History Main / UnwantedAssistance

** Dobby's attempts to "save" Harry from danger inevitably led to Harry being worse off, and in the end Harry makes him promise to "never try to save my life again." ...He broke that promise, too, [[spoiler: leading to his death.]]

* Relatively minor example, in the picture book "Too Many Babas", everybody attempts to help out with the stew to the point it tastes like crap.

* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': When Sofia went hiking with her fellow buttercup scouts, King Roland was afraid she'd get hurt and ordered Baileywick to go along. Baileywick insisted in doing things for her, which made her lose several chances of earning merit badges. And she was just one away from winning a sunflower pin.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation L.U.N.C.H." the villain is Myth/RobinHood imitator Robin Food, who takes food from kids at school and gives it to the elderly. The elderly, of course, have difficulty eating the solid food that he brings them and would rather he bring them something easier to chew. Which is what he's supposed to be doing in the first place since he works in a nursing home cafeteria.

Compare ChronicHeroSyndrome, UnwantedRescue, ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike.

'''Xander:''' Isn't that the dog that-that the guy had to shoot...\\

--->'''Lancelot:''' We were in the nick of time! You were in great peril.
--->'''Galahad:''' I don't think I was.
--->'''Lancelot:''' Yes you were, you were in terrible peril!
--->'''Galahad:''' Look, let me go back in there and face the peril.
--->'''Lancelot:''' No, it's too perilous.
--->'''Galahad:''' It's my duty as a knight to sample as much peril as I can!
--->'''Lancelot:''' No, we've got to find the Holy Grail. Come on!
--->'''Galahad:''' Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?
--->'''Lancelot:''' No. It's unhealthy.
--->'''Galahad:''' ...Bet you're gay.
--->'''Lancelot:''' Am not!

->'''Phileas Fogg:''' Watch out on the right! ''(Passepartout turns around to find nothing)'' ...No, no, my right.\\

* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Eric gets like this every time Tasio tries to help him, [[Literature/AMagesPower starting with the first time they met]]; it ended with him getting fired and loooking foolish in front of his crush. Tasio is a TricksterArchetype, so it's hard to tell when he's sincerely trying to help, when it's just [[ItAmusedMe for shits and giggles]], and when he's in a more [[TricksterMentor mentor-y mood]].

In a crisis, nobody wants to feel useless or left out. Some people may want to run away, but otherwise they'll usually try to help. The problem is, sometimes this help turns out to be rather unhelpful. Depending on the situation, it can be anywhere from irritating to downright dangerous, for the "helper" ''and'' the "helpee." As such, this situation can have several different outcomes, ranging from simple annoyance on the part of the people being inconvenienced to extremely dire consequences that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero involve a lot of people getting killed]].

* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Eric gets like this everytime Tasio tries to help him, [[Literature/AMagesPower starting with the first time they met]]; it ended with him getting fired and loooking foolish in front of his crush. Tasio is a TricksterArchetype, so it's hard to tell when he's sincerely trying to help, when it's just [[ItAmusedMe for shits and giggles]], and when he's in a more [[TricksterMentor mentor-y mood]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': One of [[EvilOverlord the Bog King's]] [[ThoseTwoGuys mooks]] keeps asking if he needs help during his duel with [[BadAssPrincess Marianne]]. He refuses it, even when it would be useful [[spoiler: probably because of how [[BelligerentSexualTension flirtatious the duel]] had become become.]]

** Dobby'a attempts to "save" Harry from danger inevitably led to Harry being worse off, and in the end Harry makes him promise to "never try to save my life again." ...He broke that promise, too, [[spoiler: leading to his death.]]

->'''Phileas Fogg:''' Watch out on the right! ''(Passepartout turns around to find nothing)'' ...[[YourOtherLeft No, no, my right.]]\\

* ''Series/BeingHuman'':

* ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'': Earlier in the series, Asurada tries to teach its partner Hayato how to drive properly, but he ignores his advices, and he even tries to ''destroy'' Asurada when the machine indirectly caused the crash involving him and his friend Johji (which resulted in the latter's retirement from Cyber Formula).

* ''Series/GoodEats:'' '''Don't say it!''' [[spoiler: Culinary anthropologist!]]

* When Trevor first meets the Lost Soul in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadowMirrorOfFate'', it states its intention to guide the Belmont on his journey. A few lines later, it reveals that [[spoiler:Trevor will fail on his mission]] and YouCantFightFate. Trevor promptly whips it, breaks its mask, and renders it speechless for the remainder of the game. Interestingly, when Trevor's son Simon meets the Lost Soul during his quest, his reaction to its silent presence is more positive.

* In the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP, FormulaOne driver Kimi Räikkönen got a little fed up with his engineer updating him over the pit to car radio first telling him to "leave me alone, I know what I'm doing", and then when being reminded to keep his tyres up to temperature during a safety car period; "Yes, I'm doing all the tyres. You don't have to remind me every second". Räikkönen proved he didn't need the help by winning the race, but saw the funny side by [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20267305 distributing T-shirts with his statements on to the team]].

* Geraldo Rivera in 2003 tried to help viewers at home understand where he and the troops with him were by sketching out a map in the sand, showing the objective, then showing where he was in relation to it. Arguments have been made on both sides of the matter- that the enemy was unlikely to be able to find the troops based off of this, or that his actions lead to many deaths by alerting the enemy to the army's actions. It is generally agreed to have been a dumb maneuver on Rivera's part.

-->-- ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'' (2004)

* Creator/JackieChan's Passepartout in the 2004 remake of ''Around the World in 80 Days'' yelled to Fogg to stop trying to help, in the middle of a big fight with multiple opponents.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation L.U.N.C.H." the villain is Literature/RobinHood imitator Robin Food, who takes food from kids at school and gives it to the elderly. The elderly, of course, have difficulty eating the solid food that he brings them and would rather he bring them something easier to chew. Which is what he's supposed to be doing in the first place since he works in a nursing home cafeteria.

** Occurs when Aang tries to contact the Spirit World in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' first season finale:

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' had Jazz fill this role for Danny, becoming his "sidekick" after finding out his secret identity. She not only refuses to listen to Danny's knowledge on ghosts, but also hacks into his computer to look at his ghost files, gives names to ghosts that Danny already knows, gets in Danny's way when he's trying to fight, and is generally unhelpful. This eventually leads to him screaming the trope name in a rather PunctuatedForEmphasis fashion.

** Dobby may be the personification of this trope. His attempts to "save" Harry from danger inevitably led to Harry being worse off, and in the end Harry makes him promise to "never try to save my life again." ...He broke that promise, too, [[spoiler: leading to his death.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', Gourdy the genie, who wants to fulfill his master Farmer Smurf's wishes, gets this a lot from his master.

* Ursula's specialty in ''WebCc

In a crisis, nobody wants to feel useless or left out. They may want to run away, but otherwise they'll usually try to help. The problem is, sometimes this help turns out to be rather unhelpful. Depending on the situation, it can be anywhere from irritating to downright dangerous, for the "helper" ''and'' the "helpee." As such, this situation can have several different outcomes, ranging from simple annoyance on the part of the people being inconvenienced to extremely dire consequences that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero involve a lot of people getting killed]].

* ''{{Bokurano}}'' has our little friend Koyemushi, which is supposed to be the guide for the kids while on Zearth. While he is forced to obey the kids while they are contracted, he is extremely cynical, cruel, and will often "forget" to give out certain pieces of information, all because he loves to see the kids agonize and cry. Extra points for actually helping the kids exclusively when he knew it would hurt them more than it would help them.

* In ''InfiniteStratos'', When Houki, Rin, and Cecilia all try to explain to Ichika how to use the IS with their TechnoBabble, it only serves to confuse him. On the other hand, Charles offers to duel Ichika, and after sounding [[CurbStompBattle stomping him]], he offers some tips on Ichika's weaknesses and explains things that makes it easy for him to understand. He also helps train Ichika on using a rifle, and seems a bit too friendly, causing the girls to get quite [[ClingyJealousGirl jealous]].

* Comicbook/SpiderMan attracts his share of wannabe heroes who are always looking to help him out. From the bumbling but earnest Frog-Man to portly wunderkind the Steel Spider, for a time in the 80s Spidey just couldn't get away from would-be sidekicks who screwed up everything that he tried to do. Reaches its zenith in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #266 by PeterDavid, where Spidey's big crisis is The Toad, Frog-Man, and the Spectacular Spider-Kid all competing with each other for the privilege of being his sidekick.
* Reverend James Maddox, in ''Comicbook/{{X-Factor}}'', has noticed a consistent association between members of X-Factor trying to help him and his life being in danger.

* There is a ''Closer to Home'' comic strip, where a plumber stuck a plunger onto the face of the woman whose toilet he was fixing. The caption said something along the lines of "Despite (woman's name) helpful advice, (plumber's name) felt that he had a handle on the problem."

* JackieChan also does this in ''Film/RushHour'', when his partner (played by Chris Tucker) tries to shout directions at him in a fight.

* In the novel based on the Creator/{{Infocom}} game ''Videogame/{{Wishbringer}}'', the hero is supplied with a magic radio that provides helpful advice and alerts him to danger... by turning itself on and playing music ''[[WithCatlikeTread very loudly]]'', invariably alerting the danger to ''him'' as well.

* ''The ManuscriptFound in Saragossa'': Busqueros, a smug nobleman who loves "helping" people (often [[TheMatchmaker by manipulating them into marriage]]), and doesn't seem overtly concerned that his "help" more often than not ends up more or less badly for the recipient (up to and including causing their death.) If he thinks he knows how to do you a favor, he'll latch onto you and won't leave you, ever, and act very offended if you complain.

* Comes up in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', too, after [[spoiler: Wesley kills an android disguised as his father, fully believing at the moment when he pulled the trigger that it WAS his father]]. His friends attempt to comfort him by telling stories about times in the past when they've had to kill their own parents as well. ("You know, I killed my mum. Well, first I made her a vampire, and then she tried to shag me, and THEN...") It isn't terribly comforting.

* Private Partz in ''A Day in the Life of a Commissar'', a ''DawnOfWar'' Machinima, brings down all three SpaceMarine heroes on poor Commissar Steeve, by saying things like: "I bet he could take on all three of ya! even if you had, like, PsychicPowers!"

* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' has most of Stanley The Tool's major units take this attitude towards their boss. In the second book [[spoiler: Maggie uses hypnosis and thus successfully]] asks Stanley to put [[spoiler:Lord Hamster]] in charge and leave their headquarters so that he could think. This is actually a double example, as it [[spoiler: was the exact opposite of Lord Hamster's actual plan to promote someone on-site since the command bonus would be enough to turn the tide.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': When talking with the police about Clippy, in [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2400/fc02376.htm this]] strip, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Kornada]] is forced to order Blunt to shut up, in spite of Blunt believing he was helping Kornada [[spoiler:by revealing that he was responsible for the release of Gardener in the Dark.]]
* Ursula's specialty in ''WebComic/{{Precocious}}'', demonstrated especially during the Fall Festival.
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* In the webseries ''[[Creator/TheCynicalBrit TotalBiscuit]] and the {{Yogscast}} 'play' VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'', Simon is prone to this, though he is not the only one of the three. An incident caused by Lewis named the third episode ''Please Stop Healing Me''.

* From ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Doctor Octopus should really think about kicking Electro out of the Sinister Six: in "Group Therapy" he (accidentally) electrocuted Doc Ock SEVERAL TIMES in his attempt to kill Spider-Man. Not happy with that, he, along with Shocker, knocked out Rhino, thanks to Spidey's DeadlyDodging. Then, in "Reinforcements" he tried to free the Vulture from Spidey's web... by, once again, electrocuting him. Oh, but that doesn't end here: in "Shear Strengh", Spider-Man [[GenreSavvy intentionally presses his]] BerserkButton by calling him repeatedly Max (his real name), making him shoot lightning bolts everywhere. The result? The destruction of the Master Planner's base.

** Lobo strong-arming himself into the Justice League [[spoiler:following Superman's death]] in "Hereafter". It's clear the others only tolerate him because it's easier than not keeping him under their supervision, and when they finally get the impetus to kick him out in the end:

* By the ''Hurricane!'' episode of ''AmericanDad'' Francine now has this attitude towards Stan in a crisis. She points out how, in every previous crisis the family has gone through, Stan's poor judgement and InsaneTrollLogic have made situations even worse. No matter how rational Stan's ideas sound, they're all doomed to failure simply because he thought them up. Naturally, Stan doesn't listen to Francine and insists on trying to fix the situation. By the episode's end, he's managed to turn the house upside down, flood it, and let loose both a shark and a bear. Hayley and Steve get mauled by the shark and bear respectively, Stan knocks Jeff out in an effort to calm him down, he electrocutes Roger, and impales Francine to the wall with a javelin through her shoulder. The family is only saved by the arrival of their neighbor Buckle, who uses tranquilizer darts on the shark, the bear, and Stan. He says he wasn't sure who was doing the most damage.

** Volunteering to do aid work overseas is usually a bad idea unless you are properly trained for what it is you're doing ''and'' you know the local language and customs. There are tons of people already there who can do the work you're doing, and you'll wind up getting in the way and consuming food and water that could go to the people you're trying to help. This is especially true in the critical few days and weeks after a major natural disaster where many thousands of people are in need of rescue (case in point, the thousands trapped beneath rubble after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake). Unless you're trained for this sort of thing specifically, you'll just waste everyone's time.

* In the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP FormulaOne driver Kimi Räikkönen got a little fed up with his engineer updating him over the pit to car radio first telling him to "leave me alone, I know what I'm doing", and then when being reminded to keep his tyres up to temperature during a safety car period; "Yes, I'm doing all the tyres. You don't have to remind me every second". Räikkönen proved he didn't need the help by winning the race, but saw the funny side by [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20267305 distributing t-shirts with his statements on to the team]].
* Geraldo Rivera in 2003 tried to help viewers at home understand where he and the troops he was with were by sketching out a map in the sand, showing the objective, then showing where he was in relation to it. Arguments have been made on both sides of the matter- that the enemy was unlikely to be able to find the troops based off of this, or that his actions lead to many deaths by alerting the enemy to the army's actions. It is generally agreed to have been a dumb maneuver on Rivera's part.
* Deliberately used in the lead-up to the 1953 coup in Iran, where the communist Tedah party threw support towards the Prime Minister (also the target of MI6/CIA propaganda) in order to discredit him further, since he actively and vocally ''opposed'' policies they wanted to enact.