Obliviously Evil: Difference between revisions

* HAL 9000 from ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]''. While not directly explained in Kubrick's movie, the novel and [[2010: The Year We Make Contact|sequel]] elaborate that he was programmed to be both completely truthful and keep the crew from the motivations behind the flight to Jupiter - and when the crew becomes inquisitive, [[Take a Third Option|he has to find a way to fulfill both]]. ''2010'' shows that HAL is {{spoiler|not inherently ill-willed - he agrees to let himself be destroyed with the ''Discovery'' to save the ''Leonov'''s crew}}.

* V'Ger in ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|Star Trek the Motion Picture]]'' and the alien probe in ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|Star Trek IV the Voyage Home]]'' almost extinguish all life on Earth, both completely unaware that they are about to kill sentient beings. V'Ger actually does kill a lot of people, including some Klingons, the crew of Epsilon Nine, and Ilia, before realizing that they're lifeforms.

 

== Literature ==

** Dolphins are depicted similarly (and, in fact, the Howler mindset is directly compared to theirs), which means that this trope applies to ''them'' as well (at least in the Animorphs universe). This is [[Truth in Television]], probably, as dolphins have been observed killing porpoises for fun. And orcas were once filmed killing a blue whale and leaving it to die without eating any of it at all. One would assume that they don't know that what they are doing is somewhat evil.

* The "Chid" in Barrington J. Bailey's short story "Sporting with the Chid" are completely incomprehensible to humans. They're also instinctive surgeons with amazing biological engineering abilities, and when a trio of small time crooks ask the Chid for help, the results are appropriately horrifying.

* [[Mark Twain]] [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/07/exclusive-unpublished-mark-twain-essay-concerning-the-interview.html has] an extended analogy wherein he describes ''[[Serious Business|interviewers]]'' this way:

{{quote|The interviewer scatters you all over creation, but he does not conceive that you can look upon that as a disadvantage. People who blame a cyclone, do it because they do not reflect that compact masses are not a cyclone's idea of symmetry. People who find fault with the interviewer, do it because they do not reflect that he is but a cyclone, after all, though disguised in the image of God, like the rest of us; that he is not conscious of harm even when he is dusting a continent with your remains, but only thinks he is making things pleasant for you; and that therefore the just way to judge him is by his intentions, not his works.}}

 

* In ''[[Immortal Defense]]'', you're introduced to a group of quirky and lovable Points that represent your emotions, which you use to fight enemies. And they go on being quirky and lovable while you use them to {{spoiler|commit genocide, betray a people who worshipped you, and kill millions of relatively innocent aliens while defending -}} BIG FREAKING SPOILER: {{spoiler|- a rock in space that you've deluded yourself is your dead homeworld come back to life.}}

* The yellow-armored [[Mooks]] in ''[[Haze]]'' are constantly doped into being cheerful, happy, and completely oblivious to the carnage they're wreaking, seeing everything in a warm, fuzzy glow, where [[Never Say "Die"|people don't die, just fall over and disappear]].

* ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'' is a case of this, but then again, there is never any doubt that the Colossi would leave you (and the rest of the world) alone. You are the one going into their lairs and stabbing them in the head or armpit because of a deal with the devil.

** And to round off the ''[[Pokémon]]'' villains who seem oblivious to their own evil, [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|Cyrus]] was [[Freudian Excuse|so twisted by bad parenting]] that he decided the world would be a better place without that sort of emotional turmoil-- [[Nietzsche Wannabe|or any emotions at all, really]]. To this end he wants to [[Apocalypse How|mercy-kill reality]] and [[End of the World Special|start over]] to rid the universe of human spirit, and while he understands that the player character would oppose that out of self-preservation, he thinks they're being naiive by insisting human spirit is a good thing.

* Debilitas from [[Haunting Ground]]; he relentlessly stalks Fiona because he thinks that she's a new doll for him to play with, however, like Lennie from Of Mice and Men, his enthusiasm makes him dangerous to be around.

** In the EU translation, ''Dark Conflict'', Lily is still presented as [[Obliviously Evil]] but Larissa is not: She is a [[Social Darwinist]] and enjoys picking on the weak and blowing up things out of her own volition.

* Graf Michael Sepperin of ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'' had no idea that his idea of fighting against the Empire and sacrificing innocents was wrong, even if it was just to build a new world for Magi and protect Iris. Tia knew she was right to take it upon herself to stop her colleagues. It's too bad that she did not know that {{spoiler|[[Determinator|her determination]] to stop the coup against the Empire [[Right for the Wrong Reasons|was all part of Iris' plan to cause everything that happened to the point of Sepperin's defeat for her own amusement and to usurp God himself instead of Tia's initial belief that the Count was behind it all]]}}.

* Diseases caused by microrganisms. They have no intelligence to know what they are doing (they're not even multicellular, or, in the case of viruses, possibly not even living), they are simply doing what their DNA or RNA tells them to do. In fact, with most diseases, it is not the microrganisms that cause the disease, it is the toxins they produce that cause harm.

** As far as viruses go, the viruses themselves do not destroy your cells. In fact, a virus is just a protein container with some DNA or RNA inside. The virus will bounce around until, by chance, it happens upon a cell that it can bind to (the structure of the container determines which cells it will bind to) and inject your cells with its DNA or RNA through diffusion (a passive action, using mere physics). Your cells then begin to read and follow the new instructions that was just injected: to create a bunch of viruses until the cell explodes, thus causing it to kill itself. That's right, viruses cannot replicate on its own; your own cells do the job for them. The hundreds or thousands of brand new viruses will then repeat the process. You're lucky that your immune system is efficient.

*** This is why HIV is incredibly deadly. Those bind to your immune system. With no protection, anything can enter your body, and your body can't do anything about it.

** Ironically, this makes the virus a failure of sorts. A really efficient parasite does less damage to its host, and according to the Red Queen theory in evolutionary theory, over time successful parasites tend evolve to do less harm so their hosts are more likely to thrive. A more severe parasite puts hard selective pressure on its host to develop a defense. Rhinoviruses (one of the big groups behind the common cold) rarely do significant harm - and are therefore far more successful at getting into the next generation.