History Main / TheVictimMustBeConfused

* [[RebelliousPrincess Cimorene]] has this problem in ''[[Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles Dealing with Dragons]]'', as the knights that come to rescue her can't fathom that she's perfectly happy [[DragonsPreferPrincesses being a dragon's princess]] (which basically just means being a roommate with housekeeping and secretarial duties), let alone that she volunteered for the job. Although nobody dismisses her as outright insane, she complains that getting them to leave takes forever because most of them think she's just kidding. However, her witch friend Morwen then points out that with [[StandardHeroReward a sizable reward for her rescue]], eventually someone will probably try to "rescue" her whether she wants it or not. Concerned, Cimerone starts to take more active steps to discourage the lot of them.

* In ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'', Psyche claims to have been rescued from her intended HumanSacrifice by the god of the mountain and lives in a palace with him, but her sister Orual, who is unable to see the supposed palace at all, is convinced she is delusional and being manipulated by some unscrupulous person - or else under the thrall of an evil god rather than a good one. [[spoiler: Orual realizes far too late that [[SecretlySelfish a lot of her motivation to rescue her sister was about wanting to keep her for herself and seeing her as a child without autonomy.]]]]

All attempts to do this will undoubtedly fail, and the "hero" will often persist in trying new and increasingly archaic methods to prove otherwise. InsaneTrollLogic, various holy and magical rituals, fasting and repentance, therapeutic hypnosis, and maybe even a little [[ExaltedTorturer enhanced]] [[TortureIsIneffective interrogation]] to [[TwoPlusTortureMakesFive force the "truth" into them]] one defibrillator to the temple at a time. Eventually, he may concede to the fact that she is NotBrainwashed and really is telling the truth. If the denial persists long after it should, it usually delves into IRejectYourReality SanitySlippage territory, coming to [[BelievingTheirOwnLies Believe Their Own Lies]] in spite of all the evidence they find along the way because [[TautologicalTemplar they think they are right, and so they are right]].

SubTrope to UnwantedRescue. Compare with CondescendingCompassion and NotNowKiddo. Contrast with SubvertedSuspicionAesop and ProperlyParanoid, all of which happening when the hero is right all along. Related to CassandraTruth, IRejectYourReality, MovingTheGoalposts, NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou, TheoryTunnelvision and WindmillCrusader.

SubTrope to UnwantedRescue. Compare with CondescendingCompassion and NotNowKiddo. Contrast with UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome, SubvertedSuspicionAesop and ProperlyParanoid, all of which happening when the hero is right all along. Related to CassandraTruth, IRejectYourReality, MovingTheGoalposts, NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou, TheoryTunnelvision and WindmillCrusader.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode [[Recap/GargoylesS2Sentinel "Sentinel"]], the eponymous alien sentinel Nokkar doesn't know that humans aren't the only sentients native to Earth and mistakes the gargoyles for advance scouts of his enemies, the Space-Spawn. He assumes that Elisa has been brainwashed by them, so he uses an anti-brainwashing method on them that also causes temporary amnesia. He finally realizes his mistake when she ''still'' instinctively feels the gargoyles aren't evil and stops him from disintegrating them.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Professor XXXL lure Nigel to his lair so he could use Nigel as a taste tester to develop the perfect snow cone in "Operation C.O.L.L.E.G.E." Despite the professor's relatively harmless motives, Nigel appears to be strapped to a chair while being fed snow cone after snow cone, which the KND mistakes for torture even though Nigel is enjoying it. When he's "rescued", his attempts to explain that he was fine and that it was all a big misunderstanding fall on deaf ears, as they believe he's suffering from UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome or that the professor may have already succeeded. This example is based more on circumstance, including Nigel's own earlier words, than the fault of the "rescuers".

* [[RebelliousPrincess Cimorene]] has this problem in ''[[Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles Dealing with Dragons]]'', as the knights that come to rescue her can't fathom that she's perfectly happy [[DragonsPreferPrincesses being a dragon's princess]], let alone that she volunteered for the job. Although nobody dismisses her as outright insane, she complains that getting them to leave takes forever because most of them think she's just kidding. However, Morwen then points out that with [[StandardHeroReward a sizable reward for her rescue]], eventually someone will probably try to "rescue" her whether she wants it or not. Concerned, Cimerone starts to take more active steps to discourage the lot of them.

* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'':

* In ''ComicBook/RunawaysRainbowRowell'', the team tries to "rescue" Klara from foster care, only to discover that she's been HappilyAdopted. Unwilling to accept that Klara has good reasons for not wanting to return to the team, Gert suggests that maybe Klara's foster parents are supervillains who brainwashed her, as Molly's grandmother tried to do. Considering that Klara [[HasTwoMommies Has Two Daddies]], this does ''not'' go over well, and Klara asks them to leave.

'''Tang Shen''': As a ''brother!'' As a friend. As a good man, and as someone I could trust. But not as a lover. I never loved you the way you wanted me too.\\

* In ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'' the Gotham police demonstrates how outrageously crooked they are when they tell Dick Grayson he's probably hallucinating from the stress of seeing his parents get killed in front of him when he says he can recognize who killed them -- and when he insists that he can recognize the shooter, [[WouldHurtAChild we see one of the policemen asking the patrol car's driver to "take a detour" to the woods while he pulls out his nightstick]]. It is right then when Batman barges in.

When the [[HeroicWannabe supposed good guy]] makes the assumption that the damsel has been {{gasli|ghting}}t into StockholmSyndrome in such a manner, then they are either [[IdiotHero a complete idiot]] to not see the lack of evidence of abuse, or an UnscrupulousHero (or [[NominalHero worse]]) who is [[MaliciousSlander out to ruin]] the not-really-a-villain's [[HeroWithBadPublicity already paper-thin reputation]] by claiming [[AbominationAccusationAttack that he would defile the brain of such a beautiful maiden]]. He acts upon his impulse to "rescue" her and "free her from his spell."

SubTrope to UnwantedRescue. Compare with CondescendingCompassion and NotNowKiddo. Contrast with StockholmSyndrome, SubvertedSuspicionAesop and ProperlyParanoid, all of which happening when the hero is right all along. Related to CassandraTruth, IRejectYourReality, MovingTheGoalposts, NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou, TheoryTunnelvision and WindmillCrusader.

* In ''Fanfic/SameDifference'', when [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Shredder]] discovers that Tang Shen is alive and has her kidnapped, he takes her rebuking his advances and claims of being HappilyMarried to Hamato Yoshi as a twisted form of StockholmSyndrome, intending on breaking her out of this mindset [[MurderTheHypotenuse after he kills Yoshi]]. This is a disturbing sign of how absolutely [[{{Yandere}} obsessive]] Shredder is about Tang Shen.

* In ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'', a group of college kids think that Tucker and Dale are a duo of [[HillbillyHorrors killer hillbillies straight out of a stock slasher film]] who have been killing their friends and kidnapped Allison, when in reality they saved Allison from drowning when she hit her head and all of their friend's death happened either due to [[TooDumbToLive their own laughably pathetic ineptitude]] or just plain bad luck. When Allison tries explaining to her friends the situation, Naomi comes to the conclusion that she must have StockholmSyndrome, made even more egregious since [[HollywoodPsych she seems to only know the most basic definition]] and is clearly unfit to make any kind of diagnosis.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Professor XXXL lure Nigel to his lair so he could use Nigel as a taste tester to develop the perfect snow cone in "Operation C.O.L.L.E.G.E." Despite the professor's relatively harmless motives, Nigel appears to be strapped to a chair while being fed snow cone after snow cone, which the KND mistakes for torture even though Nigel is enjoying it. When he's "rescued", his attempts to explain that he was fine and that it was all a big misunderstanding fall on deaf ears, as they believe he's suffering from StockholmSyndrome or that the professor may have already succeeded. This example is based more on circumstance, including Nigel's own earlier words, than the fault of the "rescuers".

* ''Manga/SacrificialPrincessAndTheKingOfBeasts'': When [[TheDrifter Ilya]] learns that his ChildhoodFriend Sariphi was taken to the kingdom of beasts to be sacrificed, he tries by all costs to save her but is tossed in a dungeon. Sariphi tries to reason with him, telling him that the king took her as his bride and he is good to her, but Ilya won't listen and kidnaps her. He has a deep hatred from the beasts since a bunch of beast burglars killed his family and devoured his little sister, so Sariphi's arguments infuriate him so much that he decides to fight King Lionhart to show her how savage the latter is. Much for his surprise and anger, Leo holds back during the fight, but it's only when Ilya hurts him and sees Sariphi cry that he realizes he was just trying to make up to his dead little sister, and that wasn't fair to Sariphi. Leo forgives him and Ilya leaves the land of beasts with his hatred for them increased... until he saves a beast cub from human poachers, and the cub helps him defeat the same humans.

* ''Manga/MaguchanGodOfDestruction'': Izuma sees Ruru as a [[CondescendingCompassion "feeble-minded girl"]] indoctrinated into [[DestroyerDeity Magu's]] cult, not understanding that Ruru is honestly Magu's friend, and if anything Magu is submissive to ''her''.

* [[RebelliousPrincess Cimorene]] has this problem in ''[[Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles Dealing with Dragons]]'', as the knights that come to rescue her can't fathom that she's perfectly happy [[DragonsPreferPrincesses being a dragon's princess]], let alone that she volunteered for the job. Although nobody dismisses her as outright insane, she complains that getting them to leave takes forever because most of them think she's just kidding. However, Morwen then points out that with [[StandardHeroReward a sizable reward for her rescue]], eventually someone will probably try to "rescue" her whether she wants it or not. Concerned, Cimerone starts to take more active steps to discourage the lot of them.

* ''Manga/SacrificialPrincessAndTheKingOfBeasts'': When[[TheDrifter Ilya]] learns that his ChildhoodFriend Sariphi was taken to the kingdom of beasts to be sacrificed, he tries by all costs to save her but is tossed in a dungeon. Sariphi tries to reason with him, telling him that the king took her as his bride and he is good to her, but Ilya won't listen and kidnaps her. He has a deep hatred from the beasts since a bunch of beast burglars killed his family and devoured his little sister, so Sariphi's arguments infuriate him so much that he decides to fight King Lionhart to show her how savage the latter is. Much for his surprise and anger, Leo holds back during the fight, but it's only when Ilya hurts him and sees Sariphi cry that he realizes he was just trying to make up to his dead little sister, and that wasn't fair to Sariphi. Leo forgives him and Ilya leaves the land of beasts with his hatred for them increased... until he saves a beast cub from human poachers, and the cub helps him defeat the same humans.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Professor XXXL lure Nigel to his lair so he could use Nigel as a taste tester to develop the perfect snow cone in "Operation C.O.L.L.E.G.E." Despite the professor's relatively harmless motives, Nigel appears to be strapped to a chair while being fed snow cone after snow cone, which the KND mistakes for torture even though Nigel is enjoying it. When he's "rescued", his attempts to explain that he was fine and that it was all a big misunderstanding fall on deaf ears, as they believe he's suffering from StockholmSyndrome.

* In ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', the team tries to "rescue" Klara from foster care, only to discover that she's been HappilyAdopted. Unwilling to accept that Klara has good reasons for not wanting to return to the team, Gert suggests that maybe Klara's foster parents are supervillains who brainwashed her, as Molly's grandmother tried to do. Considering that Klara [[HasTwoMommies Has Two Daddies]], this does ''not'' go over well, and Klara asks them to leave.