Contrived Stupidity Tropes

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."

- Albert Einstein

All too often, a plot thread depends on one or more characters doing something really stupid. They don't have any chance of doing the smart thing, because then the plot-driving conflicts wouldn't happen.

Even if the stupidity is an organic outgrowth of prior characterization, that doesn't necessarily make it contrivance-free. As addressed in The Movie and lampshaded in the "Homer's Enemy" episode of The Simpsons, the continued tolerance of Homer by his friends, his family, and his employer -- indeed, his very survival -- is simply unbelievable at this point. Then again, Rule of Funny.

Contrived stupidity commonly causes things like the collapse of A Simple Plan in a Sit Com or the effectiveness of Schmuck Bait in Slasher Movies. It is often accompanied by the meta-stupidity of the other characters' ignorance of Hanlon's Razor. It is vulnerable to Fridge Logic; however, do remember that Tropes Are Not Bad.

On the other hand, it should be noted that many Contrived Stupidity Tropes are also Truth in Television to some extent and have several Real Life examples.

Contrast with Intelligence Tropes.

Tropes:

 * Achievements in Ignorance
 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy
 * Apathetic Citizens
 * But Thou Must!
 * Stupidity Is the Only Option
 * Closed Circle
 * Clutching Hand Trap
 * Credit Card Plot
 * Culture Blind
 * Curiosity Killed the Cast
 * Damsel Scrappy
 * Deus Exit Machina
 * Ditch the Bodyguards
 * Dramatic Slip
 * Dug in Deeper
 * Explaining Your Power to The Enemy
 * 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
 * Gullible Lemmings
 * Guns in Church
 * Holding Back the Phlebotinum (sometimes)
 * Holding Both Sides of the Conversation
 * 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
 * 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
 * It Seemed Like a Good Idea At The Time
 * Just Eat Gilligan
 * Just Eat the MacGuffin
 * Left Your Lifesaver Behind
 * Mercy Lead
 * The Millstone
 * Never Recycle Your Schemes
 * "No" Means "Yes"
 * No Peripheral Vision
 * Not a Zombie
 * Paper-Thin Disguise
 * Phlebotinum-Induced Stupidity, when used for the purposes of the plot.
 * Ping-Pong Naivete
 * Plot-Sensitive Snooping Skills
 * Poor Communication Kills
 * Recognition Failure
 * Reed Richards Is Useless
 * Remembered I Could Fly
 * Selective Obliviousness
 * Stranger Safety
 * Stupidity-Inducing Attack, when someone's actually trying to create and weaponise this in-story.
 * Stupid Sacrifice
 * Stupid Surrender
 * Too Dumb to Live
 * Treacherous Spirit Chase
 * Violation of Common Sense
 * What an Idiot!
 * Chained to A Bed
 * Have You Told Anyone Else?
 * Once Is Not Enough