Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl

She's LITERALLY dragging him along!

Mac: Goo, I'm really sorry for what I said about you. You're not weird. You're really creative and funny and nice, and if you're not too mad at me, I really wanna be your friend too.
(Mac looks at Goo, and the camera zooms out fast to show her, now really happy.)
Goo: (excited) Okay! (Hugs and squeezes Mac)

Mac: Okay...that's great...you're...crushing me.
—Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, "Go Goo Go"

This is when there's a potential pairing between a pragmatic guy and a girl who is very full of energy.

The usual gender stereotype is that guys are physically better and may only care about sex, while girls are soft but nice or just smart. This averts that stereotype hard (for the most part at least): the guy is the smart but physically inept one and it seems he got himself the company of a girl who most guys would have trouble keeping up with in the first place.

The girl tends to act like her IQ is low. In some cases, she can be smarter than the guy, but because she's too busy trying to have fun, this is occasional at most. Perhaps this is why she acts as a Morality Pet sometimes. Compare Good Is Dumb, although she's more likely to merely be calling out the savvy guy than be evil in her smart moments.

If the guy and the girl are in a romantic relationship, the girl may also be a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. If this girl is living with several savvy guys, she's likely a Nerd Nanny.

Compare Perky Female Minion, Uptight Loves Wild, and Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy. For another couples trope based on personality, see Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl.

Examples of Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl include:

Anime and Manga

  • Axis Powers Hetalia: The Austro-Hungarian Empire. Also, two Ho Yay versions: Germany and Italy, and England and America.
    • Fanon-wise, Taiwan is more often than not the Energetic Girl to Hong Kong or Japan's Savvy Guy. Unless there's a Gender Flip on sight, where Taiwan becomes an energetic guy to their savvy girls.
    • Aaaaand now it's canon. The fourth manga volume has Taiwan being the energetic girl to pretty much everyone in Asia, whether males (China, Japan, HK, Macau) or females (Vietnam).
  • Code Geass: Lelouch Lamperouge and nearly any girl he can be paired with, because Lelouch is a Squishy Wizard of sorts.
  • Tower of God: Yuri Zahard is a princess who does whatever she wants. Evan Edrok is a high ranker and and well-respected guide (also very short). She drags him to the bottom of the tower (World Building in a very literal sense) just to see a new irregular.
  • Death Note: Light Yagami and Misa Amane, but Light doesn't love Misa except maybe when he is suffering from self-inflicted amnesia.
  • Naruto: Shikamaru and either of the girls he is most paired with fit this trope. Temari and Ino are both far more aggressive than he is. Both tell him to "man up" or push him to be stop being lazy.
  • Flunk Punk Rumble: Shinagawa and Adachi.
  • Fruits Basket: Kyou Sohma and Tohru Honda.
  • Haruhi Suzumiya: Kyon and Haruhi.
  • Higurashi no Naku Koro ni has Keiichi and Mion.
  • Teppei and Suguri from Inubaka are a slightly more realistic take on this.
  • Princess Tutu: Fakir and Ahiru. The Knight in Sour Armor/ Jerkass and The Pollyanna.
  • Spiral: Ayumu Narumi and Hiyono Yuizaki.
  • Ef a Tale of Memories: Hirono Hiro and Miyamura Miyako.
  • Toradora!: Ryuuji and Minorin. A matter of opinion as Ryuuji seems more...HotBlooded. And then there are the fans of the Official Couple Ryuuji and Taiga....
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: While they never go beyond subtext, since the series (especially the anime) thrives on Ship Tease, Mahaado and his student Mana fit this trope quite well. About the only point missing is the Squishy Wizard status, since Mahaado is well trained both in magic and military arts.
  • Kämpfer: All the pairings Natsuru could possibly be involved in are this.
  • Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Season 1, Yuuno and Nanoha. Of course this gets shot down when Fate comes around.
  • Sailor Moon: Usagi and Mamoru.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00's Saji and Louise. For most of season 1, anyway.
  • MM!: Taro and Mio (in above picture).
  • Chrono and Rosette in Chrono Crusade, although with a few slight variations. For one thing, Chrono is actually stronger than Rosette, but since their contract means his powers take time away from Rosette's lifespan, Chrono prefers to let Rosette take the lead in combat situations and only uses his true power as a back-up plan. And for another, while Chrono comes across as much more rational than Rosette, it's actually only because Rosette is very Hot-Blooded and impulsive, and Chrono has much more experience than she does. When he's matching wits with someone closer to his true age, Chrono comes across as someone with average intelligence and much more impulsive and emotional than is obvious when he's with Rosette.
  • So Touma and Kana Mizuhara from Q.E.D..
  • Takagi and Miyoshi from Bakuman｡
  • Eris/Manami and Kio from Asobi Ni Iku Yo
  • Ryuuji and Rose from Dragon Crisis
  • Shinya and Futaba at times, in Mitsudomoe
  • Kenshin and Kaoru from Rurouni Kenshin generally fit the description, Aoshi and Misao even more so.
  • A non-romantic version has Kirino and her brother Kyosuke from Ore Imo
  • Ferris and Ryner from Den Yuu Den
  • Shino and Tsuda from Seitokai Yakuindomo
  • Yandere Kanojo has Manabu Tanaka, stoic par excellence, dating Hot-Blooded Delinquent Tsundere Reina Ryuuzaki.
  • Ulquiorra Cifer and Orihime Inoue are pretty much one of the most twisted versions ever in anime, as he openly and actively tries to break Orihime's mind during her captivity and succeeds when he kills Ichigo in front of her. She ultimately manages to get better, though.
    • Orihime and either Ichigo or Ishida kinda fit as well, and so do Ichigo and Senna from the Non Serial Movies.
    • Kenpachi and Yachiru are sort-of father/daughter version.
  • Special A has plenty of them Hikari and Kei, Akira and Tadashi and Sakura and Jun.


Comic Books

  • Deconstructed in Young Liars. Sadie acts the way she does because a bullet in her head destroyed her inhibitions and ability to recognize consequences. Danny was her stalker prior to the shooting, and since then has taken advantage of it to make her completely dependent on him.
  • Ragamuffin and Lenore from Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl.
  • Lois Lane and Clark Kent are possibly the Ur Example of this trope, definitely so in the genre of comics. Doesn't completely apply to Lois and Superman, however.
  • Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers are a gender-flipped version.
  • Tim Drake/Robin (serious intelligent guy) with Stephanie Brown/Spoiler (plucky pollyanna girl).
  • Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, only gender-swapped.

Film

"You know, you don't talk a lot." (beat) "I like you!"

  • The first time Emily Friehl meets Oliver Martin in A Lot Like Love he tells her that in six years he plans to be settled and content in both life and career while she lives life by the moment.
  • Dory and Marlin in Finding Nemo.
  • Buzz and Jessie from Toy Story 2-onward.
  • Flynn and Rapunzel, of Tangled.
  • Larry Daley and Amelia Earheart of Night at the Museum
  • Hiccup and Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon. Astrid is very smart, but not like the nerdy and innovative intellectual that Hiccup is.


Literature


Live Action TV

  • Big Time Rush has Logan and Camille.
  • Friends: Phoebe and Mike.
  • Possibly McGee and Abby on NCIS, though Abby's very smart apart from her slight... oddness.
  • Gilmore Girls: Luke and Lorelai own this trope, even when they weren't a couple.
    • Beta Couple and Lorelai's neighbors are cool, calm, and collected Morey and his loud and gossipy wife Babette.
    • Rory had this relationship with most of her romantic interests. In fact, Max and Lorelai probably didn't stay together because he couldn't keep up with her, as Dean noted.
  • The Muppet Show: Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy
  • Ned and Chuck from Pushing Daisies, although Ned is less "savvy" and more "hyper-cautious and emotionally repressed".
  • Dharma and Greg: The titular couple.
  • Firefly's Simon and Kaylee.
  • Smallville features Clark Kent and Lois Lane in this role. Clark is more stoic and reserved, but tends to be a little clumsy, while Lois is an energetic talker who tends to be very outgoing most of the time. Of course, the 'a little clumsy' thing is, as always, so nobody'll connect Clark with the mysterious "red and blue blur" who goes around righting wrongs.
  • She Wolf of London (the 1990 TV series, not the 1964 film) features a male professor of mythology and a female werewolf.
  • Red and Kitty, Hyde and Jackie on That '70s Show.
  • Anthony Bourdain went to South Korea. His assistant Nari Kye, who actually is from Korea and has several family members there, went with him Hilarity ensued.
  • Radio Free Roscoe: Travis and Parker end up this way.
  • Sweets and Daisy in Bones.
  • In the early seasons of Angel, Wesley and Cordelia have this dynamic.


Theater

  • Emmett and Elle in Legally Blonde: The Musical; less so in the movies, but still there.
  • Up and Taz in Starship certainly apply.


Video Games

  • Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey (or Ema Skye), and his successor Apollo with Trucy. Even more so with Miles Edgeworth and Kay Faraday, since Edgeworth's supposed to be extremely competent at what he does.
  • Fire Emblem has MANY of these: Erk and Serra, Oswin and Serra, Lowen and Rebecca, Rhys and Mia, Azel and Tiltyu, Shannan and Patty/Daisy, Lalam and Roy, Rennac and L'Arachel...
  • Keiji and Kasumi in Mass Effect 2, though since Keiji died before the story began the only screen time we get is a recording of a message for Kasumi.
  • Nice!Hawke and Isabela in Dragon Age 2, or Silly!Hawke and either Anders or Fenris.
    • And Alistair and the Warden can be this in Origins.
  • Valkyria Chronicles: Homer Pieron and Edy Nelson. Although she's more of a Leeroy Jenkins rather than dumb, and he's mostly lucid until one appeals to his masochistic side.
  • Sachi in Sharin no Kuni. She's actually nearly at genius level IQ but you wouldn't know that from looking at her.
  • Squall/Rinoa and Irvine/Selphie from Final Fantasy VIII.
  • Kyosuke Nanbu and Excellen Browning from Super Robot Wars.
  • Jenon and Siskier in Blaze Union.
  • Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi in the Final Fantasy Compilations, especially Dirge of Cerberus. Whether their relationship is romantic is a matter of speculation.
  • Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao in Dynasty Warriors.
    • Exactly the other way round with the "Little Conqueror" Sun Ce and Da Qiao. Actually, Sun Ce - Zhou Yu and Da Qiao - Xiao Qiao also qualify (without actual pairing, of course).
  • From Psychonauts, Sascha Nein (that's the guy) and Milla Vodello, who are partners in the Psychonauts and Love Interests. (Technically not together, but we know she likes him and it doesn't take much to read it as being reciprocal.)
  • Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu from Namco X Capcom.
  • Two of the minor Masters participating in Fate Extra's Holy Grail War. Having entered as a couple on the girl's suggestion, they find the rules prevent them from becoming a Battle Couple as she originally planned. The boyfriend realizes the full implications of what they've gotten themselves into much sooner, while the girl remains cheerful, optimistic and sunny.
  • Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Estelle and Joshua, though I wouldn't call Joshua physically inept. He IS a bracer, after all. He just prefers reading a book to hiking or fishing.


Web Comics


Web Original

  • Doki and Nabi from There She Is. Also, he's a cat and she's a rabbit. Better Than It Sounds.
  • With superheroes the key part of the Whateley Universe, it happens all the time. Jade Sinclair (Generator) and Stephen Lee (Thuban). Toni Chandler (Chaka) and Scott Emerson (Thunderbird). Anna Parsons (Aquerna) and Jerry Walsh (Hazmat). Since Hazmat is an inventor and Aquerna is a bubbly babbler with squirrel powers, they may be the classic example so far.
  • Paw Dugan and Pushing Up Roses, when they work together.


Western Animation

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