History Main / ChildrenAreInnocent

* Deconstructed in JoeHill's ''Literature/{{NOS4A2}}'' where the children of Christmasland are innocent forever to horrifying results. As one character states, "Innocent little kids rip the wrings off flies, because they don't know any better." [[/folder]]

* Surprisingly touched upon in ''{{Killer 7}}''. When assassin [[spoiler: Jean [=DePaul=]]] brings up MASK de Smith's popularity with children, MASK responds by declaring that children's purity makes them the most objective judges in the world. Turns out they're right.
* Played straight in ''Nightmare Realm'' for Emily and most of the children that appear.
* One of the few survivors from Cabadath's blood trail in ''Trilby'sNotes'' is the woodcutter's son. According to the Evil Bible within the game it is because he is an innocent, but the book tends to downplay the bloodshed to say the least.

* A strongly held belief of Jesse's in ''BreakingBad'', and in the early seasons, a sign that he isn't just a stupid, jerky, gangsta-wannabe type that his first impression gives off. He destroys a joint that he finds in his little brother's possession, and in a later season, [[spoiler: attempts to kill two drug dealers that killed an 11-year boy. ]] This trait also [[spoiler: eventually ends his partnership with Walt, when a "co-worker" of theirs murders a boy during one of their operations, and when he realizes that only he is really horrified and disgusted by it.]]

->''Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.''
--> -- '''[[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew 18]]'''

* Lilo from ''LiloAndStitch'' has some unusual interests in things kids her age shouldn't even be aware of, but when she's about to be taken away from her older sister Nani by a social worker, she has no idea what's really going on.
* HardCandy starts out with this trope played straight by the cute, innocent protagonist. Then 20 minutes into the movie it suddenly does a 180-turn and averts it.
* Brianna in ''MysteryTeam''.
* HotelRwanda has quite a few terrified children who simply cannot understand the concept of genocide. One of the most heartbreakingly memorable lines in the film comes when a red cross worker recalls being ForcedToWatch as the Hutu militia [[WouldHurtAChild slaughter Tutsi children]], and one of the children says "Please don't let them kill me. I promise I won't be Tutsi any more". She is killed anyway.
* Being a PaedoHunt / TooSmartForStrangers PublicServiceAnnouncement, ''Film/TrickyPeople'' plays this quite straight. Particularly {{anvilicious}} is Carmen's tearful confession to Yello Dyno of "not [being] a little girl anymore".

* One episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' has a twelve-year-old serial killer and family annihilator.

* One episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' has a twelve-year-old serial killer.

* Hob in ''{{Robocop}} 2''.

* ''TropicThunder'' subverts to the point of RefugeInAudacity: [[spoiler:the brutal head of the Flaming Dragon drug ring seems to be about twelve years old]].

* Subverted in the AndrewVachss Burke book ''Dead and Gone'' when [[spoiler: the first of the ambushers trying to kill him appears to be the very same child he was there to receive.]]

* Too damn innocent in [[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/art/Landmines-are-not-Toys-329199767 Landmines Are Not Toys]], as Toki didn't know landmines were dangerous, something that you were supposed to stay away, rather, she seemed to like what they do and went to her 'playground'.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' runs on subverting this trope. Even the good main characters are foul-mouthed and mean to each other. The creators mention on the commentary that they wanted to challenge the conventional wisdom of innocent children.

* Eren Yeager, from ''AttackOnTitan'', is shown to have used this to his advantage in an incident of TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior. Going on his own to rescue a girl (Mikasa) from a gang of criminals, he lulls the first man into believing he's just a scared, lost child......and then stabs him in the throat with the knife he'd been hiding behind his back. He then proceeds to brutally murder the second crook, revealing our hero was a very disturbed child long before [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive The Call knew where he lived]].

** But it's played straight in Goblet Of Fire. Gabrielle, Fleur's little sister is used as a kidnap victim in one of the Challenge tasks. Fleur tries but is unable to save the little girl on her own, so Harry rescues Gabrielle even though it means he completes his own rescue task (saving Ron) outside of the time limit. Ron scolds Harry for this, until the judges award bonus points for Harry's heroism where Ron promptly changes his tune. Interestingly, Percy the Weasley brother who is known for explicitly valuing rules, authority, and appearances, is one of the judges who thinks Harry's decision to save Gabrielle was praise-worthy so he's likely a firm believer in this trope as most of Percy's Pet the Dog moments involve protecting or helping First Year Students. In the final battle, he even escorts a bunch of First Years to safety after he returns and apologizes to his family. Gabrielle is always considered innocent, she later develops a mild crush on her hero Harry and while Ginny is very annoyed by this, none of the other characters blame or criticize the little girl for it. (Gabrielle's approximately 10 in the last book.)

* A strongly held belief of Jesse's in ''BreakingBad'', and in the early seasons, a sign that he isn't just a stupid, jerky, gangsta-wannabe type that his first impression gives off. He destroys a joint that he finds in his little brother's possession, and in a later season, [[spoiler" attempts to kill two drug dealers that killed an 11-year boy. ]] This trait also [[spoiler: eventually ends his partnership with Walt, when a "co-worker" of theirs murders a boy during one of their operations, and when he realizes that only he is really horrified and disgusted by it.]]

* ''TheRoad'' by CormacMcCarthy has [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold The Boy]] being "compassion incarnate," as one reviewer stated, while The Man must struggle to do the right thing.

* In ''TheSecretGarden'', Mary and Colin are both {{Spoiled Brat}}s when they first appear. However, the causes are delineated: Mary's mother neglected her, and the servants learned to indulge Mary to keep her from coming to her mother's notice, and Colin's father had neglected him after his mother's DeathByChildbirth. Letting them play together and experience the beauties of the garden and nature causes them to shed the characters and become their true, innocent selves.

* Deconstructed in JoeHill's ''Literature/{{NOS4A2}}'' where the children of Christmasland are innocent forever to horrifying results. As one character states, "Innocent little kids rip the wrings off flies, because they don't know any better."

[[/folder]]

* In ''TheLegendOfKorra'', Tenzin's children Jinora, Ikki and Meelo are playful and sweet characters who have a ComicRelief role in the story (Though ocasionally they have a couple of BadassAdorable moments)

* A charitable interpretation of Snips and Snails in the [[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]] episode "Boast Busters". Determined to prove true the impressive though unlikely claims of [[FakeUltimateHero "The Great and Powerful" Trixie]], the two clearly not that bright colts lure a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant]] {{bear|sAreBadNews}} into Ponyville, a heavily populated town where [[JerkAss Trixie]] is temporarily residing during her traveling performance. Snips are Snails are thus STUNNED when [[SmallNameBigEgo Trixie]] proves to be a fraud despite [[OnlySaneMan Spike]] having told them earlier that the unlikely claim is not neccesarily true just because Trixie said so. [[TheHero Main Character]] [[NiceGirl Twilight Sparkle]] may believe in this trope, given the rather lenient punishment she gives them after she [[BadassBookworm stops the rampaging bear and saves the town]]