History Main / BewilderingPunishment

* Trope image of Superman destroying a Father's Day gift from Jimmy Olsen (cover, ''Jimmy Olsen'' No. 30): he had arranged to adopt the orphaned Olsen, and needed Olsen to call off the adoption, believing (because of a misinterpreted pediction) that it would endanger Olsen's life.

" In the ''The Shakespeare Code'' episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'', Queen Elizabeth I orders the Doctor to be beheaded, momentarily confusing the Doctor, because from his point of view, he hadn't done whatever it was yet.

* ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'': A variation. In "Abridging the Devil's Divide," Harper helps a madman build a time bridge, which was done under duress, but at the critical moment, Harper tried to activate the thing, largely ForScience and nearly leading to disaster. In the aftermath, Dylan says this is strike two for Harper. When Harper asks what strike one was, Dylan gets mad. Harper quickly witdraws the questin and leaves. Wen Rommie, who was present for the conversatin, asks what strike one was, Dylan admits that there never was a strike one.

* ''Fanfic/{{Dangerverse}}'': {{Invoked}} by the Three-Fold Curse Of The Righteous. Part of that curse is that those cursed will "live out their lives in misery without ever knowing why", to the point where the curse prevents any third parties from informing the victims that they are under a curse.

* ''[[Fanfic/ThinkBeforeYouSpeakMHA Words May Hurt]]'' has Katsuki acting this way after he's [[LaserGuidedKarma punished for]] disobeying orders during a training exercise and seriously injuring his teammate. He's so used to [[KarmaHoudini getting a free pass for all his misbehavior]] that he's legitimately confused by U.A.'s response, even protesting that he'd only acted that way because he was targeting [[BlamingTheVictim Deku]]. Since [[AdultsAreUseless nobody at Aldera]] cared about him bullying the 'Quirkless loser', he honestly believes that's a valid defense instead of [[NotHelpingYourCase making matters worse for himself]].

%%* Many a ''Website/GoAnimate'' [[YouAreGrounded "Grounded"]] video will have the target of the groundings punished for no reason or for reasons outside of their control.

* Played with in the ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E28ANicePlaceToVisit "A Nice Place to Visit"]]. An unrepentant criminal is sent to a 5-star hotel paradise with a casino where he wins every bet and women who lavish him with attention. He's completely confused for weeks, wondering what he did that re-balanced his karma until his jailer reveals that the eternal catering to every whim (to the point where it [[VictoryIsBoring bores him]] and [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction gives him no pleasure]]) is what makes it Hell.

* ''Literature/TheBoyWhoSworeRevengeOnTheWorld'' starts with Hardt going to a church, as is required by law, and getting an [Oracle] that explains his god-given [Occupation]. The moment his is revealed, the priest in charge explodes with rage for no given reason, orders him arrested, the knights torture him for sport, with the priest healing him up again so he doesn't die, and when he's taken back to his home village, the residents are all forced to stab him with a dagger to prove their "innocence", and lastly, his mother is killed for the "crime" of giving birth to him. It's only after his own life is saved by someone else who has the same occupation that he finally gets context for the OMGWTFBBQ that his life suddenly became, [[DrivenToVillainy prompting him to start planning revenge on the entire world]].

* ''Literature/TheBoyWhoSworeRevengeOnTheWorld'' starts with Hardt going to a church, as is required by law, and getting an [Oracle] that explains his god-given [Occupation]. The moment his is revealed, the priest in charge explodes with rage for no given reason, orders him arrested, the knights torture him for sport, with the priest healing him up again so he doesn't die, and when he's taken back to his home village, the residents are all forced to stab him with a dagger to prove their "innocence", and lastly, his mother is killed for the "crime" of giving birth to him. Say hello to the birth of an OMBWTFBBQ necromancer who wants revenge on the world!

* ''Fanfic/FailureToExplode'': After Katsuki [[ForWantOfANail fails to pass U.A.'s Entrance Exam]], he's utterly ''livid'' to learn that Izuku succeeded where he failed, and promptly confronts him at school. However, since the staff at Aldera have learned that their plan to ride his coattails and leech off his success are a non-starter, they start intervening and preventing him from his usual {{Barbaric Bully}}ing. Katsuki even [[SayingTooMuch blurts out]] to his mother that he's never been punished for this ''before'', not understanding why [[NotHelpingYourCase that only makes her angrier]].

* In ''Series/Loki2021'' this is the specialty of the Time Variance Authority. Their goal is to make sure that all reality follows a single "Sacred Timeline", and they quickly imprison, try, and eliminate anyone who causes a reality to diverge from it. The TVA's existence is secret, almost no one even knows there are multiple realities, and no one knows when [[ForWantOfANail actions they're taking would create such a divergence]], so from their perspective TVA agents kidnap them out of nowhere and claim some random action of theirs was a crime they didn't even know it was possible to commit.

[[quoteright:183:[[Webcomic/{{Sinfest}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SinfestBewildering_2833.GIF]]]]
[[caption-width-right:183:[-Enlightenment didn't tell them that.-] ]]

* In Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFriendship'', [[MoralMyopia Laura]] is outraged at accusations of theft -- which she and Sophia have committed, and Sophia was caught doing.

** One time had Fred unintentionally switching places with a business tycoon and while Fred was doing the tycoon's job, the tycoon was going around town being an asshole to everyone. In the end, Fred goes home and gets beaten up by Barney and chewed out by Wilma, Barney, and Betty, much to his confusion.

* In ''Film/TheTrial'', the accused never does learn what the charges are against him or why he's executed (see also Literature below).

* One of the most important points of Creator/FranzKafka's ''Literature/TheTrial'' is that the reader is never let in on the charge against the protagonist. It's also ambiguous as to whether the protagonist himself knows.

Unless the character is showing ItsAllAboutMe or MoralMyopia or even worse ButForMeItWasTuesday -- which are possible -- this is a sympathetic characterization. An innocent character taken for a crime that no one will identify is common, especially in RevengeByProxy, SinsOfOurFathers, and CriminalDoppelganger, but not the only possibility.

* Averted in ''Series/BabylonFive'', where a {{Mind Wipe}}d serial killer [[spoiler: turned mild-mannered monk]] has his memories forcibly returned to him because the people hunting him down want to make damn sure he knows why they're after him.

* One episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'' has a member of a planet the team gates to put Teal'c on trial. All they know at first is that it's for a crime he committed when he was First Prime of Apophis. Unfortunately, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Teal'c was part of a number of atrocities while First Prime]], and it takes a while for him to remember the event in question, and longer to recall the specifics.

* In ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' this is the specialty of the Time Variance Authority. Their goal is to make sure that all reality follows a single "Sacred Timeline", and they quickly imprison, try, and eliminate anyone who causes a reality to diverge from it. The TVA's existence is secret, almost no one even knows there are multiple realities, and no one knows when [[ForWantOfANail actions they're taking would create such a divergence]], so from their perspective TVA agents kidnap them out of nowhere and claim some random action of theirs was a crime they didn't even know it was possible to commit.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Conscience of the King", Kevin Riley is abruptly transferred to Engineering and believes he's being punished, but is completely bewildered about what he's being punished for. In reality, it's actually that Riley's life is in danger because he's one of only two surviving witnesses to a mass murder who can identify the perpetrator, but Kirk doesn't want to tell him this because he's afraid that Riley would try to take revenge if he knew that a suspect was on board, so he instead tries to protect him by moving him to a part of the ship where he's less likely to come into contact with the passengers. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

* An Eastern European film taking place in an unnamed state had a communist functionary being reassigned. She thinks she's been promoted, but instead ends up in a frozen rat-infested hovel with an old man who says only, "They sent you here, so you could think about why they sent you here."

* In the holiday episode of ''Series/MrBean'', Mr. Bean is confused by his girlfriend's request for an engagement ring as a Christmas gift and instead thinks she was pointing at a portrait of a couple behind it. When she realizes what has happened, she runs out of the apartment in tearful frustration, slamming the door behind her. A [[InnocentlyInsensitive bewildered Mr. Bean]] can only think to ask, "W... what was wrong with it?"

* ''SeriesOneLifeToLive'''s Blair Daimler debuted as a mystery woman who inexplicably had a vendetta against Dorian Lord, who despite her own history of conniving and cruelty, was genuinely confused as to why Blair was out to get her, even desperately asking her at one point "Why do you hate me so much?", to which Blair only cryptically replied "I have my reasons". We finally learned what those reasons were--Blair's mother Addie was Dorian's long-lost sister and Blair believed that Dorian had abused Addie throughout their childhood and then sent her to a mental hospital. She was stunned to learn the truth--''Addie'' was the abuser, had been mentally ill all her life, and genuinely needed to be institutionalized.

* In ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' episode "Elvin Pays For Dinner '', Sondra insists that Elvin go out to dinner with a visiting ex-girlfriend, even as he repeatedly insists that he ''not'' go. So he goes. . . and ends up completely confused at Sondra's furious reaction when he comes home--screaming her head off, locking him out of their bedroom, and refusing to speak to him the next day. Only when his father-in-law Cliff explains to him that Sondra repeatedly telling him "[[NoMeansYes Yes" actually meant "No"]] does he understand.

* ''LightNovel/TheBoyWhoSworeRevengeOnTheWorld'' starts with Hardt going to a church, as is required by law, and getting an [Oracle] that explains his god-given [Occupation]. The moment his is revealed, the priest in charge explodes with rage for no given reason, orders him arrested, the knights torture him for sport, with the priest healing him up again so he doesn't die, and when he's taken back to his home village, the residents are all forced to stab him with a dagger to prove their "innocence", and lastly, his mother is killed for the "crime" of giving birth to him. Say hello to the birth of an OMBWTFBBQ necromancer who wants revenge on the world!

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Othinus briefly traps Touma Kamijou in an alternate universe where he's Public Enemy #1. Everybody in the world hates him and tries to kill him on sight, even his own parents. Until he's pulled out of it, nobody will explain to him why they're trying to kill him.

* ''Fanfic/FortuneLoverTGSBetaSaruRipTPlusEng0Point75SincereDotZip'': The basic premise of the fic is a ''Fortune Lover'' mod (implied to be created by A-Chan) in which the Katarina Claes of ''Fortune Lover'' is replaced with the Katarina Claes of ''LightNovel/{{My Next Life as a Villainess|AllRoutesLeadToDoom}}'', while everyone else's dialogs and event flags are left unaltered. The result is Katarina being labeled a villainess despite doing nothing on-screen to deserve it, being denounced for crimes that she never committed, and finally killed or exiled for absolutely no reason. There are even Katarina lines in the mod in which she asks why this is happening.