Somewhere at the three-way intersection of the Hollywood Nerd, the Dogged Nice Guy and The Woobie, there is a character who is, quite frankly, a huge dork. He is socially awkward, not conventionally attractive, and a failure at his attempts to win the pretty girl (if he can even get a complete sentence out in her presence). And we root for him, because he's just so humble and adorable in between his flashes of brilliance. He might be capable of heroics if pushed, but he is generally not the Badass Bookworm (at least, not yet). He's smart but generally only in the hard sciences or obscure topics, giving him a possible foot in the door as a tutor to The Chick or an assistant to The Hero. Obviously, in a Five-Man Band, the lovable nerd will be The Smart Guy. Often subject to geeky turnons.
For a lustable nerd, see Nerds Are Sexy. Has a high chance of being Adorkable. Often overlaps with Nerds Are Innocent, sometimes with Playful Hacker. May be at odds with a Nerdy Bully.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Jou from Digimon Adventure is a definite qualifier. His special traits are "diligence" and "reliability", which don't much endear him to the cast(he has the only monster partner to routinely sass him) but make him one of the most popular human characters for trying his best to lead and protect the group in spite of their lack of deference to him. And he wants to become a doctor so he can help even more people.
- Haruyuki "Haru" Arita from Accel World is short, fat, socially awkward, and gets beaten up by bullies regularly. Once he gains some self-esteem, however, he quickly reveals himself as a Determinator.
Film
- Flynn Carsen, the title character in The Librarian series of movies. His nerdiness is a big selling point... considering he's an action hero. Who has 22 college degrees. And who's also the biggest nerd in the world. And, oh yeah... he has an adventuring partner.
- Dave Stuttler in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. He can barely talk to the girl of his dreams, but HE MAKES MUSICAL LIGHTNING! (Sometimes he even uses a Tesla coil, too.)
- Randy Meeks from Scream. Incredibly nerdy about films (especially horror films), but is overall a kind person and a loyal friend.
Literature
- Waldo Butters of The Dresden Files. It's hard not to like the little guy, what with his cheery demeanor, polka obsession, and occasional flashes of pure awesome.
Live Action TV
- The eponymous character in Chuck — at least before he starting Taking Levels In Badass. For example, the pilot quickly establishes that he hasn't been in a relationship in a while, partly due to his conversational awkwardness driving women away. Soon after, a gorgeous woman flirtily approaches him at his job in the "Nerd Herd" (the electronics support team of a big-box retailer) right before a desperate father seeks his help because he "recorded" his daughter's dance recital footage with no tape in the camera. Chuck promptly puts the beautiful woman on hold to save the dad's bacon by setting up a spot for the little girl to re-perform and re-film her ballet routine right there in the store. Fortunately for him, the beautiful woman thinks it's lovable, too.
- Steve Urkel from Family Matters. That said, the main characters might love him, but they don't necessarily like him. They'll help Urkel, stick up for him when being bullied, and in turn find his expertise valuable at times, but hanging out is a whole nother story.
Professional Wrestling
- Hard as it may be to believe, The American Dragon Bryan Danielson was once featured on Hot Nerds Reading Comic Books, and has in fact attended at least one Comic Con. His acquired situational narcissism while reigning as Ring of Honor's and Full Impact Pro's World Champion aside, he's pretty much always shown to be a Nice Guy.
- Jimmy Jacobs was, once. He worked for as a furniture mover while designing or moderating websites for professional wrestling promotions, gradually transitioning to commentator, booker and pro wrestler himself. He quickly proved to be a huge Fan Boy of The Barbarian, The Berserker and Kevin Sullivan, comically emulating them without embodying too many of their negative traits and also showed a familiarity with Kung Fu movies if his Funny Bruce Lee Noises were anything to go by. Then he met a spoiled brat Alpha Bitch calling herself "The Lovely" Lacey, Jacobs fell in love with her, fans turned on him in favor of BJ Whitmer and Colt Cabana, and nothing was ever the same again...
- Leva Bates is more of a "geek" than a nerd, but otherwise fits the shoe. She has a lot of things that instantly turn fans against pro wrestlers. A squeaky voice, being pretty short, and thin, reciting scripted promos, but the antics of Bates, such as trying to teach Dungeons & Dragons to Sienna Duvall or Fall Out to Mia Yim, sewing outfits for other wrestlers and wrestling while dressed as several popular characters like Captain Jack Sparrow and Gamora, reciting and using unfitting rap music in promos and as entrance music in addition to her selling all cause crowds to fall in love with her. Bates rarely gets over as a heel for the same reason, as she usually becomes a Classic Villain and or Super Villain too funny to dislike.
Video Games
- Otacon in Metal Gear. When Snake first meets him, he is a computer hacker and an otaku, and so terrified by recent events (particularly an encounter with Grey Fox in which Snake intervenes) that he has wet himself. And he is definitely Captain Awkward with Naomi Hunter in MGS4.
Web Original
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Dr. Horrible is a lovable nerd trying to be a badass, at least at the beginning.
- Tyler from Disappointing Gay Best Friend
is a nerdy bookworm type who's constantly annoyed by his friend Mikala's attempts at making him a Pet Homosexual, but if the videos' comments are to be believed, he has built up more than a few admirers.
- Most of That Guy with the Glasses are a mix between Hollywood Nerd and adorkable. Despite their penchant for Accentuate the Negative, the fanboy and fangirl inside them come out for regular super-sonic squee.
Western Animation
- Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. She's a Badass Bookworm who starts the series as an Ineffectual Loner. Even after she learns to socialize she's still depicted as being organized almost to a fault and as a compulsive studier whose joy for learning is absolutely adorable. In one episode, she hosts a sleepover by reading a guidebook to slumber parties with (somewhat) successful results, in another she dresses up for Nightmare Night as an obscure historical character that no one recognizes (And is surprised by this), and in another she's so scared of bruising her study grades that she actually kicks off a moderately large crisis in her town.
