Accidental Pervert - Television Tropes & Idioms

Seriously, this is not what it looks like! I can explain...

"So, you want to get off me, or were you just getting comfortable?"

—Mara Jade, Spectre of the Past

He isn't a pervert. No, really! His hands just happened to slip and find themselves on her breasts. He just happened to trip on that rug over there and land (probably head-first) on top of her ample chest. And he just happened to be there when the only wind of the day blew up her skirt and his only sin was instinctive goggling. He can't help it if his honest-to-goodness accidental moves make him come off as as a lech that can't even muster the... "slickness"... of Leisure Suit Larry.

A characterization trap here is that they sometimes come across as really being lecherous, but are too incompetent and cowardly to be open about it. They really are leering at female body parts; but are terrified of getting hit or yelled at — or more charitably, they're tempted despite realizing that it would be wrong; in either case, the gropings are a type of Freudian slip. Of course, the girls will never believe him, and almost always believe the least charitable interpretation. Cue Armor Piercing Slap, shrill cries, and desperate attempts at redemption. In comic works, the slap is often replaced with the Hyperspace Mallet or Paper Fan Of Doom, and god help you if you have this character trait within striking range of a Tsundere.

For all practical purposes, his life is a Fanservice-laden version of Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere.

Note the possible You Suck implications.

See also Naked First Impression and Thanks For The Mammary. Overlaps with Not What It Looks Like, except that Accidental Pervert refers to a character type to which this kind of thing happens all the time, rather than just a few times. He's usually also the Unlucky Everydude to emphasize his sheer bad luck in scoring with girls. This can also happen to the Chaste Hero or Celibate Hero, for the obvious comic value. When played straight, the Accidental Pervert has at least some elements of the Chivalrous Pervert, which he may become outright if he gains enough confidence to come to terms with his libido.

This trope occurs in Real Life as Troper Tales will tell you.

Examples

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Anime & Manga

Keitarō in Love Hina is by far the most egregious example. The manga even has a filler chapter where Keitaro is so engrossed in studying he actually ends up avoiding these situations. Interestingly, his failure to react seems to avoid triggering anyone's anger.
Ranma in Ranma ½ fell victim to this many times, especially when Happosai was nearby. It appears that people often suspect further lecherous acts from him based on previous non-existent lechery. Akane was near-always the mis-interpreter, which shouldn't be surprising given her character. He gets ratted on when Shampoo is near (does the girl exhale stupidity gas? Whenever she's around, everyone else cannot think of the obvious and jumps to dumb conclusion), and when he barges in on Akane's room, as well as the Happy scenes.
In Elfen Lied, Kouta's cousin Yuuka slaps him a lot for this. The first time it happened, Nyu had been out in the rain and her clothes were soaked. Kouta tried helping her change with his eyes closed, but his cousin walked in at just the right moment for his honest explanation to be hardest to believe. Of course, it's all because Yuuka's a Clingy Jealous Girl over how he doesn't pay the same apparent attention to her.
- This drops out of sight almost completely when the drama gets dialed Up To Eleven.
This happens occasionally to Makoto Mizuhara in El Hazard The Magnificent World.
Densuke from Eiken is as much a parody of this trope as Eiken is an Affectionate Parody of Unwanted Harem anime. Chiharu (the other half of the Official Couple) has learned to recognize Densuke by how he gropes her breasts, it's happened so often.
- The nameless Teacher advising the club also tends to fall into compromising positions in front of Densuke — if she and Densuke collide, things get really weird (On the other hand, the Teacher is also a Covert Pervert.)
In Mahou Sensei Negima, Negi occasionally falls into these situations. But because of his age, the girls are usually far more likely to blow it off or tease him about it than they are to get mad. Hell, they probably put him in the situation in the first place just to tease him! Okay, except for the billion or so times he sneezes and magically blows all their clothes off.
- One of the most egregious cases involves Negi falling over Asuna in a giant bathroom... while both are nekkid. This one beats Shinji's Rei incident, doesn't it?
  - The grope alone would, but Shinji has the luck to do that the first time he talked to Rei. Negi at least has the decency to get to know Asuna before accidentally copping a feel. (Before that, he settles for destroying her clothes on a regular basis.)
Partially subverted in the third season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha; Erio catches a falling Caro as a way of introduction and ends up with a handful of petite bosom. The subversion is how Caro doesn't get angry, and they quickly and efficiently disengage. This combined with Caro later counting this as a "beloved memory" has lead fans to joke that in Caro's mind, they are now married.
- Also partially subverted in the first season with Yuuno. HE knows that he's actually a human male, as opposed to the sentient ferret he appears to be, and that Nanoha should probably not be doing things like undressing in front of him and dragging him into the girl's bath at the local hot springs. She, however, is ignorant of this fact, and proceeds to do both of the above. To his credit, he thought she was aware of his true form, and presumably he simply believed she just wasn't a very modest person. And in both of the above situations, he has the good grace to freakin' panic.
  - Of course, Yuuno might actually have had the right idea about her! Years later, in the pre-Striker S manga, Nanoha still wants to take Yuuno with her on a girls-only trip to a hot springs resort. Yuuno is understandably still nonplussed. What this says about Nanoha's thoughts toward him is a matter of interpretation. Unfortunately, we never hear what the other girls who went on the trip (and who also knew about Yuuno) thought about Nanoha's idea.
To Love Ru has Rito as the ultimate embodiment of this trope, and while Lala doesn't particularly mind in most cases (with the exception being her tail, which is apparently an alien erogenous zone), it doesn't stop all the other girls on Earth, including more inhibited aliens, from smacking him in the face and screaming.
Subverted in Vandread, where the females in the crew, being unused to sexual interactions with men, rarely seem to mind the protagonist walking straight into their jiggling bosoms, often letting him loiter for a bit.
- The above example only has one practitioner, Jura, who is a tremendous flirt. But the trope also played to an extreme in the episode where Hibiki's Accidental Perversion gets Bart thrown into quarantine, and leads to a strange campaign to get rid of the men — involving spacesuits worn as quarantine outfits. The girl he ended up in a compromising situation with is extremely reclusive and actually wears a full-size bear costume as her "uniform".
As usual, Neon Genesis Evangelion subverts this trope with Shinji, whose forays into Accidental Perversion hint at the sexual frustration and confusion that add to his many psychological problems. The culmination of this subplot in End Of Evangelion, when he masturbates over Asuka's comatose body, has become a Never Live It Down moment for Shinji.
- Episode 5 of the TV series has Shinji dropping off stuff at Rei's apartment, when a naked-except-for-a-towel Rei steps out of the shower. Shinji trips and falls on top of her, his hand landing on her naked breast. Her only reaction? Stoically ask him to get off.
Yuuichi Tate and Masashi Takeda in the first few episodes of Mai-HiME, before the series takes a darker turn.
Kyon from Suzumiya Haruhi is constantly walking in on Mikuru changing in the clubroom.
Kyon: That sweet, innocent girl... can't seem to figure out how to lock a door.
- Though Mikuru does not think he is a pervert because of it. Fascinatingly, she's not even embarassed after the incident, happily pouring tea into his cup afterwards.
Granted he really IS a pervert, but the male lead from Chobits seems to suffer this as a constant source of amusement... especially embarrassing seeing how Chii is the Innocent Fanservice Girl.
Kouta Oyamuda from Kanokon is frequently falling into this position in front of the girls at his school, such as that they call him the "Great Ero-King". Actually, it's quite the opposite: Chizuru (his girlfriend) is the one who's always making a move for him and getting the both of them into... questionable positions.
Ryo in Penguin Revolution keeps accidentally catching Yukari bathing or changing clothes, and usually gets things thrown at his head when he does.
- Ayaori also tends to wander into the bathroom while Yukari is bathing, but since he's Blind Without Em, it takes him six manga volumes to even notice that she's not a boy. By the time he does, Yukari is so used to having him wander blindly in and out that she doesn't really react, not realizing that this time he has his contacts in.
Occasionally in Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Lucia will happen to walk in on Kaito in the shower, although he doesn't get mad about it. There's also the time when he breaks her fall and just happens to end up with his face in her chest... Then again, Kaito is an out-and-out pervert most of the time, explaining his easygoing attitude even when it's his mistake.
Sōsuke falls afoul of this trope a few times in Full Metal Panic!, at one point causing Kaname to come at him with a baseball bat.
In Inubaka, Teppei has to go into the storage room to get something. Yeah, too bad the new recruit is in there changing... and then, later on, when he has to get something else, he finds Suguri with no pants. He then wonders if building a girls' dorm was wasted.
The Kindaichi Case Files: Kindaichi is a genuine pervert who tries to pretend that he got into these kinds of situations by accident, but he has had his share of unintentional walk-ins, including one time he accidentally barged into a bathroom while it was occupied. He'd then realize later that the character claiming to be female had been peeing with the toilet seat up, and this lead to the solution to the mystery.
Strangely enough, Tails becomes one of these in the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA. At one point he, Knuckles and Princess Sarah get enveloped by an out-of-control snowball. When they crash and the snow settles, Tails winds up plastered to the chest of the Princess, only to be quickly admonished by an outraged Knuckles. Somewhat ironically, Sarah, who spends most of the movie savagely attacking people she believes are trying to see her naked, does not react to Tails' accidental groping.
- Considering the fact that Tails is a lot more innocent than Dr. Robotnik or Metal Sonic, his case was probably more believable to Sarah.
In Detective Conan, since Ran doesn't know Conan's real identity, she's either undressed in front of the kid and/or taken baths with him.
- She also once inadvertantly saw an important clue pertaining to the identity of the killer when she accidentally walked in on each male member of the Drama Club while they were changing.
In the first arc of Dragon Ball, Goku — being raised in the mountains until he met Bulma — doesn't know how to confirm gender by look, so he innocently pats the girls' privates for any... well, balls. This leads to an interesting situation in episode 2 when he takes off Bulma's undies while she's sleeping...
- Apparently cut out from the American version; Goku also pats Chi-Chi in that area with his foot when he first meets her, to confirm that she is indeed a girl. This, of course, leads to him being pushed off the Flying Nimbus.
  - It also leads, directly, to her deciding to marry him. A decision which she carries through with about seven years later.
In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Simon ends up with his face in Yoko's breasts after they and Kamina bust through to the surface world in the Lagann, following a messy landing. Yoko curiously doesn't seem to mind.
- She actually pulls Simon's face back into her breasts in a gesture of fright when she then sees two Gunmen approaching.
- Used to a greater extent in the high-school alternate-universe manga version of the series.
Inverted in Doki Doki Densetsu Mahoujin Guru Guru when Kukuri and Miruka walk in on Nike and two guys in the middle of changing clothes. The girls quickly run away from the sight while Kukuri remarks that the situation is backwards and wonders "what is it about this anime?"
(Pictured) Ryota in Kyou No Go No Ni always finds himself in some perverted situation. Such as: falling sick and heading to the nurse's office, only to find that Chika has had her clothing stolen by her friends. Or when Chika is being forcefuly striped by her friends to measure her size — that girl needs some new friends.
- The picture shown above is especially bad, as after Ryota and Natsumi are accidentally looked in the athletic equipment shed by a coach, it turns out that she is afraid of the dark and grasp at him for comfort while sobbing... inadvertently pulling his pants down while he tries to get her head away from his crotch. When the coach opens the door, it appears that Ryota is trying to force her to perform fellatio on him. The fact she thanked the coach for saving her did not help his case.
Spoofed in Wedding Peach Abridged. In the original series, this trope is played straight and Yosuke is sometimes inadvertently put into compromising positions. In The Abridged Series, these scenes are edited so that he is portrayed as a lovable sexual predator.
In Fullmetal Alchemist, Winry walks into her bedroom and starts undressing, without realizing Ed is in the room with her. He only gets to see some underboob, but her reaction is explosive nonetheless.
- In the anime, Ed accidently grabs Psyren's breast while fighting her, and blushes awkwardly. Psyren lampshades this and asks him if it's the first time he's fought a woman.
Louie in Rune Soldier suffers from this a lot! There are at least three examples in the first episode alone.
Jin from Kannagi; our hero always seems to find himself in strange situations when is childhood friend comes in.
In the Yaoi Fangirl's corner of the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle fandom, it's become something of a running gag to have Syaoran walk in on Kurogane and Fai while they're in the midst of sex. Most of this is pure Rule Of Funny, since Syaoran is so straight-laced and noble (at least when it comes to sex and Sakura) most of the time.
- Another twist the fandom uses sometimes is to have Sakura catch them and either not know what's going on or like it ..Or So I Heard
Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple sees Kenichi accidentally groping Miu on a few occasions, usually when one of his master scares him. His first reaction is usually to run right to Miu and grab her from behind, leading to the inevitable...
Partially subverted in the case of Tona Gura male lead Yuuji Kagura. He doesn't mean to walk in on female lead Kazuki in awkward situations, but he also doesn't hesitate to exploit them.
In Shuffle!, Rin ends up this way with just about every girl he can court, and inevitably with one he normally cannot (the last leads to a heated argument about who is more perverted).
Death the Kid in Soul Eater. He will never live down his introduction episode. First, he goes off on a symmetry rant and without thinking about it, grabs both partner's breasts, to get an Armor Piercing Slap from Liz... who was not complaining about being groped. Then later the same episode, Kid is going to go save them, but they had been all tied up at the moment...and Kid was really not much help.
Fushigi Yuugi. Really, Tamahome, how much of an Accidental Pervert can you get?
Pumpkin Scissors: "Lieutenant, I need your breasts immediatley!" Alice slapped his face and then noticed the crying baby he was holding.
Kyōsuke in Ultimate!! Hentai Kamen. A few other characters, but mostly him; possibly due to his Only Sane Man syndrome.

Films — Live Action

Live Action TV

Video Games

Jin Kazama of Tekken fame became an accidental pervert in one of Tekken 5's many endings. After being rescued by Asuka Kazama from his monstrous great grandfather Jinpachi Mishima and regaining his humanity through some kind of healing touch unintentionally administered by Asuka, he awakens suddenly and thrusts himself forward to get to his feet, but accidentally bumps into Asuka while she was trying to wake him. Naturally she falls on her back and he lands facefirst between her (somewhat ample for a 17 year old...) bosom with an obligatory "boing" sound effect. Much time passes before he stands up, at which point the hot-headed Asuka becomes outraged and punches him into a rock before storming off. This exchange is made quite disturbing when you consider the two are actually cousins...
- Well, to be fair, it's been hinted at that the two don't really know of their relation to each other.
  - Yeah, but we still know that they're cousins, so it doesn't make it any less disturbing when it happens.
  - Kissing Cousins is okay in Japan, though.
During a hot spring cutscene in Tales of Symphonia, Zelos attempts to take a peek at the females in the party while they are bathing. Lloyd, being far less of a pervert than Zelos, catches him in the act and loudly tells him to stop. This, of course, causes the girls to march out and 'catch' Lloyd in the act, while Zelos escapes.
- Subverted in the OAV when Lloyd trips and falls on top of Collete. Both of them are too innocent to see it as anything other than funny.
- Played straight in an optional scene in Tales of Symphonia 2, where Lloyd becomes the accidental pervert again, in an almost identical situation to the first game. It's inverted in a different version of that scene, where Emil decides to go into the hot springs alone, and it's Marta, his main love interest, who peeps in on him and then joins him. He chivalrously tries to resist her advances, but ends up catching the attention of the rest of the party, who naturally dub him a pervert. Both Emil and Marta try to explain, but everyone thinks Marta is just trying to cover for Emil. Of course, only Lloyd truly believes him.
- Carried over to Tales of the World, where the girls overhear Chester telling Lloyd about his secret spot with "the best view." Though Lloyd was never given the chance to show if he had any interest in it, he is automatically labeled as a pervert by the girls. The skit ends with him shouting "I was framed!"
Mega Man Legends, where Mega Man walks in on Roll getting dressed; although Roll doesn't have a different outfit as such. You need to do this at least once, since you have to get something from Roll at that point in the plot. This is also repeated in the sequel, once you get the bathtub.
Puyo Pop, where the dark wizard Schezo Wegey's desire for power and his frequent lapses of articulation often leave his utterances far from what he intended, leading most of the cast to label him as a pervert, much to his dismay.
Schezo: I want you to give me all of you!
Arle: You know, it makes you sound like a pervert when you put it that way.
Hiro of Lunar 2: Eternal Blue ends up as this a lot throughout the game... and it's almost always bathing scenes.