All The Tropes

Not Me This Time: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Not Me This Time (view source)

Revision as of 10:36, 8 April 2014

841 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
(→‎[[Real Life]]: clean up)
m (Mass update links)
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Oh, for crying out loud, no! I had no intention of committing any crimes! ''...today.''"''|'''Mojo Jojo''', ''[[The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|The Powerpuff Girls]]'', "Telephonies"}}
 
In a series with a recurring [[Big Bad]], it is sometimes the case that a side-villain or [[Monster of the Week]] is introduced to cause havoc and shake things up.
Line 6:
Of course, since this is a series with a recurring [[Big Bad]], our heroes may feel perfectly justified in going after the usual suspects. This trope refers to such scenes, in which our regular villain is forced to inform the protagonists that this installment's plot is not his or her doing. This may or may not be believed at first, but after the villain's innocence is established, expect him to curtly dismiss the heroes.
 
Traditional [[Truce Zone]] requirements mandate that regardless of all the crimes they committed ''yesterday'', if caught for the wrong thing today; the heroes have to let them go. Either that or the [[Big Bad]] is a [[Karma Houdini]] and/or got [[Off Onon a Technicality]] for ''yesterday's'' crimes.
 
This trope can be chalked up to [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]: if you're going to have your villain appear, it might as well be relevant to the plot at hand.
Line 12:
This trope may also occur with any character who has a recurring habit. May or may not lead to [[Evil Versus Evil]] or [[Enemy Mine]], depending on the story.
 
Also see [[Villains Out Shopping]], which might explain the villain's innocence. Compare [[Motive Misidentification]], where the [[Big Bad]] is responsible, but for different reasons than the heroes initially suspect. Contrast [[Hijacked Byby Ganon]], where it seems like a new villain is at fault but the [[Big Bad]] is revealed to be pulling the strings.
 
{{examples}}
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' has its share of villains that aren't Team Rocket, whether single-episode Pokemon menaces, thieves, the region's local villainous team, or [[My Name Is Not Durwood|Bill]] and Cassidy. As Jessie and James end up appearing in nearly every episode, they get more than their share of this trope.
* When Tohma of ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force (Manga)|Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' gets captured by the Huckebein, an infamous family of killers, he accuses them of being the culprits behind the [[Doomed Hometown|destruction of his hometown]]. Not so, says Fortis. He double-checked, and they're not behind that particular massacre. After all, [[Sole Survivor|Tohma survived]], and if they were the ones responsible, [[If I Wanted You Dead...|they would have made sure to kill everyone.]]
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' has a rather sad example in one chapter. Keroro is expecting praise for doing a good job cleaning the house, but is instead met with furious accusations by Natsumi and Fuyuki of screwing with computer networks across the city, and has a nervous breakdown when they refuse to believe his pleas that he's not responsible. The real culprits turn out to be [[The Psycho Rangers|the Garuru Platoon]], as a prelude to taking over the invasion of Earth.
* Subverted in ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'', when Tobi claims that he was not behind {{spoiler|the Nine-Tailed Fox attacking Konoha}} despite confirming or expanding on much of what Sasuke was told about him, when a later flashback arc shows that he was.
 
 
Line 42:
** "Joker: Devil's Advocate" is another example of this: the Joker was actually innocent of the crime of placing Joker venom on lickable stamps. Turns out it was a disgruntled member of the Post Office who did it to frame the Joker, who killed his wife.
** In a recent Batman issue, Batman pursues a recently escaped Joker because he thinks Joker was responsible for attacking and poisoning Commissioner Gordon's wife. After defeating him, however, and Batman tells him to stay away from the Gordons, Joker revealed that this time, he was completely innocent of attacking the Gordons. {{spoiler|It was actually James Gordon Jr. who did the deed}}.
* Non-villainous example in ''[[Asterix]] and the Magic Carpet''. [[New Powers Asas the Plot Demands|Cacofonix's singing is now so bad it causes rainstorms to occur]], much to the annoyance of the rest of the village. On a trip to India to fix a drought, their flying carpet encounters a heavy storm, forcing Cacofonix to protest that this one has nothing to do with him.
* In ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'', the Yuuzhan Vong were accused of using the terraforming to devastate the already damaged planets ecosystems even further by causing deformities in the terraforming process, an accusation that stemmed from their role in the Yuuzhan Vong conflict long ago. The Yuuzhan Vong protested that they were in fact innocent and that they did not cause the deformities, at least not deliberately, to which the Jedi believed them. Turns out, they really were innocent: The One Sith sabotaged the terraforming project with the help of a Yuuzhan Vong plant of theirs who wanted revenge for their defeat.
* Just before the [[Our Worlds Atat War]] Mega-Crossover over at DC, Superman is tussling with General Zod in the upper atmosphere, when a huge SOMETHING flies past Superman, towards the Earth. Supe's response?
{{quote| '''Superman''' "You missed!"<br />
'''Zod''' "...That wasn't mine."<br />
Line 58:
== Film ==
* ''La Folie Des Grandeurs'', "Non Sire! Pour une fois c'était pas moi!" Translation: "No, sire! For once it wasn't me!"
* Spoken word for word by John Spartan in ''[[Demolition Man (Film)|Demolition Man]]'', when his first attempt to capture Simon Phoenix results in a building in flames<ref>blown up by Phoenix</ref> and a heap of charred hostages<ref>killed by Phoenix before Spartan dropped in, specifically to hide them from infrared scan until their unrecognizable remains could be found in the wreckage</ref>.
* In the fourth ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean (Film)|Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movie, "On Stranger Tides", Jack Sparrow is believed to be trying to locate a ship to find the Fountain of Youth, as well as recruiting a crew. Turns out, for once, he was not the one who is actually doing it. It was Angelica, a former flame of Sparrow, who was doing it, while disguised as him.
* In ''[[Apollo 13]]'', Fred Haise has been using the cabin repress valve, which causes a sharp banging sound, to mess with the other astronauts. When the oxygen tank explodes and the entire ship starts shaking, he rushes in saying, "That's no repress valve!"
* In ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (Film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' British Intelligence are at first concerned about who is behind the tracking and theft of their nuclear subs because they are worried that a foreign power is trying to undermine their nuclear defense strategy; Bond's original mission is to buy the plans for the tracking system from someone who had them stolen. Later the [[Big Bad]], who is behind the actual thefts, reveals that his plan is to fire nukes at New York and Moscow to trigger World War Three; Bond thinks that he's trying to hold the world hostage, but he really wants to devastate the world and build an [[Utopia Justifies the Means|underwater utopia]] for the survivors to start civilization anew.
 
 
== Literature ==
* In ''[[Artemis Fowl (Literature)|Artemis Fowl]]: The Arctic Incident'', Holly and Root assume it's Artemis behind the B'wa Kell golbin smugglings, but after they pretty much kidnap him to find out, it turns out not to be the case.
* In the second [[Goosebumps|Night of the Living Dummy]] book, the heroine, her sister, and her parents enter the sister's room to find that all her bedroom walls have been graffiti'd. The mother yells at the youngest brother, a notorious prankster, but he stops her by saying that ''this'' time he's innocent, and that [[Even Evil Has Standards|this is messed-up even for him.]] Of course it turns out that Slappy did it, but who'd believe ''that?''
* [[Harry Potter]]:
Line 73:
* Fainne says this exact line in ''Child of the Prophecy'', by Juliet Mariller. It's really {{spoiler|her grandmother who happens to have similar powers and much more motive...}}
* [[Destructive Savior|Hero version]]: ''"[[The Dresden Files|The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault]]."''
* Simon Heap in ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Darke]]'' has a hard time convincing Septimus and Sir Hereward that he ''isn't'' to blame for the [[Sphere of Destruction|Darke Domaine]].
 
 
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'':
** John is thrown into what looks very much like Earth, and immediately suspects Scorpius of messing with his head. However, when he finds Scorpius in the simulacrum, he protests that he's not the one doing it this time.
** Happens a whole bunch in season 4 when Scorpius joins our heroes on ''Moya'' and then again in "The Peacekeeper Wars." To be fair, John has good reason not to trust Scorpius after everything he's put him through.
* In the ''[[Star Trek TNG|Star Trek: TNG]]'' episode "Firstborn", Lursa and B'Etor of the House of Duras are suspected of an assasination attempt against Worf. It turns out {{spoiler|a future version of Alexander, Worf's son, had traveled back in time to stage this attempt so as to motivate the young Alexander to become a Klingon warrior}}.
* Not a recurring [[Big Bad]], but in one episode of ''[[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]]'' the killers try to make it look like a repeat offender did their murder. Columbo doesn't seem convinced but pays a visit to that offender to be sure.
{{quote| '''Offender:''' Who are you?<br />
'''Columbo:''' Lieutenant Columbo. Homicide.<br />
Line 90:
'''Tony''': * Looks at her* <br />
'''Ziva''': Alright, I could. '''But''' I didn't. }}
* Happens in quite a few episodes of ''[[Bewitched (TV)|Bewitched]]''. Darrin usually assumes that his troubles are being caused by his [[Evil Matriarch|wicked mother-in-law]], Endora, who claims to be innocent (or doesn't appear in the episode at all). It turns out to be someone else was screwing with Darrin, or the problem was completely mundane with no magic involved. To be fair, Endora([[Hijacked Byby Ganon|or someone working for her]]) ''is'' the problem most of the time.
* In ''[[Monk]]'', Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck III is suspected of arranging for a death row inmate to be killed before execution because he hadn't paid off a debt. However, both Monk and Dale the Whale know Dale was innocent that time around, and in fact, [[Even Evil Has Standards|even he wouldn't stoop as low as to kill someone/arrange for someone to be killed for not paying their debts, especially if the sum in question was in the low thousand dollar range]]. It was actually the prison librarian, and the death row inmate wasn't even the real target, but an ailing billionaire (as the man in question was dying from kidney failure and was also in the middle of a libel suit against her son who wrote a book on him). The only reason she had to kill the death row inmate is because he held the ultra-rare blood type needed to save the billionaire in question, and used poisons to destroy the organs.
* In ''[[The Mentalist]]'', a serial abductor/killer, known as the balloon killer, was suspected of kidnapping a child. However, after shooting him, he implies (and Jane confirms via phone and a note) that this time, he's innocent.
* In the [[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]] episode [[The Dead Talk Back (Film)|The Dead Talk Back]]:
{{quote| '''Detective:''' "What [were you arrested] for?"<br />
'''Crow:''' (as suspect) "Crossbow killing...but I had nothing to do with ''this'' one!" }}
* On one episode of ''Dracula: The Series'', [[Dracula|the title vampire]] encounters the heroes in a crypt when the casket opens. A minor character climbs out and reveals that he was turned into a vampire. Dracula replies "Don't look at me. He's not my type."
* The ''[[NCIS: Los Angeles]]'' episode "Exit Strategy" had the NCIS team thinking that the Sudanese dictator Khaled was responsible for the attempted assassination of Jada, his sister who had defected to America in his previous appearance, as he had the strong motive of keeping her silent in regards to his abuse of human rights in the region. However, when they contact him, he denies the attempt on his sister's life, citing that even he would not harm family, although the NCIS doesn't buy it. Turns out, the actual party responsible for the attempted assassination (or at least the one most directly responsible) was the CEO of an international French company that was also involved in Khaled's dictatorship, as Jada's exposure of Khaled's human rights abuses would also result in an investigation on their company and result in a tribunal against them, with France as a country also potentially getting into deep trouble.
* In the ''[[Smallville]]'' episode "Pariah", people start getting viciously assaulted from behind in locked rooms and other enclosed spaces. Everyone accuses Alicia Baker, as she can teleport and is a previously established psycho. Alicia protests that she has been cured of her insanity and was with her husband, Clark Kent, the whole time. {{spoiler|Eventually, Alicia gets assaulted and killed by the real culprit, Tim Westcott, a man with [[Super Strength]] and the ability to transform into living sand, which was how he entered those locked rooms. When Clark found out, he [[Unstoppable Rage|wasn't happy...]]}}
 
Line 108:
 
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'':
** Peach is kidnapped at the beginning. Immediately, Mario and Luigi go to Bowser's castle to rescue her. However, it turns out that Bowser was in the middle of a rallying speech in preparation for invading Peach's castle and did not actually do anything yet.
** In [[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]], Rawk Hawk reveals that he was behind the guards locking Mario and his party up in an abandoned locker room, as well as a poisoned cake before fighting the party (in order to dissuade them from challenging him). However, when the party claims that he must have been the one emailing the threatening messages regarding the crystal star, he doesn't know what they are talking about, and reacts in such a way that he is genuinely unfamiliar with the concept of Crystal Stars, meaning he was not behind the threatening emails. {{spoiler|It was actually the emcee/promoter, Grubba, who was emailing the threatening messages, as he was using the Gold Star to retain his youth.}}
Line 123:
** The worst example of this was in Kirby Squeak Squad. Kirby's cake was stolen at the beginning of the game by the eponymous gang of thieving mice, and Kirby immediately comes to conclusion that Dedede is responsible with no evidence.
** Super Smash Bros. Brawl is another case of this. The villains are all running around turning heroes into trophies. Dedede captures several, and keeps them in his castle, placing badges on them. He runs out of badges, and reluctantly takes his own off to attach it to the final hero trophy. After the real villain, Tabuu, uses his ability to turn every single character into a trophy, the purpose of the badges is revealed: they restore a trophy to life after a time delay.
* Dr. Wily claims this in ''[[Mega Man 9 (Video Game)|Mega Man 9]]'', citing a video as proof that Dr. Light is the one wanting world domination. He's lying.
** He does it again in ''[[Mega Man 10 (Video Game)|Mega Man 10]]'' when he claims that the [[The Virus]] wasn't his doing, except Mega Man and co. actually believe him. {{spoiler|This shouldn't really be spoilers, but he's still lying.}}
* Happens in the Multiplayer ''[[SpacestationSpace Station 13]]''. People assume that if you're the chemist, you're responsible for the the roiling cloud of thermite-napalm-superfoamsmoke that is destroying the station.
* Sephiroth laughs at your party in [[Final Fantasy VII]] when you get attacked by a dragon in the temple of the ancients and think that he is responsible for it.
* In ''[[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Star Fox]] Assault'', after Pigma steals the memory core, the Star Fox team fights Star Wolf in the Sargasso Space Zone because they think that they were involved in Pigma's recent theft and want them to hand him over. However, after the fight, Wolf reveals that not only were they ''not'' involved in Pigma's theft, but they actually kicked Pigma out of Star Wolf long beforehand, and even went as far as to order a shoot on sight command in regards to Pigma should he ever attempt to arrive at the Sargasso Space Zone. They do nonetheless give intel on where he is most likely at, however.
* In ''[[Avernum]]'' ''3'', your party is trying to figure out who created the plagues of monster that are attacking [[The Empire]]. You can question the dragons, the Vahnatai, and the sorceress Erika, all of whom have grudges against the Empire and the means to create the monsters, but they all insist that while they hate the Empire with a passion, they have nothing to do with this. {{spoiler|The vahnatai are lying}}.
* In ''[[Futurama]]: The Game'', Bender says this when they find the ship badly damaged. It turns out that {{spoiler|[[Stable Time Loop|he (as well as Fry and Leela) ''did'' do it]].}}
* In the last episode of the third season of ''[[The Adventures of Sam and& Max: Freelance Police (Video Game)|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'', [[The Devil]] himself shows up to refute any claims that the [[Doomsday Device|Devil's Toybox]] is in any way related to him. In fact, the Toybox predates the Devil by an order of magnitude and the object was named this way by mistake. yes, the ''Devil'' thinks that what {{spoiler|Junior}} is doing is a bit [[Even Evil Has Standards|too evil]].
* In ''[[Sly Cooper]] 2'', Carmelita believes that Sly is responsible for the theft of the Klockwerk parts. While Sly had been planning to steal them, the Klaww Gang stole them first.
{{quote| '''Sly''':Crime? I haven't stolen anything... yet.}}
* In [[Dragon Quest II (Video Game)|Dragon Quest II]], you get to meet the Dragonlord's grandson, and he's even sitting on his grandpa's throne. However, the fact Charlock Castle looks like crap kinda disabuses you of the notion he had anything to do with the plot, and he's outright confirms it. In fact, not only does basically consider his and your families' pasts water under the bridge, he even [[Enemy Mine|considers Hargon a pretentious upstart]] and gives you some info on how to kick his ass.
* [[Ratchet and Clank All 4 One]] starts with Dr. Nefarious siccing a huge monster onto Ratchet, Clank, and Captain Qwark. After the monster is beaten, a massive spaceship appears in the sky, and as the four are staring up in wonder, Nefarious remarks, "That's not one of mine." just before they get abducted.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' got Bangladesh Dupree. If [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050209 someone is killed] and Bang was around, she has to say it was not her ''this'' time. Or when [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040126 a town is burned]...
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-15 Sarah] and [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-16 Elliot] used to blame Tedd when someone is shapeshifted or [http://egscomics.com/?date=2003-05-07 appears to be]. Not without a reason.
* In ''Heroes-Inc.'', the first mission the titular agency partakes in is rescuing [[Super Mario Bros.|Princess Peach]]. They immediately consider Bowser as a prime subject, but quickly rule him out because of his [http://www.heroes-comic.com/?p=137 "air-tight alibi"]. {{spoiler|They later find out that Peach actually is in Bowser's castle, but it is a robot. The actual [[Big Bad]] planted the robot in the castle so that when the heroes rescued it, it would easily be in a position to assassinate Mario.}}
* ''[[Evil Diva (Webcomicwebcomic)|Evil Diva]]''. [http://www.evildivacomics.com/?p=885 For once, Loki didn't pull the prank]
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Terezi automatically pins the murders of {{spoiler|Feferi and Kanaya}} on Vriska, although even she admits this doesn't make much sense and is largely due to her own [[Foe Yay|fixation]] on her. When she confronts Vriska, the latter is adamant that she is only guilty of {{spoiler|Tavros's}} death.
* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0821.html Tarquin and Nale accuse each other of killing Tarquin's wife Penelope], and it becomes clear that neither of them was responsible. This becomes a [[Chekhov's Gun]] for the later reveal that it was caused, indirectly, by {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius}}.
Line 148:
== Web Original ==
* ''[[There Will Be Brawl]]'':
** Who's the butcher and/or Peach's kidnapper? [[Genre Savvy|Bowser?]] [[Hijacked Byby Ganon|Ganondorf?]] Mario assumes Bowser, but Luigi is the main character and has no idea, so we have no idea.
** {{spoiler|Played with in that it ''was'' Ganondorf, using the butcher''s'', as well as Olimar and others. Ganondorf was then hijacked by the biggest evil in the series, ''Kirby''.}}
* The [[That Guy With theThe Glasses]] team review of ''[[The Last Airbender]]'' has a group of reviewers forced to watch the movie; the group initially thinks [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] is behind it, since last year he did exactly that with ''[[Dragon Ball Evolution]]''. When they contact him, [[Even Evil Has Standards|he's horrified at the idea of anyone sitting through it]].
** {{spoiler|It was [[You Can Play This|JewWario]], he accidentally left the disc there after borrowing [[Y Ruler of Time]]'s [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] DVD.}}
* The ''[[Downfall (Filmfilm)|Downfall]]'' Parody meme on [[YouTube]] normally sees either Fegelein or Himmler (or often both) pulling antics on Hitler. Once the spin-off series based around [[Joseph Stalin]] and the cast of [[Das Boot]] got their own antic masters, Fegelein frequently had to explain to Hitler's staff that he wasn't involved in whatever embarassment had just befallen Hitler, often with little success.
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** Happens in episode "Lisa the Vegetarian," when it was Lisa who did something bad for a change:
{{quote| '''Marge:''' "Bart, [[Big No|Nooooo!]]"<br />
Line 169:
*** Santa's Little Helper himself was implied to have this same trope applied to him in the same episode. When they discover some stuff buried underneath the house (specifically, Lisa's Bongo Drums, Bart's Strobelight, and Homer's "best of Ray Stevens featuring 'The Streak'" record) Homer guessed that it was the dog that buried all of their stuff. Marge's response to Homer implies that it was in fact she who buried at least one of the items that Santa's Little Helper uncovered.
** Bart has been expelled from Springfield Elementary School [[Recycled Script|twice]]. Ironically, both times it was for something that he didn't actually do.
* In the ''[[Sushi Pack (Animation)|Sushi Pack]]'' episode "The Thing That Wasn't There," an electrical creature that [[By the Eyes of Thethe Blind|only Maguro can see]] is causing havoc all over the city. Since the attacks all have to do with electricity, the rest of the Pack assume that Unagi, the electric eel member of [[Evil Counterpart|The Legion of Low Tide]] is up to no good. When they confront him, he denies having anything to do with it.
{{quote| '''Unagi''': "What'd I do? I didn't do anything!"<br />
'''Kani''': "Yeah, right."<br />
Line 176:
'''Ikura''': "Your plan to distract everyone by turning up the volume on their car radios while you take over all the vacuum cleaners in Wharf City."<br />
'''Unagi''': "Hm... Not bad. But that isn't my plan. I don't have a plan. I wish I had a plan!" }}
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|The Powerpuff Girls]]'':
** In the episode which provides the page quote, the girls are pranked into believing the series regular villains are doing something evil and confront them -- only to find all three of them [[Villains Out Shopping|relaxing at home]]. Although the girls are not convinced, the villains quickly realize something is up and [[Big Damn Villains|team up to deal with the pranksters themselves.]]
** In another episode, a hit to the head makes Bubbles believe she is Mojo Jojo, stealing his clothes to match. The other girls instantly assume the latter is responsible, which leads to the priceless line:
{{quote| '''Mojo Jojo:''' "You have got to be kidding. I'm ''wet,'' I'm ''naked,'' your sister is wearing my clothes, and this is all part of some evil plot '''TO RULE THE WORLD AS A SOGGY CHIMP IN MY BIRTHDAY SUIT?!'''"}}
** Bubbles proceeded to beat up her sisters, get knocked on the head again by Mojo Jojo, wake up to see him standing over her sisters gloating, assume he did it and kick his ass for hurting her sisters.
* In ''[[Where Onon Earth Is Carmen Sandiego (Animation)?|Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego]]'', it often seems like the only time that the two protagonists Ivy and Zack actually do [[Series Goal|catch their nemesis Carmen]] [[Status Quo Is God|is when she didn't do]] [[Failure Is the Only Option|what they caught her for]].
* ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]'':
** It plays with this one: When their Rusty and Brock get kidnapped (along with Baron Underbheit and Pete White), the titular characters immediately call the Monarch (more or less the [[Big Bad]]) to demand their release. He responds that it wasn't him this time, but "I have something planned for next week."
** When Brock wakes up and finds himself chained in a dungeon with the other three, he immediately accuses Underbheit of being responsible, leading to this [[Crowning Moment of Funny|priceless response]]:
{{quote| '''Underbheit''': [[Sarcasm Mode|As usual, your detective skills are impeccable, Samson. You succeeded in exposing my sinister plan to lock myself in a dungeon, chained to an albino!]]}}
* ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'':
** David Xanatos was behind so much of the troubles, that they assumed he was responsible for Goliath and Elisa's disappearance. Brooklyn opposed confronting him on it, as it would only tip him off. It did.
{{quote| '''Talon:''' Drop the act, Xanatos. Where's Elisa?<br />
Line 199:
** This happens to him a few times. In another episode, where the Gargoyles are looking into who stole the Scrolls of Merlin, and Broadway is missing, they immediately head to Xanatos, only to have Owen tell them Xanatos had nothing to do with it. He then helpfully suggests they try MacBeth, who ''was'' behind the theft.
** An interesting example in one episode, Sevarius and Xanatos create an evil clone of Goliath as an instrument in one of Xanatos' plans. A few weeks later, Sevarius recieves a message from the clone posing as Xanatos, telling him to steal several million dollars from Xanatos Enterprises and then meet Xanatos at an abandoned offshore oil rig. Sevarius does this without question, assuming it to be part of a "Machiavellian scheme against your (Xanatos') enemies", when Xanatos shows up and begins berating Sevarius for emebezzlement, his first assumption is that they're being watched.
* Inverted in one episode of ''[[A Pup Named Scooby Doo (Animation)|A Pup Named Scooby Doo]]'', where it turns out it really was [[Meaningful Name|Red Herring]] this time; naturally, it was the one episode where Freddie promised ''not'' to accuse of him of anything.
* ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]'':
** When she finds out that her [[Arch Enemy]] Dr. Drakken has been broken out of prison by a woman with "green energy blasts", she naturally drops in on his [[Sidekick]] Shego, only to find out later that it was actually an alien who did it.
{{quote| '''Shego:''' [[This Is Sparta|I'm. On. Va]]''[[This Is Sparta|cation!]]''<br />
Line 209:
** Ron and Yori attempt to track down their sensei in one episode when it is believed that Monkey Fist kidnapped him. Turns out, not only did Monkey Fist have absolutely nothing to do with the kidnapping, but the actual kidnapper, Gorilla Fist/ {{spoiler|D.N. Amy}} actually kidnapped sensei in order to deceive Ron and Yori into trying to track down Monkey Fist so she could locate him (since Monkey Fist was attempting to flee from her).
** A more minor example: In one episode, items were stolen from a shop. When Kim and Ron question the Storeowner of who robbed the store, he explains that one of them was burly. Knowing that this was Senor Senior Jr., Kim and Ron deduce naturally that his father was also involved in the robbery. The storeowner corrects them and states the other accomplice was actually a woman producing green flames, a description that matched Shego.
* At the beginning of an episode of ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (Animation)|Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'', a bunch of important politicians are kidnapped. Buzz then videocalls Zurg to confront him. Not only does Zurg claim he has nothing to do with it (calling it too obvious), he steps aside to show that he was in a meeting with ''every other recurring villain on the show'' who deny it as well. However, Zurg also mentions his "great plans for the next fiscal year".
* One episode of ''[[Rugrats (Animation)|Rugrats]]'' has Suzie blame Angelica for stealing her brand-new tricycle and punishes her by tying her doll to a balloon and letting it go. Despite the evidence against her, Angelica was ''completely innocent'' - Suzie's trike was under her porch, Angelica's trike was her own and Angelica's red hands (which Suzie thought was from opening her garage's painted doors) were actually from her finger painting an apology letter. Thankfully for Suzie, a miracle (or a low-flying plane) gets Angelica's doll back to her and everyone's happy again. Except for poor Chuckie, since it was ''his'' balloon tied to the doll. The lesson he learned that day was "Never let Suzie borrow your balloon".
* In the ''[[Invader Zim (Animation)|Invader Zim]]'' episode "Planet Jackers", Zim initially thinks GIR is responsible for screwing up his telescope, but this turns out to not be the case.
{{quote| '''Zim:''' You mean something's broken, and it's not your fault?<br />
'''GIR:''' I know. I'm scared too! }}
* ''[[Hurricanes (Animation)|Hurricanes]]'' played this trope in the episode "Target: Winston". When Stats reveals to Amanda Carey evidence suggesting that the explosion that almost killed Winston Honeychurch wasn't an accident, she quickly suspected that Stavros Garkos, the show's main [[Big Bad]] and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], was behind this. She later learned he wasn't.
* ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Animation)|Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' had an episode where Tails had been abducted and Robotnik wasn't behind this.
{{quote| '''Robotnik:''' To be truthful, you horrible hedgehog, I have no idea where your feckless friend is.<br />
'''Sonic:''' And why should I believe you?<br />
'''Robotnik:''' Use your spiky head! If I'd had captured your companion, I'd be torturing him right now. }}
* In ''[[Spider -Man: theThe New Animated Series (Animation)|Spider Man the New Animated Series]]'', [[Egomaniac Hunter|Kraven the Hunter]] apparently murders Mary Jane. In a rage, Spider-Man very nearly kills Kraven, only to discover that Kraven is innocent. Mary Jane was never murdered, and Spider-Man had been tricked by two other villains into thinking Kraven had killed her. (Kraven had killed the parents of the villains, and they weren't powerful enough to take revenge themselves.) Kraven doesn't get away scot-free, however: Spider-Man still drops him off with the police.
* On ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'', [[Everything's Better Withwith Princesses|Princess Bubblegum]] has [[The Hero|Finn]] and [[Non-Human Sidekick|Jake]] capture [[An Ice Person|the Ice King]], even though he objects, claiming to have done "no recent crime." [[Played With]] because he ''did'' do something, but accidentally.
* In ''[[Arthur (Animationanimation)|Arthur]]'', after Francine's bike was allegedly stolen, Muffy and the others suspected that Binky may have stolen the bike. During a meeting, Binky stormed over to Muffy and asked if she was the one who is accusing him of stealing her bike. After she confirms it, Binky then reveals, while looking timidly to the others, that he's innocent.
* Hero example: in the ''[[Fantastic Four: WorldsWorld's Greatest Heroes]]'' episode "Frightful", the Frightful Four are damaging the FF's reputation. Since Johnny's already known to be careless with his powers, it's very hard for him to convince anyone he wasn't responsible for burning down a building ... especially as he has to keep specifiying "I did not burn down ''that'' building".
* In an episode of ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'', Steve gets [[Mister Seahorse|pregnant]] after [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|giving a choking Roger CPR]]. When Stan finds out, he turns to Hayley and starts yelling at her. She says she didn't do anything, and Stan responds that he always figured [[Teen Pregnancy|this sort of thing]] would happen to her so that's what he's prepared for.
* In [[The New Adventures of Batman]], Batman and Robin intercept Scarecrow after he escaped from Arkham Asylum. However, he reveals while they have him in custody that he wasn't even planning to do any crimes. Actually, he broke out just to get away from Arkham Asylum due to the new security chief (who was extremely abusive to the prisoners).
* [[Recess|Randall]] also had this trope invoked on him twice: The first time, most of the secrets that TJ and the others held were exposed to the teachers and staff, to which they ended up busted. They initially think Randall was behind their being ratted out, but Randall (who was in the garbage can to listen in) insisted that he did not. A chase to the bathroom later, and they end up discovering that Randall really wasn't behind their being ratted out that time: It was the so-called "cool kid" Stone who joined up with their possie who was in fact an undercover department of education individual who disguised himself as a student so Superintendent Skinner could find out the going abouts by the school who did it. The second time was when Randall hired the Ashley's younger brothers to act as proxies for him for his snitching job due to his getting cold at his sleuthing skills. One day, a lot more kids were put in The Box, including King Bob, whom he blamed Randall for it. However, Randall mentioned that reporting higher authority figures was a low even he wouldn't go as low as, and immediately told off the Ashley's brothers for it, and attempted to put a stop to it, although they were one step ahead of him and reported him for it as well.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/891567"