History Main / AccompliceByInaction

Except they want to have them caught. Now. And to charge them all as accomplices to Alice's dad's abuse. And burn their crops. And terminate their subscription to cable channels. Turns out, doing nothing wasn't that much of a great plan.

* This is the main motivation of "Public Enemy" from the ''{{Marvel 2099}}'' verse. A genetically engineered super soldier, he bears a grudge against the corporation Alchemax for murdering his parents. Even after tracking down and killing everyone involved in the Red Dog project he still feels like the really guilty party hasn't been punished. He then witnesses a crazed gunman about to kill a woman, while dozens of pedestrians either ignore it or talk about what a shame it is. After rescuing her, a crowd of people gather around him to tell him what a hero he was. Incensed at their inaction, he murders them all on the spot. He realizes that who he truly hates are the public who allow bad things to happen while claiming innocence. He kills more crowds of people who were witnesses crimes and do nothing to stop them, eventually coming into conflict with The Punisher. During a battle between the two, he's surrounded by a crowd of people who were related to his victims. They all attack him with bricks, pipes and whatever else they have on hand. As the crowd swarms him, Public Enemy yells out encouragment to them, overjoyed that they're finally doing what he wanted them to do even as they tear him apart.

* In ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', Ari of Arkhanta, who possesses a slave he uses only for his greedy motives, has a massive grudge against the oracle of Kandrakhar, the benevolent figure who saves everyone's life once a week. Why ? Unlike the man, who obsessed about changing his son, the Oracle didn't ever try to "cure" the child's autism.

* In ''Squaresville'', it is hinted that the group of protagonists which we follow are a bunch of social outcasts. They are victims, if not of bullying, at least of condescending remarks from the other children, even the conformist outcasts, and the mots jaded of them all, Esther, has a grudge against Shelly, a girl who "escaped" their current condition, and did nothing to help.

* Zira blames Kovu in ''[[Disney/TheLionKing The Lion King 2]]'', after Nuka dies in the fight with Simba.

* In ''HarrysNewHome'', Snape and Harry start distrusting and in the latter case, outright fearing Dumbledore when they realize it was Dumbledore's fault that no one checked up on Harry and why Sirius never got a trial.

* In JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship '', this is used for comedic effect, when Laura and Sophia are furious with the latter's cousin, Mac Donald, because he didn't sigh nor weep when he heard that they had been abandoned by their grandfather. He just saved them, providing them with shelter, food and stability.
* In JaneAusten's ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'', this is PlayedForDrama, since the eldest brother refuses to give anything to his sisters despite his father's unofficial will. They thoroughly despise him for this and for being a condescending, pitiless, InnocentlyInsensitive weakling. In ''The Watsons'', another work by the same writer, sadly unfinished, the heroine similarly despises the brother who gained financial independence and could have helped her sister while she, despite being in a higher situation, couldn't do anything, but chose not to do anything except invite his favorite sister occasionally.
** This is averted in many cases when the heroine supposes that someone did nothing when they could have helped, and a modern reader would be ''pissed'', but because of ValuesDissonance, this is a perfectly normal conduct. This includes Elizabeth Bennet, Catherine Morland, Elinor Dashwood, and many others...
** Strangely, this is not even left ambiguous with two of JaneAusten's most charming {{English Rose}}s, Fanny Price and Jane Fairfax, who sound a lot like nineteenth century gothic romance heroines. These sweet [[ProperLady Proper Ladies]] [[YouGoGirl don't]] [[DidYouThinkICantFeel take]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes being]] [[SuddenPrincipledStand neglected]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy well]].

** James 4:17 shows us what theologians call the sin of omission. It's not just doing evil that is sinful, but also not doing good when given the chance:
-->'"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."'

* In TheBible, Matthew 25:41-45 showcases the fate of those who are not chosen by God when the Day of Judgment comes:

So, let's say Alice was abused by her dad, Evulvz. She was a favorite victim of his, and his abuse was made of both emotional and physical patterns. From her childhood to early adulthood, he made her life a real mess and when she finally managed to make Evulvz SealedEvilInACan with help of her beloved, Danny, everyone expected them to rejoice. They were supposed to go straight to Charlie and Bob, the ApatheticCitizens, who watched the abuse thinking that it was SomebodyElsesProblem, or to Claire, the InnocentBystander who was unable to do anything, and to throw a party and invite them.

* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' has this as the main motive of [[spoiler: Paul Young]], after the main characters couldn't do anything else than simply let him be framed. He is also offended because they didn't visit him in jail, still.

-->-- ''Starz's {{Camelot}}, during Igraine and Morgan's'' '''''second''''' ''scene together''

* After Lancelot hesitates a second and then jeopardizes his reputation and future for Guinevere -- by getting in cart, making him look like someone going to his execution -- in some versions of Arthurian legend, she refuses to even look at him. He thinks this is because he demeaned himself and is thoroughly humiliated. Actually, it is because he didn't totally humiliate himself ''immediately''.

* Ulysses is constantly blamed for the amount of mind-boggling STUPID his crew members wreak. They are always eager to disobey the orders of the superior forces, and when he tries to apologize for them, he is usually held responsible.

* ''TheLizzieBennetDiaries'': After Lizzie learns that Bing Lee simply left her sister Jane because his sister Caroline and his friend Darcy told him that she wasn't interested in him, she is about to forgive him. Then, she realizes that he understood the situation later, but couldn't muster the courage to do anything. And from that point, she ''hates'' him.

* After Lancelot hesitates a second and then jeopardizes his reputation and future for Guinevere in some versions of Arthurian legend, she refuses to even look at him. He thinks this is because he demeaned himself and is thoroughly humiliated. Actually, it is because he didn't totally humiliate himself ''immediately''.

Compare FailureToSaveMurder, which has a strong overlap rate. Compare and contrast {{Cruel Mercy}} wich the non-intervention may be from the point of view of the inactive party, thus making the accusation justified.

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!! Examples...

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[[AC:Comics]]

[[AC:Film -- Animated]]

[[AC:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''{{Batman Begins}}'' : [[spoiler: Bruce]] could, from the beginning, quite rightfully cause this reaction with one of his lines.

** TDK has this somewhat as the reason for [[spoiler: Harvey]]'s rampage, as he goes after everybody who had something to do with Rachel Dawes' death, including (or would, at term, include) those who had nothing to do with it (like the mob boss other than Maroni he blows away at the bar, since he helped hire the Joker, but surely had nothing to do with him and the rest of the movie's plot after *that*).

[[AC:Literature]]
* In Samuel Richarson's ''{{Clarissa}}'' (1747-48), the longest book ever written in the English language, the heroine's mother and her aunt look like this from a modern reader's perspective because they never oppose the father's when he does his best to force the heroine into an arranged marriage. Richardson seemed to partially agree, at least for the good aunt Hervey, whom he describes in the preface as "lacking the courage to go against so strong a steam, [and] sailing with it".

* In JaneAusten's ''SenseAndSensibility'', this is PlayedForDrama, since the eldest brother refuses to give anything to his sisters despite his father's unofficial will. They thoroughly despise him for this and for being a condescending, pitiless, InnocentlyInsensitive weakling. In ''The Watsons'', another work by the same writer, sadly unfinished, the heroine similarly despises the brother who gained financial independence and could have helped her sister while she, despite being in a higher situation, couldn't do anything, but chose not to do anything except invite his favorite sister occasionally.

** Strangely, this is not even left ambiguous with two of JaneAusten's most charming {{EnglishRose}}s, Fanny Price and Jane Fairfax, who sound a lot like nineteenth century gothic romance heroines. These sweet [[ProperLady Proper Ladies]] [[YouGoGirl don't]] [[DidYouThinkICantFeel take]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes being]] [[SuddenPrincipledStand neglected]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy well]].
* The [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three]] [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Laws]] of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Robotics]], specifically the second part of the first one were created to [[DefiedTrope defy the trope]]

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* {{Camelot}}: Morgan's reason for hating Igraine is apparently this, as Igraine never opposed her father when he tried to destroy her childhood. It appears later on that there is also a dose of IrrationalHatred in this since Igraine couldn't have escaped Uther's will (he was really a domineering violent king). [[spoiler: When Morgan stabs Igraine in the season 1 finale, her stepmother reveals that Uther wanted to kill his own daughter, and that she convinced him to simply send her away in a convent to protect Morgan.]]
* ''DesperateHousewives'' has this as the main motive of [[spoiler: Paul Young]], after the main characters couldn't do anything else than simply let him be framed. He is also offended because they didn't visit him in jail, still.

* ''{{Seinfeld}}'' is a prime example in the last episode of the last season. The episode is about the cast not helping someone getting mugged on the street in broad daylight, and them being arrested, trialed (with everybody they managed to somehow piss off with their {{Jerkass}}ery over several seasons [[TheBusCameBack coming]] BackForTheFinale [[TheDogBitesBack as witnesses]]) [[spoiler: and then put in jail because of a recently-passed "GoodSamaritan" law]].

[[AC:Mythology]]

[[AC:Religion]]

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Web Original]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

Except they want to have them caught. Now. And to charge them all as accomplices to Alice's dad's abuse. And burn their crops. And resiliate their suscribtion to cable channels. Turns out, doing nothing wasn't that much of a great plan.

* ''{{Batman Begins}}'' : [[spoiler: Bruce]] could, from the beginning, quite rightflly cause this reaction with one of his lines.

* Strangely averted and then deconstructed in Céline Raphael's ''La Démesure'', a testimony of her life as a child and later as a young teenager with an unbelivably [[AbusiveParents physically and emotionally abusive]] [[StageMom Stage Dad]]. She mentions that her mother and her younger sister never confronted her father about the abuse in the first years, and the reader assumes that they didn't know about the situation. [[TearJerker Then, halfway through the book, she writes about how unsettling it must have been for them to hear all this from behind the closed door of the room her father locked her in for practice]]. She never had a grudge agaisnt her mother.

** She also resented a P.E. teacher who taunted her for failing to attend his classes (because her father forbade her too for practice) out of pure anger towards her and herv family enjoying superior social standing and being allegedly able to break rules. It is one of the rare persons she seems to still ressent and look down upon.

* In JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship '', this is used for comedic effect, when Laura and Sophia are furious with the latter's cousin, Mac Donald, because he didn't sigh nor weep when he heard that they had been abandonned by their grandfather. He just saved them, providing them with shelter, food and stability.
* In JaneAusten's ''SenseAndSensibility'', this is PlayedForDrama, since the eldest brother refuses to give anything to his sisters despite his father's unofficial will. They thoroughly despise him for this and for being a condescending, pitiless, InnocentlyInsensitive weakling. In ''The Watsons'', another work by the same writer, sadly unfinished, the heroine similarly despises the brother who gained financial independance and could have helped her sister while she, despite being in a higher situation, couldn't do anything, but chose not to do anything except invite his favorite sister occasionally.

* Subverted in an episode of ''{{Taggart}}''; members of a criminal gang are being murdered and the prime suspect is the daughter of a [[BadassBystander have-a-go-hero]] who got beaten to death for his trouble (by the leader, the other gang members just stood by). They arrest her after she shoots said leader [[spoiler: however when they try to call her out for killing the other gang members, she denies it. They realise that said leader had manipulated her into shooting him (he was wearing a bullet proof vest) and was the one who killed his former partners in crime.]]

** She is understandably angry and depressed and this souds shocking to her, just like the cases of teenagers chastizing the church for not meddling in V politics. Though, when you read Tyler's previous actions, you realize that he often blaimed her for not helping the cute (ruthless homicidal totalitarian) and charismatic HiveQueen of the Vs, his friends, or himself when she could barely intervene...

* This is very much TruthInTelevision in certain situations, as far as judiciary system goes, since you can be prosecuted for not taking any action to help somenone in peril (officially known as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue duty to rescue]] concept)..

[[AC:Animated Films]]

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* This is an audience reaction to Ryuk from ''Manga/DeathNote'' : [[FridgeLogic technically]] while he didn't force Light to kill criminals he ''did'' cause the whole plot to even start by dropping the book in the human world.

[[AC:Comics]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', Ari of Arkhanta, who possesses a slave he uses only for his greedy motives, has a massive grudge against the oracle of Kandrakhar, the benevolent figure who saves everyone's life once a week. Why ? Unlike the man, who obsessed about changing his son, the Oracle didn't ever try to "cure" the child's autism.

** She is understandably angry and depressed and this souds shocking to her, just like the cases of teenagers chastizing the church for not meddling in V politics. Though, when you read Tyler's previous actions, you realize that he often blaimed her for not helping the cute (ruthless homicidal totalitarian) and charismatic HiveQueen of the Vs, his friends, or himself when she could barely intervene...

[[AC:Live action Movies]]
* ''{{Batman Begins}}'' : [[spoiler: Bruce]] could, from the beginning, quite rightflly cause this reaction with one of his lines.
---> ''I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you...''
** TDK has this somewhat as the reason for [[spoiler: Harvey]]'s rampage, as he goes after everybody who had something to do with Rachel Dawes' death, including (or would, at term, include) those who had nothing to do with it (like the mob boss other than Maroni he blows away at the bar, since he helped hire the Joker, but surely had nothing to do with him and the rest of the movie's plot after *that*).
* In the film adaptation of ''Literature/NightWatch'', a cornered vampire girl blames the Night Watch (ostensibly the good guys) for her turning into a vampire and subsequent crimes, since the vampire who turned her was doing so legally under the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil treaty, so the Night Watch couldn't intervene.

[[AC: Real Life]]

* Zira blames Kovu in ''[[TheLionKing The Lion King 2]]'', after Nuka dies in the fight with Simba.

!!! Examples...

* Céline Rapahaël, a Frenchwoman victim of a Stage Dad, wrote a book about the abuse she underwent. The examples are treated in the Literature section.

* [[{{Camelot}} Morgan]]'s reason for hating Igraine is apparently this, as Igraine never opposed her father when he tried to destroy her childhood. It appears later on that there is also a dose of IrrationalHatred in this since Igraine couldn't have escaped Uther's will (he was really a domineering violent king). [[spoiler: When Morgan stabs Igraine in the season 1 finale, her stepmother reveals that Uther wanted to kill his own daughter, and that she convinced him to simply send her away in a covent to protect Morgan.]]

* Ulysses is constantly blamed for the amount of mind-boggling STUPID his crew members can wack. They are always eager to disobey the orders of the superior forces, and when he tries to apologize for them, he is usually held responsible.

* In TheBible, Matthew 25:41-45 showcases the fate of those who are not chosen by God when the Day of Judgment comes :

* In ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' Judge Nemo blames everyone for the death of Artina, and considers [[HumansAreBastards everyone evil because no one helped him when]] [[spoiler: [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil he was tortured]]]].
* In the game ''Misao'', Kudou saw Misao being bullied, but didn't take action against it, and Misao executes him by driving a car over him.

* In ''Squaresville'', it is hinted that the group of protagonists which we follow are a bunch of social outcasts. They are victims, if not of bullying, at least of condescending remarks from the other children, even the comformist outcasts, and the mots jaded of them all, Esther, has a grudge against Shelly, a girl who "escaped" their current condition, and did nothing to help.

* Céline Rapahaël, a Frenchwoman victim of a Stage Dad, wrote a book about the abuse she underwent. The examples are treated in the Litterature section.

reply:
* TheBible, Matthew 25:41-45:
-->41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
-->42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
-->43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
-->44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
-->45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

--->'''[[ExtremeDoormat Igraine]]''': I never did anything to hurt you !
--->'''[[AntiVillain Morgan]]''': Indeed, my lady. You did nothing. You did nothing when my father had my mother killed so that you could sit in her place. As you did nothing when my father banished me.
--->'''Igraine''': No queen questions her king.
--->'''Morgan''': And I thought my opinion of you couldn't get any lower.