History Main / ShorterMeansSmarter

* [[DetectiveConan Conan Edogawa]] is the shortest of the Detective Boys, even shorter than the girls. Strangely, his [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld teenage alter ego]] Shinichi Kudo is of a more appropriate height for his age.

* Chiyo from AzumangaDaioh justified considering her age.
* Suzu from SeitokaiYakuindomo [[BerserkButton just don't remind her]].

* Partially subverted in ''FullmetalAlchemist''. Edward is short even when he's not standing next to Alphonse, who is a huge animated suit of armor, but Alphonse is definitely the cooler-headed of the two. I say ''partially'' subverted because Edward is the better alchemist, and it's not clear which one is smarter; but Edward is definitely the hothead.
** It's more or less of an inversion. While it's clear that Ed knows more about Alchemy, he's more powerful whereas Alphonse thinks things through more clearly.
** To make things even more complicated, Al is said to have won every single one of their physical contests since childhood.
** [[spoiler: In the manga, when Al does regain his body, he is actually a little shorter than Ed. Probably more because of their age difference and Alphonse's body being extreme malnourished though.]]

** [[strike: Played deadly straight, but I hate this trope, so I'm going to say]] Partially subverted, because [[BrilliantButLazy although she's one of the smartest people in the class]], she's got [[BookDumb some of the worst grades in the class too]].

* [[KidDetective Naoto Shirogane]] from ''{{Persona 4}}'' is the shortest playable character, {at one point before the [[SamusIsAGirl reveal]], Yosuke even refers to her as a "shrimpy, half pint detective"}, yet she is also the most intelligent and deductive character in the Investigation Team.

* Played with to hell and back in YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries with two of the Dark H--"Steves" that try to rid of Yugi and Kaiba--[[spoiler:the audience originally lead to believe the suave-voiced villan and squeaky-voiced idiot are the tall and short Steves respectively. Then their faces, and thus, lip movements, are revealed]].

* Nami from ''{{One Piece}}'' is the shortest human member of the crew and one of the shortest grown-up characters overall (she's even shorter than Luffy!), but is both [[OnlySaneMan the most normal member]] and incredibly smart. Robin is probably even smarter, though, at least as for book-smarts.

** [[spoiler: In the manga, when Al does regain his body, he is actually a little shorter than Ed. Probably more because of their age difference though.]]

* Averted ''and'' played straight in ''{Batman}.'' Batman, the largest member of the Bat Family, is considered the most intelligent member of the team (overall), but Tim Drake has the highest potential among the family as a detective.

* Nami from ''{{One Piece}}'' is the shortest human member of the crew and one of the shortest grown-up characters overall (she's even shorter than Luffy!), but is both [[OnlySaneMan the most normal member]] and incredibly smart. Robin is probably even smarter, though, at least as for book-smarts.

* In most productions of {{Shakespeare}}'s ''{{Othello}}'', the MagnificentBastard Iago is portrayed as shorter than Rodrigo, who is jealous of Othello and plays [[XanatosSucker directly into Iago's plans]].

* Nami from ''{{One Piece}}'' is the shortest human member of the crew and one of the shortest grown-up characters overall (she's even shorter than Luffy!), but is both [[OnlySaneMan]] and incredibly smart. Robin is probably even smarter, though, at least as for book-smarts.

* Nami from ''{{One Piece}}'' is the shortest human member of the crew and one of the shortest grown-up characters overall (she's even shorter than Luffy!), but is both [[Only Sane Man]] and incredibly smart. Robin is probably even smarter, though, at least as for book-smarts.

* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' has the [[spoiler:[[BadassFamily N2R Nakajima Sisters']]]] Cinque, the [[WhiteHairedPrettyGirl White Haired]] TokenLoli who's actually the [[OlderThanTheyLook oldest and most experienced of the bunch]] and serves as the Squad Leader.

Naturally, seen often with TheSmartGuy and TheBigGuy of the FiveManBand. Sometimes the difference is because the small one is a child WiseBeyondTheirYears, paired with a GentleGiant. And, of course, everpresent in TheShortGuyWithTheGlasses.

Naturally, seen often with TheSmartGuy and TheBigGuy of the FiveManBand. Sometimes the difference is because the small one is a child WiseBeyondTheirYears, paired with a GentleGiant.