History HiddenDepths / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': Black Noir. It's shown when he wordlessly glowers at a piano player until he steps away from the piano, then sits down by it himself and then plays the Minute Waltz, a much faster and upbeat piece than what the piano player playing.

* The entire premise of ''Series/CobraKai'' hinges on this, giving the JerkJock bully of ''Film/TheKarateKid'' a SympatheticPOV and revealing that, beneath the one-note bully he was in the film, lies a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold a genuinely good man]] who's actually a hell of a lot ''better'' a person than you'd expect to have come from such a messed-up background. The series continues this trend with nearly all of its characters, revealing a level of poison and some truly bad qualities buried deep in Daniel [=LaRusso=], giving almost every good and bad character at least some condemning and redeeming qualities, and even manages to reveal a touch of hidden weakness in Mr. Miyagi. Even ''John Kreese'' gets a sympathetic backstory, and while it's not nearly enough to even come close to redeeming or excusing his actions, it at least reveals he was once a genuinely nice, optimistic, and hopeful person before [[WarIsHell being put through a psychological meat grinder in Vietnam]] and coming out the other end a manipulative sadistic sociopath.

* 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 other story before the first season is even over! And half-way through Season 2, all your beliefs will be shattered forever.
* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' Eliot is this. As the team Hitter, his main role involves combat. But whenever they need a creative skillset, he is often the one to fill it. Notably he is an extremely talented chef, and serves as a country singer at one point.

** 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.

** 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.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** Hank comes across in the opening episodes as an obnoxious blow-hard. However, later episodes reveal that he suffers from panic attacks, suggesting that his breezy, cocky persona is a cover for more complex feelings beneath. Season four also allows him to show off some surprisingly effective detective skills.

** Mild-mannered Giles has a past that includes being a magical hooligan called Ripper and, as Angelus learns in season 2 is no slouch in combat. Also he fucks like a stevedore.

** 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, at least once he decides to actually try]].

* DoubleSubverted in season four of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', there was the [[BigBad Trinity Killer]], who was said to have been the most successful serial killer up until then, never discovered and killing for decades. Early episodes show him committing premeditated, cold blooded murders. However, Dexter discovers he is actually quite a normal guy with great family life and even an otherwise upstanding citizen who does much work for charity and his community. But then it turns out he's horribly abusive to his family, his children and wife are scared of him senseless and that charity is just a means of finding new victims and covering up his kills.

* In ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'', even before becoming Kid Flash, Wally is already known as a sharp mind, studying to be an engineer, and designing racecar engines as part of his project. Come season 4, he turns out to speak fluent Japanese, which comes out of nowhere to everyone else. On the other hand, according to Eobard Thawne, speedsters have PhotographicMemory, which would be extremely helpful in learning a foreign language. Also, later on he's found in the Yunnan Province of China, apparently able to get around there, likely picking up some Chinese in the process.

** A season 3 deleted scene shows that when not engineering the brutal downfall of his family's enemies, Tywin Lannister likes to fish. While we never learn what he enjoys about it (or dressing the stag in season one), it does show that Tywin doesn't mind getting his hands dirty with labor that might be considered beneath him.

* Jay in ''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.

* 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 other story before the first season is even over! And half-way through season two, all your beliefs will be shattered forever.

** 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.

** 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.

* 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.

*** Saru, who starts out as an obstructionist coward, which is, apparently, normal for his species (evolved from prey animals). However, over the course of season 1, he goes from barking at subordinates and ordering them around to giving out inspirational speeches and letting them do their jobs. Oh, and he's perfectly willing to go against Starfleet orders in order to uphold Starfleet's ideals, something he'd never do at the start of the season.

** 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.

* In ''LiveActionTV/TheKnowledge'', Chris has low self-esteem and confidence, but he passes the legendarily difficult exam of the knowledge of London, faced by London taxi drivers. His girlfriend Janet is constantly berating him, but has a kind heart.

* 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.

** 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.

** Spike is surprisingly good at predicting Willow's behavior. He also watches ''Series/{{Passions}}'' and ''Series/DawsonsCreek''.

** Will initially dismisses his Uncle Phil as an uptight wealthy person who lost touch with the black community. Turns out that he was in the Civil Rights movement (and, it is implied, more UsefulNotes/MalcolmX than UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKing) and 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 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]].

* ''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 father figure he became for Andy and April) and the DeadpanSnarker wasn't around that much.

** 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.

** Sophie is the sole survivor in ''One World''. Tell for ''one'' second you thought this by looking at her.

** 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 almost 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 [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice "Amy's Choice"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang "The Big Bang"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife "The Doctor's Wife"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E7TheRingsOfAkhaten "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 grief.

** In his first appearance, Kevin Riley is a carefree young man whose actions include comandeering the ''Enterprise'' and serenading the crew with various renditions of "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen". In his second appearance, it's revealed that he was a survivor of a horrific massacre in which both of his parents were killed. [[note]]This was actually not entirely planned; in the original script, the massacre survivor was a different person entirely, but when they realized that the actor cast in that role was the same actor who played Riley, they [[ThrowItIn decided to roll with it]] and made that character a second appearance of Riley.[[/note]]

* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Colby is revealed to speak Spanish, which helps in one episode when they were searching for missing girls.