History Main / NaughtyIsGood

** While [[TheProtagonist Ben Tennyson]] is an immature kid who is not above using his powers for childish reasons, and as such seems to play it straight, his attitude is often shown to attract him trouble and get in the way of his heroic actions. It's usually only when he gets serious he proves to be a true hero, and his maturity in the sequel ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' is portrayed as a good change (later shows made a balance between the two).

* {{Music/Madness}}'s hit single "Baggy Trousers" is all about the protagonist's memories of raising hell in secondary school.

** In a similar manner, Astrid seemed to do everything she could to portray Emil of Lönneberga as the worst child ever... Or, that is what she did in the prologues to the books. But as soon as the stories start for real, it is made clear that Emil too has a heart of gold. Oh sure, he might be mischievous and rude sometimes. But it seems like most of his "pranks" are accidents, and he will do good things like helping misunderstood animals and poor old people. Not to mention that he saved his best friend's life by taking him to the doctor through a terrible blizzard. Emil's sister Ida is by contrast a perfect well-behaved child, and it also means that she's not as interesting as he and only gets one ADayInTheLimelight.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Despite [[LoserProtagonist Usagi Tsukino]] being BookDumb, lazy, gluttonous, whiny and temperamental, she is otherwise a [[AllLovingHero compassionate]] NiceGirl who always goes out of her way to protect the Earth and her loved ones from danger as Sailor Moon.

* The main characters of ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' rarely obey their parents' rules. Then again, [[AdultsAreUseless considering not one of their parents' rules has ever been shown to help with anything]], it's hard to blame them.

** While [[TheProtagonist Ben Tennyson]] is an immature kid who is not above using his powers for childish reasons, and as such seems to play it straight, his attitude is often shown to attract him trouble and get in the way of his heroic actions. It's usually only when he gets serious he proves to be a true hero, and his maturity in the sequel ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce is portrayed as a good change (later shows made a balance between the two).
** Ben's arc enemy and rival Kevin, who is even more mischievous than him, is portrayed as AxCrazy in the original show and a AntiHero in the sequels.
** Ben's cousin, Gwen, is a more ambiguous case. She is more reasonable than Ben but her exact portrayal is unclear; in the original show, she was a DeadpanSnarker and could be as naughty as Ben when she went at it with him but otherwise was rule-abiding and well behaved, though she was definitely not evil nor boring. In the sequels, she is portrayed as less snarky and much more cool-headed, but this is usually shown as the right attitude compared to Ben's and Kevin's.

** While [[TheProtagonist Ben Tennyson]], is an immature kid who is not above using his powers for childish reasons, and as such seems to play it straight, his attitude is often shown to attract him trouble and get in the way of his heroic actions. It's usually only when he gets serious he proves to be a true hero, and his maturity in the sequel ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce is portrayed as a good change (later shows made a balance between the two).

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Comic Strips]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action Film]]
* ''Film/{{Fresh}}'': Fresh, while not anywhere near a little devil, does pretty bad things, specifically selling drugs, and a backtalker, to his dad, because the life of crime is appealing to him. He even talks back to his dad when he scolds him for saying "nigga." The movie is a very dark misadventure that leads to serious consequences for surrounding characters, many of whom are crime bosses who are taken down. Chuckie is also very mischievous, although way more prone to crime.

[[folder: Music]]
* {{Music/Madness}}'s hit single "Baggy Trousers" is all about the protagonist's memories of raising hell in secondary school.

[[folder: Theater]]
* ''{{Theatre/Matilda}}'' has a whole song dedicated to it: "Naughty". Which is about putting her mother's hair dye into her father's hair oil. Then she makes the head teacher leave. The former was abusive and the latter was a sadist so everyone's happy, even the teachers.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* VideoGame/{{Cuphead}} and his brother Mugman, the two boys who gamble at [[{{Satan}} the Devil's]] Casino despite the Elder Kettle's warnings to stay away, happen to be [[spoiler: the same ones who save many of the Inkwell Isles' residents from eternal servitude to the Devil himself]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

Well-behaved children are often antagonists to the main character if he or she is a child, and these "good" kids can be portrayed as being anything from just [[GoodIsBoring absolute bores]] to evil incarnate. The reason for this might be because the well-behaved children in the stories are often viewed as being suck-ups to the evil adults, who only want to take away all the fun stuff for little kids. These kids also tend to be "tattletales" if they're real sticklers for the rules.

* Ruby of ''Franchise/{{Jewelpet}}''. Known for messing around during classes and pulling pranks. She is the (non-human) heroine.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Despite [[LoserProtagonist Usagi Tsukino]] being BookDumb, gluttonous, whiny and temperamental, she is otherwise a [[AllLovingHero compassionate]] NiceGirl who always goes out of her way to protect the Earth and her loved ones from danger as Sailor Moon.

* Gene Kemp's "Cricklewood School" series, starting with ''The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler'', all feature kids who are basically decent, but end up causing trouble, usually due to the inflexibility of a SadistTeacher. The exception is ''Gowie Corby Plays Chicken'', where the title character is an outright bully who has a HeelFaceTurn over the course of the book.

Well-behaved children are often antagonists to the main character if he or she is a child, and these "good" kids can be portrayed as being anything from just [[GoodIsBoring absolute bores]], to evil incarnate. The reason for this might be because the well-behaved children in the stories are often viewed as being suck-ups to the evil adults, who only want to take away all the fun stuff for little kids. These kids also tend to be "tattle tales" if they're real sticklers for the rules.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]

[[folder:Literature]]

** Lotta from the "The children of Trouble-Maker Street" books is decidedly less well-behaved than Maria, her older sister. But that is also why Lotta became the BreakOutCharacter of the series, while Maria (who was the original protagonist) simply didn't have enough of a personality to be that intestering.

** In a similar manner, Astrid seemed to do everything she could to portray Emil of Lönneberga as the worst child ever... Or, that is what she did in the prologues to the books. But as soon as the stories start for real, it is made clear that Emil too has a heart of gold. Oh sure, he might be mischievous and rude some times. But it seems like most of his "pranks" are accidents, and he will do good things like helping misunderstood animals and poor old people. Not to mention that he saved his best friend's life by taking him to the doctor through a terrible blizzard. Emil's sister Ida is by contrast a perfect well-behaved child, and it also means that she's not as interesting as he and only gets one ADayInTheLimelight.

[[folder:Live-Action Film]]
* ''Film/{{Fresh}}'': Fresh, while not anywhere near a little devil, does pretty bad things, specifically selling drugs, and a backtalker, to his dad, because the life of crime is appealing to him. He even talks back to his dad when he scolds him for saying "nigga." The movie is a very dark misadventure which leads to serious consequences for surrounding characters, many of whom are crime bosses who are taken down. Chuckie is also very mischiefous, although way more prone to crime.

[[folder:Music]]

[[folder:Theater]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* VideoGame/{{Cuphead}} and his brother Mugman, the two boys who gamble at [[{{Satan}} the Devil's]] Casino despite the Elder Kettle's warnings to stay away, happen to be [[spoiler:the same ones who save many of the Inkwell Isles' residents from eternal servitude to the Devil himself]].

[[folder:Western Animation]]

** Ben's arc enemy and rival Kevin, who is even more mischevious than him, is portrayed as AxCrazy in the original show and a AntiHero in the sequels.
** Ben's cousin, Gwen, is a more ambivalous case. She is more reasonable than Ben but her exact portrayal is unclear; in the original show, she was a DeadpanSnarker and could be as naughty as Ben when she went at it with him but otherwise was rule-abiding and well behaved, though she was definitely not evil nor boring. In the sequels, she is portrayed as less snarky and much more cool-headed, but usually this is shown as the right attitude compared to Ben's and Kevin's.