On a silly show like Community, it's tough to think about who the smartest character is. Everyone at Greendale Community College is dumb in their own way...but also kind of brilliant at the same time. Of course, some students and faculty seem more intelligent than others, and some people are applying themselves while others are just along for the ride.
Let's take a look at the IQs of the popular characters who fans love spending time with in each episode of this beloved sitcom. Here is every main character on Community, ranked by intelligence.
Pierce Hawthorne
Chevy Chase's Community character, Pierce Hawthorne, seems like the least intelligent member of the gang. He's always making offensive comments and doesn't tolerate people who are different from him, which the group is often telling him to stop doing.
Pierce basically never seems like a smart person. He's either being mean to other people or doesn't seem to understand what the group is talking about.
Troy Barnes
Donald Glover's Community character, Troy Barnes, is absolutely hilarious, but he's not super intelligent.
Troy doesn't really seem to understand things, and he wants to have fun with his best friend Abed instead of acting like a mature adult. Troy would rather make jokes, play pretend, and live in a fantasy land than face life head-on. For example, when he and Abed move into their apartment together, they want to create a blanket fort that they can sleep in. Troy also doesn't seem like he tries very hard in school.
Shirley Bennett
Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is someone very set in her ways, and sometimes this clouds her judgment since she can't see things from another person's perspective. She also has a tendency to be a little ditzy because she likes to be positive and see the bright side of every situation.
For example, in the season 3 episode "Remedial Chaos Theory," Shirley goes on a pie baking spree because she wants everyone to like her. This isn't the smartest way to go about that as most people would just want to be themselves and hope that they can make friends that way.
Señor Ben Chang
Señor Ben Chang (Ken Jeong) is number seven on this list as he's not as intelligent as some other characters, but he's definitely got more smarts than others .
Chang is very immature and silly, and he starts to go completely insane in later seasons of the show. Fans are never quite sure if he's upset that he ruined his life by getting himself fired as the Spanish teacher or if he really has zero ambition.
Dean Craig Pelton
Dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash) is one of the funniest characters on the show, but he's not the sharpest person around. That earns him the number six spot on this list.
He gets points for trying as he always wants Greendale to be a nice place to spend time at, but his schemes are pretty silly. He and Pierce come up with the Human Being mascot, which is a pretty hilarious but also very dumb idea. The Dean is scared that he won't ever be liked or that he can't make friends, so he often tries too hard and it's very awkward.
Britta Perry
Britta (Gillian Jacobs) is right in the middle of the intelligence pack. She understands what's going in the world and has moments of activism, which makes her a smart person as she can debate issues in an articulate manner.
She also seems like she could do well in school if she only applied herself. Britta's not very ambitious about the future, though, and that takes some points off her intelligence ranking. She thinks that studying is pretty lame and would rather goof off.
Prof. Ian Duncan
John Oliver's character, Ian Duncan, is an actual professor, so that automatically makes him pretty intelligent. He had to study hard, his college courses, and get hired as a teacher, after all.
The fact that he's a psychologist makes him smart... but he has gone down a difficult road because of his alcoholism. He seems like the kind of person who could get better and change his life, but he's not sure that he wants to.
Jeff Winger
Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is the third smartest character on Community. Even though he had lied about his education, getting him disbarred and forcing him to enroll at Greendale, he still seems like he has some smarts.
If Jeff was stupid, he would let his career fall apart and do something else, but since he's smart, he decides to go back to school so he can put his life back together. He often has a quirky and clever comment at the ready, and he can hold his own in a conversation or debate.
Annie Edison
Alison Brie played Annie on the show, and she's definitely one of the smartest people at Greendale. Since she can study and do well in school, and she seems a bit more normal than some of the other characters, that earns her the number two spot.
Annie is ambitious, and she knows what to do to get herself out of tough situations. For instance, she moves out of her crappy apartment in a dangerous neighborhood, and becomes roommates with Abed and Troy. She's a bit young and naive at times, but she's still growing up, so that makes sense. Annie seems like the only character on the show who will really get somewhere.
Abed Nadir
Abed (Danny Pudi) is the most intelligent character on Community. He's someone who enjoys observing and watching others since he likes to live his life according to his favorite popular culture references. He's also interested in filmmaking, and sometimes makes his own movies.
He likes to relate life to the movies and television, and he can make connections between fiction and reality. In the first season, Abed knew everyone's personalities so well that he made movies that would predict the future. He's quirky, and that's why fans love him so much.