History Main / SmartBall

** One episode reveals that he knows who Walt Whitman is.

** "Homer at the Bat", bucking the trend, has Barney holding it, when he gets into an argument with Wade Boggs over the best Prime Minister of the UK that suggests a decent knowledge of British history. (Boggs thought it was Pitt the Elder, Barney thought it was Lord Palmerston.) In fact, he's [[BerserkButton passionate enough about this]] that [[AppealToForce he concludes the argument by decking Boggs in the face.]]

** Bart can also be subject to this:

* In one episode of ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' the characters need to win a pub quiz in order to finance some ZanyScheme. They split into an 'A team', a 'B team' and a 'Just for fun team', with the latter consisting of those too stupid or vapid to contribute anything of worth. This is the team that ends up winning thanks to their obscure knowledge of celebrity gossip and films containing female nudity. Subverted at the end when they try entering another contest and [[RealityEnsues fail miserably]].

* Happened in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E2ParasitesLost Parasites Lost]]" when during a FantasticVoyagePlot in Fry's body, Dr. Zoidberg amazed his colleagues by demonstrating a knowledge of human anatomy to help them survive a sneeze... knowledge gained by watching a TV commercial about a nose decongestant.

** Played stright in the episode "Porous Pockets". SpongeBob and Patrick come into some money, and the former starts spending left-and-right, eventually ending up broke. Patrick tries to advise SpongeBob not to do this.

** Then there was that time where Homer correctly guessed what a ThinkTank was, much to the shock of his family.

* In the third Literature/ArtemisFowl book, two of Spiro's [[StupidEvil nigh-brainless]] [[ThoseTwoBadGuys henchmen]] "cleverly" come up with the idea to use [[spoiler:the stolen Cube computer]] to take down a rival of Spiro's company. Spiro finds this sudden brain activity a bit suspicious, but he can't deny it's a good idea. [[spoiler:Of course, the henchmen were hypnotized into suggesting this, because it's [[TheChessmaster exactly what Artemis wanted Spiro to do]].]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim,'' [[MinionWithAnFInEvil GIR]] will occasionally point out something wrong with Zim's logic, most particularly in "Walk for Your Life," when Zim somehow doesn't realize that his plan to blow up his base FASTER might be a bad idea. In "Plague of Babies" he also points out that Zim is too concerned about being seen by an apparently normal baby, but doesn't worry about [[HeroAntagonist Dib]], who actively tries to foil his plans.

* How's this for weird: In a HalloweenEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Numbuh Four holds both the IdiotBall ''and'' the Smart Ball ''in the same episode''. First, after Stickybeard steals his candy bag (which holds only one butterscotch), he breaks onto the pirate's ship, steals it back, and runs off not realizing until he gets away that he just ignored entire treasure trove of candy while looking for that one butterscotch. However, his Smart Ball moment more than makes up for this. [[spoiler: He decoys the pirates with a bag that seems to be loaded with candy (but actually only contains rocks) and when they steal it from him, and are trying to drag the heavy bag back to their ship, he ''steals the whole ship''.]]
** Numbuh Four has another two Smart Ball moments in ''Operation: P.O.O.L.''. First, he manages to figure out that his teammates were replaced by evil BizarroUniverse counterparts, just from the fact that Negative Numbuh 3 had a mean look in her eyes that [[GenkiGirl Numbuh 3]] would never have. After beating them all up, he goes to the Negative world and confronts his own counterpart, an EvilGenius. Negative 4 lampshades the "evil opposite" gimmick by pointing out that Numbuh 4 was stupid to come since now he's completely surrounded by guards, only for Numbuh 4 [[spoiler: to point out that if they're opposites, then that means that Negative 4 is a coward, since Numbuh 4 just conquered his own fear of water to come, while Negative 4 bought bodyguards and wants to let them handle things instead of fighting himself. The revelation causes Negative 4's tyrannical reign to fall apart as everyone stops being afraid of him and decides they want to stop being evil and just act like normal kids.]]

Characters who catch the Smart Ball become knowledgeable regarding some trivia or discipline needed to deliver a punchline, discover clues, or implement a [[BatmanGambit foolproof solution]] to whatever problem they face when [[FawltyTowersPlot normally such attempts fail]]. They may also become far better at [[PoorCommunicationKills effectively communicating]] information, allowing several character to put their clues together to discover the villain's EvilPlan.

* In ''Film/{{Evolution}}'', the scientist heroes figure out that the life forms are weak to Selenium, but can't think of a ready source they can use. Then [[ThoseTwoGuys Deke and Danny]], the resident meatheads, pipe up that [[ProductPlacement Head & Shoulders]] contains Selenium Sulfide, going on to point out their shiny, flake-free hair. At least the writers had the decency to {{lampshade|Hanging}} it. "How can you know that? You two don't know ''anything''! To which the idiots reply that they read it off the bottles. "It's right on the ingredients list..."

* In the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series, there's always a male party member who serves as the resident ButtMonkey, a state that is usually his own fault. These boys very frequently get thrown the Ball as part of their HiddenDepths. [[VideoGame/Persona2 Eikichi]] works out how to abuse the ExactWords property of the rumour system in order to destroy an opponent's advantage, [[VideoGame/Persona4 Yosuke]] is the one who puts together the connection between the TV World and the murders based on very little evidence, and [[VideoGame/Persona5 Ryuji]] comes up with the initial plan to take down [[StarterVillain Kamoshida]] by identifying his victims in the Metaverse[[note]]Granted, the plan doesn't work. Ryuji is unable to use his cell phone's camera app in the Metaverse, and while he's smart enough to come up with a Plan B of memorizing their faces, none of them are willing to admit it in real life[[/note]].

* ''Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer'': Ben is able to distinguish the satellite photo of the Silver Surfer from a meteor by noting "The trail's all wrong. This thing's giving out its own energy." Justified in that, while Ben Grimm ''isn't'' as smart as Reed Richards or Victor Von Doom, he ''is'' an astronaut with all the education and training that would entail.

* Used and lampshaded in Lisa Is Pregnant when, having "noticed for once" that something isn't right, Homer asks why Lisa was in the mountains, where Bart froze to death keeping her warm. She doesn't remember, though.

* In the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series, there's always a male party member who serves as the resident ButtMonkey, a state that is usually his own fault. These boys very frequently get thrown the Ball as part of their HiddenDepths. [[VideoGame/Persona2 Eikichi]] works out how to abuse the ExactWords property of the rumour system in order to destroy an opponent's advantage, [[VideoGame/Persona4 Yosuke]] is the one who puts together the connection between the TV World and the murders based on very little evidence, and [[VideoGame/Persona5 Ryuji]] comes up with the initial plan to take down [[StarterVillain Kamoshida]] by identifying his victims in the Metaverse.

-->''[Everyone stares]''

%%* Similarly, Patrick from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''.

* Discworld/UnseenAcademicals has the lovably BookDumb Trev Likely informing the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] Glenda on the difference between talons and pounces. And, after a brief moment of awkwardness, attempt to justify his knowing this with "you pick stuff up, okay?"

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

-->-- ''WebVideo/DragonballZAbridged''

** Quark's brother, Rom, is introduced as an absolute idiot who can barely follow basic orders. At one point in the first series, Odo knows Quark is lying because Quark claimed Rom fixed his bar's replicators: Odo claims Rom couldn't fix a bent straw and Quark agrees. Very early in the second series, Rom suddenly reveals to Quark he can get through a computerised security lock faster than Quark can, revealing an aptitude for mechanics. This is an example of a Smart Ball that was used for a permanent upgrade via CharacterDevelopment. It turns out Rom's an idiot by Ferengi standards: he has no business sense, which is practically regarded as some kind of mental disability on Ferenginar. However, Rom has a natural gift for engineering, a talent that moving to the station to be with his brother allows him to discover. Encouraged by the non-Ferengi around him, he's allowed to develop his talent and eventually joins the Bajoran engineering staff that work alongside the Starfleet engineers. By the end of the show, he's playing a major role in protecting the entire Alpha Quadrant through some genius self-replicating mine inventions that stop Dominion reinforcements reaching the Alpha Quadrant.

* Occasionally caught by CloudCuckoolander Arthur in ''Radio/CabinPressure'', most triumphantly in the GrandFinale, when he realises [[spoiler:that while Douglas doesn't have documentation to prove he's Gordon Shappey, Arthur himself ''can'' prove that he's Gordon Shappey's son, and then vouch for him. And then nearly ruins it by attempting an appalling Australian accent, even though he's pretending to be ''himself''.]]

Using the Smart Ball is [[TropesAreTools not necessarily bad]]. While it ''can'' be an AssPull if TheDitz suddenly demonstrates [[YouDidntAsk a keen skill at molecular biology]], it's not much of a stretch to imagine the JerkJock also knows the results for every Super Bowl since 1966. If a character is tossed the Smart Ball enough times, they may even get CharacterDevelopment that makes the smarts permanent. And sometimes the character saying the gag being normally an idiot can add on another layer of humor.

* For the first two ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games, [[HeroicWannabe Conrad Verner]] was as little more than an annoying, [[TheFool incompetent fool]] who never amounts to anything and is a bit of a pitiable ButtMonkey. Then, come ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', he gets [[ThrowTheDogABone thrown one hell of a bone]]. Exactly when you need it, it turns out he has a PHD, of all things, and did a dissertation on dark matter energy, which helps with the construction of the Crucible.

* In ''Film/DaddyDayCare'', Marvin doesn't seem to know or care about anything in the world not related to ''Series/StarTrek'', but a social worker is surprised to fin out he's knowledgeable about child psychology - thanks to having read a book by [[NamesTheSame Benjamin Spock]], assuming it was about Mister Spock.

-->'''Bart:''' I think we should look at her research before we condemn her entirely.//
''[Everyone stares]'' //
'''Bart:''' [[MandatoryLine I haven't said anything for a while]].