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    Original post 
OP courtesy of ~amathieu 13 who gave others permission to launch this thread.

I noticed some vague examples for the trope while wick cleaning for Hollywood Nerd and discussed it here which led me to doing a wick check.

Total Wicks Checked = 100

Issue 1 is big in scope but I think is a fairly straightforward fix and that's the fairly extensive ZCE issue. Nearly half of all wicks are ZCE, not including random potholes in sentences which makes up another 12% of wicks. Substantial uses of the trope make up only 40% of examples.

  • I think the name is causing some of this since, as a one word title for a fairly common word, people are just plopping it in and calling it a day. If we make the name slightly less "plop down-able" it could curb some of this behavior. Something like Nerd Archetype or Stereotypical Nerd. To make sure the ZC Es are fixed, we'd probably just need to follow up with some wick cleaning.

Issue 2, and the bigger problem I think, is the misuse. From what I understand, the Nerd is an Archetypal Character with the following traits:
  • stereotypical bad fashion, with the classic representation being plaid button down shirt or a polo, high waisted belted pants, suspenders, and a pocket protector (but other not trendy fashion can fit)
  • not physically attractive due to Geek Physique and a lack of care about outer appearance, often times this includes acne, thick Nerd Glasses, braces, and unstylish hair
  • socially awkward in some way (shy and clams up when talking to people, talks too much and can't read the room, etc)
  • unpopular. This can be as little as them not occupying a high spot in the Popularity Food Chain, but still having a friend/a small circle of friends or can mean they are a complete loner amongst their peers
  • victim of bullying or teasing, especially by the most popular students
  • interests in "nerdy" hobbies that are typically non-mainstream and niche subcultures based on things you need a deep knowledge (be it technical or lore based) to enjoy, e.g. tech, sci-fi works, fantasy works, anime, collecting things, etc.

There are some other traits that can show up to give the nerd a different "flavor" (being genuinely intelligent, pedantic about their topic of interest, turning typically mundane or casual things into Serious Business, etc), but the core seems to be what's listed above and that's more or less discussed in the current trope description. Much like other archetypes like the Messianic Archetype and Satanic Archetype, not every box needs to be checked but the majority do need to be to qualify.

However, people are treating the trope less like a defined stereotype and more like a personality trait. For example, several tropers give a character who just says the read comic books this trope, despite that not being enough to fulfill the stereotype. Of the remaining 40 wicks, 45% of them are correct (or 18% of the total 100 wicks). The remaining wicks fall into 2 categories: a person who shows interest in niche or otherwise considered "geeky" interests like Tabletop games, video games, tech and computers, and the hard sciences; a person who is smart or has an in-depth knowledge on a particular topic (often one that is also considered "geeky").

  • Other than the name change and clean up of wicks, I'm not sure how to fix this. Perhaps tweaking the description a bit so it more straightforwardly lists the traits (like how Messianic Archetype and Satanic Archetype do) and explicitly states characters need to meet some min number of the characteristics to qualify might help.
  • I've also been mulling over whether we can conform to the misuse somewhat by directing all of the "has geeky interests" examples to Geek, which is currently definition only, or Otaku, Fanboy, Fangirl (though these last 3 are both more specific and more nebulous and may need to be looked at themselves, so maybe not). The "just is smart" examples can probably be cut entirely or redirected to The Smart Guy if the character is part of a team/group.

Edited by MacronNotes on Oct 5th 2022 at 6:47:27 AM

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amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#55: Oct 13th 2022 at 6:16:47 PM

Series namespace cleared out. Only namespaces left besides archive, newsletters, and sandboxes are Main and Characters.

465 wicks left

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#56: Oct 14th 2022 at 6:17:54 AM

Main/ is done.

Archiving the wick check so I can cut it:

Wicks checked: 100

  • Correct: 18 (18%)
  • Just smart/knowledgeable: 7 (7%)
  • Just has "nerdy interests": 15 (15%)
  • ZCE/PCE: 48 (48%)
  • Potholes: 12 (12%)

Ignoring pothole wicks: 88

  • Correct: 20%
  • Just smart/knowledgeable: 8%
  • Just has "nerdy interests": 17%
  • ZCE/PCE: 55%

Ignoring Potholes + ZCE/PCE: 40
  • Correct: 45%
  • Just smart/knowledgeable: 18%
  • Just has "nerdy interests": 37%

     Correct 
  • Nerd & Jock: The aforementioned Nerd is a nerd, being a very intelligent and adorable-looking kid who is also an Otaku who collects action figures and watches anime. He's also quite scrawny and physically weak, something he occasionally mulls over, which is why he took up weight-lifting. Fortunately, Jock has his back.
  • Between Two Worlds: R2 functions on Star Wars, Internet and all the things electronic, is a professional programmer and wears Nerd Glasses. Marcus and Juhani like their ShoutOuts a lot, too.
  • Ryan ToysReview: Pack the Penguin is portrayed as a stereotypical glasses-and-bow one. This is played straight explicitly in this Combo Panda video:
    Pack: We're going to read so many books. Do you have an encyclopedias, please? I love-
    Combo: PECK, NO! You're going to come over to my house. We are NOT going to be reading books, we're playing video games, okay?!
  • Psionics: The Next Stage in Human Evolution: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees. Tim is definitely the most straight example of the three. Everything about him, from his clothing to his haircut to his taste in music to the way he carries himself, is painfully awkward and uncool. He even has coke bottle glasses.
    • The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are both described as this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian is the esper in the Juggernaut’s picture.
  • Dexters Laboratory S 1 EP 8: Without his axe, Valhallen gradually transforms into a stereotypical one, complete with nasal voice and glasses.
  • Cloak & Dagger (1984): The proprietor of the Game Keeper is an overweight, bearded man with Nerd Glasses who spends most of his time playing video games and requesting Twinkies.
  • Napoleon Dynamite: In an odd case, Napoleon isn't even particularly smart or hard-working, but has all the cornerstones of a stereotypical nerd - poor social skills, awkward posture, mouth breathing, eccentric habits, thick, ugly glasses, crappy fashion sense...
  • Kunskapens Korridorer: "Hjärnan" is clearly the smartest student in the class of 8C, to the point that his nick-name simply means "The Brain". And he also looks like a stereotypical nerd, with glasses and a more conservative dressing style.
  • Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches: Second Witch War Others: He wears opaque glasses, looks scrawny, is interested in nothing but American military bases, and doesn't seem to have much social success given that he had no friends to team up with for the Guam trip and has never seen a girl's room before.
  • Sticky Dilly Buns: Ruby is a slightly unusual female nerd. She's not actually unattractive, her social ineptitude takes the form of abrasiveness rather than bumbling, she doesn't seem very interested in science or computers (her degree is in Business Administration), and we have no evidence about her physical fitness beyond her claim that she can swim quite well. However, the glasses, the opinionated attitude, and the privileging of intellect over social relationships, make her classic nerd. She also has a nerdish tendency to use the Internet to fill in the gaps in her knowledge of the world, through her smartphone; she seems to be a big fan of Google. She just starts out as the sort of nerd who geeks despise. And in her case, nerds are definitely virgins, at least until the end of the comic’s run.
  • Squirrel Boy: While he hasn't been shown in school, he does have some nerdy traits such as wearing glasses, his awkwardness in social situations, his small friend circle, and falling victim to bullying and teasing, which is a plot point of "Andy Had a Little Squirrel".
  • Anya's Ghost: It gets him in a lot of trouble with his peers. He studies hard, is intelligent, spindly, gets turns of phrase wrong because of his Russian background, and he has no friends because of it all.
  • Bob's Burgers - Wagstaff School: A textbook example; a complete dork in nerdy, boring clothes who's obsessed with dinosaurs and his fighting robot graphic novel. Is also incredibly intelligent and observant and is not afraid to use it to his advantage.
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert Series - Units: The Allied Engineers, starting from Red Alert 2. They speak in a stereotypically nasally nerd voice and even yell "Excelsior", in Red Alert 3, a clear reference to the late famed comic book author Stan Lee, who was known for saying this word.
  • Degrassi The Next Generation Grade 11 Class: He's into computers and gaming, and he's completely socially awkward and introverted. He's the nerd that uses gaming as a way to escape reality so he doesn't have to deal with his depression and anger issues.
  • Gravity Falls – Dipper Pines: Mostly a Lovable Nerd with just a pinch of Insufferable Genius. He's a self-proclaimed Smart Guy who's very nice yet socially awkward, with on-screen hobbies that include learning about and investigating paranormal phenomena, reading mystery novels, solving intelligence puzzles, and playing both video and role-playing board games. In Gravity Falls: Dipper and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun!, he describes his "ultimate hideout" as consisting of maps of the world, a telescope, a seismograph, a Geiger counter, and a Tiger Fist arcade game.
  • King of the Hill - Other Characters: He fits the stereotype, being a pale, twiggy, bespectacled bookworm.
  • Liv and Maddie: Classic case: Joey is socially awkward, quirky, really bad at flirting and being athletic, video game and comic-book obsessed, academically intelligent and has a weird taste in fashion (look at his cat shirts). Of course he wears a pair of Nerd Glasses.

    Just smart / knows a lot about a particular subject 

     just has interests in "geeky" things 
  • This Country: Kurtan has an obsessive streak a mile wide. He develops a new obsession every week, from tracking down old classmate Robert Robinson, to winning the village's annual scarecrow contest, to keeping a blog detailing all the production errors in Emmerdale. He also enjoys playing Warhammer and is mocked by Kerry as "King of the Nerds" in the episode of the same name. Specifically, Kurtan is an Extraverted Nerd who is pretty confident even when asking out his new neighbour.
  • Summer of My German Soldier: Patty reads dictionaries for fun, and is so excited when her grandparents present her with a collegiate dictionary!
  • World Trigger A Class Agents: As evidenced by her habit of collecting video game consoles.
  • Watch_Dogs 2: Aside from their obvious obsession with tech, they constantly sling pop-culture references at each other, and their main hackerspace is located in the basement of a tabletop gaming store.
  • The Dresden Files – Ordinary People and Badass Normals: So much of a gamer that he gives Butters confidential patient information in exchange for a rare RPG item, namely World of Warcraft's Blue Murloc Egg note .
  • Tales of the Skull King: Known to play table top games.
  • Surviving High School: Until he becomes popular. He's still enthusiastic about science and grades though.
  • CDT Characters A–J: When delirious, she can think only of video games and memes.
  • Choice of Robots: In a more traditional way than the protagonist; Josh makes robots because they're cool, not because he wants to change the world.
  • Craig of the Creek – Kids of the Creek: They're a reclusive bunch who spend their time playing board games dressed as fantasy characters.
  • Earth Twenty Seven The Bat Family: On the surface, Luke's muscular frame and bad boy persona might seem to make him unapproachable, but he's really a closet geek. Babrbara knows he's the biggest Star Wars fan and has at least two go-to cosplay costumes in his closet for attending comic book conventions.
  • Family Guy Adam West High School: Is a total Star Trek fanboy.
  • Freaks' Squeele: she is even part of the tabletop role playing game club!
  • Futurama Planet Express Crew Relatives: Dwight enjoys reading books about Mathematics, playing role-playing games or cosplay.
  • Homestar Runner Main Characters: He tends to be a fan of obscure subjects.

    ZCE and Partial Examples 


     Potholes that aren't meant as examples and don't provide info 

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#58: Oct 19th 2022 at 1:36:08 AM

Down to 70

Edit: Below 50, not including perm-locked pages

Edited by randomtroper89 on Oct 19th 2022 at 3:54:33 AM

amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#59: Oct 19th 2022 at 4:04:49 AM

finished the remaining wicks! this thread can close

MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
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Trope Repair Shop: Nerd
26th Jun '22 6:49:57 AM

Crown Description:

Nerd has been misused for any character with nerdy interests are characteristics even though they don't fit the stereotype.

Total posts: 60
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