History IdiotBall / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': Every character except for Sasha falls into this trope in the episode "Sprivy". Sprig and Ivy become obsessed with spending time together, that they meddle with Sasha choice of teams for. But they fail to see that meddling with the teams Sasha assigned for them just to avoid 5 minutes of separation would be a bad idea, as Sasha tells them that their job is more important than their relationship and later after tricking Stumpy and Fern into switching up, they completely ignore Stumpy's warning about the dangers of messing with Sasha's tactical decisions as he says this right in front of them. Also their way of tricking Stumpy and Fern is by forging a fake letter from Sasha. Saying that they should switch up only because Sprig and Ivy are dating, and not because of a reason that would actually make sense. Stumpy and Fern easily believe Sprig and Ivy's fake letter without question, despite their BadBadActing. Regardless, Stumpy was right and the mission almost ends in failure because of their bone-headed decision.

*
''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': Every character except for Sasha falls into this trope in the episode "Sprivy". Sprig and Ivy become obsessed with spending time together, that they meddle with Sasha choice of teams for. But they fail to see that meddling with the teams Sasha assigned for them just to avoid 5 minutes of separation would be a bad idea, as Sasha tells them that their job is more important than their relationship and later after tricking Stumpy and Fern into switching up, they completely ignore Stumpy's warning about the dangers of messing with Sasha's tactical decisions as he says this right in front of them. Also their way of tricking Stumpy and Fern is by forging a fake letter from Sasha. Saying that they should switch up only because Sprig and Ivy are dating, and not because of a reason that would actually make sense. Stumpy and Fern easily believe Sprig and Ivy's fake letter without question, despite their BadBadActing. Regardless, Stumpy was right and the mission almost ends in failure because of their bone-headed decision.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/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, 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 Wonder Twins of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', then one could say they keep pretty true to the original characters.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The only person who is safe from this is [[VillainProtagonist Mr. Cat]] -- and even he was used for this in "Let's Play Catch the Mailman".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': One major complaint fans have with Season 2 is that nearly ''everyone'' is carrying the IdiotBall.
** Lin is suddenly incompetent and quite frankly lazy in her handling of the attacks on Republic City, whilst constantly berating Mako for actually being proactive. She even falls for a rather obvious frame up when Mako gets too close to the truth.
** Korra enters the spirit world to close the portals to the human world when in reality it would be much safer to wait until after Harmonic Convergence has ended. Only she can open both portals after all. [[spoiler: And in the end the two {{Big Bad}}s take a child hostage to force her to do so. This culminates in [[GodOfEvil Vaatu's]] escape when the convergence arrives a week later.]]
** Suyin is guilty of this in Season 4, where her [[spoiler:attempt to kill the antagonist, Kuvira, just makes things worse and lands her and the bulk of her family in jail.]]

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E9PrankstaRap 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': Grabbed by Molly, Tooey, Trini, and Oscar in "Tooth Or Consequences." Granted, Molly and company are young kids, and do have very active imaginations. But even kids should be smart enough to know that no licensed dentist would use a giant drill or even a ''jackhammer'' on a kid's teeth, or their butt would lose their medical license big time and most likely be arrested, if not sued for malpractice. Even so, the kids all believe the sensational video Molly's cousin that sent them, and it takes an actual dentist to set them straight.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited Unlimited'' 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, 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 Wonder Twins of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', then one could say they keep pretty true to the original characters.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited Unlimited'' 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 Wonder Twins of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', then one could say they keep pretty true to the original characters.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'': Despite being relatively sane, [[HypercompetentSidekick Slinkman]] likes to carry the Idiot Ball around a lot.

** Exaggerated in "Return of the L.O.S.E.R.S." Timmy becomes so stupid that he can't do anything without his fairies (which includes dressing up, walking, and eating), so when the they leave him, the titular group of villains decides to attack.

** Iroh, usually 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.

'''[=SpongeBob=]''': [[ItMakesSenseInContext *Impersonating Mr. Krabs.*]] [[DumbassHasAPoint Argh, it's true, Mr. Squidward.]] Now get back to work!

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Moon grabs this hard in the final stretch of the show. [[spoiler:Even knowing that the ArcVillain Mina Loveberry is an uncontrollable crazed woman who wants to kill all monsters her own daughter fought so hard to protect, she still allies herself with her in order to get her kingdom back, and even gives her the army of Solarian warriors she wanted. It doesn't even occurs to her to warn Star or Eclipsa about it before joining her, or that Mina will turn against her too once she gets her plans going, not even to change the spell used to create the warriors so she could control them instead of Mina of Queen Solaria.]]

* Lion-O of ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1986'' 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.

** Exaggerated in "Return of the L.O.S.E.R.S." Timmy becomes so stupid that he can't do anything without his fairies (which includes dressiiiing up, walking, and eating), so when the they leave him, the titular group of villains deciides to attack.

** While it may be easier to list the appearances Numbah 86 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. However, she was a serious feminist, so maybe she just was using it as an excuse to get rid of him...[[note]] Actually, no it's not, Numbah 86 spent the episode decommissioning anyone and everyone the computer said was scheduled for said action-''male or female''. Also, at one point she outright stated that she ''did not care'' about the actual ages of those being decommissioned-meaning that even if Numbah One ''had'' managed to prove his case it would have been meaningless.[[/note]]
*** The placement of said Idiot Ball in that case may have been a slight homage: 86 also being the Agent number of the CloudCuckoolander lead in ''Series/GetSmart''.

*** Speaking of Bart's handwriting, one of his more audacious pranks occurs in "Bart the Lover" when he successfully strikes up a romantic correspondence with his ''teacher,'' even making the InventedIndividual more attractive with details he gleaned from his knowledge of her in the classroom ("Woodrow" specifies in his very first letter that he hates yo-yos). [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation It makes you wonder]] if Mrs. Krabappel was lonely enough to [[SelectiveOblivious ignore all the evidence]] in favor of the fantasy.

** Just about every character in the show has a gaping blind spot when it comes to "El Barto," a legendary Springfield graffiti artist who's [[LazyAlias exactly the person you'd expect]]. This is despite the fact that Bart is notorious for delinquent behavior throughout Springfield and beyond to the degree that he'll more typically be the prime suspect in crimes he [[NotMeThisTime didn't commit]], besides the fact that some of the graffiti goes as far as ''depicting'' Bart (in a mask). One episode has Skinner calling Bart the ''second-''biggest troublemaker at Springfield Elementary, the first being the as-yet-unidentified El Barto.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has nearly the entire cast written as idiots and most episodes involve an IdiotPlot. Certain characters like Brian and Joe Swanson tend to be used as the voice of reason, but they are sometimes given the idiot ball to help advance the plot or assist in the random gag of the day.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, the show 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 {{IdiotPlot}}s 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.

** Then there's the episode ''[[IdiotPlot A Prime Problem]]''... Let's just say, both sides, but [[EspeciallyZoidberg especially Autobots]] take [[TookALevelInDumbass several levels of dumbass]] just so the episode could work. [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/A_Prime_Problem The episode's TFWiki article]] sums it up pretty nicely.

%%* Despite being relatively sane, [[HypercompetentSidekick Slinkman]] of ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'' likes to carry the Idiot Ball around a lot.

* Most of the characters on ''{{WesternAnimation/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 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.
* 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The only person who is safe from this is [[VillainProtagonist Mr. Cat]] - and even he was used for this in "Let's Play Catch the Mailman".

* One ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode focuses on a series of salesmen who have been exploiting Hank's customer loyalty by constantly overcharging him, resulting in him paying over the odds for a new car. Hank is normally shown as being a master of most life skills, including household budgeting and automotive maintenance, so it is hard to believe that he could be so oblivious in this situation (especially when Peggy of all people is on the ball). To make matters worse the plot then involves Hank becoming the unwitting leader of a terrorist organisation.
* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra:'' One major complaint fans have with season 2 is that nearly ''everyone'' is carrying the IdiotBall.

** Suyin is guilty of this in season 4, where her [[spoiler:attempt to kill the antagonist, Kuvira, just makes things worse and lands her and the bulk of her family in jail.]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'', Kion meets the ObviouslyEvil lions of the outlands, led by Zira. Zira tells him that using his superpowered roar against other lions will cause him to lose the roar forever, and he believes her and is rendered helpless for most of the episode. Except, his father Simba told him very clearly before that his uncle Scar, who had the roar before him, lost it not because he used it on other lions, but because he used it for evil and selfish purposes. This is compounded with the fact that the most stupid of his friends, Bunga, is the one who has to remind him of this, at which point he then easily defeats the outsider lions.

** "Growing Up is Hard to Do" depicts the Cutie Mark Crusaders as being unable to use the train, use maps, and travel by themselves because of their age. Note that they've done all three of these each several times in the past, most notably being able to travel from Equestria to the Crystal Empire alone by scooter, with absolutely no problem whatsoever, to say nothing of them now being apparently old enough to tutor and have jobs. According to WordOfGod, this is because the episode was originally penned for back in season 5, but they didn't get the green light until the final season and wanted to do the episode so badly they didn't care about the plot holes.

* While a lot of it is {{Flanderization}} into simply dumber characters, 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 {{IdiotPlot}}s 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.

** The trope applies to several episodes, with varying results - [[TheFool SpongeBob]], [[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...
** The episode where [=SpongeBob=] lost his name tag had a big one. Normally, retracing your steps is a smart way to find something you lost. The idiot part is how [=SpongeBob=] thinks he has to perfectly recreate everything he did that morning, no matter how unpleasant, and having to redo the whole thing if even the tiniest detail is missed. It's telling when Patrick by contrast grabs the smart ball after all this and tells Spongebob to just keep going through the rest of his day instead of focusing on one specific part.

* Episode 12 of ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' 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?).
* Every character in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' 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 morons: 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.

* This happens quite a bit in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' for when a character gets themselves eliminated. There are many instances where, in order to eliminate a contestant, said contestant will make a stupid mistake that will cause them to get either blindsided or temporarily earn the hatred of their competitors. An infamous example is when Heather hides the invincibility statue in ''All-Stars'' after finding it, only for Alejandro to find it and use it against her.

* ''WesternAnimation/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.''

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 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 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.
* Phantom Limb was holding it very firmly in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' during The Monarch's backstory. He fails to recognize Monarch as one of his own Shadowmen when Limb catches him with Queen Etheria, and buys his story that he's actually a different villain named Manotaur (who actually does exist, unbeknownst to The Monarch). That alone is one thing, but TheStinger of the episode shows that Phantom Limb ''somehow never once questioned it'', because he's seen exacting his revenge on the aforementioned Manotaur, who 1) is now retired, 2) had nothing to do with the above events, and 3) ''looks nothing like The Monarch''.

* In season four ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', soon after the Winx have arrived on Earth, they investigate what turns out to be an animal smuggling operation and are caught off guard and captured by two perfectly ordinary criminal humans. They [[LampshadeHanging wonder aloud]] how they could have been beaten by two random crooks when [[MuggingTheMonster they're incredibly powerful magical beings who routinely go up against other incredibly powerful magical beings. Then they use their powers and get the crooks to back down.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

%%* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' {{sequel series}} ''WesternAnimation/ThePebblesAndBammBammShow'', Pebbles is very prone to this.


* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'', episode "Sonic Breakout", Robotnik captures Sonic's favorite comic book artist, and Sonic decides that the best way to break him out is to get captured himself. Now, this in and of itself isn't idiotic. But assuming that Robotnik ''wasn't'' smart enough to build a cell specifically designed to hold his archenemy, who could escape a normal cell with ease? His henchmen may make that mistake, but ''he's'' not that stupid. It's worth mentioning that Robotnik later grabs the ball himself, leaving said henchmen in the room to guard the cell, which was what let Sonic escape.
%% ** In ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', Antoine would occasionally be used for this. The mini-episode Fed Up with Antoine was the most blatant example of this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E2LisasRival Lisa's Rival]]", 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."
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E9PrankstaRap 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.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E1BeyondBlunderdome Beyond Blunderdome]]" has Creator/MelGibson coming to town to screen his remake of ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington''. Rather than listen to how 99.9% of the audience loves the movie and hails his performance as genius, Gibson thinks they're all too awed by his star power to be honest. He thus focuses on the ''one'' bad review of the bunch, written by (of course) Homer, who complains about the lack of violence in the movie. Rather than realize how Homer is a total moron with no taste, Gibson thinks Homer is the "only one with the guts to be truthful" and makes the huge mistake of listening to his advice on how to reshoot the movie. The result is the film now ends with a scene of Gibson's Smith going on a bloody rampage that completely misses the point of the original film. The reaction is horrible as the movie flops and Jimmy Stewart's granddaughter threatens to sue Gibson for defamation. It's when Homer presses on Gibson making things more violent that it finally hits Gibson he's been listening to an idiot. He kicks Homer out of the car while moaning on [[HilariousInHindsight his career is ruined and the public will never see him as a beloved actor again.]]

* Lion-O of ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1986'' 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.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited Unlimited'' 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 Wonder Twins of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', then one could say they keep pretty true to the original characters.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' 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.

* Episode 12 of ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' 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?).

* Most of the characters on ''{{WesternAnimation/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 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.
* 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.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 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 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, 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 {{IdiotPlot}}s 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.



* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra:'' One major complaint fans have with season 2 is that nearly ''everyone'' is carrying the IdiotBall.
** Lin is suddenly incompetent and quite frankly lazy in her handling of the attacks on Republic City, whilst constantly berating Mako for actually being proactive. She even falls for a rather obvious frame up when Mako gets too close to the truth.
** Korra enters the spirit world to close the portals to the human world when in reality it would be much safer to wait until after Harmonic Convergence has ended. Only she can open both portals after all. [[spoiler: And in the end the two {{Big Bad}}s take a child hostage to force her to do so. This culminates in [[GodOfEvil Vaatu's]] escape when the convergence arrives a week later.]]
** Suyin is guilty of this in season 4, where her [[spoiler:attempt to kill the antagonist, Kuvira, just makes things worse and lands her and the bulk of her family in jail.]]
* This happens quite a bit in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' for when a character gets themselves eliminated. There are many instances where, in order to eliminate a contestant, said contestant will make a stupid mistake that will cause them to get either blindsided or temporarily earn the hatred of their competitors. An infamous example is when Heather hides the invincibility statue in ''All-Stars'' after finding it, only for Alejandro to find it and use it against her.
** There are also plenty of times in which a contestant is dumbed down for an episode when the season's BigBad is working on manipulating them in some way in order to make them foolish enough to make the mistakes necessary for the villain's plans to work and get someone eliminated while the real threat remains in the game. Mal in ''All-Stars'' and Alejandro in ''World Tour'' are often accused of invoking this by their detractors (notably with Zoey and all of Team Victory), but even Heather has a couple instances under her belt (such as easily convincing Trent that Gwen didn't actually like him in order to break them apart).
* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'': Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy are all handed the Idiot Ball in the 2014 Paul Rudish short "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E11MickeyMonkey Mickey Monkey]]". After a monkey steals Mickey's clothes, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald all mistake the monkey for Mickey and vice versa even though the only way they are identical is that they both have black fur and a similar body shape. They don't even suspect anything when the monkey doesn't speak English or even when he grooms Minnie as he would for a mate. After Mickey gets his clothes back and chases the monkey away, he is then unable to notice that now his friends have been replaced by a trio of gators that stole their clothes as the monkey did with him.

* Phantom Limb was holding it very firmly in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' during The Monarch's backstory. He fails to recognize Monarch as one of his own Shadowmen when Limb catches him with Queen Etheria, and buys his story that he's actually a different villain named Manotaur (who actually does exist, unbeknownst to The Monarch). That alone is one thing, but TheStinger of the episode shows that Phantom Limb ''somehow never once questioned it'', because he's seen exacting his revenge on the aforementioned Manotaur, who 1) is now retired, 2) had nothing to do with the above events, and 3) ''looks nothing like The Monarch''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Onion Trade" is about when Onion steals Steven's rare action figure, Ranger Guy. Steven discovers a magical artefact that can replicate anything. Steven wants Onion to give back Ranger Guy. Does Steven use the wand to replicate the toy that Onion took and resolve the whole thing in five seconds? Nope. Instead he creates a bajillion copies of one of the more common action figures and creates a HUGE mess and destroys half the city doing so. Pearl even asks Steven why he didn't just replicate Ranger Guy, to which Steven replies "....DANG IT!!" Though do bear in mind this was an early episode of the show, and Steven wasn't always very smart in those early episodes, but STILL, even then he was usually leagues smarter than THIS.
* One ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode focuses on a series of salesmen who have been exploiting Hank's customer loyalty by constantly overcharging him, resulting in him paying over the odds for a new car. Hank is normally shown as being a master of most life skills, including household budgeting and automotive maintenance, so it is hard to believe that he could be so oblivious in this situation (especially when Peggy of all people is on the ball). To make matters worse the plot then involves Hank becoming the unwitting leader of a terrorist organisation.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'', Kion meets the ObviouslyEvil lions of the outlands, led by Zira. Zira tells him that using his superpowered roar against other lions will cause him to lose the roar forever, and he believes her and is rendered helpless for most of the episode. Except, his father Simba told him very clearly before that his uncle Scar, who had the roar before him, lost it not because he used it on other lions, but because he used it for evil and selfish purposes. This is compounded with the fact that the most stupid of his friends, Bunga, is the one who has to remind him of this, at which point he then easily defeats the outsider lions.

* In season four ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', soon after the Winx have arrived on Earth, they investigate what turns out to be an animal smuggling operation and are caught off guard and captured by two perfectly ordinary criminal humans. They [[LampshadeHanging wonder aloud]] how they could have been beaten by two random crooks when [[MuggingTheMonster they're incredibly powerful magical beings who routinely go up against other incredibly powerful magical beings. Then they use their powers and get the crooks to back down.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'':
** Jet gets passed this in "Mindy's Weather Report". In that episode, Mindy tells the gang that a storm is on Saturn, and Jet believes that there's a storm in Boxwood Terrace, and tells all the neighbors (including the Petersons) to prepare, despite the number of times Sean, Sydney, and Mindy try to tell Jet that the storm is on Saturn. When the gang goes into space, they see the storm on Saturn and Jet says: "Why didn't you tell me?" with Sean and Sydney in annoyance.
** Mindy gets passed the idiot ball in "Galileo, Galileo!", where she believes that the sun orbits the Earth, despite the fact that in "Round and Round", she portrayed the Sun and saw that the solar system revolves around the sun, not the Earth.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Rick doesn't act suspicious at all when Morty is insistent on him not testing the horse semen, and refuses to test it just because of Morty's pestering. If Rick was naturally suspicious, the sperm monsters wouldn't have been created.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** Discounting the number of times WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd (who, in turn, is holding the SmartBall by [[ObfuscatingInsanity successfully faking insanity]]) outsmarts him, WesternAnimation/BugsBunny is less intelligent than usual in ''WesternAnimation/HareBrush'', such as eating a literal spoon instead of taking a teaspoon of Elmer's medication.
** WesternAnimation/PorkyPig is usually one of the more lucid members of the cast, but in the three Creator/ChuckJones shorts where he's paired with Sylvester, he plays TheFool who is completely oblivious to the imminent danger he's in and [[CassandraTruth refuses to believe]] [[ProperlyParanoid Sylvester]] when he's trying to warn him. In the final short, he even sees an alien and simply thinks it's a "friendly Navajo".
** Sylvester is dopier than usual in ''Catch as Cats Can'', compounded by the fact that his usual lisp is replaced with a SimpletonVoice in this short.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': In "Devil Dog", Bugs believes that the Tasmanian Devil is [[MistakenForDog a dog]] and [[IRejectYourReality refuses to believe anyone who tells him otherwise]]. Even [[TheDitz Daffy]] is aware that Taz is a dangerous beast. It’s not until Daffy causes a pandemonium at the dog show that he’s convinced otherwise.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Harley Quinn's idiot ball ''is'' The Joker. With him around, she's hardly more dangerous than the average {{Mook}}. When she sets out on her own (Or with Poison Ivy), she becomes a ''deadly threat'' that on one occasion completely outsmarted Batman and came closer to killing him than any other villain in Gotham. This is even {{Lampshade|Hanging}}ed in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' where, without the Joker, Harley's [[TookALevelInBadass Taken A Level In Badass:]]
--> '''Joker:''' What's confusing me is how the hell she found your top-secret Bat-base, Bat-face? She couldn't find her own reflection in a mirror when I was ALIVE. It's like something was holding her back.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Max embraces the idiot ball like a long lost lover in "Hidden Agenda". She's being targeted by Jokerz and she ends up coming to the conclusion that Terry is one, so she decides to send him a threatening note to meet her in the park at 8 pm or she'll blow his cover. So... these Jokerz have been ''trying to kill her'', her plan is to demand one of them meet her at night in a secluded park, and she actually expected to not just meet a group of armed Jokerz waiting in ambush when she showed up at the meeting place?
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', specifically when Grodd thought turning Batman into a 400 pound gorilla would ensure his total victory.
** Another example involving Grodd 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 Grodd.
*** Possibly justified in that this was a last resort and originally Grodd was trying to escape. And with his mental powers he came close to overwhelming Superman.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', where in most episodes it's Timmy's idiocy that gets the plot moving. And very often keeps it moving, as Timmy could easily resolve most of the plots with wishing, and on the occasion that there is a reason why he can't, it's usually pretty flimsy.
** In "Man's Worst Friend", Timmy doesn't seem to immediately notice that Sparky has been replaced with his anti-fairy counterpart. Keep in mind that the main distinguishing feature separating anti-fairies from fairies is that anti-fairies are blue with bits of black.
** Exaggerated in "Return of the L.O.S.E.R.S." Timmy becomes so stupid that he can't do anything without his fairies (which includes dressiiiing up, walking, and eating), so when the they leave him, the titular group of villains deciides to attack.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': Fred Flintstone gets hit with one halfway through "Dino Disappears". When he's looking for his runaway dinosaur Dino, he sees a random dinosaur in someone's backyard that looks just like his pet and immediately decides that this must be Dino, to the point of ignoring all evidence to the contrary and enacting out a kidnapping scheme. What makes this more noticeable is that, not five minutes earlier, Fred himself encountered three dinosaurs that looked exactly identical to Dino but weren't him.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** Iroh, usually 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.
*** Taking the two above, it looks more like his dangerous obsession with tea is his own idiot ball.
** 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.
*** 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".
%%* Despite being relatively sane, [[HypercompetentSidekick Slinkman]] of ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'' likes to carry the Idiot Ball around a lot.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'':
** While it may be easier to list the appearances Numbah 86 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. However, she was a serious feminist, so maybe she just was using it as an excuse to get rid of him...[[note]] Actually, no it's not, Numbah 86 spent the episode decommissioning anyone and everyone the computer said was scheduled for said action-''male or female''. Also, at one point she outright stated that she ''did not care'' about the actual ages of those being decommissioned-meaning that even if Numbah One ''had'' managed to prove his case it would have been meaningless.[[/note]]
*** The placement of said Idiot Ball in that case may have been a slight homage: 86 also being the Agent number of the CloudCuckoolander lead in ''Series/GetSmart''.
** In the cold opening to "Operation: C.A.R.A.M.E.L.", Numbuh 5 (usually the most sensible of the main characters) goes to Guatemala and finds [[WeUsedToBeFriends Heinrich]] once again attempting an ancient ritual that [[ItMakesSenseInContext exchanges a person's most prized trait for caramels]]. He fell victim to that curse previously and, not knowing how to break it, [[NeverMyFault blames her]] [[NoodleIncident for what happened]]. It was such a traumatic incident that it ended their friendship (at least in Heinrich's eyes) and made him do a FaceHeelTurn. However, now he claims he found a way to get back what he lost and just needs her help to move some sugar into the ritual circle. Knowing him and how vindictive he can be (''especially'' [[BerserkButton when it comes to Guatemala]]), you'd think Numbuh 5 would be on her guard even more than usual here. But with very little hesitation, she believes him and walks right into his trap, getting cursed herself (and kicking off the episode). We even learn later that [[spoiler:Numbuh 5 had the very item Heinrich needed to undo his curse and already knew the true way to break it]].

* Inverted by ''WesternAnimation/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. Typically these happened when the former two held this trope and got into scrapes similar to the ones they usually save Gadget from.

* ''WesternAnimation/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/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.
** [[NebulousEvilOrganization HYDRA]] and [[ScienceIsBad AIM]] are fighting and destroying New York in the ensuing battle. What does Maria Hill do with her army of [[EliteMooks highly trained soldiers]] and [[AirborneAircraftCarrier flying aircraft carrier]]? Go after the Avengers [[SkewedPriorities and make them join S.H.I.E.L.D. by force, naturally]].
* 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 [[OnlySaneMan 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.
* 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]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episode "Double Trouble", both Snap and Penny seem to be holding it when they run into Rudy's evil robot double created by Skrawl and Craniac 4. While Robo-Rudy has some pretty clear differences between him and the real Rudy, both Snap and Penny (who's TheSmartGuy, even) can't tell the difference until Craniac 4 slips up his dialogue for Robo-Rudy and accidentally reveals he's a robot double.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has nearly the entire cast written as idiots and most episodes involve an IdiotPlot. Certain characters like Brian and Joe Swanson tend to be used as the voice of reason, but they are sometimes given the idiot ball to help advance the plot or assist in the random gag of the day.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The only person who is safe from this is [[VillainProtagonist Mr. Cat]] - and even he was used for this in "Let's Play Catch the Mailman".

* ''WesternAnimation/HollyHobbieAndFriends'': One of the main issues critics had with ''Fabulous Fashion Show'' was that Holly was passed the idiot ball and as a result was acting out of character and like a complete YesMan to Portia. The ball was then passed over to Amy and Carrie in ''Marvelous Makeover'' for most of the first story before it was finally threw away, but by then it was too late.