History Main / WeNeedToGetProof

* The ''WesternAnimation/DeputyDawg'' cartoon "Diamonds In The Rough" has the deputy tasked with finding a diamond smuggler, but the sheriff tells him not to make an arrest without evidence. A haphazard golfer swings by, and Deputy Dawg deduces that the golfer is the smuggler and the diamonds are in the golf balls. After he accidentally swallows some golf balls, Deputy Dawg is at the doctor with the golfer, and the X-ray shows the diamond-laden golf balls in DD's stomach.
* In the series ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'', a series continuation of the movie ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', TheHero Hiccup knows the old man named Mildew not only destroyed the village's supply of weapons to defend the village and framed the dragons, he even saw the framing objects in Mildew's hut. But after Mildew destroys the evidence, Stoick explains to his son that while he really does believe, he can't punish Mildew for treason without hard evidence.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In the series premire "Tourist Trapped", Dipper worries that his sister Mabel is dating a zombie. Soos tells Dipper that unless he gets solid evidence, no one will believe his claims, leading to a montage of Dipper following "Norman" and Mabel on their dates. Dipper apparently gets his proof when he catches Norman's hand falling off and reattaching, goes to warn Mabel... [[spoiler:And then it turns out that Norman is in fact [[TotemPoleTrench a bunch of gnomes stacked up]].]]

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' has this in the plot aboard the ''Enterprise'' in the middle acts of the movie. In the aftermath of the attack on the Klingon Chancellor's transport to Earth, subsequent masked Starfleet boarders assassinating him, curious external readings right before it all went down, and a suspicious discrepancy between magazine inventory and event logs concerning torpedo weapons fire, the crew of the ''Enterprise'' deduce that another ship must have fired on the Chancellor's ship; one of the Klingon's own with a new cloaking device that can enable torpedo fire while cloaked. All they have is circumstantial theories, as Scotty is quick to point out and Spock is quick to concur on. It sets them on the task to find the evidence: specifically, the gravity boots that the assassins must have worn to board the crippled klingon diplomatic ship that was deprived of gravity.

'''Scotty:''' Inform them of ''what''!? A new weapon that is invisible? "Raving lunatics", that's what they'll call us! They'll say that we're so desperate to exonerate the captain that we'll say ''anything''.\\

* In the 2017 film ''Bad Match'', Harris spends the last third of the film trying to find evidence of the person who hacked his Twitter account and downloaded child porn onto his computer, as while his acquaintances believe that he isn’t responsible the investigators need evidence of who did it instead. [[spoiler:Unfortunately Harris fixates on the wrong suspect as the one responsible for his problems, with the result that he beats an innocent woman to death before his lawyer identifies the person responsible]].

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': When Bronwyn is trying to warn the people of Tirharad that there is a looming danger, Waldreg asks her to bring first a proof before asking everyone to just abandon their homes. Which she does, she fights an Orcs that attacked her son and brings his beheaded head to Waldreg.

!!Examples

* A recurring hassle for Mickey in the ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'' before he can put a stop to whatever scheme he's gotten on the track of. Subverted in ''"The Mystery of the Robot Army!"'', where the police believed Mickey without further question but Mickey ruined things by taking a piece of evidence with him, which the villains discovered and took as cue that it was time to clear out before the police arrived. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''"The Mystery at Hidden River"'' when Mickey discovers Pete's presence at the crime site early in the story:
--> '''Mickey:''' "Well, I don't have to be clairvoyant to know who's the villain in this mystery! The trick is to get the goods on him!"

* ''Fanfic/DreamingOfSunshine'': One of the reasons Shikako doesn't run around changing things willy-nilly is because no one would ever believe her. Instead she painstakingly begins investigating events of interest such as[[spoiler: the Uchiha massacre, especially after being subjected to Tsukuyomi, and Akatsuki]]. This even makes sense, since she KNOWS the information is there and will thus notice things someone else would dismiss.
* This serves as the reason why Minato hasn't taken down Danzo yet in ''FanFic/CatchYourBreath'', despite knowing about his actions.

* In ''FanFic/DelendaEst'', Harry might know what the dark lord is doing, but he can't tell Orion and Cygnus about it until he's got proof.

* Tom says this almost verbatim about how they're going to clear Skinner's name in the fourth volume of ''FanFic/ThePrivateDiaryOfElizabethQuatermain''.

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' has this in the plot aboard the ''Enterprise'' in the middle acts of the movie. In the aftermath of the attack on the Klingon Chancellor's transport to Earth, subsequent masked Starfleet boarders assassinating him, curious external readings right before it all went down, and a suspicious discrepancy between magazine inventory and event logs concerning torpedo weapons fire, the crew of the ''Enterprise'' deduce that another ship must have fired on the Chancellor's ship; one of the Klingon's own with a new cloaking device that can enable torpedo fire while cloaked. All they have is circumstantial theories, as Scotty is quick to point out and Spock is quick to concur on. It sets them on the task to find the evidence: specifically, the gravity boots that the assassins must have worn to board the crippled klingon diplomatic ship that was deprived of gravity.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/JenniferTheJerkIsMissing'' starts out this way, as Malcolm needs her babysitter, Amy, to believe that he did indeed witness a kidnapping. They then try to prove it to the adults, which doesn't work.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' starts off with the kids trying to expose the Yeerks' silent invasion to the world, in hopes that once the world knows what's going on, they'll be able to fight back. This plan becomes less significant as the series progresses, in favor of simple guerrilla war, but ultimately succeeds near the end.
* This happens in a few of the AlvinFernald books by Clifford B. Hicks
* A major plot thread in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' involves the titular character being certain that GoldfishPoopGang leader Draco Malfoy is up to something, and trying (without success) to prove it. Of course, this is in large part due to the fact that the primary responsible authority figures [[spoiler:(Dumbledore and Snape) already know he's up to something and want Harry to have as little to do with it as possible.]]
* Aiden and Meg of ''Literature/OnTheRun'' race to prove their parents' innocence when they happen to be arrested for a crime they didn't commit.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/BreakingBad:''

* ''Series/TheXFiles''. If Scully had a catch phrase, "We need scientific proof!" would be it.
%%* ''Series/EerieIndiana''

* A common occurrence on ''Series/{{CSI}}'' and its spinoffs. Often occurs on cases where the evidence isn't yielding as many leads as the [=CSIs=] need to make the case.
* About halfway through every episode of ''Series/{{Monk}}'', the titular detective will figure out who did it. Without exception, the person he accuses will have an airtight alibi (once, the guy was ''in space'' at the time of the murder), and Monk will have to find the one thing that doesn't fit.
* In ''Series/{{Two}}'' Gus must prove that Booth, his EvilTwin, exists in order to prove his innocence.

* In the penultimate season of ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the Night's Watch and their allies undertake a dangerous mission to capture a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent wight]] to prove to Cersei that the White Walker threat is real. This results in the deaths of [[spoiler:Thoros, Benjen, and Viserion (who is then reanimated as a {{Dracolich}}, which the Night King uses to destroy the Wall at the end of the season)]]. And it turns out it was probably AllForNothing since Cersei agrees to a temporary alliance against the White Walkers...and then, unsurprisingly, [[ILied doesn't send any help at all]].
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': When Bronwyn is trying to warn the people of Tirharad that there is a looming danger, Waldreg asks her to bring first a proof before asking everyone to just abandon their homes. Which she does, she fights an Orcs that attacked her son and brings his beheaded head to Waldreg.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* The early plot of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' revolves around the protagonist uncovering evidence to prove that the villain is actually the villain to the not-so-omniscient council of very visible politicians.
* Your first mission in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' is to recover a recorder from the Bio Systems laboratory in order to find out why the lab started making monsters. This is but the first step in proving that the [[InstantAIJustAddWater Mother Brain]] is not as benevolent as she appears to be...

* In ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'', this is basically the entire plot: to prove the [[ArmiesAreEvil Alpha Sections]] are secretly associated with the [[PlanetLooters Domz]] they're supposed to protect against.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'', after saving the mayor of a little town from an assassination attempt, he asks you to gather evidence on the person (a local crime boss casino owner) he knows is behind it. You can either side with the crime boss, pretend to be an assassin available for work to make him do an EngineeredPublicConfession thanks to a tape recorder the mayor gave you, or just plain bugging his room.
* In the first ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight'' game, Mosely demands that Gabriel prove that the murders were committed by an actual Voodoo cult and that said cult is a threat to the public before he'll help Gabriel fight it.

--> A picture is worth a thousand words. The government won't sweep this one under a rug.
* The first step in many of the ''VideoGame/Reincarnation2008'' games is to discover evidence proving that [[MonsterOfTheWeek the Reincarny]] has relapsed back into sinful ways and therefore should be sent back to Hell; whether it'd be overhearing [[DomesticAbuse a man beat his wife over what she served him for dinner]] or discovering [[PedophilePriest a drugged altar boy in a priest's bedroom]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' A quest late in the game has Ryder investigating whether someone high-up in the salarian Ark's leadership sold them out. [[spoiler:As it turns out, when they thought they were gathering evidence they were actually ''erasing'' it. Whoops. Fortunately, they manage to catch one of the conspirators anyway.]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* Zim of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is a DevilInPlainSight whose PaperThinDisguise shouldn't ''need'' any proof to expose, but the earth is largely populated by idiots so [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] is continually after "proof" (generally, a shot of Zim not in disguise) -- he's managed to get it on more than one occasion, but since FailureIsTheOnlyOption he always loses it even if he otherwise thwarts Zim's latest {{Zany|Scheme}}[=-=]but-EvilScheme.
* A common occurrence for Candace in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', despite the guys not being evil (at least not to us). Their inventions are always in plain sight, but their sister goes through great ordeals to actually get their mom to see it, resulting in this trope several times by using cameras etc.
* In the series ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'', a series continuation of the movie ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', TheHero Hiccup knows the old man named Mildew not only destroyed the village's supply of weapons to defend the village and framed the dragons, he even saw the framing objects in Mildew's hut. But after Mildew destroys the evidence, Stoick explains to his son that while he really does believe, he can't punish Mildew for treason without hard evidence.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In the series premier "Tourist Trapped", Dipper worries that his sister Mabel is dating a zombie. Soos tells Dipper that unless he gets solid evidence, no one will believe his claims, leading to a montage of Dipper following "Norman" and Mabel on their dates. Dipper apparently gets his proof when he catches Norman's hand falling off and reattaching, goes to warn Mabel... [[spoiler: And then it turns out that Norman is in fact [[TotemPoleTrench a bunch of gnomes stacked up]].]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}'' called "To Catch a Reef," Reef's accused of stealing various things from guests and staff from around the hotel after he starts having way more money than he usually does. Johnny's the only one to believe that Reef isn't the thief (mostly because he feels that Reef isn't smart enough to pull off something like this). After looking through some hotel security footage, Johnny and Reef discover that the thief is apparently [[ThievingMagpie just a seagull]]--later, while trying to catch the bird, Reef questions Johnny on why they can't just tell the others about it, and Johnny explains that they need to get more definitive proof since they all the evidence they have is circumstantial at best. In the end, Reef's proven innocent and it turns out that all the extra money he had was the result of someone in the hotel's accounting department accidentally adding Wipeout's pay to Reef's--Bummer (Reef, Johnny and Wipeout's boss) rectifies this by making Reef wear the Wipeout-costume for a week without pay to make up for all the money Reef got by mistake.

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' has this in the plot aboard the ''Enterprise'' in the middle acts of the movie. In the aftermath of the attack on the Klingon Chancellor's transport to Earth, subsequent masked Starfleet boarders assassinating him, curious external readings right before it all went down, and a suspicious discrepancy between magazine inventory and event logs concerning torpedo weapons fire, the crew of the ''Enterprise'' deduce that another ship must have fired on the Chancellor's ship; one of the Klingon's own with a new cloaking device that can enable torpedo fire while cloaked. All they have is circumstantial theories, as Scotty is quick to point out and Spock is quick to concur on. It sets them on the task to find the evidence: specifically, gravity boots that the assassins must have worn to board the crippled klingon diplomatic ship that was deprived of gravity.

* One ''{{Series/AdamTwelve}}'' episode involved a woman who was desperate to get the drug dealer who killed her boyfriend. Malloy had to keep reminding her they needed proof. She had a record and wouldn't be seen as a reliable witness, so she couldn't testify. When she bought drugs from the guy, it still wasn't enough because though she wrote down the serial number on the money, the dealer could say he got it in change. Eventually, the police stakeout pays off and they get what they need to arrest him.

* This becomes the main challenge in ''Film/{{Zodiac}}'' once the heroes become convinced that [[spoiler:Leigh is the Zodiac]]. Despite mountains of evidence -- the windbreakers, the gloves, the wing-walker boots, the knives, the guns, ''Film/TheMostDangerousGame'', the watch -- it could all be dismissed in court as circumstantial.

This can also affect the genre, and is the catalyst of many an AmateurSleuth and SnoopingLittleKid story. If the bad guy taunts the heroes that they can't prove anything, that's ProofDare. If the heroes resort to fabricating the evidence, it's FramingTheGuiltyParty. Compare ClearMyName.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* In ''Roleplay/DeptHeavenApocrypha'', the main characters involved in Nessiah's plot spent months trying to convince Asgard that [[spoiler:Hector had raped him]]. To make things worse, it looks like said character's [[VillainWithGoodPublicity influence]] is going to quash all possibility of a fair and just trial.
[[/folder]]

-->--''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''

This can also affect the genre, and is the catalyst of many an AmateurSleuth and SnoopingLittleKid story. If the bad guy taunts the heroes that they can't prove anything, that's ProofDare. If the heroes resort to fabricating the evidence, it's FramingTheGuiltyParty.

-->'''Minato:''' If I had any solid evidence to link Shimura directly to anything, I’d have ordered the seizure of all of his assets within the village and put him under seal-enforced house arrest until we could have a trial.
* In ''FanFic/DelendaEst'', Harry might know what the dark lord is doing, but he can’t tell Orion and Cygnus about it until he’s got proof.

* One ''{{Series/AdamTwelve}}'' episode involved a woman who was desperate to get the drug dealer who killed her boyfriend. Malloy had to keep reminding her they needed proof. She had a record and wouldn’t be seen as a reliable witness, so she couldn’t testify. When she bought drugs from the guy, it still wasn’t enough because though she wrote down the serial number on the money, the dealer could say he got it in change. Eventually, the police stakeout pays off and they get what they need to arrest him.