History Main / NerdInEvilsHelmet

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', lovable nerd and [[GenkiGirl Genki Girl]] [[Characters/AmphibiaMarcyWu Marcy Wu]] gets [[TheAssimilator assimilated]] into [[BigBad The Core]] and becomes ''Darcy'', Darcy retains all of Marcy's nerdy and goofy traits but also possesses a psychopathic and evil personality. They even have a [[CoolHelmet cool helmet]]. [[spoiler:After being cut from Marcy's body, The Core's helmet grows legs and goes into Amphibia's moon to begin its back-up plan, [[ColonyDrop crash into Amphibia's surface and wipe out all life on it.]]]]

* Emperor Pilaf from ''Manga/DragonBall'' is almost a HarmlessVillain -- while he acts as if he is king of the world all because of his "toys" (mech-suits and torture chambers), in reality he's a tiny {{Manchild}} in over his head and is terrified of genuine evil such as Piccolo. Pilaf was even horrified when Bulma assumed he would [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty molest]] her when she was captured.

* Lonnie Machin a.k.a. ComicBook/{{Anarky}} in ''Batman: Anarchy for All'' is simultaneously this trope and its inversion "Evil in a Nerd's Helmet". The persona Lonnie uses for his [[DoNotAdjustYourSet hacktivism broadcasts]] is an imposing and eloquent man in a mask, when he's really a fourteen year-old geek with a cute chiptune ringtone. [[ForegoneConclusion When they're revealed as one and the same]], however, the fact a high schooler with ParentalNeglect issues and an obsession with Batman is behind Anarky's terrorism [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior only makes him scarier]].

* ''Film/EightMM'' has "Machine", a sadistic killer in a leather mask. When the mask comes off, he's shown to be very schlubby looking and produces a pair of glasses to finish the ensemble. This is very much PlayedForDrama, as it shows how a mild-mannered looking guy (who doesn't even have a FreudianExcuse) can be such a bastard.

* Loki from the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' can be threatening when he wants, but otherwise he's a shrimpy, bookish, BigBadWannabe MommasBoy who just wants recognition and worship after living in his brother Film/{{Thor}}'s shadow for so long. Even when [[Film/TheAvengers2012 armed with a powerful scepter and army]], Thor sees through Loki immediately and questions who controls "the would-be king", much to Loki's fury. ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' takes this even further as when Loki gets his wish of ruling Asgard (in the guise of Odin), he builds a statue of himself and orchestrates a play about his "heroics" which he watches while eating grapes and drinking wine on a couch.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheSupervillainySaga'' as, despite his intimidating attire, everyone assumes Merciless is a dorky everyman within five minutes of meeting him. [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Then he proceeds to trash much-much more powerful villains than himself and often leave a large trail of bodies behind him]].

* The end of ''Series/TheITCrowd'' special "The Internet is Coming" ends with the Anonymous hacker (who, as per usual, was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and had their voice distorted) is revealed to be a young-faced teenager, when [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents his parents bust into his room]], take down his white backdrop and remove his mask.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne'', Max has to [[EscortMission escort]] gangster boss Vinnie Gognitti, who has a bomb strapped to his head. Vinnie suggests that they head back to his place, where Max discovers that he has a room full of merchandise from the popular SaturdayMorningCartoon, ''Captain Baseball-bat Boy''. (Funnily enough, [[RunningGag he's actually right about that]].)
-->'''Vinnie:''' [[DefensiveWhat What?]] I'm a collector! There's nothin' nerdy about it, I'm a collector! Lots of tough guys are into this stuff!

* [[spoiler:Hyness]] from ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is revealed to be this [[spoiler:after his hood falls off, where he's revealed to be some sort of creature with bulging eyes and a massive nose. In a fashion [[{{Expy}} suspiciously]] similar to that of Zant, above, his personality certainly doesn't help him in this case, as he's flailing wildly, ranting and generally being so hyper you'd think he just did a pound of meth. None of this stops him from being the leader of an ApocalypseCult seeking to summon an EldritchAbomination to cause the end of the world. At this point he starts '''using the other members of his cult as [[GrievousHarmWithABody bludgeoning weapons]] and [[HumanShield living shields]]'''. In context, his face comes off as more of an creepy thing than even remotely humorous, and his frantic flailing really helps sell just how deeply insane Hyness really is, exactly the kind of person who might genuinely believe that summoning Void Termina is a good idea]].
* On first impressions, [[Franchise/TouhouProject Remilia Scarlet]], the Scarlet Devil, is a dark, sinister, yet aristocratically elegant vampire mistress of immense power and influence. Give her long enough though, and she'll reveal herself as a bratty {{Chuunibyou}} trying way too hard to act like a dark mistress of the night that just happens to actually be an immensely powerful centuries old vampire.

* [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0723.html General Tarquin]] in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. The surprise came to the readers as well as the characters. Despite being a ruthless tyrant and [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], he's also just as drama-obsessed as his do-gooder, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} son Elan. Given the nature of the world they live in, this only makes him more dangerous.

* ''Webcomic/{{Krakow}}'' brings us Kia's father, an intimidating man in a red cloak with glowing red eyes and horns. Under the hood, he's a standard businessman and BumblingDad with glasses... and horns.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Both [[SmugSnake Vriska Serket]] and [[KnightOfCerebus Eridan Ampora]] are dedicated F{{LARP}}ers -- though in [[DeathWorld Alternia]], mutually advantageous teamwork in Fatal Live Action Roleplaying leads to the both of them racking up a pretty impressive death count.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Not-Tengu is an international fugitive cult leader who uses mind-control magic on his victims and is introduced as an imposing monster, but he apparently spends a lot of time online, discussing magic with people who don't know he has magical abilities. He also criticizes Charlotte's web forum for its [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2013-07-15 inadequate selection of smilies and late notifications about new posts]].

* Elmer Fudd in ''WesternAnimation/WhatsOperaDoc'', wearing a magic helmet instead of his usual hunter cap.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' had this. The new bully in town turned out to be a wimpy kid in an inflatable suit. [[MindScrew (Along with everyone else.)]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' has Johnny accidentally replacing the captain of a ''Franchise/StarTrek''-esque ship, where he ends up encountering and making an enemy of a hulking, menacing galactic warlord, who facially resembles Carl, and is implied to be some sort of genetic ancestor to said character. When Johnny meets him in battle on a nearby planet, the warlord removes his armor... and is revealed to be just as weak and wimpy as his earthly descendant underneath.
* [[BigBad Father]] in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' wears glasses and suspenders underneath the black silhouette suit generated by his powers, but still manages to be intimidating without it considering that he could be BurningWithAnger at a moment's notice.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]] is genuinely handsome (despite his prominent scar) and skilled at fighting, giving orders, and anything that doesn't involve casual social interaction. But sit down and have a conversation with the guy and you'll discover his dorky side pretty quickly. [[spoiler:He does [[HeelFaceTurn join the good guys]] in the third season, but he remains at least as dorky]].
** Zuko's sister [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderPrincessAzula Azula]] is a frighteningly competent [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]], but when she tries to [[VillainsOutShopping act normal]], she fails spectacularly.

* Xanatos from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' has shades of this trope.
** Under normal circumstances he's a suave, composed, AffablyEvil MagnificentBastard. When his plans call for him to act like the stereotypical CardCarryingVillain, however, he'll show a ''much'' nerdier side as well. Quoth Xanatos after helping bring the FrankensteinsMonster-esque Coldstone to life:
-->'''Xanatos:''' It's alive, ALIVE! You know, IAlwaysWantedToSayThat.
** The whole reason he's involved in the plot is because he believed a magical story he read in a thousand-year-old book. Of course he's a nerd at heart.
** And when he ''finally gets'' Elisa and Co. stuck in a genuine DeathTrap, he casually asks, "It's my first real stab at clichéd villainy. How am I doing so far?".
* Obligatory example from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX Treehouse of Horror X]]", the second segment takes this trope to its logical extreme by having Comic Book Guy turn into a literal superhero-comicbook-esque supervillain, The Collector, whose main gimmick is based on collecting ''people''.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE18BewareTheGrayGhost Beware The Grey Ghost]]" features this trope. A mysterious bomber has been destroying buildings using remote-controlled cars which Batman recognizes as props from the long-lost TV series ''The Grey Ghost'', and enlists the help of actor Simon Trent (famously voiced by Creator/AdamWest), who played the main character. After a good deal of drama, Trent realizes that only one man can be the Mad Bomber: the nerdy comic store owner who bought his old show memorabilia. When Batman and Trent corners him, he reveals himself to be obsessed with toys to the point of psychosis, and the only reason he's been extorting Gotham is to buy ''more'' toys.
* The Dominator from the fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/samuraijack/images/5/5b/Dominator_face.png looks like an imposing and powerful robot]] at first, but moments before his defeat, is unmasked and revealed to be [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/samuraijack/images/5/55/The_Dominator.png an incredibly ugly and unimpressive man]] wearing PoweredArmor. Aside from that, though, he's a {{Sadist}} who WouldHurtAChild and [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty acts really creepy and perverted]] towards Ashi, making him undeniably far more evil than nerdy.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', lovable nerd and [[GenkiGirl Genki Girl]] Marcy Wu gets [[TheAssimilator assimilated]] into [[BigBad The Core]] and becomes ''Darcy'', Darcy retains all of Marcy's nerdy and goofy traits but also possesses a psychopathic and evil personality. They even have a [[CoolHelmet cool helmet]]. [[spoiler:After being cut from Marcy's body, The Core's helmet grows legs and goes into Amphibia's moon to begin its back-up plan, [[ColonyDrop crash into Amphibia's surface and wipe out all life on it.]]]]

** Prince Zuko is genuinely handsome (despite his prominent scar) and skilled at fighting, giving orders, and anything that doesn't involve casual social interaction. But sit down and have a conversation with the guy and you'll discover his dorky side pretty quickly. [[spoiler:He does [[HeelFaceTurn join the good guys]] in the third season, but he remains at least as dorky]].
** Zuko's sister Azula is a frighteningly competent [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]], but when she tries to [[VillainsOutShopping act normal]], she fails spectacularly.
* The Golden Guard from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a formidable fighter and TheDragon to Emperor Belos himself. Underneath the mask, the Golden Guard is Hunter, a scrawny, pale teenager with NoSocialSkills, who enjoys {{Info Dump}}ing about topics he's studied and has a soft spot for animals. [[spoiler:Once he pulls a HeelFaceTurn, Hunter fully embraces his dorky side by learning to sew, becoming obsessed with wolves, and getting so invested in [[WhereNoParodyHasGoneBefore this world's version of Star Trek]] that he makes himself a character costume and tries to wear it in public]].

** On several occasions, Butters has adopted the alter-ego of the supervillain Professor Chaos. But given that this is ''Butters'' we're talking about, Professor Chaos is a pretty {{harmless|Villain}} and pathetic baddie whose idea of "evil" falls squarely under PokeThePoodle.

* The end of ''Series/TheITCrowd'' special "The Internet is Coming" ends with the Anonymous hacker (who, as per usual, was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and had their voice distorted) is revealed to be a young-faced teenager, when [[AmazinglyEmbarassingParents his parents bust into his room]], take down his white backdrop and remove his mask.

* Dark Vegan on ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' comes off as a parody of this.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Kylo Ren from ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' publicly dresses and acts like Darth Vader, but underneath that helmet is a pale, gangly guy who [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse doesn't look threatening in the least]]. Moreover, in private, he shows a fanboyish obsession with Vader (which explains his fashion choices) and [[PsychopathicManchild behaves like an angsty teenager]]. ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' had a field day with this ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOSCASqLsE "Star Wars Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base"]]), as did the "{{Emo|Teen}} Kylo Ren" [[https://twitter.com/kylor3n page]] on Website/{{Twitter}}. (SelfDemonstrating/EmoKyloRen even has a self-demonstrating SelfDemonstrating/{{character page|s}} on this very wiki now!) In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', he starts moving out of the shadow of his influences, but is still very dorky. Note, however, that his nerdiness does ''not'' make him any less dangerous.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'', Max has to [[EscortMission escort]] gangster boss Vinnie Gognitti, who has a bomb strapped to his head. Vinnie suggests that they head back to his place, where Max discovers that he has a room full of merchandise from the popular SaturdayMorningCartoon, ''Captain Baseball-bat Boy''. (Funnily enough, [[RunningGag he's actually right about that]].)
-->'''Vinnie:''' What? I'm a collector! There's nothin' nerdy about it, I'm a collector! Lots of tough guys are into this stuff!

* ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'': Stacy/Stacaesar's failure to kill Kaito/Zenkaiser is definitely not for lack of trying on his part. Noone dares to understate the danger he poses, but noone deings to give him the respect such a threat should have either. This is largely because a hammy, baby faced JerkassWoobie like him realistically has the intimidation factor of a chihuahua and throwing in the habits of a petty, ice cream loving {{Manchild}} does not help his case either.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', lovable nerd and [[GenkiGirl Genki Girl]] Marcy Wu gets [[TheAssimilator assimilated]] by [[BigBad The Core]] and becomes ''Darcy'', Darcy still has all of Marcy's nerdy and goofy traits but also possesses a psychopathic and evil personality. She even has a [[CoolHelmet cool helmet]]. [[spoiler:After being cut from Marcy's body, The Core's helmet grows legs and goes into Amphibia's moon to begin its back-up plan, [[ColonyDrop crash into Amphibia's surface and wipe out all life on it.]]]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', lovable nerd and [[GenkiGirl Genki Girl]] Marcy Wu gets [[TheAssimilator assimilated]] by [[BigBad The Core]] and becomes ''Darcy'', Darcy still has all of Marcy's nerdy and goofy traits but also possesses a psychopathic and evil personality. She even has a [[CoolHelmet cool helmet]]. [[spoiler:After being cut from Marcy's body, The Core's helmet grows legs and goes into Amphibia moon to begin its back-up plan, [[ColonyDrop crash into Amphibia's surface and wipe out all life on it.]]]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', lovable nerd and [[GenkiGirl Genki Girl]] Marcy Wu gets [[TheAssimilator assimilated]] by [[BigBad The Core]] and becomes ''Darcy'', Darcy still has all of Marcy's nerdy and goofy traits but also possesses a psychopathic and evil personality. She even has a [[CoolHelmet cool helmet]]. [[spoiler:After being cut from Marcy body, The Core's helmet grows legs and goes into Amphibia moon to begin its back-up plan, [[ColonyDrop crash into Amphibia's surface and wipe out all life on it.]]]]

%%* Vector from ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Syndrome starts out as a superhero fanboy, then ascends to supervillain after being (sort of) rejected by his idol. Syndrome is more of an inversion -- Evil in a Nerd's Helmet. He is clearly a PsychopathicManchild with a serious LackOfEmpathy who's even willing to murder children without batting an eyelid, and there is little to indicate that, beneath it all, he was all that much different when he was a kid (e.g. he doesn't seem to notice or care when one of his stunts nearly causes a train crash). Most important and scarily, though, Syndrome thinks he is ''the hero'', when he actually is just using EngineeredHeroics and is willing to kill dozens of heroes and endanger thousands of lives because he is a GloryHound.

* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': Time Jacker Heure made up many of the most creative and terrible [[MonsterOfTheWeek Another Riders]] in the story like a zombie apocalypse, an unkillable mirror monster, puppeteered corpses and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking stinkin']] [[AGodAmI Kuroto]] [[MadScientist Dan]]. Enjoying the mayhem his creations cause doesn't change anything about the fact he is the "[[EvilIsPetty diet evil]]" to his [[HateSink sociopathic]] [[CompleteMonster co-villains]] and keeps on failing to impress them. In the end, he is nothing more than a deeply disturbed child with a need for approval from the wrong sort of people.

* Jagi from ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', in spite of all his violent actions and AwesomeEgo, boils down to a PaperTiger who was jealous that his vastly stronger younger brother Kenshrio became the successor Hokuto Shinken. Also, despite boasting of his strength, Jagi cheats all the time and uses Kenshrio's reputation to intimidate people, and beneath his CoolHelmet, he's just a disfigured loser.

* [[spoiler:Hyness]] from ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is revealed to be this [[spoiler:after his hood falls off, where he's revealed to be some sort of creature with bulging eyes and a massive nose. In a fashion [[{{Expy}} suspiciously]] similar to that of Zant, above, his personality certainly doesn't help him in this case, as he's flailing wildly, ranting and generally being so hyper you'd think he just did a pound of meth. None of this stops him from being the leader of an ApocalypseCult seeking to summon an EldritchAbomination to cause the end of the world. At this point he starts '''using the other members of his cult as [[GrievousHarmWithABody bludgeoning weapons]] and [[HumanShield living shields]]'''. In context, his face comes off as more of an UncannyValley thing than even remotely humorous, and his frantic flailing really helps sell just how deeply insane Hyness really is, exactly the kind of person who might genuinely believe that summoning Void Termina is a good idea]].

* The Golden Guard from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a formidable fighter and TheDragon to Emperor Belos himself. Underneath the mask, the Golden Guard is Hunter, a scrawny, pale teenager with NoSocialSkills, who enjoys {{Info Dump}}ing about topics he's studied and has a soft spot for birds. [[spoiler:Once he pulls a HeelFaceTurn, Hunter fully embraces his dorky side by learning to sew, becoming obsessed with wolves, and getting so invested in [[WhereNoParodyHasGoneBefore this world's version of Star Trek]] that he makes himself a character costume and tries to wear it in public]].

* Hunter/Golden Guard from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a formidable fighter and imposing right hand to Emperor Belos. When he removed the bird-like mask of the Golden Guard, many were [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller disappointed]] to see that he is a scrawny, pale teen with IdiotHair forelock sticking out above his face. Even worse for him, at least two characters have independently called his voice annoying.

* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': [[BigBad Night Rogue]] created a cool name for himself and [[SlouchOfVillainy lounges]] in a ridiculously tacky chair when observing the work of his underlings. In his free time, he eats sweets, sings karaoke and dresses up in atrocious [[FashionVictimVillain outfits]]. He is also the sociopathic [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leader]] of the terrorist organization [[DealWithTheDevil Faust]], which conducts (sometimes lethal) experiments on human subjects.

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with [[MadScientist Dr. Valdo Obruchev]] from the same film. At first, Obruchev appears to be a meek cowardly scientist who couldn't be much of a threat to anyone. While he may be a [[DirtyCoward coward,]] Obruchev is in fact a dangerous and incredibly evil scientist who is fully capable of genocide. [[spoiler:During the final act of the film, he goes as far as to threaten to reprogram his [[SyntheticPlague Heracles superweapon]] to [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain kill all West Africans on the face of the earth.]] Needless to say, [[DeathByRacismhe dies soon after.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Syndrome starts out as a superhero fanboy, then ascends to supervillain after being (sort of) rejected by his idol. Syndrome is more of an inversion -- Evil in a Nerd's Helmet. He is clearly a PsychopathicManchild with a serious LackOfEmpathy who's even willing to murder children without batting an eyelid, and there is little to indicate that, beneath it all, he was all that much different when he was a kid (e.g. he doesn't seem to notice or care when one of his stunts nearly causes a train crash). Most important and scarily, though, Syndrome thinks he is ''the hero'', when he actually just has a very, very bad case of HeroismAddict and is willing to kill dozens of heroes and endanger thousands of lives because he is a GloryHound.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' has Johnny accidentally replacing the captain of a ''Franchise/StarTrek''-esque ship, where he ends up encountering and making an enemy of a hulking, menacing galactic warlord, who facially resembles [[{{Nerd}} Carl]], and is implied to be some sort of genetic ancestor to said character. When Johnny meets him in battle on a nearby planet, the warlord removes his armor... and is revealed to be just as weak and wimpy as his earthly descendant underneath.