You don't even need fails as part of that; every person I've ever met who tries to appear smart is usually kinda of a dumbass at best (even if lovable) - the smartest people I know universally kind of appeared dumb until you got to know them.
Fats unironically probably thinks Socrates is a fucking idiot because he keeps asking stupid questions.
Honestly, I have seen people of different intelligence doing that at uni.
Some were reasonably intelligent, some average, some actually pretty smart.
Was mostly a self-esteem issue.
One guy was the big smartie at his class in country high-school, and he was rather average as soon as he entered University in the big city. He got humbled quick, and mellowed out after that.
Another one was from an established academic dynasty, everyone in his family were academics, his father a prominent academic.
He thought he needed to keep that tradition and pressured himself a lot. He *was* very intelligent and knowledgeable though and his self-pressure made him get top grades. Was very unpopular though.
Another one, who was most like Patrick, was a fucking music student I knew, who thought he was a great intellectual who could comment on everything with authority because he read "quality media". He formed a clique with other midwit retards, they all were communists of course. Handed out Stalinist flyers.
They all stayed in Uni without graduating until their 30s, only being active in campus politics and the communist and green parties of the student government.
Then they tried entering the main parties, but were refused because they were straight, native men, lol.
So, I think it can be an overcompensated self-worth complex, or legit narcissism and that it doesn't necessarily correlate with intelligence.
The intelligent ones just get away with it by being actually educated or smart enough to argue around that.
Patrick is neither, so he is a laughingstock.