History Main / SurroundedByIdiots

* There are {{Self Imposed Challenge}}s in ''TheSims 2'' which involve only directing one sim in a household, leaving the others to act under [[ArtificialStupidity their own free will and capabilities]]. The "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin I'm Surrounded By Idiots]]" Challenge is one version, while the somewhat better-known Asylum Challenge turns the household into an insufficiently-equipped BedlamHouse, with your playable sim forced to GoAmongMadPeople.

* ''SpaceColony'': you control, or try to control, a series of idiots, slackers, and various personality problems.

* In Disney's ''Disney/TheLionKing'', Scar says this exact quote (which could count as the TropeNamer) about the hyenas. Interestingly, he said this about said hyenas [[TheHyena playing their species's trope straight]], and not the mission they had recently failed.

* ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'': [[InspectorJavert Captain of the pallace guards, Razul]] towards his underlings, who cower in fear upon seeing a little monkey who barley reaches their kness holding a shimitar.

-->'''Razul''': You idiots... [[NoIndoorVoice WE'VE ALL GOT SWORDS!]]

* ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'': [[InspectorJavertCaptain of the pallace guards, Razul]] towards his underlings, who cower in fear upon seeing a little monkey who barley reaches their kness holding a shimitar.

* ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'':

-->'''Razul''': You idiots... WE'VE ALL GOT SWORDS!

* ''Disney/Aladdin'':

-->'''Razual''': You idiots... WE'VE ALL GOT SWORDS!

* Disney's Aladin:

-->'''Razual''': You..IDIOTS! WE'VE ALL GOT SWORDS!

Guard: He's got a sword!
Razual: You..IDIOTS! WE'VE ALL GOT SWORDS!

-->'''Janeway:''' "Oh, forgive me. It's just that, as a fellow ruler of the cosmos, [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything I often have to do things myself]]."

-->'''Janeway:''' "Something like that."
-->'''Chaotica:''' "Oh, Arachnia, my love, my life! how well you understand our plight. If it weren't beneath my dignity, I...[[ManlyTears I would weep]]. [[LonelyAtTheTop How I've longed for someone who would understand]]."

* In chapter 3 of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10317264/3/A-Necromancer-s-Wild-Card A Necromancer's Wild Card]]'', a VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} and LightNovel/{{Is This A Zombie}} [[CrossOver crossover]], [[TheStoic Minato]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Arisato]] quotes this trope verbatim after witnessing the students of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Ayumu]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Aikawa]]'s school paying more attention to [[WholesomeCrossdresser Ayumu]] crossdressing instead of a [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight giant crawfish monster]] that [[ChainsawGood Ayumu recently killed]].
--> '''Minato''' (thinking): 'Hide your shame, Ayumu. Hide your shame because I'm evidently surrounded by idiots.'

* In chapter 3 of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10317264/3/A-Necromancer-s-Wild-Card A Necromancer's Wild Card]]'', a VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} and LightNovel/{{Is This A Zombie}} [[CrossOver crossover]], [[TheStoic Minato]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Arisato]] quotes this trope verbatim after witnessing the students of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Ayumu Aikawa]]'s school paying more attention to [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Ayumu]] crossdressing than a giant crawfish monster that [[ChainsawGood Ayumu recently killed]].
--> '''Minato''' (thinking): ''"Hide your shame, Ayumu. Hide your shame because I'm evidently surrounded by idiots."''

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* ''WebAnimation/RWBY'': Torchwick frequently shows disappointment at his underlings' performance. To be fair, the guys that he hires them from also show the same disappointment.

%%* Edmund Series/{{Blackadder}} IS this trope, at least from second season onward.

* Everyone in ''Series/Blackadder'' except the main character is either insane, stupid, or both.

[[folder:Multiple Media]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', Gaea Worshipper's guild probably wouldn't have even existed if it members weren't a bunch of idiots. They want to assisst Gaea, who is playing in an enemy faction, because they are convinced that she's a DoubleAgent loyal to their own side. In reality, the event that made them come up with the DoubleAgent scenario is actually a NotMeThisTime FrameUp intiated by their own faction's top guild, who seems to not even bother keeping the fact secret at least in the comic version of the story. An episode of the webseries also hints that Gaea's ManipulativeBastard tendencies have a EveryoneKnewAlready status to most players and that the members of Gaea Worshipper's guild are the only ones acting as if whatever they see her do should be kept secret. To top things off, they are also quite incompetent as helpers.
[[/folder]]

-->Yes, I know, I know, it’s MY fault, I hired them… bargain basement villains, hired at the last minute… SO, this is why some supervillains are always screaming about being surrounded by incompetents.

* Several studies has shown that intelligent people tend to underestimate their intelligence and unskilled people overestimate theirs: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect Dunnin-Kruger effect]]. So stupid people will tend to think that they are surrounded by idiots.

Of course, the simplest answer for why the evil master is surrounded by idiots is because you'd ''have'' to be stupid to work for him. The underlings' being TooDumbToLive may well explain why they continue to work for an [[VillainousDemotivator abusive employer]], but we still have to wonder why the EvilOverlord hired them in the first place. We can't pretend he's not aware of his hirelings' shortcomings, since he never hesitates to exclaim about them: "[[YouFool FOOLS]]! CRETINS! BUNGLERS!" (there always seems to be [[RuleOfThree a basic formula of Mild Insult! Not-So-Mild Insult! EXTREME INSULT!]]), sometimes, "It's so hard to find good help these days..." and of course, the oft-repeated Trope Naming line, "I'm surrounded by idiots!" - sometimes accompanied by a {{Facepalm}}. Sometimes after one too many failures tend to say "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!" and then proceeds to do far better at any given mission than his underlings have ever done, making you wonder why he didn't just do this in the first place.

* On ''Series/TheWire'', Stringer Bell increasingly feels like this, which prompts his "40 Degree Day" speech. Even after that, [[Funny/TheWire some of his Mooks *still* don't get it]]. In an interview, DennisLehane, who wrote the episode, said he wrote that speech specifically to embody this trope.