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* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'':
** A lot of the characters on the show go through this, but RonSwanson is an excellent example. Both the writers and NickOfferman really started to reach the full potential of the character in the second half of the second season. Before that, he wore suits to work, his backstory wasn't explored, he didn't really display any concern for his coworkers (unlike the HeterosexualLifePartner relationship he developed with Leslie or the FatherFigure he became for Andy and April) and the DeadpanSnarker wasn't around that much.
** A lot of the characters on the show go through this, but RonSwanson is an excellent example. Both the writers and NickOfferman really started to reach the full potential of the character in the second half of the second season. Before that, he wore suits to work, his backstory wasn't explored, he didn't really display any concern for his coworkers (unlike the HeterosexualLifePartner relationship he developed with Leslie or the FatherFigure he became for Andy and April) and the DeadpanSnarker wasn't around that much.
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* Snow White in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is portrayed as the ProperLady, even as her cursed self. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that she gets over [[spoiler: manipulating Regina to kill her mother]] by rocking to JoanJett on her iPod while practicing with a bow and arrow.
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* Snow White in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is portrayed as the ProperLady, even as her cursed self. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that she gets over [[spoiler: manipulating Regina to kill her mother]] by rocking to JoanJett Music/JoanJett on her iPod while practicing with a bow and arrow.
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* A ''Series/GameOfThrones'' season 3 deleted scene shows that when not engineering the brutal downfall of his family's enemies, Tywin Lannister likes to fish.
** Then again, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation this could also be seen as part of his personality]], that, even in his hobbies, he chooses the ones which produce something of material value.
** Then again, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation this could also be seen as part of his personality]], that, even in his hobbies, he chooses the ones which produce something of material value.
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* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** A''Series/GameOfThrones'' season 3 deleted scene shows that when not engineering the brutal downfall of his family's enemies, Tywin Lannister likes to fish.
** *** Then again, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation this could also be seen as part of his personality]], that, even in his hobbies, he chooses the ones which produce something of material value.value.
** People often dismiss Robert as a drunken fool, but in his moments of clarity Robert shows great insight into the growing factionalism within his realm and how a Dothraki invasion would put him in a MortonsFork.
** Khal Drogo is a brutal barbarian chieftain of a ProudWarriorRace who doesn't appear to have a concept of consent, but he's also capable of love and tenderness and has a fiercely protective streak.
** Despite being a timid squire and then vain lackey, Lancel Lannister holds his own in battle and even after taking an arrow in the chest wants to escort Joffrey back to the city walls to hearten the wavering troops.
** Yara Greyjoy shows genuine concern for Theon when trying to convince him to abandon Winterfell before it drags him to his doom.
** Stannis proves himself a lead-from-the-front badass in "Blackwater."
** Despite his jerkass exterior, Jaime is genuinely distraught by being so hated and is actually rather accepting of others in unconventional relationships.
** Ros is dismissed by most as just a regular prostitute, but she is actually very perceptive and intelligent and can even read. By Season 3, both Varys and Littlefinger employ her as an aide and spy.
** A
** People often dismiss Robert as a drunken fool, but in his moments of clarity Robert shows great insight into the growing factionalism within his realm and how a Dothraki invasion would put him in a MortonsFork.
** Khal Drogo is a brutal barbarian chieftain of a ProudWarriorRace who doesn't appear to have a concept of consent, but he's also capable of love and tenderness and has a fiercely protective streak.
** Despite being a timid squire and then vain lackey, Lancel Lannister holds his own in battle and even after taking an arrow in the chest wants to escort Joffrey back to the city walls to hearten the wavering troops.
** Yara Greyjoy shows genuine concern for Theon when trying to convince him to abandon Winterfell before it drags him to his doom.
** Stannis proves himself a lead-from-the-front badass in "Blackwater."
** Despite his jerkass exterior, Jaime is genuinely distraught by being so hated and is actually rather accepting of others in unconventional relationships.
** Ros is dismissed by most as just a regular prostitute, but she is actually very perceptive and intelligent and can even read. By Season 3, both Varys and Littlefinger employ her as an aide and spy.
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** Similarly, Aunt Vivian also led a fairly interesting life. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement along with Uncle Phil, and participated in the same (occasionally violent) protests. As a young woman, she dropped out of high school to run off with a guy, and cleaned hotel rooms to put herself through night school to earn her degree. She also knows enough about black history to teach the subject at a high school level.
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* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Goes both ways; Will initially dismisses his Uncle Phil as an uptight wealthy person who lost touch with his roots. Turns out that he was in the Civil Rights movement, and had worked hard to get where he was then. Similarly, Uncle Phil judges Will as just a disruptive young street punk, but Will turns out to be an insightful, [[ObfuscatingStupidity intelligent]] and thoroughly [[NiceGuy decent person]].
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* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Goes both ways; Will initially dismisses his Uncle Phil as an uptight wealthy person who lost touch with his roots. the black community. Turns out that he was in the Civil Rights movement, movement (and, it is implied, more UsefulNotes/MalcolmX than UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKing) and had worked hard has never stopped fighting that fight (though he does it in different ways) He also retains enough of the brawling and pool-playing skills he picked up during his street days to get where he was then.take on people half his age. Similarly, Uncle Phil judges Will as just a disruptive young street punk, but Will turns out to be an insightful, [[ObfuscatingStupidity intelligent]] and thoroughly [[NiceGuy decent person]].
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** Coronel/General Jack O'Neill actually knows (some) astronomical terms and their proper meanings, as well as enough Greek tragedy and mythology to know that "Prometheus" and "Icarus" [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt are]] ''[[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt terrible]]'' [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt names for anything you want to succeed]].
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** Coronel/General Colonel/General Jack O'Neill actually has an M.S. in Astronomy, and knows (some) astronomical terms and their proper meanings, as well as enough about Greek tragedy and mythology to know that "Prometheus" and "Icarus" [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt are]] ''[[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt terrible]]'' [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt names for anything you want to succeed]].
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** Then again, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation this could also be seen as part of his personality]], that, even in his hobbies, he chooses the ones which produce something of material value.
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** Doyle used to be a school teacher. Lampshaded by Cordelia.
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** Doyle is a gambling, drinking, bitter malcontent at the start of the series. It turns out he used to be a school teacher.teacher and charity volunteer before he descended. Lampshaded by Cordelia.
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** It's Discussed in regards to John Sheridan; one character mentions that the reason he was given command of Babylon 5 is that someone with more political ambition than sense read his record, figured he was nothing more than a pugnacious jarhead, and as such would gladly supply the saber-rattling said person needed to further their political ambitions. However, while his war record will easily give you that impression, anyone who has met Sheridan in person knows that this is very much not the case.
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* Izzy from ''Series/{{Shadowhunters}}''. She's more than a pretty face. In "Of Men and Angels", one of the crew calls her the best forensic pathologist in New York. And she earns it too, performing an autopsy on a monster and ascertaining why it was there simply through noticing an oddity in its blood.
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* A ''Series/GameOfThrones'' season 3 deleted scene shows that when not engineering the brutal downfall of his family's enemies, Tywin Lannister likes to fish.
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** This trope often applies to the Doctor himself. In his 2nd incarnation, he often acted far more stupid and bumbling than he actually was, and in his 7th he would seem to have a less-than-complete idea of what was happening before revealing that in fact, most of the story's events had been part of his grand master plan. In the new series especially, the Doctor has always appeared far younger than he actually is, and no-one meeting him for the first time would suspect him of being a 900+ year-old time-travelling alien. As 11, he often acted particularly young, cheerful and even childlike - in episodes like the Beast Below, Amy's Choice, the Big Bang, the Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes to War and the Rings of Akhaten, as well as many more, we see that beneath this exterior he is very old and full of guilt, loneliness and guilt.
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** This trope often applies to the Doctor himself. In his 2nd incarnation, he often acted far more stupid and bumbling than he actually was, and in his 7th he would seem to have a less-than-complete idea of what was happening before revealing that in fact, most of the story's events had been part of his grand master plan. In
**In the new series especially, the Doctor has always appeared far younger than he actually is, and no-one meeting him for the first time would suspect him of being a 900+ year-old time-travelling alien. As 11, he often acted particularly young, cheerful and even childlike - in episodes like the Beast Below, Amy's Choice, the Big Bang, the Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes to War and the Rings of Akhaten, as well as many more, we see that beneath this exterior he is very old and full of guilt, loneliness andguilt.grief.
** The 12th Doctor often comes off as grumpy, cold or uncaring. As Clara (and the viewers) get to know his new incarnation better, we see that, despite lacking social skills, he cares deeply for his friends and all humanity.
**In the new series especially, the Doctor has always appeared far younger than he actually is, and no-one meeting him for the first time would suspect him of being a 900+ year-old time-travelling alien. As 11, he often acted particularly young, cheerful and even childlike - in episodes like the Beast Below, Amy's Choice, the Big Bang, the Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes to War and the Rings of Akhaten, as well as many more, we see that beneath this exterior he is very old and full of guilt, loneliness and
** The 12th Doctor often comes off as grumpy, cold or uncaring. As Clara (and the viewers) get to know his new incarnation better, we see that, despite lacking social skills, he cares deeply for his friends and all humanity.
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** This trope often applies to the Doctor himself. In his 2nd incarnation, he often acted far more stupid and bumbling than he actually was, and in his 7th he would seem to have a less-than-complete idea of what was happening before revealing that in fact, most of the story's events had been part of his grand master plan.
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** This trope often applies to the Doctor himself. In his 2nd incarnation, he often acted far more stupid and bumbling than he actually was, and in his 7th he would seem to have a less-than-complete idea of what was happening before revealing that in fact, most of the story's events had been part of his grand master plan. In the new series especially, the Doctor has always appeared far younger than he actually is, and no-one meeting him for the first time would suspect him of being a 900+ year-old time-travelling alien. As 11, he often acted particularly young, cheerful and even childlike - in episodes like the Beast Below, Amy's Choice, the Big Bang, the Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes to War and the Rings of Akhaten, as well as many more, we see that beneath this exterior he is very old and full of guilt, loneliness and guilt.
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* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** This trope often applies to the Doctor himself. In his 2nd incarnation, he often acted far more stupid and bumbling than he actually was, and in his 7th he would seem to have a less-than-complete idea of what was happening before revealing that in fact, most of the story's events had been part of his grand master plan.
** This trope often applies to the Doctor himself. In his 2nd incarnation, he often acted far more stupid and bumbling than he actually was, and in his 7th he would seem to have a less-than-complete idea of what was happening before revealing that in fact, most of the story's events had been part of his grand master plan.
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* ''Series/MajisukaGakuen'': A lot of characters are like this, but the best example for this trope is Gekikara. Her first appearance in Season 1 was one [[BloodIsTheNewBlack covered in blood]] and was shown in her episode to be a [[CombatSadoMasochist violent loving]] [[AxCrazy psycho]], but with Season 2, we then see that she is both a [[UndyingLoyalty loyal ally]] and [[NotSoStoic more vulnerable]] [[BrokenBird than most take her for]]. Then there's the musical, which shows just how [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold misunderstood]] [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood and tragic]] her character truly is...
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** A lot of viewers hated Walt's DEA Agent brother in law Hank for being a one note obnoxious compensating for something [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]] type character. However, after episode 2 of the second season [[spoiler: when he shoots Tuco]] its revealed that he's starting to have a lot of anxiety about his stress job and dealing with the fallout of killing another person.
** One arc in the fourth season has revealed even further depths by revealing that in addition to being a solid field agent for the DEA that he has mad detective skills which he uses to follow a seemingly silly hunch brought about by a fast food restaurant napkin and [[spoiler: more or less discover that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Gus]] is using his chicken business as a cover for a HUGE meth operation.]]
** One arc in the fourth season has revealed even further depths by revealing that in addition to being a solid field agent for the DEA that he has mad detective skills which he uses to follow a seemingly silly hunch brought about by a fast food restaurant napkin and [[spoiler: more or less discover that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Gus]] is using his chicken business as a cover for a HUGE meth operation.]]
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** A lot of viewers hated Walt's DEA Agent brother in law Hank for being a one note obnoxious compensating for something [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]] type character. However, after episode 2 of the second season [[spoiler: when he shoots Tuco]] its killing Tuco, it's revealed that he's starting to have a lot of anxiety about his the stress job of working as a DEA field agent, and dealing with the fallout of killing another person.
** One arc in the fourth season has revealed even ***Season four goes further depths by revealing that in addition to being a solid field agent for the DEA that he agent, Hank has mad good detective skills which he uses to follow a seemingly silly hunch brought about by a fast food restaurant napkin and [[spoiler: single Los Pollos Hermanos napkin, more or less discover that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Gus]] is using his chicken business as a cover for a HUGE meth discovers Gus Fring's drug operation.]]
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* On the Creator/MTV show '''When I Was Sixteen''', a show about celebrities [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who talk about their lives when they were sixteen]], Pro Skater Tony Hawk revealed a camera crew once came to his school to interview the kids on what their future would be when they grew up. One teacher who didn't like Tony told the camera crew he believed Tony was a failure because he looked like a typical teen with no goals or direction in his life. However, the camera crew shocked the teacher when they revealed Tony wasn't a failure because they all knew him as a professional skateboarder who gained fame throughout the country and was making money from his skateboarding.
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* On the Creator/MTV show '''When I Was Sixteen''', a show about celebrities [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who talk about their lives when they were sixteen]], Pro Skater skater Tony Hawk revealed a camera crew once came to his school to interview the kids on what their future would be when they grew up. One teacher who didn't like Tony told the camera crew he believed Tony was a failure because he looked like a typical teen with no goals or direction in his life. However, the camera crew shocked the teacher when they revealed Tony wasn't a failure because they all knew him as a professional skateboarder who gained fame throughout the country and was making money from his skateboarding.
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* On the Creator/MTV show '''When I Was Sixteen''', a show about celebrities [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin talk about their lives when they were sixteen]], Pro Skater Tony Hawk revealed a camera crew once came to his school to interview the kids on what their future be when they grow up. One teacher who didn't like Tony told the camera crew he believe Tony was a failure because he look like a typical teen with no goals or direction in his life. However, the camera crew shocked the teacher when they revealed Tony wasn't a failure because they all know him as a professional skateboarder who gain fame throughout the country and was making money from his skateboarding.
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* On the Creator/MTV show '''When I Was Sixteen''', a show about celebrities [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who talk about their lives when they were sixteen]], Pro Skater Tony Hawk revealed a camera crew once came to his school to interview the kids on what their future would be when they grow grew up. One teacher who didn't like Tony told the camera crew he believe believed Tony was a failure because he look looked like a typical teen with no goals or direction in his life. However, the camera crew shocked the teacher when they revealed Tony wasn't a failure because they all know knew him as a professional skateboarder who gain gained fame throughout the country and was making money from his skateboarding.
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* On the Creator/MTV show '''When I Was Sixteen''', a show about celebrities [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin talk about their lives when they were sixteen]], Pro Skater Tony Hawk revealed a camera crew once came to his school to interview the kids on what their future be when they grow up. One teacher who didn't like Tony told the camera crew he believe Tony was a failure because he look like a typical teen with no goals or direction in his life. However, the camera crew shocked the teacher when they revealed Tony wasn't a failure because they all know him as a professional skateboarder who gain fame throughout the country and was making money from his skateboarding.
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* Chanel from ''Series/ScreamQueens2015''. She is very much a {{jerkass}}, but she has also shown herself to be surprisingly courageous.
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* Chanel from ''Series/ScreamQueens2015''. She is very much a {{jerkass}}, but she has also shown herself to be surprisingly courageous.courageous and selfless, choosing to fight the Red Devil on multiple occasions so her friends could escape.
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* Chanel from ''Series/ScreamQueens2015''. She is very much a {{jerkass}}, but she has also shown herself to be surprisingly courageous.
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* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' shows unusual sides that one wouldn't expect of a Terminator, having an interest in history and dancing, and showing a pretty impressive set of investigative skills. And there's also the fact that she [[spoiler: is apparently self-evolving, as shown in her rapid response and recovery time in "To The Lighthouse."]]
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* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' shows unusual sides that one wouldn't expect of a Terminator, having an interest in history and dancing, and showing a pretty impressive set of investigative skills. And there's also the fact that she [[spoiler: is apparently self-evolving, as shown in her rapid response and recovery time in "To The Lighthouse."]]
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** Constable Higgins is revealed to speak French, since his mother comes from the Gaspee peninsula (in Quebec).
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** Inspector Brackenried is mostly shown as DaChief, the Constabulary's TeamDad and a BoisterousBruiser who drinks more than he should. He cares about his family and is HappilyMarried despite all the problems he has with his wife who forces him to become a teetotaller. It's quite surprising to see his deep and passionate love for theatre, especially opera and The Bard.
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** Inspector Brackenried is mostly shown as DaChief, the Constabulary's TeamDad and a BoisterousBruiser who drinks more than he should. He cares about his family and is HappilyMarried despite all the problems he has with his wife who forces him to become a teetotaller. It's quite surprising to see his deep and passionate love for theatre, especially opera and The Bard. He also demonstrates a talent for painting,, and Julia enters one of his canvases in an art contest.
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* ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Phoebe can speak Italian ([[LampshadeHanging even she was unaware of this]]) and French, Joey has an extensive knowledge of elevators and managed to memorize the ''entire'' "V" volume of the encyclopedia in less than a day, and Chandler plays a mean game of table tennis. Gunther also apparently smokes (or used to smoke), is a former actor, and is fluent in Dutch.
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* ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Phoebe can speak Italian ([[LampshadeHanging even she was unaware of this]]) and French, Joey has an extensive knowledge of elevators and managed to memorize the ''entire'' "V" volume of the encyclopedia in less than a day, day as well as concluding that his friends' bosses dislike them because they take prolonged breaks, and Chandler plays a mean game of table tennis. Gunther also apparently smokes (or used to smoke), is a former actor, and is fluent in Dutch.
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* The reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'':
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* The reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'':Galactica|2003}}'':
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** Meta example: It starts with the appearance of a beautiful and cold robot woman entering a building, played by underwear model Tricia Helfer. She later turned out to be one of the best actors on the show and played some of the more sympathetic and complex characters, including the abused Gina and at least two others. Playing many Number Six clones with different personalities really let her display a lot of range. Completely unexpected after the obvious hiring of MsFanservice in the first place.
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** Meta example: It starts with the appearance of a beautiful and cold robot woman entering a building, played by underwear model Tricia Helfer.Creator/TriciaHelfer. She later turned out to be one of the best actors on the show and played some of the more sympathetic and complex characters, including the abused Gina and at least two others. Playing many Number Six clones with different personalities really let her display a lot of range. Completely unexpected after the obvious hiring of MsFanservice in the first place.
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* ''{{Series/Sherlock}}'': Sherlock's a jerk, yes, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold cares deeply for those close to him]], especially [[TheNotLoveInterest John.]] John is an [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkie]] but it's ''not'' a smart move to piss him off by ''[[LivingEmotionalCrutch threatening someone close to him]]''.
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* ''{{Series/Sherlock}}'': Sherlock's a jerk, yes, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold cares deeply for those close to him]], especially [[TheNotLoveInterest John.]] John]]. John is an [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkie]] but it's ''not'' a smart move to piss him off by ''[[LivingEmotionalCrutch threatening someone close to him]]''.
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** Fabio from '''Nicaragua'' invoked this through ObfuscatingStupidity. A lot of people looked at this guy and thought he was going to get himself ''evacuated'' before the merge. Yet he manages to manipulate Chase & Sash into going after somebody else instead of TheLoad, then manages to win by a 5-4-0 vote, even getting the vote of his SitComArchNemesis.
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** Fabio from '''Nicaragua'' ''Nicaragua'' invoked this through ObfuscatingStupidity. A lot of people looked at this guy and thought he was going to get himself ''evacuated'' before the merge. Yet he manages to manipulate Chase & Sash into going after somebody else instead of TheLoad, then manages to win by a 5-4-0 vote, even getting the vote of his SitComArchNemesis.
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* {{Series/Community}} has a bit of this revealed over time. To sum up:
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* {{Series/Community}} ''{{Series/Community}}'' has a bit of this revealed over time. To sum up:
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** The Vulcans start out with no emotions. Later they have emotions but keep them under strict control. They end up with often-overwhelming emotions that they have difficulty controlling. Leonard Nimoy told Abrams that he had always played Spock as a deeply emotional man constantly struggling for control.
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* Jay in ''TheInbetweeners'' seemed to be nothing more than a disgusting pervert and liar at first (although he was always shown as a good friend), but in the season one finale he temporarily entered a very reflective mood and revealed some of his vulnerable side. Then in the second season he got into a relationship and revealed himself as a ChivalrousPervert.
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* Jay in ''TheInbetweeners'' ''Series/TheInbetweeners'' seemed to be nothing more than a disgusting pervert and liar at first (although he was always shown as a good friend), but in the season one finale he temporarily entered a very reflective mood and revealed some of his vulnerable side. Then in the second season he got into a relationship and revealed himself as a ChivalrousPervert.
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* That's the beauty of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. The first few episodes of the series seem to fool us into thinking we know which characters to root for until their flashbacks and centric episodes reveal a whole 'nother story before the first season is even over! And half-way through season two, all your beliefs will be shattered forever.
* Det. Eddie Alvarez from ''TheUnusuals'' came off as a naive, self-centered, overambitious jerk at the beginning ... but underneath that is a natural police detective conversant in a startlingly diverse range of languages.
* Det. Eddie Alvarez from ''TheUnusuals'' came off as a naive, self-centered, overambitious jerk at the beginning ... but underneath that is a natural police detective conversant in a startlingly diverse range of languages.
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* That's the beauty of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. The first few episodes of the series seem to fool us into thinking we know which characters to root for until their flashbacks and centric episodes reveal a whole 'nother other story before the first season is even over! And half-way through season two, all your beliefs will be shattered forever.
* Det. Eddie Alvarez from''TheUnusuals'' came ''Series/TheUnusuals'' comes off as a naive, self-centered, overambitious jerk at the beginning ...beginning... but underneath that is a natural police detective conversant in a startlingly diverse range of languages.
* Det. Eddie Alvarez from
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* ''Series/{{Forever}}''. In "Diamonds Are Forever," Abe and Jo both learn not to prejudge people.
** Abe assumes that "the Asian kid" with a tattoo and baseball cap who was in the store stole a missing statue, and that he's come back to steal again. In actuality, the kid is an avid fan of antiques and was moving the vase he's holding to a place he believes better suits it; he similarly moved the statue inside a chest, because ([[RunningGag as Henry kept insisting]]) it's fake and hideous.
** Early in the episode the wife of an ex-con insists that he turned his life around after he got out. Henry believes it, but Jo tells Henry that "criminals don't change their stripes." At the end of the episode she learns that the reason the victim (an ex-con) knocked on her door the night he was killed is because he wanted to see Jo's husband, who believed him in the past when he said he wanted to turn his life around and helped lighten his sentence when he got convicted. He was being set up for a crime this time, and he thought Jo's husband would believe him.
** Abe assumes that "the Asian kid" with a tattoo and baseball cap who was in the store stole a missing statue, and that he's come back to steal again. In actuality, the kid is an avid fan of antiques and was moving the vase he's holding to a place he believes better suits it; he similarly moved the statue inside a chest, because ([[RunningGag as Henry kept insisting]]) it's fake and hideous.
** Early in the episode the wife of an ex-con insists that he turned his life around after he got out. Henry believes it, but Jo tells Henry that "criminals don't change their stripes." At the end of the episode she learns that the reason the victim (an ex-con) knocked on her door the night he was killed is because he wanted to see Jo's husband, who believed him in the past when he said he wanted to turn his life around and helped lighten his sentence when he got convicted. He was being set up for a crime this time, and he thought Jo's husband would believe him.
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* ''{{Chuck}}''. Casey can hit a high note because he used to be a choir boy.
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* ''{{Chuck}}''.''Series/{{Chuck}}''. Casey can hit a high note because he used to be a choir boy.
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* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Doyle used to be a school teacher. Lampshaded by Cordelia.
** Lindsey is an amazingly talented singer and guitar player, and was one of Lorne's favorite regulars at his bar.
* In season four of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', there was the [[BigBad Trinity Killer]], who was said to have been [[spoiler: the most successful serial killer up until then]]. Early episodes show him committing premeditated, cold blooded murders. However, [[spoiler: Dexter discovers he is actually quite a normal guy, maybe even an otherwise upstanding citizen]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** In a first season episode, Cordelia showed a surprisingly unexpected Hidden Depth with her introspective reflections on the empty loneliness of popularity. By episode's end she was still the RichBitch, but later seasons saw her change. Lampshaded in a later season when she scores highly on her [=SATs=]. "I do well on standardized tests. What, I can't have layers?"
** Oz also proves to be this in Season 3. He is actually a TeenGenius.
** Spike is surprisingly good at predicting Willow's behavior. He also watches ''Series/{{Passions}}'' and ''Series/DawsonsCreek''.
** Jenny goes from a normal high-school computer teacher/"techno-pagan" to a gypsy sent to watch over the vampire her tribe cursed with a soul.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}''
** Timothy [=McGee=] on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' is known to his team members as a computer nerd. They're surprised to discover that, under a pseudonym, he's become a highly successful novelist. Although they're slightly more surprised to find out the 'hidden depths' are out there in the open - all of [=McGee=]'s characters are [[WriteWhoYouKnow based on his co-workers]].
** Tony [=DiNozzo=] is seen mostly as a skirt-chasing Lothario who can't keep his pants zipped. Come season four and he's leading Team Gibbs, proving that under the [[ObfuscatingStupidity Handsome]] [[HandsomeLech Lech]] behavior, he is intensely loyal, street-smart, incredibly mature, and remarkably concerned for his team's welfare (team, naturally, including Ducky, Abby, and Director Shepard), traits that do not come to the forefront until he is Acting Special Agent In Charge - his conferences with the Director through season four make this even more clear. He may hit on Ziva and Kate regularly and smart off to Gibbs, but if the thought crosses your mind to do anything that could remotely cause his TrueCompanions any discomfort, he will make his displeasure known. Pointedly.
*** {{Lampshaded}} when he expresses genuine concern about [=McGee=]'s lack of a social life and [=McGee=], getting tired of the lecturing about it from his co-workers, asks to have Sarcastic Tony back.
---->'''[=DiNozzo=]:''' Sorry, it's Mature, Wise Tony here now.
* Actor/murder defendant Neil Avedon in ''Series/MurderOne'' initially seemed like a drunken {{Jerkass}} delinquent FormerChildStar, but as his trial went on and more aspects of his life came to light, it turned out that he was actually a really nice guy who was kind and generous to those around him, but his drug and alcohol problems (stemming from [[AbusiveParents parental abuse]]), and his fame going to his head caused a lot of very public outbursts and meltdowns that created his public image as an egotistic celebrity douche-bag. Over the course of the first season it became clear that Neil was a deeply flawed but ultimately good person who had the capacity for change, and by the finale he had kicked his addiction and had most of his arrogance knocked out of him after spending several months [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongly convicted]].
* Dean Winchester in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' originally came across as the classic Brawn to his younger brother Sam's Brains as well as an unrepentant ladies man. Throughout the series though, he is revealed to not only be smart enough to make an EMF detector from an old Walkman, rebuild [[CoolCar the Impala]] from scratch, use working knowledge on chemistry to make bombs and weapons on the fly, decipher anagrams and patterns quickly and read Vonnegut. The first woman he really loved (Cassie) also broke his heart.
** The Trickster: Introduced as a [[MonsterOfTheWeek trickster god]] who doesn't particularly care about anything other than doling out ironic punishments, poofing up women and sweets, and "teaching" Sam important life lessons. Turns out that he's [[spoiler: an archangel]] who left [[spoiler:Heaven]] because [[spoiler:he couldn't stand to watch his brothers killing each other]], and is all for no Apocalypse, even though he's resigned and convinced himself that there's no use fighting it once it's started.
* ''Series/ICarly'': ''iEnrage Gibby'' focused on Gibby's UnstoppableRage side, as well as this dialogue.
-->'''Freddie''': You play the ukelele?\\
'''Carly''': Yeah, a little.\\
'''Freddie''': [[LampshadeHanging Wow, that's never been established.]]
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has a lot of subtle indicators of Hidden Depths among its crew. There's Shepherd Book, who turns out to be a little more [[BadassPreacher badass]] than his priestly outfit would indicate. Jayne turns out to be pretty proficient with a guitar, and has interesting philosophical responses to death (particularly his own), which is surprising considering his nature. Mal is implied to have an unusual interest in art and poetry, both having read some literature and having his bunk festooned with calligraphy. Simon, despite initially being portrayed as snobbish and conservative like only a privileged upbringing on a core planet can produce, showed a genius criminal mind who was able to plan out and execute break-ins to two heavily guarded government facilities. According to the actress, Inara [[spoiler: was supposed to be dying from a terminal illness,]] a subplot the series never got time to fully play out.
** Further, Shepherd Book can order around the crew of an Alliance starship, which raises more than a few questions about his history.
** And perhaps most importantly in the context of the show are River Tam's Hidden Depths. The audience is shown off the bat that she's pretty removed from reality, and Simon remarks that's she's extremely clever. But her badass psychic martial artist polymath side is one that is only glimpsed in the series (and given more exposure in the movie).
* ''{{Series/Sherlock}}'': Sherlock's a jerk, yes, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold cares deeply for those close to him]], especially [[TheNotLoveInterest John.]] John is an [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkie]] but it's ''not'' a smart move to piss him off by ''[[LivingEmotionalCrutch threatening someone close to him]]''.
* ''Series/TeenWolf'':
** Lydia's a lot smarter than she seems, having a good head for science and often dumbs herself down because she's the AlphaBitch and for Jackson's benefit.
** Jackson is very much the OnlySaneMan at the start, and the only person the least bit curious about all the weird things happening to Scott.
* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' shows unusual sides that one wouldn't expect of a Terminator, having an interest in history and dancing, and showing a pretty impressive set of investigative skills. And there's also the fact that she [[spoiler: is apparently self-evolving, as shown in her rapid response and recovery time in "To The Lighthouse."]]
* The reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'':
** Meta example: It starts with the appearance of a beautiful and cold robot woman entering a building, played by underwear model Tricia Helfer. She later turned out to be one of the best actors on the show and played some of the more sympathetic and complex characters, including the abused Gina and at least two others. Playing many Number Six clones with different personalities really let her display a lot of range. Completely unexpected after the obvious hiring of MsFanservice in the first place.
** Ellen Tigh is introduced as a manipulative, deeply selfish woman. She is an alcoholic, she's promiscuous and she enables Tigh's worst excesses. [[spoiler: Eventually, it is revealed that she is a Cylon; and really a caring, profoundly religious, genius scientist, albeit an alcoholic and manipulative one.]]
** D'Anna is established to be nothing more than a domineering, zealous bitch -- but it turns out later she is a domineering, zealous bitch on a quest for forbidden knowledge.
** Gaius Baltar is an arrogant intellectual [[spoiler:who grew up on a farm and is ashamed of his [[FantasticRacism 'hick' heritage]].]]
** Kara Thrace, or "Starbuck", is a loud, violent, foul mouthed AcePilot who seems to not really care much about those she isn't close with. In reality she is a deeply religious woman who lost her fiancé, was abused by her mother and cares about every single pilot that she loses.
* Every major character on ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}''.
** One example is G'Kar. When the show begins, he's a saber-rattling antagonist, chomping at the bit to get some revenge on the Centauri. But even as early as the first season, we discover he's deeply religious, is willing to help someone out at no gain to himself, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking likes to cook.]]
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' character Barney Stinson started out as a fairly one-sided [[TheCasanova Casanova]] but has been given a detailed {{backstory}} and is now a LadyKillerInLove. He has also shown emotional vulnerability in unexpected places, such as when his brother James revealed that he (James) was going to adopt a baby with his soon-to-be husband. This well-rounded development of what initially seemed to be a fairly FlatCharacter, along with Neil Patrick Harris's acting, has turned him into an EnsembleDarkHorse, and he is now far more popular with fans than any of the other characters who were originally more central to the story.
* It can be argued that the entire cast of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' are reusable standard sitcom comedy tropes that usually get portrayed as the one-dimensional butt of jokes in other shows, but in ''Frasier'', are given the stage as subtle, well-developed main characters — any television viewer can recognize the arrogant, obnoxious blowhard (Frasier), the fussy, snooty fop (Niles), the opinionated, crusty old relative (Martin), the airheaded, naive FunnyForeigner (Daphne), and the sassy office slut (Roz) as one-off or peripheral sitcom characters from any number of other shows and movies. It's just that these so-called stereotypes had so many other facets and layers and for once weren't used just as fodder for some other, more "normal" main character, that they couldn't be described as stereotypical (or even typical) at all.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Chief O'Brien starts out as a second-string bridge officer, gets promoted to transporter chief on the Enterprise, moves on to become the Chief Engineer on ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' only to have it revealed that before all of this, he was a soldier, which becomes important as the Dominion War flares up. We found out that O'Brien is a traumatized veteran of the Cardassian War in the appropriately named ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Wounded", when he tells the story of the first battle he had been in. "Rules of Engagement" establishes that the cheerful, friendly chief has been in 232 combat situations and has been decorated fifteen times.
** From ''Deep Space Nine'': Rom, Quark's dopey brother, who turns out to be a [[GeniusDitz gifted engineer]] even conceiving and designing a net of self-replicating mines that effectively stops the Dominion from sending reinforcements through the wormhole. (And, got married to a hot dabo girl.)
** Rom's son Nog started out as a sexist[[note]]By human standards, at least[[/note]] juvenile delinquent, but was revealed to have similar skills and determination, becoming the first Ferengi in Starfleet. (At least one potential future shows him rising to captain rank.)
** Quark himself was more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get character, but the leader of the Klingon Empire ''did'' once refer to him as "a brave Ferengi", a very hidden depth. Quark is also capable of making very surprising and astute observations on occasion, such as in "The Siege of AR-558", where he comments to Nog that for all their [[HumansAreSpecial pretentiousness]], strand Humans [[WarIsHell in a warzone]] and deprive them of sleep, food, their fancy technology and creature comforts and they soon become [[HumansAreBastards worse]] than ''Klingons''.
** Or when Spock reveals:
---> How do Vulcans choose their mates? Haven't you wondered?
---> '''Kirk:''' I guess the rest of us assume that it's done ... quite logically.
---> '''Spock:''' No.
---> '''Kirk:''' ...No.
** The Vulcans start out with no emotions. Later they have emotions but keep them under strict control. They end up with often-overwhelming emotions that they have difficulty controlling. Leonard Nimoy told Abrams that he had always played Spock as a deeply emotional man constantly struggling for control.
* James Fullalove from two of the ''Franchise/{{Quatermass}}'' serials is a reporter for an evening newspaper who is fluent in Medieval Latin.
* Jay in ''TheInbetweeners'' seemed to be nothing more than a disgusting pervert and liar at first (although he was always shown as a good friend), but in the season one finale he temporarily entered a very reflective mood and revealed some of his vulnerable side. Then in the second season he got into a relationship and revealed himself as a ChivalrousPervert.
* Sheriff Lamb, from ''Series/VeronicaMars'', after he reveals that his father beat him, which is itself a huge cliche, but well-played. Also Logan. He initially seems like the stereotypical rich, entitled asshole, but his troubled family situation revealed Hidden Depths.
* That's the beauty of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. The first few episodes of the series seem to fool us into thinking we know which characters to root for until their flashbacks and centric episodes reveal a whole 'nother story before the first season is even over! And half-way through season two, all your beliefs will be shattered forever.
* Det. Eddie Alvarez from ''TheUnusuals'' came off as a naive, self-centered, overambitious jerk at the beginning ... but underneath that is a natural police detective conversant in a startlingly diverse range of languages.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'' has an unusual variant: hidden depths in the protagonist that often even he doesn't know he has until he uses them during the show. This is mainly due to the combination of a ridiculous amount of doctorates and useful hobbies, and the amnesia he sustained from initially Leaping. Occasionally, though, it's Al who will display a skill we didn't know he had.
* Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on ''Series/TheWire'' is initially dumped on the Barksdale detail because he's an incompetent officer who accidentally [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace discharges his gun in the office on his first day after being dumped there (and prior to that had filed a false report to cover up that he'd shot up his own car)]], who only remains on the force because he's the son-in-law of the career officer. However, after being restricted to office duty, he begins to pull his weight as the one who penetrates the drug dealers' heavily slurred, slang-laden, and coded communications.
* Reese on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' spent a lot of time on the show being idiotic, clueless, and sadistic, certain to age into a series of minimum wage jobs and possible (maybe even probable) jail time. Then, after being forced by his mom to take a cooking class, he found that he actually thrived in the kitchen. He became better at preparing food than his own mother, and he enjoyed it so much that not letting him cook became the only form of punishment that his parents could use that was even remotely effective. Note the panic he exhibited when his mom threatened to take away his whisk.
* On the series ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', some contestants have Hidden Depths that the editing doesn't do a good job of showing.
** Cao Boi, the {{Cloudcuckoolander}} from ''Cook Islands''. He was the PluckyComicRelief, but in fact, it was him who was the first person to have thought up a plan to engineered a tie in the votes specifically to flush out the hidden immunity idol.
** Brett. Just another pretty face who [[OutOfFocus seemed to be digitally inserted into the season to give some conflict in the final few episodes]]? Immunity ''beast''.
** Fabio from '''Nicaragua'' invoked this through ObfuscatingStupidity. A lot of people looked at this guy and thought he was going to get himself ''evacuated'' before the merge. Yet he manages to manipulate Chase & Sash into going after somebody else instead of TheLoad, then manages to win by a 5-4-0 vote, even getting the vote of his SitComArchNemesis.
** Sophie is the sole survivor in ''One World''. Tell for ''one'' second you thought this by looking at her.
** Kat has a more tragic example. Throughout the game, she's a complete [[TheDitz ditz]], even saying "I'm only 22!" as an excuse for her ditziness. However, she reveals that within a year, she needs to have open heart surgery if she wants to have children, and had already survived it. Her "I'm only 22!" claims carry a ''lot'' more weight when you consider she has a chance of ''dying'' the next year.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** The very camp Kurt who has read Sun Tzu's ''Art Of War'', and at least knows what Vocal Adrenlin's Latin motto means ("murder or be murdered). SmartPeopleKnowLatin after all.
** We've come to see some of Sue Sylvester's depths, most notably being that though she may work her Cheerios like dogs and say horrible things to... well, everybody, she genuinely cares about the students and their well-being (aside from a certain Wallbanger about a human cannonball). We also learn about Sue's back story, which begins to explain some of her behavior.
** Artie Abrams is wheelchair-bound, but sings, can seriously bust a move when he's not in the chair, raps, plays the guitar, engages in Def Poetry, and is on the academic decathlon team.
** Mike Chang was just a background character that went unnamed until he finally upgraded to a more prominent member of New Directions, to which he proves that he's not only one of the best dancers on the team, but sings, plays football, and is also a member of the academic decathlon.
** Quinn who was supposed to be a frigid bitch ends up a pregnant glee-clubber. She's later revealed to have a childhood plagued by bullying and intense self loathing and insecurity.
** Santana who was a promiscuous character seems to have used her promiscuity to hide the fact that she's a lesbian.
** Brittany, The Ditz, ends up on the same academic decathlon team as Artie and has a wealth of knowledge about cats.
* In the US version of the ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'', when Jim plays opera music to block out Dwight's listening device and asks Andy's opinion of the music as a cover, Andy knowledgeably criticizes it, and Creed, who had shown no sensitivity in the previous 5 seasons, starts crying.
** During the GrandFinale, it's revealed that Meredith, the show's resident HardDrinkingPartyGirl, has been working on getting a psychology degree for years. She then reveals that her boozy behavior was the result of her indulging in "the college experience," rather than [[TheAlcoholic a legitimate drinking problem]].
* In ''Series/TheXFiles'', the Smoking Man pops up early on as a mysterious figure with few lines and shadowy motivations. Over the course of the series he's revealed as one of the most well-known [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastards]] in popular television and shown to be dissatisfied with his position in TheConspiracy, at one point almost tendering his resignation in order to become a semi-autobiographical crime writer.
* Similar to Six ''Galactica'', when Jeri Ryan was added to the cast of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', and especially when the promo photos of her in a skintight silver catsuit demonstrating that even the Borg can have large breasts, most people were expecting little but MsFanservice and a character who would end up being a shallow DistaffCounterpart to [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]] and [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]]. However, the writers (and Jeri Ryan) were apparently so determined to prove she wasn't just hired for her appearance that soon the entire series revolved around Seven of Nine and she quickly emerged as one of the most interesting characters on the show. The only other character to challenge her for that spot was the holographic Doctor, who himself had become an EnsembleDarkHorse. And then they had an episode where Ryan got to actually act like the Doctor.
* An episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' has the team trying to trace a teenage serial killer, and Garcia is on the phone after finding a name:
-->'''[[PlayfulHacker Garcia]]:''' He gave the name Nico Bellic. Now the thing about the name Nico Bellic... ''(Reid looks up about to interrupt, and then...)''
-->'''[[CoolOldGuy Rossi]]:''' It's the name of the main character from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. ''(Cut to Garcia looking shocked, then back to everyone staring at Rossi.)'' What? I know stuff.
* One episode of ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' showed that [[ThoseTwoGuys Skull]] was actually a talented concert pianist, and Bulk, who previously dismissed classical music as "sissy stuff", gained a new appreciation out of it after seeing his best friend perform beautifully.
** Their actors also apply for this, as Paul Schrier (Bulk) went into directing (including several episodes of ''PowerRangers'') while Jason Narvy (Skull) is a [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra Shakespearean actor]] with multiple degrees, including a Ph.D in Dramatic Arts.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Phoebe can speak Italian ([[LampshadeHanging even she was unaware of this]]) and French, Joey has an extensive knowledge of elevators and managed to memorize the ''entire'' "V" volume of the encyclopedia in less than a day, and Chandler plays a mean game of table tennis. Gunther also apparently smokes (or used to smoke), is a former actor, and is fluent in Dutch.
* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' did it with Deeks and Kensi accidentally discovering their mutual love of comic books.
--> '''Kensi:''' You know, Bizarro, the mutant version of Superman.
--> '''Deeks:''' I know who Bizarro is. How do ''you'' know who he is?"
* ''Series/ModernFamily'' has TheDitz Hailey who is really good with using computers for background checks.
-->'''Cam''': She's like ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]''.
* Tim Taylor of ''Series/HomeImprovement'' was usually a BumblingDad prone to insensitivity but he was often able to say the right thing at the right time when someone needed him.
** Perhaps most surprising of all, whenever Tim stops obsessing over [[{{Catchphrase}} MORE POWER]] and just builds/fixes something, it turns out he is very good with his hands.
* Jay Wratten of ''Series/TheShadowLine''. He seems at first to be little more than a PsychopathicManchild, but the final episode shows him to be much smarter and more manipulative than anyone realised. Gatehouse even uses this very phrase when describing him.
* ''{{Chuck}}''. Casey can hit a high note because he used to be a choir boy.
-->''What? I wasn't hatched.''
** "Chuck vs. the Cougars" revealed Casey is also a charismatic DJ as he gets everyone to dance to "MMM Bop" by Hanson.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'':
** Jesse Pinkman at first came off as a jerky fuck-off junkie, and was shown to be irrational and idiotic in comparison to the intelligent calmer Walt. As the series drew on, he was shown to actually have a hidden sense of morals, such as saving a kid from a disgusting house where his junkie parents lived, refusing to sell to a woman when he found that she had a child, and above most is, is shown to to actually have some of his conscience still intact despite everything that has been done, especially compared to Walt, who is shown to throw away more and more of his soul as he sinks deeper into the business. He's also a lot smarter than he at first appears - while his vocabulary and theoretical knowledge aren't that good, he fares ''much'' better than [[spoiler:Todd]] at replicating Walt's recipe and manages to come up with some pretty ingenious problem-solving ideas early season 5.
** A lot of viewers hated Walt's DEA Agent brother in law Hank for being a one note obnoxious compensating for something [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]] type character. However, after episode 2 of the second season [[spoiler: when he shoots Tuco]] its revealed that he's starting to have a lot of anxiety about his stress job and dealing with the fallout of killing another person.
** One arc in the fourth season has revealed even further depths by revealing that in addition to being a solid field agent for the DEA that he has mad detective skills which he uses to follow a seemingly silly hunch brought about by a fast food restaurant napkin and [[spoiler: more or less discover that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Gus]] is using his chicken business as a cover for a HUGE meth operation.]]
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Goes both ways; Will initially dismisses his Uncle Phil as an uptight wealthy person who lost touch with his roots. Turns out that he was in the Civil Rights movement, and had worked hard to get where he was then. Similarly, Uncle Phil judges Will as just a disruptive young street punk, but Will turns out to be an insightful, [[ObfuscatingStupidity intelligent]] and thoroughly [[NiceGuy decent person]].
* ''HouseOfAnubis'':
** Jerome Clarke. In the beginning of the show he is shown as nothing more than a [[TheChessmaster manipulative jerk]] who will even trick his best friend into humiliating himself for a cheap laugh. However, later on he reveals a softer, more sensitive side to Mara Jaffray, including the truth that his [[ParentalAbandonment family abandoned him when he was five years old.]] He reverts back to his old self after Mara and her old boyfriend get back together, to the point where he helps the antagonist, but even then his hidden depths are still showing as he proves to be more of a misunderstood [[Anti-Hero Anti-Hero]] than the minor antagonist he was originally portrayed as.
** Victor Rodenmaar. Despite being one of the main antagonists, he proves himself as being more good than bad deep down inside, and it is shown that the way he acts mainly stems from his desperation to finish his father’s quest, and the[[AbusiveParents abuse his father had inflicted on him]] when he was a child.
* Pamela from ''Series/DancingOnTheEdge'' spends most of the running time as a fairly cold, aristocratic IceQueen with no talents or purpose whatsoever. Yet when the protagonist Louie Lester (a black jazz musician) is framed for murder, she is one of only three white people to help smuggle him out of the country. Everyone else turns on him, suspects him, or is blackmailed into giving his location away.
* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Big Salad".
--> '''Elaine:''' Maybe there's ''more'' to Newman than meets the eye.
--> '''Jerry:''' No. There's not. There's less.
--> '''Elaine:''' Well, maybe there is and we just don't know it.
--> '''Jerry:''' No, trust me. I've looked into his eyes. He's pure evil.
* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'': Archie Kennedy, a go-hung PluckyMiddie and [[BreakTheCutie a broken Cutie]] proves himself to be a BadassAdorable. But there is more. One episode reveals that he's fond of theatre and says he knew the Drury Lane as if it was his home. He must have special love for Creator/WilliamShakespeare because he quotes and paraphrases him several times.
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'':
** Inspector Brackenried is mostly shown as DaChief, the Constabulary's TeamDad and a BoisterousBruiser who drinks more than he should. He cares about his family and is HappilyMarried despite all the problems he has with his wife who forces him to become a teetotaller. It's quite surprising to see his deep and passionate love for theatre, especially opera and The Bard.
** Constable George Crabtree is a comic relief character, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and resident AgentMulder. However, he aspires to be a writer and works very diligently on this dream, and in season 5, he publishes his moderately successful mystery novel. He frequently shows concern for animals, especially dogs, cats and horses, which is both sweet and very modern for a Victorian era man from lower middle class background.
* ''Series/MondayMornings'':
** Dr. Hooten is a hard-ass boss on his doctors, and can be unmerciful. Surprisingly, he loves classical music, plays the piano quite well and bonds with a LittlestCancerPatient over Beethoven and discussion of DeusExMachina principle, aka "crappy writing from ancient Greek plays".
** Dr Sung Park is a Korean doctor who speaks in broken English and is blunt-slash-rude with his patients, though a brilliant neurosurgeon. He has a perfect pitch and plays the violin with a rare mastery, and appreciates music very deeply. He also recognizes a literary genius and agrees that the patient is better off with his compulsive writing verging on mania -- because that's what he is -- a writer, and a surgery might destroy that completely.
* Snow White in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is portrayed as the ProperLady, even as her cursed self. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that she gets over [[spoiler: manipulating Regina to kill her mother]] by rocking to JoanJett on her iPod while practicing with a bow and arrow.
** Rumplestiltskin in a nutshell. Despite being the most evil entity in existence, his [[PetTheDog surprising acts of kindness]] towards Belle ended up being what initially attracted her to him in the first place. Along with his son Baelfire, Belle is the only other person he cares about and who can [[MoralityChain keep him]] in NobleDemon territory.
* The CampGay Mr. Wolfe from ''Series/{{Suburgatory}}'' does rather un-gay things like boxing.
-->'''Tessa''': Mr. Wolfe, what are you doing?
-->'''Mr. Wolfe''': Training the next middleweight champion of the world. What are ''you'' doing?
* Pretty much the entire ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' team. Besides Capt. Jack, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever who has to deal with centuries of psychological and emotional baggage]], we have:
** Ianto Jones: Quiet and proper DeadpanSnarker who turns out to be a BadassInANiceSuit with a talent for manipulation strong enough to fool pretty much everyone.
** Owen Harper: First seen as a thorough Jerkass [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil using alien pheremones to attract hookups]], but is revealed to have a heart several times when it gets broken.
** Toshiko Sato: TheSmartGirl incarnate, with a crisp and professional demeanor, even upon possession of a mind-reading artifact. As it turns out, she's a secret romantic whose CartwrightCurse is the worst sort of irony.
** Even Gwen Cooper, probably the most straightforward of the group, turns out to be [[MamaBear far more loyal]] than some of her [[YourCheatingHeart initial actions]] suggest.
* Mr. Khan from ''Series/{{Citizen Khan}}'' can seem to be quite callous to those around him, not appearing to care about how his actions affect his loved ones as long as he can try and increase his standing in the community. But, unlike many sitcom husbands, he actually remembers romantic milestones he shares with his wife and recreates the first meal they shared as a married couple on their anniversary without any of the usual last minute panic.
* {{Series/Community}} has a bit of this revealed over time. To sum up:
** Jeff, the arrogant and narcissistic ex-AmoralAttorney, has been shown to in fact be deeply insecure about his morality and whether he's only liked for his looks, and has possible issues with depression as well as abandonment issues. He also is a closet geek, with nearly as much TV knowledge as Abed and a collection of Spiderman comics, and manages to be an effective [[spoiler: teacher in season 5]]
** Annie, the TechnicalVirgin youngest member of the group, shows a shocking ability to dirty talk in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. She also shows off a great singing voice
** Shirley, the sweet, religious mother of the group, shares Abed's affinity for both the Hellraiser movies and Batman & Robin. She also has a violent streak and was Greendale's valedictorian.
** Abed, the TV geek with an AmbiguousDisorder, is incredibly manipulative and cunning, often manipulating the study group to do his bidding, and a skilled impressionist.
** Troy, TheDitz of the group, has shown to be one of the most emotionally sensitive characters, and is the one to talk Annie down from her identity crisis in Mixology Certification
* Lady Sybil from ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' is only seen in the background or on the sidelines until episode 3 where we see her need to help the less fortunate and her interest in a more liberated style of living for herself and other women.
* Teal'c of ''Series/StargateSG1'' is a fan of science fiction, he's even watched Franchise/StarWars a dozen times.
** Coronel/General Jack O'Neill actually knows (some) astronomical terms and their proper meanings, as well as enough Greek tragedy and mythology to know that "Prometheus" and "Icarus" [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt are]] ''[[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt terrible]]'' [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt names for anything you want to succeed]].
** Samantha Carter once summed up her hidden depths quite succinctly, "Wormhole theory, motorcycle riding, and lock picking."
* Josh from ''Series/{{Popular}}'' turns out to be an expert on poultry.
----
** Doyle used to be a school teacher. Lampshaded by Cordelia.
** Lindsey is an amazingly talented singer and guitar player, and was one of Lorne's favorite regulars at his bar.
* In season four of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', there was the [[BigBad Trinity Killer]], who was said to have been [[spoiler: the most successful serial killer up until then]]. Early episodes show him committing premeditated, cold blooded murders. However, [[spoiler: Dexter discovers he is actually quite a normal guy, maybe even an otherwise upstanding citizen]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** In a first season episode, Cordelia showed a surprisingly unexpected Hidden Depth with her introspective reflections on the empty loneliness of popularity. By episode's end she was still the RichBitch, but later seasons saw her change. Lampshaded in a later season when she scores highly on her [=SATs=]. "I do well on standardized tests. What, I can't have layers?"
** Oz also proves to be this in Season 3. He is actually a TeenGenius.
** Spike is surprisingly good at predicting Willow's behavior. He also watches ''Series/{{Passions}}'' and ''Series/DawsonsCreek''.
** Jenny goes from a normal high-school computer teacher/"techno-pagan" to a gypsy sent to watch over the vampire her tribe cursed with a soul.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}''
** Timothy [=McGee=] on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' is known to his team members as a computer nerd. They're surprised to discover that, under a pseudonym, he's become a highly successful novelist. Although they're slightly more surprised to find out the 'hidden depths' are out there in the open - all of [=McGee=]'s characters are [[WriteWhoYouKnow based on his co-workers]].
** Tony [=DiNozzo=] is seen mostly as a skirt-chasing Lothario who can't keep his pants zipped. Come season four and he's leading Team Gibbs, proving that under the [[ObfuscatingStupidity Handsome]] [[HandsomeLech Lech]] behavior, he is intensely loyal, street-smart, incredibly mature, and remarkably concerned for his team's welfare (team, naturally, including Ducky, Abby, and Director Shepard), traits that do not come to the forefront until he is Acting Special Agent In Charge - his conferences with the Director through season four make this even more clear. He may hit on Ziva and Kate regularly and smart off to Gibbs, but if the thought crosses your mind to do anything that could remotely cause his TrueCompanions any discomfort, he will make his displeasure known. Pointedly.
*** {{Lampshaded}} when he expresses genuine concern about [=McGee=]'s lack of a social life and [=McGee=], getting tired of the lecturing about it from his co-workers, asks to have Sarcastic Tony back.
---->'''[=DiNozzo=]:''' Sorry, it's Mature, Wise Tony here now.
* Actor/murder defendant Neil Avedon in ''Series/MurderOne'' initially seemed like a drunken {{Jerkass}} delinquent FormerChildStar, but as his trial went on and more aspects of his life came to light, it turned out that he was actually a really nice guy who was kind and generous to those around him, but his drug and alcohol problems (stemming from [[AbusiveParents parental abuse]]), and his fame going to his head caused a lot of very public outbursts and meltdowns that created his public image as an egotistic celebrity douche-bag. Over the course of the first season it became clear that Neil was a deeply flawed but ultimately good person who had the capacity for change, and by the finale he had kicked his addiction and had most of his arrogance knocked out of him after spending several months [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongly convicted]].
* Dean Winchester in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' originally came across as the classic Brawn to his younger brother Sam's Brains as well as an unrepentant ladies man. Throughout the series though, he is revealed to not only be smart enough to make an EMF detector from an old Walkman, rebuild [[CoolCar the Impala]] from scratch, use working knowledge on chemistry to make bombs and weapons on the fly, decipher anagrams and patterns quickly and read Vonnegut. The first woman he really loved (Cassie) also broke his heart.
** The Trickster: Introduced as a [[MonsterOfTheWeek trickster god]] who doesn't particularly care about anything other than doling out ironic punishments, poofing up women and sweets, and "teaching" Sam important life lessons. Turns out that he's [[spoiler: an archangel]] who left [[spoiler:Heaven]] because [[spoiler:he couldn't stand to watch his brothers killing each other]], and is all for no Apocalypse, even though he's resigned and convinced himself that there's no use fighting it once it's started.
* ''Series/ICarly'': ''iEnrage Gibby'' focused on Gibby's UnstoppableRage side, as well as this dialogue.
-->'''Freddie''': You play the ukelele?\\
'''Carly''': Yeah, a little.\\
'''Freddie''': [[LampshadeHanging Wow, that's never been established.]]
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has a lot of subtle indicators of Hidden Depths among its crew. There's Shepherd Book, who turns out to be a little more [[BadassPreacher badass]] than his priestly outfit would indicate. Jayne turns out to be pretty proficient with a guitar, and has interesting philosophical responses to death (particularly his own), which is surprising considering his nature. Mal is implied to have an unusual interest in art and poetry, both having read some literature and having his bunk festooned with calligraphy. Simon, despite initially being portrayed as snobbish and conservative like only a privileged upbringing on a core planet can produce, showed a genius criminal mind who was able to plan out and execute break-ins to two heavily guarded government facilities. According to the actress, Inara [[spoiler: was supposed to be dying from a terminal illness,]] a subplot the series never got time to fully play out.
** Further, Shepherd Book can order around the crew of an Alliance starship, which raises more than a few questions about his history.
** And perhaps most importantly in the context of the show are River Tam's Hidden Depths. The audience is shown off the bat that she's pretty removed from reality, and Simon remarks that's she's extremely clever. But her badass psychic martial artist polymath side is one that is only glimpsed in the series (and given more exposure in the movie).
* ''{{Series/Sherlock}}'': Sherlock's a jerk, yes, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold cares deeply for those close to him]], especially [[TheNotLoveInterest John.]] John is an [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkie]] but it's ''not'' a smart move to piss him off by ''[[LivingEmotionalCrutch threatening someone close to him]]''.
* ''Series/TeenWolf'':
** Lydia's a lot smarter than she seems, having a good head for science and often dumbs herself down because she's the AlphaBitch and for Jackson's benefit.
** Jackson is very much the OnlySaneMan at the start, and the only person the least bit curious about all the weird things happening to Scott.
* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' shows unusual sides that one wouldn't expect of a Terminator, having an interest in history and dancing, and showing a pretty impressive set of investigative skills. And there's also the fact that she [[spoiler: is apparently self-evolving, as shown in her rapid response and recovery time in "To The Lighthouse."]]
* The reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'':
** Meta example: It starts with the appearance of a beautiful and cold robot woman entering a building, played by underwear model Tricia Helfer. She later turned out to be one of the best actors on the show and played some of the more sympathetic and complex characters, including the abused Gina and at least two others. Playing many Number Six clones with different personalities really let her display a lot of range. Completely unexpected after the obvious hiring of MsFanservice in the first place.
** Ellen Tigh is introduced as a manipulative, deeply selfish woman. She is an alcoholic, she's promiscuous and she enables Tigh's worst excesses. [[spoiler: Eventually, it is revealed that she is a Cylon; and really a caring, profoundly religious, genius scientist, albeit an alcoholic and manipulative one.]]
** D'Anna is established to be nothing more than a domineering, zealous bitch -- but it turns out later she is a domineering, zealous bitch on a quest for forbidden knowledge.
** Gaius Baltar is an arrogant intellectual [[spoiler:who grew up on a farm and is ashamed of his [[FantasticRacism 'hick' heritage]].]]
** Kara Thrace, or "Starbuck", is a loud, violent, foul mouthed AcePilot who seems to not really care much about those she isn't close with. In reality she is a deeply religious woman who lost her fiancé, was abused by her mother and cares about every single pilot that she loses.
* Every major character on ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}''.
** One example is G'Kar. When the show begins, he's a saber-rattling antagonist, chomping at the bit to get some revenge on the Centauri. But even as early as the first season, we discover he's deeply religious, is willing to help someone out at no gain to himself, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking likes to cook.]]
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' character Barney Stinson started out as a fairly one-sided [[TheCasanova Casanova]] but has been given a detailed {{backstory}} and is now a LadyKillerInLove. He has also shown emotional vulnerability in unexpected places, such as when his brother James revealed that he (James) was going to adopt a baby with his soon-to-be husband. This well-rounded development of what initially seemed to be a fairly FlatCharacter, along with Neil Patrick Harris's acting, has turned him into an EnsembleDarkHorse, and he is now far more popular with fans than any of the other characters who were originally more central to the story.
* It can be argued that the entire cast of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' are reusable standard sitcom comedy tropes that usually get portrayed as the one-dimensional butt of jokes in other shows, but in ''Frasier'', are given the stage as subtle, well-developed main characters — any television viewer can recognize the arrogant, obnoxious blowhard (Frasier), the fussy, snooty fop (Niles), the opinionated, crusty old relative (Martin), the airheaded, naive FunnyForeigner (Daphne), and the sassy office slut (Roz) as one-off or peripheral sitcom characters from any number of other shows and movies. It's just that these so-called stereotypes had so many other facets and layers and for once weren't used just as fodder for some other, more "normal" main character, that they couldn't be described as stereotypical (or even typical) at all.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Chief O'Brien starts out as a second-string bridge officer, gets promoted to transporter chief on the Enterprise, moves on to become the Chief Engineer on ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' only to have it revealed that before all of this, he was a soldier, which becomes important as the Dominion War flares up. We found out that O'Brien is a traumatized veteran of the Cardassian War in the appropriately named ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Wounded", when he tells the story of the first battle he had been in. "Rules of Engagement" establishes that the cheerful, friendly chief has been in 232 combat situations and has been decorated fifteen times.
** From ''Deep Space Nine'': Rom, Quark's dopey brother, who turns out to be a [[GeniusDitz gifted engineer]] even conceiving and designing a net of self-replicating mines that effectively stops the Dominion from sending reinforcements through the wormhole. (And, got married to a hot dabo girl.)
** Rom's son Nog started out as a sexist[[note]]By human standards, at least[[/note]] juvenile delinquent, but was revealed to have similar skills and determination, becoming the first Ferengi in Starfleet. (At least one potential future shows him rising to captain rank.)
** Quark himself was more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get character, but the leader of the Klingon Empire ''did'' once refer to him as "a brave Ferengi", a very hidden depth. Quark is also capable of making very surprising and astute observations on occasion, such as in "The Siege of AR-558", where he comments to Nog that for all their [[HumansAreSpecial pretentiousness]], strand Humans [[WarIsHell in a warzone]] and deprive them of sleep, food, their fancy technology and creature comforts and they soon become [[HumansAreBastards worse]] than ''Klingons''.
** Or when Spock reveals:
---> How do Vulcans choose their mates? Haven't you wondered?
---> '''Kirk:''' I guess the rest of us assume that it's done ... quite logically.
---> '''Spock:''' No.
---> '''Kirk:''' ...No.
** The Vulcans start out with no emotions. Later they have emotions but keep them under strict control. They end up with often-overwhelming emotions that they have difficulty controlling. Leonard Nimoy told Abrams that he had always played Spock as a deeply emotional man constantly struggling for control.
* James Fullalove from two of the ''Franchise/{{Quatermass}}'' serials is a reporter for an evening newspaper who is fluent in Medieval Latin.
* Jay in ''TheInbetweeners'' seemed to be nothing more than a disgusting pervert and liar at first (although he was always shown as a good friend), but in the season one finale he temporarily entered a very reflective mood and revealed some of his vulnerable side. Then in the second season he got into a relationship and revealed himself as a ChivalrousPervert.
* Sheriff Lamb, from ''Series/VeronicaMars'', after he reveals that his father beat him, which is itself a huge cliche, but well-played. Also Logan. He initially seems like the stereotypical rich, entitled asshole, but his troubled family situation revealed Hidden Depths.
* That's the beauty of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. The first few episodes of the series seem to fool us into thinking we know which characters to root for until their flashbacks and centric episodes reveal a whole 'nother story before the first season is even over! And half-way through season two, all your beliefs will be shattered forever.
* Det. Eddie Alvarez from ''TheUnusuals'' came off as a naive, self-centered, overambitious jerk at the beginning ... but underneath that is a natural police detective conversant in a startlingly diverse range of languages.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'' has an unusual variant: hidden depths in the protagonist that often even he doesn't know he has until he uses them during the show. This is mainly due to the combination of a ridiculous amount of doctorates and useful hobbies, and the amnesia he sustained from initially Leaping. Occasionally, though, it's Al who will display a skill we didn't know he had.
* Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on ''Series/TheWire'' is initially dumped on the Barksdale detail because he's an incompetent officer who accidentally [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace discharges his gun in the office on his first day after being dumped there (and prior to that had filed a false report to cover up that he'd shot up his own car)]], who only remains on the force because he's the son-in-law of the career officer. However, after being restricted to office duty, he begins to pull his weight as the one who penetrates the drug dealers' heavily slurred, slang-laden, and coded communications.
* Reese on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' spent a lot of time on the show being idiotic, clueless, and sadistic, certain to age into a series of minimum wage jobs and possible (maybe even probable) jail time. Then, after being forced by his mom to take a cooking class, he found that he actually thrived in the kitchen. He became better at preparing food than his own mother, and he enjoyed it so much that not letting him cook became the only form of punishment that his parents could use that was even remotely effective. Note the panic he exhibited when his mom threatened to take away his whisk.
* On the series ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', some contestants have Hidden Depths that the editing doesn't do a good job of showing.
** Cao Boi, the {{Cloudcuckoolander}} from ''Cook Islands''. He was the PluckyComicRelief, but in fact, it was him who was the first person to have thought up a plan to engineered a tie in the votes specifically to flush out the hidden immunity idol.
** Brett. Just another pretty face who [[OutOfFocus seemed to be digitally inserted into the season to give some conflict in the final few episodes]]? Immunity ''beast''.
** Fabio from '''Nicaragua'' invoked this through ObfuscatingStupidity. A lot of people looked at this guy and thought he was going to get himself ''evacuated'' before the merge. Yet he manages to manipulate Chase & Sash into going after somebody else instead of TheLoad, then manages to win by a 5-4-0 vote, even getting the vote of his SitComArchNemesis.
** Sophie is the sole survivor in ''One World''. Tell for ''one'' second you thought this by looking at her.
** Kat has a more tragic example. Throughout the game, she's a complete [[TheDitz ditz]], even saying "I'm only 22!" as an excuse for her ditziness. However, she reveals that within a year, she needs to have open heart surgery if she wants to have children, and had already survived it. Her "I'm only 22!" claims carry a ''lot'' more weight when you consider she has a chance of ''dying'' the next year.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** The very camp Kurt who has read Sun Tzu's ''Art Of War'', and at least knows what Vocal Adrenlin's Latin motto means ("murder or be murdered). SmartPeopleKnowLatin after all.
** We've come to see some of Sue Sylvester's depths, most notably being that though she may work her Cheerios like dogs and say horrible things to... well, everybody, she genuinely cares about the students and their well-being (aside from a certain Wallbanger about a human cannonball). We also learn about Sue's back story, which begins to explain some of her behavior.
** Artie Abrams is wheelchair-bound, but sings, can seriously bust a move when he's not in the chair, raps, plays the guitar, engages in Def Poetry, and is on the academic decathlon team.
** Mike Chang was just a background character that went unnamed until he finally upgraded to a more prominent member of New Directions, to which he proves that he's not only one of the best dancers on the team, but sings, plays football, and is also a member of the academic decathlon.
** Quinn who was supposed to be a frigid bitch ends up a pregnant glee-clubber. She's later revealed to have a childhood plagued by bullying and intense self loathing and insecurity.
** Santana who was a promiscuous character seems to have used her promiscuity to hide the fact that she's a lesbian.
** Brittany, The Ditz, ends up on the same academic decathlon team as Artie and has a wealth of knowledge about cats.
* In the US version of the ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'', when Jim plays opera music to block out Dwight's listening device and asks Andy's opinion of the music as a cover, Andy knowledgeably criticizes it, and Creed, who had shown no sensitivity in the previous 5 seasons, starts crying.
** During the GrandFinale, it's revealed that Meredith, the show's resident HardDrinkingPartyGirl, has been working on getting a psychology degree for years. She then reveals that her boozy behavior was the result of her indulging in "the college experience," rather than [[TheAlcoholic a legitimate drinking problem]].
* In ''Series/TheXFiles'', the Smoking Man pops up early on as a mysterious figure with few lines and shadowy motivations. Over the course of the series he's revealed as one of the most well-known [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastards]] in popular television and shown to be dissatisfied with his position in TheConspiracy, at one point almost tendering his resignation in order to become a semi-autobiographical crime writer.
* Similar to Six ''Galactica'', when Jeri Ryan was added to the cast of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', and especially when the promo photos of her in a skintight silver catsuit demonstrating that even the Borg can have large breasts, most people were expecting little but MsFanservice and a character who would end up being a shallow DistaffCounterpart to [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]] and [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]]. However, the writers (and Jeri Ryan) were apparently so determined to prove she wasn't just hired for her appearance that soon the entire series revolved around Seven of Nine and she quickly emerged as one of the most interesting characters on the show. The only other character to challenge her for that spot was the holographic Doctor, who himself had become an EnsembleDarkHorse. And then they had an episode where Ryan got to actually act like the Doctor.
* An episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' has the team trying to trace a teenage serial killer, and Garcia is on the phone after finding a name:
-->'''[[PlayfulHacker Garcia]]:''' He gave the name Nico Bellic. Now the thing about the name Nico Bellic... ''(Reid looks up about to interrupt, and then...)''
-->'''[[CoolOldGuy Rossi]]:''' It's the name of the main character from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. ''(Cut to Garcia looking shocked, then back to everyone staring at Rossi.)'' What? I know stuff.
* One episode of ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' showed that [[ThoseTwoGuys Skull]] was actually a talented concert pianist, and Bulk, who previously dismissed classical music as "sissy stuff", gained a new appreciation out of it after seeing his best friend perform beautifully.
** Their actors also apply for this, as Paul Schrier (Bulk) went into directing (including several episodes of ''PowerRangers'') while Jason Narvy (Skull) is a [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra Shakespearean actor]] with multiple degrees, including a Ph.D in Dramatic Arts.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Phoebe can speak Italian ([[LampshadeHanging even she was unaware of this]]) and French, Joey has an extensive knowledge of elevators and managed to memorize the ''entire'' "V" volume of the encyclopedia in less than a day, and Chandler plays a mean game of table tennis. Gunther also apparently smokes (or used to smoke), is a former actor, and is fluent in Dutch.
* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' did it with Deeks and Kensi accidentally discovering their mutual love of comic books.
--> '''Kensi:''' You know, Bizarro, the mutant version of Superman.
--> '''Deeks:''' I know who Bizarro is. How do ''you'' know who he is?"
* ''Series/ModernFamily'' has TheDitz Hailey who is really good with using computers for background checks.
-->'''Cam''': She's like ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]''.
* Tim Taylor of ''Series/HomeImprovement'' was usually a BumblingDad prone to insensitivity but he was often able to say the right thing at the right time when someone needed him.
** Perhaps most surprising of all, whenever Tim stops obsessing over [[{{Catchphrase}} MORE POWER]] and just builds/fixes something, it turns out he is very good with his hands.
* Jay Wratten of ''Series/TheShadowLine''. He seems at first to be little more than a PsychopathicManchild, but the final episode shows him to be much smarter and more manipulative than anyone realised. Gatehouse even uses this very phrase when describing him.
* ''{{Chuck}}''. Casey can hit a high note because he used to be a choir boy.
-->''What? I wasn't hatched.''
** "Chuck vs. the Cougars" revealed Casey is also a charismatic DJ as he gets everyone to dance to "MMM Bop" by Hanson.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'':
** Jesse Pinkman at first came off as a jerky fuck-off junkie, and was shown to be irrational and idiotic in comparison to the intelligent calmer Walt. As the series drew on, he was shown to actually have a hidden sense of morals, such as saving a kid from a disgusting house where his junkie parents lived, refusing to sell to a woman when he found that she had a child, and above most is, is shown to to actually have some of his conscience still intact despite everything that has been done, especially compared to Walt, who is shown to throw away more and more of his soul as he sinks deeper into the business. He's also a lot smarter than he at first appears - while his vocabulary and theoretical knowledge aren't that good, he fares ''much'' better than [[spoiler:Todd]] at replicating Walt's recipe and manages to come up with some pretty ingenious problem-solving ideas early season 5.
** A lot of viewers hated Walt's DEA Agent brother in law Hank for being a one note obnoxious compensating for something [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]] type character. However, after episode 2 of the second season [[spoiler: when he shoots Tuco]] its revealed that he's starting to have a lot of anxiety about his stress job and dealing with the fallout of killing another person.
** One arc in the fourth season has revealed even further depths by revealing that in addition to being a solid field agent for the DEA that he has mad detective skills which he uses to follow a seemingly silly hunch brought about by a fast food restaurant napkin and [[spoiler: more or less discover that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Gus]] is using his chicken business as a cover for a HUGE meth operation.]]
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Goes both ways; Will initially dismisses his Uncle Phil as an uptight wealthy person who lost touch with his roots. Turns out that he was in the Civil Rights movement, and had worked hard to get where he was then. Similarly, Uncle Phil judges Will as just a disruptive young street punk, but Will turns out to be an insightful, [[ObfuscatingStupidity intelligent]] and thoroughly [[NiceGuy decent person]].
* ''HouseOfAnubis'':
** Jerome Clarke. In the beginning of the show he is shown as nothing more than a [[TheChessmaster manipulative jerk]] who will even trick his best friend into humiliating himself for a cheap laugh. However, later on he reveals a softer, more sensitive side to Mara Jaffray, including the truth that his [[ParentalAbandonment family abandoned him when he was five years old.]] He reverts back to his old self after Mara and her old boyfriend get back together, to the point where he helps the antagonist, but even then his hidden depths are still showing as he proves to be more of a misunderstood [[Anti-Hero Anti-Hero]] than the minor antagonist he was originally portrayed as.
** Victor Rodenmaar. Despite being one of the main antagonists, he proves himself as being more good than bad deep down inside, and it is shown that the way he acts mainly stems from his desperation to finish his father’s quest, and the[[AbusiveParents abuse his father had inflicted on him]] when he was a child.
* Pamela from ''Series/DancingOnTheEdge'' spends most of the running time as a fairly cold, aristocratic IceQueen with no talents or purpose whatsoever. Yet when the protagonist Louie Lester (a black jazz musician) is framed for murder, she is one of only three white people to help smuggle him out of the country. Everyone else turns on him, suspects him, or is blackmailed into giving his location away.
* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Big Salad".
--> '''Elaine:''' Maybe there's ''more'' to Newman than meets the eye.
--> '''Jerry:''' No. There's not. There's less.
--> '''Elaine:''' Well, maybe there is and we just don't know it.
--> '''Jerry:''' No, trust me. I've looked into his eyes. He's pure evil.
* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'': Archie Kennedy, a go-hung PluckyMiddie and [[BreakTheCutie a broken Cutie]] proves himself to be a BadassAdorable. But there is more. One episode reveals that he's fond of theatre and says he knew the Drury Lane as if it was his home. He must have special love for Creator/WilliamShakespeare because he quotes and paraphrases him several times.
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'':
** Inspector Brackenried is mostly shown as DaChief, the Constabulary's TeamDad and a BoisterousBruiser who drinks more than he should. He cares about his family and is HappilyMarried despite all the problems he has with his wife who forces him to become a teetotaller. It's quite surprising to see his deep and passionate love for theatre, especially opera and The Bard.
** Constable George Crabtree is a comic relief character, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and resident AgentMulder. However, he aspires to be a writer and works very diligently on this dream, and in season 5, he publishes his moderately successful mystery novel. He frequently shows concern for animals, especially dogs, cats and horses, which is both sweet and very modern for a Victorian era man from lower middle class background.
* ''Series/MondayMornings'':
** Dr. Hooten is a hard-ass boss on his doctors, and can be unmerciful. Surprisingly, he loves classical music, plays the piano quite well and bonds with a LittlestCancerPatient over Beethoven and discussion of DeusExMachina principle, aka "crappy writing from ancient Greek plays".
** Dr Sung Park is a Korean doctor who speaks in broken English and is blunt-slash-rude with his patients, though a brilliant neurosurgeon. He has a perfect pitch and plays the violin with a rare mastery, and appreciates music very deeply. He also recognizes a literary genius and agrees that the patient is better off with his compulsive writing verging on mania -- because that's what he is -- a writer, and a surgery might destroy that completely.
* Snow White in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is portrayed as the ProperLady, even as her cursed self. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that she gets over [[spoiler: manipulating Regina to kill her mother]] by rocking to JoanJett on her iPod while practicing with a bow and arrow.
** Rumplestiltskin in a nutshell. Despite being the most evil entity in existence, his [[PetTheDog surprising acts of kindness]] towards Belle ended up being what initially attracted her to him in the first place. Along with his son Baelfire, Belle is the only other person he cares about and who can [[MoralityChain keep him]] in NobleDemon territory.
* The CampGay Mr. Wolfe from ''Series/{{Suburgatory}}'' does rather un-gay things like boxing.
-->'''Tessa''': Mr. Wolfe, what are you doing?
-->'''Mr. Wolfe''': Training the next middleweight champion of the world. What are ''you'' doing?
* Pretty much the entire ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' team. Besides Capt. Jack, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever who has to deal with centuries of psychological and emotional baggage]], we have:
** Ianto Jones: Quiet and proper DeadpanSnarker who turns out to be a BadassInANiceSuit with a talent for manipulation strong enough to fool pretty much everyone.
** Owen Harper: First seen as a thorough Jerkass [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil using alien pheremones to attract hookups]], but is revealed to have a heart several times when it gets broken.
** Toshiko Sato: TheSmartGirl incarnate, with a crisp and professional demeanor, even upon possession of a mind-reading artifact. As it turns out, she's a secret romantic whose CartwrightCurse is the worst sort of irony.
** Even Gwen Cooper, probably the most straightforward of the group, turns out to be [[MamaBear far more loyal]] than some of her [[YourCheatingHeart initial actions]] suggest.
* Mr. Khan from ''Series/{{Citizen Khan}}'' can seem to be quite callous to those around him, not appearing to care about how his actions affect his loved ones as long as he can try and increase his standing in the community. But, unlike many sitcom husbands, he actually remembers romantic milestones he shares with his wife and recreates the first meal they shared as a married couple on their anniversary without any of the usual last minute panic.
* {{Series/Community}} has a bit of this revealed over time. To sum up:
** Jeff, the arrogant and narcissistic ex-AmoralAttorney, has been shown to in fact be deeply insecure about his morality and whether he's only liked for his looks, and has possible issues with depression as well as abandonment issues. He also is a closet geek, with nearly as much TV knowledge as Abed and a collection of Spiderman comics, and manages to be an effective [[spoiler: teacher in season 5]]
** Annie, the TechnicalVirgin youngest member of the group, shows a shocking ability to dirty talk in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. She also shows off a great singing voice
** Shirley, the sweet, religious mother of the group, shares Abed's affinity for both the Hellraiser movies and Batman & Robin. She also has a violent streak and was Greendale's valedictorian.
** Abed, the TV geek with an AmbiguousDisorder, is incredibly manipulative and cunning, often manipulating the study group to do his bidding, and a skilled impressionist.
** Troy, TheDitz of the group, has shown to be one of the most emotionally sensitive characters, and is the one to talk Annie down from her identity crisis in Mixology Certification
* Lady Sybil from ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' is only seen in the background or on the sidelines until episode 3 where we see her need to help the less fortunate and her interest in a more liberated style of living for herself and other women.
* Teal'c of ''Series/StargateSG1'' is a fan of science fiction, he's even watched Franchise/StarWars a dozen times.
** Coronel/General Jack O'Neill actually knows (some) astronomical terms and their proper meanings, as well as enough Greek tragedy and mythology to know that "Prometheus" and "Icarus" [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt are]] ''[[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt terrible]]'' [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt names for anything you want to succeed]].
** Samantha Carter once summed up her hidden depths quite succinctly, "Wormhole theory, motorcycle riding, and lock picking."
* Josh from ''Series/{{Popular}}'' turns out to be an expert on poultry.
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