History Main / SmartBall

* In ''JusticeLeague'', the Flash is typically depicted as an almost complete idiot, but he has two instances of outwitting other villains, one of whom was an alternate version of Batman. Granted, the regular Batman admits that he could not predict the Flash either. He has another instance later in the same episode where he tries to convince a LawfulEvil Superman that killing him is something he would never do because how the death of his Flash hurt him. That unfortunately, merely occurs the other Superman to reply "I've done [[MoralEventHorizon a lot of things]] that I thought I'd never do in the past two years, [[CompleteMonster one more won't hurt.]]"

* Similarly, Patrick from ''SpongeBob SquarePants''.

*** Other than math he seems to see school as beneath him rather than as difficult. In a few subjects he would clearly be well ahead of the curve if he ever bothered to do his assignments.

* In Ed Edd n Eddy, during an episode which this troper cannot remember, towards the end of the episode, Ed makes a comment along the lines of "Spending an extended period of time in the presence of females can be mentally disorienting and physically confusing." After Double-D and Eddy stop for a second to register this, Ed then proceeds to shout "HUG ME!" for no particular reason. In short, he grabbed the Smart Ball and held it for all of 2 seconds before smashing it on the ground.

* In ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhilidelphia,'' Mac, Dee, and Dennis play hot potato with the smart ball, taking turns being the reasonable one in different episodes.

* Caboose from RedVsBlue occasionally has a good idea. There's also Donut, who, at one point, was able to correctly figure out the ridiculous string of events that led to the Red Team's jeep trying to kill Sarge. Of course, the rest of the team decided that this was a stupid theory. And there was the time Tucker managed to outwit Wyoming, a trained assassin. Half the cast is made up of idiots, so this is bound to happen alot.

*** A bit of TruthInTelevision in this. A lot of people do believe organic/natural = good.

* ''DetectiveConan'': Agasa catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets it--going from what Conan himself described (to his face, no less) as an absent-minded professor whose inventions ''never'' work correctly straight to the greatest GadgeteerGenius since [[JamesBond Q Branch]], with no intervening development or explanation.

* ''DetectiveConan'': Agasa catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets it--going from what Conan himself described (to his face, no less) as an absent-minded professor whose inventions ''never'' work correctly straight to the greatest GadgeteerGenius since Q Branch, with no intervening development or explanation.

[[AC: {{Manga}} and {{Anime}}]]
* Dr. Agasa from ''DetectiveConan'' catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets it--going from what Conan himself described (to his face, no less) as an absent-minded professor whose inventions never work right to the greatest GadgeteerGenius since [[JamesBond Q Branch]].
** Depending on your point of view, Kogoro could also be said to catch this ball a few times over the course of the series whenever he actually manages to get a deduction right.

* ''DetectiveConan'': Agase catches this ball about three episodes into the series and promptly pockets it--going from what Conan himself described (to his face, no less) as an absent-minded professor whose inventions never work right to the greatest GadgeteerGenius since Q Branch.

** 4Kids: This version borders on AssPull, as she sees the puzzle and says, "Remember that field trip [to a history museum] we took for magic history class?... Rememeber that civilization that spoke with colors?... They used hue and pattern to communicate, something I'm quite fluent in." She solves the puzzle, prompting one of the non-main pixies to comment, "She's so knowledgeable about magic history. I'm impressed." Having Stella be fluent in hue and pattern allowing her to solve the puzzle [[{{Ungvichian}} I]] can understand, but for it to hinge on a previously unmentioned, much less seen, field trip (not to mention Stella suddenly demonstrating knowledge of magic history)? Not so much.

* In ''JusticeLeague'', the Flash is typically depicted as an almost complete idiot, but he has two instances of outwitting other villains, one of whom was an alternate version of Batman. Granted, the regular Batman admits that he could not predict the Flash either. He has another instance later in the same episode where he tries to convince a LawfulEvil Superman that killing him is something he would never do because how the death of his Flash hurt him. That unfortunately, merely occurs the other Superman to reply "I've done [[MoralEventHorizon a lot things]] that I thought I'd never do in the past two years, [[CompleteMonster one more won't hurt.]]"

* [[FateStayNight Emiya Shirou]] is not the sharpest knife in the drawer for the Fate route and most of the Unlimited Blade Works route. [[spoiler: Then he has an EurekaMoment, figures out how to turn into a RealityWarper [[AwesomenessByAnalysis entirely by watching Archer,]] and never drops the SmartBall again. It's almost a little jarring seeing how quick on the uptake he is in Heaven's Feel.]]

** Ben Grimm is at least smart enough that he can sometimes work as a mild example of a GeniusBruiser. A better example would be Jonny Storm, who's even MORE of a dumbass and has no higher learning backstory (he got his powers in high school). Yet on at one occasion he was able to sum up a chain reaction streaming from unlocking unstable molecules and think of a way to contain the problem. Again, sharing living space with the smartest man in the world helps.