Line #3 Main/InspectorOblivious


1	He's the man. The villain has been vanquished, the innocent protected, the world saved yet again, often at the very last moment. If it had been anyone else, it's the BigDamnHeroes moment. Only someone forgot to tell the Big Damn Hero.
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3	Inspector Oblivious isn't aware he vanquished evil, protected the innocent or saved the world because he's [[CloudCuckooLander in one of his own]]. He's doing his own thing not recognizing the screaming coming from the [[RightHandCat cat-stroking]] archvillain who waves one fist angrily at the monitor as yet another plan is foiled and yet more minions are carted off to jail (or the morgue). It wouldn't be so bad if it was intentional, if he was facing an adversary worthy of their battle, but the hero is a complete [[TheFool doofus]] who's proud because he thinks he foiled a scheme to illegally sell fake [[MadeFromRealGirlScouts Girl Scout cookies]], ignoring the orbital DeathRay [[KillSat satellite]] plunging into the villain's volcano headquarters that resulted from Inspector Oblivious's {{pratfall}}s, mistakes, and cluelessness. And he does it again and again.
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5	Some days an EvilOverlord just can't catch a break.
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7	Often a SpannerInTheWorks. A subtrope of TheFool, and can overlap with InvincibleIncompetent and CluelessDetective. See also AccidentalHero, MistakenForBadass.
8	----
9	!!Examples:
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12	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
13	* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'': Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu is all but the textbook example. Her more than distinguished record in the Galactic Police is much more due to [[TheDitz her bumbling]] [[SpannerInTheWorks unraveling all and any evil plans]] and [[BornLucky sheer blind luck]] than any actual competence. At least in some versions, she also has an unfocused sort of HyperAwareness that results in her reports containing heaps of valuable information, most of which she never realised the significance of.
14	%%* ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'': Captain Justy Ueki Tylor -- ''[[ObfuscatingStupidity maybe.]]''
15	* While Saitama in ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' is a ComicallyInvincibleHero and aware of it, he beats HeroKiller Garou three times, once accidentally, without knowing that was anyone significant (or noticing it was the same person) -- in fact while thinking about how he'd like to fight this famous Garou at some point because he might be a challenge.
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18	[[folder:Comic Books]]
19	* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': P.I. Wade is trying to solve a murder, and he's so oblivious that [[spoiler:he forgot '''HE''' was the one who killed the guy in the first place.]]
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22	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
23	* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'': Inspector Jacques Clouseau is capable of solving cases and in one film [[SequelEscalation even saving the world]] through his cluelessness. He is a WalkingDisasterArea of such caliber that he was the very reason the world was in danger to begin with, though...
24	* The ''Film/JamesBond'' parody in ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' has a whole cast of James Bonds (ItMakesSenseInContext -- British Intelligence gave all of its agents (even the ''women'') this name in an attempt at distraction) collectively demolishing a criminal scheme through sheer bumbling. [[spoiler:[[EveryoneDiesEnding None of them make it out alive -- at least they took the villain with them.]]]]
25	* The plot behind ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooLittle'', who believes he's in modern experimental play when in fact he's been mistaken for a spy and ends up disarming a bomb to Russian music in a middle of a embassy. Oh! While dancing, of course.
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28	[[folder:Literature]]
29	* PC Wodehouse's Ashe is an author trapped in a contract to write serials about the Detective Gridley Quayle, whom he describes as "so maddeningly blind to the fact that only the most amazing luck enabled him to detect anything." [[spoiler:Just like Ashe.]]
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32	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
33	* The original inspiration (and voice!) for Inspector Gadget, [[Series/GetSmart Maxwell Smart]].
34	* Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant ''Series/PoliceSquad''. Yet another. He takes on this character type more in ''Film/TheNakedGun'' series than in ''Series/PoliceSquad''. If anything, in ''Series/PoliceSquad'' he is ridiculously competent and is a talented comedian, basketball player, brawler, agent, boxing coach, etc. ([[RunningGag That list might have continued to grow]] if the show had not been canceled so soon.)
35	* Detective Dan, semi-recurring character on ''Series/AllThat'', along with the police squad that accompany him, are so hopelessly stupid, if they're ever in a sketch, you can bet they'll inevitably arrest the wrong person by the end, even if the actual culprit is standing right in front of them with evidence that they did it in plain sight.
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38	[[folder:Western Animation]]
39	* WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget, whom we honour for unintentionally saving the day.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Phineas and Ferb}}'': If you consider Candace as 'evil' for trying to get them into trouble, Dr. Doofenshmirtz falls into this trope. He has only occasionally come into close contact with the boys, but his inventions inevitably get them out of trouble.
41	[[/folder]]

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