History Main / HorribleJudgeOfCharacter

* Much like his portrayal in the source material, Knuckles of ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'' blindly trusts Robotnik and sincerely believes the ObviouslyEvil doctor to be his friend. His gullibility is somewhat downplayed from the game series, in that he had a reason to hate Sonic without Robotnik needing to pit them against each other, and he's perceptive enough to note that Sonic forgoing PlotCoupon in favor of rescuing Tails isn't something a bad guy would do.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/BettyRoss actually fell for Glenn Talbot, a JerkAss at best, and a sociopathic SmugSnake at his worst.
* In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' thinks that murderous, egomaniac, xenophobic, jerkass and ManipulativeBastard ''ComicBook/LexLuthor'' is "the most wonderful man in the world" . To be fair, he was a master manipulator who deceived everyone but ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' and Bruce Wayne, and after discovering his true colors, Kara turned on Luthor at once.
* ''ComicBook/TheEyeOfMongombo'': Cliff Carlson’s ex-boss Norbert Nuskle may be a {{Jerkass}} and all, but he’s convinced that the Colombian drug plantation he’s in is just an ordinary farm.
* In ''ComicBook/GIJoeIDW'', Cobra Commander is so certain that he's corrupted Chuckles to Cobra's side that he eventually stops taking any precautions around him. [[spoiler:Naturally, that’s what Chuckles was waiting for. The Commander doesn’t realize what’s really going on until Chuckles points a pistol right at him. Cue [[BoomHeadshot headshot]].]]
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''. Ambrose, who up until the 8th book had been a [[TheDitz not too bright]] NiceGuy sets out to restore his kingdom in the homelands. He recruits dead fables in the Witching Well, promising them a physical body and a chance at redemption for their sins. This includes Shere Khan and Bluebeard, both of whom betrayed the fable community and plan to betray him for control of his kingdom. Not only does Ambrose know, but it's also all part of his plan.
* ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'': The Caliph has Iznogoud -- a man who tries to carry out an evil scheme to get rid of him on any day ending in "Y" -- as his grand vizier and most trusted adviser. You do the math.
* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Everyone who believes Loki (god of ''lies'' and evil) when he says that ''this time'', he's definitely changed and isn't planning to betray someone or everyone.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
** This is pretty much King Max's defining trait. He trusted the original Dr. Robotnik to the end and never suspected his true colors until it was too late. Issue 233 reveals him to have a history of this; Harvey Who explicitly warned him ''not'' to trust Warlord Kodos, ''not'' to let Ixis Naugus remain in the kingdom, ''not'' to exile Nate Morgan, and finally ''not'' to take the original Robotnik in, but Max ignored him ''every single time''. There's a reason he's been given the title of Maximilian the Cursed.
** Even after watching him try to turn the Council of Acorn into his brainwashed servants, [[spoiler:Geoffrey]] ''still'' believes there's some good, moral side to [[EvilSorcerer Ixis Naugus]] that he can appeal to. [[spoiler:Needless to say, [[GrandTheftMe this backfires horribly]]]].
** Colin Kintobor, Robotnik/Eggman's brother, fits the bill perfectly. Prior to the Great War, he was the one who judged Robotnik for using his fellow Overlanders as test subjects for weaponry, sentencing him to prison for doing so and ordering his death when he escaped. Despite this, while not privy to the many atrocities Robotnik committed, when he returned to Mobius, Colin was still quick to trust Eggman over [[FantasticRacism Sonic and the Mobians]] and judge his brother as having reformed. It's not until Eggman himself personally confirms that Hope's suspicions over him being behind [[UnwillingRoboticisation the Robians]] are true, and the reveal he's been subjecting Colin and the rest of the Overlanders to radiation poisoning with the intent to roboticize them all as well, that Colin realizes that his brother is just as evil as ever.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' examples:
** The idiot who authorized giving ComicBook/NormanOsborn the authority he had during ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' fits the list, plain and simple. (It was at first assumed to be President UsefulNotes/BarackObama, due to the shade of the hand presenting Osborn, but it was later retconned that Obama's [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush predecessor]] was the one holding the IdiotBall. Obama just decided to keep holding the damn thing)
*** And although even his son Harry told him off during that mess, after the events of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', [[spoiler:Harry's former wife and Peter's former friend Liz Allan]] has been seen in a new alliance with Norman Osborn as he attempts to establish a new identity and corporation (now that his identity as the ComicBook/GreenGoblin is no longer a secret). Whether [[spoiler:she]] is doing this entirely out of free will is unknown, but it's very possible that the biggest reason is [[spoiler:to ensure a better future for her own son]].
** Aunt May was played like this a lot in the 1960s, especially with regards to "that awful Spider-Man" and Doctor Octopus (who charmed the socks off her and almost married her). That she liked to tell Peter that bohemian party-girl Mary Jane would make a good future wife for him seemingly was another instance of this, but in the 1980s it turned out that she was actually right. It was also later stated -- in her backstory -- that she almost married a ''murderer'' named Johnny Jerome. (How did that end? Long story short, it was right before she met Ben, who was ''quite'' the chivalrous type way back then, especially when he saw a DamselInDistress.)
** A minor example involving Spider-Man: When Joe Robinson was in legal trouble for withholding evidence in a murder involving Tombstone, Joe's attorney Cynthia Bernhammer starting dating Nick Katzenberg, a sleazy tabloid paparazzi with no morals who specialized in making celebrities, including Spider-Man, look bad. In fact, she was the only person who didn't hate him, and even ''she'' wondered at one point why she was attracted to a "lowlife worm" (as she put it) like him. Although, it's not known what became of their relationship, as Cynthia stopped appearing after Joe was pardoned, [[spoiler:and Nick was eventually killed off]].
** Of course, that was nothing compared to Glory Grant, J. Jonah Jameson's secretary at the ''Daily Bugle''. Her one-time lover Edwardo Lobo was a Mexican mobster ''and'' [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent a mutant werewolf]]; she didn't know at first, but even after she found out, she was okay with it! She continued to love him until the very end, [[spoiler: when a gang war between the Lobos Syndicate and ComicBook/TheKingpin's organization concluded in a violent and bloody melee, which resulted in Spidey grappling with Edwardo in werebeast form. Glory grabbed a gun that had been dropped by the Kingpin's NumberTwo, and actually tried to shoot Spider-Man to save Edwardo; but she missed, hitting Edwardo instead and killing him]].
** JJ himself was, for a while, in the habit of blindly trusting whichever [[VillainWithGoodPublicity soon-to-be supervillain]] had announced Spider-Man was in their sights, most notably with Mysterio.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': The braintrust in charge of the cloning programs in ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'' decided to pass over the likes of Music/ElvisPresley, ComicBook/LexLuthor, and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, to [[YouClonedHitler clone Hitler]]. ''Twice''. (Granted, cloning Luthor would also have been a mistake, but at least he would have been a better choice than Hitler.)
* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'':
** Soundwave somehow concludes that Galvatron is the ideal candidate to lead the Decepticons away from Megatron's LawfulEvil tendencies and towards being heroic champions of freedom. Galvatron's history of pointless butchery dates back to the ''Miocene Epoch''.
** Part of the reason Arcee was so screwed up mentally for so long was she decided to trust Jhiaxus, a MadScientist who looks like TheIgor and let him experiment on her.
** Alpha Trion helped put Nova Prime in charge. Six million years later, he assures Optimus that Nova's statement that everybody would "be in their place" didn't sound nearly as sinister at the time.
* The ''[[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} W.I.T.C.H.]]'' series has Princess Elyon who believes her megalomaniacal brother and his fifty-foot snake henchman over her closest friends and the ones who raised her for years. She gradually grows out of this habit. Her TV equivalent, not so much.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BartSimpsonAttorneyAtLaw'': Teenage Maggie toward [[DomesticAbuse Gina]]. Her idolization of Gina leads her to ignore the damage she has done toward Bart and gets [[WhatTheHellHero an earful from him and Marge]] for reintroducing Gina to him. [[spoiler: Gina joins in a plot to kidnap Bart on behalf of Jessica Lovejoy. However, she does end up redeeming herself by testifying against Jessica, thanks to Maggie's never-ending faith]].
* ''Fanfic/BoopTheSnootForCriticalDamage'': Nicholas Schnee was a renowned Huntsman and corporate owner, having earned both Ozpin and Ironwood's respect. That said, he thought Jacques (a greedy amoral jerk) was a good catch for his daughter and saw fit to name him his successor. Ozpin even lampshades this.
-->'''Ozpin''': He was a good man, just not a particularly perceptive one.
* In ''[[Fanfic/BurnTheWitchMiraculousLadybug BURN THE WITCH]]'', [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]]'s assessment of others hinges entirely upon whether or not she's successfully lied to them. Since Marinette has called her out on her deceptive nature, she presumes that all of her efforts to save her from Witch Hunter and her angry mob ''must'' be a trick, while she's convinced that she has Hawkmoth wrapped around her little finger and that he'll protect her from his own creation.
* Anybody who buys Liu Bei's hero act in ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', with special note going to Lu Su and Liu Zhang, who had to be beaten about the head with his treachery before either of them would accept it. It never really sticks with [[ThePollyanna Lu Su]], either.
* In ''[[Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX Gensokyo 20XXV]]'', we have Reimu, who is noted, in one chapter, to be someone who can "be bullied one minute and still go back around trust them the next", which is true seeing that she trusted Paintbrush Bitch, when the latter let her outside, knowing full well that could place her in danger and it did. Naturally, one of the kids thought of her as a moron for doing that, to which Alice did bring up the fact that she could have thought of it as being nice by doing something the other adults wouldn't do. In that vein, Ren gave his brother a thinly veiled threat about what could happen if Baka dared to betray said trust.
-->'''Ren''': On a note and you had better get this through your thick skull and make clear note of which it is I am saying to you now, you can bully Reimu one minute and, yet, she'll still trust you the next, so, in no way, are you to violate that trust or place her into harms way and, if you do, well, we will never at all hesitate and will act as we see best, be you my older brother or not.
* King Henri from ''Fanfic/HeavensLight'' (a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''). He's practically the only person in the story who trusts [[KnightTemplar Judge Claude Frollo]], the Minister of Justice, mentioned below. In his defense, he points out that Frollo is supposed to do his job, not to be popular, and he does try to reign in Frollo by ordering Quasimodo to be released when the crowd starts humiliating him at the Festival of Fools. Eventually, he wises up to Frollo's corruption, but only after the Minister has already taken him and his wife captive and is threatening to [[IHaveYourWife enslave his daughter]] and take over Corona. [[spoiler:After Frollo dies, he names [[TheGoodCaptain Captain Phoebus]] as his RedeemingReplacement.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'': Despite being fully aware of [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila's true nature]], Adrien insists that she's only lying [[IJustWantToHaveFriends in order to impress her classmates]]. Even though he's watching her [[ConArtist con them]] into donating to [[FakeCharity Fake Charities]] and other expensive favors. This eventually leads to him trusting her when she tells him just what he wants to hear, and [[TheFarmerAndTheViper being repaid for this]] by [[spoiler:her draining the Agrestes' emergency funds account]].
* PlayedWith in ''Fanfic/LeaveForMendeleiev'':
** On one hand, Adrien recognizes that his ChildhoodFriend Chloe is an [[EntitledBastard entitled]], SpoiledBrat, and he doesn't particularly enjoy when she turns that attitude towards ''him''. Yet he's more than happy to excuse her bad behavior so long as ''he's'' not the one suffering for it, and when Lady Wifi mistakes a cosplaying Chloe for Ladybug and 'exposes' her SecretIdentity, he's ''thrilled'', thinking this cements his [[EntitledToHaveYou claim to his 'partner']]. He also doesn't seem to understand why Plagg and the ''real'' Ladybug find the notion of Chloe being a heroine so repugnant, and gets upset when others are glad that she's gotten knocked off her pedestal a bit.
** Along similiar lines, [[MisplacedKindergartenTeacher Mme Bustier]] recognizes that Chloe has... issues. Rather than correcting her misbehavior directly, however, Bustier insists that her ''other'' students should 'lead by example' by [[TurnTheOtherCheek forgiving her mistakes]] and modeling better behavior. In ''practice'', this simply means that Chloe [[KarmaHoudini gets away with everything]], never getting punished for doing anything wrong -- it's the 'good students' who bear the brunt instead.
* In ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'', Skoodge thinks that Zim is his caring best friend, despite the fact that Zim doesn't give a damn about him and doesn't even try to hide the fact. Of course, we can’t judge him too harshly for this, as the only alternative Skoodge has ever known is the Tallest, and unlike them, Zim actually recognizes that Skoodge does have worthwhile skills.
* In the sidestories of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Jeanette Fisher's grandfather is revealed to have been this at some point. To wit, he almost married his daughter Kaoruko to a man who was actually a criminal and murderer, while disapproving of her eventual husband because he came from Gringy City.
* In ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'' Jerry, the main character, qualifies on no less than three occasions in "[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Evil Gods Part 1]]". In the space of a single chapter, there are two cases- when he believes Ethan when he repents his sins, but [[HeelFaceDoorSlam kills Thalia when she tries to do the same]] on the mere chance that she's lying- the former turns out to be a traitor, while the latter joins the Prayer Warriors in "The Evil Gods Part 2", and is [[RetCon retconned into being one all along]]. He also doesn't realize that his own wife is a traitor and that he's not the father of her unborn son. Interestingly enough, he has (so far) not ended up regretting deciding to trust the canonical traitor [[spoiler:Luke]].
* ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'':
** In Act III, Akua and Kahlua helped Kiria in his plan to [[TimeTravelForFunAndProfit use the Chrono Displacement spell to rewrite history]], going so far as to steal said spell from their father Issa's archive for Kiria to begin with, because they genuinely believed that the extent of Kiria's plan was to send Tsukune's [[SuperPoweredEvilSide ghoul]] back to the [[GreatOffscreenWar Battle of Kahdaln]] so as to turn the tide of the battle and change history in favor of the monsters, thus ensuring that monsters would rule the world. In chapter 52, upon their defeat, the two are completely shocked to discover that, in addition to that, Kiria also planned to send out [[PsychoSerum Blackheart-infected]] monsters to the dark lords themselves, as well as any other being powerful enough to oppose him, so he would be the top monster in the revised timeline, and he would have had Akua and Kahlua, and possibly Moka and Kokoa as well, infected with Blackheart as well and sent back to kill their father Issa and destroy the Shuzen empire from within, all of which is [[NotWhatISignedOnFor anything but what they wanted]]. Kahlua and Akua spend the entirety of Act IV as {{The Atoner}}s.
** Tsukune's mother and cousin fall into it during Act IV, automatically trusting Jovian and Jacqueline, Hokuto's PsychoLesbian CoDragons, simply because the two claimed to be Tsukune's friends. They realize just what a mistake that was after Jovian holds Kyouko hostage and rapes her, and after Jacqueline blows up the Aono house and levels most of the neighborhood to the ground for laughs.
** In Act VII chapter 3, the new Complica decides to trust Routier right off the bat. While Routier ''did'' save her from a group of human pedophiles, she did so by ripping them to shreds with a chainsaw and ''laughing'' about it.
* Vale Whitaker, the heroine of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'', is awful at discerning the true alignments and motivations of others. Even in the arena, she wants to trust others, which leads to her [[spoiler:allying with Phlox, who tries to kill her and her other allies]]. However, the one person that she consistently distrusts is Obsidian, who is quite kind to her, all things considered, and even [[spoiler:saves her life on multiple occasions]].
** Later on, [[spoiler:during their alliance]], we learn that Vale also misjudges Obsidian by thinking that, as a well-trained and strong Career, he must not have any problems, while he is simultaneously [[spoiler: plagued with constant questions about the morality of his actions, as well as the fear that he isn't so different from Amber and the other Careers]]. Obsidian also misjudges Vale by mistakenly assuming that she is a PuritySue type who could never hurt anyone and therefore lacks the kind of worries that consume him.
* ''Fanfic/TMNTSecretsOfTheSewers'': The [[spoiler:High Council of the Foot Clan are convinced that the Shredder is an honorable, righteous man and that Splinter is a despicable, dishonorable monster when the opposite is the case; in fact, it's revealed in the very next chapter that everything Shredder has done throughout the fic has been to amass an army of mutants so he can slay the council and take complete control over the Foot. They nearly kill Splinter to avenge Shredder's apparent death, and would have done so had Murakami not intervened and helped set them straight]].
* ''Fanfic/WhatItTakes'': John Diggle comes to realize he's this over the course of the story.
** First is the relatively benign example of his bad treatment of Laurel due to his grudge regarding the Deadshot situation two years ago, which he admits to himself was wrong of him after getting to know her better and seeing how much she loves and wants to protect Starling, allowing them to build a genuine and close friendship.
** Next is learning about the amount of trauma Oliver went through during his five years away from home, causing him to acknowledge that he's been too hard on Oliver for some of his choices and that he now understands him better. [[spoiler:That allows for an easy reconciliation between them when they finally have the chance to really talk]].
** [[spoiler:Then comes Andy, which comes with its own set of problems because John operates under the belief that Andy has been brainwashed for the rest of the story and is implied to still be in denial even after the confirmation from Darhk that Andy was a willing member of HIVE]].
** It really hits when he finds out about [[spoiler:Felicity ditching him and the others and keeping Oliver in the dark in order to maintain their relationship. He flat-out tells Oliver that he completely misjudged her and that he should've realized [[ItsAllAboutMe what kind of person she was]] after she nearly got all of the team killed trying to sneak Oliver out of Nanda Parbat. Though he doesn't say it outright, it's obvious he no longer considers her a friend]].
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': {{Exaggerated|trope}} with the Emperor Xin of ancient Thassilon. While he wasn't a bad guy himself (his official alignment is LawfulNeutral), ''all'' of the people he hired to be [[SorcerousOverlord Runelords]], who were supposed to represent the SevenHeavenlyVirtues, instead all turned out the be evil pricks and quickly started to embody the Seven Deadly Sins instead.

* Creon in Creator/{{Sophocles}}'s Theatre/{{Antigone}}. Basically, every single character he meets, he utterly fails to spot that they have good reasons for acting the way they do and wastes an inordinate amount of time accusing people of being selfish, corrupt, or (in the case of Antigone herself) just plain female.

* Siegfried in ''Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen'', which proves to be his FatalFlaw. ''Everybody'' around him lies to him and uses him to their advantage, and this leads to his tragic and ignoble death.
* Played with in ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'': Cecily claims that her "first impressions of people are never wrong" when really they are ''consistently'' wrong.

* Katherine Howard from ''Theatre/{{Six}}''. Every time she's approached by an older man, she believes he cares about her and is totally in love with her, before realizing he's only using her for sex. It hits particularly hard with Thomas Culpeper; she believes he watches out for her in court because he's her friend, only to discover he's trying to sleep with her. To make matters worse, [[OffWithHisHead this leads to her being beheaded.]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* From the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series:
** Will Powers from the first two games has trouble believing who the real culprit is in both cases 1-3 and 2-4, because [[spoiler:they are people he trusted as coworkers]]. He's not very good at seeing the bad in people.
** Iris from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' is thought of this way by Edgeworth after she calls Maya 'strong and reliable' and Larry 'sincere and hard-working'; however, they can be described as these under certain circumstances. She ''also'' trusts [[spoiler:her murderous twin sister Dahlia Hawthorne despite the numerous examples of Dahlia abusing this]].
** In ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', Klavier Gavin, brother of [[spoiler:his psychotic older brother and BigBad Kristoph Gavin]] has a hard time grasping that [[spoiler:Kristoph and his bandmate Daryan Crescend]] could be criminals and murderers. Though when he finds out, he prosecutes them. Given Klavier is an idealistic young man that was mentored by TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Constance Courte, it's not hard to imagine why he sees the good in everyone.
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': “Hi, I am [[SinisterMinister Kirei Kotomine]]. I am emotionless [[{{Sadist}} except when amused by the discomfort of others]]. I'm a {{Jerkass}}, I [[{{Troll}} make fun of you]], and I act really suspiciously.” Yet everyone just seems to believe that he has nothing to do with what's going on, except Tohsaka. Even she just knows that he's not a nice guy. In "Heaven's Feel" up until the end Shirou doesn't really think of him as an enemy when he's quite blatant about not being on Shirou's side or even neutral ''or'' pretending he doesn't have a hidden agenda having to do with [[OmnicidalManiac wide-scale destruction]], although by that point Shirou just doesn't really ''care'', seeing as how he [[EnemyMine needs his help]] in [[spoiler:saving Sakura and Illya]].
** [[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia Poor, poor dear Bazett...]]
** [[LightNovel/FateZero The prequel]] has Kirei be misunderstood by Risei Kotomine(his father) as well as by Tokiomi Tohsaka (Rin's father). The two of them enlist his help in a scheme that will result in a secret alliance between Kirei and Tokiomi, respectively the masters of Assassin and Archer, and Kirei goes along with their plans at first. However, he gradually becomes corrupted by spending time with Archer(Gilgamesh). [[spoiler:After Risei's death, Kirei takes possession of the Command Seals Risei left for him in his dyng moments, while wishing he could have killed Risei personally. Shortly after Tokiomi orders Kirei to leave Japan so Tokiomi can secure a temporary alliance with Irisviel, Kirei then makes a contract with Gilgamesh and fatally stabs Tokiomi InTheBack with a dagger.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/HatePlus'' the Councillor of Security Old *Mute completely underestimates the danger [[spoiler: Councillor Ryu]] poses, considering him a mere pawn and believing the real threat to security to be the peasantry. Justified in that he only became dangerous as a result of his contact with and due to the influence of [[spoiler: Oh Eun-a]], something Old *Mute wasn't aware of.
* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': Jin Kisaragi, the headmaster of Hope's Peak prior to the games, had a problem with this; he wanted to nurture the talent of his Super High School Level students, but had a tendency to look at the talent and overlook that said talented students were often ''completely batshit crazy''. This is the guy who admitted a SerialKiller and covered up for a student bombing the gym. And the Steering Committee was even worse- they were the ones who admitted the student who would go on to mastermind the Tragedy.
** A more lighthearted variant appears in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' when the students are discussing why [[TheLeader Byakuya]] dove under the table. Keep in mind that Byakuya has pretty much no patience for humor.
-->'''Akane''': Obviously he was hidin' so he could surprise us. That dude was always a big jokester.
-->'''Kazuichi''': The hell he was! You seriously couldn't tell what kinda person he was!?
* In ''VisualNovel/MurderByNumbers2020'' Honor's mother Sharon thinks her abusive ex Ryan is perfectly nice and also thinks highly of the arrogant, abusive talk show host Dick Stanford. She also has no idea K.C. is gay and doesn't even get his name right.
* Downplayed in ''VisualNovel/HeartOfTheWoods''. Madison "Maddie" Raines, the main character, finds Evelyn Fischer, the mayor of the town of Eysenfeld, rather intimidating from when she first meets her. Despite that, Madison seems to trust Evelyn more than her daughter Morgan(who invited Madison and Tara to Eysenfeld to investigate supernatural phenomena) partly because Madison doesn't believe in the occult and assumes Morgan is either lying or insane. All this changes after [[spoiler:Evelyn uses her illusionary powers to lure Madison out into a blizzard, causing Madison to freeze to death and come back as a ghost with Abigail's help. After Abigail explains what happened, Madison quickly accepts that Evelyn is evil, and later apologizes to Morgan for doubting her.]]
[[/folder]]

* A more lighthearted variant of this trope appears in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' when the students are discussing why [[TheLeader Byakuya]] dove under the table. Keep in mind that Byakuya has pretty much no patience for humor.

* The ''ComicBook/WITCH'' series has Princess Elyon who believes her megalomaniacal brother and his fifty-foot snake henchman over her closest friends and the ones who raised her for years. She gradually grows out of this habit. Her TV equivalent, not so much.

* During his brief appearance in ''Film/VanHelsing'', Victor Frankenstein acts shocked, ''shocked!'' that Count {{Dracula}} had ulterior motives in financing his [[ForScience scientific experiments]] other than for the science of it... even as said patron uses horror movie teleportation to saunter calmly around his laboratory as peasants with TorchesAndPitchforks [[StormingTheCastle storm the castle]].

* In ''Film/{{Byzantium}}'', what's with nice guy Darvell later thinking [[spoiler: Ruthven might be a good, noble recruit for the Brethren? Ruthven raped and forced Clara into whoredom and then abandoned Darvell, robbed his corpse, and stole his estate. WTF?]]

* ''Fanfic/BartSimpsonAttorneyAtLaw'': Teenage Maggie toward [[BastardGirlfriend Gina]]. Her idolization of Gina leads her to ignore the damage she has done toward Bart and gets [[WhatTheHellHero an earful from him and Marge]] for reintroducing Gina to him. [[spoiler: Gina joins in a plot to kidnap Bart on behalf of Jessica Lovejoy. However, she does end up redeeming herself by testifying against Jessica, thanks to Maggie's never-ending faith]].

* ''Film/GuestHouseParadiso'': Gina Carbonara thinks the pervy, condescending Richie is a sweet man and believes she can trust Eddie with her identity, only moments after meeting him. (Compared to her BastardBoyfriend, however, those two are saints).

-> ''"I looked the man in the eye. I found him very straightforward and trustworthy – I was able to get a sense of his soul."''
-->-- '''US President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush''', after having met Russian Premier UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin at the 2001 Slovenia Summit

-->-- '''US President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, after having met Russian Premier UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin at the 2001 Slovenia Summit'''

-->-- '''US President [[UsefulNotes George W. Bush]], after having met Russian Premier [[UsefulNotes Vladimir Putin]] at the 2001 Slovenia Summit'''

->'''Jafar:''' I don't trust him, sire.\\
'''Sultan:''' Nonsense! One thing I pride myself on, Jafar... I'm an excellent judge of character.\\
'''Iago:''' Oh, excellent judge, yeah, sure... ''not!''
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''

** Iris from ''Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations'' is thought of this way by Edgeworth after she calls Maya 'strong and reliable' and Larry 'sincere and hard-working'; however, they can be described as these under certain circumstances. She ''also'' trusts [[spoiler:her murderous twin sister Dahlia despite the numerous examples of Dahlia abusing this]].
** Klavier Gavin, brother of [[spoiler: his psychotic older brother and BigBad Kristoph Gavin]] has a hard time grasping that [[spoiler: Kristoph and his bandmate Daryan]] could be criminals and murderers. Though when he finds out, he prosecutes them. Given Klavier is an idealistic young man that was mentored by TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Constance Courte, it's not hard to imagine why he sees the good in everyone.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': The braintrust in charge of the cloning programs in ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'' decided to pass over the likes of Music/ElvisPresley, ComicBook/LexLuthor, and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, to [[YouClonedHitler clone Hitler]]. ''Twice''.

* King Henri from ''Fanfic/HeavensLight'' (a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''). He's practically the only person in the story who trusts [[KnightTemplar Judge Claude Frollo]], the Minister of Justice, mentioned below. In his defense, he points out that Frollo is supposed to do his job, not to be popular, and he does try to reign in Frollo by ordering Quasimodo to be released when the crowd starts humiliating him at the Festival of Fools. Eventually, he wises up to Frollo's corruption, but only after the Minister has already taken him and his wife captive and is threatening to [[IHaveYourWife enslave his daughter]] and take over Corona. [[spoiler:After Frollo dies, he names [[TheGoodCaptain Captain Phoebus]] as his RedeemingReplacement.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Quasimodo. Especially when it comes to Frollo's true evil nature (until the climax, at least). Justified due to being raised by Frollo and kept in isolation for his entire life.

* In [[Literature/TheBible The Book of Esther]], Ahasuerus didn't realize that his vizier Haman is an EvilChancellor, even when he tried to wipe out all the Jews in Persia, until Ahasuerus realized(/found out after she told him) that this would also include his wife, the titular Esther. He trusted Haman so much that all Haman had to say was "let me take care of this group of non-law-abiders", and he got ''the king's signet ring to use''.

* In [[Literature/TheBible The Book of Esther]], Ahasuerus didn't realize that his vizier Haman is an EvilChancellor, even when he tried to wipe out all the Jews in Persia, until Ahasuerus realized that this would also include his wife, the titular Esther. He trusted Haman so much that all Haman had to say was "let me take care of this group of non-law-abiders", and he got ''the king's signet ring to use''.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''. Ambrose, who up until the 8th book had been a [[TheDitz not too bright]] NiceGuy sets out to restore his kingdom in the homelands. He recruits dead fables in the Witching Well, promising them a physical body and a chance at redemption for their sins. This includes Shere Khan and Bluebeard, both of whom betrayed the fable community and plan to betray him for control of his kingdom. Not only does Ambrose know, but it's also all part of his plan.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': examples:

*** And although even his son Harry told him off during that mess, after the events of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', [[spoiler: Harry's former wife and Peter's former friend Liz Allan]] has been seen in a new alliance with Norman Osborn as he attempts to establish a new identity and corporation (now that his identity as the ComicBook/GreenGoblin is no longer a secret). Whether [[spoiler:she]] is doing this entirely out of free will is unknown, but it's very possible that the biggest reason is [[spoiler:to ensure a better future for her own son]].

* In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' thinks that murderous, egomaniac, xenophobic, jerkass and ManipulativeBastard ''ComicBook/LexLuthor'' is "the most wonderful man in the world" . To be fair, he was a master manipulator who deceived everyone but ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' and Bruce Wayne, and after discovering his true colors, Kara turned on Luthor at once.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}: The braintrust in charge of the cloning programs in ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'' decided to pass over the likes of Music/ElvisPresley, ComicBook/LexLuthor, and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, to [[YouClonedHitler clone Hitler]]. ''Twice''.
* ComicBook/TheEyeOfMongombo: Cliff Carlson’s ex-boss Norbert Nuskle may be a {{Jerkass}} and all, but he’s convinced that the Colombian drug plantation he’s in is just an ordinary farm.
* ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'': The Caliph has Iznogoud -- a man who tries to carry out an evil scheme to get rid of him on any day ending in "Y" -- as his grand vizier and most trusted adviser. You do the math.
* In ''ComicBook/GIJoeIDW'', Cobra Commander is so certain that he's corrupted Chuckles to Cobra's side that he eventually stops taking any precautions around him. [[spoiler:Naturally, that’s what Chuckles was waiting for. The Commander doesn’t realize what’s really going on until Chuckles points a pistol right at him. Cue [[BoomHeadshot headshot]].]]

* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Everyone who believes Loki (god of ''lies'' and evil) when he says that ''this time'', he's definitely changed and isn't planning to betray someone or everyone.

* Susan of ''ComicStrip/{{Candorville}}'' has made some pretty bad decisions, such as trying a bit of OperationJealousy on her [[ObliviousToLove oblivious friend]] Lemont (it doesn't work; not only does [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he want her to be happy]], it leaves him open to pursuing an online relationship with his college crush, [[LoveDodecahedron who happens to be Susan's married ex-best friend]]) or adopting a dog that's obviously a wolf [[spoiler:that might be Lemont's vampire baby mama in disguise]].

* Vale Whitaker, the heroine of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'', is awful at discerning the true alignments and motivations of others. Even in the arena, she wants to trust others, which leads to her [[spoiler: allying with Phlox, who tries to kill her and her other allies]]. However, the one person that she consistently distrusts is Obsidian, who is quite kind to her, all things considered, and even [[spoiler: saves her life on multiple occasions]].
** Later on, [[spoiler: during their alliance]], we learn that Vale also misjudges Obsidian by thinking that, as a well-trained and strong Career, he must not have any problems, while he is simultaneously [[spoiler: plagued with constant questions about the morality of his actions, as well as the fear that he isn't so different from Amber and the other Careers]]. Obsidian also misjudges Vale by mistakenly assuming that she is a PuritySue type who could never hurt anyone and therefore lacks the kind of worries that consume him.
* In ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'' Jerry, the main character, qualifies on no less than three occasions in "[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Evil Gods Part 1]]". In the space of a single chapter, there are two cases- when he believes Ethan when he repents his sins, but [[HeelFaceDoorSlam kills Thalia when she tries to do the same]] on the mere chance that she's lying- the former turns out to be a traitor, while the latter joins the Prayer Warriors in "The Evil Gods Part 2", and is [[RetCon retconned into being one all along]]. He also doesn't realize that his own wife is a traitor and that he's not the father of her unborn son. Interestingly enough, he has (so far) not ended up regretting deciding to trust the canonical traitor [[spoiler:Luke]].
* In [[Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX Gensokyo 20XXV]], we have Reimu, who is noted, in one chapter, to be someone who can "be bullied one minute and still go back around trust them the next", which is true seeing that she trusted Paintbrush Bitch, when the latter let her outside, knowing full well that could place her in danger and it did. Naturally, one of the kids thought of her as a moron for doing that, to which Alice did bring up the fact that she could have thought of it as being nice by doing something the other adults wouldn't do. In that vein, Ren gave his brother a thinly veiled threat about what could happen if Baka dared to betray said trust.
-->'''Ren''': On a note and you had better get this through your thick skull and make clear note of which it is I am saying to you now, you can bully Reimu one minute and, yet, she'll still trust you the next, so, in no way, are you to violate that trust or place her into harms way and, if you do, well, we will never at all hesitate and will act as we see best, be you my older brother or not.
* ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'':
** In Act III, Akua and Kahlua helped Kiria in his plan to [[TimeTravelForFunAndProfit use the Chrono Displacement spell to rewrite history]], going so far as to steal said spell from their father Issa's archive for Kiria to begin with, because they genuinely believed that the extent of Kiria's plan was to send Tsukune's [[SuperPoweredEvilSide ghoul]] back to the [[GreatOffscreenWar Battle of Kahdaln]] so as to turn the tide of the battle and change history in favor of the monsters, thus ensuring that monsters would rule the world. In chapter 52, upon their defeat, the two are completely shocked to discover that, in addition to that, Kiria also planned to send out [[PsychoSerum Blackheart-infected]] monsters to the dark lords themselves, as well as any other being powerful enough to oppose him, so he would be the top monster in the revised timeline, and he would have had Akua and Kahlua, and possibly Moka and Kokoa as well, infected with Blackheart as well and sent back to kill their father Issa and destroy the Shuzen empire from within, all of which is [[NotWhatISignedOnFor anything but what they wanted]]. Kahlua and Akua spend the entirety of Act IV as {{The Atoner}}s.
** Tsukune's mother and cousin fall into it during Act IV, automatically trusting Jovian and Jacqueline, Hokuto's PsychoLesbian CoDragons, simply because the two claimed to be Tsukune's friends. They realize just what a mistake that was after Jovian holds Kyouko hostage and rapes her, and after Jacqueline blows up the Aono house and levels most of the neighborhood to the ground for laughs.
** In Act VII chapter 3, the new Complica decides to trust Routier right off the bat. While Routier ''did'' save her from a group of human pedophiles, she did so by ripping them to shreds with a chainsaw and ''laughing'' about it.

* In ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'', Skoodge thinks that Zim is his caring best friend, despite the fact that Zim doesn't give a damn about him and doesn't even try to hide the fact. Of course, we can’t judge him too harshly for this, as the only alternative Skoodge has ever known is the Tallest, and unlike them, Zim actually recognizes that Skoodge does have worthwhile skills.
* In the sidestories of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Jeanette Fisher's grandfather is revealed to have been this at some point. To wit, he almost married his daughter Kaoruko to a man who was actually a criminal and murderer, while disapproving of her eventual husband because he came from Gringy City.
* ''Fanfic/TMNTSecretsOfTheSewers'': The [[spoiler: High Council of the Foot Clan are convinced that the Shredder is an honorable, righteous man and that Splinter is a despicable, dishonorable monster when the opposite is the case; in fact, it's revealed in the very next chapter that everything Shredder has done throughout the fic has been to amass an army of mutants so he can slay the council and take complete control over the Foot. They nearly kill Splinter to avenge Shredder's apparent death, and would have done so had Murakami not intervened and helped set them straight]].
* In ''[[Fanfic/BurnTheWitchMiraculousLadybug BURN THE WITCH]]'', [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]]'s assessment of others hinges entirely upon whether or not she's successfully lied to them. Since Marinette has called her out on her deceptive nature, she presumes that all of her efforts to save her from Witch Hunter and her angry mob ''must'' be a trick, while she's convinced that she has Hawkmoth wrapped around her little finger and that he'll protect her from his own creation.
* King Henri from ''Fanfic/HeavensLight'' (a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''). He's practically the only person in the story who trusts [[KnightTemplar Judge Claude Frollo]], the Minister of Justice, mentioned below. In his defense, he points out that Frollo is supposed to do his job, not to be popular, and he does try to reign in Frollo by ordering Quasimodo to be released when the crowd starts humiliating him at the Festival of Fools. Eventually, he wises up to Frollo's corruption, but only after the Minister has already taken him and his wife captive and is threatening to [[IHaveYourWife enslave his daughter]] and take over Corona. [[spoiler:After Frollo dies, he names [[TheGoodCaptain Captain Phoebus]] as his RedeemingReplacement.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'': This is the FatalFlaw of [[TheIngenue Snow White]]. She completely trusts a creepy hag and thinks she's just a nice "poor old lady", which shows just how [[IncorruptiblePurePureness tragically good and pure she is ]] -- even her animal friends who immediately realize something is up can't convince her not to help.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'':
** The villagers qualify, no doubt. Even though Gaston clearly made no effort to hide his {{Jerkass}} nature, such as lusting after Belle despite clearly knowing she isn't into him or trying to blackmail her into marrying him by threatening to send her father Maurice to an asylum, they still love him.
** Even Maurice, Belle's father, initially thinks that Gaston is a decent enough guy only [[BeautyEqualsGoodness because of his good looks]]. He even suggested Belle spending time with him. Of course, that was the beginning of the movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie''. Goofy is convinced that his {{Toxic Friend|Influence}} Pete is "good with kids," despite Pete more-or-less [[AbusiveParents mentally abusing his son]] for '''[[WesternAnimation/GoofTroop years]]'''. When Pete hears of Max's aloofness, he presents as a concerning issue that Max may end up becoming a criminal. Goofy initially shrugs it off, but the notion returns when he is called by the very neurotic principal over the stunt Max pulled. The principal rants in extreme hyperbole, leading to Goofy taking Max on the fishing trip. Later Pete convinces Goofy that the way to keep your kids good is to "keep 'em under your thumb", despite him doing that to PJ only demonstrating that all that does is [[KickTheDog make your kids miserable]]. Overall, it fails as Goofy tries to be more assertive. This leads to even more problems when Pete overhears Max telling PJ about editing the road trip map.
* Aunt Sarah from ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' is this to an extreme degree. Throughout her scenes, she's constantly mean to Lady and considers her a danger to the baby. Things don't get better in the climax where [[spoiler:the rat gets into the baby's open window and Tramp is able to kill it before it hurts the baby. She assumes that Tramp tried to hurt the baby, locked him in the closet until the pound arrived and threw Lady in the basement.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension'', this seems to be an unfortunate side-effect of Phineas and Ferb's eternal optimism as they didn't realize that ''either'' of the two Doofenshmirtzes was evil until they were flat-out told about it.
** Although the trope may be [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in how they judged [[AffablyEvil Do]][[HarmlessVillain of]][[AntiVillain -1]] since he was very nice and polite with them.
** While they have dodged many adults throughout the series, they never encountered one who would [[spoiler: hurt them just to expose Perry's secret identity.]]
** Same can be said for Phineas thinking that Perry kept his secret identity because he never cared for them as a family. If only he had read the pamphlet.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': [[ItsAllAboutMe Emperor Kuzco]] not only agrees to have dinner with Yzma after he both fired and flat-out insulted her, kicking off her scheme of killing and usurping him for control over the empire, but he also believes that she and Kronk are trying to locate and bring him home rather than kill him, as Pacha attempted to warn him. Also, it never seems to occur to him that Yzma could be the one behind his transformation into a llama, even when he knows full well that she has a "secret" laboratory where she would be able to create a potion that could change him into a different creature. It takes him overhearing Yzma berate Kronk for botching the poison attempt to realize how evil Yzma truly is despite all the clear indicators that should have tipped him off. Of course, before character development set in, Kuzco was an arrogant, selfish jerk. It's likely he was just so full of himself that he couldn't conceive of Yzma betraying him because of his ego.
* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': This was Judge Hopkins' FatalFlaw. {{Pun}} aside, he believed [[spoiler:Agatha]] to be a WickedWitch without noticing she was innocent. {{Justified}} because he was scared of her [[ISeeDeadPeople powers to talk to the dead]]. As such, this is {{Averted}} after he had a HeelRealization.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': After Cinderella's biological mother passed away, her father thought marrying Lady Tremaine would offer Cinderella a positive mother figure. [[WickedStepmother Let's just say he was wrong]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis'', Chas Finster proves to be one, failing to see that Chuckie is terrified of [[BigBad Coco LaBouche]]. This is justified as Coco is rather good at flirting with men despite her contempt of children. He does realize his mistake at the end though.
* In Plucky and Hamton's sub-plot of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventuresHowISpentMyVacation'', Hamton's family picks up Mr. Hitcher, [[HostileHitchhiker a dangerous hitchhiker]], on their way to the [=HappyWorldLand=] amusement park. Unlike Plucky, who has listened to a news report describing Mr. Hitcher as an escaped dangerous criminal, the Pig family don't seem to see him that way, despite his obvious hints, such as his HockeyMaskAndChainsaw. Even worse is that Hamton gives Mr. Hitcher Plucky's address, rather than his own, much to the latter's horror.

* All of the other canditates in ''Film/{{Exam}}'', for trusting [[spoiler:White]] who is a ManipulativeBastard.

* In ''VisualNovel/HatePlus'' the Councillor of Security Old *Mute completely underestimates the danger [[spoiler: Councillor Ryu]] poses, considering him a mere pawn and believing the real threat to security to be the peasantry. Justified in that he only became dangerous as a result of his contact with and due to the influence of [[spoiler: of Oh Eun-a]], something Old *Mute wasn't aware of.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': “Hi, I am [[SinisterMinister Kirei Kotomine]]. I am emotionless [[{{Sadist}} except when amused by the discomfort of others]]. I'm a {{Jerkass}}, I [[{{Troll}} make fun of you]], and I act really suspiciously.” Yet everyone just seems to believe that he has nothing to do with what's going on, except Tohsaka. Even she just knows that he's not a nice guy. In "Heaven's Feel" up until the end Shirou doesn't really think of him as an enemy when he's quite blatant about not being on Shirou's side or even neutral ''or'' pretending he doesn't have a hidden agenda having to do with [[OmnicidalManiac wide-scale destruction]], although by that point Shirou just doesn't really ''care'', seeing as how he [[EnemyMine needs his help]] in [[spoiler:saving Sakura and Ilya]].

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': “Hi, I am [[SinisterMinister Kirei Kotomine]]. I am emotionless [[{{Sadist}} except when amused by the discomfort of others]]. I'm a {{Jerkass}}, I [[{{Troll}} make fun of you]], and I act really suspiciously.” Yet everyone just seems to believe that he has nothing to do with what's going on, except Tohsaka. Even she just knows that he's not a nice guy. In "Heaven's Feel" up until the end Shirou doesn't really think of him as an enemy when he's quite blatant about not being on Shirou's side or even neutral ''or'' pretending he doesn't have a hidden agenda having to do with [[OmnicidalManiac wide-scale destruction]].
** By that point in "Heaven's Feel", Shirou just doesn't ''care''. Kotomine [[EnemyMine is on his side for that battle]], and he needs him to help [[spoiler:save Sakura and Ilya]]. That's all that matters.