History Main / IgnoranceIsBliss

[[quoteright:350:[[Videogame/FinalFantasyXI http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ignorance_is_bliss_2891.jpg]]]]

-->-- '''Agent Kay''', ''MenInBlack''

* ''Ender's Game'', because [[spoiler: when he goes to the simulator he's actually commanding real troops.]]

->''Princess Toadstool, I know you're frightened,\\
But if you knew just why you're here\\
Your fear would just be heightened.\\
So let's just say...ignorance is bliss!''
-->-- '''[[SuperMarioBros Bowser Koopa]]''' in the song "Ignorance is Bliss" by Jellyfish, from the album ''White Knuckle Scorin' ''

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ignorance_is_bliss_2891.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Blissful, yes. Safe, not so much.]]

* In ''{{Glee}}'', Sue gets Brittany to give her the set list for New Directions, but Brittany has no clue about what she's going to do with it.
* ''{{NCIS}}'': In 6.21, "Toxic", Abby builds a biological weapon without knowing what it is.
* In ''{{Dollhouse}}'', [[spoiler: it turns out the Evil Corporation is building a Doomsday Device by making each of their research departments around the world build a little part of it, and nobody knowing about the larger picture]].

* ''DiamondsAreForever'': Blofeld kidnaps Willard Whyte and uses his industrial empire to build and launch a Kill Sat. Only one other person in Whyte's organization knows what's going on: the rest are kept ignorant.
** Also in ''DiamondsAreForever'', we have a rocket scientist who helped Blofeld to build the Kill Sat because he thought Blofeld would use it to help achieve world peace. Of course, this wasn't the case.
* At the start of ''VanHelsing'', Dracula tells Dr. Frankenstein that he did this to him.
* Cypher uses this line in ''TheMatrix'' to justify his betrayal.

This trope describes situations where somebody uses someone to make or do something by lying about what exactly it is that they're doing, or assuring them that it's for the greater good. It could be something as simple as stealing plans or moving an item to another location, or something major, like building a DoomsdayDevice or breaching a boundary- if the BigBad plays on their ignorance to make them do something; it's this. This can often result in a HeelFaceTurn or MyGodWhatHaveIDone. See also XanatosGambit, BatmanGambit, NiceJobBreakingItHero, AwfulTruth, RedemptionEqualsDeath and AmbiguousInnocence.

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

* In ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}'', Ciel tells Snake that his missing friends' whereabouts were unknown and that staying with Ciel is the fastest way to see them again. [[spoiler: The reader knows that they were all killed by Ciel's staff when they attempted to ambush the mansion.]]

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* In the ''StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' the person responsible for designing the DeathStar and [[JediAcademyTrilogy Sun Crusher]] has no idea that they'd be used to destroy habitated planets and suns around which [[BuffySpeak habitated star sytems were being habitated in]].

* Fighter of ''EightBitTheater'' is an example of this. The other Light Warriors often get him to do things by convincing him it is for the greater good. There's also the fact that he still believes they're heroes after all the untold damage they've caused.

* In ''AmericanGods'' [[spoiler:Wednesday uses Shadow to start a war between the gods so they can conquer the new gods, when in reality, Wednesday and Loki just want the power they'll gain from a field of dead gods]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Blissful, yes. Safe, no.]]

* The Howlers in ''{{Animorphs}}'' routinely wipe out entire species at their master's command so the protagonists assume they must be consumed with rage and enjoy causing destruction. It turns out they think it's all a game.

[[caption-width-right:350:Blissful yes, safe no.]]

So, the hero has found the giant factory belonging to the BigBad. He enters with his {{Nakama}} and finds weapons that could kill thousands or maybe even millions, all built by and being built by the locals. While the hero believes that the locals all knew about the Big Bad's plan and were helping him willingly, a few questions from TheHeart clears up the matter- the locals simply think the weapons are harmless machinery that will be used for building houses and/or farming.

[[AC: AnimeAndManga]]
* In ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}'', Ciel tells Snake that his missing friends' whereabouts were unknown and that staying with Ciel is the fastest way to see them again. [[spoiler: The reader knows that they were all killed by Ciel's staff when they attempted to ambush the mansion.]]

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The TropeNamer is of course ''Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College'' by Thomas Gray, [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame not that anyone remembers anything else about that poem]].

->--'''[[SuperMarioBros Bowser Koopa]]''' in the song "Ignorance is Bliss" by Jellyfish, from the album ''White Knuckle Scorin' ''

* In ''{{Glee}}'', Sue gets Brittany to give her the set list for New Directions, but Brittany has no clue about what she's going to do with it.
* ''RuneScape'' has this in the quests "Priest in Peril" and "Devious Minds".
* ''{{Spyro}}: Year Of The Dragon'': Bianca helps the Sorceress abduct the dragon eggs thinking they'll be raised in the Forgotten Worlds- the Sorceress really plans to kill the dragons and take their wings for a spell.
* ''AmericanGods''- [[spoiler:Wednesday uses Shadow to start a war between the gods so they can conquer the new gods, when in reality, Wednesday and Loki just want the power they'll gain from a field of dead gods.]]
* {{NCIS}}: In 6.21, "Toxic", Abby builds a biological weapon without knowing what it is.
* ''TheBelgariad'': Errand is brought up to be totally innocent so he can sneak into the Rivan throne room to steal the Orb, without knowing what will happen afterwards.
* In the ''StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' the person responsible for designing the DeathStar and [[JediAcademyTrilogy Sun Crusher]] has no idea that they'd be used to destroy habitated planets and suns around which [[BuffySpeak habitated star sytems were being habitated in.]]
* Harry Harrison's ''TheStainlessSteelRat''. Jim diGriz discovers that the government of the planet Cittanuvo is building a Warlord class battleship under the pretense that it's just a transport ship. After investigating, he finds out that two elite criminals tricked the government into building the ship with the intent of stealing it and using it for interstellar piracy.
* In ''MetalGear Solid'', Otacon designed Metal Gear REX under the assumption that it would be used as a mobile TMD to destroy incoming missiles - he had no idea that his employers would arm it with nukes instead.
* Fighter of Eight Bit Theater is an example of this. The other Light Warriors often get him to do things by convincing him it is for the greater good. There's also the fact that he still believes they're heroes after all the untold damage they've caused.

* ''DiamondsAreForever.'' Blofeld kidnaps Willard Whyte and uses his industrial empire to build and launch a Kill Sat. Only one other person in Whyte's organization knows what's going on: the rest are kept ignorant.

* In ''Final Fantasy VI'', after the Espers from the sealed cave annihilate Vector, Emperor Gestahl held a banquet in order to make peace with the returners. There, he asked Terra to act as an ambassador to the Espers in order to make peace with them too. Once Terra & co. led the espers out of their hiding place, the recently imprisoned Kefka comes out & turns all the Espers into magicite. All the acquired magicite give Kefka & Gestahl godlike powers, resulting in the rise of the Floating Continent.
* In ''{{Dollhouse}}'', [[spoiler: it turns out the Evil Corporation is building a Doomsday Device by making each of their research departments around the world build a little part of it, and nobody knowing about the larger picture.]]
* At the start of the ''VanHelsing movie'', Dracula tells Dr Frankenstein that he did this to him.

* In TVTropes have you ever noticed the [[spoiler: spoiler tags]].

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' Horde-players visiting Dragonblight are offered a questline to help the Forsaken gather ingredients for a plague that will inevitably wipe out the scourge, [[spoiler: which Puttress later uses to kill, not only scourge-soldiers, but also the combined army of humans and orcs battling them.]]
* The Howlers in {{Animorphs}} routinely wipe out entire species at their master's command so the protagonists assume they must be consumed with rage and enjoy causing destruction. It turns out they think it's all a game.

* ''AmericanGods''- Wednesday uses Shadow to start a war between the gods so they can conquer the new gods, when in reality, Wednesday and Loki just want the power they'll gain from a field of dead gods.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ignorance_is_bliss_2891.jpg
[[caption-width:330:Blissful yes, safe no.]]
-->''Princess Toadstool, I know you're frightened,\\

-->--'''[[SuperMarioBros Bowser Koopa]]''' in the song "Ignorance is Bliss" by Jellyfish, from the album ''White Knuckle Scorin' ''

* This trope is probably [[CompleteMonster the one and only]] PetTheDog moment from [[spoiler: Matt Engarde]] in ''AceAttorney: Justice For All'':

* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' In an uncharacteristically manipulative moment, in her second appearance, Voluptua lets Bob fly off on what he thinks if a very simple mission, while she suspects an alien supercriminal [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20061202.html ''just might'']] be waiting for him.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ignorance_is_bliss.jpg
[[caption-width:1019:Isn't life wonderful.]]