# Which fictional character displays the most intelligence? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450 "2011-09-24T12:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/61 "2011-09-25T23:12:31Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Having read this, I will second this nomination. (I was going to nominate Havelock Vetinari, who is impressive enough in his own right and sustains it over multiple novels, but that there is a very effective depiction of a higher intelligence.) Although I’d argue that > > the opponent isn’t actually smarter, he just has a head start. In fact, it’s a flaw in the story - the lead character really should have realized he was screwed the instant that the other character contacted him first, and should have surrendered unconditionally - after all, if I could think that through, he should have been able to as well. You have a point. Conceit plays a part in the misjudgements of even the smartest, I guess Glad you liked the story - it’s a favorite of mine. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/62 "2011-09-25T23:38:18Z")
You think I actually carry around C-notes, **Skald**? Unless you actually mistyped and meant those things that glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate, you must have me mixed up with someone else. There are plenty of other interesting things you’d find in my pockets, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/63 "2011-09-25T23:55:02Z")
No love for Hermione Granger? If it weren’t for her, Harry would have been screwed and the reader completely lost in the Magical World. She was the exposition. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/64 "2011-09-26T00:07:47Z")
feanor - can out-wit, out-talk, even out-create some of the ainur (divine beings.) ---
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/65 "2011-09-26T00:28:24Z")
Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. I enjoyed reading “The Problem of Cell 13” with the Thinking Machine (recommended by Exapno Mapcase) and am looking forward to reading a few of the others. I couldn’t make up my mind whether the Thinking Machine seemed smart or just unusually motivated. I was thinking that maybe Judge Holden in _Blood Meridian_ is a completely different sort of example of what I am looking for. He doesn’t really perform any startling feats of problem-solving (unless you count the rip-off of Captain Kirk making gunpowder in the “Arena” episode of _Star Trek_), but I think McCarthy nonetheless manages to convey a sense that Judge possesses a slightly supernatural intelligence. I am not sure, but maybe it comes from the phrasing Judge uses during his creepy pontifications. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/66 "2011-09-26T04:31:20Z")
I suppose somebody should mention Xanatos since he’s the trope namer. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/67 "2011-09-26T14:03:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You think I actually carry around C-notes, **Skald**? Unless you actually mistyped and meant those things that glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate, you must have me mixed up with someone else. > > There are plenty of other interesting things you’d find in my pockets, though. I didn’t say I took the c-notes from your pocket, only that they were [del]rightfully[/del] formerly yours. In other news you really should choose a better ATM passcode. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/68 "2011-09-26T14:15:02Z")
Doc Savage beyond a doubt. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/69 "2011-09-26T14:42:04Z")
Three very very smart children: **Ender Wiggin** , from **Ender’s Game** But he’s not as smart as **Bean** from the same series (although Bean is arguably not entirely human). Consciously similar to Ender is **Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres** from the brilliant fan fiction [Harry Potter and the methods of rationality](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality), which everyone should read right now. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/70 "2011-09-26T14:49:31Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > That said, there’s necesssarily some selection going on that distorts Holmes’ success rate. We only get to read about the adventures in which he comes out the winner, because the stories in which he fails don’t have an ending. And Holmes didn’t approve of the way Watson wrote the stories; he’d have included the failures too. Well, not always: “Now and again, however, it chanced that even when he erred the truth was still discovered.” “Watson, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.” –The Adventure of the Yellow Face ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/71 "2011-09-26T16:50:41Z")
**Show don’t tell, huh?** I’ll nominate [Scheherazade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade). She escapes death for 1,001 nights using only her wits - and these are abundantly exhibited in the inventive tales she tells. A few characters from that timeless fictional classic _The Bible_ catch my eye too. **Solomon** ’s well-known ruse to decide which woman is the baby’s mother is an excellent demonstration of lateral thinking. I also liked **Joshua** ’s method of choosing his army: march the candidates through the desert for days, then take them to a watering-hole. The ones that lunge at the pool and lap like dogs are useless weaklings and can be dismissed. The ones however that kneel and sip, taking their time, are the sort of tough guys you want on your side. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/72 "2011-09-26T16:53:00Z")
> [@jinty](#): > > I also liked **Joshua** ’s method of choosing his army: march the candidates through the desert for days, then take them to a watering-hole. The ones that lunge at the pool and lap like dogs are useless weaklings and can be dismissed. The ones however that kneel and sip, taking their time, are the sort of tough guys you want on your side. I think you mean Gideon, not Joshua. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/73 "2011-09-26T17:37:30Z")
> [@jinty](#): > > **Solomon** ’s well-known ruse to decide which woman is the baby’s mother is an excellent demonstration of lateral thinking. Speaking of which, Adrian Veidt. (And they do a passable job of showing his work; they don’t just tell us he picks all the right stocks and whips up futuristic inventions, they show the consumer information he’s extrapolating from and the reason he knew the hypothesized technology was possible. They even walk us through his specific technique, via a literary allusion or two, for bypassing rational analysis to let the subconscious further piece stuff together – though he gets pretty far by _ **consciously** _ researching trends, such that he routinely has graphs at the ready but doesn’t need 'em when rattling off facts about everything from surveillance data to international lending rates.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/74 "2011-09-26T17:55:29Z")
Eddie Morra from Limitless…his brain was literally opened up to full 100% capacity…need I say more? ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/75 "2011-09-26T19:20:45Z")
I remember reading a book called “The Big Brain” 20 or so years ago. I think it went straight to paperback and disappeared after one printing, but the title character had superhuman intelligence, and used it to foil some nefarious plot. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/76 "2011-09-26T20:00:57Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > …That said, there’s necesssarily some selection going on that distorts Holmes’ success rate. We only get to read about the adventures in which he comes out the winner, because the stories in which he fails don’t have an ending. And Holmes didn’t approve of the way Watson wrote the stories; he’d have included the failures too… That might explain why the world is not yet ready to read about The Giant Rat of Sumatra… ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/77 "2011-09-26T20:59:47Z")
> [@jinty](#): > > I also liked **Joshua** ’s method of choosing his army: march the candidates through the desert for days, then take them to a watering-hole. The ones that lunge at the pool and lap like dogs are useless weaklings and can be dismissed. The ones however that kneel and sip, taking their time, are the sort of tough guys you want on your side. > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > I think you mean Gideon, not Joshua. IIRC he was told to split them up that way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/78 "2011-09-26T21:18:40Z")
[Tom Swift Jr](http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/) should be mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/79 "2011-09-26T21:23:48Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > IIRC he was told to split them up that way. That’s my recollection from Sunday School too. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450/80 "2011-09-26T21:41:55Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > ``` > > > Originally Posted by **jinty** [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/buttons/viewpost.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14294756#post14294756) > > > I also liked **Joshua**'s method of choosing his army: march the candidates through the desert for days, then take them to a watering-hole. The ones that lunge at the pool and lap like dogs are useless weaklings and can be dismissed. The ones however that kneel and sip, taking their time, are the sort of tough guys you want on your side. > > > > > > ``` > > > > ``` > > Originally Posted by **Skald the Rhymer** [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/buttons/viewpost.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14294769#post14294769) > > I think you mean Gideon, not Joshua. > > > > ``` > > IIRC he was told to split them up that way. Also, it was the ones who lapped that he picked, and the ones who knelt that he rejected. To be fair, the point was to make the army _ **less** _ imposing, because God wanted to make sure he got the credit for the victory. Judges, chapter 7. Kind of petty for the Creator of the Universe, IMO. The funniest part comes just before that. Gideon has 32,000 men, and he says that anybody who is afraid to fight is welcome to leave. In the movies, this is where everyone stands firm. In the Bible, 22,000 of them leave. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-character-displays-the-most-intelligence/597450.md?page=5)