History Main / RejectionProjection

Can be a form of PsychologicalProjection or SelfFulfillingProphecy. It may involve a SelfServingMemory. See also PoorCommunicationKills and MutuallyUnequalRelation.

* In ''Film/DuckSoup'', Firefly imagines Ambassador Trentino [[HandshakeRefusal rejecting his handshake]] and is so worked up about it that when Trentino arrives, [[PrematureAggravation he slaps him before he's even said a word]].

* A subtle version occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. When Mr. Incredible (a.k.a. Bob Parr) dismisses [[LoonyFan Buddy Pine]], he remarks "Fly home, Buddy -- I work alone." Later, when Buddy, who has grown up to become the villainous Syndrome, recalls the event, he does get the words right, but completely changes the details to make Mr. Incredible seem like far more of a jerk than he actually was. The scene took place in a bank; Bob had the villainous [[MadBomber Bomb Voyage]] in his grasp; and his tone, though dismissive, sounded more like he was distracted than actively malicious. But in Buddy's SelfServingMemory, he and Bob are standing in a darkened room; Bomb Voyage is nowhere to be seen; and Bob glares directly at him while delivering the line in the cruelest way imaginable. It emphasizes how Buddy [[NeverMyFault refuses to admit he did anything wrong]]: yes, Bob could have been nicer (and had done his best to politely--and repeatedly--turn Buddy down when he tried the same tricks earlier), but Buddy was a ''child'' and had no business trying to fight adult villains -- to say nothing of how his presence allowed Bomb Voyage to plant an explosive on his cape and indirectly led to the ban on Supers after the resulting disaster.

* Multiple characters from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', but especially Shinji, who claims nobody wants him both before ''and'' after being [[CluelessChickMagnet swarmed by adoring fangirls he barely reacts to and is never shown thinking about again]], and Asuka, who in episode 9 stomps on her classmates' love letters yet in episode 22 screams over perceived rejection from guys who were too old for her and from guys [[UnprovokedPervertPayback who were understandably afraid]] that holding [[HairTriggerTemper her]] would end even worse for them than choosing not to would have.

* Early on in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173118/chapters/61004263 We Know You're Watching]]'',[[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange Max]] listens in on Chloe and Rachel having sex, but after accidentally alerting them to her presence by stepping on a loose floorboard, she assumes that she's jeopardized her friendship with the couple. The truth could not be any more different; [[spoiler:Chloe and Rachel both have feelings for her, and deliberately encouraged her voyeurism to try and gauge whether she would be interested in joining their pre-existing relationship]]. And even if this wasn't the case, it's doubtful that Chloe and Rachel would react as badly as Max fears, since the fic is an [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] where Max stayed in contact with Chloe and supported her emotionally following her father's death, something Rachel very much appreciates in the present day. In this case it's a JustifiedTrope, since Max is a naturally anxious person who's still new to romantic stuff - on top of already being an introvert - and voyeurism ''is'' generally disapproved of by most people.

* This is revealed to be the motivation of the BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship''. [[spoiler:Wallflower Blush, a shy and timid student at Canterlot High who's shown to [[RememberTheNewGuy have been on the fringes of the events of the previous films, unseen]], starts to perceive her struggles with making friends or even being remembered as deliberate rejection from her peers. When she finds the Memory Stone, she exacerbates her problems by [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erasing people's memories]] of moments she finds embarrassing, making it even harder for people to notice her. When she starts taking the lack of recognition from Sunset Shimmer, under whom she serves on yearbook staff, especially hard, she embarks on a revenge campaign by erasing all memories of Sunset post-HeelFaceTurn from the entire student body, hoping to leave her a friendless wreck like her. When the Memory Stone is destroyed, restoring everyone's memories of Sunset, Wallflower recognizes what she did was wrong and is remorseful, though it's not clear if she really understands how much projection she was doing, and starts to make friends on her own.]]

* ''Film/DuckSoup'': PlayedForLaughs, of course. Firefly imagines Ambassador Trentino [[HandshakeRefusal rejecting his handshake]] and is so worked up about it that when Trentino arrives, he slaps him before he's even said a word.

* Done to terrifying effect in ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''. Idi Amin demands that Nicholas, who he named his personal physician, give him advice on running Uganda, despite Nicholas having no training whatsoever. When Nicholas tries to take him to task for his poor choices, Amin just shifts the blame and claims that Nicholas didn't give him the ''exact advice he did give''.

* Marco Inaros from ''Literature/TheExpanse'' forbade his ex-girlfriend from seeing their infant son Filip ever again, then raised Filip to believe his mother was a spiteful coward who abandoned him and her fellow [[SpacePeople Belters]] to sleep with those "imperialist Inners" (read: did not like being tricked by Marco into writing a code that would make spaceships explode inexplicably during flight).

* In the ''Literature/WaysideSchool'' series, Kathy is TheBully of Mrs. Jewls's class. Her chapter in the first book explains that this trope is the reason: she thinks that all of the other kids hate her, but in truth, whenever another student tries to be genuinely nice to her, she thinks it's a trick and assumes the worst for no reason. Then, when something goes wrong, she claims "I was right!" To give one example: Allison once offered her a homemade cookie, but Kathy refused to eat it, saying it wouldn't be good. Then, ''two months later'', she decided to finally try the cookie (which had been sitting in her desk all that time). When it turned out to be stale and dusty, Kathy took this as vindication of Allison's "meanness" toward her, instead of a sign of her own lack of foresight. As to be expected, it's very much PlayedForLaughs.

* This proves to be a big problem for Hannah in ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy''. Hannah [[DesperatelyCravesAffection craves love and acceptance]] from her classmates but due to getting bullied and her own insecurities, she tends to push away her friends, often mistaking their behavior for insults or rejections even if they were trying to be sincere or [[InnocentlyInsensitive non-malicious]]. Her tendency to lash out at her friends drives them away and leaves her without support, worsening her downward spiral into depression. One of the most prominent examples is when she breaks down and rejects her crush Clay after they kiss, due to the fact her classmates have spread nasty rumors about her sex life and she's scared of what everyone will think if they get together. Hannah demands that Clay leave but when he does, she mentally asks "Why did you leave?" because what she ''really'' wanted was for him to stay and comfort her. Clay only realizes this after she has [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide]].

* In the ''Theatre/MrsHawking'' series, the titular character does this repeatedly (to the point of it being a FatalFlaw). She's convinced that everyone she ever comes to care about will hurt or betray her in some way, so when they inevitably do make a mistake, she acts as though it was a personal attack and refuses to accept any sort of apology, saying that they clearly hate her (despite repeated efforts to prove otherwise). This attitude ultimately creates a SelfFulfillingProphecy, because the people who do genuinely love her eventually get tired of her stubbornness and give up on trying to reach out.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': This is a recurring problem for [[BoomerangBigot Sera]]. While she [[JerkassHasAPoint makes some valid points]] about both Dalish and city elves rejecting elves that are insufficiently "elfy", Sera herself is very quick to write off ''all'' other elves as being "elfy" even before they demonstrate such behavior. Sera then acts like she was the one being rejected when other elves understandably react poorly to being judged before doing anything objectionable.
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'': As his SanitySlippage continues, Doctor Otto Octavius begins claiming everyone is against him. He even begins rejecting the advice of his trusted lab assistant Peter Parker. By the end of the game, he directly accuses Peter of betraying him. In a twist, however, Otto isn't ''completely'' wrong: Because of Peter's ChronicHeroSyndrome, he's constantly showing up late (if at all) to their lab, forcing Otto to do experiments on his own without Peter there to focus on safety.

* In ''Heroes of Olympus'', when Nico di Angelo vents to Will Solace about how, as a child of Hades, he's a pariah by nature, Will calls him out on this. While it's true that a lot of people are put off by his nature, there are also people who want to befriend him that Nico hadn't kept in mind, because he rejects them first.

* ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'' episode 16 features Takagishi Azusa-a drama club leader who, despite her bossy tone and closed-minded reactions to others' ideas, ''still'' gets invited to fashion club meetings and decides not to join them, but then proceeds to non-ironically mope about how they "abandoned" her.

* ''Anime/ElfenLied:'' [[FreudianExcuse It's not without merit]], but Lucy has a serious problem with this: when Kouta lies to her about his cousin's gender as to not hurt her feelings and she learns the truth, she draws the conclusion that he hated her all along and wanted to see her suffer, just like every other filthy, rotten human. Cue her slaughtering everyone in her path as she hunts down Kouta's family to punish him for his 'cruelty'.

* ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons:'' Bowler Hat Guy claims that "all of the other kids hated [him]", but the flashback to this supposed hatred and mistreatment shows other kids complimenting him and asking to hang out while he ignored them.
* A subtle version occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. When Mr. Incredible (a.k.a. Bob Parr) dismisses [[LoonyFan Buddy Pine]], he remarks "Fly home, Buddy -- I work alone." Later, when Buddy, who has grown up to become the villainous Syndrome, recalls the event, he does get the words right, but completely changes the details to make Mr. Incredible seem like far more of a jerk than he actually was. The scene took place in a bank; Bob had the villainous [[MadBomber Bomb Voyage]] in his grasp; and his tone, though dismissive, sounded more like he was distracted than actively malicious. But in Buddy's SelfServingMemory, he and Bob are standing in a darkened room; Bomb Voyage is nowhere to be seen; and Bob glares directly at him while delivering the line in the cruelest way imaginable. It emphasizes how Buddy [[NeverMyFault refuses to admit he did anything wrong]]: yes, Bob could have been nicer (and had done his best to politely--and repeatedly--turn Buddy down when he tried the same tricks earlier), but Buddy was a ''child'' and had no business trying to fight adult villains -- to say nothing of how his presence allowed Bomb Voyage to plant an explosive on his cape and indirectly led to the ban on Supers after the resulting disaster.
* This is revealed to be the motivation of the BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship''. [[spoiler:Wallflower Blush, a shy and timid student at Canterlot High who's shown to [[RememberTheNewGuy have been on the fringes of the events of the previous films, unseen]], starts to perceive her struggles with making friends or even being remembered as deliberate rejection from her peers. When she finds the Memory Stone, she exacerbates her problems by [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erasing people's memories]] of moments she finds embarrassing, making it even harder for people to notice her. When she starts taking the lack of recognition from Sunset Shimmer, under whom she serves on yearbook staff, especially hard, she embarks on a revenge campaign by erasing all memories of Sunset post-HeelFaceTurn from the entire student body, hoping to leave her a friendless wreck like her. When the Memory Stone is destroyed, restoring everyone's memories of Sunset, Wallflower recognizes what she did was wrong and is remorseful, though it's not clear if she really understands how much projection she was doing, and starts to make friends on her own.]]

* ''Film/DuckSoup'': PlayedForLaughs, of course. Firefly imagines Ambassador Trentino [[HandshakeRefusal rejecting his handshake]] and is so worked up about it that when Trentino arrives, he slaps him before he's even said a word.
* Done to terrifying effect in ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland.'' Idi Amin demands that Nicholas, who he named his personal physician, give him advice on running Uganda, despite Nicholas having no training whatsoever. When Nicholas tries to take him to task for his poor choices, Amin just shifts the blame and claims that Nicholas didn't give him the ''exact advice he did give.''
-->'''Idi Amin''': You are my advisor. You are the only one I can trust in here. You should have told me not to throw the Asians out in the first place.
-->'''Nicholas Garrigan''': ...I DID!
-->'''Idi Amin''': But you did not ''persuade'' me, Nicholas. You did not persuade me!

* In Heroes of Olympus, when Nico di Angelo vents to Will Solace about how, as a child of Hades, he’s a pariah by nature, Will calls him out on this. While it’s true that a lot of people are put off by his nature, there are also people who want to befriend him that Nico hadn’t kept in mind, because he rejects them first.

-->'''Moondancer:''' I just need to be alone so I can study without some crazy pony trying to make friends, all right?
-->'''Moondancer:''' Then you left town without saying goodbye even though we were supposed to be friends! I was humiliated! I felt like I wasn't important! I never wanted to let myself be hurt like that again! Those three finally convinced me that I had value! That other ponies might like me and want to be my friend! And you! Didn't! Show! Up!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Nergal Jr. writes in his diary about how alone he is and how he wishes somebody would reach out to him, only for his thoughts to be interrupted by a classmate shyly asking him to walk home with her after school. Nergal Jr. immediately rejects her, yelling, "Can't you see I'm trying to write my dark thoughts!"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': According to King Andrias, he had two friends, a pink frog and a green toad, who betrayed him by stealing the Calamity Box and causing Newtopia to fall from grace. But later we learn that what actually happened was that the frog, Leif, saw a vision of Amphibia's destruction, and she stole the box in an attempt to prevent it from happening rather than to save the other worlds. It was still seen as a betrayal by Andrias, though, as was the toad, Barrel, hesitating to stop Leif when he had the chance.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Hassle in the Castle", Timmy meets some of Cosmo and Wanda's worst godkids, including a girl named Mary Ann who says they "deserted" her when she took their wands. When Cosmo and Wanda appear, they reveal that she'd abused their magic and ''[[HistoricalRapSheet caused World War I]]''.

* Moondancer, from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', is a more sympathetic example. While name-dropped in the pilot episode, she isn't shown on-screen until "Amending Fences". It comes out that [[CerebusRetcon she was really hurt by Twilight blowing off her party and leaving town without saying goodbye]], and her desire to NeverBeHurtAgain drives her to shut out her other friends.

* A subtle version occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. When Mr. Incredible (a.k.a. Bob Parr) dismisses [[LoonyFan Buddy Pine]], he remarks "Fly home, Buddy -- I work alone." Later, when Buddy, who has grown up to become the villainous Syndrome, recalls the event, he does get the words right, but completely changes the details to make Mr. Incredible seem like far more of a monster than he actually was. The scene took place in a bank; Bob had the villainous [[MadBomber Bomb Voyage]] in his grasp; and his tone, though dismissive, sounded more like he was distracted than actively malicious. But in Buddy's SelfServingMemory, he and Bob are standing in a darkened room; Bomb Voyage is nowhere to be seen; and Bob glares directly at him while delivering the line in the cruelest way imaginable. It emphasizes how Buddy [[NeverMyFault refuses to admit he did anything wrong]]: yes, Bob could have been nicer (and had done his best to politely--and repeatedly--turn Buddy down when he tried the same tricks earlier), but Buddy was a ''child'' and had no business trying to fight adult villains -- to say nothing of how his presence allowed Bomb Voyage to plant an explosive on his cape and indirectly led to the ban on Supers after the resulting disaster.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': According to King Andrias, he had two friends, a pink frog and a green toad, who betrayed him by stealing the Calamity Box and causing Newtopia to fall from grace. But once we learn that Andrias planned to use the box to be a MultiversalConqueror, we're left with the implication that they took the box out of worry for the maniac their friend was becoming.
** However, a later episode shows that most of Amphibia didn't have much of a problem with conquering other worlds, even if it meant killing entire races. What actually happened was that the frog, Leif, saw a vision of Amphibia's destruction, and she stole the box in an attempt tp prevent it from happening rather than to save the other worlds. It was still seen as a betrayal by Andrias, though, as was the toad, Barrel, hesitating to stop Leif when he had the chance.

* Multiple characters from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', but especially Shinji, who claims nobody wants him both before ''and'' after being [[CluelessChickMagnet swarmed by adoring fangirls he barely reacts to and is never shown thinking about again]], and Asuka, who in episode 9 stomps on her classmates' love letters yet spends much of episode 22 screaming over perceived rejection from guys who were either too old for her or were afraid holding her would end even worse for them.

* This is a recurring thing in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173118/chapters/61004263 We Know You're Watching]]'', with [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange Max]] assuming that Chloe and Rachel have dropped her as a friend - or would do so - over her eavesdropping/spying on them having sex. The truth could not be any more different; [[spoiler:Chloe and Rachel both have feelings for her, and are deliberately encouraging her voyeurism to try and gauge whether she would be interested in joining their pre-existing relationship]]. And even if this wasn't the case, it's doubtful that Chloe and Rachel would react as badly as Max fears, since the fic is an [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] where Max stayed in contact with Chloe and supported her emotionally following her father's death, something Rachel very much appreciates in the present day. In this case it's a JustifiedTrope, since Max is a naturally anxious person who's still new to romantic stuff - on top of already being an introvert - and voyeurism ''is'' generally disapproved of by most people.

Can be a form of PsychologicalProjection or SelfFulfillingProphecy. It may involve a SelfServingMemory. See also PoorCommunicationKills.

* This is a recurring thing in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173118/chapters/61004263 We Know You're Watching]]'', with [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange Max]] constantly assuming that Chloe and Rachel would drop her as a friend if/after they find out that she's eavesdropping/spying on them having sex. The truth could not be any more different; [[spoiler:Chloe and Rachel both have feelings for her, and are deliberately encouraging her voyeurism to try and gauge whether she would be interested in joining their pre-existing relationship]]. And even if this wasn't the case, it's doubtful that Chloe and Rachel would react as badly as Max fears, since the fic is an [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] where Max stayed in contact with Chloe and supported her emotionally following her father's death, something Rachel very much appreciates in the present day. In this case it's a JustifiedTrope, since Max is a naturally anxious person who's still new to romantic stuff, and voyeurism ''is'' generally disapproved of by most people.

* This is a recurring thing in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173118/chapters/61004263 We Know You're Watching]]'', with [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange Max]] constantly assuming that Chloe and Rachel would drop her as a friend if/after they find out that she's eavesdropping/spying on them having sex. The truth could not be any more different; [[spoiler:Chloe and Rachel both have feelings for her, and are deliberately encouraging her voyeurism to try and gauge whether she would be interested in joining their pre-existing relationship]]. And even if this wasn't the case, it's doubtful that Chloe and Rachel would react as badly as Max fears, since the fic is an [[AlternatateUniverseFic AU]] where Max stayed in contact with Chloe and supported her emotionally following her father's death, something Rachel very much appreciates in the present day. In this case it's a JustifiedTrope, since Max is a naturally anxious person who's still new to romantic stuff, and voyeurism ''is'' generally disapproved of by most people.

-->'''Moondancer: I just need to be alone so I can study without some crazy pony trying to make friends, all right?
-->'''Moondancer: Then you left town without saying goodbye even though we were supposed to be friends! I was humiliated! I felt like I wasn't important! I never wanted to let myself be hurt like that again! Those three finally convinced me that I had value! That other ponies might like me and want to be my friend! And you! Didn't! Show! Up!

* ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles'': In "D&D Story: Ep 17 - Splitting the Party [Fool's Gold]", Erina gets angry at Sips for deciding to leave the party to deal with recent revelations, feelings abandoned. Moments later, Erina does the same thing to Gothi. Whenever she talks about it later, she mostly focuses on Sips's "betrayal" and refuses to admit her own wrongdoing.

* This is revealed to be the motivation of the BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship''. [[spoiler:Wallflower Blush, a shy and timid student at Canterlot High who's shown to [[RememberTheNewGuy have been on the fringes of the events of the previous films, unnoticed]], starts to perceive her struggles with making friends or even being noticed as deliberate rejection from her peers. When she finds the Memory Stone, she exacerbates her problems by [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erasing people's memories]] of moments she finds embarrassing, making it even harder for people to notice her. When she starts taking the lack of recognition from Sunset Shimmer, under whom she serves on yearbook staff, especially hard, she embarks on a revenge campaign by erasing all memories of Sunset post-HeelFaceTurn from the entire student body, hoping to leave her a friendless wreck like her. When the Memory Stone is destroyed, restoring everyone's memories of Sunset, Wallflower recognizes what she did was wrong and is remorseful, though it's not clear if she really understands how much projection she was doing, and starts to make friends on her own.]]

* Moondancer, from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', is a more sympathetic example. While name-dropped in the pilot episode, she isn't shown on-screen until "Amending Fences", which she spends much of trying to pretend she doesn't want friends, only to fly off the handle when reminded of the time Twilight Sparkle moved to a different town without saying goodbye. It's implied that a desire to NeverBeHurtAgain is what drove the façade.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Nergal Jr. writes in his diary about how alone he is and how he wishes somebody would reach out to him, only for his thoughts to be interrupted by a classmate shyly asking him to walk home with her after school. Nergal Jr. immediately rejects her, yelling, "Can't you see I'm trying to write my dark thoughts!"

* ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'' episode 16 features a drama club leader who, despite her bossy tone and closed-minded reactions to others' ideas, ''still'' gets invited to fashion club meetings and decides not to join them, but then proceeds to non-ironically mope about how they "abandoned" her.

* ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles'': In "D&D Story: Ep 17 - Splitting the Party [Fool's Gold]", [[spoiler: Erina gets angry at Sips for deciding to leave the party to deal with recent revelations, feelings abandoned. Moments later, Erina does the same thing to Gothi. Whenever she talks about it later, she mostly focuses on Sips's betrayal and refuses to admit her own wrongdoing.]]