Is there a name for a comic relief character that temporarily becomes highly capable?

Question

This is a trope that I've seen sometimes in comic books. I haven't seen it in prose fiction yet.Sometimes, we see a character who provides comic relief become highly capable for a single issue or chapter. Examples include a few Donald Duck stories, or Lambik from Suske & Wiske (Spike and Suzy). This phenomenon usually happens when the story requires a strong character to get something done; the character who provides comic relief is a logical choice as they can afford to be somewhat inconsistent.Is there a name for this trope?

Answer 1

The best answer I can think of is the Fool. This was a jester in almost all Renaissance courts, and is also known as a clown. The Fool was known by many names in fact.

A particularly good real-world example of a clown would have been a contemporary of Shakespeare: a famous Elizabethan actor, William Kempe. The peasants often loved Fools as they frequently subtly made fun of the nobility. This is a good Wikipedia article explaining the Fool back then, linking it rightly back to Ancient Rome (and Greece), where a good part of Western literature draws its tropes, types, and origins:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespearean_fool

You may have to copy and paste the link. Embedded in this article are many other passages relevant to your question.