History CassandraTruth / Literature

* In the Literature/LeftBehind series, the prophecies concerning the coming judgments in Revelation were treated as religious ramblings by the general public during the Tribulation until [[PropheciesAreAlwaysRight they actually happen]], such as [[EarthquakesCauseFissures the Wrath of the Lamb earthquake]]. Even after they happen, though, there are [[TooDumbToLive some survivors who stubbornly insist that it isn't God behind it all]] and [[TemptingFate persist in continuing to live in their sins]].

* ''Literature/TheMalloreon'': In ''Demon Lord of Karanda'' Polgara pronounces a curse on a Grolim:
-->'''Polgara:''' You are now invincible. No one can kill you--no man, no demon--not even you yourself. BUT no one will ever again believe a single word that you say. You will be faced with constant ridicule and derision all the days of your life and you will be driven out wherever you go, to wander the world as a rootless vagabond.\\
'''Grolim:''' Who are you, woman? And what power do you have to pronounce so terrible a curse?\\
'''Polgara:''' I am Polgara. You may have heard of me.\\
'''Sadi:''' Do you think it was wise to reveal your identity, my lady?\\
'''Polgara:''' There's no danger, Sadi. He can shout my name from every rooftop, but no one will believe him.
** Not strictly a Cassandra, in that the grolim doesn't have perfect vision, but he does know at least one true and potentially valuable thing that he'd probably like to share.

* In Stieg Larsson's ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'', Lisbeth [[spoiler:repeatedly told authorities as a child about her father's abuse of her mother, but no one did anything and she wound up being institutionalised after attempting to take matters into her own hands.]] There turned out to be [[spoiler:a giant government conspiracy responsible for covering up her father's crimes,]] so this isn't entirely a straight example of the trope. It's also largely responsible for turning her into the person she is today.

* Literature/TheMisfitOfDemonKingAcademy: Following Emilia Lud(o)well's ForcedTransformation from a pure demon to a half-demon, she tries to talk a small group of pureblood demon students out of assaulting her by trying to convince them of what she originally was. Unfortunately, they do not believe her (and likely do not care) because of her new form before they proceed to pummel her and drain mana from her. Fortunately, Anos's parents manage to step in and save her.

* ''Literature/{{Slacker}}''

* Jared in ''The Field Guide'', the first installment of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles'', tries to tell his family that faeries are causing all the mischief that he is being blamed for...but, since he's nine and has been acting mischievously as of late anyway, no one believes him.
* Invoked in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel trilogy ''Literature/TheQContinuum''; when Picard asks why Q didn’t just tell him about the powerful and dangerous entity known as 0 in the first place to deter him from the experiment to open the galactic barrier, Q asks if Picard would have believed him without sufficient evidence of 0’s threat, and Picard privately concedes that he’d be reluctant to take Q’s word about the time of day, never mind something this significant.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Eaten Alive'', a ship called the ''Misanthrope'' crashes on an uncharted world that the natives call [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace D'vouran]]. The twenty surviving crew find an abandoned lab that they hole up in, not trusting the natives, and find that one by one anyone who leaves disappears. [[spoiler:The scientists got the ground to come to life and eat people other than the natives.]] The captain, Kevreb Bebo, is able to leave thanks to a trinket that keeps him safe; when other people start landing on D'vouran he frantically tries to warn them, but isn't believed. There's never any evidence; when he takes the last of the crew with him to help convince people, she disappears too. Gradually, a sympathetic Tash Arranda does decide to hear him out, because she too is not believed when she talks about the bad feeling she has about the place.
* ''Literature/TheKingstonCycle'', by C.L. Polk: Claims that the Hundred Houses of Aeland are all witches are known as a common sign that a witch has [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity been driven mad by their power]] and needs to be locked away... just like the SupernaturalElite who implemented the BanOnMagic [[EmpireWithADarkSecret planned]].

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' features Szeth. He interpreted events to mean there was a coming [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Desolation]]. He was banished and made "Truthless", meaning he was honor-bound to follow the orders of his master, resulting in him becoming the infamous Assassin in White. He ends up, of course, being correct in his prediction, but the rest of Shinovar seems to prefer remaining with their heads in the sand.
** ''Literature/{{Edgedancer}}'' has similar events, as [[spoiler:Szeth]] keeps on telling Nale and his acolytes that the Desolation they've been trying to prevent is already here, but Nale is too keen on BelievingTheirOwnLies to listen to him, and his acolytes trust him more than they do [[spoiler:Szeth]].
* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium:
** As noted under film above, Gandalf's suspicions that Sauron had indeed returned and was amassing new armies were dismissed by the White Council. However it's subverted in that Saruman ''does'' believe him, and actually knows for a fact Gandalf is correct, he's just delaying acting for as long as possible in hopes of finding the One Ring for himself, and fears driving Sauron out of Dol Guldur too soon will will interfere with his search. He only finally agrees to take action to avoid tipping his hand to the rest of the Council, and because Sauron has grown in strength to the point that he has now begun to endanger Saruman's planning.

* In Norma Fox Mazer's ''Saturday, the Twelfth of October'' Zan spends a year living with cave dwellers due to accidental time travel. When she returns to the present, nobody she tries to tell believes her.

* In Anne S. Lindbergh's ''The People in Pineapple Place'', August's mother does not believe his stories of Pineapple Place, an alley only he can see, filled with families, all of whom only he can see. However, it turns out that his mother is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, and comes to believe him once she sees evidence of August's story (a child she [and August] can see, but no one else can, able to get away with considerable mischief, and a security guard, apparently making a fool out of himself in front of a large crowd of people, none of whom (except August) can see the girl he [truthfully] claims to have caught roller-skating in a museum).

* ''Literature/DaughterOfTheSun'': Orsina laughs and thinks Aelia is joking after she says her age is really [[TimeAbyss fourteen billion]].

* ''Literature/MySisterTheSerialKiller'':
Korede has a crush on Tade, a handsome doctor who in turn, is infatuated with Ayoola, her sister. Korede tries to warn Tade that her sister has killed four boyfriends already but he accuses her of making up stuff out of jealousy.

* ''Literature/{{Dragonvarld}}'': Few people believe Marcus at first about Dragonkeep, a hidden kingdom supposedly right on their border, or its army that's coming their way as no one can see them either at first, as he'd been mentally ill as a child, seeing invisible things (which were real, but no one else knew). It's soon shown that he's right though.

* In ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kyon tells Haruhi about Itsuki, Yuki, and Mikuru's supernatural powers, and she flat-out doesn't believe him and tells him to stop messing with her. This is despite the fact that she's actively looking for people with supernatural powers, though her more cynical side keeps her from truly recognizing any.

* In ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kyon tells Haruhi about Itsuki, Yuki, and Mikuru's supernatural powers, and she flat-out doesn't believe him and tells him to stop messing with her. This is despite the fact that she's actively looking for people with supernatural powers, though her more cynical side keeps her from truly recognizing it.

** Throughout ''Literure/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Harry suspects that Draco Malfoy is up to something sinister, and has good evidence, but absolutely everybody dismisses his suspicions at once.

* It would benefit the protagonist of ''LightNovel/TheLongingOfShiinaRyo'' greatly if he did not suffer from this.