4) Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter
Nerd Cred:
• Grew up with Gramma
• Spends most of his time hanging out with houseplants
• Manages to out-nerd Hermione Granger on a regular basis
• His teeth look like the Hogwarts Express derailed in his mouth (to be fair, he is British)
Evidence of Sheer Badassitude: Hermione almost took this spot. But Neville Longbottom was an even nerdier nerd, which made his arc throughout the books so much more satisfying, culminating in the soaring aria of badassery that Neville performed in book 7. First, he let himself get his ass beat by Death Eaters in school every day, just as a symbol of solidarity with Harry. It's one thing to make a grandiose display of suffering as an inspirational call to arms once. Hell, Jesus only did it that one time, and we're still hearing about it. Neville did it every school day of his senior year.
And that's nothing compared to Neville talking shit to Voldemort's face, and subsequently being forced to kneel and swear loyalty to ol' No-Nose, or be executed. Neville, having more balls than a Chuck E. Cheese playpen, refused, and was rewarded with the Sorting Hat being forced onto his head and set on fire. While the smell of his burning skin and hair filled his nose, he pulled Gryffindor's sword out of the hat and beheaded Voldemort's giant pet snake in one motion, making it possible for Harry Potter to save the world. Then he went and kicked a werewolf's ass. That's not goofy hyperbole for the sake of making a humorous aside - he actually followed having his skull set on fire by killing a giant snake and then beating the fuck out of a werewolf. Neville Longbottom might have started out a chubby, nebbish fondler of ferns, but he ended up being the Wizarding World equivalent of George S. Patton.
To read about more nerds, go here:
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/12/8_nerds_who_will_utterly_kick_your_ass.php
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