The resident Smart Guy or Girl in Literature.
- Animorphs arguably divides the role between a few different people, depending on what sort of knowledge you're looking for. The Lancer-ish, Brilliant, but Lazy Marco is more of a long-term strategist compared to Jake's field leader, while Cassie is the team's go-to-girl for information on new animal forms. The quiet, reserved Tobias is the team's "eye in the sky" due to taking the form of a hawk. Ax, as the only Andalite on the team, obviously knows more about advanced science and other planets than the rest of them...unless he was Asleep in Class on that particular day.
- Bazil Broketail: As a young man from a good family and a military academy graduate, Manuel is the best educated and most mature of all the dragonboys.
- Professor Abraham Van Helsing and Dr John Seward from Dracula, easily the smartest and most educated in The Team, but they tend to take a back seat in the combat compared to The Hero Jonathan Harker and The Big Guy Quincey Morris. Though arguably they overlap with Genius Bruiser at certain points in the novel.
- The Dresden Files:
- Harry Dresden is basically this by default among his allies. Being a Wizard means he has much much more knowledge about magic and the supernatural, even compared to people like Thomas and Michael, who are more directly involved in supernatural affairs. Basically anytime something supernatural happens, everyones first instinct is to look to Harry for an explanation, although his friends do get more and more savvy as time goes on and they get more personal experience.
- Bob the Skull is actually this to Harry (most other people don't know he exists). He's a spirit of intellect and Harry's main resource when supernatural things he doesn't know anything about show up.
- Deconstructed in the Warhammer 40,000: Eisenhorn novel trilogy, where the savant Ueber Aemos is the walking databank he is because of a "meme-virus" that makes him compulsively pursue knowledge, culminating in memorising the Malus Codicum.
- In Feliks, Net & Nika both Feliks and Net are Smart Guys, although Feliks is Gadgeteer Genius while Net is Playful Hacker.
- Albert in Fish in a Tree is a very intelligent person. He often knows rather obscure facts.
- In Galaxy of Fear, DV-9 starts off in this kind of role, though all characters tend to know or be familiar with something that the others don't, and even Book Dumb Zak is fairly intelligent. By the end of the series, while Uncle Hoole knows more in general this role is largely taken by Tash, who is studious and tends to think more and plan, compared to Zak who does more reacting.
- Harry Potter:
- Hermione Granger. It's a Running Gag that she's the only one of her friends (and one of few in the entire school) who actually read "Hogwarts: A History", making her Ms Exposition. Harry and Ron have increasingly snarky responses to her exasperation at no-one else reading it. Regardless undeniably extremely intelligent and particularly book smart, and as time goes on displays a great deal of practical talent as well. Several teachers praise her as being "the brightest witch of her age." She's also generally the best at magic of the three, although Harry is generally regarded as being better at Defense against the Dark Arts.
- Dumbledore lampshades that since he's regarded as this, his mistakes are that much greater when he screws up (which isn't very often, but massively sucks when he does). He also admits he subverts this trope a lot, because a lot of his genius (in regards to the plot) is actually a bunch of educated guesses (read Half Blood Prince for full details).
- Remus Lupin is this to the Marauders, a slight variation being that he is book smart as opposed to the Brilliant, but Lazy James and Sirius.
- Sostratos in Harry Turtledove's Hellenic Traders series. He reads Thucydides and Herodotus for fun, always keeps the records of the ships cargo well and is curious about everything. He also fights with his cousin The Captain, who's the opposite..
- While there is no clear Five-Man Band at any point in The Heritage of Shannara, The Smart Guy is probably Morgan Leah. He seems to be the automatic go to for strategy and sneaky plans, regularly divising ideas to get the Free-born in and out of Federation jails, cities, and fortresses. Walker Boh could also be said to fulfill this role, as the resident Druid. Both are far from weak or stereotypically geeky.
- Beetee in Catching Fire and Mockingjay, especially because he's from District 3, which makes electronics and explosives.
- Journey to Chaos: Nolien is the brains of the Team Four novices because he is The Medic in a verse where Healing Magic Is the Hardest and also their tactian when Basilard isn't around.
- Thomas from Malevil. He's a college educated student of science in a rural region of France. Skeptical and an atheist to boot.
- Michael Vey has Ostin, who is undoubtedly the smartest in the whole group. His Verbal Tic is frequently espousing random trivia about a diverse range of subjects from Amazonian jungle wildlife to Chinese culture to electrical engineering. However he is more The Strategist than a Guile Hero as he usually needs time to think things out and plan ahead.
- Mention must be made of polymath, weapon-maker (and namer), Perky Goth, occasional Amazon and all-around bright girl Dess (Desdsemona, in full) of the midnighters trilogy. You've never met anyone as good at maths - or at applying it - as Dess.
- Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson and the Olympians is without a doubt the smart girl of the group.
- Laeshana, from The Quest of the Unaligned is brilliant even for an aesh. At the beginning of the story, she suspects that the theory of magic everyone's followed for the past 800 years is missing some major parts. By the end of the story, she's proven right.
- Race to the Sun'': Nizhoni's best friend Davery, who loves reading (no wonder, since his father is a librarian), has a great memory, is very Internet-savvy and his magical weapon that he gets from the Sun is a book. Several characters comment that when he grows up, he will probably become a scholar or a medicine man.
- In The Radiant Dawn, Rick Sylvan serves as this. He developed the laser Dawn uses, moved satellites into position by hacking non-maintained control systems, got the radio working and partially figured out the attack strategy to go after the undead royals.
- In the Rainbow Magic movie, Sunny/Saffron is this; she's very smart and analytical.
- Rama II: All the scientist astronauts, which they get to prove when they variously become lost aboard the spaceship, and get to interact with other sentients in tense situations.
- Among them, Nicole figures out the mystery and Richard hacks into an alien computer to secure materials (and because he could).
- Adam Parrish in The Raven Cycle. Gansey is also a smart guy in his own right but Adam attends the elite Aglionby Academy on scholarships while working two jobs and he is often described as being cold and calculating despite his softer look. He can also be The Chessmaster if the situation calls for it. In the sequel series The Dreamer Trilogy, it is revealed that he is attending Harvard University and it wasn't even his first choice.
- Beetle in Septimus Heap. While lacking both Septimus's Magykal powers and Jenna's speed, he's quite versed in knowledge of Magyk and other arcane matters.
- Simon Lewis from The Shadowhunter Chronicles is the smartest member of the group from Shadowhunters.
- Stick Dog: The titular character of the series is this for his group, who are prone to coming up with crazy ideas, never notice the obvious, and often forget what they're talking about.
- In the Amateur Sleuth group that is Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note, Uesugi (math) and Kozuka (Social and Natural sciences) take turns for this role.
- Vampire Academy:
- Lissa Dragomir has excellent and consistently high grades. She later uses her intellect to investigate a regicide and simultaneously work on the mental challenges presented to candidates in the running to become the Moroi monarch. She does well on both fronts.
- Sydney Sage is multilingual, a car geek, interested in classical architecture, skilled in using computers. All as a teenager.
- Blackberry, of the initial refugee band in Watership Down. An amusing variant in that his skillset is basically that of an engineer, except downsized to a rabbit POV; his bright idea — which becomes the key strategem in the climactic battle — is that things which float on water can thus be used as transport out of reach of land-based enemies. It's strongly hinted that Fiver, the small seer who doesn't fight, is second smartest.
- Mat from the Wheel of Time is an odd example of this because he's not very scholarly at all, maybe even Book Dumb. But put him in charge of an army or a tight spot you'll find out why he's one of Rand's main advisors and why his name was practically a curse in his home town. Though he is very much the sneaky lancer role.
- X-Wing Series: While most members of Wraith Squadron are smart in their own way, Voort "Piggy" saBinring takes the cake in terms of sheer intellectual ability. He can calculate hyperspace routes in his head, coordinates dogfights while in the middle of them, and when taking over command of the Wraiths, he came up with a perfect plan to bring down a corrupt general that impressed Face Loran himself. The kicker? He's a Gamorrean.
