# Utterly dopey characters who are actually very good at their job

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 22, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255 "2022-04-22T13:34:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255/81 "2022-04-25T19:58:22Z")

</div>

> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> In the short-lived _Dilbert_ cartoon, Wally was shown to be a super-competant coder when he was forced to be.

Similarly, _On the Fastrack_ has Art Welding: a good coder when forced to be and even better at testing anti-virus capability – by letting the viruses in. Then the pandemic hit and virtually everyone starts working remotely – suddenly Art’s productivity rivals that of Wendy, his executive-assistant wife.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255/82 "2022-04-25T20:12:12Z")

</div>

Wally’s not incompetent; he’s lazy. And if you must do a job, doing it right is a lot less work than doing it wrong. Laziness is an asset for a programmer.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255/83 "2022-04-25T20:24:13Z")

</div>

> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Yet, he was brilliant at observing small details at a crime scene. Monk earned his position as a consultant because he solved complex homicide cases.

The show, when it started, was a mystery about a amazing detective with quirks. Later, it became a comedy about a quirk dude who did mysteries. I stopped watching.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255/84 "2022-04-25T20:30:23Z")

</div>

> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> Sterling Archer was a terrible human and awful at being on a team but, left to his own devices, was actually really good at infiltration/retrieval missions and combat. If I was being held hostage in a far flung junta camp somewhere, send him in. I qualify him as “Dopey” in this context given the number of basic concepts he fails to grasp in any given episode.
> 
> At least in the first handful of seasons; I don’t know if he got the Homer treatment into total incompetence later on.

Archer was the first one to come to mind.

Riley: _No, you just killed like, ten pirates._  
Archer: _Wow, and if the five-year old me knew that he would get a huge boner. No idea why I said that._

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utterly-dopey-characters-who-are-actually-very-good-at-their-job/963255.md?page=4)