Clear Their Name: Difference between revisions

'''Jenson''': ''An entire prison full of kidnapped civilians isn't enough?'' <br />

{{spoiler|'''Keitner'''}}: ''You're an ex-cop, Jenson; you tell me. How many death row inmates crying on about their innocence have you seen getting out?''<br />

Sometimes, the hero is [[Clear My Name|accused of a crime they did not commit]], and must haul ass to prove their innocence.

== Anime and Manga ==

== Comic Books ==

* The [[Batman]] storyline ''Bruce Wayne: Fugitive'' had this. The Bat-family teamed up to figure out if Bruce truly did kill his latest girlfriend in an attempt to protect his identity. The kicker comes from the fact that, during this time, Batman's just said [[Screw This]] and abandoned the Bruce Wayne identity.

== Film ==

** ''Black Peter''. While Neligan was caught red-handed in attempted burglary (of stock certificates stolen from his murdered father, and thus were arguably his property to begin with), he did not kill Black Peter, and Holmes was able to find the true killer.

** ''Abbey Grange'' has a unique version. An unidentified American police officer clears the Randall gang of a murder in Kent by arresting them for their other crimes in New York the morning after the murder (Overnight travel from England to America being impossible in 1897).

* This happens to pilot Tycho Celchu in the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' - he was briefly held by [[The Empire]]'s mistress of brainwashing, they dumped thousands of credits into his bank accounts, he was seen with someone who from behind looked liked one of the prominent Imperials, and he was in position to {{spoiler|kill Corran Horn. Who did not actually die}}. All the Rogues indicate that they think he's innocent, but not a lot of others share that opinion. It's mentioned that most of the evidence is circumstantial, but there's a mountain of it, so it looks like he's either guilty and made to look innocent through a clumsy frame, or innocent made to look guilty clumsily made to look innocent. This is what the bad guys intend, since his trial adds to the New Republic's problems.

** Wedge Antilles eventually does find evidence of the ''real'' traitor, {{spoiler|Erisi Dlarit. It helps that just a few minutes prior, the "victim" had entered the courtroom (nullifying the murder charge in the process, but not the other charges), and had figured out not only the identity of the traitor, but also that one of the members of the tribunal--General Cracken, intelligence division--already knew that Tycho was innocent. Cracken, however, had deliberately let the trial continue in hopes of flushing out the real traitor, and after the trial took steps to make sure that Tycho's good name was restored.}}

* In the 1925 novel ''Not Under the Law'', protagonist Joyce Radway leaves home after a fight with her cousin and takes up residence in a city some miles away. No one knows what's become of her, but several months later she happens to see her hometown newspaper and discovers that a close childhood friend has been accused of her murder. She heads home in time to interrupt the trial and prove that she's still alive.

* This is the plot of Sarah Caudwell's mystery ''[[Hilary Tamar|Thus Was Adonis Murdered]]'': Julia gets arrested for murder while on holiday in Venice, and Hilary has to remotely solve the murder so as to get her off.

* In the second book of the ''[[Knight and Rogue Series]]'' Fisk is called home to prove his brother-in-law innocent. Said brother-in-law, Max, was accused of having bribed several witnesses no falsely acuse two men so he could have them hung.

* This is most of the plot of ''[[Dragaera|Iorich]]''. Aliera was arrested on a very stupid, transparent charge and she refuses to talk to a lawyer or put up a decent defense. Vlad decides that even if she is a [[Jerkass]], he'd still prefer she didn't get executed, and he finds the idea of her owing him her life hilarious.

* Nine times out of ten, this is the plot that [[Perry Mason]] has to deal with.

* In the popular and famous Korean television drama ''Jewel In the Palace'', protagonist Jang Geum's main purpose throughout the entire story is to clear the name of both her deceased mother ''and'' her mentor (who were both framed and wrongfully accused and executed for a crime they didn't commit).

** This trope commonly occurs in a lot of Asian historical dramas, normally in the form of children trying to clear the name of their parents. Justified in that family name is ''extremely'' important in such cultures.

* In the same vein as ''[[Perry Mason]]'', ''[[Matlock]]''.

* This is a common plot in ''[[The Rockford Files]],'' whether it's a relative of the accused or Jim's attorney friend Beth Davenport requesting that Jim clears an innocent person's name.

* Shawn and Gus help a man freed from prison find out who committed the crime he was imprisoned for in the [[Psych]] episode "True Grits"

* A marine escapes to prove his innocence in the [[JAG]] episode "Secrets"

== Video Games ==

** {{spoiler|Done twice}} in the second game's final case. {{spoiler|First Phoenix accuses Adrian to get Matt cleared, then discovers that neither were technically guilty--Matt had hired an assassin to do the job for him. Phoenix must then clear Adrian's name in order to re-incriminate Matt, all the while pretending that he's still defending Matt.}}

** In case 4 of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, getting the culprit and clearing the defendant's name are the defense's ''only'' goals after {{spoiler|the defendant starts suffering from an apparently mortal poisoning.}}

== Web Comics ==

== Western Animation ==

* The very first Sideshow Bob episode in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' had Bart trying to clear Krusty the Clown of committing armed robbery. Bob pulled it off with a very convincing disguise, but was foiled when Bart pointed out that the real culprit (Bob), unlike the real Krusty, had really big feet. Bob and Bart have been [[Arch Enemy|Arch Enemies]] ever since.

** Bart himself was suspected of having Principal Skinner murdered by gangsters after Skinner's keeping him in detention prevented him from getting to work at [[The Syndicate|Fat Tony]]'s club and caused Fat Tony a lot of trouble with a fellow crime boss. The mobsters do everything they can to make Bart look like the mastermind and make themselves look innocent, and it looks like Bart is going to go to jail until Skinner himself interrupts the trial and proves Bart's innocence. As it turns out, the reason Skinner disappeared was because he became trapped under a large pile of newspapers while cleaning out his garage. He was stuck for several days before he managed to free himself.