Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Difference between revisions

* The spirit in Ch 2 of ''[[Helen ESP]]'', who keeps stopping the elevator at an empty floor and looks like a shadow {{spoiler|ends up saving Helen from a rape attempt.}}

* Addie Clark, a.k.a. "The Governess", from ''[[Bizenghast]]'' is a posthumous example. When the series began, Addie was one of the ghosts who haunted Dinah's home, which was originally a school and before that a hospital which had burned down. It's been implied that Addie had been responsible for killing numerous children when the house was St. Lyman's School for Boys, and disappeared after supposedly setting the fire that destroyed the school. Over the years Addie's ghost was particularly cruel to Dinah. {{spoiler|Volume six and seven revealed that Addie was nowhere near the monster she'd been made out to be. A kind, young school teacher who made an effort to watch over the younger students who were bullied, she witnessed the people of Bizenghast hang a young woman as a witch one night. One of the men at the hanging was St. Lyman's headmaster, and he knew Addie witnessed the whole thing. She tried to get a letter to her sister explaining the situation by hiding it in a painting, but it never reached her. The headmaster tried to silence Addie by trapping her in the hidden cellar she sometimes taught her students in, suffocating her with smoke that accidentally turned into the fire that destroyed the school. Addie died in a closet along with two young boys. After Dinah discovered the bodies and the letter, Addie's ghost was able to come back to its senses. Apparently, because people had believed the rumors that she was a monster, this warped Addie after she died, and the truth being revealed was enough to give her back her clarity.}}

 

 

* Both protagonists in ''[[Tucker and Dale vs. Evil]]'', who are mistaken as serial killers at first by a bunch of paranoid college students. Dale especially falls under this category, as he is a [[Gentle Giant]] who would never hurt a fly, except to defend a loved one.

* ''[[Nell]]'' Kellty is neither a [[Wild Child]], psychotic, autistic, nor mentally retarded—all of which are ascribed to her at various points in the film. In fact, nearly every assumption others make about her (and her family) turns out to be wrong.

* ''Get Low'': The rumors about Felix Bush are partly deserved, but only because he tends to shoot at anyone who comes near his property. However the opening scene has him catch one of the children who destroyed his window (throwing up on Felix's shoes in fear when caught)...and just patting the boy on the shoulder and letting him go. Yes, he is a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]], but the Jerk part only came [[Deconstruction|after years of being]] ''treated'' as an outcast.

* ''[[The Journey of Natty Gann]]'': Natty assumes the worst of Charlie the blacksmith (not ''entirely'' without reason, as he took her Canine Companion away chained up in a crate) and approaches him only with a shovel in hand and considerable trepidation, because he's a big, scary-looking guy with a badly scarred face. She soon discovers, however, that he's a kindly soul who intended all along to release Wolf back into the wild, and after she tells him her story, he gives her food and money for a train ticket and wishes her and Wolf well.

** Based on the lies told by his relatives, Harry may himself be this to the residents of Privet Drive. As far as they know, he's the vile delinquent who destroys everything and steals from little kids (that's Dudley and his gang) and attends St. Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys (he goes to Hogwarts).

** Severus Snape may also fall under this category in some ways.

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the people of Bree perceive Aragorn as dangerous—to the point the Butterbur feels the need to warn Frodo against him—simply because he's not a townsman and doesn't fit their understanding of normal. In reality, Aragorn's protection of the town is the primary reason it remains the happy, safe place the townspeople take for granted.

 

 

== Webcomics ==

 

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Prejudice Tropes]]

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Index With a Heart of Gold]]

[[Category:Stock Aesops]]

[[Category:Introversion Tropes]]