History Main / HollywoodNerd

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Doug from ''Webcomic/FletcherApts'' is rather scrawny but makes up for it with PuppyDogEyes and CuteLittleFangs.
* Gary in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' is probably more geek than nerd, but still illustrates this trope. He can pass as ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} on stage with no problems aside from his glasses, and even Zii, who regards him as a total geek and has him firmly friend-zoned, admits that he's attractive. One of his coworkers says of various female characters who he thinks are attracted to Gary, "Punk rocker chick. Big breasted amazon who gives assplay. Nympho Japanese girl. Gary is the luckiest guy on the face of the Earth." The funny thing is, those characters aren't interested in Gary at that point, but all eventually develop at least twinges of interest, as do others -- and this has to be credited to his looks, because his social skills ''are'' geekily negligible.
* Prettily thoroughly averted in ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}''. Dave and Helen may be cute, but they're by no means conventionally attractive. Although Dave does become [[ProgressivelyPrettier slightly more so]] as the story progresses, partly from ArtEvolution but also in-universe as he [[CharacterDevelopment matures and gains some self-confidence]] as he settles into his new job, and starts taking care of his appearance a bit better as a result.
* Emily the witch in ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' is dorky and somewhat awkward, but doesn't look half bad in her little magic school uniform [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0254.html here.]]
* Ruby of ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' is a slightly unusual nerd. She initially lacks any ''geeky'' features, until she develops an interest in manga and anime (specifically {{Yaoi}}), at which point she shows a talent for detailed study of technicalities. However, she’s still essentially a nerd; she privileges mental over physical or social skills, and she has no great interest in being sexually appealing. And yet, she's slim, with a good figure, and is described as a graceful mover; amongst other things, when she puts on a pair of designer jeans, she automatically attracts the attention of every passing straight man.
* Billy Thatcher from ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]''. A chess grandmaster who stars on his own reality television show. [[EvenTheGuysWantHim His looks are enough to woo the villain and make him a favorite captive from their first meeting.]]
* Bailey from ''Webcomic/{{Avialae}}'' wears NerdGlasses, is socially awkward ([[CrushBlush especially around people he has a crush on]]), has next to no sexual experience, and enthusiastically rambles on about bird anatomy whenever given a chance. He's also quite attractive even with the NerdGlasses on and has a ripped body underneath his clothes from being on the track team; even at the start of the webcomic when Gannet wants nothing to do with him, he can't help but admire his ass.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[http://ca.jezebel.com/5786058/why-do-movies-hate-nerd-love?skyline=true&s=i This article]] is a highly critical look at the trope (specifically, it asks why Hollywood Nerds never end up paired with ''[[PairTheSmartOnes each other]]'' rather than the jock[=/=][[AlphaBitch popular girl]] of the day.
* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', this is written as a partially JustifiedTrope: a relatively common [[EmpathicShapeshifter superpower]] makes people really attractive, however the geeks without this power tend to look like believable geeks, and those who have it don't always have fashion sense.
** So there are some; Bugs, Widget, Delta Spike, who are all abnormally attractive and some realistic ones; Mega-Death, Knick-Knack, Kew, etc. but ''mostly'' they're pretty bad like Make and Overclock, or worse.
** There's also Spark, who started out "The Big Idea" as a Type 1 or someone normal, and ended the story a full-blown Type 2 due to some AppliedPhlebotinum she built.
* One of the things ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' points out in "[[http://www.cracked.com/article_18960_5-things-tv-writers-apparently-believe-about-smart-people.html 5 Things TV Writers Apparently Believe About Smart People]]" is how this perception, along with that of related tropes such as HospitalHottie and HotScientist, has become ingrained in the public due to how Hollywood misrepresents what intelligence and study is like. That is, there's nothing inherently preventing an intelligent person from being physically attractive and it's a matter of course that [[HollywoodHomely people in fiction are more attractive than their real life counterparts in general]], but TV writers top this by making most of their nerds complete masterminds in their late 20s or early 30s to make them appealing to the core viewer demographic (in other words, every smart adult person is a TeenGenius slightly aged up) and often making them ''multidisciplinary'' experts. The problem is that actual mastery of an academic discipline to an expert level takes years if not decades of work, with most not becoming leading authorities in their fields until much later in life. It implies that the Hollywood geniuses simply studied one field after another while maintaining enough time to maintain their appearance and get out of school young enough to be a hot GeniusBruiser. Very few works would actually [[{{Deconstruction}} consider the realistic ramifications]] of a youth spent only studying.
* ''{{Machinima/Anon}}'': Chelsea is considered by herself to be and is portrayed as an awkward, unattractive, loner. In reality, Chelsea's actually very pretty, if not at least average but nowhere near ugly. To defy this further, Chelsea has at least THREE different guys chasing after her in the first two seasons alone.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* James Rolfe, ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''. When not in his stereotypical nerd getup, he actually looks quite [[http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29488.html?type=flv robust]].
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick. Team Nostalgia Chick member Elisa so qualifies.
* How many guy-nerds do you know in real life can pull off wearing eyeliner (smudged or slatherings of it) like WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic? Prominent in his review of ''Scooby Doo'', with his younger self supposed to be looking dorky with spots, but is tanned, has a full head of hair and a tight shirt showing off Doug's muscles.
* She very well might disagree, but WebVideo/MarzGurl definitely qualifies, as do her fellow TGWTG compatriots Creator/AllisonPregler and WebVideo/JesuOtaku. Also JO's fellow Website/DesuDesBrigade member Vixen, and (for the ladies) Arkada.
* ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': Noah Antwiler. A nerd? Most definitely. [[http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/img/headshots/img07.jpg Attractive?]] Yes.
* WebVideo/ThatDudeInTheSuede is a very attractive, well-spoken anime fan.
* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'':
** Dr. Horrible is a nerdy [[MadScientist mad - well, he's just a little miffed - scientist]] played by Creator/NeilPatrickHarris. Billy actually is considered attractive and likable in-universe (at least to Penny); it's instead his extreme shyness and insecurity that's the real problem. Apparently all of Billy's clothes were purposefully too big so that no one would notice that the nerdy loner is quite buff. It helps that he was contrasted with the taller and more muscular Captain Hammer (Creator/NathanFillion). That Billy wore a loose lab coat much of the time and Hammer wore a muscle shirt didn't hurt.
** Penny. Captain Hammer says she has a nerdy thing going on and she's played by the real life gorgeous nerd Creator/FeliciaDay.
* Most of the characters in ''WebVideo/Lonelygirl15'' fall into this, especially Bree and Spencer.
* In ''WebVideo/TheGuild'' Codex (played by the aforementioned Felicia Day) and Tinkerballa are both quite hot. Zabuu and Bladezz are good looking as well. Vork and Clara on the other hand look the part of the nerd/geek stereotype.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/GothamScarecrow This guy.]] Wait until he takes off the mask -- he's pretty scrawny but his face is to die for. And yes, he plays the sinister nerd perfectly -- especially watch his "lecture" and "analysis" videos.
* [[http://www.katherinecurtis.com/ The Naked Nerd]]. Granted, she works for "Naked News," which intentionally employs very sexually attractive women, but she could easily make most supermodels seem homely in comparison. Supposedly she wasn't always that hot, however, and if you see even one of her videos or read her blog, she more than proves her nerd cred. Also, if you read her blog, she mentions a few times that she has a fairly strict exercise and diet regimen that she follows.
* Kelsey from ''WebVideo/TheSecretLifeOfAMermaid'' is TheSmartOne and OnlySaneMan DeadpanSnarker and still manages to be an absolute gorgeous thirteen year old.
* Linda Le, aka [[https://www.youtube.com/user/VampyBitMeChannel Vampy]]. Probably one of the most gorgeous geek girls you'll ever see.
* Cookie Tuesday, the OnlySaneEmployee on ''Learning Town''.
* From the [[{{WebVideo/HonestTrailers}} Honest Trailer]] for ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'': "Peter Parker was just an attractive, intelligent, likable, athletic, well-dressed teenage loser."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Tech E Coyote from ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'' is type 2. By UsefulNotes/FurryFandom standards, he is very hot.
* Velma from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' franchise. In the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', Velma was decidedly plain -- there was nothing particularly interesting about her face, her hairstyle was at best unflattering, and her sweater made her look approximately like a barrel on legs. Then, in ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' she was redesigned -- her hairstyle and face were subtly changed, and her waist was pinched in, giving her an actual figure. Now she's kind of cute. From aversion to straight as an arrow in one shot.
** She didn't look that bad at all in the 1970 episode "A Tiki Scare Is No Fair," first done up as Jane to Shaggy's Tarzan, and later doing the hula in a Hawaiian grass skirt.
** And then there's TheMovie(s) where is portayed by Linda Cardellini and goes from [[http://www.selectspecs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/velma3.gif this]] to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20101103092327/http://humordistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/velma-movie-196x300.jpg this]]. As the felines say, [[AdaptationalAttractiveness Rrrrrrrroowwwwlll]].
** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated '' she has another FanservicePack. While she was usually awkward, and a little [[HollywoodPudgy Hollywood Pudgy]], here, she's a [[OnlySaneMan comparatively sane]] [[DeadpanSnarker snarker]] [[ActionGirl action girl]] [[DangerouslyShortSkirt with a comedically short skirt]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' parodied this in one episode where Schwarzenegger parody Ranier Wolfcastle stars in a movie called "Undercover Nerd". Worth seeing for one of the funniest {{Bond One Liner}}s ever:
-->''"The geek shall inherit the earth!"''
* Peter Parker in every animated incarnation of ''Spider Man''.
** Gwen Stacey in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' definitely fits this trope. Huge glasses, grade-A student and REALLY cute to boot. (but that is until she became just like her comic book counterpart.)
* Alphonso and Ferguson's D&D group from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' are all stylishly dressed and attractive. With Alphonso saying to Marco that being a nerd isn't the stigma it used to be since he'd left for Mewni. This is TruthInTelevision since the game 'has' had a massive boost in popularity among 'normal' people in recent years and isn't such a niche hobby anymore.
* Sam from ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' She's a bookish and studious girl, but also gorgeous and popular.
* ''WesternAnimation/WhatAboutMimi'' has Herbert Finkle, a gangly, bespectacled, buck-toothed kid.
[[/folder]]

'''Note:''' ''This trope is in the process of being disambiguated per the results of the Trope Repair Shop decision linked above. Do not add any on page examples are link this page to others in the meantime.''

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/KittyPryde of the ComicBook/XMen used to be one. She was a skinny little computer nerd who was jealous of the older X-Women's looks and even needed glasses at one point, though she still had her share of admirers. The trope applied more in real life than within the comics, in fact: so many of today's comic book creators [[RunningTheAsylum grew up]] with a huge crush on Kitty that nowadays she's generally just accepted to be an extremely attractive woman who's also really smart. However, as her attractiveness increased, references to her brains shrank in number; back in the 80s it was hinted that she'd grow up to be another Reed Richards. She's 20-something in comics these days, and her genius-level computer skills can't even hack The Beast's computers. Not to mention, very few modern day adaptations even make reference to her geniusness. The X-Men films didn't even refer to it, and ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' it was only hinted at, in a manner that when it ''did'' crop up, some viewers were confused as to how she was suddenly so smart. This got to the point that the recent ''A+X'' team-up book's story with her and Tony Stark lampshaded it, with Tony trying to convince her to come work for them so she can actually use her supposed smarts.
* Kyle Rayner of the ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''. Self-professed manga-nut who looks like a movie-star, and it shows in his constructs.
* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is an AscendedFanboy who loved comics and art when he was younger, and prior to the war he worked as a PromotedFanboy, drawing and writing comics for a living. He also tends to play MrFanservice at times, being that he's, you know, Captain America. Though this case is justified in that he underwent a scientific procedure that transformed him into an Adonis.
* [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], and [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], and many other ScienceHero types. While Tony is an intentional case; he's a guy who grew up to make millions off of his genius and has been a major celebrity since he was a child, but Peter and Henry Pym, they're more unintentional. As almost everyone in comics tend to be pretty, especially with modern day art styles, Peter and Hank once upon a time did look like more stereotypical geeks, only to evolve into being...not.
** Peter especially is now often referred to as handsome and boyish. That’s averted though, oddly enough, in the Creator/SteveDitko original, where Peter looked more like a stereotypical nerd. John Romita, the artist who came after Ditko and the man responsible for the way Spider-Man comics looked from the mid-60's until Todd [=McFarlane=]'s time, even said that one of the problems with his own rendition was that Peter Parker was far too traditionally attractive. He started as a romance artist for DC, so he was adept at drawing good looking people — just look at Mary Jane. Ironically, this is one of the few instances where it could be completely justified. When Peter Parker was first shown, he was a mid-to-late teenager in high school, getting ready to step up to college soon. Later on when he was looking better, he was already in or graduated from college. So perhaps he's just a late bloomer, and puberty hit hard after that radioactive-spider-bite. The other reason is that Peter Parker was originally sort of conceived as a SelfInsertFic for Steve Ditko.
* Bobbi Morse alias ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}} tends to avoid this, as like Kitty Pryde, her status as a science major is almost never brought up, more focus is put on the fact she's a BadassNormal and DeadpanSnarker. Some writers, especially ones who're fans of her, such as Jim [=McCann=] and Nick Spencer, ''do'' remember this, and like to bring it up.
* Kate Kane, the second ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, is a lifelong fan of horror movies.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': George is a rather attractive gal despite her usually intentionally baggy clothes and androgynous look, which is even more evident when she cosplays. She's also BlackAndNerdy and of course wears [[NerdGlasses glasses]].
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''. Clark Kent is seen as the naive rube in the big city who Lois Lane wouldn't give the time of day. However, the moment he's out of his suit and glasses he's suddenly a 6'4", 225 lb, chiseled, prime specimen of masculinity. This does lead to the logical problem that, however nervous and clumsy Clark acts, he's still a 6'4" hunk.
** While Clark's nerdiness was emphasised through UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, this has been alternately averted, subverted, and {{lampshade}}d in more modern comics, where Clark Kent is much less "bumbler" and more "former high school football star who actually stayed in shape", and also manages to portray a less milquetoast personality to boot.
** However, he's still considered nerdy, but nerdiness just isn't seen as negatively today as it once was. Also justified in that Clark Kent, who is Superman's natural persona, actually ''is'' a nerd... just a really buff one.
** On the other hand, part of his act isn't so much the classic weedy nerd as it is that he's playing up that he's an awkward [[CountryMouse Smallville bumpkin]] who isn't all that comfortable in the big city. Being big and muscular fits his persona as a naive farmer's son. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely paint a rather nice picture of Clark Kent as a huge, clumsy, hunched-over farmboy that even Lex Luthor speaks positively of.
** The trope is averted, albeit slightly, by Christopher Reeves' portrayal. The bulky glasses and unflattering hairstyle (in addition to drawing attention away from his facial features), make the otherwise-handsome Reeve look fairly ordinary and dorky. This coupled with Reeves' stammering, milquetoast attitude do a decent job of making Clark Kent into an easily-forgettable, unattractive wuss. It's joked that to make the Clark Kent disguise work, Superman must be ''at least'' as good an actor as Christopher Reeve.

* This trope is {{Lampshaded}} in a ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' issue where Comicbook/BlackCat [[MuggedForDisguise mugs a Horizon Labs employee for her outfit]]. Electro scoffs at the disguise and asks how anyone is supposed to buy someone as hot as Black Cat as a "nerd-girl."
-->'''Black Cat''': Easy. One, I've got [[NerdGlasses the smarty glasses]].

[[folder:Advertising]]
* The "Geeks" in Best Buy's Geek Squad ads for its IT services look like they walked across the stage from a Calvin Klein ad. Either that, or they walked ''to'' the Calvin Klein ad afterwards.\\\
Another ad actually lampshades this. It's for a laptop, and the many options for the product are symbolized by an array of "nerds" in action figure casing in the wall of the store. A teenage boy and his mom go into the store, and while his mom is interested in a sensible one, who does the boy go for? The super hot nerd girl. "I'll take this one."

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Ami/Sailor Mercury, to some extent Setsuna/Sailor Pluto, and Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask (Kamen) from ''Manga/SailorMoon'' are all nerds, but not one of them is unattractive.
* Yui and Chiriko from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' are both bigtime bookworms. But they're both adorable-looking (... [[ViewerGenderConfusion poor Chiriko]]). Yui even had long hair once upon a time, but cut it short because the boys just kept coming her way.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Uryuu is the top academic performer in his year group, the joint best sewer (with Orihime) in the Handicraft's Club, and also very much the class loner. Until he develops an incurable case of FireForgedFriends with Ichigo, whereupon he attempts to nurture an AloofAlly image that utterly fails since everyone knows he and Ichigo are really VitriolicBestBuds. This is completely averted with his father, Ryuuken, however, who is not only intelligent enough to keep up with the story's acknowledged genius, Urahara, but was also the school heartthrob when he was a teenager.
* Makise Kurisu from ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate''. Highly talented researcher who invented the time travel theory before she was even an adult, known to be on 2chan and can keep with Okabe and Daru with ease. Also, a complete knockout.
* Hakkai from ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'', and Tenpou from ''SaiyukiGaiden''[[spoiler: who was actually reincarnated as Hakkai]].
* Fujioka Haruhi from ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' in the first episode/chapter. Without the clunky glasses it's found she's quite cute.
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'':
** Tomoe Amamiya (eventually Tomoe Kaburagi) was an unrepentant nerd in every sense of the word (a studious ClassRepresentative who spent her free time fangirling superheroes) who just happened to be rather attractive on top of it. Kotetsu claims in the ''[[AllThereInTheManual Hero Gossip Book]]'' that he fell for her hard and fast.
** The trope is played with in the case of Barnaby. WordOfGod has it that he shows several tendencies leaning towards nerdiness -- which his eccentric behaviour, and the facts that he wears glasses, usually prefers to be alone, and was top student at his school seem to attest to. In-series he [[ChickMagnet has a huge number of fangirls]], but NerdsAreSexy is averted because they're only interested in his [[{{Megane}} good]] [[{{Bishounen}} looks]] and [[TheCharmer charming facade]].
* Ginta Toramizu in ''Manga/{{MAR}}'' is a pretty big geek in the real world, but from the beginning he looks like a typical shonen hero with OpaqueNerdGlasses on.
* Keima of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' is a nerd genius who avoids relationships and spends all his free time playing {{Dating Sim}}s. But, when he's forced to, he can win the hearts of real girls with minimal effort. He thinks he's simply playing the real world like a video game, but his [[{{Bishounen}} conspicuous handsomeness]] and confidence are big assets, too.
* Despite being a computer-addicted NonActionGuy, ''Anime/KillLaKill'''s Houka Inumuta manages to have a six pack ([[FanservicePack after Episode 18 that is]]). Then again, it is a WorldOfBadass...
* Satsuki Shishio, the protagonist's teacher in ''Manga/DaytimeShootingStar'', a history geek and a fan of shoujo manga who is also incredibly handsome.
* With her braided hair, her OpaqueNerdGlasses and her conservative style to wear her uniform, Osaragi from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' comes off to the reader as this, but in-universe, she is seen as a very attractive woman who has lots of boys fawning over her. Onodera is surprised to see that despite her looks, Osaragi is actually very nerdy.

[[folder:Comedy]]
* Lampshaded by one female comedian, who explained that when women say they're "into nerdy guys," what they mean is they're "into male models who wear glasses and don't have nerdy interests."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/KittyPryde of the ComicBook/XMen used to be one. She was a skinny little computer nerd who was jealous of the older X-Women's looks and even needed glasses at one point, though she still had her share of admirers. The trope applied more in real life than within the comics, in fact: so many of today's comic book creators [[RunningTheAsylum grew up]] with a huge crush on Kitty that nowadays she's generally just accepted to be an extremely attractive woman who's also really smart. However, as her attractiveness increased, references to her brains shrank in number; back in the 80s it was hinted that she'd grow up to be another Reed Richards. She's 20-something in comics these days, and her genius-level computer skills can't even hack The Beast's computers. Not to mention, very few modern day adaptations even make reference to her geniusness. The X-Men films didn't even refer to it, and ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' it was only hinted at, in a manner that when it ''did'' crop up, some viewers were confused as to how she was suddenly so smart. This got to the point that the recent ''A+X'' team-up book's story with her and Tony Stark lampshaded it, with Tony trying to convince her to come work for them so she can actually use her supposed smarts.
* Kyle Rayner of the ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''. Self-professed manga-nut who looks like a movie-star, and it shows in his constructs.
* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is an AscendedFanboy who loved comics and art when he was younger, and prior to the war he worked as a PromotedFanboy, drawing and writing comics for a living. He also tends to play MrFanservice at times, being that he's, you know, Captain America. Though this case is justified in that he underwent a scientific procedure that transformed him into an Adonis.
* [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], and [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], and many other ScienceHero types. While Tony is an intentional case; he's a guy who grew up to make millions off of his genius and has been a major celebrity since he was a child, but Peter and Henry Pym, they're more unintentional. As almost everyone in comics tend to be pretty, especially with modern day art styles, Peter and Hank once upon a time did look like more stereotypical geeks, only to evolve into being...not.
** Peter especially is now often referred to as handsome and boyish. That’s averted though, oddly enough, in the Creator/SteveDitko original, where Peter looked more like a stereotypical nerd. John Romita, the artist who came after Ditko and the man responsible for the way Spider-Man comics looked from the mid-60's until Todd [=McFarlane=]'s time, even said that one of the problems with his own rendition was that Peter Parker was far too traditionally attractive. He started as a romance artist for DC, so he was adept at drawing good looking people — just look at Mary Jane. Ironically, this is one of the few instances where it could be completely justified. When Peter Parker was first shown, he was a mid-to-late teenager in high school, getting ready to step up to college soon. Later on when he was looking better, he was already in or graduated from college. So perhaps he's just a late bloomer, and puberty hit hard after that radioactive-spider-bite. The other reason is that Peter Parker was originally sort of conceived as a SelfInsertFic for Steve Ditko.
* Bobbi Morse alias ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}} tends to avoid this, as like Kitty Pryde, her status as a science major is almost never brought up, more focus is put on the fact she's a BadassNormal and DeadpanSnarker. Some writers, especially ones who're fans of her, such as Jim [=McCann=] and Nick Spencer, ''do'' remember this, and like to bring it up.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''. Clark Kent is seen as the naive rube in the big city who Lois Lane wouldn't give the time of day. However, the moment he's out of his suit and glasses he's suddenly a 6'4", 225 lb, chiseled, prime specimen of masculinity. This does lead to the logical problem that, however nervous and clumsy Clark acts, he's still a 6'4" hunk.
** While Clark's nerdiness was emphasised through UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, this has been alternately averted, subverted, and {{lampshade}}d in more modern comics, where Clark Kent is much less "bumbler" and more "former high school football star who actually stayed in shape", and also manages to portray a less milquetoast personality to boot.
** However, he's still considered nerdy, but nerdiness just isn't seen as negatively today as it once was. Also justified in that Clark Kent, who is Superman's natural persona, actually ''is'' a nerd... just a really buff one.
** On the other hand, part of his act isn't so much the classic weedy nerd as it is that he's playing up that he's an awkward [[CountryMouse Smallville bumpkin]] who isn't all that comfortable in the big city. Being big and muscular fits his persona as a naive farmer's son. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely paint a rather nice picture of Clark Kent as a huge, clumsy, hunched-over farmboy that even Lex Luthor speaks positively of.
** The trope is averted, albeit slightly, by Christopher Reeves' portrayal. The bulky glasses and unflattering hairstyle (in addition to drawing attention away from his facial features), make the otherwise-handsome Reeve look fairly ordinary and dorky. This coupled with Reeves' stammering, milquetoast attitude do a decent job of making Clark Kent into an easily-forgettable, unattractive wuss. It's joked that to make the Clark Kent disguise work, Superman must be ''at least'' as good an actor as Christopher Reeve.
* Kate Kane, the second ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, is a lifelong fan of horror movies.
* This trope is {{Lampshaded}} in a ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' issue where Comicbook/BlackCat [[MuggedForDisguise mugs a Horizon Labs employee for her outfit]]. Electro scoffs at the disguise and asks how anyone is supposed to buy someone as hot as Black Cat as a "nerd-girl."
-->'''Black Cat''': Easy. One, I've got [[NerdGlasses the smarty glasses]].
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': George is a rather attractive gal despite her usually intentionally baggy clothes and androgynous look, which is even more evident when she cosplays. She's also BlackAndNerdy and of course wears [[NerdGlasses glasses]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* Belle from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' is viewed as "odd" by the other townspeople [[DeliberateValuesDissonance because she's a woman who likes to read]]. That doesn't stop her from being the most beautiful girl in her village.
* Tadashi Hamada from ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6''. While he looks like a male model (and he can be described as every girl's wet dream), he's a huge dork who's skilled with robotics.
** Honey is a chemist, [=GoGo=] studies mechanical engineering, and Wasabi studies physics. All three of them go to school at a highly prestigious science academy and all three are very conventionally attractive.
[[/folder]]

Take your average attractive actor or actress and stick on NerdGlasses, a [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine lab coat]], and some MessyHair and clothes, to make them HollywoodHomely. Their character is probably also HollywoodDateless and supposedly prone to social ineptitude that may actually only be an InformedFlaw. They may even shoot straight into HotScientist or HotLibrarian (or even OmnidisciplinaryScientist) territory without [[NerdsAreSexy help from their smarts]] to pull it off. They may also be involved in an Ugly Duckling BeautifulAllAlong story if they do get paired off with someone. And there you have them: the Hollywood Nerd.[[note]]Case in point: Creator/JoeKeery playing a nerdy programmer in ''Film/FreeGuy'' while also playing a [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy]] in ''Series/StrangerThings''.[[/note]]

** Sheldon, despite his plain clothing style and zany personality, is still considered handsome (especially when his hair is styled) and has had a fair amount of women (and a man) take interest in him, even though Leonard has attracted more women than him.

*** And then [[FatalAttractor vampire and the angel]] [[spoiler:of Darkness]].

* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody:'' Cody Martin. He may be geeky and school-obsessed, but he's definitely not bad looking, despite what other characters in the show (especially Zack) may say. In the sequel series, Bailey Pickett also fits this trope. She is rather nerdy and awkward, and she may have (according to London, anyway) poor fashion sense, but she's very attractive regardless.

*** And then [[FatalAttractor vampire and the angel]] [[spoiler: Of Darkness]].

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: Dr. Darcy Lewis. She's regularly dressed in extremely frumpy clothes in a clear attempt to hide Kat Dennings' very curvaceous figure and it still doesn't do enough to make her appear homely. Dennings may very well be the current go-to for playing this trope.

Take your average attractive actor or actress and stick on NerdGlasses, a [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine lab coat]], and some MessyHair and clothes, to make them HollywoodHomely. Their character is probably also HollywoodDateless and supposedly prone to social ineptitude that may actually only be an InformedFlaw. They may even shoot straight into HotScientist or HotLibrarian (or even OmnidisciplinaryScientist) territory without [[NerdsAreSexy help from their smarts]] to pull it off. They may also be involved in an Ugly Duckling BeautifulAllAlong story if they do get paired off with someone. And there you have them: the Hollywood Nerd.[[note]]Case in point: Creator/JoeKeery playing a nerdy programmer in ''Film/FreeGuy'' while also playing a [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy]]/reformed bully in ''Series/StrangerThings''. [[/note]]

Take your average attractive actor or actress and stick on NerdGlasses, a [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine lab coat]], and some MessyHair and clothes, to make them HollywoodHomely. Their character is probably also HollywoodDateless and supposedly prone to social ineptitude that may actually only be an InformedFlaw. They may even shoot straight into HotScientist or HotLibrarian (or even OmnidisciplinaryScientist) territory without [[NerdsAreSexy help from their smarts]] to pull it off. They may also be involved in an Ugly Duckling BeautifulAllAlong story if they do get paired off with someone. And there you have them: the Hollywood Nerd.[[note]]Case in point: Creator/JoeKeery playing a nerdy programmer in ''Film/FreeGuy'' while playing a JerkJock in ''Series/StrangerThings''.[[/note]]

Take your average attractive actor or actress and stick on NerdGlasses, a [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine lab coat]], and some MessyHair and clothes, to make them HollywoodHomely. Their character is probably also HollywoodDateless and supposedly prone to social ineptitude that may actually only be an InformedFlaw. They may even shoot straight into HotScientist or HotLibrarian (or even OmnidisciplinaryScientist) territory without [[NerdsAreSexy help from their smarts]] to pull it off. They may also be involved in an Ugly Duckling BeautifulAllAlong story if they do get paired off with someone. And there you have them: the Hollywood Nerd.

* Eric Forman on ''Series/That70sShow'', though he's not a total nerd (it's referenced several times he's [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy an average joe with rather pitiful grades]]), but he does have quite the obsession over ''StarWars'' and is a square compared to his friends.

* Most of the cast of ''Webcomic/SodiumEyes'' are beautiful girls with very geeky hobbies.

* Subverted in ''WebComic/{{Freakwatch}}'' -- while not necessarily unattractive, [[PerkyGoth Jessica]] and [[BlackAndNerdy Warren]] are hardly supermodels.

* In the Music/TearsForFears "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsHiG-43Fzg Head over Heels]]" music video, NerdGlasses were put on Curt Smith and Canadian model Joan Densmore in an attempt to make them appear as a dorky library custodian and a nerdy librarian, respectively. However, Smith's [[PrettyBoy prettiness]] is still very apparent (in fact, he liked the look enough that he kept the fake glasses on during a Creator/{{CBC}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hVA807yy0U&t=3m38s interview]]), and Densmore's character is a HotLibrarian.

Take your average attractive actor or actress and stick on NerdGlasses, a [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine lab coat]], and some MessyHair and clothes, to make them HollywoodHomely. Their character is probably also HollywoodDateless and supposedly prone to social ineptitude that may actually only be an InformedFlaw. They may even shoot straight into HotScientist or HotLibrarian (or even OmnidisciplinaryScientist) territory without [[NerdsAreSexy help from their smarts]] to pull it off. They may also be involved in an Ugly Duckling BeautifulAllAlong story if they do get paired off with someone. And there you have them; the Hollywood Nerd.

** Peter especially is now often referred to as handsome and boyish. That’s averted though, oddly enough, in the Creator/SteveDitko original, where Peter looked more like a stereotypical nerd. John Romita, the artist who came after Ditko and the man responsible for the way Spider-Man comics looked from the mid-60's until Todd [=McFarlane=]'s time, even said that one of the problems with his own rendition was that Peter Parker was far too traditionally attractive. He started as a romance artist for DC, so he was adept at drawing good looking people — just look at Mary Jane.Ironically, this is one of the few instances where it could be completely justified. When Peter Parker was first shown, he was a mid-to-late teenager in high school, getting ready to step up to college soon. Later on when he was looking better, he was already in or graduated from college. So perhaps he's just a late bloomer, and puberty hit hard after that radioactive-spider-bite. The other reason is that Peter Parker was originally sort of conceived as a SelfInsertFic for Steve Ditko.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': George is a rather attractive gal despite her usually intentionally baggy clothes and androgynous look, which is even more evendent when she cosplays. She's also BlackAndNerdy and of course wears [[NerdGlasses glasses]].

See also {{Geek}}, {{Nerd}}. Compare HollywoodHomely, GeekPhysiques, CoolLoser, GiveGeeksAChance. The {{Meganekko}} is a common [[{{Anime}} anime equivalent]]. See also NerdsAreSexy, in which the nerdiness ''is'' what makes someone attractive, and EndearinglyDorky (or the YMMV {{Adorkable}}, which is when the nerdiness makes someone cute.

See also {{Geek}}, {{Nerd}}. Compare HollywoodHomely, GeekPhysiques, CoolLoser, GiveGeeksAChance. The {{Meganekko}} is a common [[{{Anime}} anime equivalent]]. See also NerdsAreSexy, in which the nerdiness ''is'' what makes someone attractive, and EndearinglyDorky or {{Adorkable}}, which is when the nerdiness makes someone [[{{Moe}} cute.]]

* An interesting case in ''Film/TheFly1986'': DoomedProtagonist Seth Brundle (Creator/JeffGoldblum) is quite muscular for a scientist who doesn't get out much. Not that any of the female viewers are complaining, or anything! (The shooting script did have him as out-of-shape prior to the teleportation altering his body into something ''[[BodyHorror initially]]'' more attractive, a detail that may have been dropped because the film was ChristmasRushed.) But as William Beard's commentary on the 2019 Blu-ray points out, typically the audience doesn't ''notice'' how shapely Seth is until he teleports himself because his concealing LimitedWardrobe, expressive face, GibberingGenius speak ''and'' {{Adorkable}} personality are holding their attention.

** ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' has Anna Belknap's Lindsay Monroe. Who herself was a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for Creator/VanessaFerlito as Aiden Burn. (At least until the character of Jessica Angell was introduced...as an even ''more'' Suspiciously Similar Substitute.) They also have Hill Harper's Dr. Sheldon Hawkes and A.J. Buckley's Adam Ross, both handsome guys with advanced degrees...just in different fields. Actually, then whole cast here could arguably be classified as {{Adorkable}} as well, come to think of it.

** Then there's Charlie (played by Creator/FeliciaDay), who [[{{Adorkable}} isn't made out to be unattractive]], though she is a fan of [[GeekReferencePool every geeky thing the writers can think of]] and is also a PlayfulHacker.

** Lara herself qualifies, but ''especially'' in 2013's ''[[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 Tomb Raider]]''. She's only a college graduate, but displays ''remarkable'' knowledge of the various artifacts she discovers during the game, wears an artifact she found on one of her father's digs (her own first find) as a necklace, and her enthusiasm for archaeology is outright {{Adorkable}}. Information you learn later in the game reveals Sam needed to practically drag her away from her books to get her to go out, and that "adventures" to Europe's hot spots had Lara more interested by libraries and historical sites than the clubs, bars and parties. However even before [[TookALevelInBadass Taking Levels In Badass]] Lara is an athletic and quite beautiful young woman, who showed no problems meeting guys whenever Sam could get her nose out of her books.

* In the Music/TearsForFears "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsHiG-43Fzg Head Over Heels]]" music video, NerdGlasses were put on Curt Smith and Canadian model Joan Densmore in an attempt to make them appear as a dorky library custodian and a nerdy librarian, respectively. However, Smith's [[PrettyBoy prettiness]] is still very apparent (in fact, he liked the look enough that he kept the fake glasses on during a Creator/{{CBC}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hVA807yy0U&t=3m38s interview]]), and Densmore's character is a HotLibrarian.
* [[Music/{{Weezer}} Rivers Cuomo]].