History Main / BrainyBrunette

** Subverted with [[Characters/TheOwlHouseAmityBlight Amity Blight]]. She is a natural brunette who has more than earned her spot as the top student at Hexside, but she usually dyes her hair green [[spoiler:or lavender]]. It's eventually shown that she inherited both her smarts and her brown hair from her father Alador, who is considered to be one of the top minds in his field of magic.

** Luz Noceda is shown to be highly creative, a fast learner, and a quick thinker. In fact, she is smart enough to accomplish such feats of intellect as figuring out a long-lost system of ancient magic that is almost unique to her and managing to outsmart Emperor Belos, a proven master manipulator, more than once.
** Subverted with Amity Blight. She is a natural brunette who has more than earned her spot as the top student at Hexside, but she usually dyes her hair green [[spoiler:or lavender]]. It's eventually shown that she inherited both her smarts and her brown hair from her father Alador, who is considered to be one of the top minds in his field of magic.

Contrast DumbBlonde and FieryRedhead. And, as with both of them, this character can be either good or evil. Compare RedheadsAreUncool who might stand out as much as the brunette but have less confidence than even the bashful brainy brunette.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has Noah (book smarts), Courtney (legal smarts), Cody ([[TechnoWizard mechanical smarts]]) and Alejandro ([[TheChessMaster people smarts]]).

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}''L [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] in continuities where she's not a FieryRedhead. And where [[IdiotBall she's actually brainy]].

* Detective Kate Beckett from ''Series/{{Castle}}''.

* ''Series/OneOfUsIsLying'': Bronwyn is a brunette honor student who's top of her class and aimed at attending Yale. Her grades start to slip under stress before and after the Simon Says drama. Bronwyn admits she cheated on an exam, which Simon Says used against her. Even so, she's definitely ver smart.

* Spencer Hastings from ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' is a slight [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]]: She's extremely smart, but [[TheBGrade she can't tolerate even the slightest slip.]] Sometimes the pressure of being [[TheSmartGuy The Smart Girl]] gets to her.

** Several minor characters also answer the criteria - Melissa and Veronica Hastings (it's a family thing) ,Shana Fring and Dr. Sullivan.

* Rocky Blue from ''Series/ShakeItUp''.

** Bruce Wayne has jet black hair and his [[Characters/BatmanTheCharacter nighttime identity]] is known as "The World's Greatest Detective."

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Creator/TinaFey in most of her roles.
* Creator/NataliePortman graduated from Harvard University and is known to have an IQ of 140. She is also an American [[JewishAndNerdy Jew]] from UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}.
* Creator/DanicaMcKellar, math genius.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_vos_Savant Marilyn vos Savant]], listed in the Guinness Book of World Records (at least, at one point) as having the world's highest IQ.
* Due to ethnic traits, AsianAndNerdy has almost total crossover with this.
* Creator/HedyLamarr, actress and inventor. Also major-league hottie.
* Creator/ElliotPage.
* Creator/AudreyHepburn didn't have much in the way of formal schooling, but she was extremely well-read, could speak at least seven languages fluently, and was a talented piano player.
* Creator/ElaineMay.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nino_Burjanadze Nino Burjanadze]], a political leader in the Republic of Georgia.
* Creator/EmmaWatson is enrolled at the ''[[MeaningfulName Brown]]'' University and is rumored to have grades rivaling Hermione Granger's - the icing to the cake is that she considers her education more important than her acting career.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank Anne Frank]], well known posthumously for the publication of ''Literature/TheDiaryOfAYoungGirl''.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'': Wonder Woman helps out by solving complex theoretical scientific problems for Professor Warren in "The Pluto Files"

* Bruce Wayne has jet black hair and his [[Characters/BatmanTheCharacter nighttime identity]] is known as "The World's Greatest Detective."
* ComicBook/{{Impulse}}: Despite being largely BrilliantButLazy Bart has a PhotographicMemory and is actually [[DitzyGenius quite smart]] and knowledgeable about technology. Highlighted after he [[SuperSpeedReading read an entire library]] in an afternoon while recovering from being kneecapped.
* Leading expert on Gamma Radiation Dr. Bruce Banner, aka ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk''. The Hulk himself usually isn't a genius (He's not dumb, but he's no Banner) and usually isn't brunet either.
* Tony Stark aka ComicBook/IronMan... billionaire, playboy, '''genius''', philanthropist.
* Marlene in ''ComicBook/JetDream'', who's described as "Powerful as a wrestler, but with a cool, precise Teutonic mind."
* Tim Drake aka ComicBook/{{Robin}}[=/=]ComicBook/RedRobin, a TeenGenius who was able to figure out the secret identities of multiple superheros as a child and is expected to surpass the world's current [[GreatDetective best detective]] before he reaches the legal drinking age.
* Peter Parker aka ''Franchise/SpiderMan'', a TeenGenius as a youth and still a science prodigy into his adulthood.

* [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] in ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' continuities where she's not a FieryRedhead. And where [[IdiotBall she's actually brainy]].

** Luz Noceda has dark brown hair. Her faults notwithstanding, she has a quick grasp on magical principles and sound abstract thinking skills.

** Played straight with Luz Noceda. Her faults notwithstanding, she has a quick grasp on magical principals and an abstract way of thinking. She also has dark brown hair.

* Subverted with Amity Blight from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''. She is a natural brunette who has more than earned her spot as the top student at Hexside, but she usually dyes her hair green [[spoiler:or lavender]]. It's eventually shown that she inherited both her smarts and her brown hair from her father Alador, who is considered to be one of the top minds in his field of magic.

* Inverted on ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'' where the redheaded Blossom is the brainy one, while the brunette Buttercup is the [[FieryRedhead aggressive spitfire]]. (Bubbles is still the DumbBlonde, though.)

** Heather specifically lampshades this in ''Action'' where she was looking for new hair and said: "I'm too smart to be Lindsay blonde, but Courtney's hair would be perfect."

* Maggie from ''Series/UnnaturalHistory''.

* Emma from ''Film/NoStringsAttached'', who studied at MIT, is a doctor in Boston, and turned up to a pajama party in actual pajamas in her college days.

%%* ''Manga/GirlFriends'' has the bookish Mari, in contrast to her best friend, the BookDumb Akko.

* Helen Parr from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' and Evelyn Deavor in [[WesternAnimation/Incredibles2 the sequel]]. Evelyn is a GadgeteerGenius while Helen is an expert tactician, and can also pilot multiple types of vehicles, from aircraft to motorcycles.