History Main / ProudToBeAGeek

* Obnoxiously turned inside out on fourth season episode of ''Series/TheWestWing'', where a woman wearing a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' pin in the office tells Josh that she wears it because the Starfleet symbol is, to her, a symbol of honor and civic duty, and Josh should commend her for such pride in her job -- Josh quickly grinds what would be a nice little speech into the ground by basically saying "it's okay to like ''Star Trek'', but do it in the privacy of your own home". [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop By explicitly comparing her display of a pin to a fetish]]. (Note that it's apparently fine to be a ''sports'' fan in the White House, as several of the leads have sports paraphernalia in their offices.) Way to go, Sorkin.

* Music/TheProtomen, who are creating a rock opera based upon what little plot the VideoGame/MegaMan games have.

* Actors Rob Benedict and Richard Speight Jr. - the Kings of Con.

* Creator/KevinSmith. He makes films featuring nerds debating which ''StarWars'' movie was best, the ethical implications of the destruction of the second Deathstar, the status of the ''{{Transformers}}'' as a gift from God, and whether ''StarWars'' or ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' is the true trilogy of Geekdom.

->''"Why is being a nerd bad? Saying "I notice you're a nerd" is like saying 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Creator/LindsayLohan... Why is that?'"''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The anime series ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'' stars a cast of {{Otaku}} characters more or less comfortable with their hobbies, within limits. Kuchiki, however, has less shame than a drunken frat boy at a toga party and will engage in loud conversations over [[{{Hentai}} pornographic doujinshi]] in public.
* Konata of ''Anime/LuckyStar'' certainly doesn't hold reservations about her hobbies. [[ComedicLolicon Her dad's]], on the other hand...

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': It takes a ''lot'' to get her to admit it, but deep down Chisame Hasegawa is proud of her geekiness. [[{{Otaku}} Haruna Saotome]] also qualifies in a big way.
** The former is actually so proud and comfortable with it that when [[spoiler: Negi's party were attacked by Poyo's LotusEaterMachine, she was not affected by it]]. And that is even taking into account that she has been complaining how crazy it has been for a normal girl like her to be thrown into such a crazy world. She wasn't exactly happy about the revelation though.

[[folder:Film]]

** Toby Radloff in ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor'' feels much the same way and was quite empowered by the movie. Indeed, he had a brief but memorable FifteenMinutesOfFame based on his popularity in the comics for his forthrightness.
*** Ironically, all of this comes up largely because Harvey Pekar, writer of ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor'', felt very strongly the opposite way about this trope. He dismissed the nerds in the movie as being [[HollywoodGeek Hollywood Geeks]] and saw the whole thing as insulting to "genuine" nerds like Radloff, who didn't go to college but had built his own computer over one summer through true grit.

-->'''General Hager:''' [to Reed] Let me make this clear for you and your pack of freaks. I'm the quarterback, you're on my team. But I guess you didn't play football in high school, did you, Richards?
-->[Hager starts to walk away]
-->'''Reed Richards:''' You're right. I didn't. I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd. And fifteen years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century. I'm engaged to the hottest girl on the planet. And the big jock who played football in high school, he's standing right in front of me asking me for my help, and I say he's not going to get a damn thing unless he does exactly what I say and starts treating me and my friends with some respect.
-->'''General Hager:''' [understandingly] Give him what he wants.
-->[Hagar walks away]
-->'''Susan Storm:''' [to Reed] I'm so hot for you right now.
-->'''Johnny Storm:''' [hugging Reed and switching powers] [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Me, too!]]

[[folder: Literature]]

-->'''Ridcully''': You are, by your own admission, a wet and a weed.
-->'''Ponder''': Yes, sir, and a wuss, and I am proud of the appellation.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''Series/FamilyMatters'', Steve Urkel was like this most of the time, except when they wanted to give AnAesop about being happy with who you are. Most of the time, however, he seemingly didn't give a rats ass that everyone referred to him as a nerd, especially since he was probably the coolest person in the school despite his labeling.
** His being a complete klutz, however, ruins a lot of the coolness.

-->'''Stone Phillips''': Thank you very much, pencil-neck.\\
'''Stephen Colbert''': Sir, I believe the term is pencil-necked ''geek''.

--> ''Sara'': Geeks should be revered.
* Series/{{House}}. His geek culture references are plenty, and he knows when things should [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap go to eleven]].
** House obsessively follows soap operas, and when he discovers that one of the members of his team does as well, but refuses to ever admit to it in public, he berates him for being ashamed of his position as a geek.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. Chuck Bartowski's geekiness is almost always the key to saving the day in any given episode. He once saved the day [[spoiler:playing Missile Command]] for crying out loud.
** While, if memory serves, Rush was blaring in the background.
*** It gets even better. He saved the day by playing Missile Command ''in time'' with a Rush ballad.
* The ''Series/KnightRider'' reboot gave us Billy and Zoe, who were both proud of their skills with computers and who came to work dressed up as characters from Torchwood and Heroes on Halloween.
* Obnoxiously turned inside out on fourth season episode of ''Series/TheWestWing'', where a woman wearing a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' pin in the office tells Josh that she wears it because the Starfleet symbol is, to her, a symbol of honor and civic duty, and Josh should commend her for such pride in her job -- Josh quickly grinds what would be a nice little speech into the ground by basically saying "it's okay to like Star Trek, but do it in the privacy of your own home". [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop By explicitly comparing her display of a pin to a fetish]]. (Note that it's apparently fine to be a ''sports'' fan in the White House, as several of the leads have sports paraphernalia in their offices.) Way to go, Sorkin.

* Even if the other three male leads are not, Sheldon of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is proud of his geekiness (or he's just that obtuse).

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Both Castle and Becket have flown their geek flags proudly; Castle is big on ''Franchise/StarWars'' and comic conventions, while Beckett has demonstrated a more-than-passing familiarity with Creator/FrankMiller's work and was amazed that Castle had never seen ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''. To say nothing of her passion for ''Nebula 9'':
-->'''Beckett:''' Yes, I was a sci-fi loving, costume-wearing geek. And you know what — not ashamed of it or 'Nebula 9!'

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLBb58iHiRA The Nerd Anthem]]'' by Marian Call.
* The "White and Nerdy" video by Music/WeirdAlYankovic is so upfront about geeking out!
---> "When my friends need some code ''who do they call?''"
** The popular web music video for Music/LemonDemon's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbDV1afDSn0 "Geeks In Love"]] is a stellar example of the 'geekiness is an expression of individuality and helps you find what truly makes you happy' viewpoint. Good song too.
** The Arrogant Worms song "Great To Be A Nerd".
** Music/FiveIronFrenzy loved this trope: "Suckerpunch," "You Can't Handle This," "Wizard Needs Food Badly," and much of "At Least I'm Not Like All Those Other Old Guys."
** Felicia Day (see Real Life) and her song ''I'm the One that's Cool''
* Canadian electropop singer Music/{{Lights}}. She's an avid gamer as well as a fan of comic books and other nerd culture, and it really shows in some of her music videos. It's also worth mentioning that her song "Lions!" was inspired by one of her favorite computer games, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
** She once joked that her middle name was Two-Handed Weapons, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ-omMi-WMs Lights Two-HandedWeapons Poxleitner]]

* Music/{{Devo}} probably originated the trope among mainstream bands.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBCWsZX4u3I Here they are proving it while hawking cherry-red Honda scooters.]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* The opening lines of Leva Bates's entrance theme are "Proud to be a geek!"
* Wrestling/AJLee, who was sometimes called "The Geek Goddess".

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The entire staff of ''Webcomic/PvP'' except probably Jade. Francis cosplayed as Chun Li to a convention without any insecurity whatsoever. Brent will fight you, but not before saying "It's Amok Time!", etc.
** What do you mean, "[[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/07/01/welcome-back/ except]] [[http://www.pvponline.com/2009/01/13/time-and-relative-dimension-in-office-space/ Jade]]?"
* http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20000604
* [[strike: Ethan]] Everyone from ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel''.
* Gabe and Tycho from ''Webcomic/PennyArcade''.

* ''WebVideo/TheTotallyRadShow'': [[BadassCreed "Nerd is the new cool"]].
* In the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, at SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy, all the gadgeteers and devisers are this, but Generator (Jade Sinclair) fits this too. She sings anime theme songs in public. In Japanese. She invents shoulder angels. ''Working'' shoulder angels, which start a fad across campus. She is one of the founding members of Team Wondercute. She says she is building a working model of [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Raising Heart]].

* Comic Book Guy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', is an example of the rising popularity of geekdom. In the eighth Simpsons Halloween special (aired in 1996), just before dying, he sadly realizes he wasted his life. In the 2007 movie, however, when he believes he will die he looks over his collection and happily concludes he had a perfectly worthwhile existence.
** Lisa usually follows this trope, though many episodes involve her giving in to peer pressure and trying to act "cool" or otherwise reinventing her social persona. They always end with an {{Aesop}} about being yourself, and with Lisa regaining her geek pride.
*** Played with in "Lard of the Dance," where Lisa is pressured to both give up being nerdy and to act like an adult. She ends up making a speech about how she's not ashamed of her geekiness, and that she wants to enjoy being a kid while she still can.

* This describes most of the characters in ''Disney/BigHero6''.

* [[GadgeteerGenius Tucker Foley]] from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "Buttercup Vs. Math", when Buttercup contemptuously calls Blossom a "nerd", Blossom proudly replies "Thank you!"

And that tropes page you just read? Yeah, we wrote that. [[SarcasmMode So, you're welcome.]]

* The film adaptation of ''Film/TheKingOfFighters'' is trying to invoke this trope in actor interviews, in a desperate attempt to attract fans of the games. It fails miserably.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Both Castle and Becket have flown their geek flags proudly; Castle is big on ''Film/StarWars'' and comic conventions, while Beckett has demonstrated a more-than-passing familiarity with Creator/FrankMiller's work and was amazed that Castle had never seen ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''. To say nothing of her passion for ''Nebula 9'':

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': Hiro Nakamura openly and proudly proclaims his geekiness at nearly every opportunity, regardless of how inappropriate. He is dedicated to being a superhero and cites actual comic books as his guide - he never strays from his mission even when faced down by his disapproving father who clearly sees Hiro's attitude as being, well, kind of shameful.
** Eagle-eyed tropers will notice that in Hiro's first scene, his desk at work is littered with popular manga figurines. This is at work. Where he's the son of the company's president.

** Hiro also appears to refer to that sword as if it was [[{{LightNovel/Slayers}} Gourry's Sword of Light]] (aka something uniquely his and a part of him). This also doesn't come through in the English, at all. I swear, heroes was written with a much more international audience in mind.
*** The actor, Masi Oka, based much of Hiro's geekiness on his own.
** Hiro has a blog, and he once wrote there that he wants to fight evil like [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure JoJo]].

* Hardison on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' is the resident hacker and very proud of his geekery, with such lines as, "Age of the geek, baby. We rule the world." (He's also a fan not only of StarWars but also of Series/DoctorWho.)

** Leonard, as the straight man, is most frequently embarrassed by his geekiness when in the presence of "normal" people. Howard and Raj, while aware of the social awkwardness it can cause, seem quite content with their geekiness. Sheldon...simply refuses to be anything else.

* A less sympathetic example is [[Series/TheOfficeUS Dwight Schrute]] who is obsessed with archaic weapons, ''StarWars'', and ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}''. He created Recyclops as a mascot for recycling, but his geekish tendencies have given Recyclops a bizarre and tragic narrative to the point that Recyclops now seeks vengeance upon the environment.

-->'''Beckett''' Yes, I was a sci-fi loving, costume-wearing geek. And you know what — not ashamed of it or 'Nebula 9!'

* [[TeenGenius Gretchen Grundler]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. Also, [[BlackAndNerdy Vince's older brother Chad]], although Vince, who had always assumed Chad was cool, was shocked when he realized. There's also the Pale Kids from ''Lord of the Nerds.''

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "Buttercup Vs. Math," when Buttercup contemptuously calls Blossom a "nerd," Blossom proudly replies "Thank you!"
** Subverted in the same episode when the Derby-tantes think that Buttercup has lost her badass cred after being promoted to advanced math. At the end, when Buttercup wins the day with her math skills, the Derby-tantes sadly confess they stink at math and they (as well as Blossom who [[HeroicBSOD blue-screens]] when she finds out [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Buttercup is better at math]]) ask Buttercup for help.

->''"Why is being a nerd bad? Saying "I notice you're a nerd" is like saying 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Creator/LindsayLohan.... Why is that?'"''

The perhaps inevitable outcropping of BeYourself. Considerably overlaps with {{Nerdcore}}. The polar opposite is the ClosetGeek.

-->'''Reed Richards:''' You're right. I didn't. I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd. And fifteen years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century. I'm engaged to the hottest girl on the planet. And the big jock who played football in high school, he's standing right in front of me asking me for my help, and I say he's not going to get a damn thing, unless he does exactly what I say and starts treating me and my friends with some respect.

* Obnoxiously turned inside out on fourth season episode of ''Series/TheWestWing'', where a woman wearing a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' pin in the office tells Josh that she wears it because the Starfleet symbol is, to her, a symbol of honor and civic duty, and Josh should commend her for such pride in her job-- Josh quickly grinds what would be a nice little speech into the ground by basically saying "it's okay to like Star Trek, but do it in the privacy of your own home". [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop By explicitly comparing her display of a pin to a fetish]]. (Note that it's apprently fine to be a ''sports'' fan in the White House, as several of the leads have sports paraphernalia in their offices.) Way to go, Sorkin.

* Allegra Rosenberg, possible the most adorable ukulele Trock star ever. She's recently diversified from Doctor Who for her subjects, doing songs about Teen Wolf, Homestuck, Gravity Falls, Sherlock and shipping

* Comic Book Guy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', is an example of the rising popularity of geekdom. In the eighth Simpsons Halloween special (aired in 1996), just before dying, he sadly realizes he wasted his life. In the 2007 movie however, when he believes he will die he looks over his collection, and happily concludes he had a perfectly worthwhile existence.

** ...and then you remember it's the Dwarvish language ''he himself'' invented. Also his ShoutOut in Brisingr, explained in the Acknowledgements section in the back:

* Heck! with many assumed celebrity geeks and the current mainstream popularity of SuperHero films and videogames, every day more and more people take their geekyness with pride, which sadly created another problem: Poseur geeks.

* Hifumi Yamada in ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}. Many times characters react awkwardly to how shameless he is in all things fandom-related, and he takes the word "{{Otaku}}" (and anything else that might imply it) as a compliment. It's how he got his title as the Super Highschool Level {{Doujin}} Author, after all.

* Music/LadyGaga, whose videos have included shout-outs to OnePiece and Franchise/{{Dune}}.

* Otacon, in the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series, is very up-front about his love for things nerdy, especially anime and manga. The guy's self-selected codename is after the frigging Otaku Convention (Otakon), after all!

* Gus of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' tries to deny it at first but eventually has a CrowningMomentOfAwesome explaining to Shawn how cool geeks are and how proud he is to be one in "Shawn Vs. the Red Phantom".

In fiction, expect the outpouring of this belief to manifest in the form of an IAmWhatIAm, WhoopiEpiphanySpeech, or at least sheer shamelessness. In [[TruthInTelevision real life]], look more to writers and actors being open and honest about the [[OneOfUs things they do]] which seem, well, almost inappropriate considering how awesome and cool they are.

-->"I'm sure you're wondering why I, Buford, have taken a leadership role in such a geek-centered enterprise. Well, take a look around. This place is crawling with nerds! I'm like a kid in a candy store! Plus, [[OneOfUs I relate to the character of Odar Underhump]] [[HiddenDepths and his complex emotional inner journey]]."

* Creator/SimonPegg. Writer and star of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', a 'love letter' to zombie films, ''Film/HotFuzz'', an AffectionateParody of action films, and ''Series/{{Spaced}}'', a show made by geeks for geeks.

* Sara Sidle on ''Series/{{CSI}}''

** Subverted in the same episode when the Derby-tantes think that Buttercup has lost her badass cred after being promoted to advanced math. At the end, when Buttercup wins the day with her math skills, the Derby-tantes sadly confess they stink at math and they (as well as Blossom) ask Buttercup for help.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "Buttercup Vs. Math," when Buttercup conemptuously calls Blossom a "nerd," Blossom proudly replies "Thank you!"

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "Buttercup Vs. Math," when Buttercup conemptuosly calls Blossom a "nerd," Blossom proudly replies "Thank you!"

** Subverted in the same episode when the Derby-tantes think that Buttercup has lost her basass cred after being promoted to advanced math. At the end, when Buttercup wins the day with her math skills, the Derby-tantes sadly confess they stink at math and they (as well as Blossom) ask Buttercup for help.

* Canadian electropop singer Music/{{Lights}}. She's an avid gamer as well as a fan of comic books and other nerd culture, and it really shows in some of her music videos. It's also worth mentioning that her song "Lions!" was inspired by one of her favorite computer games, WorldOfWarcraft.

* Creator/FeliciaDay. After a two-year addiction to WorldOfWarcraft, she decided she needed to do something productive with her time and began writing a television show pilot. What was it about? [[WebVideo/TheGuild Online gaming.]]

* Canadian electropop singer {{Lights}}. She's an avid gamer as well as a fan of comic books and other nerd culture, and it really shows in some of her music videos. It's also worth mentioning that her song "Lions!" was inspired by one of her favorite computer games, WorldOfWarcraft.