History GeniusBruiser / VideoGames

* Odd example in ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Dual Strike]]''. Normally Jugger is TheBrute and is coded with an intentionally stupid [=AI=] script. When he uses his [=CO=] power though, he switches to the ''smartest [=AI=] script in the game'' and spends the next turn liberally [[CurbStompBattle tossing you to the curb]].

*** This is actually a plot point in the previous ''Fallout'' games. [[spoiler:The Forced Evolutionary Virus, which "perfects" humans by turning them into Super Mutants, also grants them genius level intellect... or rather, is supposed to. Unfortunately, one of the problems that can't be solved even with 200 years of slow but steady progress in the field of retroviral evolution is the fact that the IQ upgrade only works on the unmutated genetic structures of Vault Dwellers. Apparently after a single generation of exposure to the titular fallout, human genetic damage isn't enough to markedly impact human appearance or skills, but it is enough to react unpleasantly with the FEV to reduce the minds of the Super Mutants created from them to that of particularly dim-witted children. Later in ''Fallout 3'', this is the revealed as the motivation behind the Enclave's plan to introduce their plague into the water... it's designed not to kill all the people in the Capital Wasteland, only those whose genetic structures have been too badly damaged to be converted into Super Genius Mutants. So the Vault inhabitants survive, everybody else dies.]]

-->'''Steroid:''' My skin is punctured and leaking!

** Fighting-types have a kind of reputation where they're portrayed as "DumbMuscle" due to their weakness to Psychic attacks. In actuality they're more this trope. For example, Conkeldurr taught humans how to make concrete while older Hariyama actively teach young Makuhita the art of sumo. [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs And combining the two]] are the Pokémon who are both Psychic AND Fighting, such as Gallade and Medicham. They are both mentally focused and in peak physical shape.

-->'''Draz'Zilb:''' "Why the puzzled stare, <name>? Expecting me to speak like an uncouth ruffian merely because I am an ogre?"

** With the right levelling, perks, and chems, the player character in any ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' game can become one as well: able to hack any computer, pick any lock, smooth talk any merchant, and, if need be, kill Deathclaws. ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu bare-handed.]]''

** Jill Valentine certainly counts. Her background training that got her recruited for S.T.A.R.S [[AllThereInTheManual detailed in her bio]] involves bomb disposal as well as lock picking, she's also a talented pianist as ''[=RE1=]'' and ''[=RE5=]'''s DLC shows. More importantly, she's a OneWomanArmy proficient in Savate and Taekwondo and firearms who's killed armies of zombies, giant monsters and defeated TheDreaded Nemesis all by herself. In ''[=RE5=]'' even while [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] she retains her intelligence for most of the game but also has superpowers akin to the aforementioned Wesker.

** Speaking of which, there's Chris Redfield himself. True, he comes off as a grunt soldier at times, but he's a man who was ranked high in the Air Force and made his way to the elite tactical squad hand-picked by Wesker when he was only 24. Besides marksmanship, Chris is a proficient pilot and displays martial skill in boxing, kickboxing, Judo, and Brazilian Jujitsu. He's also somehow strong enough to punch 151-ton rock out of his way in the FinalBattle of ''[=RE5=]'' and unlike Wesker ''didn't'' take a SuperSerum to achieve that level of strength.

* Vergil, EvilTwin brother of Dante from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3'' is quite scholarly as seen in the first cutscene of the Special Edition where Arkham finds him searching through a library onto how to open the Demon World. It's also evident in combat as while Dante has a careless and crazy fighting style, Vergil on other hand favors precision to back up his demonic strength resulting in Vergil wiping the floor with his brother in their first match (before Dante TookALevelInBadass). [[spoiler: V, Vergil's human SoulJar from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' embodies this, making up for his complete lack of strength with skill and tactics. V also loves poems as Vergil did in his youth before his StartOfDarkness]].

* ''VideoGame/Yakuza3'' has Yoshitaka Mine, the Final Boss. He's both this and a CulturedBadass, being a self made businessman and having an amazing sense of class. On the strength side, he's seen working out, and in [[spoiler:The Final Fight, he's so powerful that he managed to actually contend with Kiryu, something that only [[TigerVersusDragon Taiga]] [[TheBigGuy Saejima]], [[Superboss Jo]] [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Amon]], and [[BloodKnight Ryuji]] [[TheBrute Goda]] could do.]]

** Super Mutants in general are quite strange. While most of them [[DumbMuscle are brutes]], some are actually very intelligent.

*** This is actually a plot point in the previous ''Fallout'' games. [[spoiler:The Forced Evolutionary Virus, which "perfects" humans by turning them into Super Mutants, also grants them genius level intellect... or rather, is supposed to. Unfortunately, one of the problems that can't be solved even with 200 years of slow but steady progress in the field of retroviral evolution is the fact that the IQ upgrade only works on the unmutated genetic structures of Vault Dwellers. Apparently after a single generation of exposure to the titular fallout, human genetic damage isn't enough to markedly impact human appearance or skills, but it is enough to react unpleasantly with the FEV to reduce the minds of the Super Mutants created from them to that of particularly dim-witted children. Later in ''Fallout 3'', this is the revealed as the motivation behind the Enclave's plan to introduce their plague into the water... it's designed not to kill all the people in the Capitol Wastelands, only those whose genetic structures have been too badly damaged to be converted into Super Genius Mutants. So the Vault inhabitants survive, everybody else dies.]]

** Marcus for ''VideoGame/Fallout2''. In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', he's one of the few non-Legion character who consistently uses the Latin pronunciation of Caesar (Kai-Sar). [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Though in the latter his Intelligence stat is only 3, compared to 7 in the former.]] Also, Goris, who rivals [[SmugSnake Myron]] in terms of smarts and also pretty handy in a fight, [[spoiler:what with being a Deathclaw and all]].
** Also in ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'', Legate Lanius is a brutal BloodKnight who revels in bloodshed and quite tough in direct combat. However, he's actually a relatively decent tactician who if you decide to engage him in conversation is actually a surprisingly intelligent man who will not toss away the lives of his men pointlessly and will actually retreat if the player makes a very good argument (most of which has to do with logistics).
*** [[SubvertedTrope However,]] while he sounds like a smart guy and is a decent tactician, he clearly has absolutely no idea what he's doing when it comes to keeping an empire up and running. Sure enough, a Courier with maxed out Barter can make him retreat simply by pointing out just how logistically stupid his long-term plans for the Legion are, and it's implied by several characters, chief among them being [[TheChessmaster Mr. House]], that the whole Legion will fall apart within a scant few years under his leadership.

* Almost all the members of the Knight/General/Great Knight classes in ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' fit here. They're all slow and powerful lance (and axe, after promotion) users with great defense, but at the same time they're so smart and dedicated to their mission that they're often the right hands of the Lords. Notable examples are:

** Bors, Barth, Wendy, Fighting General Douglas, and Liutenant Murdock from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'';

** Tauroneo in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''.
** And on the Bad guy side, Zelgius[[note]] Aka the Black Knight[[/note]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''. A devastating swordsman, high in every stat, yet also a brilliant tactician and a great leader to his troops.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has the mercenary Gregor, [[ThirdPersonPerson who has]] [[HulkSpeak trouble speaking]] [[EloquentInMyNativeTongue proper English]], but is otherwise a fairly intelligent man with lots of street smarts, wisdom and experience. He also states that a mercenary [[HadToBeSharp has to be smart to survive]].
** The Avatar from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' deserves mentioning if the player uses the largest of the three available physical builds, which makes them tower over more than half the cast. They are a brilliant tactician, known to obtain victory against nearly impossible odds without getting anyone killed (if the player's doing a NoCasualtiesRun). On top of that, the Avatar can easily become the most powerful unit.

*** Trevor Phillips is one of the most scarily psychotic protagonists in the entire series and boasts the highest Strength stat off the mark, but there are many moments that show that underneath his deranged exterior, there's a sharp mind that's working non-stop. This is made especially apparent when he ''single-handedly'' plans out a heist against a private militia [[spoiler: that would have ''succeeded'' had the target not been a ''deadly superweapon'' that would have had the entire U.S. government after him]] and then, later on, is able to [[spoiler: calculate the value of two tons of gold bricks in a matter of ''seconds'', impressing pretty much everyone around him]]. It's revealed through conversations that he was a qualified US Air Force pilot (an occupation requiring a smart individual) who was rejected because of his psychotic personality, not because of lack of skill or intelligence.
*** The Online Protagonist. He is very capable of hacking doors and planning heists. Besides, if you want to improve your skills, the protagonist can be superhumanly strong.

** [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Winston]], a super-intelligent gorilla who is about as comfortable devising groundbreaking new technologies as he is jumping into the fray, frying people with his tesla cannon and beating them senseless with his bare hands. Many of his enemies often underestimate him for this reason, thinking he's just a dumb animal.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Galmar Stonefist, the right-hand man of [[RebelLeader Ulfric Stormcloak]] (either TheDragon or the NumberTwo depending on which side you take in the Civil War) looks like a typical [[HornyVikings Nord]], a hugely-built ProudWarriorRaceGuy with a BadassBeard and a [[AnAxeToGrind huge battle-axe]], but he demonstrates a surprising amount of brains. He is a very-skilled tactician, a gifted speaker, possesses an impressive knowledge of Skyrim's history and folklore, and he pulls a BatmanGambit on his Imperial enemies with some altered documents.

** Zell Dincht of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' while at first glance Zell seems to be nothing more than a passionate, loud-mouthed fighter-type with energy to spare throughout the game it's revealed that Zell is an avid reader with extensive knowledge of world history, mechanical expertise, and jewelry making. He's literally referred to in-game as Mr. Know-It-All-Zell. He's also one of the strongest characters in-game. He once derailed a train accidentally by punching the floor of a train car. Later in-game, he steps forward as leader and pilot.

* In the ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' sequal, ''Dawn of War II –- Retribution'', Kaptin Bluddflagg is able to tell that Adrastia is an Inquisitor by her uniform, which is remarkable as Orks have a biologically enforced LargeAndInCharge thing going for their race and have no concept of uniforms (and Adrastia is a mite shorter than the soldiers with her). He also deduced Kyras' location very intelligently, not just by Ork standards, but by any standards. Note that [[ActionGirl Autarch Kayleth]], leader of the so-called "super-intelligent" resident [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]], struggled to figure this out. Although, to her credit, Kayleth takes a lot less time to explain it when she finally puts two and two together... [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments and unlike Bluddflagg's gang, her subordinates actually understand what she's on about]].

** [[DependingOnTheWriter When he's not being written as]] [[DumbMuscle rock stupid]] Knuckles has, at various points, demonstrated a [[WarriorPoet philosophical streak]], a fair bit of historical knowledge, [[CunningLinguist an ability to read ancient runes]], and some tactical ability. All in addition to his [[SuperStrength prodigious strength]].

* [[ScaryBlackMan Zasalamel]] from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' is a tall, heavily-built black man who is implied to be one of the most strongest fighters among the cast due to his [[TimeAbyss centuries of experience]]. But he is also knowledgeable on many subjects, including [[PowerOfTheVoid magic]], and [[TheChessmaster demonstrably capable of playing a long game and manipulating other characters towards his own ends]]. His [[SinisterScythe weapon Kafziel]] is menacing, but it may be his mind is an even greater weapon.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Ganondorf is usually portrayed as a genius bruiser whenever he's not a drooling beastie, and sometimes even then. He always plans ahead of time and is rather methodical. Tricking Link into opening the sacred realm so he could get the Triforce (''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''), setting up plagues and curing them through Aganihm in order to gain (political) power (''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''), and apparently setting up several resurrection plans are some of his highlights. Even when things don't go his way, he can salvage the situation; his actions in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', including feeding on the Twili's hate and allowing Zant to release him, as well as getting around every seal placed on him, are examples of this. He is also a beastly fighter: in his human form, he's canonically seven and a half feet tall, and deadly with swords and his bare fists, while his true form is a gigantic [[FullBoarAction boar]] more than capable of crushing Link with his sheer size.
** Although not technically canon, he appears in a fairly high-tech-looking computer lab in the Subspace Emissary in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', overseeing everything as it transpires. Given that his only immediate ally [[spoiler:besides Master Hand]] is [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], it's not too much of a stretch to assume that ol' Ganon's technologically savvy, too.

** One of the earliest examples of this is The Lieutenant (called Lou Tenant by his underlings), TheDragon of ''VideoGame/Fallout1''. Where most of the other Super Mutants range from average to dim, Lou is urbane, philosophical, and offers cogent arguments that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, considering himself to be the pinnacle of evolution. Considering he's ThatOneBoss, it's hard to argue with him...

** Fawkes from ''VideoGame/Fallout3''. Game Informer describes him as being "smart, funny, and damn near unkillable". He's an enormous green beast with a fondness for [[DropTheHammer Super-Sledges]] and [[BeamSpam gatling lasers]], and yet is very intelligent and philosophical. This is due to having been locked in a cell for most of his life in which the only diversion was a computer terminal with access to massive amounts of data and a huge library of electronic books.
** Super Mutants in general are quite strange. While most of them are brutes, some are actually very intelligent. However, those are rather rare in ''Fallout 3''[='s=] setting. The only two smart super mutants around DC are Fawkes and Uncle Leo, who randomly wanders the wasteland and manages to retain his human conscience through zen. No, really.

** One of the earliest examples of this is The Lieutenant (called Lou Tenant by his underlings), TheDragon of ''VideoGame/Fallout1''. Where most of the other Super Mutants range from average to dim, Lou is urbane, philosophical, and offers cogent arguments that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, considering himself to be the pinnacle of evolution. Considering he's ThatOneBoss, it's hard to argue with him...

* Fawkes from ''VideoGame/Fallout3''. Game Informer describes him as being "smart, funny, and damn near unkillable". He's an enormous green beast with a fondness for [[DropTheHammer Super-Sledges]] and [[BeamSpam gatling lasers]], and yet is very intelligent and philosophical.
** This is due to having been locked in a cell for most of his life in which the only diversion was a computer terminal with access to massive amounts of data and a huge library of electronic books.

*** This is actually a plot point in the previous ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games. [[spoiler:The Forced Evolutionary Virus, which "perfects" humans by turning them into Super Mutants, also grants them genius level intellect... or rather, is supposed to. Unfortunately, one of the problems that can't be solved even with 200 years of slow but steady progress in the field of retroviral evolution is the fact that the IQ upgrade only works on the unmutated genetic structures of Vault Dwellers. Apparently after a single generation of exposure to the titular fallout, human genetic damage isn't enough to markedly impact human appearance or skills, but it is enough to react unpleasantly with the FEV to reduce the minds of the Super Mutants created from them to that of particularly dim-witted children. Later in ''Fallout 3'', this is the revealed as the motivation behind the Enclave's plan to introduce their plague into the water... it's designed not to kill all the people in the Capitol Wastelands, only those whose genetic structures have been too badly damaged to be converted into Super Genius Mutants. So the Vault inhabitants survive, everybody else dies.]]

** Played with Agnus from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' in contrast to the usual MadScientist archetype he's massive and brutish looking, except Angus is actually stammering DirtyCoward who hides behind a innocent girl he's holding hostage when threatened by her LoveInterest protagonist. This is probably a [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass ruse]] though, as he's surprisingly powerful in combat and has his own demonic transformation.

** [[TheHero Link]] himself could also count, though in many games, the 'bruiser' part usually involves him using magic items to perform feats of incredible strength. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' is an exception; in this game, we see him sumo wrestle [[ProudWarriorRace Gorons]], swing a huge [[EpicFlail ball-and-chain]], and even overpower Ganondorf, all without needing any magical items. As for the 'genius' part, well, quite a few of the puzzles in the dungeons Link had to beat do require him to be pretty smart to solve them, especially since he doesn't have the same benefits of the wider-angle camera and [[GuideDangIt the internet]] that the player does.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/character_steroids_b_lrg.png]]

* Steroids from ''VideoGame/NuclearThrone'' is a musclebound DualWielding powerhouse and a formed scientist who was wise enough to bulk up on steroids in order to survive the apocalypse he predicted. [[ProperlyParanoid He was right.]] It's not entirely clear how much of his past intellect has been retained in his current state, but seeing as he still [[BadassBookworm reads books in his spare time]], he's at least smarter than the average wasteland {{mutant}}.

* All three ''VideoGame/BioShock'' protagonists have good hacking and puzzle-solving abilities, in addition to being good with firearms.

* Zigzagged with Jean-Luc Measurehead in ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', TheDragon for the local NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters. A large imposing black man, who despite being [[PurpleProse eloquent]] and well-read, utilizes InsaneTrollLogic to defend his BoomerangBigot ideology. He's also astute enough to be one of the only two characters in the game capable of convincing the PlayerCharacter that [[JerkassHasAPoint alcoholism is ruining his life and helping him quit]].

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'''s Samus Aran is implied to be a pretty sharp woman; she's about twenty different flavours of badass in battle, but she's also apparently quite learned in biology and designed her own gunship. [[HeroicMime During the times we can hear her thoughts]], she's quite philosophical, too.
** And if her cameo appearance in ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' is anything to go by, she also plays the double bass.
** Samus's nemesis, Ridley, also has a very high level of intelligence which has earned him a command position both in the Space Pirates organization and under Mother Brain. And Ridley is a giant, winged space dragon that eats people.
*** Although this is usually a case of AllThereInTheManual (he rarely ever appears in person outside his inevitable boss battles), this aspect of his personality was finally brought to light in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', where he displays far more cunning than in previous games. Ironically, it's in this game that Samus is quite probably the ''least'' intelligent.