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* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Ron's intelligence varies from episode to episode, and sometimes he's just flat out clutching this ball. Kim gets it a few times, too.
--> '''Ron:''' "Hello, Information? I'd like the number for 911 immediately please!"
--> '''Ron:''' "Hello, Information? I'd like the number for 911 immediately please!"
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*** Not to mention the unpondered fridge-horror: Demona spends her ''days'' human. Demona is also nigh-immortal. Best case scenario, the virus 'counts' in terms of her curse about Macbeth, and killing him disperses her nigh-immortality, allowing her to die. Worst case, it doesn't count and she spends her days ''dying repeatedly'' and her nights in agony from Mabeth dying repeatedly.
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** Also, once Obi-Wan and Anakin ''were'' drugged, they seemed to magically forget that Jedi have poison-neutralizing powers.
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** Also, once Obi-Wan and Anakin ''were'' drugged, they seemed to magically forget that Jedi have poison-neutralizing powers.
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*** That part's taken straight from Attack of the Clones. For such supposedly highly trained troops (which being [[Anvilicious heavy hammered on multible occasions]] ) they rarely seem to exhibit even basic common sense, much less any signs of military tactics. It's just mostly "let's charge on foot through flat, open ground!"
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*** That part's taken straight from Attack of the Clones. For such supposedly highly trained troops (which being [[Anvilicious [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy hammered on multible occasions]] ) they rarely seem to exhibit even basic common sense, much less any signs of military tactics. It's just mostly "let's charge on foot through flat, open ground!"
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Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
*** That part's taken straight from Attack of the Clones. For such supposedly highly trained troops (which being [[Anvilicious heavy hammered on multible occasions]]) they rarely seem to exhibit even basic common sense, much less any signs of military tactics. It's just mostly "let's charge on foot through flat, open ground!"
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*** That part's taken straight from Attack of the Clones. For such supposedly highly trained troops (which being [[Anvilicious heavy hammered on multible occasions]]) occasions]] ) they rarely seem to exhibit even basic common sense, much less any signs of military tactics. It's just mostly "let's charge on foot through flat, open ground!"
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*** That part's taken straight from Attack of the Clones. For such supposedly highly trained troops (which being [[Anvilicious heavy hammered on multible occasions]]) they rarely seem to exhibit even basic common sense, much less any signs of military tactics. It's just mostly "let's charge on foot through flat, open ground!"
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' episode "A Change Of Face", Grandpa Max doesn't notice that Gwen is acting odd, the reason being that villainess Charmcaster has [[FreakyFriday swapped bodies]] with Gwen. Even later on, after the ruse has been revealed and more body-swapping has occurred, Grandpa Max still can't tell who's who without a scorecard... This is pretty glaring, given that Max is a former Plumber (this show's TheMenInBlack equivalent), has been repeatedly shown to be pretty clever, and above all is their grandfather.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' episode "A Change Of Face", Grandpa Max doesn't notice that Gwen is acting odd, the reason being that villainess Charmcaster has [[FreakyFriday [[GrandTheftMe swapped bodies]] with Gwen. Even later on, after the ruse has been revealed and more body-swapping has occurred, Grandpa Max still can't tell who's who without a scorecard... This is pretty glaring, given that Max is a former Plumber (this show's TheMenInBlack equivalent), has been repeatedly shown to be pretty clever, and above all is their grandfather.
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** Also "Duped" from Ultimate Alien. With Ben splitting into three of himself, each a different aspect. Sending the sensitive part to fight Forever Knights and the asshole part to Julie's tennis game is an idiot ball the size of Texas.
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** Also "Duped" from Ultimate Alien.''Ultimate Alien''. With Ben splitting into three of himself, each a different aspect. Sending the sensitive part to fight Forever Knights and the asshole part to Julie's tennis game is an idiot ball the size of Texas.
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* Most of the characters on ''{{Futurama}}'', [[OnlySaneMan save for Hermes]], will carry the idiot ball from time to time, but Leela, often times, will take off running with it. To analyse this for a second, Leela is the StraightMan most of the time; the character with the most common sense and intelligence (combined; Farnsworth might be the brightest intellectually but he's barely sane). This makes it difficult for the writers to start up certain plot points without taking a few IQ points off of Leela for the episode.
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* Most of the characters on ''{{Futurama}}'', [[OnlySaneMan save for Hermes]], will carry the idiot ball from time to time, but Leela, often times, will take off running with it. To analyse this for a second, Leela is the StraightMan OnlySaneWoman most of the time; the character with the most common sense and intelligence (combined; Farnsworth might be the brightest intellectually but he's barely sane). This makes it difficult for the writers to start up certain plot points without taking a few IQ points off of Leela for the episode.
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** The greying out of the character's color schemes was a visual cue for the audience representing metaphorically Discord's control. Note how Discord himself didn't notice the ponies' return to saturated colors for the episode's climax. Twilight Sparkle gets ''no'' points, however, for failing to notice five people that had become her closest friends over the previous year were suddenly and inexplicably acting wildly out of character.
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** The greying out of the character's color schemes was a visual cue for the audience representing metaphorically Discord's control. Note how Discord himself didn't notice the ponies' return to saturated colors for the episode's climax. Twilight Sparkle gets ''no'' points, however, for failing to notice five people ponies that had become her closest friends over the previous year were suddenly and inexplicably acting wildly out of character.
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** Twilight ''did'' notice that her friends were acting strangely. The fact that she didn't suspect of Discord's influence (at first at least) is probably due to the fact that she couldn't imagine him cheating on the rules ''he'' sets up for the game by [[MindRape Mind Raping]] all of them (which he didn't (well, partially), with the exception of Fluttershy and maybe Rainbow Dash too). It also sure helps that the maze was '''very''' big (as seen in some scenes), so they probably travelled separeted for some hours at least, which maybe made Twilight think that they acted like that because of stress and fear, rather than Discord's influence. As for Spike, he maybe was talking about how grumpy they were looking, not necessarly the color.
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** Twilight ''did'' notice that her friends were acting strangely. The fact that she didn't suspect of Discord's influence (at first at least) is probably due to the fact that she couldn't imagine him cheating on the rules ''he'' sets up for the game by [[MindRape Mind Raping]] all of them (which he didn't (well, partially), with the exception of Fluttershy and maybe Rainbow Dash too). It also sure helps that the maze was '''very''' big (as seen in some scenes), so they probably travelled separeted separated for some hours at least, which maybe made Twilight think that they acted like that because of stress and fear, rather than Discord's influence. As for Spike, he maybe was talking about how grumpy they were looking, not necessarly the color.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' there's Numbah 86. While it may be easier to list the appearances she made where she ''wasn't'' an idiot, "Operation: E.N.D." stands out. As Numbuh One tried to tell her (not that she listened) it should have been obvious to her that he was ''not'' thirteen years old, given that the two of them were in kindergarten together. Apparently, she believed a computer over something she had personally witnessed.
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* ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Ms. Marvel picks one up when she sees what appears to be the rest of the Avengers walk out of a Skrull spaceship. Despite being well aware of the Skrulls' ability to shapeshift, she's only suspicious for as long as it takes for "Tony" to give a made up alibi. She only starts to show signs of knowing once they start ''invading Wakanda'' for no reason, and even then she needs to see "Thor" die and revert to his green alien form to be 100% sure.
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* ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': ''WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Ms. Marvel picks one up when she sees what appears to be the rest of the Avengers walk out of a Skrull spaceship. Despite being well aware of the Skrulls' ability to shapeshift, she's only suspicious for as long as it takes for "Tony" to give a made up alibi. She only starts to show signs of knowing once they start ''invading Wakanda'' for no reason, and even then she needs to see "Thor" die and revert to his green alien form to be 100% sure.
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* in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'', the creation of Serpentor was likely the biggest mistake in Cobra's history, but one part of it stands out as especially idiotic. After Dr. Mindbender fails to obtain the DNA of Sun Tsu, he thinks that replacing it with Sergeant Slaughter's DNA would be a good idea. Ironically, Cobra Commander (whose incompetance is the whole ''reason'' for the plan) is the sole voice of reason when this suggestion is made, ranting about how ludicrous it is to put the DNA of an enemy into someone who is meant to lead them. [[spoiler: The point is eventually rendered moot, as Slaughter himself destroys his own DNA sample just as the experiment is happening, and Serpentor is born without it; without either Sun Tzu or Slaughter's DNA, he proves to be little better than Cobra Commander.]]
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* in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'', ''GIJoe'', the creation of Serpentor was likely the biggest mistake in Cobra's history, but one part of it stands out as especially idiotic. After Dr. Mindbender fails to obtain the DNA of Sun Tsu, he thinks that replacing it with Sergeant Slaughter's DNA would be a good idea. Ironically, Cobra Commander (whose incompetance is the whole ''reason'' for the plan) is the sole voice of reason when this suggestion is made, ranting about how ludicrous it is to put the DNA of an enemy into someone who is meant to lead them. [[spoiler: The point is eventually rendered moot, as Slaughter himself destroys his own DNA sample just as the experiment is happening, and Serpentor is born without it; without either Sun Tzu or Slaughter's DNA, he proves to be little better than Cobra Commander.]]
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* in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'', the creation of Serpentor was likely the biggest mistake in Cobra's history, but one part of it stands out as especially idiotic. After Dr. Mindbender fails to obtain the DNA of Sun Tsu, he thinks that replacing it with Sergeant Slaughter's DNA would be a good idea. Ironically, Cobra Commander (whose incompetance is the whole ''reason'' for the plan) is the sole voice of reason when this suggestion is made, ranting about how ludicrous it is to put the DNA of an enemy into someone who is meant to lead them. [[spoiler: The point is eventually rendered moot, as Slaughter himself destroys his own DNA sample just as the experiment is happening, and Serpentor is born without it; without either Sun Tzu or Slaughter's DNA, he proves to be little better than Cobra Commander.]]
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* The Nickelodeon ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' gives ''the entire town of Bluffington'' an IdiotBall. In the beginning of the episode, Porkchop is shown accidentally injuring Beebe Bluff in an attempt to save her from drowning in a frozen lake. Because of this, her father initiates a massive smear campaign against him, painting the dog as a monster... and the town ''believes this'', even though many episodes show Porkchop ''helping people''. Even worse, when Doug tries to start a petition to save him, they flat out dismiss him, saying that "It's Christmas." When Porkchop goes to trial, Doug is forced to call everyone out on it.
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* The Nickelodeon ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' gives ''the entire town of Bluffington'' an IdiotBall. In the beginning of the episode, Porkchop is shown accidentally injuring Beebe Bluff in an attempt to save her from drowning in a frozen lake. Because of this, her father initiates a massive smear campaign against him, painting the dog as a monster... and the town ''believes this'', even though many episodes show Porkchop ''helping people''. Even worse, when Doug tries to start a petition to save him, they flat out dismiss him, saying that "It's Christmas." When Porkchop goes to trial, Doug is forced to call everyone out on it.it.
* On ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', Pete is a ManipulativeBastard and PJ is the OnlySaneMan... usually. Sometimes, one or both of them acts in a manner more befitting the resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Goofy. One time PJ forgot he didn't have a balcony, and another he mistook an egg for a "giant albino M&M." Pete, for his part, managed to [[MistakenForPregnant think his wife was pregnant and almost due]] just because Goofy said so, and in another episode tried to hide from TheMafia in the back of... TheMafia's car. Max usually manages to avoid the IdiotBall, only acting on his [[FearlessFool characteristic intelligence flaws]].
* On ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', Pete is a ManipulativeBastard and PJ is the OnlySaneMan... usually. Sometimes, one or both of them acts in a manner more befitting the resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, Goofy. One time PJ forgot he didn't have a balcony, and another he mistook an egg for a "giant albino M&M." Pete, for his part, managed to [[MistakenForPregnant think his wife was pregnant and almost due]] just because Goofy said so, and in another episode tried to hide from TheMafia in the back of... TheMafia's car. Max usually manages to avoid the IdiotBall, only acting on his [[FearlessFool characteristic intelligence flaws]].
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** Another example involving Grod occured at the conclusion of the "WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague" episode "Secret Society". After all the other villains have been defeated, he tried to fight Superman... By himself. The end result was both painful and humiliating for Grod.
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** Another example involving Grod occured at the conclusion of the "WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague" ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Secret Society". After all the other villains have been defeated, he tried to fight Superman... By himself. The end result was both painful and humiliating for Grod.
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** Another example involving Grod occured at the conclusion of the "WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague" episode "Secret Society". After all the other villains have been defeated, he tried to fight Superman... By himself. The end result was both painful and humiliating for Grod.
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* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to flanderization.
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* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark WesternAnimation/SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to flanderization.
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added details to Thundercats entry, the year (1980) and that Tygra is the second eldest (28 to Panthro\'s 32)
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* Lion-O of ''{{ThunderCats}}'' runs headlong down the field with the Idiot Ball held very tightly ("[[LetsSplitUpGang I'm going to go exploring!]] Uh-oh, trouble I can't handle myself! Wait, [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself can't call the other Thundercats, the episode's not three-quarters over yet!]]") though he occasionally passes it off to other Thundercats. [[TheLancer Tygra]], especially, seems willing to run with it. Lion-O has the {{justifi|edTrope}}cation of being a child in a grown-up's body, but Tygra and the others have no excuse.
** Tygra in particular has no excuse since he's the oldest member of the team and he's supposed to be TheObiWan for Lion-O.
** Tygra in particular has no excuse since he's the oldest member of the team and he's supposed to be TheObiWan for Lion-O.
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* Lion-O of 1980s ''{{ThunderCats}}'' runs headlong down the field with the Idiot Ball held very tightly ("[[LetsSplitUpGang I'm going to go exploring!]] Uh-oh, trouble I can't handle myself! Wait, [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself can't call the other Thundercats, the episode's not three-quarters over yet!]]") though he occasionally passes it off to other Thundercats. [[TheLancer Tygra]], especially, seems willing to run with it. Lion-O has the {{justifi|edTrope}}cation of being a child in a grown-up's body, but Tygra and the others have no excuse.
** Tygra in particular has no excuse since he's theoldest second-oldest member of the team team[[note]]Panthro's the oldest[[/note]] and he's supposed to be TheObiWan for Lion-O.
** Tygra in particular has no excuse since he's the
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*** Also Zuko himself. Already having an edge over a crazed Azula, it was looking like he could win the fight through normal firebending alone, but then feels the need to taunt her into using lightning. And he doesn't just taunt her, he specifically says "Whats the matter, afraid I'll redirect it?". Even a VERY out of it Azula isn't stupid enough to shoot lightning at a guy who specifically says "I can stop lightning".
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***Taking the two above, it looks more like his dangerous obsession with tea is his own idiot ball.
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* ''BeavisAndButthead'': Take your pick.
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* ''BeavisAndButthead'': Take your pick.pick.
* The Nickelodeon ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' gives ''the entire town of Bluffington'' an IdiotBall. In the beginning of the episode, Porkchop is shown accidentally injuring Beebe Bluff in an attempt to save her from drowning in a frozen lake. Because of this, her father initiates a massive smear campaign against him, painting the dog as a monster... and the town ''believes this'', even though many episodes show Porkchop ''helping people''. Even worse, when Doug tries to start a petition to save him, they flat out dismiss him, saying that "It's Christmas." When Porkchop goes to trial, Doug is forced to call everyone out on it.
* The Nickelodeon ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' gives ''the entire town of Bluffington'' an IdiotBall. In the beginning of the episode, Porkchop is shown accidentally injuring Beebe Bluff in an attempt to save her from drowning in a frozen lake. Because of this, her father initiates a massive smear campaign against him, painting the dog as a monster... and the town ''believes this'', even though many episodes show Porkchop ''helping people''. Even worse, when Doug tries to start a petition to save him, they flat out dismiss him, saying that "It's Christmas." When Porkchop goes to trial, Doug is forced to call everyone out on it.
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* Most of the characters on ''{{Futurama}}'', [[OnlySaneMan save for Hermes]], will carry the idiot ball from time to time, but Leela, often times, will take off running with it.
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* Most of the characters on ''{{Futurama}}'', [[OnlySaneMan save for Hermes]], will carry the idiot ball from time to time, but Leela, often times, will take off running with it. To analyse this for a second, Leela is the StraightMan most of the time; the character with the most common sense and intelligence (combined; Farnsworth might be the brightest intellectually but he's barely sane). This makes it difficult for the writers to start up certain plot points without taking a few IQ points off of Leela for the episode.
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** Admittedly, it ''didn't'' work on Fluttershy, so he used a straight-up MindRape. So the other ponies might have been under his influence during the illusions (and he would have brainwashed them anyways)
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** Admittedly, it ''didn't'' ''[[VillainousBreakdown didn't]]'' work on Fluttershy, Fluttershy... [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose so he used just slaps a straight-up MindRape. So the other ponies might have been under his influence during the illusions (and he would have brainwashed them anyways)brainwashing spell on her face]].
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* ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Ms. Marvel picks one up when she sees what appears to be the rest of the Avengers walk out of a Skrull spaceship. Despite being well aware of the Skrulls' ability to shapeshift, she's only suspicious for as long as it takes for "Tony" to give a made up alibi. She only starts to show signs of knowing once they start ''invading Wakanda'' for no reason, and even then she needs to see "Thor" die and revert to his green alien form to be 100% sure.
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* ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Ms. Marvel picks one up when she sees what appears to be the rest of the Avengers walk out of a Skrull spaceship. Despite being well aware of the Skrulls' ability to shapeshift, she's only suspicious for as long as it takes for "Tony" to give a made up alibi. She only starts to show signs of knowing once they start ''invading Wakanda'' for no reason, and even then she needs to see "Thor" die and revert to his green alien form to be 100% sure.sure.
* ''BeavisAndButthead'': Take your pick.
* ''BeavisAndButthead'': Take your pick.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Venomous", Peter Parker hides from his other team members and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Venom, the monster they have been changed me, is actually a possessed Harry Osborn. This allows his team to completely trash it and allows Spider-Man to constantly botch and drag out their battles with it...rather than just have Peter tell the people that could have helped him sooner by holding back and using their infinite scientific resources to cure him sooner.
* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to flanderization.
* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to flanderization.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Venomous", Peter Parker hides from his other team members and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Venom, the monster they have been changed me, chasing, is actually a possessed Harry Osborn. This allows his team to completely trash it and allows Spider-Man to constantly botch and drag out their battles with it...rather than just have Peter tell the people that could have helped him sooner by holding back and using their infinite scientific resources to cure him sooner.
* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead toflanderization.flanderization.
* ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Ms. Marvel picks one up when she sees what appears to be the rest of the Avengers walk out of a Skrull spaceship. Despite being well aware of the Skrulls' ability to shapeshift, she's only suspicious for as long as it takes for "Tony" to give a made up alibi. She only starts to show signs of knowing once they start ''invading Wakanda'' for no reason, and even then she needs to see "Thor" die and revert to his green alien form to be 100% sure.
* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to
* ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Ms. Marvel picks one up when she sees what appears to be the rest of the Avengers walk out of a Skrull spaceship. Despite being well aware of the Skrulls' ability to shapeshift, she's only suspicious for as long as it takes for "Tony" to give a made up alibi. She only starts to show signs of knowing once they start ''invading Wakanda'' for no reason, and even then she needs to see "Thor" die and revert to his green alien form to be 100% sure.
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** Tygra in particular has no excuse since he's the oldest member of the team and he's supposed to be TheObiWan for Lion-O.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Venomous", Peter Parker hides from his other team members and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Venom, the monster they have been changed me, is actually a possessed Harry Osborn. This allows his team to completely trash it and allows Spider-Man to constantly botch and drag out their battles with it...rather than just have Peter tell the people that could have helped him sooner by holding back and using their infinite scientific resources to cure him sooner.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Venomous", Peter Parker hides from his other team members and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Venom, the monster they have been changed me, is actually a possessed Harry Osborn. This allows his team to completely trash it and allows Spider-Man to constantly botch and drag out their battles with it...rather than just have Peter tell the people that could have helped him sooner by holding back and using their infinite scientific resources to cure him sooner.sooner.
* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to flanderization.
* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, SouthPark is generally willing to hand out idiot balls for whatever reason they feel like it. Given that the show has no shortage of idiotic characters, it manages to have many IdiotPlots without handing out any balls, but occasionally Stan or Kyle, the [[OnlySaneMan only sane kids]], will start acting like idiots. Before the majority of the cast became idiots normally, idiot balls were more common, and their frequent usage is likely what lead to flanderization.
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little fix
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** Honorable Mention: The Orb of Confusion -- a ''literal'' Idiot Ball (pictured above).
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** Honorable Mention: The Orb of Confusion -- a ''literal'' Idiot Ball (pictured above).at the main page).
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* In ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures'', the titular redhead is, if not the smartest character in the show, the most consistently competent. Yet in "Star Light, Star Bright", Strawberry asked the pop singer Cherry Jam her name when she first met her. That was despite Strawberry earlier mentioning that Cherry Jam was her favorite singer, Cherry repeatedly singing a line from a song she was writing when Strawberry found her (which Strawberry helped with by singing her suggestion back), Cherry Jam being dressed in similar clothing as she was in the "music video" at the beginning of the episode (including trinkets with ''cherries'' on them), and Strawberry noticing that, near Cherry, it smelled like cherries. Four-year-olds facepalmed watching that.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures'', the titular redhead is, if not the smartest character in the show, the most consistently competent. Yet in "Star Light, Star Bright", Strawberry asked the pop singer Cherry Jam her name when she first met her. That was despite Strawberry earlier mentioning that Cherry Jam was her favorite singer, Cherry repeatedly singing a line from a song she was writing when Strawberry found her (which Strawberry helped with by singing her suggestion back), Cherry Jam being dressed in similar clothing as she was in the "music video" at the beginning of the episode (including trinkets with ''cherries'' on them), and Strawberry noticing that, near Cherry, it smelled like cherries. Four-year-olds facepalmed watching that.that.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Venomous", Peter Parker hides from his other team members and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Venom, the monster they have been changed me, is actually a possessed Harry Osborn. This allows his team to completely trash it and allows Spider-Man to constantly botch and drag out their battles with it...rather than just have Peter tell the people that could have helped him sooner by holding back and using their infinite scientific resources to cure him sooner.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Venomous", Peter Parker hides from his other team members and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Venom, the monster they have been changed me, is actually a possessed Harry Osborn. This allows his team to completely trash it and allows Spider-Man to constantly botch and drag out their battles with it...rather than just have Peter tell the people that could have helped him sooner by holding back and using their infinite scientific resources to cure him sooner.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' episode "A Change Of Face", Grandpa Max doesn't notice that Gwen is acting odd, the reason being that villainess Charmcaster has [[FreakyFriday swapped bodies]] with Gwen. Even later on, after the ruse has been revealed and more body-swapping has occurred, Grandpa Max still can't tell who's who without a scorecard... This is pretty glaring, given that Max is a former Plumber (this show's TheMenInBlack equivalent), has been repeatedly shown to be pretty clever, and above all is their grandfather.
** Another example is in the ''Alien Force'' episode "Good Copy, Bad Copy". You'd think that, considering how much weird stuff they've seen, Kevin and Gwen would immediately be suspicious of "Ben" (really a Galvan named Albedo) claiming he's ''looking for Ben''. Instead, they just assume he's the real thing and has lost his mind, setting up for the old "Which one is which?" bit.
** Also "Duped" from Ultimate Alien. With Ben splitting into three of himself, each a different aspect. Sending the sensitive part to fight Forever Knights and the asshole part to Julie's tennis game is an idiot ball the size of Texas.
* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Gargoyles}}'' episode "Vows", Demona gains possession of an artifact known as the Phoenix Gate, which allows the holder to travel to any place at any time at will. She travels back in time and informs her past self (also in possession of the past version of the Gate) that SHE should use the Gate to change history, instead of just doing it herself with the Gate she already possesses. The ultimate lesson is that history is immutable, though the reason for this apart from a large, conspicuous Idiot Ball is unclear.
** Made worse by the fact that present day Demona says she remembers the whole incident (well, Goliath's talk after she got knocked out), but if she remembers that, it's pretty odd to think she'd have forgotten meeting herself and seeing her other self's defeat. So if she already had memories of her plan failing, why go through with it? It reeks of Dr. Manhattan style pre-destination.
** The aforementioned PALES in comparison with the sheer idiocy Demona displays in "Hunter's Moon". Goliath and Co. break in when she's about to deliver the fatal blow against humankind and unleash the enchanted virus lethal to all sentient beings (Gargoyles will be protected by a magical figurine she has on her table). Not only does Demona start monologuing, in the worst Bond Villainesque manner possible, but she actually POINTS at the figurine as if asking Goliath to smash the thing. He obliges.
** This is actually an explicit feature of Demona's character. She's such a mess of contradictory issues, topped with a healthy dose of repressed self-loathing, that she has a noticeable tendency to sabotage herself. WordOfGod even outight says that Demona is, and always has been, her own worst enemy.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', specifically when Grod thought turning Batman into a 400 pound gorilla would ensure his total victory.
* ''SpongebobSquarepants''
** Honorable Mention: The Orb of Confusion -- a ''literal'' Idiot Ball (pictured above).
** The trope applies to several episodes, with varying results - [[TheFool SpongeBob]], [[GeniusDitz Patrick]], [[MoneyFetish Mr. Krabs]], and/or [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Plankton]] will be saddled with the idiot ball at any time whatsoever. The only ones safe are [[GadgeteerGenius Sandy]] and [[PerpetualFrowner Squidward]]... and even then...
** Squidward has been known to hold the Idiot Ball. In "The Snowball Effect", Squidward tells Patrick to think of him as [=SpongeBob=], to teach him how to have a snowball fight. Squidward throws a snowball at Patrick and says, "Now, what are you going to do?" Patrick throws a snowball back at Squidward, who had said not five seconds ago to think of him as [=SpongeBob=]. Squidward asks why Patrick didn't throw it at [=SpongeBob=].
-->'''Patrick''':[[LampshadeHanging You said you were Spongebob, Spongebob.]]
-->'''Spongebob''':*[[ItMakesSenseInContext Impersonating Mr Krabs]]*[[DumbassHasAPoint Argh, It's true, Mister Squidward.]] Now get back to work!
* The same goes for ''TheFairlyOddparents'', where in most episodes it's Timmy's idiocy that gets the plot moving.
* This very web page is referenced and linked to in [[http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=22845 Ed Liu's Toon Zone review]] of ''TheFlintstones'' [[{{Sequelitis}} sequel series]] ''WesternAnimation/ThePebblesAndBammBammShow''. To wit:
** "[Pebbles is] the one most often saddled with the Idiot Ball, since most of the episodes rely on her misunderstanding something and then finding the worst possible way to fix her mistakes."
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** Iroh, usually TheObiWan, RetiredBadass and TheCaretaker in one, once almost killed himself by drinking tea made of the leaves of a perceived delicious tea plant that wasn't (well, he and Zuko desperate for food at the time). Followed by a small {{Find the Cure}} plot. (Though this may have been a bit of character exposition, meant to demonstrate exactly how much Iroh enjoys his tea.) However, this also could have been a BatmanGambit on his part. As up until then Zuko refused to go to a village for help, and Iroh did this to make him decide to go.
** Also, using Firebending to heat his tea while they were trying to stay incognito... in the Earth Kingdom... surrounded by refugees from the invading Fire Nation forces. Zuko immediately {{lampshade|Hanging}}s: "What are you doing firebending your tea?! For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move!" Iroh doesn't make that mistake again, though- a later scene has him borrowing spark rocks for their stove even though as far as he knew nobody would see him lighting it himself.
** Katara, who before had been hiding out of sight, deciding to step out and into the crazed Azula's line of vision just as Zuko has taunted her to shoot him with lightning. This is just so Zuko is knocked out of the fight protecting Katara so she can defeat Azula.
* Despite being relatively sane, [[HypercompetentSidekick Slinkman]] of ''CampLazlo'' likes to carry the Idiot Ball around a lot.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Sonic|SatAM}}'' animated series, Antoine would occasionally be used for this. The mini-episode Fed Up with Antoine was the most blatant example of this trope.
* ''TheSimpsons''
** In one episode, Lisa is no less smart than she usually is, but she's ''feeling'' like an idiot because a new girl in class, Alison, has proven to be better than her at everything. Visiting Alison's house, Lisa attempts to play an anagram game with Alison's father but fails miserably. Taking her to be a simpleton, Alison's father hands Lisa a red rubber ball, saying "this is a ball. Perhaps you'd like to bounce it."
** "Pranksta Rap". The plot revolves around Bart faking his own kidnapping and gives rise to two idiot ball moments. Bart handwrites the ransom note. Marge fails to recognise her own son's handwriting.
* ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' has an episode where Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent to negotiate with some Weequay who have captured Count Dooku. Right from the start, they go in expecting a trap, yet apparently did not bother to think of any countermeasures. They quite willingly hand over their lightsabres rather than hide them and worst of all, at the end when they've finally broken free and have the Weequay leader at blade point, ready to give up and come to prison quietly, Obi-Wan tells Anakin to let him go. Why? Why? ''Why?'' They never even ''try'' to explain why Obi-Wan suddenly wants to let someone who lied to them, drugged them, kidnapped them, and ''tortured'' them get off scot free!
** That's not necessarily true about the scot free part. Obi-Wan did a little instituting of paranoia by saying that while the Jedi would let it slide, Count Dooku wouldn't. Implying that the Sith Lord would probably come back soon with a nice chunk of his forces, all gung ho for vengeance in which he will end them. Kinda workable to make the bounty Weequay look over his shoulder now at all times from now on.
** ''The Clone Wars'' also has Cad Bane, a bounty hunter who seems to have the power to hand out idiot balls to all of his enemies. In every one of his appearances, he manages to succeed by turning the Jedi into complete morons. Bigger idiots than they usually are in the prequel era, that is.
** Also, once Obi-Wan and Anakin ''were'' drugged, they seemed to magically forget that Jedi have poison-neutralizing powers.
** The entire clone army seems to be equipped with standard issue idiot balls. While it is reasonable for the droids to not really have any sort of care for self-preservation, the clones will often completely ignore cover and tactics to charge enemies head-on.
* Lion-O of ''{{ThunderCats}}'' runs headlong down the field with the Idiot Ball held very tightly ("[[LetsSplitUpGang I'm going to go exploring!]] Uh-oh, trouble I can't handle myself! Wait, [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself can't call the other Thundercats, the episode's not three-quarters over yet!]]") though he occasionally passes it off to other Thundercats. [[TheLancer Tygra]], especially, seems willing to run with it. Lion-O has the {{justifi|edTrope}}cation of being a child in a grown-up's body, but Tygra and the others have no excuse.
* Every character in the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon]]'' would carry the ball when the plot required. A stand-out moment includes a scene in the series' third episode, when, left to their own devices in April's apartment, the turtles suddenly become retards: Leonardo begins throwing tubes of lipstick at a painting, calling it "target practice"; Raph interprets "insert capful of Shampoo into tub" as referring to an actual baseball cap; Donny starts fiddling with April's answering machine with no regard as to her privacy; and Mikey proves incapable of making instant pizza which he had no permission to touch. April is understandably furious.
* ''TheTransformers'': Optimus Prime gets whacked ''hard'' in the face with this in the episode "Heavy Metal War". He's been fighting Megatron for centuries, long enough to know which powers Megatron does and doesn't have...and yet he doesn't realise that Megatron cheated during a one-on-one battle until Teletraan-1 spells it out for him. Even though Megatron uses powers that he has ''never used before.''
* Thrust is actually pretty smart in ''TransformersArmada'' when he first shows up. After several DeusExMachina-induced failures he starts spending a lot more time around the Idiot Ball, culminating in getting his rear kicked by ''human children''.
* In a ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode, you have rebelling young twin heroes, one of whom can turn into different animals, real or not, and the other can turn into water. When these two heroes (and other young, misguided heroes) try to blow up the base they live in after [[TheReveal the]] [[CloningBlues reveal]], a group of Justice Leaguers tries to stop them. The twins attack a member of the Justice League by drowning him in a room filled with water and have a ''T. rex'', obviously not an aquatic creature, attack said hero, underwater. Again, this happened ''underwater.'' Who's the Justice Leaguer they fought? [[spoiler:Aquaman.]] Though the characters were in the middle of a mental breakdown, so thinking clearly was not exactly something to be expected. If they're inspired, as it seems likely, by the WonderTwins of ''SuperFriends'', then one could say they keep pretty true to the original characters.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' hands Robin a huge idiot ball at the end of "Trust". After spending an episode fighting against a shapeshifter who had both shown that she could mimic both the appearance and voice of anyone, cannot replicate powers, and loses her structural integrity when she's exposed to strong heat. What does Robin do after a fight where the result isn't clear? Immediately trust the Not!Hot Spot, and handed over a spare communication device - which allowed The Brotherhood of Evil to track down every. single. superhero. that the Titans gave the com device to. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It Robin]]. This makes it worse since Robin is supposed to be the smart, suspicious one.
* Inverted by InspectorGadget, bizarrely enough. While Penny and Brain were typically the ones who saved the day, there were quite a few isolated moments when Gadget himself could actually show competence when the plot demanded it.
* Episode 12 of ''{{Sym-Bionic Titan}}'' has some IdiotBall moments when you consider two things: One, why didn't Lance and the others consider stomping and or obliterating the [[PlayingPossum supposedly dead]] {{monster|OfTheWeek}}'s body just to be safe. Two, wouldn't it have occurred to Ilana and Lance by now that Octus isn't a normal robot considering his build and powers? It's made clear early on that everyone on the show occasionally picks up the ball for the plot (episode 4, anybody?).
* ''TheAnimalsOfFarthingWood'': Weasel conveniently forgets Fox's message for Adder to kill Scarface and mixes it up as simply killing a blue fox, despite she being the one who suggests they get Adder to kill Scarface.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The entire mane cast is handed an idiot ball in the first episode of Season 2, where Discord manages to fool all the main cast but Twilight with tricks a person with half a brain wouldn't have fallen for. Twilight, the smartest of the group, somehow manages not to notice that all of her friends have turned some shade of gray and are now acting in a manner that is the complete opposite of how they usually act. And at some points Discord manages to trick them when he outright shows up in front of their faces. [[SarcasmMode Yes, your ancient enemy whom you know loves sowing chaos is someone who is perfectly legit, guys. You can totally trust this guy.]]
** Admittedly, it ''didn't'' work on Fluttershy, so he used a straight-up MindRape. So the other ponies might have been under his influence during the illusions (and he would have brainwashed them anyways)
** The greying out of the character's color schemes was a visual cue for the audience representing metaphorically Discord's control. Note how Discord himself didn't notice the ponies' return to saturated colors for the episode's climax. Twilight Sparkle gets ''no'' points, however, for failing to notice five people that had become her closest friends over the previous year were suddenly and inexplicably acting wildly out of character.
** And yet Spike pointed out they looked grey when they got back to the library in part 2, so it's probable that it did have a visual effect noticable by the other characters, that was largley ignored. Discord himself also qualifies due to not realizing everyone was in a much more unified mood upon their second attempt to "friend him". and that they weren't grey anymore.
** Twilight ''did'' notice that her friends were acting strangely. The fact that she didn't suspect of Discord's influence (at first at least) is probably due to the fact that she couldn't imagine him cheating on the rules ''he'' sets up for the game by [[MindRape Mind Raping]] all of them (which he didn't (well, partially), with the exception of Fluttershy and maybe Rainbow Dash too). It also sure helps that the maze was '''very''' big (as seen in some scenes), so they probably travelled separeted for some hours at least, which maybe made Twilight think that they acted like that because of stress and fear, rather than Discord's influence. As for Spike, he maybe was talking about how grumpy they were looking, not necessarly the color.
** Many of the episodes hinge on one or more of the cast picking up the IdiotBall. Among the ones that stand out are [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E4ApplebuckSeason Applebuck Season]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof A Bird in the Hoof]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E20GreenIsntYourColor Green Isn't Your Color]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Lesson Zero]] and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Luna Eclipsed]].
* In VoltronForce [=S2E1=] (''Inside the Music''), Pidge picks up the Idiot Ball and runs with it for a touchdown. He's so heavily invested in keeping his secret identity as the mastermind of the band "Stereolactic" a secret, that he doesn't even tell his TrueCompanions. This results in the [[KidSidekick Cadets]] wasting time and effort chasing him down, believing that he's the Drule agent, that could have been used finding the real agent.
* Most of the characters on ''{{Futurama}}'', [[OnlySaneMan save for Hermes]], will carry the idiot ball from time to time, but Leela, often times, will take off running with it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures'', the titular redhead is, if not the smartest character in the show, the most consistently competent. Yet in "Star Light, Star Bright", Strawberry asked the pop singer Cherry Jam her name when she first met her. That was despite Strawberry earlier mentioning that Cherry Jam was her favorite singer, Cherry repeatedly singing a line from a song she was writing when Strawberry found her (which Strawberry helped with by singing her suggestion back), Cherry Jam being dressed in similar clothing as she was in the "music video" at the beginning of the episode (including trinkets with ''cherries'' on them), and Strawberry noticing that, near Cherry, it smelled like cherries. Four-year-olds facepalmed watching that.
** Another example is in the ''Alien Force'' episode "Good Copy, Bad Copy". You'd think that, considering how much weird stuff they've seen, Kevin and Gwen would immediately be suspicious of "Ben" (really a Galvan named Albedo) claiming he's ''looking for Ben''. Instead, they just assume he's the real thing and has lost his mind, setting up for the old "Which one is which?" bit.
** Also "Duped" from Ultimate Alien. With Ben splitting into three of himself, each a different aspect. Sending the sensitive part to fight Forever Knights and the asshole part to Julie's tennis game is an idiot ball the size of Texas.
* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Gargoyles}}'' episode "Vows", Demona gains possession of an artifact known as the Phoenix Gate, which allows the holder to travel to any place at any time at will. She travels back in time and informs her past self (also in possession of the past version of the Gate) that SHE should use the Gate to change history, instead of just doing it herself with the Gate she already possesses. The ultimate lesson is that history is immutable, though the reason for this apart from a large, conspicuous Idiot Ball is unclear.
** Made worse by the fact that present day Demona says she remembers the whole incident (well, Goliath's talk after she got knocked out), but if she remembers that, it's pretty odd to think she'd have forgotten meeting herself and seeing her other self's defeat. So if she already had memories of her plan failing, why go through with it? It reeks of Dr. Manhattan style pre-destination.
** The aforementioned PALES in comparison with the sheer idiocy Demona displays in "Hunter's Moon". Goliath and Co. break in when she's about to deliver the fatal blow against humankind and unleash the enchanted virus lethal to all sentient beings (Gargoyles will be protected by a magical figurine she has on her table). Not only does Demona start monologuing, in the worst Bond Villainesque manner possible, but she actually POINTS at the figurine as if asking Goliath to smash the thing. He obliges.
** This is actually an explicit feature of Demona's character. She's such a mess of contradictory issues, topped with a healthy dose of repressed self-loathing, that she has a noticeable tendency to sabotage herself. WordOfGod even outight says that Demona is, and always has been, her own worst enemy.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', specifically when Grod thought turning Batman into a 400 pound gorilla would ensure his total victory.
* ''SpongebobSquarepants''
** Honorable Mention: The Orb of Confusion -- a ''literal'' Idiot Ball (pictured above).
** The trope applies to several episodes, with varying results - [[TheFool SpongeBob]], [[GeniusDitz Patrick]], [[MoneyFetish Mr. Krabs]], and/or [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Plankton]] will be saddled with the idiot ball at any time whatsoever. The only ones safe are [[GadgeteerGenius Sandy]] and [[PerpetualFrowner Squidward]]... and even then...
** Squidward has been known to hold the Idiot Ball. In "The Snowball Effect", Squidward tells Patrick to think of him as [=SpongeBob=], to teach him how to have a snowball fight. Squidward throws a snowball at Patrick and says, "Now, what are you going to do?" Patrick throws a snowball back at Squidward, who had said not five seconds ago to think of him as [=SpongeBob=]. Squidward asks why Patrick didn't throw it at [=SpongeBob=].
-->'''Patrick''':[[LampshadeHanging You said you were Spongebob, Spongebob.]]
-->'''Spongebob''':*[[ItMakesSenseInContext Impersonating Mr Krabs]]*[[DumbassHasAPoint Argh, It's true, Mister Squidward.]] Now get back to work!
* The same goes for ''TheFairlyOddparents'', where in most episodes it's Timmy's idiocy that gets the plot moving.
* This very web page is referenced and linked to in [[http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=22845 Ed Liu's Toon Zone review]] of ''TheFlintstones'' [[{{Sequelitis}} sequel series]] ''WesternAnimation/ThePebblesAndBammBammShow''. To wit:
** "[Pebbles is] the one most often saddled with the Idiot Ball, since most of the episodes rely on her misunderstanding something and then finding the worst possible way to fix her mistakes."
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** Iroh, usually TheObiWan, RetiredBadass and TheCaretaker in one, once almost killed himself by drinking tea made of the leaves of a perceived delicious tea plant that wasn't (well, he and Zuko desperate for food at the time). Followed by a small {{Find the Cure}} plot. (Though this may have been a bit of character exposition, meant to demonstrate exactly how much Iroh enjoys his tea.) However, this also could have been a BatmanGambit on his part. As up until then Zuko refused to go to a village for help, and Iroh did this to make him decide to go.
** Also, using Firebending to heat his tea while they were trying to stay incognito... in the Earth Kingdom... surrounded by refugees from the invading Fire Nation forces. Zuko immediately {{lampshade|Hanging}}s: "What are you doing firebending your tea?! For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move!" Iroh doesn't make that mistake again, though- a later scene has him borrowing spark rocks for their stove even though as far as he knew nobody would see him lighting it himself.
** Katara, who before had been hiding out of sight, deciding to step out and into the crazed Azula's line of vision just as Zuko has taunted her to shoot him with lightning. This is just so Zuko is knocked out of the fight protecting Katara so she can defeat Azula.
* Despite being relatively sane, [[HypercompetentSidekick Slinkman]] of ''CampLazlo'' likes to carry the Idiot Ball around a lot.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Sonic|SatAM}}'' animated series, Antoine would occasionally be used for this. The mini-episode Fed Up with Antoine was the most blatant example of this trope.
* ''TheSimpsons''
** In one episode, Lisa is no less smart than she usually is, but she's ''feeling'' like an idiot because a new girl in class, Alison, has proven to be better than her at everything. Visiting Alison's house, Lisa attempts to play an anagram game with Alison's father but fails miserably. Taking her to be a simpleton, Alison's father hands Lisa a red rubber ball, saying "this is a ball. Perhaps you'd like to bounce it."
** "Pranksta Rap". The plot revolves around Bart faking his own kidnapping and gives rise to two idiot ball moments. Bart handwrites the ransom note. Marge fails to recognise her own son's handwriting.
* ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' has an episode where Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent to negotiate with some Weequay who have captured Count Dooku. Right from the start, they go in expecting a trap, yet apparently did not bother to think of any countermeasures. They quite willingly hand over their lightsabres rather than hide them and worst of all, at the end when they've finally broken free and have the Weequay leader at blade point, ready to give up and come to prison quietly, Obi-Wan tells Anakin to let him go. Why? Why? ''Why?'' They never even ''try'' to explain why Obi-Wan suddenly wants to let someone who lied to them, drugged them, kidnapped them, and ''tortured'' them get off scot free!
** That's not necessarily true about the scot free part. Obi-Wan did a little instituting of paranoia by saying that while the Jedi would let it slide, Count Dooku wouldn't. Implying that the Sith Lord would probably come back soon with a nice chunk of his forces, all gung ho for vengeance in which he will end them. Kinda workable to make the bounty Weequay look over his shoulder now at all times from now on.
** ''The Clone Wars'' also has Cad Bane, a bounty hunter who seems to have the power to hand out idiot balls to all of his enemies. In every one of his appearances, he manages to succeed by turning the Jedi into complete morons. Bigger idiots than they usually are in the prequel era, that is.
** Also, once Obi-Wan and Anakin ''were'' drugged, they seemed to magically forget that Jedi have poison-neutralizing powers.
** The entire clone army seems to be equipped with standard issue idiot balls. While it is reasonable for the droids to not really have any sort of care for self-preservation, the clones will often completely ignore cover and tactics to charge enemies head-on.
* Lion-O of ''{{ThunderCats}}'' runs headlong down the field with the Idiot Ball held very tightly ("[[LetsSplitUpGang I'm going to go exploring!]] Uh-oh, trouble I can't handle myself! Wait, [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself can't call the other Thundercats, the episode's not three-quarters over yet!]]") though he occasionally passes it off to other Thundercats. [[TheLancer Tygra]], especially, seems willing to run with it. Lion-O has the {{justifi|edTrope}}cation of being a child in a grown-up's body, but Tygra and the others have no excuse.
* Every character in the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon]]'' would carry the ball when the plot required. A stand-out moment includes a scene in the series' third episode, when, left to their own devices in April's apartment, the turtles suddenly become retards: Leonardo begins throwing tubes of lipstick at a painting, calling it "target practice"; Raph interprets "insert capful of Shampoo into tub" as referring to an actual baseball cap; Donny starts fiddling with April's answering machine with no regard as to her privacy; and Mikey proves incapable of making instant pizza which he had no permission to touch. April is understandably furious.
* ''TheTransformers'': Optimus Prime gets whacked ''hard'' in the face with this in the episode "Heavy Metal War". He's been fighting Megatron for centuries, long enough to know which powers Megatron does and doesn't have...and yet he doesn't realise that Megatron cheated during a one-on-one battle until Teletraan-1 spells it out for him. Even though Megatron uses powers that he has ''never used before.''
* Thrust is actually pretty smart in ''TransformersArmada'' when he first shows up. After several DeusExMachina-induced failures he starts spending a lot more time around the Idiot Ball, culminating in getting his rear kicked by ''human children''.
* In a ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode, you have rebelling young twin heroes, one of whom can turn into different animals, real or not, and the other can turn into water. When these two heroes (and other young, misguided heroes) try to blow up the base they live in after [[TheReveal the]] [[CloningBlues reveal]], a group of Justice Leaguers tries to stop them. The twins attack a member of the Justice League by drowning him in a room filled with water and have a ''T. rex'', obviously not an aquatic creature, attack said hero, underwater. Again, this happened ''underwater.'' Who's the Justice Leaguer they fought? [[spoiler:Aquaman.]] Though the characters were in the middle of a mental breakdown, so thinking clearly was not exactly something to be expected. If they're inspired, as it seems likely, by the WonderTwins of ''SuperFriends'', then one could say they keep pretty true to the original characters.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' hands Robin a huge idiot ball at the end of "Trust". After spending an episode fighting against a shapeshifter who had both shown that she could mimic both the appearance and voice of anyone, cannot replicate powers, and loses her structural integrity when she's exposed to strong heat. What does Robin do after a fight where the result isn't clear? Immediately trust the Not!Hot Spot, and handed over a spare communication device - which allowed The Brotherhood of Evil to track down every. single. superhero. that the Titans gave the com device to. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It Robin]]. This makes it worse since Robin is supposed to be the smart, suspicious one.
* Inverted by InspectorGadget, bizarrely enough. While Penny and Brain were typically the ones who saved the day, there were quite a few isolated moments when Gadget himself could actually show competence when the plot demanded it.
* Episode 12 of ''{{Sym-Bionic Titan}}'' has some IdiotBall moments when you consider two things: One, why didn't Lance and the others consider stomping and or obliterating the [[PlayingPossum supposedly dead]] {{monster|OfTheWeek}}'s body just to be safe. Two, wouldn't it have occurred to Ilana and Lance by now that Octus isn't a normal robot considering his build and powers? It's made clear early on that everyone on the show occasionally picks up the ball for the plot (episode 4, anybody?).
* ''TheAnimalsOfFarthingWood'': Weasel conveniently forgets Fox's message for Adder to kill Scarface and mixes it up as simply killing a blue fox, despite she being the one who suggests they get Adder to kill Scarface.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The entire mane cast is handed an idiot ball in the first episode of Season 2, where Discord manages to fool all the main cast but Twilight with tricks a person with half a brain wouldn't have fallen for. Twilight, the smartest of the group, somehow manages not to notice that all of her friends have turned some shade of gray and are now acting in a manner that is the complete opposite of how they usually act. And at some points Discord manages to trick them when he outright shows up in front of their faces. [[SarcasmMode Yes, your ancient enemy whom you know loves sowing chaos is someone who is perfectly legit, guys. You can totally trust this guy.]]
** Admittedly, it ''didn't'' work on Fluttershy, so he used a straight-up MindRape. So the other ponies might have been under his influence during the illusions (and he would have brainwashed them anyways)
** The greying out of the character's color schemes was a visual cue for the audience representing metaphorically Discord's control. Note how Discord himself didn't notice the ponies' return to saturated colors for the episode's climax. Twilight Sparkle gets ''no'' points, however, for failing to notice five people that had become her closest friends over the previous year were suddenly and inexplicably acting wildly out of character.
** And yet Spike pointed out they looked grey when they got back to the library in part 2, so it's probable that it did have a visual effect noticable by the other characters, that was largley ignored. Discord himself also qualifies due to not realizing everyone was in a much more unified mood upon their second attempt to "friend him". and that they weren't grey anymore.
** Twilight ''did'' notice that her friends were acting strangely. The fact that she didn't suspect of Discord's influence (at first at least) is probably due to the fact that she couldn't imagine him cheating on the rules ''he'' sets up for the game by [[MindRape Mind Raping]] all of them (which he didn't (well, partially), with the exception of Fluttershy and maybe Rainbow Dash too). It also sure helps that the maze was '''very''' big (as seen in some scenes), so they probably travelled separeted for some hours at least, which maybe made Twilight think that they acted like that because of stress and fear, rather than Discord's influence. As for Spike, he maybe was talking about how grumpy they were looking, not necessarly the color.
** Many of the episodes hinge on one or more of the cast picking up the IdiotBall. Among the ones that stand out are [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E4ApplebuckSeason Applebuck Season]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof A Bird in the Hoof]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E20GreenIsntYourColor Green Isn't Your Color]], [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Lesson Zero]] and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Luna Eclipsed]].
* In VoltronForce [=S2E1=] (''Inside the Music''), Pidge picks up the Idiot Ball and runs with it for a touchdown. He's so heavily invested in keeping his secret identity as the mastermind of the band "Stereolactic" a secret, that he doesn't even tell his TrueCompanions. This results in the [[KidSidekick Cadets]] wasting time and effort chasing him down, believing that he's the Drule agent, that could have been used finding the real agent.
* Most of the characters on ''{{Futurama}}'', [[OnlySaneMan save for Hermes]], will carry the idiot ball from time to time, but Leela, often times, will take off running with it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures'', the titular redhead is, if not the smartest character in the show, the most consistently competent. Yet in "Star Light, Star Bright", Strawberry asked the pop singer Cherry Jam her name when she first met her. That was despite Strawberry earlier mentioning that Cherry Jam was her favorite singer, Cherry repeatedly singing a line from a song she was writing when Strawberry found her (which Strawberry helped with by singing her suggestion back), Cherry Jam being dressed in similar clothing as she was in the "music video" at the beginning of the episode (including trinkets with ''cherries'' on them), and Strawberry noticing that, near Cherry, it smelled like cherries. Four-year-olds facepalmed watching that.
