History Main / GoodIsNotDumb

* In ''Fanfic/InTheGrimDarknessOfThe41stMillenniumNobodyBeatsGIJoe'', the Joes, whose idealism is utterly at odds with their new grimdark setting, are able to survive and keep their hands relatively clean by constantly running 'circles' around not only their enemies on the battlefield, but also the various Imperium factions.

* The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' supplement for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' makes a point of saying, early on, that Good does not equal stupid. A Good character won't leave a village to be eaten by a dragon, but they're perfectly allowed to ask questions about its power, its minions, and where it's living -- they aren't obligated to charge in blind. The same book also notes that good characters don't even have to be too trusting and take the information of aforementioned example at face value -- all of it may be a villain's trap, after all.

** Carrot Ironfoundersson greets everyone by name, is perpetually polite and cheerful, and selflessly volunteers to help anyone in need. But anyone who mistakes him for an easy mark ''quickly'' learns otherwise.

* ''Fanfic/WishCarefully'': In which Harry Potter surrenders wizarding England to the Death Eaters, evacuates everyone else, and lets the consequences of their own purist, isolationist ideology and Voldemort's "leadership" [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome drive them to ruin]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Flash and Substance" Orion asks why Central City would honor a buffoon like the Flash, "who makes bad jokes, [and] who concerns themselves with pitiful men like the Trickster." But the Flash is anything but dumb -- he's able to handle the Trickster without throwing a single punch. In fact, he actually convinces the Trickster to happily turn himself in to the police. He also defeated the InsufferableGenius Grodd in one episode by outsmarting him, leading his teammate Franchise/GreenLantern to remark "Well, maybe you aren't an idiot." (Probably being at least partially sarcastic.) You can tell that even Batman is almost envious of his ability to quietly shut down a super-foe without violence, something he cannot imagine being able to do in Gotham... or anywhere else, for that matter. It does help that the Rogues (in the animations) are {{Punch Clock Villain}}s rather than crazies Batman has to deal with. The Comics are another story:

** In Plankton's first episode, he tries to manipulate [=SpongeBob=] into giving him a Krabby Patty by pretending to be friendly, but [=SpongeBob=] sees right through Plankton's ruse immediately. Plankton lampshades this.

** Crossed with SmartBall, Patrick is unsurprisingly vigilant and down-to-earth in "Porous Pockets", as he is able to con his way past the rich-turned [=SpongeBob=]'s VIP list and tries to warn his friend that his new "friends" are only using him for his money, and to stop throwing his money away to them otherwise he'll have none left.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Superman gets to show and/or prove this a lot. Sometimes he's surprised by something he's never seen before, especially in the early episodes, when he was fresh off the farm and just beginning his heroic career. But if you try the same trick on him more than once, you'll find that he's figured out ''exactly'' what your deal is and how to stop you. Compare how befuddled he was by [[OutsideContextProblem Mxyzptlk]] during their first encounter with how he almost effortlessly owns the extradimensional imp every time after that.

* Ben Tennyson was this during ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and some episodes of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', [[TookALevelInDumbass on the other hand]]...

-->"Tsai Wo asked, saying 'A benevolent man, though it be told him—,"There is a man in the well," will go in after him, I suppose.' Confucius said, 'Why should he do so?' A superior man may be maid to go ''to the well'', but he cannot be made to go down into it. He may be imposed upon, but he cannot be befooled."

* In Literature/TheBible, Jesus Christ specifically commanded his followers to invoke this. "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." - Matthew 10:16

* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', the ever-polite angel (literal angel) Aziraphale occasionally gets visits from the [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub representatives of property developers]] who are [[ShameIfSomethingHappened very concerned about the possible risk of fire to his bookshop.]]. He listens to them cheerfully and politely sends them on their way, and ''they never return''... He's also been audited by the tax office five times specifically because, being an angel, he never makes mistakes or commits those tiny little frauds humans often do. His accounts are so incredibly perfect the tax office people think he must be up to something spectacular. He's not.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'':

* In Literature/TheBible Jesus Christ specifically commanded his followers to invoke this. "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." - Matthew 10:16

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Main character, Himura Kenshin is an excellent example. In the first episode/chapter of the series, he shoots down [[WideEyedIdealist Kaoru's]] philosophy of swordsmanship that gives life, coldly noting that swords are primarily tools of murder and anyone who thinks otherwise is a naïve fool who's never held a blade before, but chooses to believe in her ideal anyway because he prefers to believe in a sweet lie than the awful truth. Kenshim is a MartialPacifist who prefers peaceful resolutions, but will not hesitate to draw his sword on anyone who sufficiently provokes him.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Studies have shown that people who're more trusting are often ''more'' capable of telling when others are lying. For more information, see [[Analysis/GoodIsNotDumb the analysis page]].
* Another study has shown that those who're more concerned with justice tend to think more logically.
** Here you go. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/12/4161
* In the early years of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi advocated passive resistance against the Nazi war machine, just as he had successfully used against British rule in India. However, when the horrific scope of Nazi Germany's campaign against Europe and its own Jewish population became evident, Gandhi acknowledged that, even if nonviolence could possibly work against the Nazis, it would suffer many, many bloody defeats along the way. Gandhi was ''not'' naive, and understood quite well that his resistance against the British succeeded because, when it came down to it, they were honorable enough to [[WouldNotShootACivilian not resort to genocide]]. The Nazis, meanwhile, had no such compunction.
* Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, has been held up for centuries as the [[KnightInShiningArmor exemplar of chivalric virtue]], loyal, honorable, pious, noble and kind, admired by friend and foe alike, his name a byword for heroism and goodness. He was also one of the most effective military commanders of his day, in a large part because of his extremely practical approach to war -- he demanded discipline and professionalism from both his cavalry and infantry (who other French commanders of the age disdained as a rabble) and made extensive use of espionage and reconnaissance to maintain awareness of his enemies' movements. In other words, he was the complete opposite of the stereotype of the idiot aristocrat whose only tactic is "charge".
* It can generally be found that EvilIsEasy but also self-destructive, while Good is DifficultButAwesome. So doing the right thing generally has numerous long-term benefits and can lead to a KarmicJackpot... IF you are intelligent enough to pull it off.
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* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Himura Kenshin.

* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', the ever-polite angel Aziraphale occasionally gets visits from the [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub representatives of property developers]] who are [[ShameIfSomethingHappened very concerned about the possible risk of fire to his bookshop.]]. He listens to them cheerfully and politely sends them on their way, and ''they never return''...

* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'': Dr. Tenma, Nina Fortner, and Dr. Reichwein.