History Main / ImprobablyLowIQ

* Hazel Wassername of ''{{30 Rock}}'' has an IQ of 70 - which she seems to think is pretty high.

* Hazel Wassername of ''30 Rock'' has an IQ of 70 - which she seems to think is pretty high.

* Hazel Wassername of ''30Rock'' has an IQ of 70 - which she seems to think is pretty high.

* In ''ForrestGump'', Forrest has an somewhat more probable IQ of about 75, which is considered the lowest for "normal" intelligence, or mildly retarded. While low, someone with an IQ of 75 could still go to school, get a job, get married, etc., just as Forrest did.

Unlike [[ImprobablyHighIQ the opposite end of the spectrum]], it's much more rare to see one of these scores reach ridiculous levels that don't match up with real world IQ testing. Of course, when it does get ridiculous like that (negative IQ scores anyone?), it's much more jarring. On the other hand, most ''really'' ridiculously low [=IQs=] - single digits, or negative numbers - are found in comedies, where the RuleOfFunny can be blamed, or in-character hyperbole.

* From ''[[{{Film/Alien}} Alien 3]]'': Aaron's IQ is 85. "Eighty-Five" has become his nickname, much to his displeasure.

* ''{{Idiocracy}}'' demonstrates this. The two intelligent people who never bred had a believable IQ of about 130, while the football player and the trailer park people, had scores in seventies and eighties, which are believably low-average. However, five hundred years later, the average score was five. Granted these people were so stupid that their society was collapsing around them, and most of these people probably would qualify as retarded, but a person with a score of five would be unable to walk or talk. Furthermore, given how IQ is defined, it's impossible for the ''average'' IQ to be anything other than 100, since the norms are adjusted to ensure that average. [[FridgeBrilliance Of course, they could be completely unable to do any sort of IQ testing anyway because there's no way any of them could understand the process. It's possible that they don't know what is or how to calculate an average.]]
** They certainly do test IQ; the fact that Luke Wilson has the highest-tested IQ of anyone alive is even a plot point (not to mention the premise in and of itself). And the questions are so ridiculously easy that he might actually have an IQ of around 700 or so in the future.
** Alternatively, they still have automated IQ testing systems in place from before, but since they're all idiots they can't adjust the tests for the new average, so they're all being measured according to a scale from centuries ago.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''{{Ultima Online}}'' has (or at least ''had'' - I haven't checked in a few years) a skilled called Evaluate Intelligence, which could be used to estimate the spellcasting capabilities of a target before engaging. Using this skill on almost any inanimate object would return the result "Smarter than a rock, but dumber than a piece of wood."
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* ''{{Idiocracy}}'' demonstrates this. The two intelligent people who never bred had a believable IQ of about 130, while the football player and the trailer park people, had scores in seventies and eighties, which are believably low-average. However, five hundred years later, the average score was five. Granted these people were so stupid that their society was collapsing around them, and most of these people probably would qualify as retarded, but a person with a score of five would be unable to walk or talk. Furthermore, given how IQ is defined, it's impossible for the ''average'' IQ to be anything other than 100, since the norms are adjusted to ensure that average. (So it probably means: The average guy from the future would score 5, if brought to our time. Still improbably low.)
** [[FridgeBrilliance Although in this new society, they would be completely unable to do any sort of IQ testing anyway because there's no way any of them could understand the process. It's possible that they don't know what is or how to calculate an average.]]
** Well, they have a test, so the understand the ''need''. But when one of the questions is "If you have one bucket with two gallons of water, and another bucket with three gallons of water, how many buckets do you have?", there's a problem. Not because it's too easy, mind. Because that's a math question, not an IQ question.

* From ''[[{{Film/Alien}} Alien 3]]'': Aaron's IQ is 85. "Eighty-Five" has become his nickname, much to his displeasure.

* ''{{Garfield}}'' once gave us this list of beings, in order of intelligence (from 0 to 1000, I think): Amoeba - slug - dog - stone - ape - human - kitchen machine - cat.

* Another character with ridiculously low IQ: [[TinyToonAdventures Elmyra Duff]], who has "no IQ" (presumed to mean an IQ of 0). This in comparison with a jar of mayonnaise, which has an IQ of 1.

** The logical conclusion of this score is that Homer is actually ''dumber than ForrestGump''. (The writers have claimed they started him as average, but [[{{Flanderization}} he loses about 5 IQ points a year from radiation]], and now he's basically "a dog that can talk".

* In ForrestGump, Forrest has an somewhat more probable IQ of about 75, which is considered the lowest for "normal" intelligence, or mildly retarded. While low, someone with an IQ of 75 could still go to school, get a job, get married, etc., just as Forrest did.
* From ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'':

* ''{{Idiocracy}}'' demonstrates this. The two intelligent people who never bred had a believable IQ of about 130, while the football player and the trailer park people, had scores in seventies and eighties, which are believably low-average. However, five hundred years later, the average score was five. Granted these people were so stupid that their society was collapsing around them, and most of these people probably would qualify as retarded, but a person with a score of five would be unable to walk or talk. Furthermore, given how IQ is defined, it's impossible for the ''average'' IQ to be anything other than 100, since the norms are adjusted to ensure that average.

* In one of the spoof trailers for TropicThunder, the main character of Simple Jack is stated to have an IQ of five.

* In the {{Discworld}} novel 'Thud', the rather drug addled troll named Brick is described at one point as having a possibly negative IQ for comedic effect. Sergeant Detritus is at least once jokingly commented to have a room temperature IQ, but in fact he is no fool and an excellent policeman, if not especially bright. Also subverted in that the comment can be taken literally, as [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Troll's brains]] in Discworld work faster in low temperatures, so his intelligence really is likely to be affected by the room temperature.

-->Jerry "The King" Lawler: I heard he took an IQ test and the results came back negative.

* ''{{Idiocracy}}'' demonstrates this. The two intelligent people who never bred had a believable IQ of about 130, while the football player and the trailer park people, had scores in seventies and eighties, which are believably low-average. However, five hundred years later, the average score was five. Granted these people were so stupid that their society was collapsing around them, and most of these people probably would qualify as retarded, a person with a score of five would be unable to walk or talk. Furthermore, given how IQ is defined, it's impossible for the ''average'' IQ to be anything other than 100, since the norms are adjusted to ensure that average.

* Peter Griffin of ''FamilyGuy'' has an IQ of 40. (The episode "Petarded" puts him on a graph below both normal people and the line for retarded, [[AcceptableTargets but above creationists]].) The episode in which this is revealed blatantly said Peter was retarded, and he can't live without assistance, temporarily losing custody of his kids after Lois was injured. However, he still does a little more than he should be able to. While his job performance is very poor, he apparently is good enough to keep it. Also, he's legally allowed to drive, and apparently can give [[strike:informed consent]] complete guesswork on major surgery.

Unlike [[ImprobablyHighIQ the opposite end of the spectrum]], it's much more rare to see one of these scores reach ridiculous levels that don't match up with real world IQ testing. Of course, when it does get ridiculous like that (negative IQ scores anyone?), it's much more jarring. On the other hand, most ''really'' ridiculously low IQs - single digits, or negative numbers - are found in comedies, where the RuleOfFunny can be blamed.

Unlike [[ImprobablyHighIQ the opposite end of the spectrum]], it's much more rare to see one of these scores reach ridiculous levels that don't match up with real world IQ testing. Of course, when it does get ridiculous like that (negative IQ scores anyone?), it's much more jarring.