History Main / EntertaininglyWrong

* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': Galadriel 'El' Higgins begins the book regarded by most of her WizardingSchool classmates as not merely an un-affiliated 'loser' with no contacts, prospects, or particular ability; but a bottom-feeder tier [[EvilSorceress maleficer]] who is not even competent enough to keep her dabblings in TheDarkArts from warping her [[SupernaturalSensitivity aura into a warning signal]] for any wizard with sense to sense. As it turns out, El ''is'' a loser in the sense that her [[FamedInStory internationally renowned]] healer mother [[WhiteMage Gwen Higgins]] has flat refused every offer of an in-house position from the enclaves that track her to rural Wales to for consultation. Beyond that? Like her mum El is the sort of strict {{mana}} oddball that will not even fry an anthill or wither some weeds for a bit of extra power, but [[LikeMotherUnlikeDaughter unlike her]] she combines a particular knack for [[BadPowersGoodPeople death and destruction]] with [[PersonOfMassDestruction so much raw casting power]] that she has [[PowerIncontinence considerable difficulty functioning on the level of normal wizards]].

** For whatever reason, the King wanted the whole jailbreak thing hushed up. So he staged the execution and used the old family squabble as a smokescreen to get this guy back in custody discreetly[[note]]Three for three![[/note]].
** Getting rid of a traitor condemned out his own mouth [[TruthSerum under Bardic Command]] would be at least quietly quite appriciated by the crown. The regs on extra-judicial executions would not even apply....[[note]]Nope. Theron's convinced the Duc was framed, wants him back intact to figure out ''how'' he was made to give false information under compulsion to speak the truth, and staged the execution in the hopes that whoever set the guy up will neither flee nor cover their tracks further before they are identified.[[/note]].

* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': Galadriel 'El' Higgins begins the book regarded by most of her WizardingSchool classmates as not merely an un-affiliated 'loser' with no contacts, prospects, or particular ability; but a bottom-feeder tier [[EvilSorceress maleficer]] who is not even competent enough to keep her dabblings in TheDarkArts from warping her [[SupernaturalSensitivity aura into a warning signal]] for any wizard with sense to sense. As it turns out, El ''is'' a loser in the sense that her [[FamedInStory internationally renowned]] healer mother [[WhiteMage Gwen Higgins]] has flat refused every offer of an in-house position from the enclaves that track her to rural Wales to for consultation. Beyond that? Like her mum El is the sort of strict {{mana}} oddball that will not even fry an anthill with wither some weeds for a bit of extra power, but [[LikeMotherUnlikeDaughter unlike her]] she combines a particular knack for [[BadPowersGoodPeople death and destruction]] with [[PersonOfMassDestruction so much raw casting power]] that she has [[PowerIncontinence considerable difficulty functioning on the level of normal wizards]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' has the title character seeing EVE undergoing diagnostics and repairs after [[spoiler:the plant was stolen from her body and]] the Captain thought she was malfunctioning. For the last 700 years, WALL•E's ideas for repairs are "take pieces from broken down robots", and seeing EVE through a blurred-out glass, he thinks she is being tortured and taken apart, having no way to know that the repairs are enjoyable for EVE.

* In ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'', there actually is a fairly reasonable train of thought leading Kashima to try to give Hori the role of the princess in a play or to try giving him a bridal carry. There's just two problems: One, it doesn't occur to her that everyone around her has {{shoujo}} manga as reference material for their work. Two, she never doubts her conclusions, meaning once people realize what bizarre notion she's gotten into her head they can't get it back out.

This trope is the enemy of OccamsRazor. Not to be confused with SustainedMisunderstanding.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Hunter was essentially raised as a ChildSoldier, conditioned to obey Emperor Belos without question and having had little social interaction with anyone outside the Emperor's Coven. So when he takes it upon himself to find recruits for the Coven from among Hexside students and has to interact with kids his own age in a non-combat setting, [[NoSocialSkills he's a bit out of his depth]].

* The events of ''Save the Prince'' came about because a traveling sorcerer prince who was looking for a bride saw a beautiful girl on a castle balcony and in his mind beautiful girl + castle = princess. When the king denied ''having'' a daughter, ''naturally'' he was lying to try and keep his intended from said sorcerer and ''naturally'' the logical response was to start turning people into stone.

* In ''Manga/OtherworldlyIzakayaNobu'', a spy from another country attempts to gather information about Aitheria by sampling foods from a local restaurant. He accurately (and nervously) notices how Nobu has access to many luxurious, foreign resources, thus the country they belong to must be wealthy. However, the spy naturally assumed the country is Aitheria, not realizing that Nobu is actually from modern-day Japan.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', shortly after [[spoiler:Mami's death]], Sayaka Miki assumes that the mysterious new magical girl Homura Akemi is a selfish bitch who only cares about collecting grief seeds. It's hard to blame her for reaching this conclusion, since most magical girls in the setting really ''are'' like that, which she has seen first hand in Kyouko Sakura, and Homura did conveniently show up to take the spoils once [[spoiler:Mami was already dead]]. However, Sayaka doesn't know that Homura actually wanted to team up with Mami, having warned her about the danger, but Mami arrogantly ignored her warnings and tied her up to keep her out of the way. [[spoiler:The bindings only loosened when Mami died, which is why Homura showed up when she did]]. Homura's insistence on acting aloof and distant doesn't do her any favors either. This tragically contributes to Sayaka's overly idealistic view on Mami and hopeless attempts at living up to her unrealistic example, [[spoiler:which leads to her own FateWorseThanDeath]].

* ''[https://allpoetry.com/The-Owl-Critic The Owl-Critic]]'' is a poem by James T. Fields (1817-1881) in which a self-proclaimed expert in taxidermy raises a loud and lengthy stink about the very poorly stuffed and mounted owl on display in a barber shop. [[spoiler: The owl he's complaining about then gets off his perch and hoots, revealing it is actually a living bird.]]

* Earlier on in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' lore, not long after the T'au were introduced, a Fire Warrior commander fought a long, hard battle against an army of Slaanesh's daemons. After killing the daemon in charge, causing the army to disperse and flee to the Warp, the Fire Warrior commander reported with pride that they had defeated [[EldritchAbomination Slaanesh]] for the Greater Good. They, uh, hadn't. Like, not even close. (This was back in the day when the T'au were portrayed more as [[WideEyedIdealist Wide Eyed Idealists]] that hadn't yet realized they lived in a CrapsackWorld influenced by evil gods beyond mortal comprehension; they've gotten a bit savvier since then.)

* ''LetsPlay/WitchCraftSMP'': After meeting all of the other Witches with ''none'' of them mentioning Lauren in their conversations, Scott immediately presumes that she's extremely powerful and dangerous, so everyone's too afraid to speak of her. This is in reference to someone who is terrified of being eaten by birds, and whose starter ability doesn't even work if she's indoors.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

** In the ComicBook/New52 ''Action Comics #2'', ComicBook/LexLuthor captures Superman and subjects him to torture and experimentation. At one point, Luthor orders him to "drop the act" and reveal his true form. Superman asks what he's talking about, and Luthor carts in a twisted inhuman corpse, saying that logically Superman is this creature's kinsman and shape-shifted into a human form to blend in. (A later issue, which reveals that the corpse was found in the vicinity on the night Superman's spacecraft landed, does at least mean Luthor had a reason for thinking it was related to him beyond just "they're both alien".)

** A major plot point in the first book, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''. Given what they know, Harry, Ron, and Hermione come to a perfectly valid conclusion that [[spoiler:Voldemort's supporter within Hogwarts is Severus Snape, the Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master who actively loathes Harry and appeared to be sabotaging Harry during his first Quidditch match]]. Turns out it's [[spoiler:Quirrell, teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and much of Snape's suspicious behavior was him acting to counter Quirrell. Much later, it turns out that Snape has been deliberately cultivating this kind of image since the first war -- and he was, in fact, one of Voldemort's supporters in that war]].

*** Speaking of Tonks... after Harry encounters Tonks inside Hogwarts, he speculates to Ron and Hermione that Tonks might have been in love with Sirius, the reasons being that: (A) Tonks was nearly in tears after Harry mentioned Sirius' name, and (B) her Patronus resembles a four-legged entity nowadays. Near the end of the year, Tonks confesses her love for everyone within earshot (including Harry) to hear, prompting Harry to realize that while he was right about Tonks being in love, he was mistaken only about with whom she's in love.

* ''Videogame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''.

* ''Manga/MakeTheDemonFallInLove:'' When Father first meets Leviathan, she constantly calls herself "Mama" and says that she'll have Father's child as thanks for helping her. This triggers Father's TraumaButton as he comes to the misunderstanding that Leviathan is a girl abused by her pedophile father. Meanwhile, Imuri is internally screaming about this exchange as the "Father" Leviathan is referring to is none other than God.

** Katarina gets increasingly concerned about which of the four capture targets Maria is falling in love with, since she needs to prepare for a potential Bad Ending. Maria is in fact completely in love with Katarina. As are the four capture targets. And her two closest lady friends. It's blatantly obvious to everyone else, and several of them ''have stated their feelings to her face'', and [[ObliviousToLove she's still oblivious]].

** Emperor Jircniv of the Baharuth Empire assumes that [[BenevolentBoss Ainz]] is a DiabolicalMastermind and an [[BadBoss iron-fisted tyrant]], that [[ManipulativeBastard Demiurge]] is {{overzealous|Minion}} and [[DidNotThinkThisThrough not very clever]], and that [[LeeroyJenkins Shalltear]] is Ainz's concubine and secretly one of his more [[TheSmartGirl brilliant]] advisors HiddenInPlainSight. Oh, and that [[BigBrotherIsWatching Ainz is constantly watching him for signs of betrayal]], which leads him to use an elaborate secret code even during private discussions. While he does effortlessly thwart a plot to gather allies to fight against Nazarick, [[AchievementsInIgnorance Ainz mostly did that by accident]] while visiting the Empire for his own reasons. Also, Ainz actually had been using magic to spy on Jircniv, not because he suspected the emperor of plotting against him, but because he wanted to study how other rulers behave so Ainz could make his own act more convincing.

** Emperor Jircniv of the Baharuth Empire assumes that [[BenevolentBoss Ainz]] is a DiabolicalMastermind and an [[BadBoss iron-fisted tyrant]], that [[ManipulativeBastard Demiurge]] [[DidNotThinkThisThrough is not very clever]] and that [[LeeroyJenkins Shalltear]] is Ainz's concubine and secretly one of his more brilliant advisors HiddenInPlainSight. Oh, and that [[BigBrotherIsWatching Ainz is constantly watching him for signs of betrayal]], which leads him to use an elaborate secret code even during private discussions. While he does effortlessly thwart a plot to gather allies to fight against Nazarick, [[AchievementsInIgnorance Ainz mostly did that by accident]] while visiting the Empire for his own reasons. Also, Ainz actually had been using magic to spy on Jircniv, not because he suspected the emperor of plotting against him, but because he wanted to study how other rulers behave so Ainz could make his own act more convincing.

** Emperor Jircniv of the Baharuth Empire assumes that [[BenevolentBoss Ainz]] is a DiabolicalMastermind and an [[BadBoss iron-fisted tyrant]], that [[ManipulativeBastard Demiurge]] [[DidNotThinkThisThrough is not very clever]] and that [[LeeroyJenkins Shalltear]] is Ainz's concubine and secretly one of his more brilliant advisors HiddenInPlainSight. Oh, and that [[BigBrotherIsWatching Ainz is constantly watching him for signs of betrayal]]. While he does effortlessly thwart a plot to gather allies to fight against Nazarick, [[AchievementsInIgnorance Ainz mostly did that by accident]] while visiting the Empire for his own reasons.

* AI chatbots such as [=ChatGPT=] are good at this. If asked, they can produce a convincing-sounding short essay with appropriate-looking citations. The facts will frequently be inaccurate, and in many cases the works cited won't exist at all.
** A Lawyer attempted to use [=ChatGPT=] to create a legal brief and then submitted it to the court. The Court was ''not amused'', because the brief cited to nonexistent cases as precedent. [[https://youtu.be/oqSYljRYDEM LegalEagle explains in detail.]]

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' expanded universe, Anastasius Focht receives reports of unknown configurations of Battlemechs using technologies far beyond that used in the Inner Sphere (as well as even the LostTechnology used by the Star League Defense Force during its GoldenAge, which he has access to samples from). They are invading the Inner Sphere from the same direction the SLDF's navy and army left when they chose to exile themselves from the Inner Sphere instead of choosing a side in the CivilWar that destroyed Star League. Focht's logical conclusion? They are not descendants of the SLDF exiles, come back to re-establish Star League, but rather more technologically advanced aliens that found and assimilated the SLDF, made more advanced fascimiles of the SLDF's battlemechs and ships using their superior technology, and are tracing the SLDF exiles back to the source. The idea that the SLDF exiles' technology and 'mech designs could have changed that much over that short a period of time, while the Inner Sphere had been reduced to a near-ScavengerWorld in the meantime, was inconceivable to him.

** After Ichigo completes his training in the Dangai and arrives to Karakura town right after Aizen has [[spoiler:killed [[DragonWithAnAgenda Gin]]]], Aizen fails to detect his Reiatsu. Having become so powerful that there's no way Aizen couldn't detect him, he assumes that Ichigo has discarded it in exchange for raw physical strength. It's not until after Ichigo repeatedly [[NoSell tanks his attacks]] and is about to hit him with the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Final Getsuga Tenshou]] that Aizen realizes the horrifying truth: Ichigo has become so powerful that he has reached a level above Aizen's own. The realization leads to Aizen having a VillainousBreakdown, refusing to believe that "a mere human" could surpass him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcgee'': In "Scratch the Surface", Molly tries to get out of lying to her best friend Libby about Scratch by posing as her cousin from Canada, Milly. After trolling Molly for most of the episode, Libby eventually confronts her and announces she's figured out Molly's secret... she's been infected by an eastern Canadian brain slug.