History Main / SociallyAwkwardHero

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Taking down supervillains comes easy for Kim. Asking the boy she has a crush on to the school dance is another issue entirely, although she is a popular student and cheerleader. Her sidekick [[ButtMonkey Ron]], however, is neither, but still has the problem of social awkwardness.

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' doesn't just have trouble relating to people, he DOESN'T relate to people. Though most acquaintances see him as normal enough, for Dexter, maintaining the image of a normal, everyday person with regular emotions and no hidden urge to kidnap, murder, and chop people to bloody bits can be an extremely stressful task.

* [[Characters/MonsterVerseMadisonRussell Madison Russell]] is revealed to be this in the ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' official novelization. She can summon up the courage to steal the ORCA single-handedly out from under the noses of murderous eco-terrorists, she can scream defiantly in Ghidorah's three faces [[spoiler:whilst Ghidorah is lazer-focused on murdering ''her'' specifically]], and she can get a high-schooler and a {{conspiracy theorist}} to help her break into [[EvilInc Apex Cybernetics]]... but she can barely stand enduring the snickers, ostracism and ugly looks of kids in high school, not helped by the fact she was [[HomeschooledKids completely homeschooled]] for several years of her education before [[MyBelovedSmother her father]] decided the best way to get her social skills refined was by throwing her in the deep end and making her stick to it.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[Characters/GravityFallsDipperPines Dipper Pines]]. Especially when it comes to trying to impress his crush, Wendy; in "Double Dipper" he came up with an extremely convoluted twenty point plan just to ask her to dance with him at a party, only to end up fighting and outwitting nearly a dozen clones of himself he created for the plan who tried to pull an AntiMutiny.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': Ladies and Gentlemen...''Sam Witwicky''. He has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, and [[GiveGeeksAChance the girls seem to dig that about him]]. [[WordOfGod The writers]] did state their inspiration for Sam's character was basically [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Marty McFly]]--on crack. Also helps that Sam is played by Creator/ShiaLaBeouf.

** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Zuko has never had any opportunity to become normally socialized as part of a BigScrewedUpFamily, but he does improve a bit once he has his HeelFaceTurn and joins the TrueCompanions. Stoic silence serves him in good stead while he's WalkingTheEarth in season two.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': [[TheAce Mako]] grew up on the streets of Republic City, doing everything he could to protect himself and his little brother, Bolin. As a result, he's very brash and dismissive of people he doesn't know, and isn't the best at conversation. He's not exactly in-touch with his feelings, either, not even noticing his growing crush on Korra until Asami, [[LoveTriangle his girlfriend at the time]], calls him out on it. Like Zuko, he does get better, but it takes a few seasons.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Dipper Pines. Especially when it comes to trying to impress his crush, Wendy; in "Double Dipper" he came up with an extremely convoluted twenty point plan just to ask her to dance with him at a party, only to end up fighting and outwitting nearly a dozen clones of himself he created for the plan who tried to pull an AntiMutiny.

** Fluttershy is unafraid to walk right up to manticores or three-headed {{hell hound}}s, but she's overwhelmed at social gatherings or meeting new ponies. "Hurricane Fluttershy" in particular has Fluttershy afraid to take part in strengthening a tornado by flying along its edges, not because it's a ''tornado,'' but because she's worried other ponies will make fun of her if she doesn't fly fast enough.
** Twilight Sparkle. Her social anxiety isn't as crippling as Fluttershy's, but it's somewhat telling that Princess Celestia had to ''order'' her to make some friends.

* The titular Morty Smith of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' may be BookDumb, but he constantly travels the multiverse on adventures with his MadScientist grandfather, and has learned and experienced far more crazy shit than any other 14-year-old on the planet. Still, while he's not an ''un''popular kid and seems to get along fine with most of his fellow students, he also doesn't really have close friends his age, and becomes pretty flustered around girls he's attracted to, stuttering and tripping over his words much more than usual. Unlike many examples, though, he's still pretty successful with girls despite all this, as long as Rick's antics or his own screw-ups don't mess up his budding relationships.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Marco Diaz is skilled in karate and can fight monsters, yet has a bad reputation at school as an awkward NeatFreak. He's also [[CannotSpitItOut very bad at initiating anything romantic]], and is friends with ThoseTwoGuys.

* Shuichi Saihara in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' serves as this this in the prologue of the game. Being a detective? Sure. Solving a murder and finding the culprit? Any day. But speaking with people? No thank you. Despite being usually calm, he is abnormally timid when it comes to speaking with others, as he tends to blush a lot and prefers not to meet with other people's eyes, even going as far as to wear a hat to hide his own. He also has a really low self esteem.

This is to some extent TruthInTelevision; studies have shown that social situations can be stressful in the extreme, and that people can (literally) prefer death to public embarrassment; but even that being considered, some examples of this seem to be parodies of this concept nonetheless.

Often a feature of the DefectiveDetective, EndearinglyDorky, and AmbiguousDisorder. Audiences may find this character {{Adorkable}}. Compare and contrast ThisLoserIsYou and WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld. See also NoSocialSkills.

-->'''Ultra Magnus:''' My deep-seated distrust of intimate conversation, and my unwillingness to reflect on—let alone disclose—my own feelings usually makes it impossible for me to offer meaningful advice when those around me open up. ({{Beat}}) [[BrutalHonesty So I'm just going to sit over there.]]

* Armani Dove of ''Fanfic/BrokenBow'' was raised almost solely by his uncle [[spoiler: Apollo]] and a few tutors, meaning that, amongst other things, at first he has no compunction about changing clothes in front of girls because he seldom if ever interacted with people his own age before.

** Marv is a [[AntiHero Socially Awkward Anti-Hero]]. Ignoring his [[SociopathicHero violent tendencies]], even in his more civilized moods, he is socially inept, particularly when it comes to women -- and being ugly as sin didn't really help his case either. This is why [[UnexpectedVirgin he was a virgin until late in life.]]

* Lampshaded in ''Film/AgentCodyBanks'' as the director of the CIA demands to know how they spent ten million dollars turning a teenager into a super spy capable of extreme feats of athleticism and combat and somehow they neglected to train him in how to talk to girls. Which is kinda important considering his entire mission is to get close to a scientist's extremely beautiful daughter.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': Ultra Magnus has spent a decent chunk of his career beating the tar out of war criminals who are also giant robots and dragging them back to face trial. He is regarded as the "Ultimate Lawman". He is ''also'' the most pedantic, humourless, emotionally unavailable man in the universe, so uptight that you could power a starship off his clenching alone, and deeply uncomfortable in a stoic way whenever anyone expects him to engage in more than the most trivial social encounter. He once tried to write a self-help book with the idea that its conclusions would be imposed on pain of death.

* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'': Jacuzzi Splot is prone to [[ProneToTears breaking down into tears]] [[ShrinkingViolet at the mere attempt to introduce himself to new people]]. Crippling social anxiety, however, doesn't prevent him from [[OneManArmy single-handedly raiding eighteen mafia-run speakeasies in one night]].

* Arturia Pendragon is depicted as this '' oh so much'' in ''Fanfic/AKnightsTaleAsInquisitor'', [[JustifiedTrope and with good reason]]: having spent much of her life trying to be [[SheIsTheKing the perfect king]] [[TheGoodKing for her kingdom and its people]] also meant [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining throwing away any notion of actually]] ''[[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining being]]'' ''[[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining human]]''. With those obligations no longer bounding her, Arturia is doing her best to [[AvertedTrope completely rise above this trope]] [[IJustWantToHaveFriends so she doesn't have to be alone this time around]].

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': Ladies and Gentlemen...''Sam Witwicky''. He has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, and [[MsFanservice the girls]] [[GiveGeeksAChance seem to dig that about him]]. [[WordOfGod The writers]] did state their inspiration for Sam's character was basically [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Marty]] [[Creator/MichaelJFox McFly]]--on crack. Also helps that Sam is played by Creator/ShiaLaBeouf.

* [[BritishStuffiness Malcolm]] [[ShrinkingViolet Reed]] in the Literature/StarTrekEnterpriseRelaunch novel ''Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures'', even more so than in the [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise TV series]]. He admits that he has a lot of trouble making new friends, and his promotion to captain puts him in charge of an entire crew that he doesn't know. Also, he has recently found out that [[spoiler: he may never be able to have children due to the recently discovered negative effects of excessive transporter usage]], which causes him to become a lot more reserved. Only by having the very gregarious Travis Mayweather as a first officer is he able to eventually connect with his new crew, and he is even surprisingly open about his reasons when he [[CharacterDevelopment apologizes for distancing himself from them.]]

* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has Michel Weston, a man who always knows what to say and do in any life-threatening situation, but doesn't know how to deal with friends or family.

* [[Characters/MonsterVerseFamilies Madison Russell]] is revealed to be this in the ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' official novelization. She can summon up the courage to steal the ORCA single-handedly out from under the noses of murderous eco-terrorists, she can scream defiantly in Ghidorah's three faces [[spoiler:whilst Ghidorah is lazer-focused on murdering ''her'' specifically]], and she can get a high-schooler and a {{conspiracy theorist}} to help her break into [[EvilInc Apex Cybernetics]]... but she can barely stand enduring the snickers, ostracism and ugly looks of kids in high school, not helped by the fact she was [[HomeschooledKids completely homeschooled]] for several years of her education before [[MyBelovedSmother her father]] decided the best way to get her social skills refined was by throwing her in the deep end and making her stick to it.

* Miles "Tails" Prower and Blaze the Cat from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''. Tails is a shy kid with a love of machines and an alienatingly advanced vocabulary, while Blaze is more naturally reclusive and serious and has pyrokinetic powers that can frighten bystanders. Both were teased as children for these qualities, and both kick ass regardless.

* ''LightNovel/ApocalypseAlice'': Shinnosuke Arisu is so used to danger that his classmate believes him to be unafraid entirely, and his lack of social skills isn't obvious due to him being TheGadfly who gains control of the situation by teasing others. However, when that fails, he's horribly awkward. Case in point: karaoke is nerve-wracking enough for him to the point where he feels as if he were on a life-threatening mission.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'': Jacuzzi Splot is prone to [[ProneToTears breaking down into tears]] [[ShrinkingViolet at the mere attempt to introduce himself to new people]]. Crippling social anxiety, however, doesn't prevent him from [[OneManArmy single-handedly raiding eighteen mafia-run speakeasies in one night]].

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Sousuke Sagara is one due to being raised by the KGB and Mujahidin guerillas at different points in his childhood. He isn't actually afraid of socializing, he's just ''terrible'' at it.

-->-- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZy-wcQIsRU#t=1m9s This trailer]] for ''Film/TheGuardian2006''.

* Like his canon counterpart, Harry of ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' at first is very much this trope, though he [[CharacterDevelopment grows out of it]], though he does stay a dorky HumbleHero.

* ComicBook/{{Batman}}, at least [[DependingOnTheWriter as written by Chuck Dixon]], doesn't really have a clue how to behave like a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob in his civilian identity and finds hosting a Wayne Foundation party more stressful than taking on the Joker. Creator/GrantMorrison's [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison take on the character]] has elements of this as well.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} is portrayed as such in the Creator/TimBurton ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' [[Film/BatmanReturns movies]]. In his Bruce Wayne persona, he is noticeably awkward, and unsure how to act in social situations, contrasting with the charismatic RichIdiotWithNoDayJob from the comics, although this IS DependingOnTheWriter. During his date with Vicki in the first film, he effectively has to go get Alfred to help him chat her up.