History PoorCommunicationKills / WesternAnimation

** Then there was the time Metron stopped time to warn Luthor not to continue in his attempt to revive Brainiac, but neglected to explain ''why''. [[spoiler:It was Darkseid he was about to bring back to life.]] Luthor even calls him out on it, but Metron gives a vague comment that makes it sound like [[spoiler:Darkseid's return instead of Brainiac]]'s is only the most likely option, not an absolute. Lex then threatens to shoot him if Metron doesn't help fix things (note, Metron is a god, being held up with a gun).

* WesternAnimation/MonkieKid'': A lot of the conflict with Lady Bone Demon in seasons 2 and 3 would not have happened had Monkey King been open with MK. Instead of telling him about Lady Bone Demon from the start and his plan to find something they could use against her, he lies about going on vacation and finding a solution before she could rise in power, which ended up being pointless as MK learned about her anyway and the lack of contact with Monkey King made him start to doubt himself. Then in season 3, he has MK and friends join him to find the rings that will recreate the Samadhi Fire, neglecting to mention that [[spoiler:Mei, being descended from Ao Lie, who unintentional absorbed a part of the fire, had the secret fourth ring inside her, and had planned to find a way to take the ring without hurting her and absorb the fire into himself so he could fight Lady Bone Demon]]. He only mentions this when his plan, which he admits he was partially winging the whole time, falls apart at the end. Everyone, even MK, tells him that his plan was terrible from the start.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Rick's efforts to become ThePatriarch of the family become undone due to some misplaced words on telling Beth on whether she's a clone or not. Easily he could have said she wasn't and end it at that until he drove her paranoia further by saying she ''thinks'' would have to be terminated because she fully convinced herself that she's a clone. This sets off the events that have her go back to Jerry and they reconcile while Beth feels at ease regardless of whether or not she is a clone, leaving Rick incredibly pissed off.

* Near the end of the second season of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', the Watchtower's energy cannon is hacked into and used to blow up the headquarters of the GovernmentConspiracy, also destroying a good portion of a small town, for the sake of making the League look bad. The League goes out to help the survivors, and a man asks The Flash why they're helping when they shot at them in the first place. Instead of saying "Our satellite was hijacked by an enemy," Flash stutters out, "We didn't... I..."
** Another example was in ''The Terror Beyond''; Solomon Grundy has been "recruited" by Aquaman and Doctor Fate to help prevent a Cthluhu-{{Expy}} from [[SealedEvilInACan coming unsealed]]. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Hawkgirl come to stop them, believing they were up to no good. Rather than explaining the situation, Fate teleports Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Supes, and Grundy across the globe to have them fight it out, while he gets his ass handed to him by Hawkgirl. Great job, Doc.
** Aquaman himself screws things up royal more than a few times by not bothering to, and often outright refusing to, explain what's going on due to his haughty royal arrogance and [[FantasticRacism disdain for the "Surface Dwellers"]]. In ''The Enemy Below'' him not bothering to try and communicate with the surface world gets him usurped temporarily and nearly causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and had he not outright refused to tell Superman what's going on in ''The Terror Beyond'' they could have easily let Doctor Fate finish his ritual.
** Then there was the time Metron stopped time to warn Luthor not to continue in his attempt to revive Brainiac, but neglected to explain ''why''. [[spoiler:It was Darkseid he was about to bring back to life.]]
*** Luthor even called him out on it, but Metron made a vauge comment that made it sound like [[spoiler:Darkseid's return instead of Brainiac]]'s was only the most likely option, not an absolute. Lex then threatens to shoot him if Metron doesn't help fix things (note, Metron is a god, being held up with a gun).
** In the episode "Eclipsed", the whole thing could've been avoided if Mophir had just simply warn the soldiers in the cave about the dangers of the black stone it contain during the intro. Instead, he started a fight that he lost, one of the soldiers got his hands on the stone, and the evil snake spirit got free.
** A perfect example shows in the "Fury" two-parter. Aresia, the VillainOfTheWeek, was induced into the Amazons and trained in their code after her homeland was not only ravaged by male soldiers, but the ship she was on was attacked and sank by male pirates. Her life was saved by a male captain, and he got her to Themyscira before dying; while Hippolyta gave him a proper burial and took her in, she withheld his role in Aresia's survival because she felt he wasn't important. Over the years, Aresia's [[DoesNotLikeMen hatred of men]] festers to the point she attempts {{Gendercide}}, and only then does Hippolyta reveal this information; by that point, Aresia's [[RedemptionRejection beyond caring]], reasoning that one man's act of kindness doesn't change anything, and continues with her plan.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', [[spoiler:Ahsoka Tano suffers from this after getting framed for multiple murders, organizing a bombing of the Jedi Temple and conspiring with the enemy.]] Due to a series of [[ContrivedCoincidence unlikely events]], any outside observers are led to believe that she is guilty. Inexplicably, she fails to tell anyone the complete chain of events from her point of view, despite multiple opportunities. Had she done so, it would have cast serious doubts on her guilt, and even a prejudiced prosecutor, not to mention the Jedi Order, would have wanted to [[spoiler:interview/interrogate Barriss Offee and Asajj Ventress before ever putting Ahsoka on trial.]]

*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E10SwarmOfTheCentury Swarm of the Century]]": Pinkie actually [[spoiler:knows exactly how to rid the town of the Parasprites]], but fails to explain this to anyone else outside of making non-sequitur comments that only make sense in context of he final explanation, causing a series of other problems when the others think [[CloudCuckoolander she's just being Pinkie Pie]] and ignore her.

-->'''Ray:''' ''[[[WrongWire after Archer cut a wire and the countdown speed increased]]]'' What were the last two letters?!\\

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E07MuchAdoAboutBoimler Much Ado About Boimler]]", the whole subplot aboard the ''Osler'' occurs because the medical specialist doesn't communicate any expectations to his passengers about how long their trip is supposed to last. The ship's spooky atmosphere and spartan accommodations don't help. It's unknown if the passengers themselves bothered to ask when they're supposed to arrive at The Farm, but, when Boimler does, the Edosian disregards the question.

* One hilarious example in ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', where a mother tries to teach her daughter Rosa what brittle means. This was because, she was curious to why her grandmother was walking so slow. In order to make the comparison, the mother said that being brittle is like being peanut brittle. Rosa misinterprets it as thinking she was made of the actual food of the same name. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jdfs_hcCxQ Ensues.]]

* In the fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', Scaramouche discovers that [[spoiler: Jack has lost his sword]] and immediately rushes off to tell Aku. He does and the two then track down Jack to kill him for good, only to find [[spoiler: Jack's regained his sword in the time since Scaramouche last saw him, meaning he has the ability to kill Aku again]]. Aku is ''extremely'' unimpressed with this revelation and responds by [[spoiler: [[YouHaveFailedMe blowing up Scaramouche's head]] as punishment]].
* Happens with most characters in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', but the most notable examples come from Peridot. This trope is arguably her biggest character flaw, and one of the main reasons for her conflicts with the Crystal Gems (and anyone else for that matter). Even when she's trying to be nice, she is extremely bad at explaining herself in ways that others can understand. [[spoiler: This trope actually serves as the climax of her redemption arc, where she fails to explain that she's contacting [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Homeworld]] not to betray the group and leave the Earth to [[EarthShatteringKaboom perish to the Cluster]], but to change the mind of one of their leaders and gain assistance in destroying said entity.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', this is a major aspect of the Clawthorne sisters' backstories. In the season one finale ("Young Blood, Old Souls"), we learn that when they were teenagers, Lilith sought membership in the prestigious Emperor's Coven, and Edalyn (having BigSisterWorship at the time) likewise wanted to join. Except there was only one slot remaining and the two would have to face one another in a WizardDuel for it. [[spoiler:Knowing that she'd have no chance of defeating her prodigy of a younger sister in a fair fight, Lilith laid a curse on Edalyn in her sleep the night before the match. Except if Lilith actually talked to Eda instead of immediately running off at the news, she'd have learned that her sister was going to let her have the position right then and there, knowing that Lilith wanted it far more than her. Due to Lilith avoiding Eda, the latter was only able to communicate this the day of the duel. This wouldn't have been too bad, except instead of temporarily weakening her, the curse ended up being a permanent one that [[BalefulPolymorph forcibly transforms Eda into a mindless beast]] if she doesn't regularly medicate against it.]] Lilith would go on to emotionally distance herself from Eda out of guilt, while Eda herself wouldn't learn the reason why her sister had changed so much until decades later.

* In one episode, we're introduced to Peter the Panda's nemesis, Professor Mystery, who is angry at Doofenshmirtz because Peter the Panda is thwarting Doof instead of him (and before you ask, yes this is played ''exactly'' like a love who's angry about being cheated on). Doof explains that his problem is his lack of communication because "mystery is his allure." Peter the Panda doesn't know what he's thwarting or why so he's not interested.