Line #108 Main/AbominationAccusationAttack


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7	Accusing someone of being some kind of [[YouMonster monstrous predator]] -- sexual or otherwise -- can be a really efficient weapon. It can make people hate the accusee, maybe even [[InternalizedCategorism get them to hate themself]]. Or, simply use it as a particularly nasty ChewbaccaDefense to shut him up. In some cases, it may [[GoneHorriblyRight backfire]] if the accusee decided to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil become what he was accused of]] and [[TheDogBitesBack bites back the others]].
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9	Don't bother to do a FrameUp: False evidence can be disproved, false testimony can be questioned. Instead, just go for the lower instinct, make people so afraid that they dare not disregard the accusation. What if it's true; we can't really take that risk, can we? After all, there's no smoke without fire, so let's just bring out the TorchesAndPitchforks and start the big {{Paedohunt}} or whatever. This can be done against individuals as well as groups. Supertrope of AllGaysArePedophiles and SlutShaming. When an AAA is honest, it's often caused by AggressiveCategorism or BlackAndWhiteInsanity. Don't be surprised if these people resort to ActivistFundamentalistAntics.
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11	Please note that [[FalseRapeAccusation false accusations of actual rape]] or child sexual abuse is FrameUp rather than this trope. Same goes for non-sexual examples, such as accusing someone of [[EatsBabies ''eating'' children]] in a literal non-metaphorical way: It's this trope if the accusation is that he ''will'' eat your children, or has eaten children in general. If it's trying to pin the disappearance of the local missing kid on him, then it's FrameUp instead. Honest & sane accusations have nothing at all to do with this trope: Just like FrameUp, it's entirely about the malicious kind. In real life, this sort of thing tends to invite defamation suits (for obvious reasons), but that doesn't mean that they don't still occur, especially since being sued can often result in the party making the accusations becoming a martyr and/or looking like they were on to something, because why would anyone file suit if the accusations weren't true? Sadly, this sometimes works.
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13	If this is used in a debate, it's a form of AdHominem and a very frivolous one at that. Compare GodwinsLaw for similar accusations of being a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]], and HitlerAteSugar for a method often used in both kinds of accusations. If used consistently, this trope becomes a form of {{Demonization}}. Compare VanHelsingHateCrimes.
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15	Happens plenty of times in real life, but [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease that's the most we will say]].
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18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
23	* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': It's ''known'' that Eren is [[spoiler:capable of turning into an abomination]], the attack is against his fundamental humanity and whether he's a threat to the rest of the humans or not. Quite a few people want him dead for their own reasons and in order to achieve that, they accuse him in a half-assed way about him ''killing two human traffickers as a kid'' despite the fact that: 1) they want to have him executed and 2) they have shown willingness to kill deserters which makes the whole accusation of being a murderer without respect for human life, very ridiculous and hypocritical. Not to mention that killing human traffickers is more like an execution anyways.
24	* Subverted in ''Manga/BitterVirgin'': The ClingyJealousGirl tries to accuse her boyfriend of rape... to the girl who has [[RapeAsBackstory good reason to know she wouldn't react like that]].
25	* ''Manga/KotouraSan'': this is how the CrapsaccharineWorld's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatemae Tatemae]] ideal is maintained, [[NoSympathy even if the]] [[PsychicPowers esper]] is perfectly innocent since everyone else [[MindOverManners sees them to be a threat]].
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28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'': In the first issue, a young woman gets angry with the protagonist when he doesn't stop her from touching some wet paint, explaining only afterward that it's actually blood. In retaliation, she threatens to call the cops and claim that he's a pedophile who has kidnapped her.
30	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man is constantly a victim of this because of the Daily Bugle, which (because of Jonah Jameson) constantly accuses him of being a criminal despite everything he does to protect New York.
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33	[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
34	* The con artists in "The Emperor's New Clothes" convince the Emperor and his court that their magnificent cloth is only invisible to fools or the wicked (depending on the translation used). As the Emperor and his courtiers do not wish to be "outed" as fools or wicked, they marvel at the nonexistent cloth and outfits. Likewise, the commoners, who don't want to be accused of being idiots or villains themselves, all praise the Emperor parading about naked...until [[ChildrenAreInnocent a child too young to understand]] (and too young to be accused of either) speaks up and asks his mother why the Emperor is marching down the streets of town in his birthday suit.
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37	[[folder:Fan Works]]
38	* ''Fanfic/CheshireMiraculousLadybug'': PlayedWith. The Black Cat Miraculous was lost long ago and has a long, uncomfortable legacy of being used by Evil Holders. Due to this, Master Fu and the other kwami are wary of Cheshire and Plagg, and determined to retrieve the Ring for fear of what she might do with it. However, Cheshire has been using the Ring to help out her community through countless acts of civilian-level heroics (stopping muggings, rescues, helping old people across the street). When Misterbug and Pegasus attack her, seemingly unprovoked, it's ''their'' reputations that take a nosedive, with Cheshire becoming Paris' most popular hero.
39	* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Jessica}}'', the first unequivocal sign that something's off in Cameron's Pokémon Black game was this quote:
40	-->'''Jessica:''' You're a liar... a cruel, heartless killer...
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43	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
44	* In ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Gaston doesn't believe that the Beast even exists. When Belle proves him wrong, he changes his position to accusing him of eating children - never mind that the Beast has been around for a long time and the only person who had been missing was Belle herself! Or that the villagers believed Gaston over Belle despite that Gaston was proven wrong immediately beforehand.
45	* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Ming all but explicitly accuses Devon of grooming her daughter.
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48	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
49	* Played for laughs in ''Film/LostAndFound1999'', when a bratty kid decides to get revenge on the {{jerkass}} man who pushed in front of him on the way to the bathroom. The man comes out of the restroom to find the cops waiting for him and the boy accusing him of molestation. He had earlier stated the threat of this was how he got random men to do his bidding.
50	* In the Red Skelton movie ''[[http://red-skelton.info/movies/the-yellow-cab-man-1950-starring-red-skelton-gloria-dehaven-walter-slezak/ The Yellow Cab Man]]'', he is fooled into thinking that carnival barker/huckster Walter Slezak is a psychiatrist. When he spots Slezak making his spiel he slowwwwwly begins to put it together. Before Skelton can say anything Slezak points at him and yells "Arrest that man. He insulted the American flag." Cops immediately grab Skelton and drag him off as he protests that he never did that.
51	* ''Film/TheWizard'' features a trio of children who basically run away from home so that one of them can join a video game tournament on the other side of the country. They're chased by a private detective hired by the boys' mother. When he finally corners them, the girl of the trio shouts out "HE TOUCHED MY BREAST!" This successfully gets him dogpiled by random bystanders, giving the kids the opportunity to get away.
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54	[[folder:Literature]]
55	* The novel ''Literature/BeautifulAndCursed'' has people trying to do this to the gargoyles. It doesn't work, since the heroine is a lady, with a StiffUpperLip and completely unfazed by the fact that hideous stone beasts can turn into humans.
56	* [[SoftSpokenSadist Judge Holden]], the BigBad of ''Literature/BloodMeridian'', does this in his EstablishingCharacterMoment. He walks into a tent where a reverend is preaching and accuses him of being a ConMan who raped children and animals. The reverend is then shot by a member of the congregation and a riot breaks out killing several more people. Later on the Judge is confronted at a bar by a group of men asking him how he knew all this, and he admits that [[ForTheEvulz he made it up and had never even seen the man before that moment]]. After a moment of stunned silence, [[CrapsackWorld the other men laugh and buy him drinks]]. It's a Creator/CormacMcCarthy novel after all.
57	* ''Literature/BringUpTheBodies'' ends with the execution of Anne Boleyn and the five men convicted of adultery with her, one of whom was her brother George. When Thomas Cromwell first hears this gossip from George's wife, he's rather incredulous but soon devises an explanation plausible enough for his KangarooCourt: that as siblings raised apart, Anne and George would find the other's similarities intriguing rather than inhibiting, making it possible that they would "cross the frontier" into a sexual relationship. (And, importantly, making it possible to get ''all'' the men who played demons in the masque denigrating Cardinal Wolsey.) Whether or not it's true is immaterial.
58	* In ''Literature/CityOfGlass'', [[spoiler:Sebastian[=/=]Jonathan Morgenstern]] openly denounces [[spoiler:Alec Lightwood]] for his homosexuality, which the latter feels very insecure about because it is strongly frowned upon in Shadowhunter society. This is more than a little hypocritical on [[spoiler:Sebastian[=/=]Jonathan's]] part, however, seeing as how he himself has BrotherSisterIncest desire for Clary.
59	* In ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist Thaddeus]] does this a lot, whether he's arguing that gay men are [[HeteronormativeCrusader too sex-obsessed]] to think straight, that a refugee belongs to a "particularly pernicious cult" (it's actually pretty benign), or that ''all'' refugees from an oppressive regime should be assumed to be spies-in-waiting (when, in fact, he is himself a former refugee from said oppressive regime). Unfortunately, dissuading him is pretty much impossible, since he sincerely believes all of it, despite the fact that pretty much everyone else thinks he's cuckoo.
60	* ''Literature/IntoTheBloodredWoods'': To secure his claim to the throne and give his subjects something to fear and rally against, Albrecht paints the werebeasts as a savage army hellbent on revenge and led by his sister, convincing the kingdom that they must be wiped out.
61	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/LuckyStarrAndTheMoonsOfJupiter'': After Bigman has accused and failed to prove that Mr Norrich is the [[SpyBot robot spy]] several times, Lucky takes a turn doing the same thing (to throw his actual suspect off the mark).
62	* ''Literature/OddlyEnough'': In "The Passing of the Pack", the narrator's friend Wandis is accused of using witchcraft to seduce a woman's husband away from her (said narrator thinks it's more likely that the woman's own nagging is what drove him into Wandis's arms), and then the narrator is accused of witchcraft simply for sticking up for her, and both are found guilty and sentenced to death. Fortunately, they're rescued by the wolves.
63	* ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'': Crooks gets fed up with Curley's wife coming into his sleeping quarters and threatens to complain to Curley about it. Unfazed, she snaps, "You know what I could do to you if you opened your mouth? You know what I could do?", all but stating that she'll accuse him of rape/attempted rape/or even merely ''looking'' at her and get him lynched. Cowed, Crooks shuts up.
64	* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'', after the Tenth Crusade's initial offensives into Callow get clobbered, Queen Catherine is declared Arch-Heretic of the East, despite not being a Dread Empress. This so infuriates the Callowan priesthood, who see it as [[WarComesHome cynically whitewashing the latest Proceran invasion]], that they in turn declare the entire conclave that made the first declaration to be heretics, and the associated heroes to be imposters.
65	* From day one, Naofumi in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' has been victim of this. On his first day, Naofumi was accused of trying to rape his only party member Princess Malty after she steals all of his loot while he slept ForTheEvulz. Because the king has a personal vendetta against him for being the Shield Hero and the other Three Heroes think he is beneath them because his weapons and stats are less impressive than theirs, everyone instantly believes her. The only thing that saves him from being publicly executed is the fact that having all four heroes is essential for fighting off the oncoming evil.
66	* This is [[CorruptChurch the Church's]] main propaganda tactic when it comes to Charis in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series.
67	* Used by Morgoth in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' to make the Noldor disobey the Valar, and it works to some degree. He argues that the Valar are greedy and want the Eldar to be dependent on them. A fair number of the Noldor at least seriously consider that his argument ''could'' be valid. However, they end up seeing that he was twisting things up fairly quickly (but after they've already disobeyed the Valar and been slapped with the consequences).
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70	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
71	* In ''Series/BostonLegal'', Alan Shore's opposing counsel, representing the defendant in a defamation case, quotes a deceased real-life judge, whom Alan then claims was a drunk and a pedophile. When called out on it, Alan admits that the judge was neither of those things, but that it goes to show how easy it is to defame someone.
72	* In the ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' episode "An Innocent Murder" when Mark Sloan confronts the killer in the high school hallway and accidentally rips the sleeve off her shirt she threatens to report him for sexual assault if he doesn't drop the investigation.
73	* ''Series/HatfieldsAndMcCoys'': After Hatfield ally Jim Vance takes exception to Union soldier Harmon [=McCoy's=] presence in town, Harmon accuses Vance of engaging in sexual activities with his dog. Yeah, Vance takes that about as well as could be expected and Harmon soon meets his end even though Harmon's wife Martha asked Devil Anse Hatfield to intercede on her husband's behalf.
74	* ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'': A friend of Kuriharas starts suspecting that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Hajime]] [[TokenNonHuman Aikawa]] murdered her boss, the family's father, after she accidentally found a family picture in Hajime's possession and made the obvious but wrong conclusion. He didn't kill her boss; he was just there when the man died after passing him the photo and asking him to take care of his family. Investigating her suspicion, she finds out that he might not even be human, which leads her to accuse him of being a monster out to destroy the world after seeing him transform in Kamen Rider Chalice. She is convinced to drop her threats later on when Hajime protects her from an [[MonsterOfTheWeek Undead]] and provides some explanation. [[spoiler: What she didn't know is that he ''really is'' a monster out to destroy the world. He doesn't want to, because he is enjoying human life with his FoundFamily, but it's not in his control.]]
75	* In an episode of the 1960's police show ''NYPD'', a young detective is going door to door trying to find a witness to a crime. When he encounters a young woman and says he's investigating, she immediately rips her blouse and screams rape. In trying to prove his innocence they ask themselves why she had such an extreme reaction. Turns out she panicked because [[spoiler: she and other housewives were part-time prostitutes.]]
76	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' when during [[TakeYourChildToWorkDayPlot "Take Your Child to Work Day"]], Stanley's daughter develops a PrecociousCrush on Ryan and [[PsychopathicManchild Kelly]] gets jealous and tells Stanley that Ryan's a pervert in an attempt to separate them. Cut to Stanley [[PapaWolf cornering and shouting at Ryan]] who has absolutely no clue what's happening.
77	* In ''Series/WolfHall'', Thomas Cromwell makes use of Lady Rochford's hatred of her husband when she accuses him of sleeping with his sister, Anne Boleyn. He finds it hard to believe at first, but it's an incredibly useful accusation for him to use in his KangarooCourt and allows him to include George in with the other men who mocked Cardinal Wolsey's death in a masque.
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80	[[folder:Newspapers]]
81	* One activist who got an essay published in a Swedish newspaper argued the point that all white men who are in relationships with Asian women are actually pedophiles. Because Asians are smaller than western women, or something like that. The author was, of course, a male Asian. And he later got arrested for stalking and arson against his (white) Swedish ex-girlfriend. Classy.
82	** This may be the author of "Single Asian Female" in the WebComics section.
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85	[[folder:Video Games]]
86	* This is the favored tactic of the dark god [[ManipulativeBastard Tlacolotl]] from ''[[VideoGame/NexusWar Nexus Clash]]''. He's the genuinely worst monster in the setting and the rest of the pantheon despises him, but they have never been able to unite against him because he knows about all of their petty grudges and rivalries with one another. Too many of them are more willing to believe (and act on) lurid things he says about the others than to go after him, and he knows it.
87	* In ''VideoGame/Persona2'', this is [[FairCop Katsuya]] [[LawfulStupid Suou's]] idea of negotiating with demons.
88	* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[TheBoxingEpisode "Beat On the Brat"]] ends with a match against a pro boxer, and you're told that ThrowingTheFight will get you a bigger payout. Immediately after, a random little girl shows up and tells you that said boxer murdered her father. If you win the fight, it's revealed that the girl was a plant set up by one of his rivals to get you to help destroy his career.
89	* ''VideoGame/VermintideII'': TheWitchHunter Victor Saltzpyre reminisces that a corrupt baron once accused his mistress of witchcraft to cover up their affair. Being unusually [[ByTheBookCop concerned with proof of guilt]], Saltzpyre investigated, acquitted her, and forced the Baron to donate half his fortune or [[BurnTheWitch burn in her place]].
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92	[[folder:Webcomics]]
93	* In ''Webcomic/{{Exiern}}'', Tiffany despises Theresa, among other things because Theresa is happy with having been magically turned into a woman. In one very public argument, with the population of Theresa's home city as audience, Tiffany talks as if it was a fact and common knowledge that Theresa is a PedophilePriest child-molester. Of course, this smear has no basis other than Tiffany's own malice--and she eventually [[HeelRealization realizes what a bitch she has been]].
94	* ''Single Asian Female'' (written by a single Asian male) spreads the message that if a white man shows interest in an adult Asian woman, it means he's actually a pedophile.
95	* In ''Webcomic/TwoKinds,'' Maddie ([[YoungerThanTheyLook who looks about 12 but is actually 17]]) accuses local [[ThePornomancer ladykiller]] of trying to molest her to trick the leads into helping her stay on his ship. Which she had stowed away on, and he wanted her off of ''right now,'' even threatening to throw her overboard (although he promised to give her a jollyboat under duress).
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98	[[folder:Web Original]]
99	* When Madoka starts to ask questions about the whole MagicalGirl schtick in ''WebVideo/MedukaMeguca'', Mami's response is to accuse her of smoking, with Sayaka going along with it for whatever reason. By Episode 3, they've ramped it up to accusing her of doing hard drugs like heroin and meth.
100	* When suffering through an intervention to find out why she hates ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'', WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick at one point ends up pointing a finger at her friends and calling them "Disney zealots".
101	* ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' has [[http://notalwaysright.com/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-embarrassments/13072 one episode]] with a woman going totally overboard with this trope as she visits the movies and decides that she owns the place and has the right to deny random strangers the seats they have bought, all in the name of ThinkOfTheChildren--accusing two random young women of being potential child molesters and thus disqualified from being treated with basic human respect.
102	** There's more stories like this on the site, too--take for example the man who [[http://notalwaysright.com/blowing-things-out-and-up-of-proportion/23416 accuses a student working at a library]] of stealing books and ''planting a bomb'' for absolutely no reason, or the woman [[http://notalwaysright.com/carting-her-off-to-justice/26651 who sees someone stop a runaway cart with her baby in it]] and promptly calls the police on him for attempted kidnapping. Both end with the accuser arrested instead (the man for lying and wasting police time and money, the woman for abandoning and endangering her child).
103	* At least one IRC chat channel, probably many, used to have as its policy to publish a little message to everyone in the channel every time a banned person tried to enter the channel and get auto-kicked: a message explaining that the user is a pedophile and that such people are not welcome here--and this procedure applied to everyone, no matter why they were banned. People could get banned for things such as [[FelonyMisdemeanor being AFK when an admin wanted to chat]], and would invariably be casually branded "pedophile" for it.
104	* In the ''Website/{{Springhole}}'' article about predatory people:
105	** Predators will ''not'' hesitate to do this to innocent people in order to gain or increase their status, to [[ItAmusedMe get some amusement]], [[ForTheEvulz or just for the sake of it]].
106	** Syera advises against [[ConvictedByPublicOpinion mislabeling people as predators]] just for having occasional or superficial similarities with one, as it can lead to the accused being unfairly ostracized, harassed and targeted, either by [[KnightTemplar well-meaning but ignorant]] [[VigilanteMan vigilantes]] or ''actual'' predators.
107	* ''WebVideo/ZinniaJones'' used this trope for satire in the episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvcuRVbZMUU Conservative Christians Are Rapists And Pedophiles]].
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110	[[folder:Western Animation]]
111	* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in an early episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy,'' where Peter and Lois are running against each other for a seat on the local school board. Lois dismisses Peter's complete lack of experience, a plan for election, or qualification. Peter retorts that Lois EatsBabies. He wins in a landslide after a combination of this, and releasing an attack ad of Lois [[SlutShaming in lingerie]], accusing his wife of being a sexual deviant.
112	* In ''WesternAnimation/MonkeyDust'', the Paedofinder General is universally feared for his ability to call anyone a paedophile (and then get the randomly accused person killed). For example, he kills the fiddler in ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'' for fiddling on the roof, implying that it must be a euphemism for paedophilia.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", Kyle is furious at his parents for not letting him go to a ''Raging Pussies'' concert despite him fulfilling a ridiculously difficult task they had assumed he wouldn't be able to (get Fidel Castro to abandon communism). Cartman tells him to just call the police and tell them his parents had been "molestering" him, even though none of the boys know what molestation is and treat it like a magic spell. Sure enough, the cops haul the Brofloski's away with no proof whatsoever, and social services don't even bother to check that anyone else looks after the kids, and Kyle relishes in his newfound freedom. Soon, all the kids begin accusing their families and teachers of molestation, and shortly after, the entire town is left to the kids. It takes only ''ten days'' for them to regress to a full ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheCorn'' scenario where they begin sacrificing themselves to a statue of John Elway.
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Context Main / AbominationAccusationAttack