# The Mouse that Roars, the Worm that Turns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092 "2013-08-24T22:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/21 "2013-08-26T01:12:05Z")
Another case of greatness being thrust upon him, but Kevin Kline’s character in [Dave](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106673/) was a mild-mannered temp agency owner who ended up pretending to be the US President. It’s a bit of a stretch, but maybe Will Smith’s character in the first _Men in Black_ might qualify - an ordinary cop who is suddenly let in on “the big secret” and needs to save the Earth from aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/22 "2013-08-26T01:22:52Z")
I don’t know that Harry Potter was ever wimpy, more like kept down. I mean, in wizarding terms, he was unusually powerful from the start. Neville Longbottom comes to mind, though. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/23 "2013-08-26T01:23:36Z")
Arthur P. Dent ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/24 "2013-08-26T01:45:33Z")
Chuck Lumley (Henry Winkler) in _Night Shift_. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/25 "2013-08-26T02:22:18Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Arthur P. Dent I think that Arthur just continued being a nebbish in space. I don’t recall him becoming particularly heroic. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/26 "2013-08-26T02:24:20Z")
I think Rango fills the bill, going from fantasizing terrarium pet to western hero. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/27 "2013-08-26T02:26:09Z")
Tucker, from _Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil._ ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/28 "2013-08-26T02:28:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I think that Arthur just continued being a nebbish in space. I don’t recall him becoming particularly heroic. Maybe not heroic, but it seems to me that in _So Long …_ he became a lot less nebbishy and a lot more like a citizen of the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/29 "2013-08-26T02:36:32Z")
Jamie Lee Curtis character in “True Lies”. Dreams of adventure and excitement and discovers a surprising talent for it when it’s thrust upon her. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/30 "2013-08-26T02:59:44Z")
Fielding Mellish in **Bananas**. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/31 "2013-08-26T03:35:16Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I don’t know that Harry Potter was ever wimpy, more like kept down. I mean, in wizarding terms, he was unusually powerful from the start. Yes, even in the beginning, he would snark back, especially at Dudley. Being fast on his feet (plus a little wild magic) helped him get away with it. > [@](#): > > Neville Longbottom comes to mind, though. Certainly. Besides his [Level in Badass](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TookALevelInBadass/Literature) and being a [Rebel Leader](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RebelLeader), he also gets to deliver an [As Long As There Is One Man](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AsLongAsThereIsOneMan) speech. Having sufficiently inspired the Resistance for the moment, and also been _set on fire_, he proceeds to destroy the last [soul jar](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoulJar), clearing the way for Harry to finish the job. There’s a reason Neville has become the [Memetic Badass](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MemeticBadass) of the setting. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/32 "2013-08-26T05:34:05Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > … plus a little wild magic … No, no, the _wild magic that destroys peace_ was an entirely different set of stories (about a sort of anti-hero who came through at the end). ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/33 "2013-08-27T19:45:55Z")
The Hulk? Jerry Lewis’ Nutty Professor? Gary Cooper in “Along Came Jones” Speaking of Cooper, almost everything he did. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/34 "2013-08-27T20:06:12Z")
Hooks in Police Academy “Don’t move dirtbag” John Ritter’s character in Real Men ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/35 "2013-08-27T20:39:26Z")
Frodo. And Sam. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/36 "2013-08-27T23:26:33Z")
Didn’t the original Billy Batson sort of stumble on being Captain Marvel (by learning the magic SHAZAM!)? Wart in T.H. White’s _The Sword in the Stone_ Dorothy in the Baum books of Oz? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/37 "2013-08-28T05:02:36Z")
Babe (Dustin Hoffman’s character) in [Marathon Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074860/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1). ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092/38 "2013-08-28T08:17:29Z")
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mouse-that-roars-the-worm-that-turns/667092.md?page=1)