Line #6 Main/ContrivedStupidityTropes


1	->''"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."''
2	-->-- '''UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein'''
3
4	All too often, a plot thread depends on one or more characters doing something really stupid. They don't have any chance of doing the smart thing, because then the plot-driving conflicts wouldn't happen.
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6	Even if the stupidity is an organic outgrowth of prior characterization, that doesn't necessarily make it contrivance-free. As addressed in TheMovie and {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d in the "Homer's Enemy" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', the continued tolerance of Homer by his friends, his family, and his employer -- indeed, his very ''[[TooDumbToLive survival]]'' -- is simply unbelievable at this point. Then again, {{Rule of Funny}}.
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8	Contrived stupidity commonly causes things like the collapse of ASimplePlan in a SitCom or the effectiveness of SchmuckBait in {{Slasher Movie}}s. It is often accompanied by the meta-stupidity of the other characters' ignorance of HanlonsRazor. It is vulnerable to FridgeLogic; however, do remember that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad.
9
10	On the other hand, it should be noted that many Contrived Stupidity Tropes are also TruthInTelevision to some extent and have several RealLife examples.
11
12	Contrast with IntelligenceTropes. Compare StupidityTropes.
13	----
14	!!Tropes:
15	[[index]]
16	* AbileneParadox: Everyone agrees to do something no one wants under the assumption that everyone else does.
17	* AchievementsInIgnorance: A character is able to do something solely because they didn't know the action was not possible.
18	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: A character becomes stupid after getting drunk.
19	* ApatheticCitizens: The citizens can't be bothered to care when something bad is happening.
20	* BondVillainStupidity: The villain tells the captured hero their plan while leaving them in a very slow death trap, certain that there's no harm in spilling the beans if the hero is going to die.
21	* BullyingADragon: Someone picks on a being who could easily kill them (or at least cause them great harm) in retaliation.
22	* ButThouMust: Refusing to do something in a video game will only result in you being forced to make the decision anyway.
23	* ButtDialingMordor
24	* CallousnessTowardsEmergency: Someone rudely brushes off a person in real danger needing their help as unimportant.
25	* ChainedToABed: Someone agrees to be tied to the bed as part of foreplay, only for their partner to take advantage of their trust by robbing the tied-up person and leaving them there.
26	* ClosedCircle: The characters cannot leave their area or get help until the very end.
27	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: The end of the story has the characters acknowledge that it would've been simpler if they had gone with a different solution to the problem or if they had explained things better to one another.
28	* ClutchingHandTrap
29	* ConflictBall
30	* ContractualGenreBlindness
31	* CreditCardPlot: Someone gets their first credit/debit card but immediately maxes it out.
32	* CultureBlind
33	* CuriosityKilledTheCast
34	* CutLexLuthorACheck: The villain uses their powers and inventions to commit robberies when they could easily use their gifts to get money the legal way.
35	* CutsceneIncompetence
36	* DamselScrappy: A character is disliked for always getting into trouble and needing to be rescued.
37	* DeusExitMachina
38	* DistressBall
39	* DitchTheBodyguards
40	* DramaticSlip
41	* ExhaustionInducedIdiocy: The character doesn't have enough energy to spare to use for brain power.
42	* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: The character makes the mistake of telling their opponent how their powers work, letting the enemy know how they can weaken them.
43	* FailedASpotCheck: Failing to notice something important, different or dangerous despite being nearby.
44	* ForgotAboutHisPowers: The character fails to use their super magical abilities for the sake of advancing the plot.
45	* ForgotICouldntSwim
46	* ForgotTheDisability
47	* ForgottenPhlebotinum: Useful power or device revealed in one episode is never used again.
48	* ForgotToFeedTheMonster: Character finds that the living being or beings they had locked away had starved to death by the time they were needed because the character neglected to feed them.
49	* FuryFueledFoolishness: A character becomes stupid after they get angry.
50	* GenreBlindness
51	* GullibleLemmings
52	* GunsInChurch: Choosing to bring weapons in areas where there is a zero-tolerance policy towards carrying weapons.
53	* HandInTheHole
54	* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Someone gets themselves killed because they revealed that they were aware of confidential information and confirmed themselves to be the only person aware of the secret to someone who most certainly doesn't want the information to be made public.
55	* HeroBall
56	* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum (sometimes)
57	* HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation
58	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The character is unable to tell when a person cannot be trusted.
59	* IdiotBall: The plot requires a usually smarter character to suddenly act like an idiot.
60	* IdiotPlot: The only reason the conflict happens at all is because everyone is acting like a moron.
61	* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace
62	* IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: A character refuses to reveal information they've been asked to reveal, but in the process comically reveals the information anyway.
63	* InventionalWisdom: Someone for some reason thought it would be a good idea to give the machine an easily-triggered mechanism that serves no purpose other than making the machine self-destruct or causing severe harm.
64	* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime
65	* JustBetweenYouAndMe
66	* JustEatGilligan: Doing this one simple thing would solve everybody's problems, but then there'd be no plot.
67	* LeftYourLifesaverBehind
68	* LethallyStupid: A character's idiocy causes others to get harmed or killed.
69	* MacGuffinBlindness: Unable to realize the MacGuffin's true purpose.
70	* MadAtADream
71	* MadeOutToBeAJerkass: A character retaliates to someone being mean to them, resulting in uninformed bystanders attacking them under the assumption that they were the person being a jerk.
72	* MercyLead
73	* TheMillstone: The plan would go along smoothly if only the team didn't still have this idiot hanging around with them.
74	* MsRedInk: A character who wastes a lot of their family's/friends' money.
75	* NeutralFemale: An able-bodied woman just stands by and watches a fight in which she has a stake instead of trying to help her side win.
76	* NeverRecycleYourSchemes: It never occurs to the villain that they could make another attempt at a failed scheme while taking measures to prevent the circumstances that led to the scheme failing last time.
77	* NoMeansYes: Assuming that someone meant "yes" when they said "no" when they actually did mean to say "no".
78	* NoPeripheralVision: The character always looks straight ahead.
79	* NotAZombie: Characters encounter a zombie and take a while to grasp that they're encountering a member of the undead in spite of the obvious clues.
80	* OnceIsNotEnough: The hero defeats the villain, but leaves instead of making sure the villain doesn't get back up again.
81	* OneDimensionalThinking
82	* OutOfContextEavesdropping: Someone overhears a conversation and mistakes it for something serious when they don't know the full context.
83	* OutOfSightOutOfMind
84	* PaperThinDisguise: Someone thinks that wearing Groucho Marx glasses and a funny hat (or some other ridiculous disguise) is enough to trick others into thinking they are a completely different person. Likewise, everyone else is somehow stupid enough to not see through this person's shoddy efforts in disguising themselves.
85	* PhlebotinumInducedStupidity, when used for the purposes of the plot.
86	* PingPongNaivete
87	* PlotSensitiveSnoopingSkills
88	* PoorCommunicationKills: A character fails to explain their intentions clearly, resulting in their statements being misinterpreted and causing a whole heap of trouble.
89	* QuoteMine
90	* RadarIsUseless
91	* RealityShowGenreBlindness
92	* RecognitionFailure
93	* ReedRichardsIsUseless
94	* RememberedICouldFly
95	* RevealingCoverup
96	* RunningIntoTheWindow
97	* SchmuckBait: Falling for an obvious trap.
98	* SelectiveObliviousness: A character chooses to remain oblivious of something in spite of seeing evidence of it.
99	* SoldHisSoulForADonut: A character makes a DealWithTheDevil where they relinquish their soul in exchange for something trivial.
100	* StrangerSafety
101	* StupidityInducingAttack, when someone's actually trying to create and weaponize this in-story.
102	* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: The only way to proceed in the game is by doing something stupid.
103	* StupidSacrifice: A character sacrifices themselves even though they didn't have to.
104	* StupidSurrender: Character surrenders even though there was no chance their opponent could beat them.
105	* SuicidalPacifism: A character is such a committed pacifist that they refuse to deliberately harm anyone even when they're in a situation where fighting back in self-defense is the only sensible option.
106	* ThinksOfSomethingSmartSaysSomethingStupid: Character thinks of a smart thing to say, but says something stupid anyway.
107	* ThirdActStupidity
108	* TooDumbToLive: A stupid character ends up endangering or killing themselves because of their idiocy.
109	* TrapIsTheOnlyOption
110	* TreacherousSpiritChase
111	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Somehow, no one thinks that this unusual thing is out of the ordinary.
112	* UselessWithoutCellPhones
113	* ValleyGirl
114	* VillainBall: The villain's undoing is because of their own actions.
115	* VillainExitStageLeft: The villain gets away in the end. Especially counts if the heroes could've easily stopped the villain before they escaped.
116	* ViolationOfCommonSense: Advancing in a video game requires doing things a sane person usually wouldn't even think of.
117	* DarthWiki/WhatAnIdiot: Audiences lose sympathy for a character after they do something really dumb that they really should've known better than to do.
118	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: When the villain tries to kill their enemy, they never consider the simpler solutions.
119	[[/index]]

Context Main / ContrivedStupidityTropes