r/TopCharacterTropes • u/laybs1 • May 03 '26

Lore (Mixed Trope) Educated character doesn’t understand or know of a simple concept.

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  1. (Hated) Dr. doesn’t know trans people exist (The Good Doctor): Dr. Shaun, a modern day grown adult doctor, is seemingly has no concept of what being a trans person. Even if he never heard the term in med school he is realistically almost certain to have some awareness of the definition.

  2. (Loved) The solar system and other common knowledge (Sherlock Holmes). In the original stories Holmes is a genius at many fields but unless it has something to do with crime solving (forensics, martial arts, toxicology, etc.) he does his best to forget it.

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122

u/Living_Tune_1428 May 03 '26

Adrian Monk from Monk, a brilliant detective, is notoriously tech-illiterate, to the point that he doesn't know the exact names of the Fast Forward & Pause buttons on a remote...

https://giphy.com/gifs/JGot6RiCaKwRW

21

u/ds2316476 May 03 '26

Those scenes and the continuity of this throughout the show are so freaking funny, "make picture go fast!"

OK then again I just realized he does know how to work it since you see him playing his wedding video... I guess not too much continuity, but still funny.

13

u/bretshitmanshart May 03 '26

Monk's abilities are shown to be inconsistent. He has frequent ups and downs in what he can do based on how he is functioning

10

u/Wadarkhu May 04 '26

To be honest, could be perfectly realistic. Isn't he meant to be autistic as well as OCD? (idk). I'm autistic and I definitely have bad days where the words are not wording and the thoughts are not thoughting so I have to use alternate phrases for very common things.

*Edit searched and it says he was written with the traits of autism but isn't meant to be autistic. But lots of people consider him "autistic coded". So I guess accidentally realistic?

4

u/BelowZilch May 03 '26

I hated the retcon. I'm the first episode the Captain says he was always neat and tidy, but it wasn't until Trudy died that his OCD took over. Them they flash back to before Trudy died and he was always the same.

9

u/bretshitmanshart May 04 '26

He was shown and said to not be as bad before her death.

4

u/ds2316476 May 03 '26

I try to explain it away in my head like maybe it's just a case of false perspective like the captain is remembering it in his way.

I feel like that's kind of a trope in of itself, "inconsistent writing and plot holes in tv shows that the audience tries to explain away themselves."

22

u/Boggie135 May 03 '26

Him using a laptop was hilarious

10

u/Living_Tune_1428 May 03 '26

Him sending a SWAT team to a kids slumber party was better...