History Main / TheDitherer

** Another episode featured a weaker example of this trope in a woman who obsessively blogged about her life. Unnervingly exhibitionist, but harmless; until it becomes apparent that she leaves all her major decisions up to her internet audience instead of making them herself. When she seemingly determines a course of medical treatment based solely on the opinions of her audience, he reaches his breaking point and flips out at her to actually make her ''own'' decision based on what ''she'' thinks and believes. (It's not so much a question of the choice itself, as it's a case where both have their benefits and drawbacks, but rather that she's placing the opinions of strangers on the internet above actually considering how her choice fits into her own life and desires.)

** Another episode featured a weaker example of this trope in a woman who obsessively blogged about her life. Unnervingly exhibitionist, but harmless; until it becomes apparent that she leaves all her major decisions up to her internet audience instead of making them herself. When she lets them determine her course of medical treatment (opting for a riskier treatment that may compromise both her long-term health and even her ability to have children) instead of deciding for herself or consulting her significant other, he reaches his breaking point and flips out at her to actually make her ''own'' decision based on what ''she'' thinks and believes rather than the opinions of strangers over the internet.

* People with generalized anxiety disorder often have trouble making decisions under the too-many-trees variant because they fear making the wrong choice. Or in trope terms, they believe ''everything'' is SeriousBusiness.

--> ''Prairie Martin couldn't make up his own mind about anything and was forever asking Arley what her opinion was, facing her to have one even when she really didn't. In fact, he'd arrived in Grubstake as a result of getting on the first train that pulls into his station since he couldn't decide which one he really ''wanted'' to take.

A person of one of these types may occupy The Conflicted position in a FourPhilosophyEnsemble. In a choice between [[WithUsOrAgainstUs siding with good or evil]], a neutral character will have a problem which side is preferable, especially if he's looking for personal benefits. Because of his indecision to morally shift, this will cause both sides to no longer to sympathize with him and will give him the NeutralityBacklash. Has nothing to do with graphics programming.

[[folder: Music]]

* Carly, one of the subjects of Jigsaw's traps in ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', was a purse snatcher who let a woman she stole from to suffer an asthma attack and die; she could have saved her (as she was only a few feet away), but she instead chose to run away with $3.53. In the barn game, she's told that she was injected with poison, and has to choose between one of three needles to cure her before all the victims end up being hanged: antidote, saline solution or acid. It's implied that she knows which one is the correct answer to not choose the one with a [[IronicEcho 3.53]] number on it, but she's too frightened to do so. As the chains around her and the other subjects' necks begin to pull upwards, another subject, Ryan, injects all three syringes into her. They are freed, but [[LaserGuidedKarma Carly painfully bleeds out and dies for her troubles]].

* Carly, one of the subjects of Jigsaw's traps in ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', was a purse snatcher who let a woman she stole from to suffer an asthma attack and die. She could have saved her (as she was only a few feet away), but she instead chose to run away with a whopping $3.53. She then is told that she was injected with poison and to choose between one of three needles to cure her: antidote, saline solution or ''acid'' or they will all hang. It's implied that she knows which one is the correct answer to not choose the one with a [[IronicEcho 3.53]] number on it, but is too frightened to do so and as the chains around her and the other subjects' necks begin to pull upwards, another subject, Ryan, '''injects all three syringes into her.''' They are freed, but [[LaserGuidedKarma Carly painfully bleeds out and dies for her troubles]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Carly, one of the subjects to Jigsaw's traps in ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', was a purse snatcher who let a woman she stole from to suffer an asthma attack and die. She could have saved her (as she was only a few feet away), but she instead chose to run away with a whopping $3.53. She then is told that she was injected with poison and to choose between one of three needles to cure her: antidote, saline solution or ''acid'' or they will all hang. It's implied that she knows which one is the correct answer [[spoiler:to not choose the one with a [[IronicEcho 3.53]] number on it]], but is too frightened/freaked out to do so and as [[spoiler:the chains around her and the other subjects' necks begin to pull upwards, another subject, Ryan, '''injects all three syringes into her.''' They are freed, but [[LaserGuidedKarma she painfully bleeds out and dies for her troubles.]]]]

* ''[[Fanfic/EakinsHardReset Hard Reset]]'' shows Twilight 'coping' with the results of the story, and breaking down into a Too Many Trees[=/=]ShellShockedVeteran version of this.

[[folder:TV Tropes]]
* Go to this trope's discussion page. Look at the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=d41okby5x46alnukgc0nq0id YKTTW archive]]. Notice the time between the suggestion and the launch..? Or that the troper that suggested it and the one who actually launched it are two different tropers? [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Hmm...]]
[[/folder]]

* Yuu from ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'' tends to fall into the Empathic Fence-Sitter category. She takes a month to turn down an old classmate's LoveConfession, since while she liked him, she didn't feel anything special toward him. She also is slow to decide on a club; she only ends up joining the student council at the start of the series because her teacher asked her, and had previously joined the softball team in middle school because Natsuki invited. Yuu's sister Rei comments on this tendency of hers, which lessens as Yuu undergoes CharacterDevelopment.

* %%Both Jeff Winger and Britta Perry from ''Series/{{Community}}'' meet this trope in slightly different ways:
** On the surface, Jeff is cool, collected and confident, hence why people treat him as TheLeader -- however, not only is he practically the poster boy for the Just Plain Lazy version of the trope but once you look further under the surface, it's pretty clear that he's never really committed to anything meaningful in his life and takes the easy way out (or what he ''thinks'' is going to be the easy way out) of every situation because it means he doesn't have to take a stand or risk anything. It also soon becomes apparent that his supposed leadership skills are mainly just the veneer over a needy ControlFreak who manipulates everyone purely so that he can be the centre of attention and have everything the way he likes it without needing to commit himself to anything.
** Britta is loud, assertive and like Jeff seems pretty confident on the surface, but again this is just cover to mask the fact that she's not nearly as committed to her causes as she wants others to believe and is practically incapable of getting her life together.
** Lampshaded by Shirley in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas," when Britta and Jeff lead their friends in denouncing Duncan's attempt to cure Abed's Christmas-themed delusions, only to balk when Shirley suggests they go the whole hog and start singing:
--->'''Shirley:''' ''Will you two commit to something for a change?!''

[[folder:Comics]]

* ''FanFic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe starts out having this sort of problem. In her case, her Insecurity this stems from two underlying issues:

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* The PointyHairedBoss in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' is a perpetual ditherer of the lazy variety, because he knows if he dithers over a decision it will often go away on its own and he won't have to do anything.
* One ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' comic opens with Jon ordering chocolate at an ice-cream stand, to which Garfield comments this isn't like Jon. Jon then devolves into indecisiveness which ends with him trying to decide whether he or the girl running the stand should decide.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Charlie Brown, who is often referred to as wishy-washy.
[[/folder]]

* In ''ComicBook/TransformersRegeneration One'' by Creator/IDWPublishing (which is an alternate continuation of ComicBook/TheTransformers that ignores the events of Marvel's Generation Two comics), Optimus Prime has become a particularly pathetic Wishy-Washy type. Following the destruction of Unicron and the exile of the Decepticons under Bludgeon, Optimus has taken to sitting in his own tower and is content to let The Last Autobot (an immensely powerful Transformer who helped exile the Decepticons by bringing the entire massacred Autobot army back to life) act as a deterrent. Even when Kup brings evidence that a group of [[TheRemnant "Neo-Decepticons"]] are trying to stir up trouble, Optimus refuses to make any sort of decision. As a result of his dithering, the Neo-Decepticons seize control of an orbital defense satellite and use it to atomise the Last Autobot. Worse, in the 20 plus years since the Decepticons were exiled, it's revealed Optimus never bothered to check in on Earth. When Kup and his team arrive they find the planet in ruins (among other things, the oceans have been ''boiled away'') and most of humanity wiped out at the hands of Megatron, who has been broadcasting a message to Optimus to come and stop him... and proceeded to ratchet up his atrocities when there was no response.

** The entirety of New York's delegation, embodied by Lewis Morris who always replies that [[{{Catchphrase}} "New York abstains, courteously"]] whenever it was time to vote on some measure before the Continental Congress. John Hancock is not amused by this farce, SuddenlyShouting after one too many abstentions, "Mr. Morris...WHAT IN HELL GOES ON IN NEW YORK?!" The answer to that question, according to Morris, is that New York's legislature is always talking and never getting any actual work done, and so never gave the delegation any instructions on what to do in Philadelphia. Morris himself eventually subverts this at the very end of the play when it comes time to sign, as the Congress has received word that the British had landed troops in New York City, Morris' estate had been destroyed by them, and his sons have joined the Continental Army -- [[NeutralNoLonger "To Hell with New York, I'll sign the thing anyway."]]

** The entirety of New York's delegation, embodied by Lewis Morris who always replies that [[Catchphrase "New York abstains, courteously"]] whenever it was time to vote on some measure before the Continental Congress. John Hancock is not amused by this farce, SuddenlyShouting after one too many abstentions, "Mr. Morris...WHAT IN HELL GOES ON IN NEW YORK?!" The answer to that question, according to Morris, is that New York's legislature is always talking and never getting any actual work done, and so never gave the delegation any instructions on what to do in Philadelphia. Morris himself eventually subverts this at the very end of the play when it comes time to sign, as the Congress has received word that the British had landed troops in New York City, Morris' estate had been destroyed by them, and his sons have joined the Continental Army -- [[NeutralNoLonger "To Hell with New York, I'll sign the thing anyway."]]

** The entirety of New York's delegation, embodied by Lewis Morris who always replies that [[Catchphrase "New York abstains, courteously"]] whenever it was time to vote on some measure before the Continental Congress. John Hancock is not amused by this farce, SuddenlyShouting after one too many abstentions, "Mr. Morris...WHAT IN HELL GOES ON IN NEW YORK?!" The answer to that question, according to Morris, is that New York's legislature is always talking and never getting any actual work done, and so never gave the delegation any instructions on what to do in Philadelphia. Morris himself eventually subverts this at the very end of the play when it comes time to sign, as the Congress has received word that the British had landed troops in New York City, Morris' estate had been destroyed by them, and his sons have joined the Continental Army -- [[NeutralNoMore "To Hell with New York, I'll sign the thing anyway."]]

* The climax of ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'' pivots on the dithering of James Wilson, Pennsylvania's third delegate who is caught between independence man Ben Franklin and reconciliation man John Dickinson -- Wilson prefers established precedence over the risk of new ideas. Usually, Wilson is just Dickinson's YesMan, but Franklin calls for a poll of individual delegates to leave Wilson on his own. Realizing he can be ''the'' man to sink independence or just another signature on the Declaration, Wilson chooses the latter. (This is DatedHistory -- at the time, the writers couldn't find any writings to explain Wilson's abrupt switch. Now it's known that Wilson was an independence man himself who was waiting for information from his constituents to make sure they wanted it too.)

Many a protagonist of a HaremSeries is afflicted with this trope, to explain why he never makes a choice regarding which of the girls he wants to be with.

But there are also people who struggle with ''all'' decisions. Don't ask them what they want for dinner unless you have an entire day free in your calendar. Don't make them pick which film you're going to see, because by the time they've decided (reluctantly) which one to pick, the cinema will have closed.

* In general, the protagonist of a HaremSeries will often be one of these (usually of the Wishy-Washy variety), to explain why he never makes a choice about which of the girls he wants to be with.