jasper and him sneak out some beers and cigarettes, which he tried to light up, and instead set his dad's boat casino on fire. Bull drags him out of the burning wreckage, despite both inhaling smoke, and Jasper even tries to shift blame on to him for it. Amazingly, he still hangs out with Jasper, and leaves him when confronted by protagonist and his family in the end.

* ''Literature:SansFamille'': We first learn there might be more to Vitalis than meets the eye when, during a performance to raise money for a doctor to help the sic Joli-Cœur, Vitalis sings. Remi is bewildered to find out his master can sing, and Vitalis’ singing is praised by a rich lady. Although Vitalis pretends it is nothing, and that he simply used to be a singer's servant, we learn after his death that he indeed was a famous singer once.

* In the ''Literature/MatadorSeries'' by Steve Perry, [[OnlyOneName Sleel]] is initially portrayed as a LoveableRogue [[labelnote:*]]one of his friends actually ''used'' the words "loveable rogue" to describe him[[/labelnote]] with a complex about always proving he's the best. Then he's found browsing in the '''philosophy''' section of a bookstore, casually quoting poetry, and being able to spot a deception that fooled everyone else in his team. And '''then''' it's revealed that he [[spoiler:has a doctorate in poetic literature, wrote several best-selling novels, and used the proceeds to set up a foundation caring for orphaned children]]. Oh, and his name is actually an acronym of his [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] parents' initials.