History Main / SubvertedSuspicionAesop

** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E22WhatAboutDiscord "What About Discord?"]], after Twilight spends three whole days insider her house, reorganizing her library, she finds that in her absence, her friends have somehow gotten a lot more friendly with Discord (a previously reformed villain who's still somewhat of a jerk). Twilight denies she's jealous as her friends and Discord keep laughing at inside jokes that she can't understand, and eventually she concludes that Discord must have mind-controlled her friends for some nefarious reason. But when an anti-mind-control potion conclusively proves her friends ''aren't'' being mind-controlled, Twilight finally admits that she's jealous and apologizes to everyone for her suspicions. That's when Discord lets slip that he really did manipulate her friends into excluding Twilight for the last three days, just to make her feel left out, and was deliberately bringing up the inside jokes to rub it in her face. [[TricksterMentor He tries to insist this was just to teach Twilight a moral lesson]], but the others are not amused.

* In ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', episode "Tahani Al-Jamil" plays Eleanor being overly suspicious of Tahani's all-loving behavior, in fact believing she was the one who sent a blackmail message for her in the previous episode. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], as she [[spoiler: was not the person who sent the message (it was her supposed soulmate Jianyu/Jason, and it was not blackmail at all) and her demeanor seemed to be true.]] [[DoubleSubversion Subverted again]] [[spoiler: in season 1 finale, when it's revealed she was sent to the Bad Place because her selfless demeanor was indeed an act.]], but [[ZigzaggedTrope ZigZagged]] in that [[spoiler: Tahani is ''really'' a good-hearted, if somewhat spoiled and condescending person]]

* In ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', episode "Tahani Al-Jamil" plays Eleanor being overly suspicious of Tahani's all-loving behavior, in fact believing she was the one who sent a blackmail message for her in the previous episode. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], as she [[spoiler: was not the person who sent the message (it was her supposed soulmate Jianyu/Jason, and it was not blackmail at all) and her demeanor seemed to be true.]] [[DoubleSubversion Subverted again]] [[spoiler: in season 1 finale, when it's revealed she was sent to the Bad Place because her selfless demeanor was indeed an act.]] [[OverlyLongGag Subverted once more]] in that [[spoiler: Tahani is ''really'' a good-hearted, if somewhat spoiled and condescending person]]

** ''Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E24MysteryOnTheFriendshipExpress'' has a variation where the aesop isn't about suspicion ''per se'', but rather about making sure you have evidence before publicly accusing someone. Pinkie Pie tries to guard a massive cake intended for a baking competition, but someone takes a huge bite from it when she falls asleep. Pinkie immediately suspects three other competitors--Gustave Le Grand, Doughnut Joe, and Mulia Mild--based on nothing but her own overactive imagination. As she accuses each one in turn, her friend Twilight Sparkle shoots each theory down, before finding evidence to implicate the real culprit. Then a nearly identical crime happens again, minutes later, and now Pinkie uses evidence from the crime scene to prove that this time, Gustave, Joe, and Mulia ''are'' the ones responsible.

* Not surprising, seen in WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons. Marge becomes suspicious of Otto's ex-fiance Becky, thinking she is trying to kill Marge and steal Homer. There turns out to be a perfectly logical explanation for all of the evidence, of course, and Marge apologizes.

-->'''Becky''': Hey, no biggie. I *was* trying to steal your family. I even thought of a good place to bury you. Then I didn't have a shovel, so I went to the hardware store and they have six different kinds,and I was like, "later".

** After having a bad experience with the griffon Gilda, Pinkie Pie comes to believe she's one of the most mean people in the universe. [[{{Jerkass}} She's in the ballpark, at any rate.]] Later subverted by "The Lost Treasure of Griffinstone" where it's revealed Gilda has a nasty temper, but is ultimately a good person at heart who just doesn't fully understand how friendship works. It ends with her making up with Rainbow Dash ''and'' befriending Pinkie Pie.
** In the second season finale, Twilight alone is suspicious of her brother's fiancee Cadence because she's not acting anything like the Cadence she knew. Despite Twilight's friends brushing her concerns off, "Cadence" is actually much ''worse'' than Twilight thought, and has kidnapped and replaced the real Cadence for her own nefarious plot.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has Batman convinced that the person responsible for certain crimes is a recently released and allegedly rehabilitated Poison Ivy. He spends an entire day tracking her, and is forced to concede that she appears to be behaving herself, as the most illegal thing he caught her doing was not returning a rental video on time, and she freely paid the resultant fine. Then Robin spots a loose thread in her story about her new peaceful civilian life, giving Batman a lead that ultimately proves that she really was responsible after all.

A new character enters the setting. But someone gets suspicious of them, and thinks they're up to no good. All the other people say [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong not to be suspicious about new people]], and/or that they're just jealous (which may or may not be true). If you're a savvy viewer, you might do some TropeTelegraphing to expect that, after the main characters [[WhatTheHellHero go around stalking the character all day]], they will find out that he really was a good guy, and for him to be PutOnABus in exasperation.

[[DiscreditedTrope However, that is not how the situation plays out most of the time.]] We didn't sit in front of the TV and stay there for 11 to 30 minutes just to see how much of a DesignatedHero the main character can be. So, TV writers often subvert the StockAesop, where the new guy that the majority of the characters were defending was EvilAllAlong. When it's subverted like this, it may be revealed that they're evil midway, but it can easily be covered up as NotWhatItLooksLike.

A reason why this happens is that [[StatusQuoIsGod the writers don't want to expand the main cast]], so it's easier to add an antagonist who wouldn't logically stay around after the episode ends. Another common variant with a regular character is the FalselyReformedVillain, who pretends to turn over a new leaf as a cover for their latest EvilPlan, also done to keep the status quo.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' had a hilariously condensed version of this trope in "Return to VideoGame/Castlevania": within the span of a few scenes, Alucard looks like he's loyal to Count Dracula, then he saves Kevin and Simon from the Count, and ''then'' he betrays them. Even ''more'' hilariously, Alucard actually ''is'' a hero in the source material; the writers [[AdaptationalVillainy made him a villain here]] for reasons unknown.

* In season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', Tecna suspects the new teacher Professor Avalon of not being so benevolent. She investigates him and determines that he is the evil Angel of Darkness, but it turns out most of the clues were just coincidences, and Tecna accepts that he's not evil. At the end of the season however, it's revealed that he is not the real Avalon, but instead Lord Darkar's [[TheMole spy inside Alfea]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** Cadence/Queen Chrysalis in the season 2 finale turns out she's ''worse'' than Twilight thought, and has kidnapped and replaced the real Cadence for her own nefarious plot.

** The bear in "In Your Footsteps". Jake suspects he wants to take Finn's identity, and Finn eventually agrees. This was not the case, however. It just wanted to be more heroic like Finn. In order for it to learn how to be a hero, Finn gives it the Hero's Handbook--[[GreatBigBookOfEverything the Enchiridion]]. [[spoiler:The bear then gives it to a BigBad, the Lich, proving he was evil all along.]]

* Inverted and then double subverted in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'': When a crime is committed, all sorts of excessively obvious clues point to the Klatchians, which Vimes interprets as his own countrymen attempting to frame them. [[spoiler: It then turns out that a Klatchian did do it, covering his real tracks and leaving obvious fake ones just to fool Vimes, who turns out not to have needed any such convincing since he had already decided it was a frame by his own countrymen (and refused to suspect the Klatchians) before having seen any clues at all]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', one of the Rubies (the one Steven calls "Navy") tells Steven and Garnet that she wants to defect to the Crystal Gems. Steven decides to take her to the barn where the recently-defected Lapis Lazuli and Peridot live, so they can ease her transition to Earth. Lapis doesn't buy Navy's story, saying her turnaround from enemy to ally was too quick. It only makes Lapis more frustrated when Navy takes an immediate liking to ''everything on Earth that she encounters''. Lapis vents to Steven and Peridot that it took way longer for her to adjust to life on Earth, and when Navy overhears, Lapis apologizes and admits that there may even be an element of jealousy to her suspicions. But she was right: Navy was just playing along to take her ship back and to see the look on the Crystal Gems' faces when being betrayed.

[[DiscreditedTrope However, that is not how the situation plays out most of the time.]] We didn't sit in front of the TV and stay there for 11 minutes just to see how much of a JerkAss the main characters can be. So, TV writers often subvert the StockAesop, where the new guy that the majority of the characters were defending was EvilAllAlong. When it's subverted like this, it may be revealed that they're evil midway, but it can easily be covered up as NotWhatItLooksLike.

A reason why this happens is that [[StatusQuoIsGod the writers don't want to expand the main cast]], so it's easier to add an antagonist who wouldn't logically stay around after the episode ends.

Compare with the MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold, which also tries to get a Suspicion Aesop across, but {{Inverted}} since ''everyone'' is suspicious about a guy who turns out to be good.

See also CassandraTruth, NoMereWindmill, ProperlyParanoid and TheVictimMustBeConfused. Contrast SheepInSheepsClothing, where the suspicion Aesop is played straight.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' had a variation. A middle-eastern looking kid and his family move in, and Cartman is suspicious of him immediately. The kid's family itself was innocent, but Cartman's suspicion directly results in him saving the town by finding out about someone ''else's'' terrorist plot. When Kyle points out Cartman was wrong, Cartman claims uncovering the actual bad guys vindicates him ([[MoralLuck even though it was just a coincidence)]].
** In "The Succubus" the boys are convinced chefs girlfriend is a succubus from hell eventually they confront her on this and she tells them how silly that sounds and gently suggests they're just worried that chef won't have time for them after they're married, they at first listen to this but [[VillainBall the minuet they start to let their guards down]] she gives them a NightmareFace.

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', in the episode "Living Conditions": Buffy insists that her annoying roommate is an evil demon, and suddenly declares she needs to kill her, which her friends naturally take as a ''bit'' of an overreaction to said roommate playing Cher too many times. It turns out the roommate actually ''was'' a demon, the spurious evidence Buffy had was accurate, and Buffy's own erratic behavior was a result of the roommate trying to steal her soul.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''
** There are two examples in this show; one subverts the Suspicion Aesop normally (the one about Wakeman's boyfriend) and one [[DoubleSubversion DOUBLY]] subverts it (the one about Melody; because Melody IS wrecking everything, or so it seems, but she's not evil).

* WesternAnimation/SouthPark had a variation. A middle-eastern looking kid and his family move in, and Cartman is suspicious of him immediately. The kid's family itself was innocent, but Cartman's suspicion directly results in him saving the town by finding out about someone else's terrorist plot. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at the end.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': The early episode "Ricardio, the Heart Guy". Finn thinks the titular character of this episode is evil, Jake thinks he's good. He turns out to be the heart of the Ice King (BigBad at the time).

* Used in ''JimmyNeutron'' in ''The Egg-Pire Strikes Back,'' when the Yolkians come back and make peace with the people of Retroville. It's a bit different because the Yolkians were the main antagonists of the movie that started the whole series, and both viewers and Jimmy know that they are '''definitely''' up to no good- but everyone else tells Jimmy not to be so suspicious. When Jimmy is proven right at the very end, Jimmy makes them say "You were right and we were wrong" several times. Including in French and Chinese. (Although they fail at one of these)

See also CassandraTruth, NoMereWindmill, and ProperlyParanoid. Contrast SheepInSheepsClothing, where the suspicion Aesop is played straight.

* In ''Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks Meet the Wolfman'', it is mentioned that Alvin's horror-movie obsession and tendency to accuse innocent people in town of being monsters has gotten the trio in trouble many times before. Most of the movie makes it look like his suspicion that their new neighbor is a werewolf might just be more of the same. Nope, he's actually a werewolf.