History Main / AbominationAccusationAttack

Don't bother to do a {{Frameup}}: False evidence can be disproved, false testimony can be questioned. Instead, just go for the lower instinct, make people so afraid that they dare not disregard the accusation. What if it's true; we can't really take that risk, can we? After all, there's no smoke without fire, so let's just bring out the TorchesAndPitchforks and start the big {{Paedohunt}} or whatever. This can be done against individuals as well as groups. Supertrope of AllGaysArePedophiles and SlutShaming. When an AAA is honest, it's often caused by AggressiveCategorism or BlackAndWhiteInsanity. Don't be surprised if these people resort to ActivistFundamentalistAntics.

Please note that [[FalseRapeAccusation false accusations of actual rape]] or child sexual abuse is {{Frameup}} rather than this trope. Same goes for non-sexual examples, such as accusing someone of [[EatsBabies ''eating'' children]] in a literal non-metaphorical way: It's this trope if the accusation is that he ''will'' eat your children, or has eaten children in general. If it's trying to pin the disappearance of the local missing kid on him, then it's {{Frameup}} instead. Honest & sane accusations have nothing at all to do with this trope: Just like {{Frameup}}, it's entirely about the malicious kind. In real life, this sort of thing tends to invite defamation suits (for obvious reasons), but that doesn't mean that they don't still occur, especially since being sued can often result in the party making the accusations becoming a martyr and/or looking like they were on to something, because why would anyone file suit if the accusations weren't true? Sadly, this sometimes works.

* ''Fanfic/CheshireMiraculousLadybug'': PlayedWith. The Black Cat Miraculous was lost long ago and has a long, uncomfortable legacy of being used by Evil Holders. Due to this, Master Fu and the other kwami are wary of Cheshire and Plagg, and determined to retrieve the Ring for fear of what she might do with it. However, Cheshire has been using the Ring to help out her community through countless acts of civilian-level heroics (stopping muggings, rescues, helping old people across the street). When Misterbug and Pegasus attack her, seemingly unprovoked, it's ''their'' reputations'' that take a nosedive, with Cheshire becoming Paris' most popular hero.

* ''Film/TheWizard'' features a trio of children who basically run away from home so that one of them can join a video game tournament on the other side of the country. They're chased by a private detective hired by the boys' mother. When he finally corners them, the girl of the trio shouts out "HE TOUCHED MY BREAST!" It's PlayedForLaughs, but then the FridgeHorror hits for what this will probably do to the man for the rest of his life, [[HeroAntagonist just for doing his job]] and unintentionally looking a little creepy while doing it. However, while he does get roughed up by a group of bystanders, a random accusation with no follow-up doesn't stand up in a court of law. We see him later on, alive and free (albeit with a black eye). The accusation could still damage his reputation though if others heard.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', TheBoxingEpisode "Beat On the Brat" ends with a match against a pro boxer, and you're told that ThrowingTheFight will get you a bigger payout. Immediately after, a random little girl shows up and tells you that said boxer murdered her father. If you win the fight, it's revealed that the girl was a plant set up by one of his rivals to get you to help destroy his career.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", Kyle is furious at his parents for not letting him go to a ''Raging Pussies'' concert despite him fulfilling a ridiculously difficult task they had assumed he wouldn't be able to (get Fidel Castro to abandon communism). Cartman tells him to just call the police and tell them his parents had been "molestering" him, even though none of the boys know what molestation is and treat it like a magic spell. Sure enough, the cops haul the Brofloski's away with no proof whatsoever, and social services don't even bother to check that anyone else looks after the kids, and Kyle relishes in his newfound freedom. Soon, all the kids begin accusing their families and teachers of molestation, and shortly after, the entire town is left to the kids.

* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'', after the Tenth Crusade's initial offensives into Callow get clobbered, Queen Catherine is declared Arch-Heretic of the East, despite not being a Dread Empress. This so infuriates the Callowan priesthood, who see it as [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry cynically whitewashing the latest Proceran invasion]], that they in turn declare the entire conclave that made the first declaration to be heretics, and the associated heroes to be imposters.

* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'', after the Tenth Crusade's initial offensives into Callow get clobbered, Queen Catherine is declared Arch-Heretic of the East, despite not being a Dread Empress. This so infuriates the Callowan priesthood, who see it as [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry whitewash slapped on the latest Proceran invasion]], that they in turn declare the entire conclave that made the first declaration to be heretics, and the associated heroes to be imposters.