Never My Fault: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Gus''': In these situations, we must emulate the Prime Minister.<br />

'''Dave''': What, cock it up and then blame someone else?|''[[Drop the Dead Donkey]], Pilot episode''}}

* Happens all the time in ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma One Half]]''. When something bad happens, the characters '''demand''' that the fault lies with someone else. Examples of note include Ranma not accepting responsibility for causing Ryoga to turn into a pig even though he pushed him into the spring. Ryoga blamed Ranma for missing the fight there were supposed to have before Ranma moved away, even though Ryoga was the one who missed the fight due to his own faulty sense of direction. Similarly [[Takahashi Couple|every argument Ranma has with Akane]] is somehow always Ranma's fault. This trope is to be expected since the author herself describes the series as a [[Played for Laughs|Gag Manga]].

* In an early ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' episode, Ash is right on the verge of capturing a Weedle, when he is rudely interrupted by a samurai, who challenges him to a Pokémon match. During said match, which is a [[Mirror Match]] between their two Metapod taking Harden commands, the Weedle manages to escape back into its tree and alert the Beedrill, who capture Ash's Metapod. In one of the series' earliest [[Broken Aesop|Broken Aesops]]s, Ash is forced to learn a lesson about not making excuses about not finishing what he started, even though it was the fault of the samurai, [[Hypocrite|who berates him for all of this]], that Ash wasn't able to finish in the first place, all because he didn't have the courtesy to wait until Ash was done. Even after all is said and done, and Ash rescues Metapod, he's still short one Weedle, which would eventually evolve into a Beedrill.

* ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'' is entirely about this.

== Comicbooks[[Comic Books]] ==

** One of the best known examples is Eddie Brock, who blames Spider-Man for destroying his journalistic career in both the 616 and [[Spider-Man (film)|Maguire/Raimi movie]] continuities, when in both cases all Peter did was expose Brock's lack of due diligence (616) or ethics (film). In 616, Brock said he knew who a serial killer was, only for Spider to bring in the real crook while Eddie's guy turned out to be a serial confessor whose story he did not sufficiently investigate. In the films, Peter busts himBrock for selling photoshopped pictures to the Daily Bugle, a fundamental violation of journalism.

* The entire basis of [[Doctor Doom]]'s vendetta against the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] is that he is unable to accept that Reed Richards was actually right when warning him of a critical error in his calculations during an experiment Doom was conducting. Doom dismissed Reed's warnings as [[You're Just Jealous|jealousy]], only for the experiment to literally blow up in his face. The idea that Richards was correct -- andcorrect—and therefore, in Doom's eyes, smarter than him -- washim—was so abhorrent to Doom that he concluded that Reed had deliberately sabotaged Doom's experiment, and so [[Disproportionate Retribution|has attempted to creatively kill Richards and his family on numerous occasions]]. Even more jarring is that the retcon shows that Doom really was right and Richards was indeed wrong: the machine worked perfectly. It blew up because Doom used it to take a peek into [[Hell]]. <ref>This is played slightly differently in the Ultimate Universe - Reed's calculations were fine, but Victor altered them & caused the accident that transformed them all. When Reed calls Victor out on this, he claims that he didn't cause the accident but that Reed's calculations were ''so'' wrong that even he couldn't fix them.</ref>

** To be concise: Doom isn't so much "[[Never My Fault]]" as he is "Always [[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards']] Fault". Basically, everything that has gone wrong with Doom's life, everything that is currently wrong with Doom's life, and everything that might possibly go wrong with Doom's life is ''all'' Reed Richards' fault. NO exceptions.

* Countless European [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe|Scrooge McDuck]] stories have Scrooge engaging in this. A common story template goes like this: Scrooge starts worrying that he's losing money (or in most cases not making as many billions as he used to). Scrooge whines about it to [[Donald Duck]] who either gives him a well meaning suggestion or simply makes a random remark that gives Scrooge an idea. Scrooge immediately implements said idea spending a ton of money. Said idea fails due to a reason that could have been anticipated with a market test or ''simple common sense''. Scrooge laments the loss of the money... and immediately blames Donald, with the story ending with Scrooge chasing him with the intent of causing bodily harm.<br /><br />Here's a concrete example of the above: in one story, Scrooge notices that his business is slowing down... because Scrooge already produces ''everything'' and there are no markets to expand into. Scrooge goes to Donald's house ''in the middle of the night'' to whine about it prompting him to snidely remark "You'd even sell ''dreams'' if you could, wouldn't you?". This gives Scrooge the idea to do just that. He enlists Gyro Gearloose to create a dream selling business via a machine that accesses your greatest desires and turns them into a dream stored in a tape that you can "replay" while you sleep. The business is a success... then Scrooge finds out that ''all his other businesses'' are going under thanks to people gradually replacing their non essential possessions with dreams (why have anything else when you can relive your innermost desires every night?). Guess who Scrooge blames?<br /><br />In another comic, Scrooge [[Crying Wolf|stages several robberies]] just to keep employees on their toes. Naturally, nobody believes him when he is genuinely robbed, but instead of acknowledging that he is at fault, he gets angry at Donald for not helping him.

* There have been quite a few ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfics written from the point of view of the Slytherin students. Very often in these stories, the Slytherins view themselves as the victims of injustice, of rampant "anti-Slytherin prejudice." The fact that people dislike or distrust the Slytherins ''never'' seems to be the Slytherins' fault for being bigots, bullies, or otherwise openly cruel and hostile to other students, [[Fantastic Racism|particularly Muggle-borns]].

{{quote| '''Sonic:''' ''If it weren't for ''you'' and your friend, you wouldn't even '''be''' in this mess!''}}

== [[Film]] ==

* Epitomized by the comic duo [[Laurel and Hardy]]. Whenever things went wrong, Hardy would blame Laurel (regardless of what part of the blame he truly carried) with a reproachful "here's another nice mess you've gotten me into".<br /><br />This schtick is borrowed by ''[[Illuminatus]]!'' where various different figures appear dressed as Laurel and Hardy, e.g. The Flood, everyone except Noah and Co have been drowned for their sins by a vengeful God. Jehovah (as Ollie) turns to Lucifer (as Stan) and says, "Now look what you made me do!" Lucifer cries. Hiroshima, a mushroom cloud rises above the city. Tens of thousands have been killed in a split second. President Truman (as Ollie) turns to Albert Einstein (as Stan) and says, "Now look what you made me do!" Einstein cries. etc.

{{quote| '''R2-D2''': *beckoning whistle*<br />

'''C-3PO''': Where do you think you're going?<br />

'''R2-D2''': *squawk*<br />

'''C-3PO''': Well, I'm not going that way. It's much too rocky. This way is much easier.<br />

'''R2-D2''': *beep*<br />

'''C-3PO''': What makes you think there are settlements over there?<br />

'''R2-D2''': *beeping and whistling*<br />

'''C-3PO''': Don't get technical with me.<br />

'''R2-D2''': *angry squawks*<br />

'''C-3PO''': What mission? What are you talking about?<br />

'''R2-D2''': *beeping and whistling*<br />

'''C-3PO''': I've just about had enough of you. Go that way. You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile. *kicks R2*<br />

'''R2-D2''': *startled beep*<br />

'''C-3PO''':*walks off* And don't let me catch you following me begging for help, because you won't get it.<br />

'''R2-D2''': *sad whistling leading into a loud yelp*<br />

'''C-3PO''':*turns around* No more adventures! I'm not going that way<br />

'''R2-D2''': *angry honk and some muttering*<br />

Next scene:<br />

{{quote| And there is one blazing moment in which you finally understand that there was no dragon. That there was no Vader. That there was only you. Only Anakin Skywalker.<br />

That it was all you. Is you.<br />

Only you.<br />

{{quote| '''Amin''': You should have told me not to throw out the Asians in the first place.<br />

'''Nicholas''': I did!<br />

* ''[[The Santa Clause (film series)|The Santa Clause]] 3: The Escape Clause''.

{{quote| '''Jack Frost''': (examines a sign he's "supervised" the elves putting up.) Very nice! I've done it!<br />

(The sign falls down and shatters, and he glares at the elves.)<br />

* ''[[Oblomov]]'' is completely unable to change his life by himself; when he gets unhappy he decides to blame Sachar instead. Now Sachar is a [[Jerkass]] and whatnot, but still [[Mis BlamedMisblamed]].

* In ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]"'' by [[Ayn Rand]], this trope is played straight by every single villain.

* [[Ring Lardner]]'s novel "You Know Me Al" is a collection of letters from a young pitcher trying to break into the big leagues. Whenever he writes about one of his poor pitching performances, he starts by saying that he always takes responsibility for his failings (usually with a [[Title Drop]]), and then immediately blames everyone else on the team for his loss.

* The bully ringleader in ''[[Let the Right One In]]'', Johnny, feels this way towards the protagonist, Oskar, smashing him in the head with a piece of wood... while he and a lackey were ''throwing him into a frozen lake''. He retaliates by holding Oskar's head ''in the path of an oncoming train''. Oskar in turn retaliates by burning the bullies' school desks. Unfortunately, the scrapbook with Johnny and his [[Teens Are Monsters|older brother Jimmy's]] only photos of their father is in his desk. They respond by nearly drowning him, then preparing to ''cut out his eye''. Never once does Johnny acknowledge his horrible treatment of Oskar which drove him to this.

* ''[[The Onion]]'''s* Jean Teasdale is an odd example since she does this not out of egotism but out of hereither [[Selective Obliviousness]] or [[Cloudcuckoolander|complete lack of understanding]] [[The Pollyanna|about how the real world works]], even when the evidence is right in front of her face. She got fired for browsing eBay instead of working, but she insists it's because the boss just didn't like her. In a more extreme example, another article has her talk about how a local magazine called her the worst columnist ever, and she proceeds to completely ignore the reasons they give ([[HypocriticalI Resemble That HumorRemark|which she demonstrates perfectly in that very article]]) and conclude that they can't handle her sassy, in-your-face style.

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'': Humorously played with in the pilot episode, which sees Lois and Clark captured and tied up by the bad guys after Lois has pressured Clark into breaking into a suspicious warehouse. Lois angrily blames Clark for their current situation. Clark angrily points out that ''he's'' not the one who wanted to break into the warehouse in the first place. After a moment's pause, Lois realizes that he's right - and this triggers an outburst of self-pity about how her recklessness and competitiveness [[Freudian Excuse|all stems from her upbringing]], how her father never paid any attention to her and how she competes with everyone and sleeps with guys from work to compensate for her hidden insecurities, thus leading Clark to save their lives out of frustration with her [[Wangst|wangstingwangst]]ing as much as anything else.

* A running gag on ''[[Top Gear]]'' iswas that Jeremy Clarkson deniesdenied all responsibility for things that gowent wrong, blaming the others or claiming it was unintentional (e.g. "I may have accidentally put a cow on the roof of my car.")

* Lord Zedd pulls this off as early as his first appearance in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''. When Goldar apologizes for his loss (as the Rangers finally defeated the Piranhtishead Monster), Zedd snaps and blames Goldar, Squatt, and Baboo (the latter two had nothing to do with the episode) for the loss. He even blames Rita when their honeymoon goes sour when the Rangers are victorious.

{{quote| '''Manny:''' Bernard I'm sorry! It was my fault you toasted my hand!}}

** And in another episode, Tim makes a joke which gets a mixed reaction, before saying "Oh, you shouldn't say that. Shush, Jeremy." <ref> Part of the joke is that Jeremy is both younger and more 'alternative' than the regular cast, so he's more expected to make offensive jokes.</ref>

== Theater[[Tabletop Games]] ==

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' -- both—both humourously and seriously.

{{quote| '''Original email''': "Why doesn't homestar ever wear pants? It's kind of creepy how he walks around with no pants on all the time. Anyway, I think you should get him some pants..."<br />

'''Edited email''': "Why wear pants? Creepy pants all the time get some..."<br />

''(later)''<br />

{{quote| '''Washington:''' That, was the worst throw. Ever. Of all time.<br />

{{quote| '''Caboose''': I did it! I {{spoiler|beat up the girl}}! I--Not my fault! Not my fault! The computer made me touch it!}}

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Strays]]'', in [[Dreaming of Times Gone By|Meela's dreams]], after a [[Stalker with a Crush]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110830134138/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/163.htm kills the mother, he sees the child and] -- ''blames him.''

* Lark in [[Mike: Bookseller]] will blame anyone or anything to get out of trouble: "Lark, that's a cardboard display of [http://www.krrobar.com/mikebookseller/comics/67.html Henry Winkler]".

** "Bart Star": Homer has a [[Flash Back]] to a floor gymnastics routine. Abe yells "You're gonna blow it" at him... and so he does, and Abe then gets mad at him. To add insult to injury, Abe's bitter condemnation to Homer -- immediatelyHomer—immediately after yelling this out -- areout—are "This is what I get for having faith in you."

{{quote| '''Gabriel''': Homer, your problem is quite simple. You're a drunken, childish buffoon.<br />

{{quote| '''Homer''': Oh, but I don't want them cutting up my soft, supple body! Why didn't someone tell me what I was volunteering for? This is everybody's fault but mine!}}

{{quote| '''Bob''': I did try to kill the Simpsons. I really did. But I would like to plead not guilty, on the grounds of insanity. Insanity, caused by my persecution, at the hands of *Points at Bart* [[Punctuated! forFor! Emphasis!|this- young- BOY!]]}}

{{quote| '''Valerie''': This is all your fault!<br />

* ''[[Gargoyles]]'' - Used for much more serious effect [[Ironic Echo|twice in identical instances]] with two different characters, [[Not So Different|Demona and Jon Canmore]], as each realized the full scope of the consequences of their actions:

{{quote| "[[My God, What Have I Done?|What have I]]--what have '''they''' done to you?!"}}

{{quote| '''Zapp Brannigan''': Prepare to take the blame in 3, 2, 1...<br />

{{quote| '''Mira''': Hate to pat myself on the back, but how about that laser shot?<br />

'''XR''': We fried that monster but good! Ha ha!<br />

'''Petra''': You idiot! That monster is my boyfriend! ''(pushes XR down)''<br />

** Similarly, ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'' has Jessie admit to Woody that the toys were wrong not to believe him. When she says that she was wrong specifically, Mr. Potato Head adds, "Jessie's right, Woody. She ''was'' wrong!"

** Though Meg [[Mis BlamedMisblamed|was already blaming Chris]], Peter, mistaking the blame to be directed for having to relocate towards him, also blames Chris... even though it was Peter's fault in the first place for [[The Millstone|revealing Chris' identity to the crook who wanted him dead]].

{{quote| '''Peter''': I know we're not here to place blame or beat ourselves up, but I can't help feeling like this is somehow Meg's fault. }}

** Stewie frequently meddles into Brian's attempts at finding women and gives him bad advice. When it inevitably fails and Brian confronts him, Stewie will always accuse ''him'' of trying to blame his incompetanceincompetence on others.

*** Not that Brian isn't capable of doing this on his own, such as cheating on Rita, his (older) fiancee, with a hot young thing, then saying he just needed one last fling before settling down with her. She doesn't buy it.

{{quote| '''Butters''': It's great, you get to throw rocks at cars and if the driver gets angry, you blame me."}}

** In another episode, the parents are angry that the school is not teaching children about sex, something that is usually the responsibility of parents. Of course, at the end of the episode, they get called out on that by Chef, as the teachers they pick to explain are Mr. Mackey (who hasn't had sex in decades), Ms. Choksondik (who [[Does Not Like Men]] and thinks [[Sex Is Evil]]), and Mr. Garrison (nowho explanationis necessaryhomosexual and into BDSM).

{{quote| '''The Atom''': He's bigger than my car now, Katie. Personally, I blame you.<br />

'''Katie''': How can it ''possibly'' be my fault?<br />

** Frollo, a pious, merciless man, develops an obsession with the gypsy Esmeralda, rationalizing his lust by claiming ''she'' seducedenchanted him. All she did was flirt with him a little during her dance.

{{quote| '''Frollo''': It's not my fault! / I'm not to blame! / It is the gypsy girl, the witch who sent this flame!}}

** Frollo also chases a woman through the city on his horse because he thinks the bundle she's carrying is stolen property, only to unintentionally kill her in front of Notre Dame; his excuse to the Archdeacon is that wouldn't have happened if she hadn't run from him in the first place. He also orders his men to burn down a home, ''with an innocent family still inside'', with the excuse that they were harboring gypsies (despite the only "proof" being that someone had found a gypsy emblem on their property).

* A lot of politics can be seen like this, depending on how cynical you are. Politics is, in a lot of ways, a popularity contest. If you plan on moving up the political ladder, you need to try and keep something of a clean record. When a large political blunder occurs (like the current{{when}} debt crisis), there tends to be a lot of shuffling blame to avoid being the ones with egg on their faces when it's time for re-election season.

* Actually a very common argument many convicts make to justify their crimes. Most people who watch enough crime documenteriesdocumentaries can list at least one criminal who for either [[Lack of Empathy]] or desire to eventually be proven innocent blames other people.