History Main / RousseauWasRight

* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' and its sequel ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' (heck, most {{Filmation}} cartoons) had this as a recurring theme, with even the main villains showing they had a good side underneath all that evil.

Settings in which Rousseau was right ''always'' avert CardCarryingVillain, InTheBlood, MoralEventHorizon and CompleteMonster. On the rare occasions when characters who would be regarded as {{Complete Monster}}s in other settings do show up, [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood their unrealized potential for good]] and the depths to which they have fallen instead [[CryForTheDevil are usually played up as tragic]].

* This is basically true across the board in ''{{Kingdom}}'', and it works well.

* In Season 5 of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Gabriel gives a speech to this effect to Lucifer, telling him God was right about humans being the greatest of his creations, since unlike demons and angels they know they're flawed and try to overcome them.
* Any character in ''Series/{{Community}}'' who seems like a jerk acts that way because of some form of rejection in the past, and possibly also in the present.

* As revealed in the NG+, almost all of the conflicts in ''NieR'' are a result of tragic misunderstandings, with several foes just having been trying to protect themselves/loved ones. In fact, the BigBad who [[spoiler: kidnapped your daughter/sister?]] He was just trying to [[spoiler: save his. And was responsible for keeping the remnants of humanity sane.]]

* BenBova's ''Voyagers II: The Alien Within'': After waking from cryogenic suspension and rescue from an alien ship, astronomer Keith Stoner goes to a war-torn part of Africa, gathers the local leaders and hammers out a peace that's seemed impossible so far.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', After Tedd calls out half the school for making fun of Susan when she's the ''only one'' trying to change the uniforms, most of them are quick to apologize, with one saying that "we aren't a Borg Hive Mind." Earlier, when Grace runs out of class (due to not having heard of WWII) and is very embarrassed upon coming back, the other students are quick to offer their condolences over her leading such a sheltered life, and are angry at the people who subjected her to that rather than her. In fact, this comic demonstrates in many places that, with a few exceptions, high school students ''aren't'' [[KidsAreCruel the bastards that most media would have us believe]]. They're just normal people, with basically good natures.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', After Tedd calls out half the school for making fun of Susan when she's the ''only one'' trying to change the uniforms, most of them are quick to apologize, with one saying that "we aren't a Borg Hive Mind." Earlier, when Grace runs out of class (due to not having heard of WWII) and is very embarrassed upon coming back, the other students are quick to offer their condolences over her leading such a sheltered life, and are angry at the people who subjected her to that rather than her. In fact, this comic demonstrates in many places that, with a few exceptions, high school students ''aren't'' [[ChildrenAreMonsters the bastards that most media would have us believe]]. They're just normal people, with basically good natures.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', After Tedd calls out half the school for making fun of Susan when she's the ''only one'' trying to change the uniforms, most of them are quick to apologize, with one saying that "we aren't a Borg Hive Mind." Earlier, when Grace runs out of class (due to not having heard of WWII) and is very embarrassed upon coming back, the other students are quick to offer their condolences over her leading such a sheltered life, and are angry at the people who subjected her to that rather than her. In fact, this comic demonstrates in many places that, with a few exceptions, high school students ''aren't'' the bastards that most media would have us believe. They're just normal people, with basically good natures.

* JanetKagan's book ''Mirabile''.

* With the exception of the organ traders, this is pretty much the main tragedy of ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance''. This fact makes the ensuing spiral of vengeance even more tragic.

** Even though it's not apparent in the first film, the combined message of movies is that conspiracies like those mentioned in the first film are naturally occurring in the world, due to the system based on people and groups fighting each other for every and any advantage they can get. And honestly, that view is actually quite logical. While it is insane to believe in every conspiracy out there, we should understand that secrecy, subversion, and sabotage are a big part of the world, and they pretty much always have been.

* In ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', a LS character with a high persuade can pretty much prove this trope works 60% of the time, as you can convince plenty of the DarkSide characters you speak with to put down the shiny red saber. Some, like [[spoiler: Kel Algwinn and Juhani]] don't take much work at all, while others like [[spoiler: Yuthra Ban and Bastila]] are a bit more of a crapshoot.

* With the exception of the BigBad from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', this is pretty much the description about the toys themselves in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

** As of Season 3, this even applies to ''[[spoiler:Discord,]]'' [[spoiler:the personificaton of chaos and a [[MadGod]] who [[MindRape brutally brainwashed]] our heroes. It turns out that he never had a friend before, and never understood its true value. Fluttershy's genuine kindness--and how his continued evil nearly cost him that friendship--prompted Discord to have a HeelFaceTurn!]]

** The only characters who seem completely irredeemable are the CompleteMonster King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis.
*** And even then Chrysalis may not be completely evil as she was acting to serve her people.

It should be noted that the TropeNamer Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau did not philosophize that humans in their natural state were actually "good", but rather humans who are without a social contract have no morality/concept of good and evil and as such, will act in their own self interest but cannot do so maliciously--that is to say, that people are naturally ''innocent'' in the same way [[ChildrenAreInnocent we understand children to be]]. Indeed, the best instances of this trope show this nuance.

It should be noted that Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau did not philosophize that humans in their natural state were actually "good", but rather humans who are without a social contract have no morality/concept of good and evil and as such, will act in their own self interest but cannot do so maliciously--that is to say, that people are naturally ''innocent'' in the same way [[ChildrenAreInnocent we understand children to be]]. Indeed, the best instances of this trope show this nuance.

** The only characters who seem completely irredeemable are the CompleteMonster King Sombra and [[TheBully schoolyard bullies]] Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The former is [[spoiler:full on killed]] at the end of the episode, while the latters are {{Karma Houdini}}s.
*** There's also Gilda Griffon, who even at the end of her episode just ''does not get it'' that Rainbow Dash is ''not'' "dumping her for her new friends", she's calling Gilda out on her being a spiteful, jealous, petty jerk who refuses to try and make friends with the ponies that Rainbow Dash has befriended during her time apart. Indeed, many viewers take away the AccidentalAesop as being basically: "Some people are just naturally {{Jerkass}}es, and so you can't make friends with everyone."

Compare HumansAreGood. Contrast HobbesWasRight, HumansAreBastards, and HumansAreTheRealMonsters.

It should be noted that Jean-Jacques Rousseau did not philosophize that humans in their natural state were actually "good", but rather humans who are without a social contract have no morality/concept of good and evil and as such, will act in their own self interest but cannot do so maliciously--that is to say, that people are naturally ''innocent'' in the same way [[ChildrenAreInnocent we understand children to be]]. Indeed, the best instances of this trope show this nuance.

Settings in which Rousseau was right ''always'' avert CardCarryingVillain, InTheBlood, MoralEventHorizon and CompleteMonster. On the rare occasions when characters who would be regarded as {{Complete Monster}}s in other settings do show up, [[CryForTheDevil their unrealized potential for good and the depths to which they have fallen instead are usually played up as tragic]].

* ToKillAMockingbird: Although it's arguable whether this trope applies to the book as a whole, this conversation between Scout and Atticus at the very end is an example:

** The [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] in turn; they were mostly peaceful before [[spoiler: the Dark Side-using Rakatan Infinite Empire conquered their planet. This gave the Yuuzhan Vong a crippling fear of machinery, and allowed them to build up a resistance, but at the cost of being cut off from the Force.]]

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' fits the trope. Many people like fighting, but the only really Evil person seems to be Chachazero, a powerless [[PerversePuppet doll]] of Evangeline's. Even demons are quite decent people. PoorCommunicationKills and CycleOfRevenge provide a steady supply of conflict, through. A lot of antagonists could've pulled Negi to their side if they bothered to explain their goals. Although even Chachazero has been able to show restraint, at the end of the Kyoto arc [[spoiler: she just scares Chigusa so badly that she faints, as opposed to using her [[{{BFS}} freaking huge knife to actually do some damage]].]] The only character so far who's outright evil with no AntiVillain tendencies or FreudianExcuse of some kind is PsychoLesbian / BloodKnight Tsukuyomi, who has some [[StalkerWithACrush serious]] [[AttemptedRape issues]] regarding Setsuna.