History Main / MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold

* Ryūji Takasu from ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' and Madoka Ayukawa from ''Manga/KimagureOrangeRoad'' are both believed to be delinquents, but they're actually misunderstood: both are [[HeroWithBadPublicity in truth really selfless, kind and with a heroic personality]]. Ryūji has the FaceOfAThug and is the son of a {{Yakuza}}, and everyone but his few friends is afraid of him, while Madoka is able to fight against male delinquents to protect weaker people from them, and she's feared at school because of this; however, Kyōsuke approaches her. Well, in ''Toradora!'' there may not be delinquents... But like Madoka, Ryūji sure has his heroic moments in the story, and takes care of his [[AlcoholicParent drunken mom]] [[JustifiedTrope (who is a late-night bar hostess)]], and of a TroubledButCute girl who is his neighbour.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' zig-zags this trope. On the one hand, he turns out to have a heart of gold. On the other hand, he's still an ogre and proud of it.

* In ''Film/{{Housebound}}'', the heroine has a very strange neighbour who seems to spend most of his day burning garbage and skinning possums. When she starts investigating the murder of a mentally ill girl who lived in her house decades ago - and whose ghost she believes to be haunting the place - she begins to suspect her neighbour of the crime and breaks into his house looking for evidence. To say the man has a heart of gold would be an overstatement, [[spoiler: but he is innocent, and provides TheReveal for the true source of the haunting: he once took in a deeply disturbed boy named Eugene, who is now [[MadmanInTheAttic secretly living inside the walls of the heroine's house]]. Eugene isn't the killer, either, though, and turns out to also be an example of this trope.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' both uses and subverts this trope. On the one hand, he turns out to have a heart of gold. On the other hand, he's still an ogre and proud of it.

-->-- '''Old Man Marley''', ''Film/HomeAlone''

** ''Film/HomeAlone'' has Marley, the snow-shovelling man. Kevin's older brother Buzz tells him scary stories about the old man who lives alone in a house down the street being an AxCrazy serial killer. Later, Kevin sees him when he goes to church and strikes up a conversation with him. It turns out that he's just a quiet old man, and is lonely because he is estranged from his son. Kevin advises him to be brave and give his son a phone call. Later, when the burglars Harry and Marv are about to begin torturing Kevin, [[BigDamnHeroes Marley sneaks up on them and whacks them both out cold with a shovel,]] saving Kevin's life. Later, at the end of the movie, we see that Marley has followed Kevin's advice and called his son, and we see Marley reuniting with his son and his family, and hugging his son on Christmas morning.

This character is automatically assumed to be evil due to their solitude, but turns out to have a heart of gold. They appear most often in kiddy programs to deliver that age-old "don't judge a book by its cover" {{aesop}}. They may have some dark secret which, while goodhearted, seems sinister, or needs to be covered up to keep the {{Masquerade}}.

* Sakaki from ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' is a less extreme example, since she doesn't come off as evil upon first glance, just a bit intimidating. She still hits the high points, though, being introduced as an intimidating enigma (the girls, for example, initially believe the scratches and bruises she gets when trying to pet Kamineko are because she's a {{Delinquent}} who likes picking fights), but revealed rather quickly to be a GentleGiant.

* In the Agent for Zalam arc in ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'' where Alita is forced to work for them against her will, because they put her body back together [[spoiler: after her near fatal battle with Zapan.]] She is seen as a dangerous loner by many of the people she is assigned to work with, most of them mercenary's for hire. When [[GentleGiant Figure Four]] who can handle himself against cyborgs sees her playing the harmonica by herself on top of the military train, he takes a chance and talks to her depite his friends fearful warnings. The two of them get into a romantic relationship not long afterwards, but [[WorthyOpponent Figure Four had to earn it]].

** [[spoiler:One TimeSkip later, however, and Gaara is not only reformed enough to stand equally with every other Kage, but leads them and the '''entire goddamn Shinobi world''' in the war against BigBad Tobi.]]

* Addie Clark, a.k.a. "The Governess", from ''Manga/{{Bizenghast}}'' is a posthumous example. When the series began, Addie was one of the ghosts who haunted Dinah's home, which was originally a school and before that a hospital which had burned down. It's been implied that Addie had been responsible for killing numerous children when the house was St. Lyman's School for Boys, and disappeared after supposedly setting the fire that destroyed the school. Over the years Addie's ghost was particularly cruel to Dinah. [[spoiler: Volume six and seven revealed that Addie was nowhere near the monster she'd been made out to be. A kind, young school teacher who made an effort to watch over the younger students who were bullied, she witnessed the people of Bizenghast hang a young woman as a witch one night. One of the men at the hanging was St. Lyman's headmaster, and he knew Addie witnessed the whole thing. She tried to get a letter to her sister explaining the situation by hiding it in a painting, but it never reached her. The headmaster tried to silence Addie by trapping her in the hidden cellar she sometimes taught her students in, suffocating her with smoke that accidentally turned into the fire that destroyed the school. Addie died in a closet along with two young boys. After Dinah discovered the bodies and the letter, Addie's ghost was able to come back to its senses. Apparently, because people had believed the rumors that she was a monster, this warped Addie after she died, and the truth being revealed was enough to give her back her clarity.]]

** Ami Mizuno aka Sailor Mercury was thought by everyone as being an [[InsufferableGenius arrogant know-it-all]] due to her high grades and habit of keeping to herself. Usagi gets to know her and realizes she's anything but; while she is very smart and studious, [[ShyBlueHairedGirl she's just shy]] and doesn't know how to make friends.

* ''Anime/SpiritedAway'': Despite initial impressions, neither Yubaba nor Zeniba are all that evil. Neither is No Face, who is seen only by himself, and tells Chihiro/Sen that he is lonely and doesn't have any friends or family.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' both uses and subverts this trope. On the one hand, he turns out to have a heart of gold. On the other hand, he's still an ogre, and proud of it.

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'': Sid's mishmash toys. They look terrifying and appear to be cannibals when they assault a dolly Sid mutilated, but when they later assault an incapacitated Buzz, they actually mend him... just as they did with the dolly (who turns out to be fine). It's a safe bet they look like they do because they didn't have all their parts when they reassembled each other the first time, and had to make do with what they could find. In some cases they were now their own toys thanks to Sid and for some like Legs a full repair would be fatal.

** ''Film/HomeAlone'' has Marley, the snow-shovelling man. Kevin's older brother Buzz tells him scary stories about the old man who lives alone in a house down the street being an AxCrazy serial killer. Later, Kevin sees him when he goes to church and strikes a conversation with him. It turns out that he's just a quiet old man, and is lonely because he is estranged from his son. Kevin advises him to be brave and give his son a phone call. Later, when the burglars Harry and Marv are about to begin torturing Kevin, [[BigDamnHeroes Marley sneaks up on them and whacks them both out cold with a shovel,]] saving Kevin's life. Later, at the end of the movie, we see that Marley has followed Kevin's advice and called his son, and we see Marley reuniting with his son and his family, and hugging his son on Christmas morning.

* Both protagonists in ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'', who are mistaken as serial killers at first by a bunch of paranoid college students. Dale especially falls under this category, as he is a GentleGiant who would never hurt a fly, except to defend a loved one.

* ''Film/GetLow'': The rumors about Felix Bush are partly deserved, but only because he tends to shoot at anyone who comes near his property. However the opening scene has him catch one of the children who destroyed his window (throwing up on Felix's shoes in fear when caught)...and just patting the boy on the shoulder and letting him go. Yes, he is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but the Jerk part only came [[{{Deconstruction}} after years of being]] ''treated'' as an outcast.
* ''Film/TheJourneyOfNattyGann'': Natty assumes the worst of Charlie the blacksmith (not ''entirely'' without reason, as he took her CanineCompanion away chained up in a crate) and approaches him only with a shovel in hand and considerable trepidation, because he's a big, scary-looking guy with a badly scarred face. She soon discovers, however, that he's a kindly soul who intended all along to release Wolf back into the wild, and after she tells him her story, he gives her food and money for a train ticket and wishes her and Wolf well.

* Doc Brown in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', who was labelled as a dangerous lunatic by many people in Hill Valley ever since an experiment-gone-awry caused his family mansion to burn down in the 1960s and forced him to move into his garage. In reality however, he's an incredibly friendly, albeit eccentric, CoolOldGuy, who even took the time to build a wall-sized amplifier for Marty to use (which unfortunately overloaded) and built a time machine into a De Lorean.

* A borderline example in the Basque fantasy film ''Film/{{Errementari}}''. Patxi, the shut-in [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] (which is what the word "errementari" means in the Basque language) is treated as a local boogieman, with rumours circulating that he's a murderer who lives with the devil. Only a borderline example because, while he does have some good in him and is basically harmless to his neighbours, [[spoiler: he is indeed a murderer and does indeed keep a demon on his property - though [[MadwomanInTheAttic as a prisoner]], since he made a DealWithTheDevil he [[FaustianRebellion does not intend to keep]].]] A lot of what the locals say about Patxi ''is'' true; he's done some very bad things, but he [[TheAtoner does his best to atone for them]] over the course of the movie.
* In ''Film/{{Housebound}}'', the heroine has a very strange neighbour who seems to spend most of his day burning garbage and skinning possums. When she starts investigating the murder of a mentally ill girl who lived in her house decades ago - and whose ghost she believes to be haunting the place - she begins to suspect her neighbour of the crime, and breaks into his house looking for evidence. To say the man has a heart of gold would be an overstatement, [[spoiler: but he is innocent, and provides TheReveal for the true source of the haunting: he once took in a deeply disturbed boy named Eugene, who is now [[MadmanInTheAttic secretly living inside the walls of the heroine's house]]. Eugene isn't the killer, either, though, and turns out to also be an example of this trope.]]

* In ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles'', Macon Ravenwood hasn't left his manor (aboveground, at least) for as long as anyone seems to be able to remember. Naturally he develops a bizarre reputation in town, but turns out to be polite and thoughtful in person. He's also [[LampshadeHanging quite aware]] of this trope, going so far as to name his dog [[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Boo Radley]].

* In ''Literature/TheBlueCastle'' Barney Snaith is a loner and rumored to a murderer, a bank robber or both. Valancy doesn't believe it, and it turns out Barney is a nice guy who prefers his privacy, and started some of the rumors, so no one would bother him.

* [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] is tall, reclusive and bookish. Vanilla mortals think he's a crazy, delusional and fraudulent arsonist. Magical folk and people in the know think he's distant and dangerous, albeit smart and honourable, at best, a crazy, power-mad, psychopathic pyromaniac vigilante who destroys anything and anyone who crosses him at worst. His friends and people who take the time to get to know him may realise that while he is extremely powerful (as compared to his peers) and terrifyingly dangerous, he's just this really nice but socially awkward (and to Thomas' surprise, shy when it comes to romance) guy who can be a little childish, somewhat eccentric and possesses a unique sense of humour (much of which can be traced back to his childhood issues) and a tendency to bite off more than he can chew trying to help those who can't help themselves.

** Nico is shown to be very kind, despite all of this, Such as noticing Hestia when others ignore her, being a real friend to Bob the Titan, and caring deeply for his half sister Hazel.

* Creator/RichardBrautigan explores this in "1692 Cotton Mather Newsreel". As a small child he and his buddy convinced themselves the scary old lady down the street was a witch. On a dare, he investigated, and found no "witch garbage" in her trash -- and her home was filled with flowers. He and his friend ran down the street screaming ''anyway''. And at the very end there's a Fridge WhamLine.

* Cormac of ''Literature/WiseChild'', who is hated and treated as an outcast by the village because of his leprosy, which is believed to be his punishment from God for being sinful. Wise Child initially shares the villagers' opinion, even throwing a rock at him when he comes to Juniper's doorstep to retrieve food that was left out for him (which Wise Child was unaware of), before she finds out Juniper has been caring for Cormac and treating his condition. Wise Child eventually befriends Cormac and learns of his past as the brother of SinisterMinister Fillan.

* John Locke from ''Series/{{Lost}}'', at least during the first series. Despite no-one knowing much about him and even fewer people trusting him, he nonetheless takes the time to scout for water and hunt for food for the rest of the survivors, as well as form an OddFriendship with Charlie after helping him through withdrawal, as well as an IntergenerationalFriendship with Walt by teaching him survival skills.

* Music/MichaelJackson's hero "Maestro" in ''[[Film/MichaelJacksonsGhosts Ghosts]]'', a 38-minute video. When one of the young boys he was secretly sharing ghost stories and magic tricks with lets the grown-ups in his town know what they were up to, they panic and form a TorchesAndPitchforks mob to storm his creepy mansion. The cold-hearted mayor even points out that he lives all alone and is a "freak". Maestro turns out to be a spirit who has a whole troupe of ghosts/ghouls backing him up, and in the end all but the mayor of the town comes to love him thanks to his wonderful powers. Unfortunately, he ''forces'' the crowd to witness those powers and ''tortures the mayor'', so the intended "don't be suspicious of/prejudiced towards those who are different" Aesop is muddled thanks to ProtagonistCenteredMorality. The story's RealitySubtext -- this was after the first round of child molestation allegations against Jackson -- doesn't help.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/Fallout3''. Upon reaching Tenpenny Tower, an upscale luxury gated community in what is otherwise a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the player overhears a [[OurGhoulsAreDifferent ghoul]] complaining about not being allowed to live inside. Non-feral ghouls just want to be treated fairly, like human beings, and it's not hidden that the reason they aren't allowed in Tenpenny's building is because the owner and many of the residents are racist against ghouls. If the player takes up the owner's quest to descend into the subway tunnels and exterminate the ghouls, they are rewarded negative karma. If you go the other way and find a way to let the ghouls get revenge on the humans' bigotry, the ghouls show up, kill everyone, and wreck the building, and you get ''really'' negative karma. But if the player [[TakeAThirdOption goes through the trouble of talking to all the residents, evicting all the racists, and having the others admit they could try to tolerate ghoul neighbors]], it's possible for the ghouls to move in and the two groups to coexist peacefully... for a few days, until a "disagreement" sees all the open-minded residents killed off by the ghouls, who laugh about it and stack the corpses in the basement. But hey, you tried, so here's some good karma!

** By the second game she seems to have grown out of it, working as an information broker (and fairly public figure) with her own network of contacts and hired muscle. [[spoiler: Then as of the ''Shadow Broker'' DLC she's right back to operating from the shadows.]]
* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers of Sky'' gives us Armaldo, a scary looking monster living in a dark forest. Really a NiceGuy and helps our Igglybuff realize his potential as an explorer. [[spoiler: Then it's double-subverted; he's a criminal hiding from the police and spread rumors of the monster in order to keep everyone away. It doesn't mean that he's evil but that he has to face up for what he's done. He promises to go exploring again once he's done his time.]]

*** Naoto Shirogane, a KidDetective who is initially standoffish, a bit antisocial and is the dangerous combination of 'working with the Inaba Police' and 'GenreSavvy enough to suspect that your group is hiding important facts crucial to the solving of the case'. When an irritated Rise initially accuses Naoto of treating the case like a game, Naoto doesn't outright deny it, either [[spoiler: until just before Naoto puts ThePlan to find your secret out into motion. Naoto gets intentionally captured by the kidnapper. You then rescue Naoto from the TV and find out 1) that she was a girl passing herself off as a boy out of insecurity spawned from being a young girl in a profession composed largely of men, 2) as a young girl she didn't have many friends so she immersed herself in detective novels and studying, 3) that she was ''right'' about the real murderer/kidnapper not being in jail]]. After this, [[spoiler: she's very open to getting to know the group (though she can ''still'' be a touch standoffish and nervous), immediately offers to help Teddie to find any information about his true identity (despite not even knowing him very well), makes doctor's appointments for your whole group to make sure that the TV world hasn't physically damaged anybody's health, and offers to help Kanji with his math]]. In summation, Naoto puts on a standoffish hard-boiled facade, but is a helpful all-around sweetheart, dedicated to solving the murders.

* Knuckles the Echidna from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''. He is openly misunderstood for his solitude and serious personality. However, his intentions are good and he acts in a respectful manner whenever someone doesn't make him angry. He thinks different from the other characters, which leads him to be openly mistaken for {{Jerkass}}, despite him being usually right. There's also the fact that he's a loner due to his duty, rather by his own choice, and his [[NoSocialSkills poor social skills]] are just a result of having been cut off from civilization for most of his life.

** Not really that mysterious as she's a major recurring character, but Alice Margatroid seems to fit the other criteria, especially if you replace "evil" with "creepy." Even though she's a Youkai it's debatable that she is leagues more kinder then some of the other "human" characters (Perhaps the kindest in the entire series). If you're ever lost in the Forest of Magic late at night she'll be so kind as to allow you to lodge in her house. As her house is full of dolls and she never makes any kind of conversation, just carrying on with her work without any acknowledgement of your presence one might be a little creeped out.

** Played straight in another episode where Brian meets with an old lady who is a shut in and is forced to take care of her as a part of his sentence. The old woman is extremely bitter and nothing Brian does ever pleases her. It gets to the point where Brian says she should just drop dead and he leaves. When Brian discovers that the old lady used to be a famous opera singer, he feels guilty about what he said to her and he returns back to her home, managing to catch her just in time before she could hang herself. Once Brian tells the woman he liked her aria, she warms up to Brian and becomes a lot nicer to him, happy that someone finally appreciated her classical singing instead of her commercial jingles. Once the woman gets the courage to go outside her house again after so long, she promptly gets run over by a truck and dies shortly after.

** "Bridle Gossip" had the entire ''town'' of Ponyville go into terrified hiding whenever the mysterious cloaked stranger Zecora arrives. Ponies are afraid of her because she looks odd, [[RhymesOnADime talks odd]], acts odd (she paws at the ground every so often, which zebras do in real life to find water [[GeniusBonus but ponies do in real life]] [[CrossCulturalKerfluffle as a threat gesture]]), and lives alone in the spooky and mysterious [[EnchantedForest Everfree Forest]] (where the "plants and animals care '''[[PaintingTheFrostOnWindows for themselves]]'''!") Even after Twilight points out that she's a ''zebra'' and not a pony, everyone is still disturbed; they blame Zecora for their being cursed, think she's planning to eat them in stew, and so on. In the end they all go off to find and get her to remove the curse and "rescue" Applebloom whom they believe had been kidnapped by her. Of course it turns out Zecora had nothing to do with their curse-like maladies and was in fact working on a cure for them. Also, she ''would'' probably have interacted with ponies more, except that whenever she went to town the shops would be "mysteriously closed".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}} Halloween Special'', the Cosby Kids think Russel and a girl are trapped in an mysterious old lady's house on Halloween Night. The kids finally get the nerve to burst into the house, but find their friends relaxing in comfortable chairs enjoying some treats supplied by the old lady who, apart from disapproving a bit of the other kids' abrupt entrance, has more for everyone and a merry time is had by all.

-->-- '''Old Man Marley''' ''Film/HomeAlone''

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': Sid's mishmash toys. They look terrifying and appear to be cannibals when they assault a dolly Sid mutilated, but when they later assault an incapacitated Buzz, they actually mend him... just as they did with the dolly (who turns out to be fine). It's a safe bet they look like they do because they didn't have all their parts when they reassembled each other the first time, and had to make do with what they could find. In some cases they were now their own toys thanks to Sid and for some like Legs a full repair would be fatal.

** ''Film/HomeAlone'' has Marley, the snow-shovelling man. Kevin's older brother Buzz tells him scary stories about the old man who lives alone in a house down the street being an AxeCrazy serial killer. Later, Kevin sees him when he goes to church and strikes a conversation with him. It turns out that he's just a quiet old man, and is lonely because he is estranged from his son. Kevin advises him to be brave and give his son a phone call. Later, when the burglars Harry and Marv are about to begin torturing Kevin, [[BigDamnHeroes Marley sneaks up on them and whacks them both out cold with a shovel,]] saving Kevin's life. Later, at the end of the movie, we see that Marley has followed Kevin's advice and called his son, and we see Marley reuniting with his son and his family, and hugging his son on Christmas morning.

See that person over there? You know, the one who lives in the [[OldDarkHouse spooky house]] and never comes outside, and is always glaring at you out the window? They must be evil, right? Yeah! After all, everyone knows that LonersAreFreaks. If they don't interact with any of us, that must mean they're a monster!

** The episode "Bridle Gossip" had the entire ''town'' of Ponyville go into terrified hiding whenever the mysterious cloaked stranger Zecora arrives. Ponies are afraid of her because she looks odd, [[RhymesOnADime talks odd]], acts odd (she paws at the ground every so often, which zebras do in real life to find water [[GeniusBonus but ponies do in real life]] [[CrossCulturalKerfluffle as a threat gesture]]), and lives alone in the spooky and mysterious [[LostWoods Everfree Forest]] (where the "plants and animals care '''[[PaintingTheFrostOnWindows for themselves]]'''!") Even after Twilight points out that she's a ''zebra'' and not a pony, everyone is still disturbed; they blame Zecora for their being cursed, think she's planning to eat them in stew, and so on. In the end they all go off to find and get her to remove the curse and "rescue" Applebloom whom they believe had been kidnapped by her. Of course it turns out Zecora had nothing to do with their curse-like maladies and was in fact working on a cure for them. Also, she ''would'' probably have interacted with ponies more, except that whenever she went to town the shops would be "mysteriously closed".

** Severus Snape may also fall under this category in some ways, at least in his youth. The present version could not be said to have a heart of gold, [[spoiler: but he does have good intentions, genuinely trying to keep Harry alive throughout the series, albeit for selfish reasons]].

* The Swiss town of Maules had a mysterious figure known to the locals as "Le Loyon", an entity dressed in military clothing and a gas mask who frequently walked through the woods, usually picking flowers and generally behaving harmlessly. Despite this, he (or at least, [[AmbiguousGender most people THINK they were a he...]]) was feared enough by the community that the police and others were starting to get involved. This would culminate in Le Loyon's disappearance, but not before he left a note behind explaining himself. This, unfortunately, [[DownerEnding is not a Misunderstood Loner story with a happy ending]]--Le Loyon's note has him stating that the TorchesAndPitchforks sent his way had effectively ruined his life, as all he wanted was to enjoy the therapeutic effects of his nature walks, and the note further implied that the fears of a full-on witch hunt headed his way may have [[DrivenToSuicide driven him to suicide]]. The townspeople then ''[[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing celebrated]]'' his disappearance, though later they would come to have a collective MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. A later 4Chan post would imply that Le Loyon is still alive out there and that he sees the whole "walking through the woods in an elaborate costume" thing as something of an OldShame he used to do for fun, but given 4Chan's very nature, the validity of this is unclear and even if it ''is'' true, it still suggests that a completely innocent and harmless person was forcibly driven from their home solely because they were "scary".

* [[{{Necromancer}} Nico]] [[CastingAShadow di]] [[ISeeDeadPeople Angelo]] in both ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' and ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''. [[UsedToBeASweetKid He didn't start off that way]], but after his sister died, he was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer ostracized]] for being [[EverybodyHatesHades a son of Hades]] to the point that he felt he didn't belong anywhere, after which he took to living on the streets. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that another big reason that he feels like an outcast is that he's gay, which, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance being from the 40s, he's deeply ashamed of.]]]] By the sequel series, pretty much everyone (excluding his half-sister, and a few old friends) is a bit wary of him, although they don't think he's evil.

** Ami Mizuno aka Sailor Mercury was thought by everyone as being an [[InsuferableGenius arrogant know-it-all]] due to her high grades and habit of keeping to herself. Usagi gets to know her and realizes she's anything but; while she is very smart and studious, [[ShyBlueHairedGirl she's just shy]] and doesn't know how to make friends.

** Makoto Kino aka Sailor Jupiter as well. Due to her reputation of getting into fights and [[HugeSchoolgirl rather big stature]], people mistook her as a bully and stayed clear of her as a result. However, as Usagi learns, she is a very friendly and easygoing individual, and only got into fights [[BullyHunter in order to protect others]] than out of malice.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Starman}} 80-Page Giant'', a story featuring the O'Dare siblings as kids has Mason accidentally throwing their dad's first police cap into the junk-strewn yard of Old Man Zucco, and he and Matt try to get it back. When Hope and Barry hear them scream, they run to the nice old lady next door for help. [[spoiler: Hope then realises Mrs Tolliver is the aunt of the criminal the police are searching for, who is hiding upstairs. He tries to use the kids as hostages, but Old Man Zucco helps rescue them]].

* A borderline example in the Basque fantasy film ''Film/{{Errementari}}''. Patxi, the shut-in [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] (which is what the word "errementari" means in the Basque language) is treated as a local boogieman, with rumours circulating that he's a murderer who lives with the devil. Only a borderline example because, while he does have some good in him and is basically harmless to his neighbours, [[spoiler: he is indeed a murderer and does indeed keep a demon on his property - though [[BerthaInTheAttic as a prisoner]], since he made a DealWithTheDevil he [[FaustianRebellion does not intend to keep]].]] A lot of what the locals say about Patxi ''is'' true; he's done some very bad things, but he [[TheAtoner does his best to atone for them]] over the course of the movie.
* In ''Film/{{Housebound}}'', the heroine has a very strange neighbour who seems to spend most of his day burning garbage and skinning possums. When she starts investigating the murder of a mentally ill girl who lived in her house decades ago - and whose ghost she believes to be haunting the place - she begins to suspect her neighbour of the crime, and breaks into his house looking for evidence. To say the man has a heart of gold would be an overstatement, [[spoiler: but he is innocent, and provides TheReveal for the true source of the haunting: he once took in a deeply disturbed boy named Eugene, who is now [[BerthaInTheAttic secretly living inside the walls of the heroine's house]]. Eugene isn't the killer, either, though, and turns out to also be an example of this trope.]]

* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Blood Pact'', Kolding. Reclusive and eccentric after a traumatic ordeal -- at sixteen, he was in the hospital when Chaos soldiers attacked to kill the [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown wounded]] and TheMedic, his father -- he still comes through for Gaunt. Somewhat ZigZagged as we see him first from his own POV and know he's not a freak, but Maggs doesn't trust him. The fact that he's an albino living in the xenophobic mutant-purging Imperium of Man doesn't help either.

* TheHero is this at the beginning of ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. As "The Boy Without a Fairy" living among the Kokiri, every one of whom has a FairyCompanion, Link is considered an oddball at best and a freak at worst to all of them except his one friend, Saria. The story begins when the Great Deku Tree ''finally'' [[CallToAdventure sends Navi]] to the poor kid, and Link gets to be a real member of the tribe. [[FromBadToWorse For about five minutes]].

* ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky]]'' gives us Armaldo, a scary looking monster living in a dark forest. Really a NiceGuy and helps our Igglybuff realize his potential as an explorer. [[spoiler: Then it's double-subverted; he's a criminal hiding from the police and spread rumors of the monster in order to keep everyone away. It doesn't mean that he's evil but that he has to face up for what he's done. He promises to go exploring again once he's done his time.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

* [[ZekkyouGakkyuu "The Bonds of a Curse."]] It doesn't help with the fact that [[BadPowersGoodPeople Kurosawa curses people.]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Hotaru Tomoe aka Sailor Saturn from ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. Not only does she have strange healing powers, she often lapses into "seizures" that are the result of the alien entity Mistress 9 taking control of her body. During these episodes, she blacks out and often unwittingly commits harm to those around her. Because of this, her classmates fear and reject her. In reality, Hotaru is a very sweet and gentle girl who is terrified of hurting anybody and wants nothing more than to have a friend.

* In the Agent for Zalam arc in ''{{Manga/Gunnm}}'' where Alita/Gally is forced to work for them against her will, because they put her body back together [[spoiler: after her near fatal battle with Zapan.]] She is seen as a dangerous loner by many of the people she is assigned to work with, most of them mercenary's for hire. When [[GentleGiant Figure Four]] who can handle himself against cyborgs sees her playing the harmonica by herself on top of the military train, he takes a chance and talks to her depite his friends fearful warnings. The two of them get into a romantic relationship not long afterwards, but [[WorthyOpponent Figure Four had to earn it]].

* In ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles'', Macon Ravenwood hasn't left his manor (aboveground, at least) for as long as anyone seems to be able to remember. Naturally he develops a bizarre reputation in town, but turns out to be polite and thoughtful in person. He's also [[LampshadeHanging quite aware]] of this trope, going so far as to name his dog [[ShoutOut Boo]] [[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Radley]].