History Main / TragicallyMisguidedFavor

''Literature/TheBible'' arguably features this trope in the Second book of Kings. The Fifth Chapter tells us that after Naaman was cured of his Leprosy, he returned to Elisha and urged him to accept a gift. Elisha refused and Naaman left happily after declaring that he would only make offerings to the God of Israel. Elisha's servant, Gehazi thought his master had been too kind in not accepting anything from Naaman so he followed and told a lie about Elisha wanting two talents and changes of clothing for visitors that had just arrived. When Gehazi returned home with the items, Elisha asked him where he'd been. Despite telling Elisha that [[BlatantLies he hadn't gone anywhere]] Gehazi ended up punished for his deed by contracting Naaman's Leprosy. This example is made especially potent because not only did Gehazi contract Naaman's Leprosy, but Elisha added that [[SinsOfOurFathers it would cling to him and his descendants forever.]] [[DidntThinkThisThrough Maybe lying to a prophet]] [[CaptainObvious was a bad idea...]]

* According to TheOtherWiki, the most common explanation for the murder of Thomas Becket (the Archbishop of Canterbury and the original TurbulentPriest) is four knights interpreting Henry's "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket#Assassination Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?]]" as an order to kill him. PoorCommunicationKills was seldom this literal.

** In the BackStory of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the EvilMatriarch Precia Testarossa spent so much time at work to provide for her daughter Alicia, that she couldn't be with Alicia when she died. She then does the same mistake again, mercilessly using her other daughter, Fate, to find means to resurrect Alicia--as it turns out, what Alicia wanted the most from her mother was [[SiblingsWanted a little sister]].

** The AntiHero Lelouch starts a world war in order to make a new world where his blind, crippled sister Nunnally could live happily (his real motivations are a bit more complex, but that's at least what [[InvokedTrope he declares them to be]]). In the end, it turns out that Nunnally was perfectly fine with being blind and crippled all along, as long as Lelouch was there to take care of her.

* ''AndThenThereWereNone'': Vera Claythorne was in love with the impoverished aristocrat Hugo Hamilton, who was second-in-line to inherit a title after his young nephew Cyril. Since Vera was Cyril's governess, she was able to kill him be deliberately allowing him to swim off to sea and pretending that he had disobeyed her. When Hugo realized what she had done he broke off with her in disgust.

-> I know all too well what it's like to have to rely on someone not screwing up something when their defining characteristic is that they're an idiot. There's nothing like that sinking feeling you get when they say with total sincerity, "I took care of the problem while you kept the others busy." And you want to slap them and say, "I wasn't keeping them busy! ''I'' was fixing the problem ''by talking!'' The way people do when they're '''''fucking normal!'''''"

When John Doe cares a lot for Ruth Roe[[note]](the gender roles may vary)[[/note]], who has a problem in her life, and John decides to fix it, without asking Ruth whether this is a good idea (or even despite Ruth's explicit request not to interfere). After John's elaborate plan succeeds, however, it turns out that by doing it, he ended up [[NiceJobBreakingItHero ruining his relationship with Ruth, or even their very lives]].

* According to TheOtherWiki, the most common explanation for the murder of Thomas Becket (the Archbishop of Canterbury and the original TurbulentPriest) is four knights interpreting Henry's "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket#Assassination Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?]]" as an order to kill him.

-->-- '''SFDebris'''

* Discussed by SFDebris:

A cornerstone of RomanticComedy but can also result in a form of TragicHero or even TragicMonster. Compare RhetoricalRequestBlunder, StupidSacrifice, SenselessSacrifice. Related to PoisonousFriend.

* In a Brooklyn99 episode, Peralta and Santiago are assigned to go out of town to escort back a prisoner. Since the prisoner is only being released early in the morning, Peralta decides to invite his girlfriend along for the night, making Santiago wish ''her'' boyfriend thought of such things. Peralta, thinking to do something nice, secretly calls him to come along; unfortunately, Santiago's sentiment was meant as one of the reasons why she wanted to ''break up'' with him. This is made worse by the fact that Peralta had previously expressed romantic inclinations toward Santiago.

* The entire plot of ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' kicks off because [[spoiler: Mithos]] wanted to [[spoiler: resurrect his sister after she's killed before seeing a non-racist world and give her that world by turning everyone into angels.]] Once she sees this, she's horrified. She wanted a world without racism, but not via those means, and she [[spoiler: didn't want to steal someone else's body]].

* In ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMisterNorrell'', the Gentleman with Thistle-Down Hair sets out to find Stephan Black's true name for him. [[ItsAllAboutMe He is greatly astounded]] when Stephan Black kills him before the gentleman can tell it to him.

--> I know all too well what it's like to have to rely on someone not screwing up something when their defining characteristic is that they're an idiot. There's nothing like that sinking feeling you get when they say with total sincerity, "I took care of the problem while you kept the others busy." And you want to slap them and say, "I wasn't keeping them busy! ''I'' was fixing the problem ''by talking!'' The way people do when they're '''''fucking normal!'''''"

[[folder:Oral Tradition]]

* Downplayed in an episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'': River Song breaks her wrist escaping from a weeping angle but when the Doctor uses some of his regeneration energy in order to heal it (without consulting her) this somehow just makes her (and Amy Pond) angry at him.

When one character cares a lot for another, who has a problem in his/her life, and the former decides to fix it, without asking the latter whether this is a good idea (or even in spite of his/her explicit request not to interfere). After his/her elaborate plan succeeds, however, it turns out that by doing it, he/she ended up [[NiceJobBreakingItHero ruining his/her relationship with the other character or even their very lives]].

* A less tragic variation takes place in ''Film/{{Hitch}}''. Hitch himself starts dating Sera, and things go fine at first. Then Hitch decides to surprise her by taking her to the Statue of Liberty, thinking it would be a nice gesture to show her the Statin Island immigration records, showing her the ancestor that brought her family lineage to America. Sera starts to cry and storm off, pointing out that just being reminded of ancestor's name reminds her of how he was an infamous serial killer. Hitch spends a good part of the movie trying to rekindle their relationship.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' the King talks to his wife about the Thomas Becket situation one of his predecessors went through. Some knights just returning from an adventure walk in just as the King quotes "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest" and take it that they'd get in the King's good graces if they killed the current Archbishop of Canterbury. Unbeknownst to them the King and the Archbishop (who is also the King's son) are actually getting on very well.

* A joke goes that a knight comes to his king and reports that he's spent the last year defeating the kingdom's enemies to the south, the west and the north.
->'''King''': What?! I don't have any enemies to the north!\\
'''Knight''': Oh. Well, you do now.