History Main / NerdInEvilsHelmet

* Vergil (yes ''[[EvilTwin that Vergil]]'') from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' is unmistakably threatening and powerful. ''However'', Vergil's nasally voice [[labelnote:*]]Dan Southworth had [[EnforcedMethodActing a cold]] while voicing him [[/labelnote]], his overly regal coat, his insistence of [[KatanasAreJustBetter carrying his katana everywhere he goes]] like a cosplaying weeb and the fact (unlike Dante) Vergil tries ''way too hard'' to emulate his father Sparda invokes this trope. It's more blatant during Vergil's VillainousBreakdown, as when Arkham and Dante point how Vergil for all his power will never be as strong as his father, Vergil becomes extremely petulant and angry. The special edition also shows that Vergil is a bookworm in its opening scene.

** Likewise, one of the New Looney Toons shorts in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' invokes this and is a music video of Daffy Duck imagining himself as an all-powerful EvilSorceror, although in that case it's more nerd fantasizing himself in evil's helmet.

* Similar to the ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' example, 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.

* Two instances in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': in "This Time with Feeling", Jenny battles a knockoff named Himcules voiced by Creator/BruceCampbell who also happens to be a sexist PoliticallyIncorrectVillain that grows 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), Jenny switches to "tickle" and reduces Himcules to a "90-pound weakling" when Jenny and the town's laughter drains 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.

* 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. A forbidden interest in wild magic, lack of social skills and sheltered upbringing make for a decent rival to prince Zuko (mentioned above).

* Lord Dominator from ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder''. When her helmet's faceplate is down and her armor is up, she [[TopHeavyGuy looks]] and [[EvilSoundsDeep sounds]] like a fairly typical GalacticConquerer. Underneath, however, is an excitable GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe who'll gush over her how cool her latest villainous acts were as soon as she's alone. However, the trope is played with in that Lord Dominator is still a complete sociopath, even when she's in private.

* Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' introduces the Golden Guard, a mysterious if quirky masked enforcer for Emperor Belos. Turns out the mask is very important for him because in reality he's a baby-faced teenager who the grunts of the Emperor's Coven don't even recognize when unmasked.

* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse: Creator/JesseEisenberg's Lex Luthor in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' [[AdaptationalWimp isn't]] the MagnificentBastard of the comics, but rather an obsessive rich dweeb who feels worthless with a person like Superman around and convinces himself that Supes is the DarkMessiah and needs to be killed by "The Bat". Worse still, this Lex creates a MonstrousHumanoid just so he can kill Superman without even considering what's going to happen to everyone once Supes is killed and the monster left unchallenged.

* Lonnie Machin a.k.a. [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 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]].

* Vergil (yes ''[[EvilTwin that Vergil]]'') from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' is unmistakably threatening and powerful. ''However'', Vergil's nasally voice [[labelnote:*]]Daniel Southward had [[EnforcedMethodActing a cold]] while voicing him [[/labelnote]], his overly regal coat, his insistence of [[KatanasAreJustBetter carrying his katana everywhere he goes]] like a cosplaying weeb and the fact (unlike Dante) Vergil tries ''way too hard'' to emulate his father Sparda invokes this trope. It's more blatant during Vergil's VillainousBreakdown, as when Arkham and Dante point how Vergil for all his power will never be as strong as his father, Vergil becomes extremely petulant and angry. The special edition also shows that Vergil is a bookworm in its opening scene.

* Vergil (yes ''[[EvilTwin that Vergil]]'') from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3'' is unmistakably threatening and powerful. ''However'', Vergil's nasally voice [[labelnote:*]]Daniel Southward had [[EnforcedMethodActing a cold]] while voicing him [[/labelnote]], his overly regal coat, his insistence of [[KatanasAreJustBetter carrying his katana everywhere he goes]] like a cosplaying weeb and the fact (unlike Dante) Vergil tries ''way too hard'' to emulate his father Sparda invokes this trope. It's more blatant during Vergil's VillainousBreakdown, as when Arkham and Dante point how Vergil for all his power will never be as strong as his father, Vergil becomes extremely petulant and angry. The special edition also shows that Vergil is a bookworm in its opening scene.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheRulesOfSupervillainy'' 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]].

* In ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', Creator/RickMoranis gives us the unforgettable DarthVaderClone Dark Helmet, as seen in the trope image. The surprise comes to the audience only, since his staff already knew him (and pretend they don't know he's playing with dolls).

* ''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 [[DarthVaderClone 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.

* The fan-made ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' parody "Episode III: A Lost Hope" plays up Anakin Skywalker's [[PsychopathicManchild childlike personality]] from the prequels. The first scene has Palpatine putting Darth Vader into his iconic armor, only to have Vader/Anakin immediately pull off the helmet and shout, "This helmet is totally chaffing my eyebrows! I swear!". Later, there is a fight between Vader and Mace Windu where Windu breaks Vader's prop lightsaber, to which Vader/Anakin complains, "You swing too hard, ass! I swear!".

* Played with in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' featuring the Masked Mauler, a pro wrestler so bloodthirsty that nobody will wrestle him because he never follows the scripts. When he ropes Jon into a match against him, Garfield saves Jon by discovering that [[WeaksauceWeakness the Masked Mauler is allergic to cat hair]], making him sneeze so hard that his mask flies off, revealing his "nerdy" face. But he doesn't act like a nerd, so...

** 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 doing so far?".

** Likewise, one of the New Looney Toons shorts in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' invokes this and is a music video of Daffy Duck imagining himself as an all-powerful EvilSorceror, although in that case its more nerd fantasizing himself in evil's helmet.

* ''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 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.

* Symbiote Peter Parker of ''Film/SpiderMan3'' infamy. Like in the comics, the Venom symbiote enhances Spider-Man's powers at the cost of increased aggression. However, this movie's interpretation of "increased aggression" is a dorky nerd's conception of machismo suave. Instead of coming off as the cool anti-hero you'd expect, the audience is treated to Peter getting an emo hair makeover, spouting awkward one-liners, and goofily dancing in the street while women pass him by in disgust. However, this doesn't stop him from having legitimate accomplishments such as exposing a plagiarist, getting "the staff job, double the money" from his boss, and besting his RivalTurnedEvil Harry Osborn in a CurbStompBattle. For all these reasons, "Bully Maguire" has become a [[MemeticMutation meme]].

->'''Target:''' [thought bubble] Her eyes...so lifeless. Her cybernetic augmentations have robbed her of her soul. Emotionless. Hollow. She's the ''perfect killer''.\\
'''Space Dread:''' [thought bubble] I'm glad that it's raining and nobody can tell that I'm crying over a broken laptop right now.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* 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, beneath his CoolHelmet he's just a disfigured loser.
* The Major, the BigBad of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' has been described by the mangaka as an "otaku", and he is a stereotypical fat, bespectacled geek. Despite being absolutely obsessed by and in love with war, he's personally pathetically useless at combat - at one point he opens fire on a minion who [[YouHaveFailedMe failed]] at point-blank range with at least five guns attached to his chair... and '''misses'''.
* Emperor Pilaf from ''Manga/DragonBall'' is almost a HarmlessVillain, he acts as if he is king of the world all because of his "toys" (mech-suits and torture chambers), in reality however he's 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.
* Ratchet from ''Anime/OnePiece'' [[Anime/TheGiantMechanicalSoldierOfKarakuriCastle Movie 7]] unlike the other villains who are usually powerhouses, is a scrawny SpoiledBrat who wants world domination and besides his [[HumongousMecha mecha suits]] is barely a threat to the Straw Hats. It's telling that after Luffy beats him, Rachet is literally scolded by his mother.

* The fan-made ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' parody "Episode III: A Lost Hope" plays up Anakin Skywalker's [[PsychopathicManchild childlike personality]] from the prequels. The first scene has Palpatine putting Darth Vader into his iconic armor, only to have Vader/Anakin immediately pull off the helmet and shout, "This helmet is totally chaffing my eyebrows! I swear!" Later, there is a fight between Vader and Mace Windu where Windu breaks Vader's prop lightsaber, to which Vader/Anakin complains, "You swing too hard, ass! I swear!"
* Lonnie Machin aka ComicBook/{{Anarky}} in ''Batman: Anarchy for All'' is simultaneously this trope and its inversion "Evil in 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]].

[[folder:Film — Animation]]

* ''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 Nerds' Helmet. He is clearly a PsychopathicManchild with a serious LackOfEmpathy who even murders 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 (eg. 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 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.
* Tempest Shadow from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' is the hardened and violent [[TheDragon second hand]] of the warlord Storm King. While she's legitimately dangerous [[TakenForGranite as the Princesses found out]], behind her ruthless and cynical image is a candy-colored unicorn [[PsychopathicManchild who never grew up past losing her horn and friends]]. [[spoiler: It turns out her real name is ''[[FluffyTheTerrible Fizzlepop Berrytwist]]'' making her a Nerd with Evil's Alias.]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse: Creator/JesseEisenberg's Lex Luthor in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' [[AdaptationalWimp isn't]] the MagnificentBastard of the comics but an obsessive rich dweeb who feels worthless with a person like Superman around and convinces himself that Supes is the DarkMessiah and needs to be killed by "The Bat". Worse still, this Lex creates a MonstrousHumanoid just so he can kill Superman without even considering what's going to happen to everyone once Supes is killed and the monster left unchallenged.

* 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 armed with a powerful scepter and army, Thor sees through Loki immediately and questions [[ComicBook/{{Thanos}} who]] controls "the would-be king" 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.
* Donald Pierce from ''Film/{{Logan}}'' is a ruthless PsychoForHire who also happens to be a fan of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and the comics he was featured in.

* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', Luther Voz is one of the few villains who can fight on par with Machete. He's also a guy totally obsessed with ''Star Wars'' and ''Star Trek'', who at the climax of the film fights Machete with a bat'leth.
* Ogre in the ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'' series is revealed to be this at the end of the second movie. Then, [[spoiler:at the end of the third film, Stan (who led the JerkJock fraternity in the first film) does a HeelFaceTurn and reveals that he is a closet nerd, too, dropping the evil scheme he was bullied into trying.]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Kylo Ren from ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' publicly dresses and acts like DarthWiki/DarthVader, but underneath that helmet? 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 [[DarthVaderClone 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.

* Inverted in ''Literature/TheRulesOfSupervillainy'' as, despite his intimidating attire, everyone assumes Merciless is a dorky everyman within five minutes of meeting him. [[NotSoHarmless Then he proceeds to trash much-much more powerful villains than himself and often leave a large trail of bodies behind him.]]
* ''Literature/VampirosDoRioDouro'': Sétimo is the strongest and most dangerous of the Seven, a group of vampires with demonic powers granted by Satan himself, and among his brothers (who can [[OneManArmy easily take on the army by themselves]]), he spoken in [[TheDreaded complete and total dread]] calling him "the devil on Earth" and "evil incarnate", and considering how evil themselves they are, that is ''saying something''. Sétimo is later revealed to look like a teenage boy who is a [[VillainsOutShopping total dork with technology]], which even the protagonists find jarring how can someone so unimposing could be terrifyingly evil.

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' season six, the trio desperately tried to be this trope. Sometimes they pulled it off for a little while in the eyes of various characters, but never the audience. 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 hospital, 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.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Luke Rattigan from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem "The Sontaran Stratagem"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]] is a self-proclaimed TeenGenius who considers himself smarter than everyone else... but he's actually just a pathetic douchebag. [[spoiler:Until his HeroicSacrifice, that is.]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': [[BigBad Night Rogue]] created a cool name for himself and [[SlouchOfVillainy lounges]] in 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 sociopathic [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leader]] of terroristic organization, [[DealWithTheDevil Faust]] that makes (sometimes lethal) experiments on human subjects.

* Vergil (yes ''[[EvilTwin that Vergil]]'') from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3'' is unmistakably threatening and powerful. ''However'' Vergil's nasally voice [[labelnote:*]]Daniel Southward had [[EnforcedMethodActing a cold]] while voicing him [[/labelnote]], his overly regal coat, his insistence of [[KatanasAreJustBetter carrying his katana everywhere he goes]] like a cosplaying weeb and the fact (unlike Dante) Vergil tries ''way too hard'' to emulate his father Sparda invokes this trope. It's more blatant during Vergil's VillainousBreakdown as when Arkham and Dante point how Vergil for all his power will never be as strong as his father, Vergil becomes extremely petulant and angry. The special edition also shows that Vergil is a bookworm in its opening scene.

* Albert Wesker from ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' while very strong, evil and genuinely scary at times, is still at the end of the day just a scientist DrunkWithPower. It's more apparent in [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 RE5]] as Wesker's sneaky plans give way to world domination and [[TheSocialDarwinist purging the weak from mankind to save the environment]], the protagonist Chris Redfield sick of Wesker's insane beliefs points out how ridiculous he is in a ShutUpHannibal moment.
-->'''Chris''': Do you take all your plans from comic book villains?
* [[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.]]

* [[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, that 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 teammwork in Fatal Live Action Roleplaying leads to the both of them racking up a pretty impressive death count.
* ''Webcomic/TheGlassScientists'' has a new, interesting take on [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Edward Hyde.]] In the original book, Dr. Jekyll was so obsessed with maintaining the image of a proper British gentleman that he invented the potion that made him into Hyde so he could go out into the night to strip clubs, gamble, and generally cut loose. In the webcomic, those Jekyll still cares deeply about his reputation and Hyde still spends the nights with debauchery (with an even more fluid sexuality), but Jekyll's pride shines out as Hyde's SmallNameBigEgo. He's a CardCarryingVillain, but he's always [[BigBadWannabe wishing that he could be more intimidating.]]

* Space Dread of ''Webcomic/ValAndIsaac'' is a feared intergalactic mercenary with cybernetic modifications and dark magical powers. She spends most of her time playing video games and quietly worrying about what her friends think of her on jobs. Her alias comes from an [[OnlineAlias old MMO character]], and her BadassLongcoat started life as a {{cosplay}}, which she made herself and had to do a job in when she realised she forgot about a job at a convention.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Not-Tengu is an international fugitive cult leader who uses MindControl 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]].

* Played with in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' has the Masked Mauler, a pro wrestler so bloodthirsty that nobody will wrestle him because he never follows the scripts. When he roped Jon into a match against him, Garfield saved Jon by discovering that [[WeaksauceWeakness the Masked Mauler was allergic to cat hair]], making him sneeze so hard that his mask flew off, revealing his "nerdy" face. But he doesn't act like a nerd, so...

** Likewise, one of the New Looney Toons shorts in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' invokes this and is a music video of Daffy Duck imagining himself as an all-powerful EvilSorceror, although in that case its more nerd fantasising himself in evil's helmet.

* Similar to the ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' example, 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 armour... and is revealed to be just as weak and wimpy as his earthly descendant underneath.

* Two instances in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', in "This Time with Feeling", Jenny battles a knockoff named Himcules voiced by Creator/BruceCampbell who also happened to be a sexist PoliticallyIncorrectVillain 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), Jenny switches to "tickle" and reduces Himcules to a "90-pound weakling" when Jenny and the town's laughter drain 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.

** 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 join the good guys in the third season, but he remains at least as dorky.]]

** The episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" has the boys fighting a {{griefer}} who keeps killing them in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' . He's an imposing foe in the game, but in real life... well, [[http://3.images.southparkstudios.com/images/shows/south-park/clip-thumbnails/season-10/1008/south-park-s10e08c05-the-slaughter-16x9.jpg?quality=0.8 just take a look at this picture.]]
* Xanatos from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' has shades of this one.
** 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 Frankenstein's Monster-esque Coldstone to life.
--> '''Xanatos''': "It's alive, ALIVE! You know, IAlwaysWantedToSayThat."

** And when he ''finally gets'' Elisa and Co. stuck in a genuine DeathTrap, he casually asks, "It's my first real stab at cliche'd villainy. How am doing so far?"
* Obligatory example from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': in "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror 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''.

** Lord Hater himself starts out as a prime specimen of this: his [[ShockAndAwe electrokinesis]] and his imposing EvilOverlord persona hide the fact that he's a socially-awkward, overly-emotional PsychopathicManchild who is easily distracted, struggles to talk to women and plays action figure games with his equally-dweeby [[TheDragon Dragon]] as they plan out their conquest of the week. Thanks to his obsession with besting [[TheTrickster Wander]] he's suffered in-universe VillainDecay by Season 2 and everyone's very aware of what he's really like.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The classic episode ''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.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' in season two introduces the Golden Guard, a mysterious if quirky masked enforcer for Emperor Belos. Turns out the mask is very important for him because in reality he's a baby-faced teenager who the grunts of the Emperor's Coven don't even recognize when unmasked.

* Jesse Esienberg's Lex Luthor in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' [[AdaptationalWimp isn't]] the MagnificentBastard of the comics but an obsessive rich dweeb who feels worthless with a person like Superman around and convinces himself that Supes is the DarkMessiah and needs to be killed by "The Bat". Worse still, this Lex creates MonstrousHumanoid just so he can kill Superman without even considering what going to happen to everyone once Supes is killed and the monster left unchallenged. [[spoiler: In ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' Lex forms the Legion of Doom not because he wants TakeOverTheWorld but because he wanted to copy the JL.]]
* One villain in ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' starts out as an inversion, disguising himself as a stiff Englishman and thus becoming Evil in a Nerd's Helmet. But after TheReveal, he keeps looking like a weedy middle-aged man under his supervillain helmet, becoming a straighter example of this trope.

** Lord Hater himself starts out as a prime specimen of this: his [[ShockAndAwe electrokinesis]] and his imposing EvilOverlord persona hide the fact that he's a socially-awkward, overly-emotional PsycopathicManchild who is easily distracted, struggles to talk to women and plays action figure games with his equally-dweeby [[TheDragon Dragon]] as they plan out their conquest of the week. Thanks to his obsession with besting [[TheTrickster Wander]] he's suffered in-universe VillainDecay by Season 2 and everyone's very aware of what he's really like.

* The first episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' deal with the Collector, a {{toon}} with a creepy mishmash appearance. He collects other toons by sealing them in plastic with a device called "the Laminator". However, when his glove is ripped off, it turns out he has ''five'' fingers [[FourFingeredHands instead of four]], and when his mask comes off afterward, he is fully outed as a geeky-looking human.