History Main / BewilderingPunishment

* Played with in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', when an unrepentant criminal is sent to a 5-star hotel paradise ''for'' his sins. 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 of boredom) is what makes it Hell.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* 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.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Fanfic/RobbReturns'', where Robb's mind [[TimeTravel returns to his past body from the point of his death in the series]], Theon is genuinely confused by Robb's newfound hostility towards him since they're still friends at this time in the timeline. It takes Ned pointing how Robb's behaviour is unfair for the youth to act more civilly.

* Pretty much any incarnation of ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' features this. Edmond has no idea why he's imprisoned, until many years have passed in Chateau D'if. Then he's out for some serious ''revenge''.

* The protagonist of the ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode “[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteBear White Bear]]” wakes up in a room with no memory of how she got there, and a masked figure stalking her and attempting to kill her. Worse, everyone else around her appears to be brainwashed into recording her suffering on their phones instead of helping her or even telling her what is going on. [[spoiler:It turns out this is her punishment for being an accessory to the murder of a young girl - she gets her memory wiped, then she is terrorised by actors to the point of breakdown and her crimes exposed to her, before her memory gets wiped to repeat it all again the next day, while visitors get to watch and record it.]]

* ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'': After the Official is badly beaten, Darien is bewildered when Hobbes attacks him, points a gun at him and starts ranting at him. Hobbes has assumed Darien did it while suffering from Quicksilver madness; in reality, [[spoiler:the gland contained the RNA of the previous subject, [=CIA=] assassin Simon Cole, with the RNA temporarily taking over Darien's mind and making him act as Simon until he's cured]].

* 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.

* Played with in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', when an unrepentant criminal is sent to a 5-star hotel paradise ''for'' his sins. 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 of boredom) is what makes it Hell.

** "Sexual Harassment Panda" played Stan's trial for sexually harassing Cartman in this fashion (it was probably meant as a commentary on a real life case of a grade schooler being charged with sexual harassment for kissing a girl in his class).

** 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, and in the end Fred goes home and gets beaten up by Barney and chewed out by Wilma, Barney and Betty all the while Fred looks confused.
** Another time, aliens had been making clones of Fred, and ''they'' were acting like assholes and ruining his reputation. It had a happier ending though, because when Fred told them how it happened, Wilma, Barney and Betty simply thought he was under stress from his diet, and said he could go off it. [[DudeWheresMyRespect Fred was upset]], until he realized he [[HellYesMoment was off his diet.]]

* People with autism will sometimes wonder why a friend blows up or ghosts them seemingly out of the blue. They may not have seen the hints the friend was dropping, and will end up thinking this friend was doing this deliberately.

* People with Aspergers Syndrome or autism will sometimes wonder why a friend blows up or ghosts them seemingly out of the blue. They may not have seen the hints the friend was dropping, and will end up thinking this friend was doing this deliberately.

* And of course, double subverted in ''LiveActionTV/TheTwilightZone'', when an unrepentant criminal is sent to a 5-star hotel paradise ''for'' his sins. He's completely confused for weeks, wondering what he did that re-balanced his karma, until his jailer reveals that the eternal lack of people is what makes it Hell.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': Almost every episode has Eustace complain "What did I do?" when Muriel chews him out on his bad behavior or hits him with a rolling pin, but this is because Eustace is [[JerkAss a borderline sociopath]].

* Played with for (black) humor in the Krayt Brothers sketch of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. There is an interview with one of their subordinates who said that Dimsdale would nail his head to the floor on a regular basis. Part of the joke was that Dimsdale never said why the minion needed to be punished, and the minion never asked, taking it as a given that he must have done ''something'' to deserve such treatment, even though he kept trying to apologize.

'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' I don't know, maybe he just doesn't like you!\\

* ''VideoGame/{{Off}}'': If the whispers in [[spoiler:the purified zones]] are anything to go by, the residents are understandably confused and upset about [[spoiler:having been killed during the purification]].
-->[[spoiler:What did we do to deserve this? Why did you kill them?]]

* And of course, double subverted in TheTwilightZone, when a career criminal is sent to a 5-star hotel paradise ''for'' his sins. He's completely confused for weeks until his jailor reveals that the eternal lack of people is what makes it Hell.

* Some schools have a practice of outrightly punishing children for saying a swear word, even if the child was simply repeating a word that they heard and had no idea that it was a swear word.
* People with aspergers or autism will sometimes wonder why a friend either blows up or ghosts them seemingly out of the blue. They may not have seen the hints the friend was dropping, and will end up thinking this friend was doing this deliberately.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': Almost every episode has Eustace complain "What did I do?" when Muriel chewed him out or his bad behavior or hit him with a rolling pin, but this is because Eustace is [[JerkAss a borderline sociopath]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': Almost every episode has this:
-->'''Eustace:''' What did I do?

'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' I don't know, maybe he just doesn't like you!

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "The Camping Episode", Squidward gets repeatedly mauled by a sea bear for intentionally trying to provoke it by doing thing such as wearing a sombrero in a goofy fashion, [[DisproportionateRetribution then trying to run away, trying to limp away, and trying to crawl away]]. The fifth time, it attacks him for no reason.

* ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'': After the Official is badly beaten, Darien is bewildered when Hobbes attacks him, points a gun at him and starts ranting at him. Hobbes has assumed Darien did it while suffering from Quicksilver madness.

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. DisproportionateRetribution will often inspire it. Even if the crime was real, and the punishment not disproportionate, punishing an amnesiac character tends to come off as wrong. Those with ignorance of the law, stemming from [[ChildrenAreInnocent child-like innocence]] or [[NaiveNewcomer unfamiliarity with the location]], generally come off almost as well. Especially if YouKnowWhatYouDid follows. KarmicMisfire and GuiltByAssociationGag are related but generally involve the target genuinely not being involved at all.

* A study of the process used to turn men into torturers for the Greek military junta showed the recruits were subjected to this. The random punishment not only brutalized them, it made them pay constant attention to their superiors in the hope of avoiding future punishment, and not question any order they were given.