r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BlackHandKUR • Aug 17 '26

Hated Tropes [Hated Trope] Nerdy characters who don’t understand nerdy things

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There are too many examples of movies and tv fumbling basic nerd knowledge but the one that particularly bugs me is whenever we have nerdy characters not understanding basic DnD lore or mechanics.

Big bang theory is probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to not understanding nerdom but how they do dnd is especially insulting. They don’t understand any of the basic concepts, lore, mechanics or even how races look. Theres a scene where they do a steamy dnd thing and they describe an orc with multiple arms and breasts. Not a single part of that was even remotely close to correct and Sheldon being the atypical rule lawyer type should know that.

Abed from community isn’t much better. Either he doesn’t know the rules or fragrantly allows his players to ruin a session. There is never a mention of initiative, contesting rolls, or scaling. Pierce, a naked hermit of a character, over powers a high level fighter then charms a high level creature to pose this great threat to the party. What?

Stranger things, and possibly the one the gets me the most, off the rip we have a character who misses a fireball attack by rolling low. That’s not how fireball works, that not how fireball has ever worked. Fireball is an AoE spell where everyone in its radius has to have a save to have the damage halved. These are kids that name the monsters after DnD creatures yet they don’t know the difference between fire bolt and fire ball?

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

I distinctly remember seeing one clip from The Big Bang Theory that pissed me off. Sheldon and another character were arguing about the multiple robins and specifically one taking up the mantle of Batman.

Sheldon maintains that Dick Grayson should be the one to take on the mantle. A fair opinion, albeit one that I disagree with.

The other character, 100% serious and without being treated like a joke in the show, laughs at how obviously wrong Sheldon is. And that the obvious answer is that the second robin, Jason Todd, should take up the mantle of Batman.

Now, to anyone who knows literally anything about Batman, they'd never suggest Jason would be a good Batman, at least not this century.

There are corrections one could make that would be fine. You could say obviously Tim Drake would be the better Batman, or suggest Batman Beyond AKA Terry McGinnis. Hell my favorite and more nuanced take is that nobody should be Batman after Bruce because he exists to create a world that doesn't need Batman. But they went with the dumbest one because they just heard somewhere there was more than one Robin

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u/ThatInAHat Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

They said JASON TODD?!? Like? The actual least appropriate choice?

This reminds me of the Halloween party where they were all dressed as the Flash (in lousy store-bought costumes, no less), and had a big hissy fit over it as if there weren’t at least four flashes who wore some variation of the generic store costume they could claim to be.

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u/TheOncomimgHoop Aug 17 '26

That episode annoyed me because they won the group costume contest at the comic book store with their bought costumes, when there was another group that had clearly put effort into making them. Like yeah, I don't expect the comic book store to have the same regulations as a convention where you have to make x percent of your cosplay or anything, but if you can win with generic and cheap looking store bought stuff then what's even the point? Anyone can buy those.

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

Yep. And it was fully treated as like, a correction to the idea that Dick Grayson would be best candidate for the Batman mantle.

The flash thing I get. Like even if that's the case it would still suck to all be the same.

Also obligatory "fuck this show for perpetuating the Aquaman slander"

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u/LiamTime Aug 17 '26

Right, Todd is the least appropriate in at least two glaring ways: the characters would've known that Todd became a murderous anti-hero (or might've even just been a villain at this time), the old people watching who theoretically could have followed comics in the '80s would've known him as the Robin who was brutally beaten to death. So they're either arguing that the next Batman should be a dead kid or a gun-toting lunatic.

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u/TheOncomimgHoop Aug 17 '26

That episode annoyed me because they won the group costume contest at the comic book store with their bought costumes, when there was another group that had clearly put effort into making them. Like yeah, I don't expect the comic book store to have the same regulations as a convention where you have to make x percent of your cosplay or anything, but if you can win with generic and cheap looking store bought stuff then what's even the point? Anyone can buy those.

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u/SkyfallRainwing Aug 17 '26

Comment mitosis

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u/VenusAmari Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

It aired during Battle for the Cowl. It was probably corporate synergy.

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u/dantevonlocke Aug 17 '26

Ehhhh Carrie Kelley might edge Jason out... barely...

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u/Tazinoka Aug 17 '26

I think Sheldon was actually the one who was advocating for Jason. I think his reason was that Nightwing is already a hero in his own city, so he can't take up the mantle. I used to watch the show with my mom, and she'd always ask me if they were actually making sense during any scenes that involved "exploring" nerd culture. The answer was no. Every time.

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u/TheOncomimgHoop Aug 17 '26

Did Damien exist at the time? Because he at least actually wants to take the mantle one day, but obvious he didn't get brought up in the episode.

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u/ThatInAHat Aug 17 '26

I think it was very early days for Damien.

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u/VenusAmari Aug 17 '26

Your question about timing actually made me Google the airdates. This episode was aired during Battle for the Cowl. So, this was probably an example of corporate synergy.

This episode aired in April 2009. Battle for the Cowl was March to May 2009.

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u/SM-03 Aug 17 '26

You know what, considering some of the rancid takes comic book fans have on where to take these characters, I'd say this is unintentionally accurate.

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u/igneousscone Aug 17 '26

Yeah, I could see somebody in the Red Hood subreddit making this argument. We are not a rational people. 😂

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u/TamagotchiMasterRace Aug 17 '26

"You know why Gotham's still a shithole after having batman for 80 years? Hes too soft! Jason would have that place cleaned up in a week!"

I haven't read anything with Jason in years, i have no idea where he currently stands on lethal force, but I do know from other subreddits I lurk in that being up to date or knowledgeable is not a prerequisite to having a strong opinion.

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u/igneousscone Aug 17 '26

being up to date or knowledgeable is not a prerequisite to having a strong opinion.

Truth. 😅😅

I just got into this fandom/comics at all about two years ago, and it's been A Journey.

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u/PiliPalaPor4 Aug 17 '26

Off the top of your head do you know what season this was on? Cos Dick actually did take up the mantle in 2009 so unless that scene was in the first couple of seasons, it was extra extra dumb.

But what else would you expect from a show about remorselessly making fun of nerds made by non-nerds🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/carefreedude Aug 17 '26

Looked it up, the episode is from season 2 and aired in April 2009.

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

I don't know. Admittedly I don't watch the show myself I just came across the clip online.

The thing is like I said in my comment if it was just "Dick Grayson is the best choice to become Batman in Bruce's stead" it'd be whatever. Like a fine comment to any layman about comics, and even a hotly debated topic amongst fans.

It's the Jason part which would've never made any sense because by the time the show aired he was either dead or Red Hood

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u/Rasputin_mad_monk Aug 17 '26

And made for non-nerds. The masses have no clue who Dick Grayson or Nightwing are.

It’s like cops being mad at the “can’t report a missing person for 24hrs” or “if only he stayed on the phone for 10 more seconds we would have had them”

Stuff like “can you enhance this grainy pic from the atm camera.?” And then show a parking decal with the id number, logo and date of exp.

They created fun, goofy, nerds to apeal to soccer mom’s, guys in dad jeans, your uncle Steve and grandma coo coo.

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

I mean... Most cop shows don't go "hey look at these guys and how they're cops, that means they're antisocial losers". I imagine if they did, a lot more cops would hate them.

People don't hate the big bang theory because it's a comedy that features nerds or because it gets the details wrong. People hate it because it actively disdains the subset of culture it focuses on, and it encourages a lot of frankly shitty stereotypes

Getting a detail like this wrong is whatever. It would take like maybe 5 minutes to research a more accurate comment, but I'd care a lot less in a show that seemed to have anyone that actually cared about the stuff it's making jokes about.

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u/LordWoodrow Aug 17 '26

Not as bad as when they had an argument on whether Superman got his powers from yellow sun radiation.

You know, the incredibly basic Superman power trivia that even your grandma might know.

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u/ZeakaXorrFitchus Aug 17 '26

They were arguing whether Superman should have powers at night, and if he stores yellow sun radiation during the day and uses the charged up energy at night like a battery. They also were bickering about whether or not Superman's flying was an extension of his strength.

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u/Turok5757 Aug 18 '26

So, the EXACT kind of shit nerds bicker about all the time. Lmao

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u/LordWoodrow Aug 17 '26

So not the trivia so basic your grandma probably knows, but instead the trivia basic enough that any comic book fan would know.

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u/dnjprod Aug 17 '26

First of all, I remember turning to my wife when we watched that episode and calling bullshit. Jason Todd? FUcking hwat?

Then there's the cold opening where they are supposedly playing World of Warcraft. watching them talk about what they were doing in game was atrocious. Nothing they described happens in that game.

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u/SethlordX7 Aug 17 '26

Would you mind enlightening a non comic reader as to why Jason Todd would make such a poor choice?

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u/VenusAmari Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

He was killed by joker and then revived as a crazed criminal and punisher type. Like at one point while in jail he poisoned the food of the inmates apparently. He's also wanted vengeance against Batman.

Edit

But actually this episode aired during Battle for the Cowl where Jason Todd actually did become Batman for a bit so this was actually probably just corporate synergy.

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u/PhysicianChips Aug 17 '26

You mean Battle of the Cowl where Jason immediately killed people dressed as Batman, which Dick calls out as not ever acceptable of Batman, and Jason is immediately dismissed as a potential successor. Meanwhile Tim is also dressed as Batman at that time and it is actually debatable whether he should/could be Batman.

They should have said Tim if they wanted synergy. But clearly no one on staff was reading the comics at the time, just getting a bulleted point list of what was going on.

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u/VenusAmari Aug 17 '26

The episode would have been filmed before it aired and before the comic was out. So, they likey were working off a quick high level summary of what was going to be happening and then made a quick topical joke about it.

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u/TopKat86 Aug 17 '26

Crazier that it was Stuart out of all people saying it considering he owns a comic store. If anyone should know how wrong that statement is it’s him

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u/name-classified Aug 17 '26

A fair opinion, albeit one that I disagree with.

But I mean....Dick Grayson would be the perfect Batman after being trained by Bruce.

Dick isn't a complete psycho like Bruce and Damien or Jason.

Tim would be a good choice as well; he's arguably a better detective than anyone in the bat family.

There could never be a world where "Batman" isn't needed, because of the nature of humans and Gotham city being Gotham City. That place chews up everyone and anyone and spits them out unlike Metropolis or Coast City or Central City.

On the day where greed and corruption and murder and conspiracy goes away; then there would be no need for Batman.

Till then; someone has to get the answers from the horrible people who lock all the doors and hold all the keys.

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

So why couldn't the protector of Gotham be a Nightwing? Or a Robin? Or a Batgirl?

I'm not saying Gotham won't need a hero. I'm saying ideally it won't need a Batman.

Nightwing inspires people with hope instead of striking fear into criminals. He's much closer to Superman in ideology for being a hero than Batman.

I think him becoming Batman would be a regression of his character

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u/Miserable-Role9555 Aug 17 '26

How is that a mistake though? A fictional character having a terrible opinion about a comic book isn't unusual

If anyone here has actually had nerdy friends you would know they get details wrong a LOT and inevitably argue about them over and over. Before smartphones (and even today) it wasn't uncommon for someone to have never even read/watched a piece of media but still have extremely strong opinions about it

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

I mean for one the character are framed as obsessively knowledgeable about comic books in the mid-late 2000s at least. Granted someone could have blind spots and still be passionate about them.

But it's also not like... The way someone who doesn't know about Jason would think. Usually when people don't know about characters or they haven't read a piece of media their incorrect/uninformed opinions come from the characters' most iconic stories or adaptations (think organic webbing for spiderman or Bane using venom still). The most iconic stories for Jason are Death in the Family and Under the Red Hood.

If you only know him from the former I doubt you believe a corpse is the best Batman, and if you know him from the latter you know he's a supervillain.

You'd have to only know Jason from his time as Robin without knowing about his death, or you'd have to know about his resurrection without knowing about the Red Hood stuff. And you'd probably have to know nothing about Tim either.

Like is it possible all those things could be true for a character AND they'd be passionate about it anyways? Technically. But unless a major part of that character is how they have bad comic opinions it would be such a strange opinion to out on a character.

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u/Peng_Terry Aug 17 '26

You say all that but I know someone deeply into Batman who maintained for YEARS that Damian was the correct (and ONLY) heir to the cowl simply because he was Bruce’s blood child

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

Yeah but that's because the primary thing people know about Damian is the blood child thing.

Plus while in sure this was years ago nowadays I don't even hate the take that Damian is the best candidate. He's grown a ton in the last 5-10 years of comics

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u/dovahkiitten16 Aug 17 '26

Also the premise for that episode is Howard being constantly wrong, Sheldon being right, then finally being wrong when they have a bet over the species of a cricket in the apartment. Howard being annoyed at Sheldon being right and Sheldon being annoyed at Howard being obviously wrong is the entire premise.

I think earlier in the episode Howard gets a fact about Wolverine’s claws wrong, that anyone who had watched the movies would notice being egregiously wrong.

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u/shockwave8428 Aug 17 '26

Yeah again, this is a BBT hate thread more than a “characters being wrong” thread. The writers are filling in their dialogue with things that sound vaguely nerdy enough to fill in text and make them believable nerds for a casual audience - because that’s BBT’s audience. They don’t need to be accurate because an average BBT watcher doesn’t care.

And that’s obvious because as much as it’s obviously not a great show, it’s one of the most popular shows of the last decade. BBT was pulling in an average viewership over its entire run that was more than The Office’s absolute peak - and 3x more than community’s peak. BBT has 3(!) spinoff shows.

It’s insanely popular with the “turn of the brain and watch a funny sitcom” crowd, and they didn’t need to spend any time making the nerds more believable to nerds that watched the show, because they were more than believable enough for the average audience to laugh at.

Them arguing about robins becoming joker is pop cultury enough that people have a basic idea of it, but then name dropping dick/jason takes it to the next level of believability for most people, and that’s enough even if everything they say about them is bad takes. Batman is just popular, and he has been for a while. Talking about comics specific stuff is what makes it nerdy again, but again, details just aren’t needed to make it believable for the average viewer who knows who Batman is but probably couldn’t tell you any robin’s name

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u/Substantial_Rest_251 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

Big Bang Theory was on CBS and is written for an older boomer audience. Its characters are not nerds written for people the age of the characters, but instead to satisfy Grandma's concern that her smart grandson down at the fancy college will land a wife. It icks out younger people because it manages to both be Blackface for Nerds and Blackface for Millennials

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u/nigirizushi Aug 17 '26

They were nerdier in S1 but everyone hated it so they were really dumbed down S2 and on

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u/Substantial_Cow_6123 Aug 17 '26

Im pretty sure at the time that was written they only has Dick and Jason, and jason hadn't died yet, and the whole argument boiled down to Dick is already nightwing and being batman would ruin that so that leaves jason.

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

Jason died back in the 80s. By 2009 when the episode aired Jason was back and Tim was robin

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u/TomBakersLongScarf Aug 17 '26

Was this before or after Damian Wayne was introduced?

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

IIRC from other comments it was like just before he was introduced. Like a couple months to a year

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u/supercoolpartydude Aug 17 '26

If they waited like 6 months when Damien finally became Robin, the whole argument would’ve been nuked. Because ever since the answer is unequivocally Damien.

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u/CaptainCha0s570 Aug 17 '26

Ehhhhh. I tend to disagree. Maybe that's because in like 90% of the comics showing future Damien as Batman he's portrayed as like, the "evil"-ish murder Batman.

But my larger point is that of any of the main robins Jason is objectively the worst choice

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u/supercoolpartydude Aug 17 '26

The future stories always lean way too much to his league of assassins influence, hence the evil aspects. But considering he’s been physically training since birth, and has now been studying and training with Bruce, it’s kind of a no brainer. Similar to Batman having to fake being Bruce, Damian has to do that to act like a normal kid. Every other Robin is their secret identity first.

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u/Darkgamer000 Aug 17 '26

I think the only argument for Jason is that he is written as every OTHER writer writes Batman. Grayson is always a moral compass, Drake is “the detective”, and Todd is the hot-head..but it seems like in every crossover Batman is a cagey brooding hot-head.

Damian is his son, of course they would defer to him rather than remove their own established identities as heroes.

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u/jay_alfred_prufrock Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

Cassandra deserves the mantle more than any of the Batboys, she embodies Bruce's mission and mindset more than any of them.

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u/mangostoast Aug 17 '26

99.9% of viewers don't know who any of those people are and don't care.