History Main / ArrestedForHeroism

* The ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' CrisisCrossover and the general status quo afterward consisted of Marvel doing this to their superheroes and then wondering why people thought ComicBook/IronMan was a jerk for setting this plot up in the first place.

* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVI'' starts with Roger Wilco being [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished court-martialed for saving [=StarCon=] ]] from [[ThePlague Pukoids]] in the previous game, on the grounds that Roger disobeyed orders [[spoiler:and killed their golden boy Captain Quirk]] to do so. Roger is then forcibly demoted from Captain to Janitor Second Class, to the point of being [[InsigniaRipOffRitual stripped bare of his uniform]]. Roger gets [[KangarooCourt no say whatsoever in the matter]], let alone a lawyer.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** This ends up being [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], as it's shown that the oppressive regulations have the ordinary members of the public either becoming too scared of repercussions to lift a finger to help anyone else & developing BystanderSyndrome, or DrivenToVillainy (or [[Manga/MyHeroAcademiaVigilantes vigilantism]]) by the unfairness of it all. One prominent example being Gentle Criminal, who had his life ruined by the legal system after a [[FailureHero botched rescue attempt]] and sought FameThroughInfamy as a consequence.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', because of the regulated nature of Quirks, it is against the law for anyone to use their powers to help people or fight against villains whether it was for self-defense or not unless they are certified to do so. Iida, Midoriya and Todoroki nearly find themselves in legal trouble when they defeat the wanted villain Stain because they weren't professional heroes, but the police chief sweeps the incident under the rug and credits Endeavor with Stain's arrest. Similarly, after the aforementioned three, Kirishima and Yaoyorozu embark on an unauthorized mission to rescue Bakugo, Aizawa announces that he'd have had all five and [[AccompliceByInaction those who knew about the rescue attempt and didn't report it]] expelled if not for [[spoiler:All Might's retirement]].

* Alyssa [[=McKinney=]] [[https://www.denverpost.com/2012/02/18/zero-tolerance-rules-forced-colorado-schools-harsh-stand-on-shared-inhaler/ gave an asthma inhaler to her friend]] Breana Crites after she thought Crites was hit by a particularly bad asthma attack. [[note]]In actuality, Crites was short of breath in gym class and they both legitimately thought the inhaler would help. They didn't know if Crites actually had asthma, though the attacks have happened before.[[/note]] The parents considered her a hero. The school, citing its Zero Tolerance policy, initially suspended both students for "passing drugs". [[=McKinney=]] was allowed back in school, probably due to her father's advocacy. Crites was expelled, a semester away from graduation. The girls no longer speak to each other as of 2012.

* Alyssa McKinney [[https://www.denverpost.com/2012/02/18/zero-tolerance-rules-forced-colorado-schools-harsh-stand-on-shared-inhaler/ gave an asthma inhaler to her friend]] Breana Crites after she thought Crites was hit by a particularly bad asthma attack. [[note]]In actuality, Crites was short of breath in gym class and they both legitimately thought the inhaler would help. They didn't know if Crites actually had asthma, though the attacks have happened before.[[/note]] The parents considered her a hero. The school, citing its Zero Tolerance policy, initially suspended both students for "passing drugs". McKinney was allowed back in school, probably due to her father's advocacy. Crites was expelled, a semester away from graduation. The girls no longer speak to each other as of 2012.

* There's a story of [[http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/01/28/2-students-face-expulsion-for-sharing-an-asthma-inhaler/ an asthmatic student who gave another student her breather]] after she thought the other student was hit by a particularly bad asthma attack. (Said second student did not actually have asthma.) The parents considered her a hero. The school, citing their Zero Tolerance policy, suspended both students for "passing drugs".

* In ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' [[InspectorJavert Wakagi]] initially wanted to bring Sailor V in because he felt her actions were humiliating the police (and indeed Minako plainly admitted she stopped normal crime for just that reason, before her ChronicHeroSyndrome kicked in) and for her vigilantism. The vigilantism accuse was endorsed by his boss, superintendent general Natsuna Sakurada... [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee as an excuse to cover the fact she was a fan of Sailor V]] and just wanted a chance to try and get her in the police. This is eventually abandoned when Sakurada befriends Minako and then discovers she's Sailor V, as now she both know she is justified in her actions-and has her phone number to try and convince her to join the police.

* The first season of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' climaxes with Section 9 trying to avoid this. [[spoiler: A leak to the public media of their existence set them up be used as scapegoats for a massive government scandal.]] This trope is played straight in the 2nd season when Togusa is arrested for using his handgun when he tried to save a distressed civilian. He was technically an off-duty police officer at the time.

*** One of the most blatant examples was ComicBook/SheHulk. One of the few members on the registration side that was likeable, Jennifer Walters spent Civil War mostly on the sidelines helping file lawsuits for both sides. At the end of Civil War, she's working with ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} to train a team to fight [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'s standard enemies. For those who weren't following her, specifically it becomes a shock when she suddenly disappears from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s roster. It turns out she got rather pissed when she found out that Tony Stark sent Hulk into space (and lied about it to her to get Jen to sleep with him) and punched him (when he was in armor). Stark took this as a perfect reason to inject her with nanites that removed her powers, and then fired her for her "uncontrollable behavior". (Stark seemed to forget, of course, that Jen is a lawyer; later in the ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' storyline, she sued him to ''force'' him to deactivate the nanites permanently.)

** Like Call of Cthulhu above, player characters in ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' risk running afoul of authority. Well, it's kind of inevitable when the authority is likely to be controlled by vampires or mages. Defied by [[TheMenInBlack Task Force VALKYRIE]] (or VASCU, or Division Six, or the Barrett Commission), since they belong to the (U.S.) government. [[spoiler: In the case of Division Six, they are immune to this trope because ''they'' are unwitting pawns of those who don't want humankind to Awaken into magic.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', The Warden (and Alistair, if he's in your party at the time), get charged with the murder of [[spoiler: Arl Howe]] whilst rescuing Queen Anora who is being held captive in his Estate. Made even worse when Anora [[UngratefulBastard accuses you of being the kidnappers]].

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' has a rather major one. [[spoiler: John Marston, forced to work for the government so three criminals can be brought to justice, not only gets rid of the criminals, but unintentionally helps end a Mexican Civil War, prevents various disasters, and helps many kind hearted folk in the community. His reward: the same government men come to his house and shoot him while he tries to help his family.]]
* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVI'' starts with Roger Wilco being [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished court-martialed for saving [=StarCon=] ]] from [[ThePlague Pukoids]] in the previous game, on the grounds that Roger disobeyed orders [[spoiler: and killed their golden boy Captain Quirk]] to do so. Roger is then forcibly demoted from Captain to Janitor Second Class, to the point of being [[InsigniaRipOffRitual stripped bare of his uniform]]. Roger gets [[KangarooCourt no say whatsoever in the matter]], let alone a lawyer.

* In the superhero arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', Kingman (Arthur as SupermanSubstitute) is [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1750.htm arrested by Homeland Security]] for refusing to stop a suspect without knowing what they're charged with. Subverted in that [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1753.htm he wants to use the trial to challenge the validity of the law]], but the court is so embarassed by the optics of putting the world's greatest hero on trial that [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1799.htm they drop the case]].

* At the end of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' Volume 7 episode 1, Team RWBY, JNR, Qrow and Oscar are arrested for a number of infractions (piloting a stolen aircraft, abandoning said aircraft, vigilante actions and not being licensed Huntsmen and Huntresses) despite saving Pietro Polendina's pharmacy. Thankfully, they're cleared soon afterwards.

* Although the facts of the case are complex, this trope was the editorial stance of some UK media outlets with regards to the case of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Martin_%28farmer%29 Tony Martin]], a British farmer who shot at two burglars on his property, killing one and wounding the other. Martin was arrested, tried for murder and attempted murder, and found guilty, although the murder conviction was reduced to one of manslaughter on appeal - the substance of the appeal was that Martin suffers from [[InsanityDefense paranoid personality disorder]], and the courts agreed, reducing his conviction on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Subverted in that he lay in wait for the burglars and continued to fire on them while they were fleeing and thus no longer posed a threat to his life or property, meaning it wasn't an act of heroism, but just cold-blooded murder. Despite this, the case was extremely divisive, and touched off a national debate about whether the law in Britain was rather too keen to arrest people for defending themselves or others. [[note]] The British Police have a clearly stated policy on the whole matter, which boils down to "the public shouldn't try to do our job for us, thank you very much", unless the circumstances are truly exceptional. [[/note]]

* ''Adventures in Arkham Country'' adventure "With Malice Aforethought". When the investigators discover an insane asylum that has had all of its staff murdered, they are arrested by the police and tried for the killings.

While villains often face terrible fates, the life of a {{hero|es}} isn't always a happy one either. This {{subtrope}} of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished pits two heroes against each other.

** ''The Fungi from Yuggoth''. On the Day of the Beast, Edward Chandler will summon the Beast (an avatar of Nyarlathotep) in Egypt. If the investigators kill him to prevent this and the Egyptian authorities capture them, the investigators will have to either prove Chandler's guilt or be executed for murder.

** In the supplement ''Terror from the Stars'', the "Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society" explains how killing Franchise/CthulhuMythos can cause the investigators to have problems with the authorities.

** From the "Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society" in ''Terror from the Stars'':

** ''Cthulhu Companion'':

** ''The Fungi from Yuggoth''. On the Day of the Beast Edward Chandler will summon the Beast (an avatar of Nyarlathotep) in Egypt. If the investigators kill him to prevent this and the Egyptian authorities capture them, the investigators will either have to prove Chandler's guilt or be executed for murder.

* Good Samaritan Law exists to avert this, at least when helping someone who is injured, ill, or in peril. Though laws vary by country, and often by state or province as well, they typically prevent rescuers from being sued for wrongdoing for helping a victim in distress so long as said rescuer obtained consent to provide aid (and a rescuer has implied consent if the victim is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond). The idea is to discourage the BystanderEffect for fear of being sued, and prevent incidents like in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' where Mr. Incredible is sued for injuries he indirectly inflicted on a man he saved who had tried to commit suicide.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Mr. Incredible gets sued for "saving someone who didn't want to be saved", the person in question being a man who had jumped off a building to commit suicide. This leads to more lawsuits and the eventual government banning of superheroes. In the sequel, the family members are arrested at gunpoint and brought to the police station after another act of heroism. Although they were released from custody shortly afterward.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma Kamijou occasionally gets arrested or at least detained by the police after saving the day, because the police are not in on the {{Masquerade}}, so he can't explain why he is in a suspicious circumstance.

* Although the facts of the case are complex, this trope was the editorial stance of some UK media outlets with regards to the case of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Martin_%28farmer%29 Tony Martin]], a British farmer who shot at two burglars on his property, killing one and wounding the other[[note]] - major components of the complexity of the case were that he lay in wait for the burglars, and continued to fire on them while they were fleeing and thus no longer posed a threat to his life or property[[/note]]. Martin was arrested, tried for murder and attempted murder, and found guilty, although the murder conviction was reduced to one of manslaughter on appeal - the substance of the appeal was that Martin suffers from [[InsanityDefense paranoid personality disorder]], and the courts agreed, reducing his conviction on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The case was extremely divisive, and touched off a national debate about whether the law in Britain was rather too keen to arrest people for defending themselves or others. The British Police have a clearly stated policy on the whole matter, which boils down to "the public shouldn't try to do our job for us, thank you very much", unless the circumstances are truly exceptional.

* At the end of ''[[Machinima/RedVsBlue Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'', Agent Washington wiped out Project Freelancer, [[TheJuggernaut the Meta]], and all the project's [[AIIsACrapshoot experimental AIs]] with one blow. However, in doing so he also erased any evidence the Oversight Subcommittee needed to properly put the [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Director of Project Freelancer]] behind bars (except for the Epsilon [=AI=], which he handed to [[TheDitz Caboose]] to take away before firing the [=EMP=]). As a result, Wash ends up behind bars for his vigilante actions.

* In the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Semper Fortis", a retired Navy Corpsman gave first aid to three people who were in a car accident, saving the lives of two of them, and was arrested by the police when they arrived at the accident for practicing medicine without a license, because she wasn't a certified EMT. Gibbs, the survivors of the crash, and the family of the one who died all side with the ex-sailor, and do what they can to get her a reduced sentence.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'' this happens to the ComicBook/WhiteTiger, as he tries to break up a robbery.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'': Juggernaut robs a bank, but Colossus gets arrested instead.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', because of the regulated nature of Quirks, it is against the law for anyone to use their powers to help people or fight against villains whether it was for self-defense or not unless they are certified to do so. Iida, Midoriya and Todoroki nearly find themselves in legal trouble when they defeat the wanted villain Stain because they weren't professional heroes, but the police chief sweeps the incident under the rug and credits Endeavor with Stain's arrest. Similarly, after the aforementioned three, Kirishima and Yaoyorozu embark on an unauthorized mission to rescue Bakugo, Aizawa announces that he'd have had all five and [[AccompliceByInaction those who knew about the rescue attempt and didn't report it]] expelled if not for [[spoiler:All Might's retirement.]]
* [[spoiler:Archer]] of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' wandered the world fighting in multiple wars to save as many people as he could. Due to his involvement in so many conflicts it was easy for a criminal to frame him as the cause of one such war, leading to [[spoiler:Archer]]'s arrest and execution.
* Happens to Makoto Naegi in ''Side: Future'' of ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' as a consequence of [[spoiler: saving the Remnants of Despair]] during ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair''. He's shown in handcuffs in promotional artwork, and the plot of Side: Future is kicked off when he's brought to the Future Foundation headquarters to stand trial for trason.
* In ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' [[InspectorJavert Wakagi]] initially wanted to bring Sailor V in because he felt her actions were humiliating the police (and indeed Minako plainly admitted she stopped normal crime for just that reason, before her ChronicHeroSyndrome kicked in) and for her vigilantism. The vigilantism accuse was endorsed by his boss, superintendent general Natsuna Sakurada... [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee as an excuse to cover the fact she was a fan of Sailor V]] and just wanted a chance to try and get her in the police. This is eventually abandoned when Sakurada befriends Minako and then discovers she's Sailor V, as now she both know she is justified in her actions-and has her phone number to try and convince her to join the police.
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma Kamijou occasionally gets arrested or at least detained by the police after saving the day, because the police are not in on the {{Masquerade}}, so he can't explain why he is in a suspicious circumstance.
* ''Anime/ReCutieHoney'': Natsuko initially attempts to do this to Honey, as she believes her battles with Panther Claw [[DestructiveSavior do more damage than good.]] She does [[DefrostingIceQueen warm up to her over time though.]] [[spoiler: [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther Like, a lot...]]]]

* Depending on your definition of ''heroism'', this may have been what happened to Rorschach halfway through ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''.
* Almost occurs to several secondary characters repeatedly in ''ComicBook/{{Powers}}''.

* As it happens, the page image of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is an aversion and a [[CoversAlwaysLie misleading cover]]. To be sure, Cap was indeed imprisoned at Ryker's Island... but voluntarily, with the warden's knowledge, in order to test the prison's security by attempting to escape. The real thing did happen to Bucky Barnes when he took on the mantle of Captain America... ''twice''. He was first imprisoned by the U.S., then again by Russia as soon as the American court declared him innocent.
** During his stint as [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown The Captain]], though, Steve Rogers did get arrested for heroism a couple of times, since he no longer had government sanction to act as a superhero. The first was in Las Vegas for helping to stop some villains despite being warned off by the local cops, and the second was for saving Washington, D.C. (and, more directly, the President) from the Viper's scheme to turn the population into snake-people, though this time it was the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Commission on Superhuman Activities]] (the government organization that had forced Rogers to resign as Captain America in the first place) that took him in. Both cases were related, since the Vegas caper was an ad-hoc audition for the villains to join the [[WeirdTradeUnion Serpent Society]] as [[TheMole moles]] for the Viper. And the head of the C.S.A. at the time was himself a mole for the Red Skull, deliberately ignoring a command from the president to pardon Cap (in gratitude for being saved from being snaked up).

* A rookie cop attempts this to Franchise/{{Batman}} in Frank Miller's ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' series, as the rookie comes around a corner just in time to watch Bats deliver a spine-snapping kick to a thug (and not soon enough to have seen the gun the thug was holding to Batman's head). Batman ignores him in favor of shaking down the thug. The rookie's senior partner offers sage advice: "Don't try it, kid. He's being patient with you as it is."

* Franchise/SpiderMan, being a classic example of a HeroWithBadPublicity, occasionally has to flee police trying to bring him in for some crime he supposedly committed (or simply "for questioning").
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': Mind-controlling supervillain Universo once secretly took control of the government and passed laws forbidding the Legion from using their powers. When several members use their powers to save people during a monorail accident, they are arrested and sent to a prison planet.

* In ''ComicBook/BeforeWatchmen: Minutemen'', Silk Spectre's agent averted this during the solo phase of her career by making constant "donations" to the "widows and orphans fund". The police probably would have been justified in this case: many of Silk Spectre's acts of heroism were, in fact, staged - the villains were often actors and the places getting "robbed" were in on the whole thing, hoping that the headlines would mean free publicity.

* In ComicBook/AstroCity story "Pastoral", in the BackStory, Roustabout brought two [=TransGene=] vice presidents and claimed that they had kidnapped him and others, and performed experiments on them [[SoleSurvivor that killed the rest]]. They are acquitted, and he's convicted of breaking and entering. The character learning this is at first willing to accept the verdict, but later sees evidence that it was a MiscarriageOfJustice.

* ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': While working to take down a group of thieves with ComicBook/SteveTrevor Franchise/WonderWoman gets some unwanted aid from some leprechauns who bring the stolen loot to her trying to be helpful when she and Steve were just trying to find where it had been stashed and then alert the police so that they have evidence tying the "Shark" to the thefts. "Shark" realizes what is happening and calls the police on Wonder Woman to claim ''she's'' the one whose been stealing things before she even knows what the leprechauns have done, so when the police arrive they find her with a huge pile of stolen goods and arrest her for the thefts.
* In ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndianaJones'' #3, Indy stops an explosion intended to bury an army camp under an avalanche of rock by throwing the fused keg of blasting powder down the hill where it explodes safely away from the camp. He then settles down to wait, figuring that the army will come to investigate and he can explain the situation to the, He falls asleep and awakens to find the army arresting him as the saboteur who planted the explosives.

* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', George successfully defeats several monsters from [[TomeOfEldritchLore The Book of Characters]] and rips the book in half, thus exposing the villain behind the chaos as one of the librarians. Except that when more librarians show up and find George clutching half of the Book, they automatically assume he was the bad guy and zap him with a paralysis spell—thus allowing the evil librarian, actually a fake, to escape. To make matters worse, after a halfhearted apology, they hit him with a huge fine for ripping up the rare and valuable book.

* In ''Film/TheRainmaker'', Kelly (Claire Danes) was charged with murder after she took the rap for Rudy Baker killing her abusive husband with the same bat he had been using on her. She's released because it was, with either person, a clear case of self defense.
* In ''Film/ReignOverMe'', Don Cheadle was stalked and sexually harassed by Saffron Burrows. After taking the appropriate response to the harassment (asking her to leave and ending their doctor-patient relationship), ''she'' sued ''him'' for sexual harassment. Later on however, the two talk it out and settle the matter privately.

--->Jarell: My brother's forgiven me! Kee, Dr Hong, Brother Numsy has forgiven me. [[RefugeInAudacity (Gives the demon a big kiss on the cheek.)]] Dear brother! Thank you, you're wonderful!
* ''Film/{{District 9}}'': [[spoiler:One of Wikus' friends]] is arrested for [[spoiler:exposing MNU's illegal genetic program.]] Though it was actually a justified arrest: corporate espionage.
* Creator/WernerHerzog's version of ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' ends on a perfect example of this, as [[spoiler:Van Helsing is arrested for the murder of the illustrious Count Dracula.]]

* In ''Film/AttackTheBlock'', the main teens are implicated in mugging a woman. In the end, after fighting off an alien invasion, they're arrested for that crime as well as blamed for all the alien-related deaths.
* Subverted in ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''. A terrorist puts a small detonator on a fuel truck with the intention of blowing up an airliner. En route, Film/JamesBond fights with the terrorist (causing several crashes), but he gets away and a bruised and bloody Bond barely manages to stop the truck before stumbling out and being arrested while the terrorist looks on not too far away. But when he triggers the detonator, [[WhyAmITicking he finds out that Bond found the bomb and pinned it on the terrorist]]. Cut to Bond smirking when [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the terrorist blows himself up]].

* In the ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', Harry Potter is forced to use magic outside school to defend himself and Dudley from two Dementors. He's promptly expelled from Hogwarts, ''un''-expelled when Dumbledore reminds the Ministry they don't actually have the authority to do that, and put on trial. The Ministry only goes to such lengths to discredit Harry since they don't believe Voldemort is back and don't want anyone else to either. [[spoiler: It turns out that it was a Ministry official, Umbridge, who sent them after him in the first place, and she [[KarmaHoudini gets away with it too]].]]
* Davos Seaworth of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' once rescued a besieged, starving castle by sneaking through a blockade and delivering badly needed supplies. Lord Stannis Baratheon rewarded him with a knighthood for it. But Davos was also a known smuggler, and Stannis did not pardon him for it, and cut the first finger joints off his left hand as punishment. Davos considers it tough but fair, and remains loyal.
* In ''The Hedge Knight'' , Dunk gets arrested for [[spoiler:beating up Prince Aerion Targaryen to protect the puppeteer who portrayed the death of a dragon in one of her puppet shows]].

* Happens to Tavi in ''Literature/CodexAlera''. The purported justification hits this trope perfectly, but it's really a political battle.
* Justin Allard gets this treatment in the ''[[Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse Warrior]]'' trilogy, specifically early right in the first book. In charge of a unit of trainee [=MechWarriors=] in light machines out of an exercise, they get ambushed by Liao troops and he in particular finds himself in single combat against an enemy warrior in a ''Rifleman'' that outmasses his own ''Valkyrie'' by a factor of two. He doesn't win, but acquits himself well enough that that enemy 'Mech never enters the battle proper even after he's lost his own machine and one arm...only to find out upon eventual recovery that (because nobody else actually saw that fight and his own half-Capellan heritage that's helped him connect with the locals now makes him an ideal suspect) he's on trial on trumped-up charges of collusion with the enemy. And the KangarooCourt finds him ''guilty'' ...thereby setting off the chain of events that will land him in the arenas on Solaris VII and ultimately in the position of [[spoiler:one of House Liao's own head spymasters]].
* Elijah, the titular ''Literature/LastMage'' is so freakishly powerful the authorities kind of have trouble trusting him. Despite being an AllLovingHero, he ends up imprisoned.
* In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the vigilante protagonists' initial attempts to defeat the drug dealers infesting their neighborhood with non-violent means ends up with many of their allies arrested by the corrupt authorities for violating the criminals' "rights". This is one reason for why they increasingly drop the "non-" part later on.

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Rita's abusive ex, Paul, gets drunk one night and tries to rape her, and Rita knocks him out with a baseball bat. Next episode, Rita's being charged with abuse. Ironically, in real life several states, including Florida, [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale are usually a bit more biased]].

--> '''Gendry:''' Why are you helping me?
--> '''Davos:''' Because it's the right thing to do... And because I'm a slow learner.
* The boys from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' have to constantly evade the authorities, unless they want to be tried for multiple murders (various human-form monsters or possessed humans), grave desecration (having to burn the remains of a ghost), etc. On the other hand, they ''do'' commit other crimes (credit card fraud and cheating at games) to support their monster-hunting lifestyle, but those are secondary to the crimes they get charged for while actually doing a heroic thing. On top of the murders, they've been charged with kidnapping and armed robbery. They've also [[Recap/SupernaturalS07E06SlashFiction had]] shapeshifting monsters impersonating them as {{Doppelganger}}s in a violent multi-state serial-murder and robbery spree (so they wouldn't be around with their heroics to interfere with the monsters' plans), so they get framed for stuff they really, ''really'' didn't do. (The only reason they could relax a bit before this happened was the authorities thought they were ''dead''.)
* In ''Series/LoisAndClark,''

* Mostly {{averted}} on ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', since the demons sometimes dissolve into flame, but the Charmed Ones did sometimes got in trouble for being in the same alley with a fresh corpse and a ceremonial dagger. Even when they did have a friend on the force, they eventually got into serious trouble with the law for killing demons in ways that ''did'' leave behind bodies. The latter was technically a crime anyway, but for those that know the whole story (like the viewers), it should count.
** In one episode, Chris got arrested for stealing a car in order to chase a bad guy.
* It happened on the series ''Series/BoredToDeath'' at the end of the first episode.
* Happened in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' when people started imitating Hercules with disastrous results.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Faith was once arrested for indecent exposure after saving a bus load of nuns from vampires. (She ''was'' naked at the time.)
* On ''Series/KnightRider'', Michael was arrested several times for his efforts to catch the bad guy. Happened often enough that KITT once complained about how much he hated being impounded.
** Also happens to Mike in the 2008 sequel series, where he openly wonders if being arrested is going to become a regular occurrence.
* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "Time Will Tell", villain Ward is beating up Castle and Beckett and is about to kill Castle when Simon Doyle shows up and drives him off. Beckett promptly arrests Doyle for having escaped police custody earlier.

* Happens quite frequently on ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. One of the most notable incidents, being the only one to carry over from the end of one season to the beginning of the next and then actually lasting several episodes, was when [[spoiler:Oliver turns himself in to the FBI, despite being acquitted of vigilante charges in Star City in exchange for immunity for his team.]] The first few episodes of season 7 have him in prison, trying to survive and keep a low profile hoping for an early release with a handful of the show's previous villains gunning for him.

-->Another problem with human cultists is that the law frowns particularly harshly at open murder of them. Unlike Cthulhuoid monstrosities, deceased humans don't melt away, leaving no tell-tale evidence behind.

-->Intrepid investigators often run afoul of the law, for the law is built to adjudicate routine human conduct, not extraordinary inhuman activity. Investigators handle problems by blowing up the mine, burning down the house or beheading the sorcerer: solutions frequently considered despicable in a grand jury report. Society can act like a perverse parent, punishing the investigator for doing good.

* The protagonist of ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'' [[spoiler:confronts Amanda and Cecilia in her hotel room to counter Cecilia's lies about him and win Amanda back. He's arrested because he had to break into the hotel room to do so.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'', Harvey manages to proves Yakkay's innocent early at the start of Case 3, but is immediately sent to prison for trying a case without his legal license.

* One sidequest in ''VideoGame/GothicII: Night of the Raven'' involves robbing brainwashed agents of GodOfEvil Beliar. At least one of them is in the area protected by guards and surrounded by {{Badass Bystander}}s who don't know of his crimes, thus attacking him or taking his possessions may have dire consequences. This may be a programmers' oversight, because the quest is given by local authorities (one of several). But since the game is a sandbox, there are several ways to deal with that.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'', [[spoiler: Once you defeated the dragon, Gran Soren is ruined and Duke Edmun is aged, he immediately accuses you of bargaining with the dragon (while he was the one who indeed took that option). Everyone in Gran Soren turns against you and tries to [[EverythingTryingToKillYou kill you on sight]], resulting in a PersonaNonGrata situation. But, who is to say you cannot [[ThenLetMeBeEvil repay their favour by killing every one of them]]?]]
* VideoGame/MassEffect3 begins with Commander Shepard having been stripped of their military rank and Spectre status and placed under house arrest after saving the galaxy (again) in the previous game. Granted, this is justified as in the process of saving the galaxy they worked with a known terrorist organization and, depending on if you bought a certain DLC, blew up an entire Solar System, both of which are acts that would get anyone else a much worse punishment than what they got.

* In ''Webcomic/RoninGalaxy'', Leona fights off an assassin android, and is arrested after blacking out. It is believed that she initiated the fight with the android to sabotage another corporation.

* Subverted in ''WebComic/HeroOhHero''. It's illegal to perform heroics without a licence, but when Burk admits he hasn't got one (and doesn't care) to Logan (a properly licensed hero), the later agrees with the sentiment (albeit because of HonourBeforeReason, compared to Burk's ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight).
* In the superhero arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', Kingman (Arthur as SupermanSubstitute) is [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1750.htm arrested by Homeland Security]] for refusing to stop a suspect without knowing what they're charged with. Subverted in that [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1753.htm he wants to use the trial to challenge the validity of the law]], but the court is so embarassed by the optics of putting the world's greatest hero on trial that [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1799.htm they drop the case]].

* This happens to Phase from the Literature/WhateleyUniverse several times. In his first story, he fights a supervillain and ends up getting nearly arrested for vigilantism (he did destroy an entire street). He manages to convince the police that he never intended to fight the supervillain, he just wanted to save his sister, and the cops let him off with a warning that if he does it again without legal authorisation, he's screwed. In his sixth story, he fights a demon that takes down a team from the Mutant Commission Office, and they arrest him and interrogate him continually- despite the fact that he's in urgent need of medical attention- and he only gets out of it because of his family (although he had to physically stop the officers after they were brainwashed by the demon).
** This also plays a role in Charge's BackStory: on two occassions she saves lives, but the French MCO spin it that she was the one who endangered those individuals in the first place.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'': Juggernaut robs a bank, but Colossus gets arrested instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother once had plans to blow up the Springfield Dam, steal the money he'd embezzled from the project and plant the blame all on Bob. After teaming up with Bart and foiling the plot, the police still arrest Bob along with his brother, because they simply can't believe that Bob was innocent ''this'' time.
** In an earlier episode, Homer's mother became a hippie back in TheSixties, and she and a bunch of friends went and destroyed the germs that Mr. Burns was trying to weaponize in a lab. In a subversion of this trope, although Mr. Burns wants her arrested for destroying his property, she was not arrested for this particular stunt. She was, however, forced to be constantly on the run from Mr. Burns and the police, so she became a MissingMom.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Town and Out," the girls and the Professor move home to "The Town of Citiesville", where the crime is far higher but life is also far more gritty and mundane...and thus, completely unprepared for three superpowered toddlers to show up fighting crime. While they don't quite get thrown in jail, the girls end up getting pulled in front of the Mayor who is angry at them for...destroying a bridge just to stop some jewel thieves...yeah, the Mayor [[DestructiveSavior was going REALLY easy on them.]]
** In another, the girls are framed for crimes they didn't commit, and get thrown in jail until they piece the clues together, break out of prison and bring the real criminal to justice. The Mayor of Townsville thanks the girls for saving the day again, then laughs that they'll have to go to jail again anyway for the crime of breaking out of prison...[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome then reveals he's not joking, since that is a real law.]]
** Princess Morbucks threatens to throw the girls in jail when she has her dad buy the entire town and declares crime to be legal and warns them off trying to prevent any criminal activity. The girls respond by robbing ''her'' and forcing her to give the town back to the Mayor and make crime illegal again, or she'll never see her property again.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Near the start of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', Josuke stops a hostage situation with his Stand Crazy Diamond, but gets arrested because his recklessness endangered the hostage anyway and the policemen cannot see Stands.

*** One of the most blatant examples was ComicBook/SheHulk. One of the few members on the registration side that was likeable, Jennifer Walters spent Civil War mostly on the sidelines helping file lawsuits for both sides. At the end of Civil War, she's working with ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} to train a team to fight [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]'s standard enemies. For those who weren't following her, specifically it becomes a shock when she suddenly disappears from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s roster. It turns out she got rather pissed when she found out that Tony Stark sent Hulk into space (and lied about it to her to get Jen to sleep with him) and punched him (when he was in armor). Stark took this as a perfect reason to inject her with nanites that removed her powers, and then fired her for her "uncontrollable behavior". (Stark seemed to forget, of course, that Jen is a lawyer; later in the ''World War Hulk'' storyline, she sued him to ''force'' him to deactivate the nanites permanently.)

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1cap.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:How dare you save the lives of millions!]]

* Happens quite frequently on ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. One of the most notable incidents, being the only one to carry over from the end of one season to the beginning of the next and then actually lasting several episodes, was when [[spoiler:Oliver turns himself in to the FBI, despite being acquitted of vigilante charges in Star City in exchange for immunity for his team.]] The first few episodes of season 7 have him in prison, trying to survive and keep a low profile hoping for an early release with a handful of the show’s previous villains gunning for him.

* The protagonist of ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'' [[spoiler:confronts Amanda and Cecilia in her hotel room to counter Cecilia’s lies about him and win Amanda back. He’s arrested because he had to break into the hotel room to do so.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Town and Out," the girls and the Professor move home to "The Town of Citiesville", where the crime is far higher but life is also far more gritty and mundane...and thus, completely unprepared for three superpowered toddlers to show up fighting crime. While they don't quite get thrown in jail, the girls end up getting pulled in front of the Mayor who is angry at them for...destroying a bridge just to stop some jewel thieves...yeah, the Mayor [[DestructiveSavior was going REALLY easy on them.]]