Disabled Means Helpless: Difference between revisions

* Sometimes it seems as though Nunnaly from ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'' feels this way. She ''is'' the one with the disability (she can't walk or open her eyes), and prefers for the entire first season to have Lelouch take care of her, even though they're ''both'' teenagers (she gets better about this and finally starts acting on her own in season 2). In Episode 21 of R2, Lelouch says that Nunnally kept smiling because, disabled as she was, it was the only way she knew how to show her gratitude to him.

* In the ''[[Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer (Anime)|Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer]]'' anime, this is why {{spoiler|Shuuko Suzuhara}} left her child {{spoiler|Misaki}} under the care of others.

* In ''[[The Baby Sitters Club (Literature)|The Baby Sitters Club]]'' spin-off series ''Little Sister,'' Karen's class gets a new girl named Addie who has cerebral palsy and so is confined to a wheelchair. Karen takes it upon herself to help Addie -- which means she does everything ''for'' her, despite both Addie and Ms. Colman telling her that Addie is perfectly capable to doing things for herself (such as sharpening her pencils). [[The Scrappy|She doesn't listen, and both the readers and Addie get seriously ticked off.]]

* Elizabeth Bathory's feelings of self-loathing in ''[[Count and Countess (Literature)|Count and Countess]]'' are a result of this mindset. (She suffers from severe epilepsy throughout the novel.) She later subverts it however, making her more of a [[Handicapped Badass]].

* Clark went blind in one episode of ''[[Smallville (TV)|Smallville]]'', his parents thought that stepping out of his eyeline would be far enough away for him not to hear them talking about him.

* Illidan in ''[[Warcraft (Video Game)|Warcraft]] III'' seems to lampshade this trope: "I'm blind, not deaf!"

* Cheerfully [[Averted Trope]] (possibly even defied) in ''[[Katawa Shoujo (Visual Novel)|Katawa Shoujo]]'': Rin has no arms, but is very agile with her feet; Emi has no legs, but runs track using prosthesis; Shizune is deaf-mute, but serves as an effective and ruthless [[Student Council President]] (with a [[Translator Buddy]]). Indeed most of their real problems are only partially informed by their disabilities, for example Shizune is extremely extroverted and eager to interfere in other peoples lives because her inability to speak makes her isolated and easy to ignore, but also {{spoiler|due to the influence of her over combative father.}}<br />On the other hand, Hisao tends to [[Internalized Categorism|internalise]] this at times, and realising that this trope isn't true for [[Shrinking Violet|Hanako]] is one of the main goals of her arc -- after she suffered a panic attack in class, he started thinking of her as someone helpless he needed to protect, instead of an equal romantic partner like Hanako wanted. In the [[Multiple Endings|good route]], Hisao {{spoiler|figures out that while Hanako might need more help in different areas to him, they both need someone to help and support them, and that Hanako can do that for him just as well as he can do it for her.}} In the bad routes, he either {{spoiler|fails to realise this but still earns Hanako's friendship}}, or {{spoiler|pisses her off so bad in his attempts to coddle her that she blows up at him, demanding that he leaves. Ouch.}}

* In ''[[Something Positive (Webcomic)|Something Positive]]'' [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp12012004.shtml Dahlia challenged Monette] to sit in her wheelchair for one trip (while she can use a wheelchair as a walker). Later Monette remembers Dahlia's dad used to work at a helicopter factory.

* In the ''[[Arthur (Animationanimation)|Arthur]]'' episode "Prunella Sees the Light", Prunella invites her blind friend Marina over for a [[Harry Potter|Henry Skreever]] sleepover. However, she worries that Marina may not see the decoration in her room or may get injured because she is blind. Marina doesn't like the special treatment Prunella is giving her, and Prunella learns to treat Marina just like any other friend, although we also see the tricks and methods that Marina uses in her own house, but here they are ''her'' methods and ''her'' choices.

* An episode of ''[[Clifford the Big Red Dog (Animation)|Clifford the Big Red Dog]]'' has a three-legged dog. Clifford and T-Bone assume the dog needs a lot of help and Cleo believes the dog has, as she put it, "some kind of leg-losing disease" and if they came into contact with him, they too would get it. At the end of the episode, the dog calls them all out on this, explaining that while he appreciates their help, he can do things himself and assuring Cleo he is not at all ill as she thinks.

* This is also why Toph's parents in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' kept her so sheltered that even her ''existence'' was a secret.

* This was the villain's explicitly stated intention in one episode of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures (Animation)|Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', when he kidnapped Uncle and cast a spell that rendered [[Monkey Morality Pose|Jackie mute, Jade deaf and Tohru blind]] so they couldn't rescue him. Needless to say, they did anyway, [[An Aesop|and a lesson was learned by all.]]

* Happens in an episode of ''[[Rocket Power (Animation)|Rocket Power]]''. Reggie is in a snowboarding competition with another girl she recently befriended who happens to use a wheelchair. Reggie lets her win... and gets a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] from her dad and everyone else. The remainder of the episode is Reggie trying to figure out [[Must Make Amends|how to make it up to her new friend]].