Kindhearted Simpleton

A rather Big Fun example of this.

"Y'know, kid: for a dumbass, you got heart."

— Chauffeur, Malcolm in the Middle

There are many characters who are dumb or airheaded. However, for some of these, what they lack in intelligence, they make it up with acts of compassion, politeness, and altruism. This is the Kindhearted Simpleton: they are not the sharpest tool in the shed but is always well-meaning and compassionate towards other characters. They probably will not be quite as dumb as a standard Ditz or not as airheaded as a Cloudcuckoolander, since that is not the focus of their character. If the Brainless Beauty isn't being an Alpha Bitch, then she (or he) is this instead. And if the Dumb Jock is not a Jerk Jock, then he is almost certainly this, making him a Lovable Jock.

Due to their well-meaning nature but below-average intelligence, these characters have the potential to be taken advantage of and easily manipulated by smarter (and occasionally evil) characters because of their naïvete & gullibility,^note  just enough to also serve as a Sycophantic Servant, an innocently Bumbling Sidekick and/or even a Minion with an F in Evil in a Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey pairing in some instances. But aside from that, when they are not paired with villainous characters, they're far likely to be Stupid Good or just good-natured characters in general. The Kindhearted Simpleton should beware of Manipulative Bastards and Guile Heroes. (They should also know it's a snake when they bring it in.) These characters rarely, if ever, get angry, but when they do, it's usually because they realize how much someone has taken advantage of their trusting nature one time too many or has dared to hurt the ones they love. This may occasionally result in the character taking a level in badass, or revealing a hidden badass side, but this type of character is very effective at delivering An Aesop without having to resort to violence, whether it's through a Shut Up, Hannibal! speech, giving the villain his "The Reason You Suck" Speech, or asking a friend "What the Hell, Hero?", though they are also just as likely to inform hero and villain that You Are Better Than You Think You Are. But then, the tendency to be large also gives cause to be aware of the nice ones.

Contrast Insufferable Genius, Mad Scientist, and Insufferable Imbecile. These kinds of characters can be a Gentle Giant and frequently overlaps with the Half-Witted Hillbilly. See also Idiot Hero (Characters that are just heroic and very stupid), Dumb Is Good (a slightly similar trope that can share strong similarities to each other despite its minor differences, it can go hand-in-hand and/or overlap in some instances), Emotions vs. Stoicism (this landing on the "emotions good, logic bad" side), The Fool (when they are lucky and carefree instead of compassionate), and Stupid Good (whose levels of kindness, good-heartedness, and good-nature seem to strongly relate, but the outcome differs by what they're trying to accomplish at, the Kindhearted Simpleton basically does their best at redeeming their acts of idiocy by having a kind and sympathetic attitude and demeanor, while Stupid Good is just innocently unaware of their actions of being nice to a flawed degree while they do contain a nice demeanor overall). This character is the Nice Moron in a Smart Jerk and Nice Moron pair^note  or even the Nice Sidekick in a Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick pairing. Compare and contrast with Loon with a Heart of Gold (who may be intelligent but not in his/her right mind).

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Examples:

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• Grimace from McDonaldland is both amiable and not very bright.

Anime & Manga

• Azumanga Daioh: Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga is quite scatter-brained, flaky, and absent-minded, but she is nevertheless well-meaning, friendly, and easygoing.
• Baccano!: The eternally young lovers, Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent are a pair of bubbly, good-willed petty criminals who often like to justify their actions by stealing from people like the mafia, and even when they are just being normal thieves, they are still being unwittingly comical and charming while doing so. While they think of themselves as legitimate criminals, hardly anyone takes them seriously, and whenever they do pull a substantial heist, they either run too fast to even be noticed or come off as too likable to be stopped, as was the case when they robbed Eve Genoard's house of its possessions (doing so after hearing her explain that possessions make her unhappy). When the Flying Pussyfoot gets held up, they constantly are on the look-out for a monster they believe to be roaming the train, and even manage to save Czeslaw Meyer from being strapped to the underside of one of the cars.
• Cardcaptor Sakura: Sakura Kinomoto is a borderline example. She's more spacey and incredibly naive than outright stupid (and shows incredible tact and skill when the time requires it), but it is obvious her heart is much bigger than her brain.
• CLANNAD:
  • Downplayed with Nagisa Furukawa. Though far from stupid, she is rather naive, clueless, childlike, and eccentric. Nevertheless, she doesn't have a single mean bone in her body.
  • Sanae, the mother of Nagisa, is another downplayed example; she is more airheaded and childish than stupid, but is nonetheless just as sweet-hearted and nurturing as her daughter.
• Code Geass: Prince Odysseus, the formal heir apparent to the Britannian Empire, is this, in stark contrast to his father and most younger brothers (and sisters, too). It says a lot that a guy like him is the "sanest" among the horribly fucked up royal family, and it's exemplified when he's the only member of the clan that attempts to peacefully reach for Lelouch when he crowns himself as The Emperor.
• Dragon Ball: Goku is one of the quintessential examples in Manga/Anime history. An endearingly innocent and kindhearted child that carries his innocence and kindness well into his adulthood, and even as a grandfather! Even in battle, he treats it like it's just a game... unless his opponent's done something to really piss him off.
• Hirasawa Yui, the kind and loving lead guitarist Idiot Hero of the K-On! franchise.
• Kill la Kill: Mako Mankanshoku is a dimwitted airhead who is also extremely loyal, compassionate, and easygoing.
• Killer Shark In Another World has Shiromi. Particularly everyone sees her as a complete, incompetent moron and wants nothing to do with her, dismissing her at best and actively bullying her at worst. For her part, she is fully aware that she's seen as stupid and even agrees that without her "control" over Same she'd be The Load, but Shiromi is nevertheless nothing but friendly to others and still desires to become a hero regardless of all the insults and hate thrown at her and Same.
• Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's: Patricia notices that the girl's money has been going missing lately. It turns out Catherine is the thief...because she wanted to buy presents for everybody, being poor herself. Even Pat can't fault her for that and argues with the board not to suspend her.
• Pokémon: The Series: Ash Ketchum is Book Dumb, Oblivious to Love, and not particularly bright outside of the battlefield, but he's also a thoroughly selfless and gentle All-Loving Hero, particularly after his Character Development. It's most pronounced in Pokémon the Series: Black & White, where his intelligence undergoes a hard reset but his sweet demeanour remains untouched. However, by Pokémon the Series: XY, he sheds the "simpleton" part of the trope.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The eponymous character is kind and simple, which means that she's often taken advantage of by Kyubey. It gets worse from there. And in the end, she manages to retain her kindness and idealism... but only by playing a massive Gambit and undergoing an Abstract Apotheosis.
• The Quintessential Quintuplets: Yotsuba is the most airheaded and ditzy of the quintuplets, but is nonetheless the kindest and the first one to accept Uesugi as a tutor.
• Sailor Moon: Usagi Tsukino is very ditzy and Book Dumb but is also a selfless and compassionate heroine.
• Strawberry Shake Sweet: Ran is a hopeless airhead; but you'll still want to take her home.
• In Suite Pretty Cure ♪, Hummy is a rather dense optimist who is unable to hold grudges or remember depressing events for long, allowing her former friend, Siren to take advantage of her. However, these same traits eventually help Hummy win Siren back over to the side of good.
• Tamagotchi: Kuchipatchi is not that smart, but he is still a loyal friend.
• Tiger & Bunny: Keith Goodman/Sky High is one of the nicest guys you could meet. He is also an unquestionable airhead.

Comic Books

• Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Fethry Duck is a clumsy dork and rather naïve, but is genuinely friendly to everyone around him, and is one of the few characters who unconditionally and consistently likes and admires his cousin Donald.
• Martian Manhunter assumed the guise of Nathaniel Mackelvany, a painfully straight example of this trope, to spy on President Luthor's cabinet as an assistant. The disguise was so blatant even Luthor's bodyguard questioned why he had hired an exceptionally oblivious country bumpkin.
• In Usagi Yojimbo, a mentally challenged man is a great friend of Kitsune. Unfortunately, he's framed for one of her crimes and is executed for it, despite him being one of the nicest people in town. Kitsune was driven to tears.

Comic Strips

• Garfield: Odie is a dim-witted dog, but he's usually friendly, cheerful, and very loyal towards both Jon and Garfield, despite the abuse the latter puts him through.
• Satchel of Get Fuzzy is naïve and ignorant but with a pure heart of gold and very rarely means any harm. Unless you insult his friends...
• Pig from Pearls Before Swine is both the dumbest of the main cast and by far the nicest (he's one of the few who avoids the strip's usual World of Snark nature).

Fairy Tales

• In the Russian folktale "The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship", the eponymous Fool is naive and child-like, but a good and friendly person. He is described as "simpler than some children, and he never did any one a harm in his life."
• In The Brothers Grimm's "The Golden Goose", the main character is a simple-minded but polite and hard-working man who is given the golden goose because he shares his food with an old beggar.
• Franz Xaver von Schönwerth's "Follow Me, Jodel!": The titular character is his father's favorite child because he is dumb but good-hearted.

Fan Works

• Danganronpa: Paradise Lost: Protagonist Daisuke Hiyori is exactly as ignorant and socially awkward you would expect a hikikomori to be. He is also a very idealistic young man who tries to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, helps his classmates throughout the Class Trials, and ultimately manages to become The Redeemer for, of all people, Monaca Towa.
• God Help the Outcasts:
  • B.O.B. has no brain and can be very Literal-Minded. Still, as Susan points out, he doesn't have it in him to be mean, and is easily one of the sweetest monsters in the facility.
  • Insectosaurus seems to have the intelligence of an average dog, but is more than happy to hug/comfort Susan when she has a breakdown (which she appreciates, as he's the only one who can hug her anymore).
• Son Goku of Dragon Ball Z Abridged makes his canon counterpart look like a genius, but he's a fundamentally decent person.
• While it fluctuates a lot, this is the generally accepted personality of popular My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic character Muffins/Derpy Hooves. A little dim, somewhat poorly educated and very clumsy, but with a kind, honest heart and an optimistic outlook that's often contrasted with more intelligent, yet cynical characters (such as the Doctor from Doctor Who, very popularly). This is pretty much canonised in her appearance in 'Slice of Life'.
• In Ragnarok Ragna Guardian, we have Shiro and Reiko, two blockheads who are the nicest in the story.

Films — Animation

• Babs from Chicken Run is prone to Comically Missing the Point, but she's one of the nicest, if not the nicest, hens in Mrs. Tweedy's farm.
• Hercules is a naïve Nice Guy. He beats Hades at his own game, not by being more clever, but by his Heroic Sacrifice.
• Ice Age: Sid the Sloth is more than a bit of The Ditz, and can be Innocently Insensitive from time to time, but he is considered The Heart of the trio and generally holds the team together.
• Pumbaa from The Lion King. Even his name means "simpleton". Despite not being too bright (on the surface, anyway), this piggy's got a big heart of gold and is great with kids, of any species.
• Monsters vs. Aliens: B.O.B. is the friendliest of the monsters Susan meets at Area Fifty-Something, and also the dumbest.
• Jeremy from The Secret of NIMH. He means well, but his denseness usually does more harm than good.
  Mrs. Brisby: If you're going to feather a nest, you've got a lot to learn about how to treat a lady.
  Jeremy: Right. When you're right, you're right, and you're right. None of the girls I meet wanna get serious.
  Mrs. Brisby: I doubt they'd survive.
• Sleeping Beauty: Fauna is so ditzy she doesn't know that you should bake a cake before icing it. She's also the nicest of the three Good Fairies.

Films — Live-Action

• Donny from The Big Lebowski, in that he’s “like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie” when he tries to get in on the conversation about the Dude’s life, yet is still quite loyal to both him and Walter.
• Bill and Ted from Bill & Ted may create a utopian future society through their excellent music and creed of kindness, but they're far from geniuses.
• Chad from Burn After Reading is a complete idiot, but he's also a sweet and compassionate guy. Even though he does try to blackmail Osborne into giving money to him and Linda, it's not done out of any genuine malice and it's so that he can help his friend pay for some expensive plastic surgeries she wants to have.
• Jerry from Clash by Night which is the reason why his wife, Mae, cheats on him.
• Harry from Dumb and Dumber is this to balance out the two, especially compared to Lloyd being the total opposite of the Jerk with a Heart of Gold category.
• Ernest P. Worrell in all of his various appearances, though to what level does change from movie to movie. Some like Ernest Rides Again and Ernest Saves Christmas play the trope completely straight, while films like Ernest Goes to Jail and Ernest Goes to Camp show him with rather impressive technical and engineering skills and ability to construct or modify things such as a weaponized camp bus, a man-sized dryer, and a treehouse defense system complete with air support. Either way, though, he always acts the part of a kindhearted simpleton and even at his technical best his creations tend to fail in comedic ways.
• Forrest Gump: Forrest may not be the brightest, but makes up for it by being the sweetest.
• Clarence Oddbody from It's a Wonderful Life. His superior angels describe him as having the IQ of a rabbit, but the faith of a child.
• Yorki from Jojo Rabbit is a member of the Hitler Youth, but he's remarkably bad at it. He blindly repeats the stories he's told about Jews and Russians, but when Jojo confesses that his mother is hiding a Jew in his house, on three separate occasions, Yorki is mostly just glad Jojo has another friend and never thinks to tell any Nazi officers.
• Karen, the Brainless Beauty Minion with an F in Evil that Amanda Seyfried played in Mean Girls, is technically part of a bitchy clique, but she doesn't come across as much of a bitch herself.
• Gordie Boggs from Ready to Rumble.
• Fay from What About Bob?
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Roger Rabbit is rather ditzy, clueless, and airheaded, but he is also extremely friendly and compassionate nonetheless.

Literature

• In Dragon Bones, Queen Tehedra thinks the hero, Ward, is this. She notes that he always dances with the plain girls at court, with whom no one else wants to dance. She considers this a rare quality in a man and is saddened when she learns that he is to be sent to the king's asylum for insane nobles, a bad place. (In fact, Ward is a Gentle Giant, but far from stupid, but is Obfuscating Stupidity to seem harmless enough that his abusive father won't murder him out of paranoia.)
• Piggie from the Elephant & Piggie books often plays this trope.
• Harriet Smith from Emma is called silly, unassuming, or a simpleton over the course of the novel. She's not a smart girl, but very kind, mild, and meek. Emma believes her good heart makes up for the lack of intelligence and that she would make an ideal wife for a gentleman. Mr Knightly is of the opinion that men of sense do not want silly wives.
• Bertie from Jeeves and Wooster. Most of the plots consisting of him getting himself into trouble while trying to solve his friends' problems.
• Murder in Coweta County: Turner's mentally handicapped brother is described as being unable to understand his father's grief and the loss of his brother, but does his best to comfort his father throughout the ordeal.
• My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!: Catarina Claes has managed to seduce every other main character in the story with her kindness and unconventional nature, and is at the center of a soap-opera worthy tangle of competing plots as they all compete to win her favour... but she is also so dense that seemingly nothing can get her to understand that any of these people are in love with her.
• Toby Kwimper in Richard Powell's Pioneers Go Home!, probably the only person in the world who could walk into a bank to get a loan, be mistaken for a robber, and come out of it all with the hoped-for loan due purely to a character reference from the bank president. Toby commented in his narration that when trying to obtain money from a bank it probably helped to have either a really good character or a really bad one.
• Redwall: Blaggut, who easily made friends with the Redwallers, was trying to help out everyone including his captain who was planning to loot whatever he could from the Abbey and seems fairly low intelligence overall (which his captain often mocks him about). He turns against him later though and is one of the few good characters from "vermin" species.
• Space Glass: Bagok Grinch is very simple and adores his friends.
• Temeraire: The dragon Volatilus is too simpleminded to pronounce Temeraire's name, but immediately becomes the titular dragon's first friend in the Aerial Corps through unabashed friendliness. Laurence likens him to a human friend with a cognitive disability, which Temeraire accepts without further question.

Live-Action TV

• Kenneth from 30 Rock, an example so famous he was the Trope Image. Although there are multiple blink-and-you-might-miss-them moments that imply that Kenneth's life might be a bit Darker and Edgier than it seems on the surface. One example that comes to mind is when he rattles off one of his family's "classic Southern recipes." One of the ingredients he lists is a Union soldier.
  • Actually, he stated he was replacing that ingredient with potatoes. But it was heavily hinted throughout the series that he was some sort of ageless being, and was confirmed in the series finale.
• Edith from All in the Family is uneducated and thick as pea soup but easily the nicest and most loving person in that household. Though it's not to say she doesn't have her limits, as she's harshly chastized Archie on a few occasions, generally she'll take whatever he throws at her with a grin and is shown to treat pretty much everyone well, and is capable of saying things that are bafflingly stupid.
• The Big Bang Theory: Zack Johnson, a secondary character. Unlike most of Penny's boyfriends (who are usually muscular, dumb as well as rude, and obnoxious), Zack is extremely dim-witted but also an easygoing, friendly person who genuinely likes Penny's nerdy friends and makes a genuine effort to get to know them.
• Woody from Cheers is just as likable as much as he is childlike.
  • Also his predecessor Coach, which can be justified in that he’s old and forgetful.
• Waldo Geraldo Faldo, Eddie's friend from Family Matters.
• Joey from Friends is a dim-witted womanizer, but an incredibly loyal and caring friend.
• Brittany from Glee is a Dumb Blonde cheerleader who still believes in Santa, but is much nicer than her friend Santana.
• Rose of The Golden Girls is this, although her personality varies from either a full-on nitwit or a smart but naive Country Mouse, Depending on the Writer.
• Subverted with Jason from The Good Place. Friendly, outgoing, and as dim as a cheap lightbulb, while Jason is in many ways the nicest of the main characters, he's also prone to selfishness, doesn't know nor generally cares how his actions affect others, and he has committed multiple crimes.
• Nate from Gossip Girl is the dumbest of the main characters, and probably the sweetest too, especially compared to Chuck and Blair.
• Mr Nice-But-Dim (first name Tim) is a character created by Harry Enfield as a subversion of this trope. He is, indeed, nice, and he is, indeed, dim, but people as a rule still don't like him that much, at best tolerating him, at worst launching insults at him that are too clever for him to understand, or taking advantage of his simple nature. He's essentially a parody of the archetypal Upper-Class Twit.
• Kel from Kenan & Kel usually is a well-meaning, if Lethally Stupid, idiot. He's mostly this in the first two seasons before he takes several levels in dumbass in the later seasons. Later seasons he can still fit this trope, though at worst he can be outright Innocently Insensitive.
• Beauregard from The Muppet Show isn't particularly bright, but he's a friendly fellow who never gets angry and always willing to help out.
• Randy from My Name Is Earl may be both a massive Cloud Cuckoolander and a Fat Idiot, but he is delightful.
• Erin from the American version of The Office is always cheerful and genial, but not too bright.
• Kramer from Seinfeld. The only person who cares about his fellow human beings in the franchise... and is portrayed as an idiot by Larry David because of it.

Music

• 2D of Gorillaz is as ditzy as they come, but also a fairly peaceful and nice person.
• The narrator of XTC's "Mayor of Simpleton" is one.

Tabletop Games

• Warhammer 40,000: Ogryns are a nine-foot-tall ogre-like subspecies of humanity noted for their strength, endurance, and childlike mentality and devotion (and for the smarter ones, childlike intelligence as well). This being 40K, the flipside is that they're also easy to turn traitor as they rarely question orders (telling them that the Emperor is angry at the loyalists is enough to set them on a rampage).
• One of the playbooks in the Powered by the Apocalypse cartoon rpg MADCAP is the Lunkhead: not very bright, but is kindhearted and tries to do right by their friends, but often causing mayhem along the way.

Theater

• The Young Man From Atlanta: Lily Dale, mother to Bill who recently killed himself. Her childlike nature is shown by how despite the fact she is 60 years old, she addresses her husband, Will, as "Daddy". More to the point, she is completely taken in by Randy's fanciful stories about how he needs money because Bill's death grieved him to the point that he couldn't get work, and he needs money because his mother's sick, and because his sister's husband left her and she has three kids to feed. Lily bought all this hook, line, and sinker, and has given Randy $35,000 in 1950 money.

Video Games

• Dick Gumshoe from Ace Attorney is a bit of a Clueless Detective who has a hard time keeping a lid on confidential information during investigations due to his friendly nature and willingness to cooperate with Phoenix and co. when he's not supposed to, since they're ostensibly on opposite sides of the law. This usually works out in Phoenix's favor since Gumshoe's mistakes wind up getting him evidence and helping him make deductions, both in and out of court. He's very much one of the most well-meaning, hardworking, and loyal characters in the franchise, and even though most characters regard him as not always being the brightest (especially Edgeworth, to whom Gumshoe is fiercely faithful despite his verbal jabs and penchant for cutting his salary) everyone agrees that he's a good man.
• Minsc in the Baldur's Gate series, especially the second game. Dumbest and least wise potential party member^note except for Wilson in the Enhanced Edition, who is a) a bear, b) more of an Easter egg than a fully-developed character. Firmly Good in alignment.
• Crash Bandicoot, while slightly more sociopathic than usual examples, often leans into this in certain titles. He was in fact rejected as a minion by Dr Neo Cortex for being too nice.
• Henry from Double Homework is this to a “t.” He doesn’t know his head from his ass, but his heart is in the right place.
• Donnel in Fire Emblem: Awakening fits this trope, although more due to lack of knowledge than a lack of intelligence.
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses:
  • Played straight with Raphael Kirsten, who is Book Dumb and somewhat simpleminded, but also a complete Gentle Giant that acts as a cheery emotional anchor for his friends.
  • Played with in regards to Ferdinand von Aegir. While he has his Hidden Depths and a lot of insight, he's also rather dense and prone to being Innocently Insensitive. Despite this, he's one of the nicest characters in the game. Hilda even lampshades this trope in their B support.
• Daszk in I Miss the Sunrise. Justified: he's half-Lesser, so he inherited their poor intelligence, but not their aggressive urges.
• Kyouko from Insanity is rather ditzy and described as an "airhead", but she's also one of the sweetest and most compassionate characters in the game. Best exemplified by her trying to tell Shigeki she's not actually his daughter; even though this is the only thing stopping him from going Ax-Crazy on her, she feels bad that he's mistaken her for his daughter and hopes he might be more reasonable now.
• Sora in Kingdom Hearts was gradually flanderized into this after the Messiah Creep hit him.
• The title character in MARDEK, who is also an Idiot Hero.
• Monster Prom: Scott Howl is a Dumb Jock who is by far the most dim-witted character of the entire cast (maybe tied with his cousins, The Wolfpack), however, he is also the nicest character among a large group of crazy and sociopathic monsters.
• Pokémon: Quagsire is stated in its Pearl Pokédex entry to be rather dimwitted. It is also very easygoing, relaxed, and carefree. In New Pokémon Snap, it is stated to be loyal and protective of its pre-evolution Wooper.
• In Potion Permit, Ottmar may be Leano's Dumb Muscle first mate, but he still deeply cares for her. He even saves up enough money from his beach café to repair her ship for her with Reyner and the Chemist's assistance.
• Amitie from Puyo Puyo is the sweetest of the series' three main protagonists, and the least likely of the three to get mad at anyone. Her heart may be in the right place, but she does have trouble understanding some things, to the point that she fails at the supplementary classes she takes in her magic school specifically to help with this problem.
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Big the Cat is slow-witted and even has the voice to match, but he is one of the most mellow and soft-hearted of the protagonists. Don't be mean to little frogs or innocent bunny girls around him.
• Avan Hardins from Valkyria Chronicles II is very much an Idiot Hero, but he enjoys making friends and is completely free of any prejudice regarding things like race, social status, or rank.
• Chai, the player character from Hi-Fi RUSH. He starts off as a deluded moron who spends half his time in his head and the other half ignoring others' advice and throwing himself headfirst into danger. After making some new friends and understanding the severity of his situation, he becomes a considerably kinder deluded moron who throws himself headfirst into danger.

Web Animation

• Homestar Runner is generally a nice guy, but he also has a notoriously poor grasp on most things.
• In Red vs. Blue, the two nicest and dumbest soldiers in the Red and Blue armies are Donut and Caboose, and given what Armed Farces both factions are, this is saying something.
• Happy Tree Friends has Lumpy, a dimwitted moose. While he's a Lethal Klutz and has been somewhat antagonistic in a few episodes, he's generally a lovable guy.
• Ultimate Heroes For Hire has Pickle, a Piranha Plant who is one of the members of the titular organization. He is quite kind, but due to his incredibly low intelligence, his attempts at being kind are often misguided.
• Camp Camp has Space Kid, a boy whose head is basically full of moonrocks, but he's also one of, if not the nicest kids at Camp Campbell.

Web Games

• Taipu from BIONICLE's Mata Nui Online Game, to the point where his friend Onepu constantly takes advantage of him to do both of their mining work. Taipu unwittingly even alludes to his condition, boasting about a time he suffered head trauma.

Web Original

• Caduceus Clay from Critical Role. He's got the lowest Intelligence score of the entire group (9, which is pretty low for a sentient humanoid), and he is, in Beau's words, the only one who's any good at being good, showing kindness whenever possible and never once raising his voice. While Caduceus is naive and slow on the uptake, he is also incredibly good at reading people, and is often the first person the rest of the Mighty Nein turn to when they need advice or spiritual guidance.
• The Help Not Wanted series has Krumvell, an illiterate goblin who's not-too-bright and has a..."special" way of analyzing situations that are unconventional. Between him and his friends Grovmar, Groshlar, and Bunng, Krumvell is by far the nicest and more compassionate goblin, and he's typically the one who helps his friends or just random people feel better whenever they're upset. Also, in spite of his seemingly dumb nature, Krumvell is not a pushover and he's more than capable of defending himself in a fight.
• Noob has Sparadrap, who is both one of the dumbest and one of the nicest characters of the franchise. One of his guildmates is a Manipulative Bastard to whom he mentions lending game currency without getting it back in the comic book version of the story.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time: Finn the Human is the Dumb Is Good embodiment of this, as his stated goal is to slay anything evil and will always help anyone in need. His love for being a hero can venture into the obsessive and self-destructive at times, but he always means well, and he does mature as the series goes on to realize that jumping into a fight isn't always the best solution.
• The Amazing World of Gumball: Richard is the dimmest of the Wattersons, and rivals Darwin in terms of the nicest.
• American Dad!:
  • Jeff Fisher is a lazy, dimwitted Manchild. Nevertheless, he doesn't have a single mean bone in his body, is a supportive husband to Hayley, and is by far the Token Good Teammate of the main cast.
  • Zig-zagged with Francine, the ditzy and airheaded Dumb Blonde. Although she isn't immune to grabbing the Jerkass Ball (especially in later seasons), she is otherwise sweet and friendly.
• Beavis and Butt-Head:
  • The Christmas Episode showed that if Butt-Head didn't exist, Beavis would be a Nice Guy, though he'd still be stupid.
  • Tom Anderson doesn't quite reach the stupidity of Beavis and Butt-head but he's still pretty incompetent and senile as both a young soldier and an old man. Concurrently, he's also shown to be kind, generous, and usually tries to be helpful to people, despite Beavis and Butt-head repeatedly taking advantage of him and Anderson focusing on Skewed Priorities during wartime to the possible detriment to the men and civilians under him. At the end of the day, Tom Anderson is the sort of man who's genuinely a kind, decent fellow but isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed either.
• Bob's Burgers:
  • Tina Belcher isn't particularly bright (unless it involves horses), but she's one of the nicest characters on the show and is generally a selfless, forgiving person.
  • Teddy isn't very smart (he thinks Bob's last name is "Burger" despite knowing him for years) but he's a kind, loyal friend to the Belchers.
• CatDog: Dog is a friendly idiot who cares deeply for his brother, even if he frequently, though not through any fault of his own, gets Cat injured.
• Centaurworld: Durpleton is the dimmest member of the herd, but he's also the most genuinely forgiving, friendly and cheerful one as well.
• The Cleveland Show: Cleveland Jr. Although he has noticeable bouts of unusual logic and talent, he is probably the most consistently sweet-natured of the Brown family, as well as probably the dopiest.
• Madison from Class of 3000 is both The Ditz and consistently the nicest member of the main cast. (As even Kim and Philly Phil have had their moments)
• Daria: While Brittany and Kevin are not smart by any means, they are kind and treat Daria as a friend, despite being vastly more popular than her.
• The Dreamstone: Rufus is a borderline example at times. Nug, despite being a villain, isn't a whole lot nastier (or smarter).
• Ed, Edd n Eddy:
  • Ed is Made of Iron, has Super-Strength and can warp reality through his own idiocy. He also happens to be one of the nicest characters on the show, who is wholesome and is very pleasant without a single mean bone in his body... Unless he has a pebble in his shoe... Or you hurt his best friends.
  • Jonny is a cheerful, good-natured, and gullible Cloudcuckoolander.
• Endangered Species (2015): Gull isn't very smart, but he's a good fellow at heart.
• Family Guy:
  • Peter Griffin was this in the earlier seasons. While his irresponsibility caused a lot of trouble, he really did care for his family. Then Flanderization set in and he turned into a moronic Villain Protagonist who has killed several people.
  • Jillian the Brainless Beauty can be just as dumb if not dumber than Peter, but she's also one of the nicest characters in the Crapsack World of Family Guy.
  • Chris Griffin is one of the nicest Griffins (particularly in the earlier episodes), but also an idiot.
• FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman: Ruff Ruffman isn't exactly the smartest and most agile dog in the pack, but his kind-hearted personality and his good intentions always make up for it.
• Fireman Sam: Fireman Cridlington is clumsy, a Lethal Chef, and easily distracted, sometimes to the detriment of himself and those around him, but also the sweetest and most warm-hearted member of the fire service.
• Futurama: Philip J. Fry is not very bright, but he means well and is The Heart of the Planet Express crew.
  Fry: I may not be clever, but I have a good heart. That's what my mom used to say.
• Goofy. His ditzy and dopey personality is so prevalent that it's even in his name but he is a genuinely kind person, on the level of Mickey Mouse.
• Gravity Falls:
  • Soos is the poster boy for this trope, although he is a lot more clever than most people think.
  • The Boy Band Sev'ral Timez are all bunch of Brainless Beauties. They are also all really cheerful and surprisingly adjusted, considering their situation.
• Zigzagged with Billy in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. He started off as this in the earlier seasons, where, while really annoying or obtuse, was still generally a Dumb Is Good Cheerful Child who was mostly well-intentioned and acted as a good friend, which even Grim reluctantly conceded. This would be dropped in the later seasons when Flanderization kicked in, turning him more into a chaotic Insufferable Imbecile.
• The Jungle Bunch: Miguel is simple-minded yet usually friendly towards others, but make him angry, and be prepared for "thumpy".
• Kaeloo:
  • Kaeloo may be an Idiot Hero, but she is one of the few genuinely nice characters on the show and will stop at nothing to help her friends and keep them out of trouble or danger.
  • Stumpy, the dumbest character on the show, started out as one of these, but eventually Took a Level in Jerkass.
• Larry & Steve: Larry is dim-witted, careless, and stupid to a rather destructive extent, much like the character he would soon evolve into. However, he isn't malicious and is simply trying to get Steve some new furniture.
• Looney Tunes: Benny (who was also first referred to as "Bernie") is a strong, tall, goofy, and fat cat who is extremely dopey and kind of simple-minded, yet he is pretty genial and softhearted towards others who also befriends George and Sylvester while being the benevolent dunce that he is. Such to the point that George's very own name is Benny's Verbal Tic and tells Sylvester that George is the only name he can say, especially after saying Sylvester's name that time. And in spite of how Benny has shown what happens when one makes him angry through his own stupidity at times, and was unintentionally or obliviously injury-causing towards both cats from time to time; he's still a great fellow by heart.
  • Hugo the Abominable Snowman is a giant snow-white creature who is not-so-bright and gullible, but openly hugs anyone in spite of everyone showing genuine irritation towards Hugo's affection for rabbits or not (especially for not telling the difference between a duck or a rabbit), and does this while being a very obvious example of this trope. He is also a massive Expy of Benny because of his running gags of calling anyone 'George' and his affection, hugging slapstick-induced jokes that are quite similar.
• The Looney Tunes Show:
  • Lola Bunny is a ditzy Cloudcuckoolander who, despite being a Stalker with a Crush, is easygoing and bubbly.
  • Pete Puma is the dumbest character on the show (which says a lot, given Lola and Daffy), but he's very friendly and never gets angry.
• The Loud House:
  • Leni. She's more or less stated to be the dumbest and the nicest of the Loud siblings.
  • Lori's boyfriend Bobby Santiago also qualifies as one. Special mention goes to the episode "Cover Girls," where he thinks Lily is actually Lori as she is dressed in a wig and tank top resembling her, even though the real Lori is sitting a few feet away, albeit dressed as Lincoln.
• Peep and the Big Wide World: Downplayed with Quack who is the Jerk with a Heart of Gold that is somewhat less intelligent than the rest of the birds and this tends to lead to some misadventures because of his stupidity. He tends to be this due to him being an orphaned duckling, and while he is somewhat stupidly arrogant and bossy towards his friends he has a good heart and helps his friends.
  • Beaver Boy also counts as this, a ditz who is a heck of a lot more kind-hearted, nice, and well-meaning than Quack.
  • Newton is a bit slow but very friendly.
• Pinky from Pinky and the Brain is the goofy, very halfwitted, blundering, cheerfully oblivious, childlike, and very dumb yet sweet-natured mouse who is an Cloudcuckoolander that was the foil to the more intelligent, grumpy and snarky Brain and was always this in the original show and in the Animaniacs (2020) reboot. Although Pinky was temporarily given more of a jerkish attitude in the spin-off Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain however.
• Niblet fills a similar role to Mr. Blumberg on Paul & Joe's version of Pound Puppies. For how kind and sweet as he can be, but he can be mind-blowingly dense at times.
• Lac Mac in Rayman: The Animated Series. Not the brightest character in the short-lived show, but was shown to be thoroughly polite, loyal, tenderhearted, and well-mannered with no mean, malicious bone in his body whatsoever.
• Ready Jet Go!:
  • Uncle Zucchini. He mistook Titan for Earth and was unaware of the three states of matter, but he's unfailingly kind and loyal to the Propulsion family.
  • Lillian is slightly ditzy, but she's one of the nicest characters on the show.
• Recess:
  • Mikey Blumberg is an All-Loving Hero and the Cloudcuckoolander of the series.
  • To a certain degree, same with T.J. Detweiler. He's the living epitome of Book Dumb but he's also a sweetie and means well towards everyone.
• Regular Show: Pops is a clueless, buffoonish Manchild who is nonetheless kind and friendly to a fault.
• The latter half of The Ren & Stimpy Show in contrast to the smarter but manic and violent-tempered Ren.
• Rubin Roach in Roboroach. Not too bright, but definitely nice.
• The Simpsons:
  • Ralph Wiggum is even dumber than Homer, but remains a sweet-natured Cheerful Child.
  • On his best days, Homer himself can be a well-meaning moron who cares for his family, and is even willing to lend a helping hand to people he doesn't like.
• The Smurfs (1981): Clumsy is not very bright but you couldn't ask for a sweeter-natured Smurf; sometimes he borders on Dumb Is Good.
• South Park: Butters Stotch, with his occasionally tragic innocence and positive outlook stands out like a sore thumb in the Crapsack World of South Park.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • The title character. While he is responsible for most of the havoc in each episode and can show some intelligence, he usually means well and is something of an Extreme Doormat who also has a great spirit and a good heart.
  • Patrick Star, similar to his friend SpongeBob, is a well-meaning idiot. He mostly fits this trope and the Dumb Is Good trope, at least before his massive Flanderizations from Seasons 2 to Season 9. However, while he (and other starfish) lacks mental intelligence or intellectual capacity, Patrick makes up a lot of his stupidity for in humor and the ability to detect sarcasm. Although in Season 1 he was rather more genuine, honest if naive, and kindly in his own ways before he gradually got stupider as time passed on.
  • Sandals, a background character, is somewhat of an idiot and is simple-minded, but he’s usually amiable and nice to other incidentals although he often joins their riots.
• Thomas & Friends: Percy is known for being rather simple-minded, but he is very well-intentioned and often tries his best to help others out.
• Timothy Goes to School: Lilly is air-headed, clumsy, and very forgetful. But she has a very kind heart and is always seen smiling.
• Tiny Toon Adventures: Elmyra is likely the dumbest character on the show. She is also very friendly and affectionate towards animals, albeit to a rather dangerous extent.
• Total Drama: Lindsay is a Brainless Beauty and one of the nicest characters among the first generation.
• Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race: Owen and the Surfers.
• Winnie the Pooh is a gluttonous idiot, but extremely gentle and friendly. Most of the supporting cast isn't far off this trope either. This is prominent in the original novels too, though most prevalent in the Disney adaptations.

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