History Main / GentlemanAndAScholar

* In his more positive depictions and moments, Literature/SherlockHolmes frequently falls here. While far from being immune to being an InsufferableGenius, in the original stories he can also often be incredibly charming, gallant and personable.

* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' opens with Edmond Dantes as a young, naive sailor; his transformation into the suave, educated, and urbane Count began with his meeting (in prison) the Abbe Faria, who educates him and reveals to him the location of a great treasure. Edmond made the most of both.

* Light Yagami from ''Manga/DeathNote'' is considered one of the most prodigious students in Japan and has no problems in socializing. That said, as soon as we know him more thoroughly, the "gentleman" factor is nothing more than a facade; in fact, he is a childish opportunist with a HairTriggerTemper and a misogynist whose treatment towards Misa is absolutely despicable. Not to mention his VillainousBreakdown at the end of the story...

->''"Let's see: I hail from Waterdeep, City of Splendours. I'm a wizard of considerable acclaim, and scholar of exceptional accomplishment. [[KindheartedCatLover I have a cat]], a library, and a weakness for a good glass of wine. And if the mood takes me, I'm known to try my hand at poetry."''
-->-- '''Gale Dekarios''', ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII''

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Bolt, Mittens, Rhino, and Penny are portrayed as avid consumers of art and culture in all forms. Penny's mom is presented as being a former high school teacher prior to the TV show's run, with a specialty in cultural appreciation; she has a huge collection of vintage pop and classical music compact discs, and fondly remembers a summer backpacking trip through Europe visiting museums. All are intelligent, sympathetic characters as well.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Bolt, Mittens, Rhino, and Penny are portrayed as avid consumers of art and culture in all forms. Penny’s mom is presented as being a former high school teacher prior to the TV show’s run, with a specialty in cultural appreciation; she has a huge collection of vintage pop and classical music compact discs, and fondly remembers a summer backpacking trip through Europe visiting museums.

* Being university dwellers of relatively good upbringing, Luther and Lucien of ''Webcomic/FamilyMan'' both typically fit this, though Luther can edge towards awkwardness. Lucien, however, is particularly charming. Ariana is a RareFemaleExample.

* ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'': Dr Henry Jekyll tried to invoke this trope so hard it led to his downfall: He managed to get three doctorates, one in medicine and two in law, and he was part of the Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS), an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of London judges to have made a ''substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science, and medical science''.[[note]]FRS has been described by The Guardian newspaper as ''the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar''.[[/note]] His two best friends, Doctor Lanyon and lawyer Utterson, were inseparable when they were young students. That means that Jekyll studied at least two doctorates ''at the same time''. He has been so committed to his studies that he literally cannot enjoy his vices. That is the reason he develops the potion that converts him into Mr. Hyde. However, notice that Jekyll cannot confess what his vices were, but he confesses Hyde's acts of cruelty without doubt. Jekyll never really mastered the ''gentleman'' part of this trope.

Also see GoodIsNotDumb. Contrast KindheartedSimpleton. Polar {{Opposite Trope|s}} of InsufferableImbecile. If he has magic, he's a GentlemanWizard. An existing character can be upgraded inexplicably in this way via InstantCultured.

->''"A-ha! A place of learning and culture!"''
-->-- '''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Gentleman]] unit''', ''VideoGame/{{Empire|TotalWar}}'' and ''VideoGame/NapoleonTotalWar''

** Lisa herself, while by no means immune to the JerkassBall, is generally portrayed as one of the nicer members of the family (along with Marge) and easily the smartest.
* Twilight Sparkle is this ''most'' of the time in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', but tends to slip up whenever it will suit the plot.

* Doc Emmett L. Brown from the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy seems to be nearly a lunatic; who just happens to be a brilliant engineer. But in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'' he is revealed to be quite the gentleman, and ladies' man, as well. Even more impressive if you consider that he decided to become a ladies' man only relatively late, in the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII second movie]]. Not to mention how different the standards of formal etiquette were between the 1980s and the 1880s. The original draft for both the [[Film/BackToTheFuture first film]] and the sequels have Doc as being quite the ladies' man in the 1950s. It would have also been revealed that he was engaged to the daughter of the Dean of the university he worked at before it had been broken off when he ''refused'' to help design biological and chemical weapons for the Army.

-->-- '''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Gentleman]] unit''', ''VideoGame/{{Empire|TotalWar}}'' and ''VideoGame/NapoleonTotalWar''.

* Masaki Ichijou from ''Anime/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' is intelligent, analytical, a tactical genius, highly respected by his peers, charismatic, and on more than one occasion he is seen in a group with his peers.

* Dr. Tenma from ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' is a highly accomplished brain surgeon and an incredibly caring and selfless man.

* ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'' has a female example of this trope, the Demon Queen. Her fields of expertise are Anthropology and Economics and may be awkward in romantic matters, but she is a natural at social events and a master of negotiation. And yes, she is one of the good guys.

* ComicBook/DoctorDoom certainly thinks of himself as one.

* Gentlemen in ''[[VideoGame/EmpireTotalWar Empire]]'' and ''VideoGame/NapoleonTotalWar'' are researcher units that are spawned from certain intellectual buildings like Universities and Observatories. You can send them to universities where they speed up the research of technologies, or you can send them out to [[DuelToTheDeath dual]] rival gentlemen as well as rakes. One can even become a BadassBookworm after gaining enough dueling skills.

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Note that this is not ''{{always|Male}}'' [[AlwaysMale a man]], but neither is it strictly a {{unisex trope|s}}. It is ''possible'' for a woman to be a "'''Lady and a Scholar'''", but because women were not common in academia until the 20-21st century, the archetype has not had proper time to develop an easily recognizable DistaffCounterpart. There's also less expectation of InsufferableGenius associated [[WomenAreWiser with female academics]], so their being warm and well-mannered is less likely to be a defining trait.

Not so with anyone who is a '''Gentleman and a Scholar'''. He manages to be both a highly intelligent expert in his chosen field ''and'' a pleasant, well-adjusted, and socially engaging human being, sometimes being even ''more'' attuned to the nuances of social etiquette than many less-intelligent characters. Frequently, his emphasis is more on the humanities than on the natural sciences (he is probably [[CunningLinguist fluent in dead languages]] and always handy with an [[{{Epigraph}} apropos quotation]] from Creator/{{Aristotle}}, Saint Augustine, or [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante]]), but this is not an absolute rule. Whatever his field, he is always striving to learn more, but ''never'' allows himself to fall victim to CripplingOverspecialization. He is always well-groomed and [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel neatly dressed]], unless extraordinary circumstances dictate otherwise. Simply put, this is what happens when TheSmartGuy is also a NiceGuy.

Also see GoodIsNotDumb. Contrast KindheartedSimpleton (dim but kind-hearted). Polar opposite trope of InsufferableImbecile. If he has magic, he's a GentlemanWizard. An existing character can be upgraded inexplicably in this way via InstantCultured.