History Main / SmartJerkAndNiceMoron

SubTrope (child trope) of KindheartedSimpleton and InsufferableGenius. Compare BrainsEvilBrawnGood which is a correlation between intelligence and morality, and AntiIntellectualism. Compare and contrast StraightManAndWiseGuy and ComicTrio; this trope is distinguished from both by a lack of the OnlySaneMan, as both characters generally contribute to goofy antics in different ways. Supertrope to FatAndSkinny and BigGuyLittleGuy, which have a similar dynamic emphasized by a physical difference between characters. RudeHeroNiceSidekick is a [[TheHero hero]]-specific variant that is not necessarily comedic.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':
** Bakugo is an irritable GeniusBruiser who constantly pushes others away with his desire to be the best at everything, and is ranked third in the class on the midterms. His MoralityPet, Kirishima, is a BookDumb NiceGuy who is one of the few people able to tolerate Bakugo's attitude and is ranked fifteenth on the midterms. [[spoiler:This becomes a plot point when Kirishima is the only one Bakugo will willingly accept help from when Midoriya and the others are trying to rescue Bakugo.]]
** This dynamic pops up with Eraser Head and Ms. Joke when they're interacting with each other -- Aizawa is a DeadpanSnarker who excels at analysing his opponents' weaknesses by nullifying their Quirks, while Ms. Joke is a goofy, cheerful woman who incapacitates villains by making them laugh uncontrollably before beating them into submission. She constantly plays pranks on Eraser Head and tries to make him laugh, while he snarks constantly at her and complains about how loud she is.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Given that the smarter members of the Gang also tend to be the bigger jerks, this is natural when characters pair up (though the "smart" and "nice" parts tend to be quite relative). For instance, if Mac and Charlie team up, Charlie tends to be the basically well-meaning one who is also barely functional, while Mac is smarter than Charlie but also more malicious and greedy. If Mac and Dennis team up, meanwhile, Mac tends to come across as stupid but has a moral center, while Dennis is considerably cleverer but also a complete psychopath.

** [[EnfantTerrible Sarah]] and Ed are a sibling example. In this case, Sarah is far meaner to Ed than Eddy is, as she is a horrible and abusive bully to Ed while Ed is nice and caring to Sarah no matter how much she mistreats him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', Mandy is the Smart Jerk to Billy’s Nice Moron. Billy is a total idiot who only seems to have hard feelings towards the bully Sperg and his son Jeff (who is a spider). His best friend Mandy, however, is a straight-A (or rather, "A+++++++") student, who [[MisanthropeSupreme hates just about everyone else]], and finds the idea of having a crush on someone to be repulsive.

-->'''Brett:''' The company can't run without you.
-->'''Reagan:''' No, the company can't run without ''us''. You're the charm, I get it now. I actually need a mediocre white man to act as a human shield and social lubricant, while I accomplish my real goals.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Mindy's two friends, Mitchell and Lillian, fall into this category. Mitchell is quite smart for a kid his age, and he's also very blunt and snarky, with a high-and-mighty attitude at times. Lillian, on the other hand, is ditzy and forgetful but makes up for it with her politeness and sweetness. However, Mitchell [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold is nice deep down]], and, unlike most examples, he certainly doesn't go out of his way to bully Lillian.

* The titular characters in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Rick is a foul-mouthed genius [[MadScientist inventor]] who constantly puts Morty (and anyone else he doesn't respect, such as Jerry) down. Meanwhile, his grandson Morty, who serves as his BumblingSidekick assistant, is kindhearted and empathetic, but is much less competent than Rick and is implied to have some kind of intellectual disability. Rick heaps abuse on Morty, but secretly loves him. Meanwhile, Morty knows Rick is a jerk but repeatedly gets dragged into adventures against his will, where he then frequently needs Rick to fix his problems for him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': Brainy Smurf fancies himself as a genius and is so obnoxious that he's hated by almost everyone, except his friend Clumsy Smurf. Clumsy is a KindheartedSimpleton who genuinely admires Brainy and likes being around him, despite Brainy's arrogance.

-->--'''Ren Hoek''', ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' gives us a duo of ValleyGirl sister roommates Lori and Leni. The former is the OnlySaneMan of the house but exhibits a colossally bossy attitude towards her younger siblings, while the latter is a KindheartedSimpleton who's [[InnocentlyInsensitive rarely if ever truly malicious]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': Ren is reasonably intelligent but selfish, violent-tempered, and outright psychotic. Stimpy is dim-witted but kind-natured and perpetually cheerful. In many episodes (particularly in later seasons), Stimpy borders on being a slave for Ren and is verbally and physically abused on a regular basis. He rarely takes any of it to heart and thoroughly enjoys doting on Ren.

** Squidward considers himself an "artistic genius" and has disdain for his stupid but well-meaning neighbors Spongebob and Patrick.

** Another cartoon, "Two Crows From Tacos" had the title birds (one smart, the other not so much) in pursuit of a grasshopper.

-->'''Jose;''' You no catch Speedy Gonzales with the feets. You gotta catch heem with the brains.\\

* In ''Anime/DragonballZ'', Goku and Vegeta display this while [[RivalsTeamUp teaming up]] to defeat Majin Buu. Vegeta often gets outraged whenever Goku does or says something stupid while Goku just remains nice and friendly to his arch-rival.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':

* Gokudera and Yamamoto from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' has this dynamic. Gokudera being TheSmartGuy that is really aggressive and suspicious of everyone except [[HoYay for Tsuna]]. Yamamoto is the DumbJock who has NoSenseOfPersonalSpace that is friendly to everyone and who doesn't mind the former's insults to him.
* ''Manga/MuhyoAndRoji'', respectively. The former is a BrilliantButLazy InsufferableGenius who nevertheless is also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. The latter is a NiceGuy whose knowledge about many areas of magical law isn't exactly the best.
* [[IdiotHero Usagi]] from ''Anime/SailorMoon'' has this relationship with three people:

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Ryuko is a cunning, HotBlooded BloodKnight and AntiHero. Mako is quite airheaded and simple-minded but is also loyal and compassionate to a fault and serves as Ryuko's MoralityPet.

* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'': Shrek is a wise but grumpy JerkWithAHeartOfGold, while his best friend Donkey is rather dimwitted but much more friendly and sociable than Shrek.

* ''Film/GoodBurger'' starts out this way, with the smooth-talking Dexter treating the dimwitted Ed with nothing but disrespect, and then tricking Ed into giving Dexter most of the profits made from Ed's secret sauce. Dexter eventually realizes he's taking advantage of the incredibly good-natured Ed and they're better suited teaming up to take down Mondo Burger.
* [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with the brothers Ernie and Lars Smuntz in ''Film/MouseHunt'': Lars wants to keep the promise he made to their father to keep the family string factory running even though it only causes more financial issues and troubles for them, while Ernie isn't as scrupulous but comes up with better solutions to their problems.

* Richard Hayden and Tommy Callahan in ''Film/TommyBoy''. Richard's the right-hand man to Tommy's father, Big Tom Callahan, but comes off as an InsufferableGenius who routinely disparages other people, especially Tommy. Tommy is a bumbling ditz, taking seven years to finish college, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to keep his family's company afloat, even giving up his inheritance. After spending most of the movie struggling to make sales, Richard realizes that Tommy has street smarts when he sees him successfully talk a waitress into giving them a special, and after Tommy learns to [[CentipedesDilemma stop trying to emulate his father and act naturally]], they finally meet their sales goal.
* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': Eddie Valiant is smart and wisecracking but is also quite sullen and abrasive. Roger Rabbit is rather bumbling and clueless but is also very friendly and outgoing. Their whole dynamic in the first half is Eddie constantly treating Roger with disdain.
* Wichita and Madison from ''Film/ZombielandDoubleTap''. The former is a cunning {{Jerkass}} with a [[IceQueen sour attitude]], while the latter is a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} bumbling]] yet sweet-natured DumbBlonde.

* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' is a wise but grumpy JerkWithAHeartOfGold, while his best friend Donkey is rather dim-witted but much more friendly and sociable than Shrek.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' has the DeadpanSnarker JerkWithAHeartOfGold Wyldstyle and the IdiotHero NiceGuy Emmet.

* WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} is a wise but grumpy JerkWithAHeartOfGold, while his best friend Donkey is rather dim-witted but much more friendly and sociable than Shrek.

->''"Everybody loves you [Stimpy]! People always love the [[KindheartedSimpleton stupid one]], but nobody ever loves the jerk! Everybody hates me!"''

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Cartman is a calculating sociopath who regularly drags Butters into his schemes, or just casually bullies him for fun, but Butters is cheery, innocent, and usually friendly to Cartman (notably being one of very few to [[FirstNameBasis call him by his first name]]). Although it's zig-zagged with the "smart" and "moron" parts of the trope, as both of them can be quite clueless, and Butters is academically better than [[BookDumb Cartman]] (Cartamn is just more cunning).

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Cartman is a calculating sociopath who regularly drags Butters into his schemes, or just casually bullies him for fun, but Butters is cheery, innocent, and usually friendly to Cartman (notably being one of very few to [[FirstNameBasis call him by his first name]]).

* Misako and Kyoko of ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls'', respectively. Misako is blunt, aggressive, and rude. Kyoko on the other hand is bubbly and sweet but constantly distracted from the mission at hand, prompting Misako to remind her to keep her scatterbrain on track.

* Creator/LaurelAndHardy is the TropeCodifier in film. Every other variation in comedy pays lip service to them. Though it must be said that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Hardy isn't that much brighter than Laurel]]. He just assumes he is.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' has the wicked, scheming high priestess Yzma engineer a ''coup d'etat'', assisted by her [[DumbMuscle muscular but moronic]] henchman, Kronk. Yzma is described in-universe as "scary beyond all reason" and shows no sympathy to anybody, while Kronk is a MinionWithAnFInEvil, who even fills in as a line cook to keep a diner running.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': The frenetic and bellicose meerkat Timon is paired with genial but dim warthog Pumbaa, though the trope is {{ZigZagged|Trope}} in that Timon, while savvy, isn't as smart as he thinks he is whereas Pumbaa has some HiddenDepths. Timon leads the pair on the theory that smarter equals louder. Never better demonstrated than the scene where Simba introduces Nala to them.

* Wichita and Madison from ''Film/ZombielandDoubleTap''. The former is a cunning {{Jerkass}} with a [[IceQueen sour attitude]], while the latter is a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} bumbling]], yet sweet-natured DumbBlonde.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': In the first series, Edmund Blackadder and Baldrick were an inversion; Blackadder was an AristocratsAreEvil UpperClassTwit, while Baldrick was (relatively) more intelligent. [[CharacterizationMarchesOn Subsequent seasons]] (which each featured a [[IdenticalGrandson later descendant]]) had Blackadder as a snarky, scheming, {{Jerkass}} who heaps abuse on his dimwitted, good-natured servant sidekick Baldrick.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Given that the smarter members of the Gang also tend to be the bigger jerks, this is natural when characters pair up (though the "smart" and "nice" parts tend to be quite relative). For instance, if Mac and Charlie team up, Charlie tends to be the basically well-meaning one who is also barely functional, while Mac is smarter than Charlie but also more malicious and greedy. If Mac and Dennis team up, meanwhile, Mac tends to come across as stupid-but-has-a-moral-center, while Dennis is considerably cleverer but also a complete psychopath.

* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has Black Mage and Fighter, although Black Mage isn't so much a jerk as he is an OmnicidalManiac who happens to ''be'' a jerk. After a little while, they team up with another Smart Jerk in the form of Thief, and throw in Red Mage, who's sort of somewhere in the middle (albeit a very low, messy, and bloodstained middle; this is ''Eight-Bit Theater'').

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' gives us a duo of ValleyGirl sister roommates, Lori and Leni. The former is the OnlySaneMan of the house but exhibits a colossally bossy attitude towards her younger siblings, while the latter is a KindheartedSimpleton who's [[InnocentlyInsensitive rarely if ever truly malicious]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Mindy's two friends, Mitchell and Lillian, fall into this category. Mitchell is quite smart for a kid his age, and he's also very blunt and snarky, with a high-and-mighty attitude at times. Lillian, on the other hand, is ditzy and forgetful but makes up for it with her politeness and sweetness. However, Mitchell [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold is nice deep down]], and unlike most examples, he certainly doesn't go out of his way to bully Lillian.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': Ren is reasonably intelligent but selfish, violent-tempered and outright psychotic. Stimpy is dim-witted but kind-natured and perpetually cheerful. In many episodes (particularly in later seasons), Stimpy borders on being a slave for Ren and is verbally and physically abused on a regular basis. He rarely takes any of it to heart and thoroughly enjoys doting over Ren.

** Owen is a dimwitted, [[BigFun fun-loving]], goofball who is [[AllLovingHero kind to everyone]], while Noah is a BrilliantButLazy TeenGenius who [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] and belittles everyone he comes across. Yet somehow, the two of them are best friends.
** Heather is an AlphaBitch who bosses everyone around, while Lindsay is a bubbly DumbBlonde who gets ordered around. Eventually, though, Heather betrays Lindsay, prompting Lindsay to cut ties and gives Heather a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.