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{{trope}}
[[File:
Stereotypically speaking, in fiction, [[Dumb Blonde|blondes are lacking in intelligence]], [[Fiery Redhead|redheads are lacking in feminine charm]], so, [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead|out of the trio]], brunettes are all brain. Like the [[Dumb Blonde]], the brunette varies quite a bit. They can bashfully hide behind their books or [[Meganekko|glasses]], with their hair done in pigtails or a bun or they can boldly use their smarts for their ambitions. Whichever it is, their knowledge is
▲Stereotypically speaking, in fiction, [[Dumb Blonde|blondes are lacking in intelligence]], [[Fiery Redhead|redheads are lacking in feminine charm]], so, [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead|out of the trio]], brunettes are all brain. Like the [[Dumb Blonde]], the brunette varies quite a bit. They can bashfully hide behind their books or [[Meganekko|glasses]], with their hair done in pigtails or a bun or they can boldly use their smarts for their ambitions. Whichever it is, their knowledge is real--if she's on your side, then you can always count on her smarts in a fix. She may be a [[Hot Librarian]], a [[Hot Scientist]], or even a [[Wrench Wench]]. If so, her [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]] and/or [[Techno Babble]] will [[Geeky Turn On|turn people on]]. And she always has nice, thick, brown locks. What they don't have is strength, like the [[Squishy Wizard]] (who may be [[The Smart Guy]] himself), as they care more about their mind than their body. That's what makes a [[Badass Bookworm]] so interesting, a rare combination.
This trope doesn't mean that blondes and redheads can't be [[The Smart Guy|the brains of the outfit]]. It's just more common for them to have brown hair, especially if they're female, though there are a couple of male examples.
Contrast [[Dumb Blonde]] and [[Fiery Redhead]]. And, as with both of them, this character can be either good or evil. Make the hair color ''extremely'' dark, though, and the character borders on [[Shiny Midnight Black]] (''yet also brainy'').
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==▼
▲== Advertising ==
* The Brown M&M seems to be this, with glasses and all.
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' gives two examples with [[The Professor]] Gennosuke Yumi and his daughter, Sayaka. Although she is an [[Action Girl]], she is pretty smart and knowledgeable.
* ''[[Naruto]]'' gives us three male examples in [[Chessmaster|Shikamaru]], [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy|Neji]], and [[Badass Teacher|Iruka]].
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* Although the ''Kodomo no Jikan'' manga can't decide on Mimi and Rin's hair colors, the anime has decided Mimi is a brunette. What shade is still undecided.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
== Comics ==▼
* Valerie from ''[[Josie and the Pussy Cats]]'' is a female [[MacGyver]].
* Lois Lane in ''[[Superman]]'' continuities where she's not a [[Fiery Redhead]]. And where [[Idiot Ball|she's actually brainy]].
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* Marlene in ''[[Jet Dream (Comic Book)|Jet Dream]]'', who's described as "Powerful as a wrestler, but with a cool, precise Teutonic mind."
== [[Film]] ==
== Films -- Animation ==▼
* Belle from Disney's ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]''.
* Tiana from ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]''. Naveen too, when he can be bothered to do stuff.
* Queen Elinor from ''[[Brave]]''.
* Roxanne Ritchi from ''[[Megamind]]'', so much that the title character (a [[Gadgeteer Genius]]) admits that she's the smartest person he knows. She's also voiced by brainy [[Tina Fey]].
* Edna Mode from ''[[The Incredibles]]''.
== Films -- Live-Action ==▼
* In the film version of ''Starter for 10'', the character of Rebecca is a brunette and intuitive. She holds various protests and is often seen informing the main character, Brian Jackson, of her ideas.
* Evelyn in ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy]]''. She's also a [[Hot Librarian]].
* Brutally mocked in ''Where The Truth Lies'':
{{quote|
** The person reading his letter then looks across the room and sees a bookish-looking brunette. And you automatically imagine her doing one thing and one thing only...
* Jenny in ''[[An Education]]'' dreams of getting into Oxford, and she's got the brains to do it. She has a [[Foil]] in [[Dumb Blonde]] Helen.
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* Emma from ''[[No Strings Attached]]'', who studied at MIT, is a doctor in Boston, and turned up to a pajama party in actual pajamas in her college days.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* Hermione Granger from the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' book series is probably the embodiment of this trope in its purest form.
* Lessa from ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' qualifies as she is not only the one to figure out Threadfall patterns and trick a Dragonrider into challenging a Lord Holder to a death match, but she also figures out how to save the planet and then does it against the wishes of everyone else involved.
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* Averted in [[Percy Jackson]]: Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is blond and so are her descendants (they have [[Gray Eyes]], though). Annabeth, the brains of the group around the titular character, is Athena's daughter.
* Fred Burkle on ''[[Angel]]''. She was adorable, sexy, funny, and her high intelligence was a great asset to the [[Fan Nickname|"Fang Gang"]].
* Double Subverted with Cordelia in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' where Cordelia was initially shown as an example of the [[Brainless Beauty]]. Though, after exams, it was revealed that she actually had very good grades which she simply chose to hide from her peers, thinking it would make her less popular.
* Kaylee, the resident [[Wrench Wench]] on ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''. She had very light brown hair, but it was still brown, and her mechanical genius was definitely a [[Fetish Fuel|fetish for some]].
** Also, River, who was a genius and a [[Waif Prophet]], though she was also [[Ax Crazy|completely nuts]].
*** Simon himself would count, with his fierce knowledge of medicine and ability to organize a heist in one episode.
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** Zoe is an expert on setting traps, organizing missions, and leading attacks, all of which were skills she picked up while serving in the military.
* [[Summer Glau]]'s other character, Bennett Halverson on ''[[Dollhouse]]'', also qualifies.
** And yet again, as Orwell in ''[[The Cape (trope)]]''.
* Liz Lemon on ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]''. Emphasized by the fact that the show's two other female regulars are both [[Dumb Blonde
** The film ''Baby Mama'' paired Fey ([[Ho Yay|no, not like that]]) with blonde Amy Poehler. Guess what their characters' personalities were.
* Not quite as overt as the other examples, but Chuck in ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' has a great general knowledge and speaks seemingly every language known to man.
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* Abby Sciuto of ''[[NCIS]]''. Underneath her punk groupie looks, she's a scientist and Mensa member.
** Ziva is no slouch either, with her smart-ass comments, multiple languages, skill with weapons, and [[Photographic Memory]].
* Most of the brunettes in ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'' probably qualify; Sara Sidle definitely does.
** Carries over to [[CSI: NY]] and probably [[CSI: Miami]] as well. All the casts have several smart brunettes.
* At least in the later seasons, Chloe O'Brian in ''[[24]]''.
* Possible subversion in ''[[Privileged]]'': Megan, the Yale graduate, is shown as a redhead; however, in the first episode, we're told that she dyed it red and we never really learn her natural colour, so it's possible she's simply a
* Blair on ''[[Gossip Girl]]''.
* Detective Kate Beckett from ''[[Castle]]''.
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* Annie Edison on ''[[Community]]''.
* Averted and played straight in ''[[No Ordinary Family]]''. [[Hot Mom|Stephanie]] is a world-class [[Hot Scientist|research scientist]] who graduated from MIT and is blonde. Her nerdy yet attractive sidekick Katie, also shown to be very intelligent, is a brunette.
* George from ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'' is described as having a brain like a "planet" and is said by several characters to be able to carry a much more prestigious job than hospital janitor if he wanted.
* ''[[Carrusel]]'' has Valeria, Carmen, and Alicia, to a lesser extent. All 3 girls have jet black hair and are good students. Valeria is a talented painter. Carmen is very good with people. And Alicia is very mature and has common sense.
* Dr. Helen Magnus of ''[[Sanctuary]]'', [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]] extraordinaire, whose long brunette locks are a stark contrast to [[Amanda Tapping]]'s [[You Might Remember Me From|former role]] as the short-haired, blonde, and equally brainy astrophysicist Major Samantha Carter on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. [[I Am Not Spock|This was probably deliberate]].
* The younger Dunphy daughter, Alex, on "Modern Family"
== [[Theatre]] ==
* [[Alpha Bitch]] Lucy from ''[[
==
▲* [[Alpha Bitch]] Lucy from ''[[Thirteen (theatre)|13]]'' is a brainy brunette who uses her brains for [[The Chessmaster|her own ends]].
* Jennifer Willis, from the original ''[[Splatterhouse]]''.
* Miranda Lawson from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' falls under [[Shiny Midnight Black]].
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** Solid Snake (160-point IQ, speaks six languages) and Otacon (expert programmer, [[Gadgeteer Genius]], creator of Metal Gear Rex) are male examples (although Otacon's hair is more gray-brown than conventional brunet).
* Princess Zelda in her only remotely brunette incarnation, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', is noted by her former tutor to have been an excellent student. She's also the chosen disciple of the Goddess of Wisdom, so it's only logical.
* In ''[[Fire Emblem]] 4'', Lana and her [[Expy]] Manna are kind, sensitive, and very intuitive [[White Magician Girl
* In the second ''[[Dark Parables]]'' game, [[Cinderella (novel)|Cinderella]] is implied to have been this, based on the fact that {{spoiler|her husband constructed a library in her memory.}}
* Stern, the [[The Smart Guy|Material of Wisdom]] from the ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Biologist Dr. Jean Poule in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]''.
* Emily, from ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', is a straight example. Julie also has plenty of brains and brown hair, but it's apparently [http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0134.html not her real hair color].
* In the [[Remix Comic]] version of ''[[Jet Dream (webcomic)|Jet Dream]]'', Marlene is even brainier, described as one of the best people in the Western world at [[For Science!|Doing Science]].
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
▲== Web Original ==
* Parodied by [[The Nostalgia Chick]], who thinks she knows everything but is really a [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All]]. Played straight by [[Ms. Exposition]] BBF Nella and [[Mad Scientist]] Dr. Block.
* [[Laci Green]], pint-sized sex guru from the west coast.
* Thalia, Calliope, and the rest of the Muses in ''[[
** Also, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, Crafting, and Battle Strategy.
▲* Velma Dinkley of ''[[Scooby Doo]]''.
* Jeanette Miller of the [[Alvin and The Chipmunks|Chipettes]].
* Inverted on ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' where the red-headed Blossom is the brainy one while the brunette Buttercup is the aggressive spitfire. (Bubbles is still the [[Dumb Blonde]], though.)
* Bushroot's [[Hot Scientist]] love interest Dr. Rhoda Dendron from his origin story on ''[[Darkwing Duck]]''. Morgana the successful businesswoman and scholar counts as well.
* [[Daria]] is a combination of this trope and [[Deadpan Snarker]]. It helps make her a famous [[The Snark Knight|Snark Knight]].
** Daria's hair is actually a dark auburn red, but she is certainly brainy. A more straightforward example would be her artistic best friend Jane Lane, who is doubtlessly a brunette.
* Wendy from ''[[South Park]]''.
* Yumi, from ''[[Code Lyoko]]''.
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** Miss Grotke plays this trope straight.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* [[Tina Fey]] counts.{{context}}▼
▲== Real Life ==
▲* [[Tina Fey]] counts.
▲* [[Natalie Portman]], anyone?
* Danica McKellar, math genius.
* Marilyn vos [[Meaningful Name|Savant]], listed in the Guinness Book of World Records (at least, at one point) as having the world's highest IQ.
* Due to ethnic traits, [[Asian and Nerdy]] has almost total crossover with this.
* [[wikipedia:Hedy Lamarr|Hedy Lamarr]], actress and inventor. Also major-league hottie.
* [[
* [[Audrey Hepburn]] didn't have much in the way of formal schooling, but she was extremely well-read, could speak at least seven languages fluently, and was a talented piano player.
* Elaine May.{{context}}
* [[wikipedia:Nino Burjanadze|Nino Burjanadze]], a political leader in the [[Republic of Georgia]].
* [[Emma Watson]] is
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:This Index Is Brown]]
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[[Category:Hair Colors]]
[[Category:Intelligence Tropes]]
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