History Main / Adorkable

** More so Leonard Hofstadter. He's also too geeky for words, and not too great with social interaction, but he ''tries'', and it's adorable.
*** YourMileageMayVary on this - I suppose it depends on whether you are into passive-aggressive whiny guys with mommy issues. Needy is not attractive for some people.

** Mightily Oats in ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum''.

** Shinjiro Aragaki, of all people, also turns out to have a bit of this going on thanks to a hidden love of animals and cooking shows, though he's more gruffly {{tsundere}} than outright dorky. Again, it's played up in the PSP version thanks to his Social Link in the female main character's route.

** Cullen, too, as seen when faced by a female Mage Warden. Until he goes through severe BreakTheCutie, anyway.

** Some female fans have called Garrus this as well.

** Even pre-Nibelheim (i.e., sane) Sephiroth apparently isn't immune to Zack's adorkable qualities.

** ''PaperMario: The Thousand-Year Door''. Koops, the poor awkward little Koopa who lost is confidence after [[ItMakesSenseInContext his dad got eaten by a dragon]]. Despite his quirks--nay, ''because'' of them--he's got quite a large crowd of fan girls.

* [[{{Homestuck}} Tavros Nitram, a.k.a. adiosToreador]] is utterly dorky, and yet at the same time unbelievably {{Moe}}. Being UglyCute (due to being, you know, a troll) helps.
** John. The guy is the king of the adorkable.

* Let's just say everyone at [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses TGWTG]] and save us the trouble of making a list.
** But special mention should go to Nella in all her glorious [[AdultChild wo-man childness]].

** Although [[YourMileageMayVary most fans would disagree]], [=LeShawna=] thinks of Harold this way.

* [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Doug Walker]], out of character. Best seen in the Premium Area bloopers but you can see it just as well in convention videos and donation drives.
** And when Critic isn't seriously raging (and hey, sometimes when he is), this trait bleeds into him like whoa.

* RufusWainwright, who is gay, an avid opera and literature fan, and an ''amazing'' singer.
** What about that is dorky? Rufus Wainwright is one of the most highly polished individuals to ever emerge from a prosperous and successful family. Posh, perhaps. That's not necessarily dorky, though.

The word "Adorkable" is a portmanteau of "Adorable" and "Dork," and that fairly neatly encapsulates this trope. Adorkable characters are "dorky" in some fashion. Maybe they're socially inept or shy. Maybe they're really clumsy. Maybe they have some really, ''really'' conspicuous [[CharacterTics character tic]] that tends to earn them weird looks. Maybe they're just so darn ''sweet,'' [[HiddenHeartOfGold against]] [[TestosteronePoisoning the odds]], that it borders on embarrassing. Heck, maybe they're just an out-and-out {{Nerd}}. However, rather than making them an outcast, these quirks give the character that same endearing vulnerability that often goes hand-in-hand with {{Moe}}.

The word "Adorkable" is a portmanteau of "Adorable" and "Dork," and that fairly neatly encapsulates this trope. Adorkable characters are "dorky" in some fashion. Maybe they're socially inept or shy. Maybe they're really clumsy. Maybe they have some really, ''really'' conspicuous [[CharacterTics character tic ]] that tends to earn them weird looks. Maybe they're just so darn ''sweet,'' [[HiddenHeartOfGold against]] [[TestosteronePoisoning the odds]], that it borders on embarrassing. Heck, maybe they're just an out-and-out {{Nerd}}. However, rather than making them an outcast, these quirks give the character that same endearing vulnerability that often goes hand-in-hand with {{Moe}}.

This character type is almost AlwaysMale, but ''can'' be female as well. While societal norms would seem to suggest that this is the opposite of the "Male Ideal", in reality many people might find these characters appealing. Rather than an over-the-top caricature, these characters are appealing because they're ''not'' [[TestosteronePoisoning absurd supermen.]] (Though, unlike many real dorks, adorkable characters are rarely overweight and almost never have bad skin or any more serious physical flaw -- i.e., they're HollywoodHomely at worst.)

* Ignoring their CreepyChild shenanigans, both [[EnigmaticMinion Kaworu]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Kei]] (female example) can come off as this.

* In the ''{{Persona 3}}'' remake [[spoiler: Shinjiro]] becomes this, of all people.

* The vampire Kostya in ''NightWatch'' is a pretty sensitive, nice guy, and there's a scene in ''Twilight Watch'' where Anton at first thinks he did a CharmPerson on a woman to make her very helpful, but then realizes to his disgust [[hottip:*: because at this point he thinks Kostya's a murderer and has made a FaceHeelTurn]] it was his natural dorky charm.

* In the ''{{Persona 3}}'' remake [[spoiler: Shinjiro]] becomes this, of all people.
** You forgot to mention Ikutski before...well...you know, and Theodore in P3P, who seems to know even less about the real world than his older sister Elizabeth and yet is remarkably kind and protective towards the female MC.

*Hanners from QuestionableContent

*** {{Your Mileage May Vary}} on this - I suppose it depends on whether you are into passive-aggressive whiny guys with mommy issues. Needy is not attractive for some people.

** You forgot to mention Ikutski [[SoYeah before...well...you know]], and Theodore in P3P, who seems to know even less about the real world than his older sister Elizabeth and yet is remarkably kind and protective towards the female MC.

* Osaka in ''AzumangaDaioh'' pretty much has her own cult following.

** The term is also used heavily by [[HoYay Noah/Cody]] shippers, because two nerds are better than one.

* Lucca in ''Crono Trigger''.

* This is the common fan reaction to Naoto in ''{{Persona4}}'' despite (or because of the fact) that [[spoiler: [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready she is a girl]]]].
* In the ''{{Persona3}}'' remake [[spoiler: Shinjiro]] becomes this, of all people.

* Jeff from "EarthBound", with that suit, glasses, bow tie, bowl haircut....and he has TONS of fangirls. Lloyd from the prequel counts, too.