Oblivious Mockery

Sometimes, be it in a realistic universe or in a World of Badass, there are actions that are deemed ridiculously dangerous, totally stupid or downright impossible to pull off. Nothing to be really proud of in any case. The characters talk about such actions and, soon enough, Alice will wonder out loud (probably sniggering) − "Who Would Be Stupid Enough...? to do that?"

What she doesn't know is that Bob, to or in presence of whom she said it, actually did the stupid thing in question. Whether he succeeded or failed miserably, he will either not answer anything or pretend to agree with Alice with an embarrassed expression; he may even be personally proud of it. If the viewer knows it, A Smile Ensues: it's a form of Continuity Nod. What makes this trope funny is the fact that Alice says it totally innocently, without any clue she is mocking someone within hearing range. Hence the Oblivious Mockery. In some cases, Bob may reveal out-loud that he did said action, and may or may not try to justify himself.

Can overlap with an in-universe Old Shame.

Compare Oblivious Guilt Slinging and Insult Friendly Fire. Contrast Noodle Incident, where the characters vaguely talk about an event they know but the viewer doesn't. Contrast and compare Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?, when Alice tempts fate and is proven right away that someone is stupid enough, and Schmuck Bait.

The inverse trope is Right Behind Me, when Alice talks dirty about Bob without knowing he's, well, right behind her.

Anime and Manga
"Kamogawa: He's hitting logs into the earth?! He can't be doing it with his fists?! Itagaki (laughing): If he did that he'd break his fists! There's no one reckless and stupid enough to do that! He uses a hammer. Kamogawa: Ye… yeah… fists would be reckless and stupid…"
 * In one chapter of Naruto, having heard that Jugo went to Orochimaru voluntarily, Suigetsu comments that only someone completely nuts would throw himself into Orochimaru's arms. Right next to Sasuke, who threw himself into Orochimaru's arms for the sake of his revenge.
 * In Hajime no Ippo, a flashback shows us how Genji Kamogawa hardened his fists by punching large wooden logs into a hill. Later in the manga, Ippo hits logs into a hill with a hammer to train his leg and body muscles. Itagaki tells Kamogawa about this training.

Comic Books

 * There's a Blue Beetle comic where Batman shows Jaime the Brother Eye satellite which went berserk and created an OMAC army in Infinite Crisis. Jaime asks what kind of person would build a machine like that, and Batman asks him not to let Green Arrow hear him say that (Batman was the one who built it).

Fan Works
"Ron: Did I tell you about their private investor in their joke shop? Some bloke gave them a bunch of money. They won't tell us who though, said he wants to remain anonymous. What moron would give those two money? Harry: Hmm, sounds like a good investment to me."
 * In chapter 23 of Recnac Transfaerso Ron, who doesn't know what Harry did with his Triwizard Tournament winnings yet, has this dialogue with him:

Film

 * In Sunset Boulevard, writer Joe Gillis complains to the producer Sheldrake that Betty Shaefer, a script reader, would have turned down Gone with the Wind; only for Sheldrake to reply "No. That was me".

Literature

 * In David Weber's The War Gods series, Baroness Hanatha Bowmaster asks her daughter Leeana if she tried to ford the river, and Leeana says that no one would be stupid enough to try that with the river 20 yards out of its banks. Hanatha admits that she did, though tries to defend herself by saying the river was only 15 yards out of its banks at the time.

Live-Action TV
"Monica: All right, look. She's obviously unstable, okay? I mean, she's thinking about running out on her wedding day.... Okay, fine, but... I mean, look at the position she's putting him in. I mean, what's he going to do? He's like... Ross is going to run over there on the wedding day and break up the marriage? Who would do that? .... Okay, fine. All right? But that's... you know, that was different. Although it did involve a lot of the same people."
 * Several gags in Curb Your Enthusiasm rely on this. Typically, someone tells Larry David how rotten they think George Costanza is or how a plot of Seinfeld was unbelievable because nobody would act that stupidly. They don't realize that George was based on Larry and that many "unbelievable" Seinfeld plots were based on things Larry actually did.
 * Played with in Friends: Rachel & Monica discover a message on Ross's answering machine from Emily, Ross's ex-wife. Emily is having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to someone else. They debate whether or not to erase the message - Monica wants to, Rachel doesn't.

"Max: But even if they do get a man into the Pentagon, that's not saying he'll be able to get out. I remember one of our own agents was lost in there for three days. Chief: Three days? Max, no agent could be that confused. Max: Well, let me see now. I went in on a Friday..."
 * From Get Smart:


 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Xander mocks Spike by saying that only a nutcase or a complete loser would sleep with him...in the presence of Buffy who's done just that the night before. The comment gives her an added incentive not to confess what's happened to her friends and forestall her Destructive Romance.
 * On its broadcast of 21 January 1989, Saturday Night Live included a sketch about a 17th century British nobleman (John Malkovich) who was sure all those treating with him sincerely—a woman declaring her love, the Royal Artist presenting a masterpiece, and his groundskeeper—were mocking him, while his two manservants (Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey) were actually mocking him behind his back.

Video Games

 * In the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games, a museum worker says that any intelligent person would think that the writing on an urn belonging to a clan whose founder was Ami Fey would say "Ami," and would reassamble the urn to say that if they broke it. Unknown to her, a little girl who broke the urn and is standing with her reassembled it incorrectly such that the name was spelled wrong.

Web Comics
"Brock: You know, some people actually come here choosing fire as their starter Pokemon. Crazy, huh?"
 * In Super Effective:


 * He says this while standing next to Red, who just happens to have chosen fire.


 * Eerie Cuties has Brooke commenting on Layla "doll". Oops.

Western Animation
"Valerie: (trying to console him) Besides, it's not like you were gonna give me some lame class ring, right? (laughs) Danny: Ha. Yeah..."
 * Early in the Ben 10 What If episode "Gwen 10", Gwen gets the Omnitrix stuck on her wrist and turns into Heatblast. Ben, who remembers going through this before, warns her about the danger of using fiery powers in the middle of a forest. She immediately responds that only an idiot would set the forest on fire. Naturally, that's exactly what Ben did in the first episode.
 * In one episode of Daria, Daria lets Trent talk her into getting her navel pierced. When Jodi finds out, she thinks it's pretty cool "As long as you didn't do it for some guy." causing Daria to say "Uh, no, that would be wrong."
 * A more obvious example occurs in Danny Phantom when Valerie breaks up with Danny, who was planning to make their relationship official and give her a class ring: