Stupidity Tropes

Sometimes characters are just not that bright. This is an index of tropes related to stupidity, absentmindedness, and forgetfulness.

See Contrived Stupidity Tropes for a specific set of these tropes dealing with unrealistic stupidity driving the plot. Compare Anti-Intellectualism and contrast Intelligence Tropes.

Tropes:

 * Achievements in Ignorance
 * Adults Are Useless
 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy
 * Apathetic Citizens
 * Artificial Stupidity
 * Artistic License Gun Safety
 * Anti-Advice
 * Belief Makes You Stupid
 * Blatant Lies
 * Wild Card Excuse
 * Bullying a Dragon
 * But Thou Must!
 * Stupidity Is the Only Option
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Cannot Talk to Women
 * Chaotic Stupid
 * Closed Circle
 * Contrived Stupidity Tropes
 * Credit Card Plot
 * Culture Blind
 * Curiosity Killed the Cast
 * Damsel Fight-and-Flight Response
 * Damsel Scrappy
 * Deus Exit Machina
 * Didn't Think This Through
 * Ditch the Bodyguards
 * The Ditz
 * Dramatic Slip
 * Dug in Deeper
 * Dumb and Drummer
 * Dumb Blonde
 * Dying Like Animals
 * Either World Domination or Something About Bananas
 * Eskimos Aren't Real
 * Explaining Your Power to The Enemy
 * Explosive Stupidity
 * Feigning Intelligence
 * I've Heard of That! What Is It?
 * The Fool
 * Fearless Fool
 * Forgot About His Powers
 * Forgot I Couldn't Swim
 * Forgotten Phlebotinum
 * Forgot to Feed The Monster
 * Genre Blindness
 * Contractual Genre Blindness
 * Reality Show Genre Blindness
 * Global Ignorance
 * Gullible Lemmings
 * Guns in Church
 * Holding Back the Phlebotinum
 * Holding Both Sides of the Conversation
 * Humans Are Morons
 * Idiot Ball
 * Conflict Ball
 * Distress Ball
 * Hero Ball
 * Out of Sight, Out of Mind
 * Villain Exit Stage Left
 * Third-Act Stupidity
 * Villain Ball
 * Bond Villain Stupidity
 * Cut Lex Luthor a Check
 * General Failure
 * Just Between You and Me
 * Revealing Coverup
 * Idiot Plot
 * I Just Shot Marvin in The Face
 * I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You
 * I'm Thinking It Over
 * It Seemed Like a Good Idea At The Time
 * Juggling Loaded Guns
 * Just Eat Gilligan
 * Just Eat the MacGuffin
 * Kindhearted Simpleton
 * Know-Nothing Know-It-All
 * Lawful Stupid
 * Left Your Lifesaver Behind
 * Mercy Lead
 * The Millstone
 * Moose Are Idiots
 * Never Recycle Your Schemes
 * Nobody Ever Complained Before
 * "No" Means "Yes"
 * No Peripheral Vision
 * Not a Zombie
 * Oblivious to Hints
 * Oblivious to His Own Description
 * Paper-Thin Disguise
 * Phlebotinum-Induced Stupidity
 * Ping-Pong Naivete
 * Plot-Sensitive Snooping Skills
 * Poor Communication Kills
 * Recognition Failure
 * Reed Richards Is Useless
 * Remembered I Could Fly
 * Sanity Has Advantages
 * Seemingly-Profound Fool
 * Selective Obliviousness
 * Selective Stupidity
 * Sidetracked By the Analogy
 * Stating the Simple Solution
 * Stop Drowning and Stand Up
 * Stranger Safety
 * Stupid Crooks
 * Stupid Evil
 * Stupid Good
 * Stupidity-Inducing Attack
 * Stupid Neutral
 * Stupid Sacrifice
 * Stupid Scientist
 * Stupid Surrender
 * Suicidal Overconfidence
 * Strategy Schmategy
 * They Just Don't Get It
 * Too Dumb to Fool
 * Too Dumb to Live
 * Took a Level In Dumbass
 * Treacherous Spirit Chase
 * Violation of Common Sense
 * What an Idiot!
 * Chained to A Bed
 * Have You Told Anyone Else?
 * Mistaken for Index
 * Once Is Not Enough
 * Your Brain Won't Be Much of a Meal