History EvilCannotComprehendGood / LiveActionTV

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', he explains that because the killer has no conscience, she was incapable of thinking her stepdaughter would demand money as a way to expose her as the murderer rather than for the selfish reasons her stepdaughter presented.

*** Red Daughter nearly ruins Lex's schemes when, sent to National City to pose as Kara, she starts to enjoy this life of freedom in America and realizing not everyone there are the selfish monsters Lex paints them as. It takes Eve warning Lex for him to bring down more control before Red Daughter grows a mind of her own to break away from him.

* ''Series/{{Monty Python|sFlyingCircus}}'s'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRQK58jrbw merchant banker sketch]] involves a banker who is utterly unable to grasp the concept of charity, until he realizes what giving gifts is really about: [[ComicallyMissingThePoint getting a tax write-off]].

** TheEmpire in general frequently display this trope. The Client is surprised when Mando asks what they’ll do with The Child after Mando hands him over to them, saying it’s “uncharacteristic” for someone of his reputation to care or ask once the job is finished. The Client also believes “It is good to restore the natural order of thing” i.e have complete supremacy and considers the freedom the galaxy has now, as nothing but barbaric disarray. Valin Hess is no better, he genuinely believes what people really want is order and that once they realise that, the galaxy will welcome the Empire back “with open arms”.

* In ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', the Lex Luthor of [[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} Earth-38]] drops in on the Clark Kent of [[Series/{{Smallville}} Earth-167]] with the intent on killing him. When Clark NoSell's a chunk of Kryptonite by revealing [[BroughtDownToNormal he gave up his powers]], Lex goes on a rant not understanding why he did such a thing. And when he realizes that he did so to have a family, he just gets angry.

** Red Daughter nearly ruins Lex's schemes when, sent to National City to pose as Kara, she starts to enjoy this life of freedom in America and realizing not everyone there are the selfish monsters Lex paints them as. It takes Eve warning Lex for him to bring down more control before Red Daughter grows a mind of her own to break away from him.
** Lena warns Lex that Kara has proof of his activities and will publish it. Lex scoffs that it doesn't matter since people are weak and easily led, so nothing Kara says can stop his plans, as he believes that the truth is meaningless and using "spin" to manipulate the people will gain him their everlasting trust. Even as he's talking, Kara's expose of Lex's entire evil plot (including how the President of the United States is his puppet) is going viral and folks are turning on him big time. In the end, Lex is brought down and the President also goes to jail thanks to the "stupid sheep" Lex assumed would never be smart enough to fight back.
** In the ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'' event, Lex meets the Clark Kent of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and is utterly dumbfounded to discover he's given up his powers to raise a family. Lex cannot fathom how anyone with Superman's power would choose instead to live a human life and actually be happy. He also assumes that ''only'' this Earth's Clark Kent is Superman, refusing to accept the possibility it's the same with his own Earth's Clark.
** In "Deus Lex Machina", he genuinely didn't consider that arranging for the death of Jeremiah Danvers would cause Lena to have sympathy for Kara, and lead her to try and mend fences.
** Lex again during the Season 5 finale. He knew that Lena's project was going to fail, but he wanted to her to see it for herself. Why? Because that way, she would be swayed to his idea of thinking that he needed to take over the world. Lena rejecting his philosophy and [[spoiler: returning to Supergirl's side]] floors him.

* ''Series/ArrowVerse'';
** In ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'', Alice expected Kate to share her joy that Catherine was dead and Jacob framed for it, as revenge for the latter two fabricating evidence of the former's death and calling off the search for her, respectively. What Alice failed to understand was that, no matter how Kate felt about Catherine, she didn't want her stepmother dead because Catherine was still a person and Mary's mother. Kate, while a little bitter about Jacob giving up on finding Beth too soon, also didn't want anything bad to happen to him, not only because Jacob is her father but because he's a good person who didn't do anything wrong. Even Mouse calls Alice out on still believing that Kate will join her after everything she's done.
** In ''Series/Supergirl2015'', Lex Luthor fits this in so many ways;
*** Sending Red Daughter to learn about America almost backfired on him, as she started to see that the people there weren't as bad as she had been told.
*** In "The Quest for Peace", he firmly believes that the truth is meaningless, and that using "spin" to manipulate the people will gain him their everlasting trust.
*** In ''[[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019 Crisis On Infinite Earths]]'', Lex is utterly dumbfounded to discover [[Series/{{Smallville}} Earth-167 Superman]] gave up his powers to raise his family as a normal man. The idea of giving up all that power to be happy is impossible for Lex to comprehend. He also assumes that only Earth-167 Clark is Superman, refusing to believe it's the same for his Clark Kent.
*** In "Deus Lex Machina", he genuinely didn't consider that arranging for the death of Jeremiah Danvers would cause Lena to have sympathy for Kara, and lead her to try and mend fences.
*** In "The Missing Link", [[spoiler:he believed the failure of Lena's project would convince her that taking over the world would be the only sane option. He turned out to be very wrong on that]].

* Several examples from ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}''

*** In the season finale, Max is baffled by Kara's refusal to accept the "acceptable losses" of a few thousand people to save the entire planet.

** When he engages his ultimate plan to take over the minds of everyone on Earth, Non makes it clear he truly believes he's doing humanity a favor by "freeing" them of such distractions as emotions and individuality so they can focus on the problems of Earth. Kara, Cat and even Max all argue that saving the planet means nothing if the people aren't free to enjoy it but Non doesn't grasp what he's doing is wrong.

** Lillian Luthor actually seems surprised that after treating daughter Lena as garbage all her life, Lena would refuse to have any loyalty to the Luthor name.

** Just like her son, Lex, and Max Lord, Lillian refuses to believe Superman and Supergirl are sincere about wanting to help others, convinced every act they do is to "prove" how superior they are to mankind. Lillian also refuses to accept there can be good aliens, believing all to be evil invaders polluting Earth.

** Off of that, Rhea believes that by killing Kara, Mon-El will just naturally come back to Daxam...ignoring the tiny fact that she'd have ''murdered his girlfriend.'' Lar finally understands Mon-El wants to stay and lets his son choose his path, telling his wife they need to let him grow and live his own life. Rhea's response is to murder her husband and continue to "save" Daxam.

** When Lex Luthor arrives, he naturally continues to push his idea that he's trying to "save" humanity from an alien overlord. There's also Luthor thrown that people won't accept his crusade as if he's forgotten the tiny detail he's a ''multiple mass murderer''.
** Red Daughter nearly ruins Lex's schemes when, sent to National City to pose as Kara, she starts to enjoy this life of freedom and realizing not everyone are the selfish monsters Lex paints them as. It takes Eve warning Lex for him to bring down more control before Red Daughter grows a mind of her own to break away from him.
** Lena warns Lex that Kara has proof of his activities and will publish it. Lex scoffs it doesn't matter as people are weak and easily led and nothing Kara says can stop his plans. Even as he's talking, Kara's expose of Lex's entire evil plot (including how the President of the United States is his puppet) is going viral and folks are turning on him big time. In the end, Lex is brought down and the President also goes to jail thanks to the "stupid sheep" Lex assumes would never be smart enough to fight back.
** In the ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'' event, Lex meets the Clark Kent of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and is thrown to discover he's given up his powers to raise a family. Lex cannot fathom how anyone with Superman's power would choose instead to live a human life. He also assumes that ''only'' this Earth's Clark Kent is Superman, refusing to accept the possibility it's the same with his own Earth's Clark.
** Lex again during the Season 5 finale. He knew that Lena's plan was going to fail, but he wanted to her to see it for herself. Why? Because that way, she would be swayed to his idea of thinking that he needed to take over the world. Lena rejecting his way of thinking and [[spoiler: returning back to Supergirl's side]] floors him.

** In ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'', Alice expected Kate to share her joy that Catherine was dead and Jacob framed for it. What Alice failed to understand was that, no matter how Kate felt about Catherine, Kate didn't want her dead because she was still Mary's mom and she was still a person. Kate, while still being a little bitter about Jacob giving up the search for Beth, also didn't want anything bad to happen to him, not only because Jacob is her father but because he's a good person who didn't do anything wrong. Even Mouse calls Alice out on still believing that Kate will join her after everything she done.

* ''Series/{{Monty Python|sFlyingCircus}}'s'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRQK58jrbw merchant banker sketch]] involves a banker who is utterly unable to grasp the concept of charity, until he realizes what giving gifts is really about: [[CompletelyMissingThePoint getting a tax write-off]].

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** The Seer in season 7 (played by Charisma Carpenter) is a Demon and therefore can't feel human emotion. But she knows of it through her visions--which is why she strikes a deal with the sisters to become human. This trope is arguably inverted as the sisters initially wonder why a Demon would willingly give up their powers for the things they themselves take for granted.

** When The Triad return in Season 8, they appear to have learned from this mistake. They become aware that Christy's love for her parents could bring about a HeelFaceTurn for her--so they have them killed. They guess (correctly!) that eliminating Christy's one MoralityPet will unite her and Billie together to turn on the sisters.

** Played straight in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks "Victory of the Daleks"]]. They have given a robot the memories of a real human, to use as an infiltrator, and reveal that said robot is actually a bomb capable of destroying the world. They activate him, knowing the Doctor will let them flee to go save the Earth. The Doctor tries to disarm the robot by reminding him of his human emotions — feelings of loss, pain and misery. Unfortunately the Daleks are perfectly familiar with this kind of emotion and it doesn't work. Amy, however, reminds him of love, something Daleks could never comprehend. The robot's essential humanity asserts itself and the bomb is disarmed.

** [[NotSoImaginaryFriend Harvey]], being a mental clone of Scorpius, is particularly confused when Crichton chooses love over revenge--he wasn't programmed to consider any opinion but those of Scorpius worthwhile.
** Averted in the case of the ''real'' Scorpius, who correctly guessed that Crichton would trade his wormhole knowledge for Aeryn's safety, and quietly [[TheChessmaster engineered a situation in which his help would be required to rescue Aeryn.]] Even Crichton was impressed--and more than a little bit embarrassed, since he'd claimed that Scorpius didn't understand him two episodes ago:

** In season 4, the Thinker is brilliant at predicting so much of what the Flash will do without fail. However, he's utterly thrown when a confonfrontation between him, Flash and Siren-X fails as Barry doesn't stop her. That's because Thinker had mocked Barry on [[spoiler: his failure to save Ralph Dibny]] and Barry froze. [=DeVoe=] honestly cannot grasp how Barry could have been affected by such a trauma. It shows how his growing intellect is robbing him of understanding human emotions and sets up his eventual defeat.

** This is Littlefinger's fatal flaw in season seven. He spends his time trying to turn Sansa and Arya against one another, playing on the idea of their jealousy and giving "clues" and "advice" to Sansa on how Arya wants to kill her and take over Winterfell. But Littlefinger has failed to realize three things. First, after so long apart, the sisters are too eager to reconnect to be split apart. Second, they never had the deep-set jealousy that would enable his scheme to work. Third, and most importantly, he thinks Arya is like Sansa in wanting to be Lady of Winterfell. In truth, Arya (a lifelong tomboy having spent years training to be an assassin) could care less about becoming Lady--and Sansa ''knows'' Arya doesn't want it. Thus, any attempt to make it look like a "coup" is being planned is for naught and as it happens the sisters [[spoiler: use this to trick Littlefinger into his own demise.]]

** [[spoiler:Michael's entire season 1 plan fails because he didn't grasp that people can change and grow. His assumption was that Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason would be the exact same people for eternity, thus making them predictable. Eleanor actually ''learning'' from Chidi's ethics lessons blows his plan out of the water, and leads to her figuring out the actual nature of the "Good Place".]]
** In season 3, [[spoiler: the main four are sent back to Earth to live new lives. Not happy with this, demon Trevor, a former foe, is sent to put them back on their wicked tracks. Trevor imagines himself coming off as a good friend and master manipulator to pit the group against one another. In reality, because he doesn't understand human behavior, Trevor just comes off an obnoxious jerk so the gang barely pay attention to any of his "subtle" manipulations.]]

** And ''again'' in the third episode: when Tom wakes up one morning, soaked in blood, with a few hazy memories of meeting Claire the previous evening, he assumes that Hyde has murdered her: in fact, Hyde got soaked with blood while cutting [[SmugSnake Benjamin Lennox's]] throat--[[WhatAnIdiot after he threatened Claire and her children.]]

* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', the BigBad of season 3 is this. He genuinely cannot understand why the protagonists are targeting him. He fails to realize that it might just be because he deserves it.

* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', "Warriors of Kudlak": Mistress is incapable of understanding why peace is worthwhile or desirable to anyone, seeing it only as an end to the usefulness of soldiers and generals. [[spoiler: She's a computer created by a race that was caught in a war they never expected to end--she was never programmed with any understanding of peace, and actively covered up that the Uvodni--the race that created her--had been at peace for ''ten years'' by the time of the serial. The eponymous Kudlak--an AntiVillain who does not share her outlook at all--is ''pissed'' when he finds out.]]

*** In season 3, Lillian tries to help Lena by killing Morgan Edge. She honestly thinks her daughter will appreciate the "favor" of murdering a man who's been against her.

** Lex again during the season 5 finale. He knew that Lena's plan was going to fail, but he wanted to her to see it for herself. Why? Because that way, she would be swayed to his idea of thinking that he needed to take over the world. Lena rejecting his way of thinking and [[spoiler: returning back to Supergirl's side]] floors him.

* On the [[Characters/SurvivorSamoa Samoa]] and [[Characters/SurvivorHeroesVsVillains Heroes vs. Villains]] seasons of ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', this was a huge source of contention for fans of Russell Hantz. Through all of his bragging, double-crossing, and generally making game life a living hell for foe and ally alike, he honestly hasn’t considered that the jury is made up of real people playing for real money — in fact, the exact same very real purse for which he would go on to qualify. He [[RealityShowGenreBlindness assumed]] that they would think and vote according to how he – and the Hantz Nation – believed they were supposed to vote. On Samoa, Natalie used this line of reasoning to shape her strategy (and get the big bucks). And on [=HvV=], it kept up especially after the jury – including an original ally who also had to make her own case to her own jury – went to great pains to spell out exactly why ignoring their sensible warnings was a ''moronic'' idea. There is a valid reason that, out of the 18 jury votes he was up for, he received only two.

** [[spoiler:And just to prove how much DarkerAndEdgier ''Torchwood'' is, the 456 are largely ''right''. Most humans really ''are'' pragmatic enough that they're willing to sacrifice millions of children for their own safety (at least as long as it's not ''their'' children on the line). Even Jack ends up explicitly breaking his own "an injury to one is an injury to all" ideal when he manages to defeat the 456--[[PoweredByAForsakenChild by the sacrifice of a single child]]: ''his own grandson''.]]

* ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'': While Ethel Hallow was just extremely arrogant and self-centred in the original novels, adaptations make her significantly more ruthless; in the 2017 series in particular, she repeatedly shows an inability to understand why she is hated for her constant vendetta against Mildred, to the point that the season three finale sees Ethel [[spoiler:create a threat against Cackle's solely so that she can stop it and be the 'hero', incapable of understanding the difference between her creating a situation and Mildred's genuine efforts to help others even before her plans fail when she finds herself unable to vanquish the threat she created]].

--->'''Jade:''' You can't be nice to me after I've been mean to you! That's not how it works.\\

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The Borg genuinely cannot understand why other species would rather die than join their "perfect" HiveMind. Depending on your point of view, this may be less an example of flat-out ''evil'' and more of a BlueAndOrangeMorality problem: individuality is such an alien concept to the Borg that they consider it less a valid lifestyle choice and more a mess that needs cleaning up.
** The Borg outlook borders on ValuesDissonance, as they see assimilation as a liberating act, and can't comprehend how anyone would reject the Collective.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E2DinosaursOnASpaceship "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"]], the Doctor finds an ark containing the last of the dinosaurs that survived the cataclysm that wiped them out 65 million years earlier, and Solomon, a BountyHunter [[OnlyInItForTheMoney intent on selling the dinosaurs to the highest bidder]]. When Solomon assumes that the Doctor's interest in the dinosaurs is purely financial, like his, the Doctor berates him for assuming that everyone in the universe shares his values.

* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': In episode 3, Jade is paired with Tori for a stage fighting lesson and pretends to be hit in order to get Tori in trouble. When an accidental splash of water on Jade's black eye makeup reveals the truth to Andre, Tori chooses to remain silent to avoid inflaming further conflict with Jade, reasoning that "going to school isn't going to be very fun for either of (them) if (they're) fighting all the time." When Jade confronts Tori on this, she is immediately confused.

** The two girls, somewhat grudgingly on Jade's part, form sort of a frenemy relationship after this.

* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': In episode 3, Jade is paired with Tori for a stage fighting lesson and pretends to be hit in order to get Tori in trouble. When an accidental splash of water on Jade's black eye makeup reveals the truth to [[BlackBestFriend Andre]], Tori chooses to remain silent to avoid inflaming further conflict with Jade, reasoning that "going to school isn't going to be very fun for either of (them) if (they're) fighting all the time." When Jade confronts Tori on this, she is immediately confused.

** Season 4 episode "Who Are You?", Faith has taken over Buffy's body and experiments by trying to live Buffy's life. She gets very confused and rather upset when people are nice to her. Especially Riley. It seems that "emotionally intimate and loving" is the only way Faith ''hasn't'' had sex yet.
** In Season 4's "The Yoko Factor", Spike shows that he knows what ThePowerOfFriendship ''is'' ..., but also shows that he doesn't understand it yet. He identifies Buffy's friends as strong assets ... but is absurdly confident that ''he of all people'' can cause a permanent falling out between Buffy and the Scoobies on the eve before their big fight with [[BigBad Adam]]. Spike's sowing of discord causes a semi-dramatic quarrel that angers the Scoobies for all of a half episode. Then they rally about, and unleash epic ass-kicking. Friends fight, but friends apologize and make up too. Adam, being evil, is also waayyyy too eager to imagine that a squabble will be enough to cause a serious rift between the Slayer and her friends.
** In Season 6 "Dead Things" Buffy thinks she's accidentally killed an innocent bystander. Spike wants to dispose of the evidence and sweep the matter under the rug, and can't understand why Buffy wants to turn herself into the police.

** In "The Gift", [[JerkassGod Glory]] reveals to Dawn that the ritual to activate the Key can only be stopped if Dawn herself dies, so even if Buffy ''does'' show up, it may very well be to kill her rather than save her. Glory couldn't be more wrong; Buffy adamantly ''refuses'' to even consider killing her own sister, even to save the world.
** In Season 6's "Villains", after killing [[spoiler:Tara]] and nearly killing Buffy, Warren is informed that Willow is out for his blood... and honestly doesn't seem to understand ''why''.

* A crucial piece of the plot of the ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' episode "End Game". Ryan Ferraro, a disgraced former Army captain, captures the family of Clay Porter, the soldier who blew the whistle on him for torturing a POW to death, and holds them hostage to force Porter to come to him. At first the team suspects that he wants Porter in order to kill him, but when that theory starts to fall apart, they piece together the true motive: it all comes back to the POW. The POW had stolen over a million dollars in cash; the captain had tortured him to find out where he hid it, but the prisoner died before he could get the answer. Ferraro believed that the prisoner had given it up to Porter, and that Porter had reported him in order to get him out of the way so Porter could go after the money. When the FBI questions Porter, it turns out the prisoner didn't tell him anything, nor did he give Ferraro a reason to think he did; Ferraro just couldn't conceive of why Porter would turn him in unless he stood to gain from Ferraro's arrest.

* A crucial piece of the plot of the ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' episode "End Game". Ryan Ferraro, a disgraced former Army captain, captures the family of Clay Porter, the soldier who blew the whistle on him for torturing a POW to death, and holds them hostage to force Porter to come to him. At first the team suspects that he wants Porter in order to kill him, but when that theory starts to fall apart, they piece together the true motive: it all comes back to the POW. The POW had stolen over a million dollars in cash; the captain had tortured him to find out where he hid it, but the prisoner died before he could get the answer. Ferraro believed that the prisoner had given it up to Porter, and that Porter had reported him in order to get him out of the way so Porter could go after the money. When the FBI questions Porter, it turns out the prisoner didn't tell him anything and he had no ulterior motive at all; Ferraro just couldn't conceive of the idea that Porter's intentions were noble rather than self-serving.

* In ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', the Lex Luthor of [[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} Earth-38]] drops in on the Clark Kent of [[Series/{{Smallville}} Earth-167]] with the intent on killing him. When Clark {{No-Sell}}s a chunk of Kryptonite by revealing [[BroughtDownToNormal he gave up his powers]], Lex goes on a rant not understanding why he did such a thing. And when he realizes that he did so to have a family, he just gets angry.

* ''Series/{{Monty Python|sFlyingCircus}}'s'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRQK58jrbw merchant banker sketch]] involves a banker who is utterly unable to grasp the concept of charity.