History Main / NerdInEvilsHelmet

* Two instances in {{My Life As A Teenage Robot}}, in "This Time With Feeling", Jenny battles a Hercules named Himcules voiced by {{Bruce Campbell}} who also happened to be a sexist {{Politically Incorrect Villain}} that grew stronger from others' pain. After beating the robot to a pulp (because she had installed a robot nerve system that was accidentally switched to feeling excruciating pain) is defeated and reduced into a "90-pound weakling" when Jenny and the entire town laugh at him, draining his power. In "Ear No Evil", Jenny (who had enormously large robotic ears installed to impress a group of {{Rich Bitch}}es but only caused her intense humiliation) battles the "Lancer", a large imposing knight who steals everything in the city. After destroying his armor and weapons, Lancer is revealed to be a tiny elf-like man with ears comically larger than Jenny's.

* One episode of ''{{Bonkers}}'' dealt with the Collector, a {{toon}} with a creepy mishmash appearance. He collected other toons by sealing them in plastic with a device called "the Laminator". However, when his glove was ripped off, it turned out he had ''five'' fingers [[FourFingeredHands instead of four]], and when his mask came off afterward, he was fully outed as a geeky-looking human.

* In NeilGaiman's ''AmericanGods,'' the "technology kid" acts tough but other characters can see it's rehearsed and frankly, kind of pitiful.

** Well, Warren came close, insofar as he was the only one who was actually ''evil'', being a genuine ManipulativeBastard who DoesNotLikeWomen and actually kills one of the hero characters whilst putting Buffy in the hostpital, even though that earned him a painful death. [[spoiler: Though since he CameBackWrong in the sequel comics, he's even worse than before.]] Unfortunately for him, he's still a SmugSnake BigBadWannabe, and the fact that he's a total bastard makes him far less likeable, but not much scarier.

* One episode of ''{{Bonkers}}'' dealt with the Laminator, a {{toon}} with a creepy mishmash appearance. He collected other toons by — you guessed it — sealing them in plastic. However, when his glove was ripped off, it turned out he had ''five'' fingers [[FourFingeredHands instead of four]], and when his mask came off afterward, he was fully outed as a geeky-looking human.
** Technically, he was "The Collector". "The Laminator" was the device he used to seal them up.

[[quoteright:229:[[Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NerdInEvilsHelmet_5907.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:229:[[TheOrderOfTheStick http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NerdInEvilsHelmet_5907.jpg]]]]

* [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0723.html General Tarquin]] in ''OrderOfTheStick''. The surprise came to the readers as well as the characters.

'''Vinnie''': "What? I'm a collector! There's nothin' nerdy about it, I'm a collector! Lots of tough guys are into this stuff!"

* Dark Smoke Puncher from ''{{The Adventures of Dr McNinja}}''. After seeing how his parents practically disowned his older brother for pursuing a medical degree, DSP took on a wannabe-gangsta persona to hide his intelligence and interest in robotics.

* Dark Helmet in SpaceBalls. The surprise came to the audience only, since his staff already knew him (and was used to pretending they don't know he's playing with dolls).

* In NeilGaiman's AmericanGods, the "technology kid" acts tough but other characters can see it's rehearsed and frankly, kind of pitiful.

[[quoteright:229:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NerdInEvilsHelmet_5907.jpg]]

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]
* In ''{{Fables}}'', [[spoiler: the sinister Sauron-like Adversary turns out to be the mild woodworker Gepetto, of all characters.]]

* Dark Helmet in SpaceBalls. The surprise came to the audience only, since his staff already knew him (and was used to prending they don't know he's playing with dolls).

* Dark Helmet in SpaceBalls. The surprise came to the audience only, since his staff already knew him (and was used tp prending they don't know he's playing with dolls).

This villain comes across as really imposing. And he probably (but not necessarily) have real power to back it up. However, he's really nerdy underneath.

He's hiding it, or try to hide it, behind a tough facade. So it's a big surprise when he's revealed for the nerd he is. This surprise can come to other characters, the audience, or both.

The classical facade to hide behind is a literal helmet. But it can also be something else.

-------------

* Ogre in the ''RevengeOfTheNerds'' series is revealed to be this at the end of the 2nd movie.

* In BuffyTheVampireSlayer season six, the trio desperately tried to be this trope. Sometimes they managed to pull it off for a little while in the eyes of various characters, but never the audience.
* Arcane, [[spoiler: revealed to be Clyde Randolph]] in the {{Dollhouse}} episode The Attic.

[[AC:WebComics]]
* [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0723.html General Tarquin]] in OrderOfTheStick. the surprise came to the audience as well as the characters.

* One episode of ''{{Bonkers}}'' dealt with the Laminator, a {{toon}} with a creepy mishmash appearance who collected other toons by - you guessed it - sealing them in plastic. However, when his glove was ripped off, it turned out he had ''five'' fingers [[FourFingeredHands instead of four]], and when his mask came off afterwards, he was fully outed as a geeky-looking human.
* An episode of ''GarfieldAndFriends'' had The Masked Mauler, a pro wrestler so bloodthirsty nobody will wrestle him because he never follows the scripts. When he roped Jon into a match against him, Garfield saves him by discovering that [[WeaksauceWeakness he's allergic to cat hair,]] making him sneeze so hard that his mask flies off, revealing his nerdy face.
* Dark Vegan on JohnnyTest comes off as a parody of this.
* Elmer Fudd in in ''WhatsOperaDoc'', wearing a magic helmet instead of his usual hunter cap.

See also CoolHeelmet. Contrast BitchInSheepsClothing. Compare ''and'' contrast EvilIsSexy. Can be the same kind of dissonance as VillainsOutShopping.

Contrast BitchInSheepsClothing. Compare ''and'' contrast EvilIsSexy. Can be the same kind of dissonance as VillainsOutShopping.